Ritter Blaubart (Knight Bluebeard) is a fairy-tale opera (German: Märchenoper) in three acts by the Austrian composer Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek.
Herbert Eulenberg wrote the German libretto, based on his own five-act play with the same title, which had been first performed unsuccessfully at the Lessing Theater in Berlin in 1906.
[2] After an unsuccessful attempt to get the opera staged in Berlin in 1918 (despite the support of Richard Strauss), it was first performed on 29 January 1920 at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, with Michael Balling conducting and Johannes Bischoff in the title role.
[3] The orchestral score requires: In 2003 CPO released the world premiere recording.
This recording was made in March 2002 with Michail Jurowski conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and baritone David Pittman-Jennings in the title role.