Euryanthe
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| Operas by Carl Maria von Weber |
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Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn (1802) |
Euryanthe is a German Romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna on 25 October 1823. Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, the work is rarely staged because of the weak libretto by Helmina von Chézy. Only the overture, an outstanding example of the early German Romantic style (heralding Richard Wagner), is frequently played today. Like Schubert's lesser-known Alfonso und Estrella and Fierrabras, of the same time and place (Vienna, 1822 and 1823, respectively), Euryanthe parts with the German Singspiel tradition, adopting a musical approach free from the interruption of spoken dialog characteristic of earlier German language operas such as Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Beethoven's Fidelio, and Weber's own Der Freischütz.[1]
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[edit] 20th Century performance history
In spite of this situation, the opera has had several champions. During his term as director of the Vienna State Opera, Gustav Mahler mounted a new production of Euryanthe in 1903. Despite amendments in the libretto by Mahler himself (who described Wilhelmina von Chézy as a "poetess with a full heart and an empty head") and Max Kalbeck and a few changes in the score by Mahler, there were only 5 performances. Mahler knew better than anyone the weaknesses of the libretto and the absurdities of the plot; in particular, in the third act, the ludicrously implausible meeting of all the characters in the middle of a rocky waste, a scene which he always alluded to as 'the merry folk reunited'. Leo Slezak played Adolar, Leopold Demuth played Lysiart. [2]
The composer and musicologist Donald Francis Tovey regarded it as musically superior to Wagner's much better-known opera Lohengrin (whose plot and music echo Euryanthe in several respects, especially with regard to the use of Leitmotiv technique) and, like Mahler, worked on another performing version, while Arturo Toscanini conducted the La Scala premiere in 1902. Carlo Maria Giulini conducted a performance at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and several historic recordings of the opera are now available. It has also been staged more frequently in recent years.
[edit] Recordings
A DVD videorecording from the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari under Gerard Korsten, in which the opera is performed as Weber left it, is now commercially available. The 1976 premiere studio recording of the complete score features singers Jessye Norman, Nicolai Gedda, Tom Krause, and Rita Hunter; the Staatskapelle Dresden is conducted by Marek Janowski (who has also made recordings of Weber's other major operas Der Freischütz and Oberon).
[edit] References
- ^ Elizabeth Norman McKay: "Alfonso und Estrella", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed October 30, 2007), <http://www.grovemusic.com>.
- ^ Henri-Louis de La Grange, Gustav Mahler, Vienna: The Years of Challenge, Vol. 2 Oxford University Press 1995
[edit] Sources
- Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
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