Agnes von Hohenstaufen (opera)
| Work data | |
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| Title: | Agnes von Hohenstaufen |
Title page of the libretto, Berlin 1827 |
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| Shape: | Historic-romantic opera in three acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Gaspare Spontini |
| Libretto : | Ernst Raupach |
| Premiere: | 1) May 18, 1827 2) June 12, 1829 3) December 6, 1837 |
| Place of premiere: | Royal Opera Berlin |
| Playing time: | unabridged approx. 3 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Mainz, spring 1194 |
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Agnes von Hohenstaufen is a "historical-romantic opera in three acts" by Gaspare Spontini based on a libretto by Ernst Raupach . The first act of the unfinished opera was premiered on May 18, 1827 at the Royal Opera in Berlin . In 1829 the revised complete opera was premiered. In 1837 the work was played in a new arrangement, which also affected Raupach's libretto.
action
The plot relates to the battle between the Holy Roman Empire , Emperor Henry VI. and the leader of the noble house of the Guelphs , Heinrich the Lion .
first act
In Mainz, the emperor gathered his troops against the Guelph. Agnes von Hohenstaufen , the emperor's cousin , is urged to marry the son of Henry the Lion, Heinrich Palatinus , but the arguments disrupt these plans. Heinrich comes disguised as a troubadour . The French ambassador proposes that Agnes be married off to his king, Philip II August , instead . The emperor agrees, and the engagement is announced at a banquet. Heinrich cannot bear the French ambassador flirting with Agnes and angrily reveals his true identity. The emperor sentenced him to death and banished Agnes to a monastery. This arrogance provoked an uprising among the nobles.
Second act
Heinrich is granted life and freedom, provided he is willing to do without Agnes. He rejects these conditions just as angrily as the rebellious nobles. Heinrich is now requested by the French ambassador to face a duel the next day. The emperor agrees, but secretly gives the order that Heinrich should be killed while attempting to escape. Heinrich actually manages to escape from prison and meets Agnes in the church, where the two are quickly married. The French envoy is furious, and only the archbishop's objection prevents a duel in the church.
Third act
Heinrich and Agnes plan to flee to the men of Henry the Lion, but they are captured. Heinrich agrees to fight the duel with the French ambassador, but when he threatens to fatally injure him, it turns out that it was none other than King Philip August himself who wanted to see his bride before the wedding. Irmengard, Agnes' mother, now announces that the wedding between Heinrich and her daughter has already taken place. The emperor is furious, but by doing so he only causes further uprisings among the nobles. Heinrich draws his sword surprisingly to defend the emperor's rule. The arriving Heinrich the Lion announces that his army has taken Mainz , but he too offers to submit to the emperor. The French king forgives young Heinrich. The emperor blesses the couple and encourages his subjects to be reconciled for a joint campaign in Italy.
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two piccolo flutes , two flutes , two oboes , two English horns , four clarinets , four bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets , four trombones , tuba
- Timpani , drums : bass drum , cymbals , triangle , tam-tam , bells
- harp
- Strings
- Incidental music: flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon , two basset horns , twelve horns, two chromatic tenor horns , two Kent horns , four trumpets, bass trombone, tuba, serpent , double bass
Work history
Since the beginning of his Berlin years they waited for a new great opera by Spontini, but initially he only reworked older works or arranged music from his early works for ballet operas.
On the occasion of the wedding of Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach to Prince Carl of Prussia on May 18, 1827, the first performance of the completed parts of Agnes ' score , which was described as a "lyrical drama". Due to the hostile mood towards Spontini, the Berlin public and the press initially received this very ambiguous, because it was not accepted that he had not yet completely finished the opera.
For the wedding of Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach with Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (those were the siblings of the bride and groom from 1827) Spontini created a second version, which was premiered on June 12, 1829.
Heinrich Blume (Kaiser Heinrich VI.), Josephine Schultz (Costantia), Heinrich Stümer (Philipp), Julius Eberhard Busolt (Conrad), Anna Milder-Hauptmann (Irmengard) and Karoline Seidler sang the world premieres of these two versions at the Royal Opera in Berlin and Pauline von Schätzel (Agnes), Eduard Devrient (Philipp August), Carl Adam Bader (Heinrich) and Joseph Reichel (house chaplain).
A third version as "Great historical-romantic opera in three acts" with a libretto revised by Carl August von Lichtenstein was again premiered on December 6, 1837 at the Berlin Court Opera. It sang Joseph Fischer (Emperor Henry VI.), Carl Adam Bader (Philip), Auguste of Faßmann (Irmengard), Caroline Green Tree (Agnes), Louis Boetticher (Philip Augustus), Henry Flower (Henry the Lion), Josef Eichberger (Heinrich ) and August Zschiesche (Archbishop).
In 1954 Vittorio Gui rehearsed the work and it was recorded on sound carriers under his musical direction. There were further scenic and concert performances with Anita Cerquetti and in the 1970s, among others, under Riccardo Muti with Montserrat Caballé and Leyla Gencer (1974). All of these performances were given in Italian translation.
The German original version from 1837 is now available in a critical score edition. In this version, Agnes von Hohenstaufen was staged in the 2018 season at the Erfurt Theater under the musical direction of Zoi Tsokanou (premiere: June 1, 2018). Here, for the first time since around 1840, the overture, previously believed to be lost, was heard again, recently found by the Italian composer Paolo Prete in the royal library in Copenhagen and edited by Arne Langer.
output
- Gaspare Spontini: Agnes von Hohenstaufen (= Die Oper, critical edition of major works in operatic history , vol. 6), edited by Jens Wildgruber, 2 half-volumes, 383 and 464 pages, 2001, ISMN M-2018-3111-4.
literature
- Charles Bouvet: Spontini . Édition Rieder, Paris 1930.
- Hans Engel: Wagner and Spontini . In: Archive for Music Science , Vol. 12 (1955), ISSN 0003-9292 .
- Dennis Albert Libby: Gaspare Spontini and His French and German Operas . UMI Press, Ann Arbor, Mich. 1994 (2 vols., Including dissertation, Princeton University, NJ 1969).
- Paolo Fragapane: Spontini . Sansoni, Florenz 1983 (unmodified reprint of the Bologna 1954 edition).
- Anno Mungen : Music theater as a history picture. Gaspare Spontinis Agnes von Hohenstaufen as a contribution to German opera (= Mainz Studies in Musicology , Vol. 38). Verlag Schneider, Tutzing 1997, ISBN 3-7952-0892-0 (plus dissertation, TU Berlin 1995).
Web links
- Libretto (Berlin 1827) as digitized version (only first act)
- Libretto (Berlin 1837) as digitized version (version by Karl August von Lichtenstein )
- Agnes von Hohenstaufen (Gaspare Spontini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Agnes von Hohenstaufen (2a ver.) (Gaspare Spontini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Libretto as full text for Operone
- Discography on Agnes von Hohenstaufen at Operadis
- Dates for the live recording of the May 1954 performance at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , with Lucille Udovick, Franco Corelli and others - Conductor: Vittorio Gui
- Agnes von Hohenstaufen near Zazzerino
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Anno Mungen : Agnes von Hohenstaufen. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , pp. 1-5.
- ↑ a b "Agnes von Hohenstaufen". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ Hanns-Peter Mederer: Cosmopolitan and historic in one. Review of the Erfurt performance on amusio.com, accessed on June 15, 2018.