[Met Performance] CID:3040

Metropolitan Opera Premiere, New Production

Der Freischütz
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, November 24, 1884




Der Freischütz (1)
Carl Maria von Weber | Friedrich Kind
Max
Anton Schott

Agathe
Marie Schröder-Hanfstängl

Caspar
Joseph Kögel

Ännchen
Auguste Seidl-Kraus

Ottokar
Adolf Robinson

Hermit
Ludwig Wolf

Kilian
Otto Kemlitz

Cuno
Joseph Miller

Samiel
Max Risse [Only performance]

Bridesmaid
Anna Stern


Conductor
Leopold Damrosch


Director
Wilhelm Hock

Carl Maria von Weber



Der Freischütz received three performances this season.

Review 1:

Review in The Evening Post

On the programme of the Metropolitan Opera House is printed a list of twenty-two operas that are to be produced this winter; and of these no fewer than ten contain a mythic or supernatural element. It is no longer the old Greek myth that is to be found in these nineteenth-century operas. That was rendered so threadbare by the composers of the last century that it had to be given over finally to the clown Offenbach. It is the Northern mythology, which by its more sombre and tragic elements is more potent in stirring our imagination. Weber is the great genius who first saw the pure gold of this new vein. He was closely imitated by Marschner, and in a more original and independent manner by the young Wagner. Nothing could afford a better proof of the correctness of Wagner's theory that mythology is the proper sphere of the music-drama than Weber's predilection for the supernatural as shown in his "Freischutz," "Oberon," and "Euryanthe;" and the fact that Mozart likewise introduced it into his two best operas, "Don Juan" and "Magic Flute." The whole movement received its first great impulse through the "Freischutz;" and this alone would suffice to secure for this opera immortal fame, even if it were not kept alive by its fresh and exquisite music.

How fresh and exquisite this music is was forcibly shown once more last evening when it was sung at the Metropolitan Opera House by an excellent cast, including Frau Schroeder Hanfstängl, Frau Krauss, Herr Schott, and Herr Koegel-singers whose vocal powers are of different degrees of merit, but all of whom united with the chorus and orchestra in interpreting the music with the artless simplicity and deep feeling that?it calls for. One is at a loss to explain why this opera which has been sung over a thousand times in at least one German city, and is one of the six operas most frequently given in Paris, should have been so much neglected in recent years by the opera companies that have honored us with their visits. Those who are able to appreciate a rich and varied orchestral score would always be grateful for a chance to hear "Der Freischutz," which contains not a few "prophetic allusions" to Wagner. Those, on the other hand, who are always clamoring for "melody" should be delighted with Weber's opera, for surely there never was a work so brimful of the choicest melodies and tunes in the form of solos as well as ensemble numbers. In the last act, indeed, this melodic wealth becomes quite amazing and seems almost prodigal, as in "Lohengrin." But perhaps the people who clamor for "melody" have in their mind something quite different-the runs, trills, and other fioriture of the Rossini school. These, indeed, Weber avoided, for his taste was too refined and his sense of dramatic propriety too acute to permit any resort to such cheap clap-trap for catching applause. Nevertheless, we believe that it is not too late for the "Freischutz" to become popular in America. The taste for Italian ornamental song is less pronounced than it was some years ago, while that for pure melody, as represented in Weber's operas, will never die out because it is the song of nature. It must be borne in mind that the present generation has had no opportunity to pass intelligent judgment on "Der Freischutz" and other German operas. They have been sung by Italian artists, whose only care was applause and personal glory; who despised these operas because in them the music is of more importance than the singer; and who therefore did not do them justice. At the Metropolitan these faults are obviated, and the only thing to be regretted is that the house is not smaller, because an opera like the "Freischutz" would be much more effective in a theatre the size of the Casino.

It has been suggested that Dr. Damrosch, instead of putting this opera on the stage in its original form, with German dialogue alternating with the music, should have adopted the French version, in which the dialogue is replaced by recitative composed by Berlioz. We believe this would have been an unwise proceeding. The German dialogue is not intelligible to many, but neither is the Italian secco-recitative, with which non-Italian audiences have put up for scores of years. And as for Berlioz's recitatives, they are not generally considered a success. Berlioz himself was averse to writing them, and was only induced to accept the task by the knowledge that if he refused, some one else less competent and less in sympathy with Weber would accomplish it. When the "Freischutz" was to be produced in Paris with the added recitatives and ballet prescribed by the absurd rules of the Grand Opéra, Wagner happened to be In Paris, and he wrote an open letter in which he declared, "That you select this composer (Berlioz) does you honor and proves that you know how to value our masterwork. I know of no one among living French composers who so well comprehends. the score of the "Freischutz" as the author of the "Symphonie Fantastique," and is so capable as he to enlarge it, if this be necessary. He is a man of genius, and no one recognizes more fully than the irresistible power of his poetic gift," etc. But after the performance he clanged his opinion, as he discovered that Berlioz, although very conscientious, had not expended any originality on the recitatives, which were unattractive in themselves, destroyed the effectiveness of the simple melodies, and prolonged the performance intolerably without adding any new features of interest.



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