![Franz Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder 1875](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Franz_Schubert_by_Wilhelm_August_Rieder_1875.jpg)
''Fierrabras'', 796, is a three-act German
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
with spoken dialogue written by the composer
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
in 1823, to a
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by
Joseph Kupelwieser
Joseph Kupelwieser (14 January 1791 – 2 February 1866) was an Austrian playwright, librettist, dramaturge and theatre director. Working at Vienna theatres for decades, he wrote the libretto for Franz Schubert's opera ''Fierrabras''.
Biograph ...
, the general manager of the
Theater am Kärntnertor
or (Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna).
History
The theatre was built in 1709 to designs by Ant ...
(Vienna's Court Opera Theatre). Along with the earlier ''
Alfonso und Estrella
' (''Alfonso and Estrella''), 732, is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822. Along with the later '' Fierrabras'', composed in 1823, it marks Schubert's attempt to compose grand Ro ...
'', composed in 1822, it marks Schubert's attempt to compose grand Romantic opera in German, departing from the
Singspiel
A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk-like ...
tradition. It had to wait until 1897 for a (relatively) complete performance.
Composition history and background
The commission
The Kärntnertor Theater in 1822 commissioned operas from Schubert and
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...
in a drive to increase the number of German operas in repertoire. Schubert fulfilled his commission with ''Fierrabras'', Weber his with ''
Euryanthe
''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, ...
''. The Italian theatre director
Domenico Barbaja
Domenico Barbaia (also spelled Barbaja; 10 August 1777 – 19 October 1841) was best known as an opera Italian impresario.
An energetic man, Barbaia, who was born in Milan, began his career by running a coffee shop. He made his first fortune by ...
, who had taken over the theatre in 1821, at the same time brought
Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
to Vienna to oversee production of several of his operas at the Kärntnertor Theater. Rossini's operas were so popular that ''Euryanthe'' unsuccessfully premiered in October 1823, resulting in the shelving of plans to stage ''Fierrabras'', and the resignation of Joseph Kupelwieser as director of the theatre, complaining of "arrogance" on the part of Barbaja.
As a result, Schubert never saw the opera staged, or even received payment for his work.
The libretto
The libretto by Kupelwieser is about the adventures of the
Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
Fierabras
Fierabras (from French: ', "brave/formidable arm") or Ferumbras is a fictional Saracen knight (sometimes of gigantic stature) appearing in several '' chansons de geste'' and other material relating to the Matter of France. He is the son of Balan ...
, and his eventual conversion to Christianity. It is based on stories surrounding
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
, including tales of how Fierrabras' sister falls in love with one of Charlemagne's knights, and the love interest between Charlemagne's daughter Emma and another of his knights, Eginhard. Kupelwieser had likely drawn his inspiration from German publications of the tales of Charlemagne, including an 1806 translation ' by
Calderón
Calderón () is a Spanish and Sefardi occupational surname. It is derived from the Vulgar Latin "''caldaria''" ("cauldron") and refers to the occupation of tinker.
Calderón, or Calderon, may refer to:
* Alberto Calderón, Argentine mathematician ...
. Notable deviations from the sources include the name of the Moorish prince (
Baligant in the sources, Boland in the libretto), the spelling of Fierrabras (usually "Fierabras"), and the love interest of Fierrabras' sister (Kupelwieser used
Roland
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
as her lover, where the legends have
Gui de Bourgogne.)
Kupelwieser, who did not have great experience at libretto-writing,
submitted the completed libretto to the censors on July 21, 1823, and it was approved on August 19 with minor changes, well after Schubert had started work on the music. Since Kupelwieser, as director of the Kärntnertor Theater, had experience dealing with
Prince Metternich
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
's censors, he appears to have engaged in self-censorship to avoid difficulties with the libretto.
For example, instead of referring to the partisans in the drama as French and Spanish, he labels them as Franks and Moors. He also referred to a "supreme faith" rather than Christianity.
The music
Schubert frequently marked his manuscripts with dates indicating when he worked on them. The manuscripts for this work show the following dates:
*Act 1: 25 – 30 May 1823
*Act 2: 31 May – 5 June 1823
*Act 3: 7 June – 26 September 1823
*Overture: 2 October 1823
As the libretto was not approved by the censors until August 1823, Schubert was required to make some small changes to already-composed material.
Performance history
![Fierrabras 0461 Michelides](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Fierrabras_0461_Michelides.jpg)
On May 7, 1835 (seven years after Schubert's death), at the
Theater in der Josefstadt
The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''.
Following ...
, Vienna, a
concert version
A concert performance or concert version is a performance of a musical theater or opera in concert form, without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers.
Concert performances are commonly presented in c ...
of several numbers was staged. The work is generally considered to suffer from an extremely weak libretto.
