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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

 

Opera Spotlight
by Michael Egel

There never was and in all likelihood never will be an opera so completely bound up with the sentiments, emotions, superstitions, and social customs of a people as Der Freischütz was to the German people in the 19th century.

Carl Maria von Weber lived from 1786 to 1826 and if one composer can be said to be the founder of German opera, he was acknowledged as such not only by his contemporaries but also by later musical giants Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Mixing quintessential German folkloric with supernatural characteristics, Weber created operas that crystallized a German sense of national identity in music (much the same way that Rossini and Verdi gave voice to Italian patriotism), launching a 19th century operatic movement in Germany that would overthrow the Italian monoply on German music and culminate in the epic operas of Richard Wagner.

Weber worked for years as a composer and impresario in Breslau, Prague, and Dresden, where he seemed to constantly meet with frustration in his efforts to free opera in Germany from the influence of Italian language and music. An early attempt at operatic composition came in 1813 in the form of the one-act opera, Abu Hassan (which will be performed this summer by members of the James M. Collier Apprentice Artist Program). Weber met with active and devious resistance from his musical colleagues to his efforts to establish a repertoire of opera in the German language by German composers. In 1821 he completed his opera Der Freischütz, which was immediately proclaimed throughout Germany and the rest of Europe as a masterpiece and proved to be a pivotal event in opera history. At last, here was a German-language opera that owed nothing to the musical traditions of the Italians or the French. Waved as a banner of national pride, Der Freischütz was the most frequently performed German opera during the 19th century and is still the most popular "homegrown" opera in Germany today. After its very successful first performance, Weber wrote in his diary, "Greater enthusiasm there cannot be, and I tremble to think of the future, for it is scarcely possible to rise higher than this." Mixing the supernatural and the demonic with representations of earthy peasant-life and Nature, Der Freischütz can serve as an introduction to German culture of the period. Max's victory was viewednot only as a triumph of good over evil, but as a victory of the German spirit.

It is apparent right from its overture, with its amazing deployment of the orchestra and thematic material from later in the opera, that this is an original and unique opera. It tells the tale of Max, a skilled huntsman, who must overcome his sudden and inexplicable loss of skill in order to win his beloved Agathe's hand in marriage at a shooting contest. To ensure his victory, he makes a pact with the devil to obtain seven magic bullets. Weber's characters are extraordinary: Agathe, Max and Caspar are fully developed characters who offer a wealth of opportunities for singing actors. The musical depiction of the famous Wolf's Glen scene is one of the most engrossing episodes in all German opera. It is the finest example of musical scene-painting before Wagner.

Weber achieves a remarkable dramatic cohesion via a very basic use of the leitmotif (associating characters and ideas with musical phrases). This new compositional technique served as a model for Richard Wagner, who achieved a more intricate use of the leitmotif. In Der Freischütz, mysterious harmonies, both demonic and folk-like choruses, the use of spoken dialogue, and the sumptuous orchestrations all combine to create a unique and powerful theatrical experience.