Weh dem, der lügt!

Recording from the Burgtheater, 2001

In times of war, the kitchen boy Leon has himself dismissed from the service of the Frankish Bishop Gregor and sold into slavery in enemy Germanic territory. The goal of his daring venture is to free Atalus, the bishop’s nephew, who is being held captive by Count Kattwald in the Rheingau. The bishop gives Leon the password “Woe to him who lies!” to take with him, a rule the young man strictly adheres to. Eloquent and quick-witted, his truthful speech becomes the perfect means of deception, enabling him not only to find Atalus but also to organize all the necessary means for their escape. But the plan succeeds only because Edrita, the count’s young daughter, remains true to her feelings—her love for Leon—and helps the two strangers escape. Before Kattwald’s retinue, led by Edrita’s unloved fiancé Galomir, catches up with them, the three fugitives miraculously encounter the Franks who come to their rescue. Grillparzer’s comedy, which premiered at the Burgtheater in 1838, is a fairy-tale-like mystery play that explores the limits of what can be said, as well as the interplay of lies and deception in a “colorful and tangled” reality. From the play’s moral premise emerges a skeptical view of the world, in which only one’s own feelings can still vouch for the unspeakable truth.