The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 09

This volume brings listeners into the world of two of Germany’s most compelling mid‑nineteenth‑century dramatists. It opens with a concise biography of Friedrich Hebbel, tracing his rise from a humble stone‑mason’s son to a powerful voice in Romantic‑transitional theatre. Selected translations of his early works—such as the tragic “Maria Magdalena,” the mythic “Siegfried’s Death,” and the intimate drama “Anna”—follow, each rendered with care to preserve Hebbel’s striking emotional intensity.

The second half shifts focus to Otto Ludwig, whose prose and drama explore moral dilemmas and the tension between duty and desire. Listeners will hear Ludwig’s “The Hereditary Forester” and the reflective “Between Heaven and Earth,” accompanied by scholarly commentary that situates both writers within their artistic milieu. Though originally illustrated by contemporaneous painters, the narration captures the vivid imagery and historic resonance of these classics, offering a rich, accessible entry point into a pivotal era of German literature.