Der Freischütz


Der Freischütz is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin.
It is considered the first important German Romantic opera, though what exactly is German remains unclear. One of the most scornful critics of Weber, Ludwig Börne, remarked: "In each German work the familiar must be found; because it is the way of the Germans to combine the colours of art and science, which the prism of peoples have divided, to produce the pure light of insight. This does not mean to acquire anything improperly, as the colours are daughters of the light."
The opera's plot is mainly based on August Apel's tale "Der Freischütz" from the Gespensterbuch though the hermit, Kaspar and Ännchen are new to Kind's libretto. That Weber's tunes were just German folk music is a common misconception. Its unearthly portrayal of the supernatural in the famous Wolf's Glen scene has been described as "the most expressive rendering of the gruesome that is to be found in a musical score".

Performance history

The reception of Der Freischütz surpassed Weber's own hopes and it quickly became an international success, with productions in Vienna the same year followed by Dresden, Leipzig, Hamburg, Munich, Karlsruhe, Königsberg, Prague, other German centres, Riga and Copenhagen. 1824 saw productions in four London theatres in four different adaptations, as well as the French premiere at the Théâtre de l'Odéon as Robin des Bois.
A version in French with recitatives was prepared by Hector Berlioz together with an orchestration of Weber's Invitation to the Dance for an interlude in a production at the Paris Opera in 1841. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky criticised Berlioz's arrangement in the Bolshoi Theatre production of 1873 as "utterly incongruous", "tasteless" and "silly" because it intermitted the rustic opera by a completely urban piece of music. In 1879 he again criticised a performance in Paris:
Berlioz's arrangement again underlay the production at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 2011.
His orchestration of Invitation à la valse soon became a concert piece in its own right.
Also Weber's overture and the "Huntsmen's Chorus" from act 3 are often performed as concert pieces.

Roles

Synopsis

Act 1

At a shooting contest, the assistant forester Max loses to a peasant, Kilian, who is proclaimed "King of marksmen". Kilian mocks him good-naturedly.
Max wants to marry his bride Agathe, daughter of the head forester Kuno. For this, he has to prove his marksmanship and score in a shooting probe before Ottokar, the sovereign prince, on the following day.
As Max has had ill luck for several days, he muses his dismal prospects of losing Agathe by failing the shooting test.
Left alone, in deep melancholy he recalls happy days.
Kaspar, the first assistant forester, tries to imbue Max with wine and courage. He had wooed formerly for Agathe but she had chosen Max. This marriage would make Max also heir of Kuno. For this reset behind Max, the second assistant, Kaspar seeks revenge from all three. He hands Max his gun and Max, to his own astonishment, hits an eagle soaring at a great height. Kaspar explains that the gun had been loaded with his last magic bullet.
He persuades Max to meet him at midnight in the terrible Wolf's Glen to cast seven more of the magic bullets. He warns Max not to tell a soul about their purpose so as not to endanger them. Left alone, Kaspar triumphs and boasts of his insidiousness.

Act 2

Agathe's chamber
At the moment when Max shoots the magic bullet, a picture of Agathe's ancestor hanging on the wall falls to the floor, slightly wounding her. Agathe's cousin and companion Ännchen refastens the hook. She endeavours to cheer Agathe with jests. Agathe, still hesitative, tells of her meeting with the hermit. He had indicated a danger from which his white consecrated roses shall protect her.
Left alone Agathe awaits Max with the news of his success. Max arrives, acknowledging that while he has not been the victor, he has killed an eagle. Though the night is falling he has to leave again to bring in a stag which he had shot in the Wolf's Glen.
The Wolf's Glen at night
As the bell chimes twelve Kaspar calls upon Samiel, the Black Huntsman, for assistance in casting the magic bullets. Having already sold his own soul, which is due the next day, Kaspar offers Max’s soul in exchange of a prolongation by three more years. Agathe is to be killed by Max's magic bullet, despair will then make him the Devil's, him - and the father. Samiel agrees ambiguously: "So be it - By the gates of hell! Tomorrow he or you!"
As Max arrives the spirit of his mother warns him to abandon the project. But Samiel conjures up Agathe, seemingly drowning herself in despair whereupon Max plunges into the glen. With demoniacal noise, the casting of the bullets begins.

Act 3

The meeting of the marksmen
Having split the seven bullets between them, Max has used three during the hunt in the morning. Kaspar spoils his third on a fox. Thus Max's remaining bullet is the seventh, the Devil's bullet.
Agathe's chamber
Agathe is praying, her doubts having returned owing to a dream of ill omen where she was a white dove which Max shot. Ännchen tries to cheer her with a spooky tale. The bridesmaids bring the box with the bridal wreath. But as they open it they find a funeral wreath. Recalling the hermit's promise that the white roses will protect her, Agathe proposes to twine them to the bridal wreath.
The shooting probe
Prince Ottokar awaits Max at his tent. As probe Max is ordered to shoot the dove pointed out to him. Max takes aim, fires and Agathe, who has just entered the scene, falls as if hit. But her bridal wreath and the hermit behind her have deflected the bullet. It strikes Kaspar. Agathe revives from her faint and Kaspar, seeing a holy hermit by her side, realizes that he has failed. Samiel grasps him instead of Max, whereupon Kaspar expires cursing hell and heaven.
Prince Ottokar orders the corpse to be thrown into the Wolf's Glen. Then he demands and receives explanation from Max who confesses to shooting with magic bullets. Regardless of pleas from Kuno, Agathe, peasants, and huntsmen, the infuriated Prince forbids the marriage and banishes Max from the country.
The hermit appeases. Only love of Agathe and fear of losing her had caused Max to stray from a life that was formerly without fault. Who is to raise the first stone? Who does not look into his own heart? After a faultless probationary year Max should marry Agathe. To the exuberant joy of all the Prince accepts this judgement. After the probation he himself will place the hand of Agathe in that of Max.
In the end all join in a prayer of thanks.

Instrumentation

The opera is scored for a standard-sized orchestra composed of:

Derivative works