Peter Schmoll and his neighbors
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Peter Schmoll and his neighbors |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Carl Maria von Weber |
| Libretto : | Joseph Turk |
| Literary source: | after Carl Gottlob Cramer |
| Premiere: | around 1803 |
| Place of premiere: | augsburg |
| Playing time: | about 90 minutes |
| Place and time of the action: | Holland around 1800 |
| people | |
Peter Schmoll and his neighbors is an opera in two acts by Carl Maria von Weber from 1802. The libretto is by Joseph Türk based on a model by Carl Gottlob Cramer . The work was premiered around 1803 in the old city theater in Augsburg on Lauterlech. Only the music numbers are preserved, the dialogues are lost, so the authentic course of the plot cannot be reconstructed.
Plot (based on an adaptation by Willy Werner Göttig, 1963)
first act
Peter Schmoll lost a large part of his fortune due to the war and fled to Holland to start a new life. He lives there in seclusion with his niece Minette, who lost her father in the war, and his servant Hans Bast. The somewhat older Peter Schmoll has fallen in love with his niece Minette and wants to marry her. But Minette loves Karl Pirkner, who was also lost during the war. In desperation, Minette turns to the servant Hans Bast and they both think about how to hold off Peter Schmoll.
Karl Pirkner, however, stayed alive and is now looking for his lover Minette. He found employment with the farmer Niklas, together with Martin Schmoll, who was also alive and Minette's father, under a false name. During his search, Karl finds Peter Schmoll's villa. There he identifies himself to the farmer Niklas and the farmhand Karl Bast, but asks both of them to remain silent. But they don't keep their promise and so Minette learns that her lover is still alive.
Second act
Minette is in good spirits. Her uncle Peter Schmoll is happy about it because he thinks Minette will finally accept his marriage proposal. He suspects nothing of Karl and Martin's survival and leaves his villa. Karl and Martin appear and are greeted effusively by Minette. At the moment when Minette is hugging Karl, Peter comes back surprisingly and catches them both. Martin tries to calm down the terrified Peter Schmoll and convinces him that Minette and Karl are a much better match. Peter sees this and does without Minette. The farmer Niklas has meanwhile tied up with Peter Schmoll's cook.
Web links
- Grande ouverture, Op.8 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christoph Schwandt : Carl Maria von Weber in his time. Schott, Mainz 2014, ISBN 978-3-7957-0820-7 , p. 51.