About the work
Eugen d’Albert's „Kain“ is a one-act musical tragedy to a libretto by Heinrich Bulthaupt that reinterprets the biblical fratricide. Composed in 1898/99, the opera premiered on 17 February 1900 at the Royal Opera in Berlin.
Plot
The first humans sit before their hut: Adam and Eve, their sons Cain and Abel, Cain's wife Adah, and their son Enoch. While Abel praises creation, Cain broods darkly on the meaning of existence; left alone at night, he is answered not by God but by the fallen angel Lucifer, who speaks of sin and death. The next morning, as Abel steps forward to sacrifice, Cain picks a quarrel, wrecks the altar and kills his brother; God punishes him with the mark of Cain and eternal banishment.
Cultural significance
At around 65 minutes, „Kain“ is one of the shortest of d’Albert's 21 operas and, unlike his worldwide success „Tiefland“, premiered three years later, it remained a rarely performed work of his early period.