149
See also: The Magic Flute 134 –137 ■ The Barber of Seville 14 8 ■
La traviata 174 –175 ■ The Ring Cycle 180 –187 ■ Tosca 194 –197A
n example of a Viennese
Singspiel (“play in song”),
which links songs with
spoken dialogue, Carl Maria
von Weber’s Der Freischütz (The
Freeshooter) tells the story of Max,
a young huntsman from Bohemia
who is persuaded by the wicked
Caspar to take part in a shooting
contest that will win Max the
hand of Agathe. To ensure victory,
Caspar gives him magic bullets
forged in the Wolf’s Glen.Premiered in Berlin in 1821, Der
Freischütz propelled its composer
to stardom. Its success was partly
because it was grounded firmly
in German culture, using easily
recognizable characters, settings,
folklore, and folk music. Weber had
envisaged a great new German
opera tradition.
The combination of national
pride, emotional content, and the
depiction of the supernatural
impressed the young Richard
Wagner, who saw Der Freischütz at
the age of nine. At the same time,
Weber’s innovative orchestration,
especially the evocative use of
woodwinds and horns, influenced
Berlioz, Mahler, and Debussy.
Weber wrote two more operas.
He was in London to conduct the
premiere of his last work, Oberon,
in 1826, when he died of
tuberculosis, aged 39. ■The magic bullets used in the
shooting contest in Der Freischütz
are fired in the spooky Wolf’s Glen,
depicted here in an aquatint of the
opera scene.MUSIC IS TRULY
LOVE ITSELF
DER FREISCHÜTZ (1821),
CARL MARIA VON WEBERIN CONTEXT
FOCUS
German Romantic operaBEFORE
1791 Moza rt’s The Magic
Flute, the supreme example
of the Singspiel tradition, is
performed in Vienna.1816 The premiere of E.T.A.
Hoffmann’s Romantic opera
Undine, about a water spirit
who marries a human, takes
place in Berlin.AFTER
1833 Heinrich Marschner’s
opera Hans Heiling, like his
earlier success Der Va mpy r,
contrasts the real and
supernatural worlds.1834 Richard Wagner
completes his opera Die
Feen (The Fairies), which is
heavily influenced by Weber’s
Der Freischütz.ROMANTIC 1810 –1920
US_148-149_Rossini_Weber.indd 149 26/03/18 1:00 PM