Its first full performance was not until 1897, despite "much magnificent music in Schubert’s score", when it was given at the
Hoftheater Karlsruhe under the direction of
Felix Mottl
right
Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911) was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which ''Agnes Bernauer'' (Weima ...
. The 1897 performance was edited by Mottl for the tastes of the day, resulting in scenes being cut, and ballet interludes injected into the performance.
In the 20th century, the opera received a radio broadcast from
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on January 14, 1926. A London concert of November 6, 1938 featured excerpts from the work.
An abridged version of the opera was given in a 1959 radio broadcast from
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
, and later issued on record.
The first British performance was a Radio 3 broadcast on April 10, 1971.
Concert versions of the opera were presented in 1978 in
Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
, and in 1980 in
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
, and staged revivals (presumably of the Mottl version) took place in the early 1980s in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
, and
Hermance
Hermance () is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
History
Hermance is first mentioned in 1247 as ''intra Armentia''. In 1271 it was mentioned as ''Eremencia''.
Geography
Hermance has an area, , of . Of this area, or 57.6% ...
.
In 1988,
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...
directed performances of a complete staging of the opera (likely the first performances that used all of Schubert's music) at the
Theater an der Wien
The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...
, which formed the basis of the first complete recording of the work.
Roles
Synopsis
Act 1
Emma, the daughter of King Karl (
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
, from the German name for Charlemagne, ), is in love with Eginhard. Their love must be kept secret since Karl does not approve. Karl's knights, led by Roland, have defeated the Moors and captured Fierrabras, the son of the Moorish prince Boland. Karl does not imprison Fierrabras. When they are brought to Karl's castle, Fierrabras spies Emma, and recognizes her as someone he fell in love with in Rome. Eginhard and Emma meet in the garden at night, but are interrupted by Fierrabras. The lovers plead with Fierrabras to protect Eginhard from Karl. Fierrabras agrees, and Eginhard makes his escape. The king approaches, and, thinking Fierrabras is trying to kidnap Emma, has him thrown in chains. As the act ends, Eginhard and the knights are preparing to leave.
Act 2
Eginhard (without clarifying the matter concerning Emma and Fierrabras) has been sent to Boland with Roland and Karl's other knights for peace talks. The Moors surprise Eginhard, capture him, and bring him to the Moorish castle, where Boland and his daughter Florinda are concerned over Fierrabras' fate. Eginhard informs them of Fierrabras' imprisonment. The rest of Karl's knights arrive for the peace talks. Boland, upset over Fierrabras' imprisonment, takes them prisoner and condemns them to death. Among the knights, his daughter Florinda recognizes Roland, (with whom she fell in love while in Rome) and decides to try to help them. She manages to free Eginhard, and, after a brief interlude with Roland, frees the knights from the castle prison. The knights, after battle in which Roland is captured, are returned to the prison, where Boland is upset over Florinda's behavior.
Act 3
Emma, who is waiting for Eginhard's return, confesses to her father that Fierrabras is innocent, and that she and Eginhard are in love. Karl frees Fierrabras, and they leave with Eginhard to go to the Moorish castle to free the imprisoned knights. The knights are being led to the execution pyre. Florinda pleads with Boland to spare Roland. In anger, Boland says that if she loves Roland, she can die with him. Karl, Eginhard, and Fierrabras arrive just in time to stop the executions, and convince Boland to release the knights. Karl and Boland make peace and allow Roland and Florinda to marry, as well as Eginhard and Emma. Fierrabras joins Karl's knights.
Recordings
* 1959 – Myto MCD 89001:
Otto von Rohr, Sieglinde Kahmann,
Raymond Wolansky
Raymond Wolansky (15 February 1926 – 1 December 1998) was an American operatic baritone who made a career in Europe. A long-term member of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, he appeared in leading roles such as Verdi's Nabucco and Rigoletto at internati ...
, Hans Ulrich Mielsch,
Fritz Wunderlich
Friedrich "Fritz" Karl Otto Wunderlich (26 September 1930 – 17 September 1966) was a German lyric tenor, famed for his singing of the Mozart repertory and various lieder. He died in an accident aged 35.
Biography
Wunderlich was born in Kusel in ...
, Rudo Timper,
Hetty Plümacher
Hedwig Mathilde Plümacher (3 December 1919 – 3 June 2005) was a German operatic singer who appeared on stage as Hetty Plümacher. A long-term member of the Staatstheater Stuttgart, she also performed at international festivals and major opera ...
, Melanie Geissler, Manfred Röhrl;
Südfunk-Chor; Radio Bern Chamber Chorus; Bern State Orchestra;
Hans Müller-Kray
Hans Müller-Kray (13 October 1908 – 30 May 1969) was a German conductor, music director and academic teacher.
Life and career
Hans Müller was born in Essen-Kray. He grew up as the youngest of 14 children of the mining foreman Karl Müller, ...
