Günther von Schwarzburg (opera)
Encyclopedia
Singspiel
A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...
in three acts by Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer was a composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the Sturm und Drang "movement" of German art and literature.Holzbauer was born in Vienna...
set to a German 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 Anton Klein. Loosely based on events in the life of the 14th century German king, Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther XXI von Schwarzburg , German king, was a descendant of the counts of Schwarzburg and the younger son of Henry VII, count of Blankenburg....
, the opera premiered on 5 January 1777 at the Hoftheater in the Mannheim Palace
Mannheim Palace
Mannheim Palace is a large Baroque palace in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electoral Palatinate...
.
Background
Holzbauer's librettist, Anton Klein, a former Jesuit who taught philosophy and literature at Mannheim University, was a strong advocate for the use of German and set about writing a libretto comparable to those written for Italian opera seriaOpera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
. The writing was also influenced by contemporary Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang is a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s, in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism...
literature. However the colourful music was praised more than the drama when it was originally heard. Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
attended a performance on 5 November 1777 and in a letter to his father
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
on 14 November 1777, he praised the music but scorned the libretto:
Holzbauer's music is very beautiful, but the poetry is not worthy of such music. What surprises me the most is, that so old a man as Holzbauer [66 years] should still have so much spirit, for the opera is incredibly full of fire.
Günther von Schwarzburg was the first full German opera score to come off a printing press. The beautifully engraved edition was published by the Mannheim firm of Johann Michael Götz with a dedication to Karl Theodor
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
Charles Theodore, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector and Count palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777, until his death...
: "the most illustrious patron of music under whose august protection the Palatinate Theatre has first praised a German hero".
Performance history
The first performance took place at the Hoftheater in MannheimMannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
on January 5, 1777
1777 in music
- Events :*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart resigns his position in the Salzburg court.*Samuel Arnold becomes musical director of the Haymarket Theatre in London.*Über die Theorie der Musik by Johann Nikolaus Forkel is published in Göttingen....
in a lavish production with sets designed by Lorenzo Quaglio
Lorenzo Quaglio
Lorenzo Quaglio was a German stage designer of Italian extraction. He worked mainly in Mannheim and in Munich, where he designed the first production of Idomeneo.-References:James Anderson, The Complete Dictionary of Opera and Operetta....
. The performance also included a ballet choreographed
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
by Étienne Lauchery to music by Christian Cannabich
Christian Cannabich
Johann Christian Innocenz Bonaventura Cannabich , was a German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister of the Classical era...
. The cast included two of the most famous singers of the day, Anton Raaff
Anton Raaff
Anton Raaff was a German tenor from Gelsdorf near Bonn.-Career:He studied at the Jesuit school in Bonn where the Elector of Bavaria, Clement Augustus, heard him singing and paid for him to train professionally. Raaff was brought to the capital, Munich, where he was engaged on an annual salary of...
as Günther von Schwarzburg and Francesca Lebrun
Francesca Lebrun
Francesca Lebrun, née Danzi , was a noted 18th-century German singer and composer.She was born Franziska Dorothea Danzi in Mannheim, Germany. Her father was the Italian-born cellist Innocenz Danzi and her younger brother was the composer and cellist Franz Danzi...
(née Franziska Danzi) as Anna, a role which Holzbauer had composed specifically for her voice. The opera was successfully revived in Mannheim in 1785. Modern revivals of the opera include a radio broadcast (RAI) in 1960, sung in Italian, with Luigi Infantino
Luigi Infantino
Luigi Infantino was an Italian operatic tenor, particularly associated with the lyric Italian and French repertories.Luigi Infantino studied at the Parma Conservatory with Italo Brancucci...
and Anna Moffo
Anna Moffo
Anna Moffo was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation...
