The Templar and the Jewess
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Templar and the Jewess |
1st act, 12th scene; Role portraits of Anna Maria Wilhelmine van Hasselt-Barth as Rebecca and Julius Pellegrini as Bois-Guilbert |
|
| Shape: | Great romantic opera in three acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Heinrich Marschner |
| Libretto : | Wilhelm August Wohlbrück |
| Literary source: |
Walter Scott : Ivanhoe , Johann Reinhold von Lenz : The court of the Templars |
| Premiere: | December 22, 1829 |
| Place of premiere: | City Theater Leipzig |
| Playing time: | approx. 3 ¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | York County, 1194 |
| people | |
|
|
The Templar and the Jewess (1829) is a “great romantic opera ” in three acts by Heinrich Marschner based on a libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück , which in turn goes back to Walter Scott's Ivanhoe .
content
The opera is set in England at the end of the 12th century. The main characters are the black knight, Richard the Lionheart , Saxons, Normans, Templars and Robin Hood and his gang of outlaws.
first act
A wild and romantic gorge in the forest
Enter the two Norman knights Bois-Guilbert and Maurice de Bracy. Both announce that they are fighting to win over their loved ones. Bois-Guilbert loves the beautiful Jewish woman Rebecca, who, together with her father Isaac and the wounded Ivanhoe, whom she cared for with great care, has entrusted herself to the protection of Cedric von Rotherwood. Bracy, relieved that Bois-Guilbert has no interest in Cedric's ward Rowena, promises to help him capture. Cedric curses the tournament at Ashby he just got out of because his outcast son Ivanhoe was the winner. Rowena, who has a love affair with Ivanhoe, reprimands him for being tough. Cedric hates the idea of Ivanhoe and Rowena getting married, but the fool Wamba urges him in the song "'S will go better" to leave the lovers to their own devices. Oswald rushes over to report that Isaak, Rebekka and Ivanhoe have been captured, the Saxons are marching to avenge the wrong people and sing their battle song "Whoever has strength and courage in his free chest does not hesitate before iron or steel".
Interior of Brother Tuck's hut in the woods
Tuck offers a mysterious guest, the Black Knight, wine and sings the drinking song "The barefoot monk left his cell, ora pro nobis!" A gang of outlaws, led by Locksly, recognize the Black Knight and ask him if he is ready help save an unknown Englishman (Cedric) and his niece (Rowena). This agrees without further ado.
Hall in Bracy's Castle
Rebecca prays in the dungeon. Bois-Guilbert appears and claims that it is his property because he won it in the battle, but when Saxon soldiers attack the castle it is able to tear itself away. Bois-Guilbert rushes off to join the fight and Rebecca flees to the bed of the wounded Ivanhoe, who persuades her to flee. She goes and helps the Black Knight to escape.
A courtyard in the castle
While searching for an escape route, Rebecca runs into Bois-Guilbert's arms. When she refuses to flee with him, he carries her out. The fight hits the stage and the Saxons win.
Second act
A forest clearing
The morning after the battle, Tuck, the Black Knight, and a band of outlaws celebrate the great outdoors in a hunters' choir. Ivanhoe approaches with the Black Knight, who reveals himself to be his King Richard the Lionheart, who has returned from the Crusades.
The Hall of Justice at Templestowe
The Templars claim, chaired by Beaumanoir, Bois-Guilbert, the victim of Rebecca's supposed powers of witchcraft persecuted. Ordered to face the judgment of God, Rebecca has to name a bold warrior who competes against a representative of the Templars. When Bois-Guilbert agrees to fight on their behalf, the knights take him as their representative. He sinks to the floor in desperation.
Third act
Great vestibule in Cedric's Castle
Cedric and his son have made up. The king hears Ivanhoe's hymn of praise to Richard, his romance “Who is the knight who is honored who goes east?” Touches all patriotic Englishmen. Wamba joins the praise and sings his song "It is really delicious to be a king".
A dungeon in Templestowe
In a fervent prayer (“Preghiera”, “Lord, from deep woes”), Rebecca pleads for redemption from her hopeless situation. Bois-Guilbert knocks on the door and again tells her to love him. However, when she refuses, the guards lead her away.
