The treasure hunter

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Work data
Title: The treasure hunter
Original language: German
Music: Franz Schreker
Libretto : Franz Schreker
Premiere: January 21, 1920
Place of premiere: Frankfurt am Main
Playing time: approx. 2 hours and 20 minutes
Place and time of the action: City and Country in the Middle Ages (fairytale)
people

Der Schatzgräber is an opera by Franz Schreker in a prelude, four acts and an episode based on the composer's text. The world premiere took place on January 21, 1920 at the Opera in Frankfurt am Main .

Historical

End of the opera. November 12, 1918 (on the day the Republic of German Austria was proclaimed and the annexation to the German Reich!) Franz Schreker wrote this sentence as a dedication under his score autograph of his treasure digger , an opera that he had started during the starvation winter of the war years 1916/17, and which he composed for the future republic.

In fact, Der Schatzgräber became one of the most frequently performed contemporary operas of the Weimar Republic . Between 1920, the year of the premiere, and 1932, 385 performances in 50 different cities are recorded, with most of these performances falling in the seasons 1920–1925, whereas only 31 performances of the treasure digger are recorded for the following years up to 1932 . From 1933 on, Schreker's music was considered "degenerate". Only towards the end of the 20th century did the opera appear again on the repertoire in Vienna , Hamburg and other German-speaking cities.

action

Place and time of the action: Town and country in fairy tales - Middle Ages

Duration of the opera: approx. 140 min

Prelude - Chamber in the King's Palace

The queen is sick because her pot of gold has disappeared, which gives her beauty and fertility. All attempts to replace or recover it have failed. Therefore the king asks his fool for help. He heard of a wandering singer named Elis, a treasure hunter who can find all hidden treasures with the help of his miraculous sounds. As a reward, the fool himself should get a wife of his choice.

First act - a forest tavern

Els, the daughter of the innkeeper of the Waldschänke, is forced by her father to marry the brutal but rich Junker whom she cannot stand. That is why she has her servant Albi remove the Junker on her bachelorette party, as he has done with several admirers before. But first he should get her the queen's jewelry from a fence; the jewelry should give the owner eternal youth and beauty. Then Elis appears in the forest tavern. He's supposed to entertain the wedding party. His songs meet with general rejection, only Els likes them. She fell in love with the handsome singer straight away. Elis also gives her the jewelry that he found near the Junker's body. That's when the murder is discovered. The Vogt, who also belongs to the wedding party and has fallen in love with Els, has Elis arrested in order to have a free run with the beloved.

Act Two - Place in a Medieval City

Elis is to be hanged. Els followed him to ask the king for mercy for her beloved. Then she meets the fool. He promises her to save Elis, although he has also fallen in love with Els. Elis is led to the gallows by the Vogt. Els kisses him goodbye and asks him to buy time with a ballad, since rescue is near. One last request is granted to the sinner. But his singing is so bad and provocative that the mob wants him to be executed immediately. At the last moment the king's herald appears and prevents the execution. Elis is promised freedom if he finds the queen's jewelry and can expose the thief. Els is horrified because Elis will find the jewelry on her. She instructs Albi to steal the lute from him.

Third act - In Els's chamber

Els is waiting for Elis. This is desperate because he has lost his lute and so cannot do his job. Els shows himself to him on the night of love with all the beauty of her jewelry. Out of love, she gives him all the jewelry. But he should never ask about its origin and should always trust her.

Fourth act - ballroom in the king's palace

Since the queen has got back her jewelry and her beauty, the court society holds a big festival. Elis has been made Knight of Isenstein because of his services. At the festival, he should tell how he found the jewelry without its lute. He sings a ballad in which he relives the night of love with Els in the most wonderful trains. Full of anger, he demands the queen's jewelry back. The court society is shocked. But then the jealous Vogt emerges. He reports that he had arrested Albi, who had confessed under torture that Els was behind the robbery of the jewelry and the murder of her former fiancé. He demands the immediate execution of Els. Then the fool appears before the king and reminds him of his promise to give him a wife. He wanted Els to be his wife and none else. The king gives them to him and so he saves Els from execution. But they are banished from the king's court. Els begs Elis to forgive her for her crimes. But the latter turns away from her in silence and disappears.

Postplay - In the fool's hermitage in the mountains

A year has passed and the former fool lives with Els in the lonely mountains. Both have aged very much and Els is dying. The fool has called Elis to him. He sings her one last ballad to make her dying easier. She breathes out her last breath in his arms.

literature

  • Text book for the CD Die Schatzgräber by Capriccio Records - Delta Music GmbH - [Nr: 60010-2]; 1989
  • Matthias Brzoska : Franz Schreker's opera “Der Schatzgräber” (= archive for musicology . Supplement 27). Steiner, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-515-04850-2 (Also: Dissertation. Technical University of Berlin).

Web links