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Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber

Romantische Oper in three acts

Libretto by Johann Friedrich Kind, after Johann August Appel and Friedrich Laun's Gespensterbuch

First performance: Berlin; Schauspielhaus, June 18, 1821
Sung in German with English supertitles above the stage

It’s been said that without Carl Maria von Weber, there would be no Richard Wagner. In this classic German fairy tale, the young forester Max must win a shooting contest to gain the hand of his beloved Agathe. Will he bargain with his soul to secure glory and love? From the opera’s famous overture, to the eerie Wolf’s Glen scene, complete with supernatural effects, to its stunning conclusion, you will be swept to the edge of your seat by the unforgettable music and fantastic drama.

 

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CAST:

Hunters, peasants, spirits, attendants

Cast and opera are subject to change without notice.

PRODUCTION:

 

 

SETTING: Bohemia at the end of the Thirty Years War

Act III, Scene 1:

Act III, Scene 2:

Synopsis:

Act I: In front of an inn in the Bohemian forest
In a forest clearing the peasants conclude a shooting contest and wildly congratulate one of their number, Kilian, who has just bested Max, a professional forester and famed for his skill. As is the custom, they mock the loser, and Max does not take it well, finally attacking Kilian just as Max’s prospective father-in-law, Cuno, the hereditary chief forester, enters. Cuno is shocked by Max’s behavior and Kilian explains that they were teasing Max because he had missed all of his shots.

Caspar, another forester and something of a troublemaker, laughingly suggests that Max’s gun must be bewitched and that perhaps he should call in the dark powers for assistance. Cuno rebukes Caspar but states that the next day will be the forester’s Probeschuss (the test or trial shot) when the winner will be awarded his own daughter, Agathe’s, hand in marriage as well as the title of head forester.

Cuno tells of the origins of the trial shot, that it began with his grandfather who had shot a deer tied to a poacher’s back without harming the poacher. It was in this wondrous shot that the Probeschuss was immortalized. Some had suggested that the gun must have been loaded with Freikugeln (magic bullets), but most preferred to believe it was only the shooter’s skill.

After a hunting chorus and a peasant dance Max is left alone to ponder his fate. He and Agathe are deeply in love, and he wonders if heaven has forsaken him. Caspar returns and orders wine for the two of them. His rowdy drinking song enrages Max, but when he tries to leave Caspar suggests that he can help him in the trial shot the next day. He gives Max his gun and orders him to shoot an eagle barely visible in the dark. Max consents and brings down the massive bird. Caspar says it was a magic bullet and that he has none left. However, they can cast seven more if Max will meet him in the Wolf’s Glen at midnight. Max leaves. Caspar confesses he has bartered with Samiel, the Black Huntsman, and the time is up. He will offer Max to Samiel as a victim in his stead. He exults in Max’s impending damnation and his own freedom.

Act II, Scene 1: A room in Cuno’s house
Ännchen, Agathe’s charming and lighthearted cousin, is nailing up a portrait of great-grandfather Cuno that fell moments before, injuring Agathe.  Ännchen tries hard to cheer up her cousin and friend, but Agathe tells the girl that she is preoccupied by her visit with the Hermit, a holy man, who told her that something quite disturbing was about to happen and gave her white roses that came from the Holy Land.

Agathe looks out on the gathering night with a sadness that turns to joy as she thinks of her wedding and hears Max coming through the forest.

Max enters and explains that he must leave quickly ostensibly to gather up the carcass of a deer he left in the forest near the Wolf’s Glen. Neither Agathe nor Ännchen feels he should go near that dreadful place but he boldly states that a hunter must not be afraid of the forest at night. They bid a tender farewell and Ännchen is left to comfort Agathe.

Act II, Scene 2: The Wolf’s Glen
In the Wolf’s Glen Caspar intones a spell and a chorus of invisible spirits responds. A distant clock tolls twelve.  Samiel converses with Caspar as they wait for the arrival of Max. When he arrives he is haunted by visions of his dead mother and of Agathe who he perceives is leaping into the river rapids. When Max sees Caspar he insists the casting of the magic bullets must be Caspar’s work. Caspar purposely does not tell Max that though six of the seven bullets belong to the shooter, the seventh is controlled by Samiel. Between each of the seven castings there are horrifying supernatural manifestations: flapping night birds, charging wild boars, a hurricane, cracking whips, galloping horses and wheels of fire, thunder, lightning and meteors, and finally Samiel himself. Both Caspar and Max are thrown to the ground unconscious.
 

Act III, Scene 1: The forest
The next morning, a hunting party wanders through the forest. Max has made three magnificent shots that have awed his companions. He has only one bullet left and begs Caspar for his last one just in case he needs it for the Probeschuss. Caspar refuses to give it to him saying he had already given him four out of the seven. Max stalks off and Caspar gleefully shoots a fox with his last bullet, leaving only the seventh (the free shot) for Max.

Act III, Scene 2: Agathe’s room
Agathe wears her wedding dress and sings of her trust in God. She tells Ännchen about a bad dream in which she saw herself as a white dove and when Max fired his gun she fell. Then the dove vanished and she was herself again but a bleeding black bird lay at her feet. Ännchen tries to quiet her anxiety by telling her of an old aunt who was nearly frightened to death by a ghost that turned out to be Nero, the watch dog.

The bridesmaids arrive and sing a folk song about the bridal wreath that she will wear. Ännchen comes in with the wedding wreath box. They open it but instead there is a funeral wreath. The women are distraught. Agathe and Ännchen decide to use the Hermit’s white roses for the bridal crown and they all leave for the trial shot and the subsequent wedding.

Act III, Scene 3: A romantic landscape on the edge of the forest
Prince Ottokar and his retainers await the contest. Cuno asks that the trial shot be fired before his daughter arrives. The Prince points to a white dove on a branch as the target. Agathe enters just as Max takes aim and Agathe screams not to shoot because she is the dove. The Hermit shakes the branch and the dove flies to another tree in which Caspar is hiding.

As the bullet rends the air, both Agathe and Caspar fall. Everyone thinks that Max has shot his beloved, but she revives and only Caspar is fatally wounded, seeing Samiel in his death agonies and cursing both Heaven and Hell. Ottokar asks Max to tell his tale and Max fully confesses. After the confession the Prince banishes him, much to the consternation of Agathe, Cuno and the people assembled. The Hermit, who all respect as a holy man, intervenes and suggests that Max be given a year to prove himself. Ottokar agrees to allow this and assures the assembly that if all goes well he will officiate at Max’s wedding to Agathe. Everyone sings a hymn of praise and thanks for God’s mercy.