Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 9th of October 2011 at 3.03 - 6.05 pm
WEBER: Der Freischütz, an opera in three actsSunday 9th of October 2011 at 3.03 - 6.05 pm
Max.............................. Andrew Kennedy
Agathe.......................... Sophie Karthäuser
Kaspar.......................... Gidon Saks
Aennchen...................... Virginie Pochon
Kuno............................ Matthew Brook
Hermit........................... Luc Bertin-Hugault
Kilian............................ Samuel Evans
Ottokar......................... Robert Davies
Monteverdi Chorus, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
John Eliot Gardiner
(recorded in the Royal Albert Hall, London by the BBC)
Kaspar.......................... Gidon Saks
Aennchen...................... Virginie Pochon
Kuno............................ Matthew Brook
Hermit........................... Luc Bertin-Hugault
Kilian............................ Samuel Evans
Ottokar......................... Robert Davies
Monteverdi Chorus, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
John Eliot Gardiner
(recorded in the Royal Albert Hall, London by the BBC)
REVIEW
REVIEW
REVIEW
This is the first opportunity I have had to comment on an opera (The Free Shooter) which I saw long ago, and have been admiring ever since, studying the German libretto I bought in my student years. This was the first German romantic opera (and I do not mean simply that it has a love story in it). In high school my German teacher said that this was the opera that inspired Wagner.
Sadly, Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) died of tuberculosis, and he lost two months of his productive life after mistakenly drinking deadly acid from a wine bottle; his father used it for engraving, and Carl himself learned the art to make the plates for his own music.
I recall a production at Melbourne University, when my young son Michael was so interested in looking into the orchestra pit that the conductor had to tell him to go back to his seat so that he could start the second part. One thing that intrigued him was the chess game in the brass section. That reminded me of a book I was reading in those days, namely Nights in the Orchestra, in which Hector Berlioz reported discussions he allegedly had with musicians during performances of operas.
Berlioz had an interesting connection with this "free-shooting" opera: it contains spoken dialogue (like Mozart's Seraglio, and Beethoven's Fidelio), and this was not allowed in the Paris Opera House (same problem with Bizet's Carmen), so Berlioz was commissioned to fix it, and to add a ballet (obligatory, as Wagner and Verdi well knew); he orchestrated Weber's piano piece known as Invitation to to the Dance (Dum di dum dum dum) for the occasion.
For this Proms performance on original instruments, the French version is presented, without staging (the orchestra fills the stage), though there is action, overseen by the head of Sir Henry Wood.
The three reviews offered above seem to suggest that it is better to just listen. Warning: we will hear some gunshots (from magic bullets).
REVIEW
REVIEW
This is the first opportunity I have had to comment on an opera (The Free Shooter) which I saw long ago, and have been admiring ever since, studying the German libretto I bought in my student years. This was the first German romantic opera (and I do not mean simply that it has a love story in it). In high school my German teacher said that this was the opera that inspired Wagner.
Sadly, Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) died of tuberculosis, and he lost two months of his productive life after mistakenly drinking deadly acid from a wine bottle; his father used it for engraving, and Carl himself learned the art to make the plates for his own music.
I recall a production at Melbourne University, when my young son Michael was so interested in looking into the orchestra pit that the conductor had to tell him to go back to his seat so that he could start the second part. One thing that intrigued him was the chess game in the brass section. That reminded me of a book I was reading in those days, namely Nights in the Orchestra, in which Hector Berlioz reported discussions he allegedly had with musicians during performances of operas.
Berlioz had an interesting connection with this "free-shooting" opera: it contains spoken dialogue (like Mozart's Seraglio, and Beethoven's Fidelio), and this was not allowed in the Paris Opera House (same problem with Bizet's Carmen), so Berlioz was commissioned to fix it, and to add a ballet (obligatory, as Wagner and Verdi well knew); he orchestrated Weber's piano piece known as Invitation to to the Dance (Dum di dum dum dum) for the occasion.
For this Proms performance on original instruments, the French version is presented, without staging (the orchestra fills the stage), though there is action, overseen by the head of Sir Henry Wood.
The three reviews offered above seem to suggest that it is better to just listen. Warning: we will hear some gunshots (from magic bullets).
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