, conductor (highly abridged, from a radio broadcast)
* 1978, September 16, live in Perugia – House of Opera CDR 25247: /Rinaldi/Cortez/Orth/
Werner Hollweg
Werner Hollweg (13 September 1936 in Solingen - 1 January 2007 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German operatic tenor. He is best known for his interpretation of Mozart's operas. Hollweg died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic l ...
/Schramm/Hillebrand
* 1988, May 8–23, live* –
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
427 341-2 (2-CD set): Robert Holl,
Karita Mattila
Karita Marjatta Mattila (born 5 September 1960) is a Finnish operatic soprano.
Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastill ...
,
Thomas Hampson
Thomas Walter Hampson (born June 28, 1955) is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings.
Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a range ...
,
Robert Gambill
Robert Gambill (born March 31, 1955 in Indianapolis) is an opera singer (Heldentenor).
Biography
Gambill studied mathematics at Purdue University (1973-1976) before becoming an exchange student at Hamburg University in Germany, where he ad ...
, Josef Protschka,
László Polgár
László Polgár (born 11 May 1946) is a Hungarian chess teacher and educational psychologist. He is the father of the famous Polgár sisters: Zsuzsa, Zsófia, and Judit, whom he raised to be chess prodigies, with Judit and Zsuzsa becoming ...
,
Cheryl Studer
Cheryl Studer (born October 24, 1955) is an American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's foremost opera houses. Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated ...
,
Brigitte Balleys
Brigitte Balleys (born 18 June 1959) is a Swiss mezzo-soprano in opera and concert.
Biography
Born in the canton of Vaud, Brigitte Balleys studied at Sion,
then at the Conservatory of Bern where she graduated from the singing class of Jakob St ...
,
Hartmut Welker
Hartmut Welker (born 27 October 1941) is a German operatic bass-baritone.
Career
Welker was born in Velbert. Before he decided to study singing, he had learned and practiced the profession as a toolmaker. At the age of 28, he began studying sing ...
;
Arnold Schoenberg Choir
The Arnold Schoenberg Choir (german: Arnold Schoenberg Chor) is a Viennese/Austrian choir which was founded 1972 by Erwin Ortner, who is still its artistic director. The choir has a high reputation both among conductors and among critics and the ...
;
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE), established in 1981, is an orchestra based in London. The orchestra comprises about 60 members from across Europe. The players pursue parallel careers as international soloists, members of chamber groups and ...
;
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...
, conductor (first essentially complete recording;
*Cheryl Studer's contribution was a studio overlay, as she did not sing in the live run)
* 2002, Zurich – Premiere Opera DVD 8907: Welser-Möst/Kozlowska/Chuchrova/Strehl/Kaufmann/Volle/Polgár
* 2006 –
EMI Classics
EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded musi ...
00969 (DVD):
Jonas Kaufmann
Jonas Kaufmann (born 10 July 1969) is a German operatic tenor. He is best known for the versatility of his repertoire, performing a variety of opera roles in multiple languages in recitalTommasini, Anthony (21 February 2014)"A Tenor Finds Energy ...
,
Juliane Banse
Juliane Banse (born 10 July 1969 in Tettnang, Germany) is a German opera soprano and noted singer.
Banse received her vocal training at the Zürich Opera, and with Brigitte Fassbaender in Munich. She won first prize in the singing competition of ...
,
Christoph Strehl, László Polgár, Guido Gotzen,
Franz Welser-Möst
Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Biography
Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...
, conductor,
Claus Guth
Claus Guth (born 1964) is a German theatre director, focused on opera. He has directed operas at major houses and festivals, including world premieres such as works of the Munich Biennale, and Berio's '' Cronaca del luogo'' at the Salzburg Festiv ...
, director, Chorus and Orchestra of the
Zurich Opera House
* 2014
C Major730804 (Blu-Ray):
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...
;
Georg Zeppenfeld,
Julia Kleiter,
Markus Werba,
Franz Gruber;
Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
,
Ingo Metzmacher
Ingo Metzmacher (born 10 November 1957 in Hanover) is a German conductor and artistic director of the festival KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover.
Life
Ingo Metzmacher is the son of the cellist Rudolf Metzmacher and the research biolo ...
, conductor;
Peter Stein, director
Notes
References
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
* Speidel, Liane: ''Franz Schubert – ein Opernkomponist? Am Beispiel des "Fierrabras" (Wiener Schriften zur Stilkunde und Aufführungspraxis)'' Wien 2012 (published as thesis under her maiden name L. Redenbacher: ''Warum war Franz Schubert als Opernkomponist nicht erfolgreich? eine Analyse am Beispiel des Fierrabras''. Wien 2007.)
External links
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{{Authority control
German-language operas
Matter of France
Operas by Franz Schubert
Operas
German patriotic songs
1823 operas