Der Schatzgräber
Encyclopedia
Der Schatzgräber is an opera
in four acts, with a prologue and an epilogue, by Franz Schreker
, libretto
by the composer.
Vienna.
in Frankfurt, conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg
. It was Schreker's most (but also his last) successful opera. It received 354 performances in over fifty cities between 1920 and 1924/1925, but after the change in the cultural and political climate in Germany, only a further 31 performances took place until 1932, by which time Schreker's music had been banned due to his Jewish ancestry.
The opera was revived in a concert performance in Vienna in 1985, followed by a fully staged production at the Hamburg State Opera
in 1989.
In 1922, Schreker prepared a Symphonic Interlude for concert performance, mainly drawn from the orchestral interlude from Act 3. This was premiered by the Concertgebouw Orchestra
conducted by Willem Mengelberg
in October 1923.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in four acts, with a prologue and an epilogue, by Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, his style is characterized by aesthetic plurality , timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and...
, libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by the composer.
Composition history
Schreker composed the opera between 1915 and 1918. He dated the completed manuscript full score 12 November 1918. The score is published by Universal EditionUniversal Edition
Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
Vienna.
Performance history
The opera was first performed on 21 January 1920 at the Alte OperAlte Oper
The Alte Oper is a major concert hall and former opera house in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The building was inaugurated in 1880. Many important works have been premiered at the Alte Oper, including Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937....
in Frankfurt, conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg
Ludwig Rottenberg
Ludwig Rottenberg was an Austrian/German composer and conductor.-Biography:Rottenberg came from a German-speaking Jewish family in Czernowitz, the then-capital of Bukovina, which at the time was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy...
. It was Schreker's most (but also his last) successful opera. It received 354 performances in over fifty cities between 1920 and 1924/1925, but after the change in the cultural and political climate in Germany, only a further 31 performances took place until 1932, by which time Schreker's music had been banned due to his Jewish ancestry.
The opera was revived in a concert performance in Vienna in 1985, followed by a fully staged production at the Hamburg State Opera
Hamburg State Opera
The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...
in 1989.
In 1922, Schreker prepared a Symphonic Interlude for concert performance, mainly drawn from the orchestral interlude from Act 3. This was premiered by the Concertgebouw Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...
conducted by Willem Mengelberg
Willem Mengelberg
Joseph Willem Mengelberg was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra.- Biography :...
in October 1923.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast 21 January 1920 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Ludwig Rottenberg Ludwig Rottenberg Ludwig Rottenberg was an Austrian/German composer and conductor.-Biography:Rottenberg came from a German-speaking Jewish family in Czernowitz, the then-capital of Bukovina, which at the time was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy... ) |
|---|---|---|
| The king | high bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Hans Erl Hans Erl Hans Tobias Erl was a German operatic bass.-Professional career:He began his actual career in the theatre during the 1908-1909 season at the Raimund-Theater in Vienna, after already having sung in the world premiere performance of Oscar Straus' operetta Die lustigen Nibelungen at the Wiener... |
| The queen | silent part | Marta Uersfeld |
| The chancellor | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Hermann Schramm Hermann Schramm Hermann Schramm was a German tenor who sang at the Frankfurt Opera in the 1920s and made several recordings for HMV Germany.Although he was Jewish he escaped the deportation and subsequent fate of his colleagues at the Frankfurt Opera, Richard Breitenfeld, Magda Spiegel, bass Hans Erl and... |
| The count | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Rudolf Brinkmann |
| The schoolmaster | bass | |
| The fool | tenor | Erik Wirl |
| The bailiff | baritone | Robert vom Scheidt Robert vom Scheidt Robert vom Scheidt was a German operatic baritone. He created roles in several world premieres, including Wolf in Franz Schreker's Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin , Vitellozzo Tamare/Andrea in Schreker's Die Gezeichneten , Baliv in Schreker's Der Schatzgräber , and Rabbi Leone in Eugène... |
| The young nobleman | baritone or high bass | |
| Elis | tenor | John Gläser |
| The mayor | bass | Carl Bauermann |
| The scribe | tenor | Otto Weindel |
| The innkeeper | bass | Josef Gareis |
| Els | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Emma Hol |
| Albi | lyric tenor | Franz Wartenberg |
| A soldier | low bass | Arthur Simon |
| First citizen | tenor | Hermann Schramm |
| Second citizen | baritone | Robert vom Scheidt |
| Third citizen | bass | Arthur Simon |
| First old maid | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
|
| Second old maid | mezzo-soprano (or contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... ) |
|
| A woman | contralto (or mezzo-soprano) |
Prologue
The queen has lost her jewels, and with them her beauty and fertility. The fool knows about Elis, a wandering minstrel whose magic lute points out all hidden treasures to him. The king promises the fool that he will be allowed to choose a wife as a reward, if Ellis can find the jewels.Act 1
Els, daughter of the innkeeper, has to marry a brutal but rich young nobleman she despises. She therefore sends him away to find the queen's jewels, and has him murdered by Albi, her servant. The minstrel Elis presents Els with an ornament he has found in the woods. Els falls in love with the young minstrel, but then the body of the dead nobleman is found in the woods; the bailiff, who wants Els for himself, arrests Elis on suspicion of murder.Act 2
Elis is to be hanged. Els seeks the advice of the fool, who promises to help. The king's messenger stops the execution at the last moment, so Elis can go in search of the ornament. To avoid being exposed, Els orders Albi to steal the minstrel's magic lute.Act 3
During a night of love, Els shows herself to Elis in the full beauty of the jewels. She hands over the jewellery to him, on condition that he will never ask her about the provenance, and will always trust her.Act 4
Elis has returned the jewels to the queen. During a celebration, the bailiff intervenes and announces that Albi has confessed to the murder. Els is denounced as the instigator of the murder, and the bailiff demands her immediate execution. But the fool reminds the king of his promise: he chooses Els as his wife and thus saves her from being executed.Epilogue
One year later, Els is dying. Only the fool has remained with her. He fetches the minstrel, who sings his most beautiful ballad for Els. She dies in the minstrel's arms.Instrumentation
The orchestral score requires:- 3 fluteWestern concert fluteThe Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
s (flute 3 doubling piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), 2 oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, English horn (doubling oboe 3), 2 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s in A/B flat, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
in B flat, 2 bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
; - 4 hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s in F, 3 trumpets in C, 3 tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, bass tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
; - timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, percussion (4 players), high bellBell (instrument)A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
s, 2 harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s, celestaCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
; - stringsString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
(violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s I, violins II, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, violoncellos, double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es).
Recordings
- In 1990 the German record label Capriccio released a live recording made in May/June 1989 at the Hamburg State OperaHamburg State OperaThe Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...
, with Gerd AlbrechtGerd AlbrechtGerd Albrecht is a German conductor. He was a first-prize winner at the International Conductors Competition in Besançon at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the Mainz Municipal Theatre, and Generalmusikdirektor in...
conducting the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester HamburgPhilharmoniker HamburgThe Philharmoniker Hamburg is a German symphony orchestra based in Hamburg. Its current Music Director is GMD Simone Young. It is also the orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera....
.