Tournament grounds with stake
The Templars come to help the shackled Rebecca. Bois-Guilbert tells her to escape with him, but she prefers death. Now Ivanhoe unexpectedly appears as her savior and the duel begins. At first Bois-Guilbert seems to win, but when he tries to strike Ivanhoe down with a devastating blow, he sinks down dying, this is interpreted as God's judgment. The king appears and puts the Knights Templar in their place, they carry the dead Bois-Guilbert away. The people cheer the king.
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (2nd also piccolo ), two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets , three trombones
- Timpani
- harp
- Strings
- Incidental music: piccolo, flute, oboe, two clarinets, two bassoons, six horns, two trumpets, three trombones, bass tuba , tambourine
Performance history
The premiere took place on December 22nd, 1829 at the Leipzig City Theater under the direction of the composer. Wilhelm Pögner (Cedric von Rotherwood), Ubrich (Wilfried von Ivanhoe), Henriette Wüst (Rowena von Hargottstandstede), Heinrich Hammermeister (Brian de Bois-Guilbert), Eduard Schütz (The Black Knight), August Wiedemann (Wamba) sang at the premiere , Wilhelm Fischer (brother Tuck) and Fortunata Franchetti-Walzel (Rebecca). The opera is one of Marschner's most successful works and was staged more than 200 times in Germany over the next 70 years.
A revised version with recitatives instead of spoken dialogues was played on August 3, 1831 in Berlin with Eduard Devrient as Bois-Guilbert. This version was also performed in London at the Prince's Theater on June 17, 1840 and in New York on January 29, 1872.
Many critics criticized the unnecessarily complicated plot of the opera and the very elaborate equipment. Therefore, simplified versions were created by Felix Mottl , Richard Kleinmichel and finally Hans Pfitzner (1912). Pfitzner's version was performed shortly before the First World War, among others in Lübeck , Strasbourg and Cologne .
The opera was unearthed again by the ORF (1951), the Bielefeld Theater (concert in 1981), the Wexford Festival (1989 scenic) and the Giessen City Theater (2000 scenic).
To this day, the production of a studio recording of the work in an authentic version as well as a scientific processing of the surviving source inventory has not been carried out.
literature
- Georg Münzer: Heinrich Marschner . Harmonie, Berlin 1901, pp. 33–42 ( digitized in the Internet Archive ).
- Allan Dean Palmer: The Templar and the Jewess. In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Opera . London, ISBN 0-333-73432-7 .
- Jürgen Schläder : The Templar and the Jewess. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Vol. 3. Piper, Munich and Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-492-02413-0 , pp. 677-681.
Web links
- The Templar and the Jewess : sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project (piano reduction, etc.)
- Piano reduction from 1830, text in German
- Piano reduction, new edition after the second arrangement, text in German and Italian
- Libretto of the first performance in 1829
- Libretto as e-text (Stanford)
- English synopsis by Charles Annesley in The Standard Operaglass , 13th ed., 1896
- Story of Der Templer und die Jüdin at Opera-Guide landing page due to URL change currently unavailable
- Work data for Der Templer und die Jüdin based on the MGG with discography at Operone
- English synopsis by Allan Dean Palmer
- Vienna State Opera - Schedule Archive: The Templar and the Jewess (1883–1897)
- Theater ticket Krefeld 1836
- Theater ticket Würzburg 1858
- Theater bill Würzburg 1867
- Theater ticket Vienna 1883
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information based on the text printed by Verlag Carl Focke, Leipzig 1829.
- ↑ Published on the Myto label. Recording Vienna, 18. – 20. Sept. 1951, cast: Ivanhoe: Fritz Sperlbauer , Lucas de Beaumanoir: Walter Heinrich , Bois-Guilbert: Georg Oeggl , Maurice de Bracy Kurt Equiluz , The Black Knight: Kurt Dickl , Wamba: Leopold Votruba , Brother Tuck: Hubert Trattnigg , Rebecca : Liane Synek - Tonkünstlerchor (rehearsal: Gottfried Preinfalk ), large orchestra of RAVAG, conductor: Kurt Tenner .
- ↑ Director: Francesca Zambello , Conductor: Albert Rosen ; with William Stone as Bois-Guilbert and Greer Grimsley as Black Knight.
- ↑ Director: Guy Montavon , Conductor: Stefan Malzew .