, conducted by Oliviero De Fabritiis
Oliviero De Fabritiis
Oliviero De Fabritiis was an Italian conductor and composer.Born in Rome, where he studied with Refice and Setaccialo. He made his debut at the Teatro Nazionale in Rome in 1920, and later moved to the Teatro Adriano. He was artistic secretary at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma from 1932 until 1943...
, and the 1994 concert performance in Frankfurt conducted by Michael Schneider
Michael Schneider (conductor)
Michael Schneider is a German flautist, recorder player, conductor and academic teacher. He is especially connected with later baroque repertoire such as the works of Telemann, and founded the orchestra La Stagione to perform that repertoire.-Professional career:Schneider studied flute and...
with Christoph Prégardien
Christoph Prégardien
Christoph Prégardien is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music...
in the title role and the 1997 concert performance in Amsterdam conducted by Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
with John Aler
John Aler
John Aler is an American lyric tenor who performs in concerts, recitals, and operas. He is particularly known for his interpretations of the works of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Handel....
in the title role.
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, 5 January 1777 (Conductor: ) |
|---|---|---|
| Karl, King of Bohemia | 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... |
Franz Hartig |
| Günther von Schwarzburg | tenor | Anton Raaff Anton Raaff Anton Raaff was a German tenor from Gelsdorf near Bonn.-Career:He studied at the Jesuit school in Bonn where the Elector of Bavaria, Clement Augustus, heard him singing and paid for him to train professionally. Raaff was brought to the capital, Munich, where he was engaged on an annual salary of... |
| Rudolf II, Count Palatine | 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... |
Ludwig Fischer Ludwig Fischer (bass) Johann Ignaz Ludwig Fischer , commonly called Ludwig Fischer, was a German opera singer, a notable bass of his time.-Life:... |
| Anna, daughter of Rudolf | 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... |
Franziska Danzi Francesca Lebrun Francesca Lebrun, née Danzi , was a noted 18th-century German singer and composer.She was born Franziska Dorothea Danzi in Mannheim, Germany. Her father was the Italian-born cellist Innocenz Danzi and her younger brother was the composer and cellist Franz Danzi... |
| Asberta, Dowager Queen, Karl's mother | soprano | Barbara Strasser |
Synopsis
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
and Count Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther XXI von Schwarzburg , German king, was a descendant of the counts of Schwarzburg and the younger son of Henry VII, count of Blankenburg....
to succeed Ludwig the Bavarian
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
as Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. Günther is supported by the powerful Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
, Rudolf II. However, Asberta indulges in intrigue on behalf of her son Karl by manipulating Anna, Rudolf's daughter. In the end, both Günther and his antagonist Asberta die. Günther is poisoned by Asberta, and she commits suicide. Karl secures his throne and marries Anna.
Recording
- Ignaz Holzbauer: Günther von Schwarzburg (Christoph PrégardienChristoph PrégardienChristoph Prégardien is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music...
(tenor), Claron McFadden (soprano), Clarry Bartha (soprano), Michael Schopper (bass), Robert Worle (tenor), La Stagione Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Michael SchneiderMichael Schneider (conductor)Michael Schneider is a German flautist, recorder player, conductor and academic teacher. He is especially connected with later baroque repertoire such as the works of Telemann, and founded the orchestra La Stagione to perform that repertoire.-Professional career:Schneider studied flute and...
). Live performance, Frankfurt 1994. Capriccio CPO 999265.
External links
- Score part 1 and part 2 in Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst, vols. 8 and 9, 1902, Breitkopf & HärtelBreitkopf & HärtelBreitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...
, foreword by Hermann KretzschmarHermann KretzschmarAugust Ferdinand Hermann Kretzschmar was a German musicologist and writer, and is considered a founder of interpretation in musical study.- Career :...
, at Bavarian State LibraryBavarian State LibraryThe Bavarian State Library in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 9.39 million books, it ranks among the best research libraries...
- Essay on Günther von Schwarzburg (in German) with photographs of Ignaz Holzbauer's manuscriptManuscriptA manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
score.