Libretto Translation | German Adaptions Of English Hit Musicals

In our video chat about libretto translation, I asked Michael Kunze about his highly successful German adaptions of famous hit musicals, such as Cats, A Chorus Line, Phantom Of The Opera, The Lion King, Evita, Mamma Mia, and numerous other musical world hits. I wondered how easy (or difficult) it is to translate a libretto from English into German.

A simple manual on wikiHow emphasizes the following points:

• Always remember that your translation must preserve the meaning of the original libretto (song).
• Remember how you feel the music? Sometimes it fills you with sadness sometimes with joy. First of all listen to the music. It will give you the main impression of the piece.
• Then listen to or read a text. Understand its meaning and translate it word for word.
• Then find suitable words in your own language which fit to the line and have rhymes. In the same time keep an eye or an ear on what you write.
• Sometimes your text may argue with the original one and may not express the meaning of the original, but it must provoke the same feelings as the original piece. But the main idea of the story must remain unchanged.

Michael Kunze goes much deeper with his answer. He explains the need to crawl or “creep” inside the original author’s mind and create the adaptation as if that author knew how to speak German with all its nuances and were writing the new libretto himself…

But what if the English or American author does not understand German one bit – how can he verify that the adaptation reflects the original spirit of his work? Andrew Lloyd Webber would certainly make sure that the quality of his masterpieces won’t suffer in a foreign-language translation…

Phantom image courtesy of Monique Wingard. Thank you.