Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle

The plot of the opera revolves around Judith opening exactly seven locked doors in Duke Bluebeard's castle. Behind each door lies a dark secret, revealing different aspects of Bluebeard's tortured soul. Bartók illustrates these revelations with progressive, dark shifts in musical harmony.

The opera features a Hungarian libretto written by the poet and screenwriter Béla Balázs. Bartók composed the music for this text, and the piece officially premiered at the Royal Opera House in Budapest in 1918. Balázs's text heavily symbolized the impossibility of truly knowing another person.

Behind the seventh door, Judith discovers Bluebeard's three former wives, alive but dressed in crowns and magnificent robes. Bluebeard forces Judith to join them, commanding her to follow her sisters into the eternal night. The castle then seals completely in darkness as the heavy gates close behind her.

No, Bluebeard's Castle is a one-act opera that typically runs for just over an hour. Because it is so brief and features only two singing characters, it is rarely performed as a standalone double-feature. Many opera houses pair it with another short one-act work, like Schoenberg's Erwartung, for a full evening.