Das weite Land

At the beginning of Schnitzler's social panorama, the music falls silent: a pianist who frequented the villa of lightbulb manufacturer Friedrich Hofreiter and his wife Genia shoots himself. The reason for this gives rise to speculation. It is suspected that Hofreiter encouraged the young musician to take his own life after learning of his alleged affair with Genia. But Hofreiter claims he had no problem with an affair. On the contrary: the “maker“ and “founder“ of the serial production practically encourages Genia to have an affair. In his notes, Schnitzler, the physician and diagnostician of his time, outlines the further course of events in short, precise sentences: “His wife becomes horrible to him, deadly. He can no longer possess her. Finally, he goes insane.“

With a keen eye, Schnitzler dissects a society whose drive for expansion and desire for pleasure are paramount: friendships serve business relationships, and hotel chains are built in the barren, rocky landscape of the Dolomites to satisfy erotic desires. Hofreiter's lightbulbs seem like an ironic commentary on a supposedly enlightened and bright world. The conversations of this privileged society about infidelities and love affairs become seismographs of a catastrophe that can no longer be stopped.

duration: 2 hours 20 minutes - no interval

programme

Das weite Land
von Arthur Schnitzler