Music Director
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Overture to Der Freischütz
In the nineteenth century, German Romantic opera began to take shape. The Singspiel borrowed elements from French opera while focusing on German nationalist themes. The work that established German Romantic opera was Weber’s Der Freischütz, which had its premier in Berlin in 1821.
Weber’s father was a musician who ran a theatre company, and his mother was a singer. Weber’s teachers included Michael Haydn, and Georg Joseph Vogler. Weber became the director of the opera at Prague in 1813, and of Dresden’s opera in 1816.
The libretto of Der Freischütz is typical of German Romantic Opera. Plots are taken from medieval history, legend, and even fairy tales. Supernatural creatures and events are combined with the fate of humans.
The story of Der Freischütz is derived from folklore, and from Goethe’s Faust. Caspar and Max are both in love with Agathe. Caspar has sold his soul to the devil, in the form of Samiel, the Black Huntsman. Caspar needs to provide another victim, so he persuades Max to bargain with Samiel for magic bullets which will help Max win a shooting contest for the hand of Agathe. The bullets will work, but Samiel has control over the last one. The final bullet kills Caspar.
Der Freischütz exemplified a new operatic style in Germany, using chromaticism and orchestral color to portray drama. Harmonic richness is attained through an emphasis on inner voices of the texture. Italian opera tends to emphasize melody much more..The Der Freischütz Overture presents themes from the opera in a complete sonata form movement with a slow introduction. The opera uses melodrama, or spoken lines alternating with sung text. The chromaticism and orchestration of Der Freischütz made the opera a great success.
Notes by Beth Bergman Fisher