Diana von Solange is an opera by the German prince Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, an amateur composer. It was premiered in 1858. In 1859, Franz Liszt wrote an orchestral Festmarsch nach Motiven von E. H. z. S-C-G, S.116, based on themes from Diana von Solange (E. H. z. S-C-G was short for Ernst Herzog zu Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha).[1]
Reviews of the opera were almost all negative; one writer described the piece as "simply rubbish", while others derisively referred to it as "Diana von So-Langweilig" (so boring). Another critic predicted that the work would not last three performances in the house; in the event, it lasted two. When it was discovered that a third outing was intended on January 12, a petition, bearing three hundred signatures and demanding that the opera be removed from the repertory, was delivered to the management, who hastily replaced it with Fidelio. Diana von Solange marked the final blow against Stanton; two days after the cancelled third performance, on January 14, it was announced that he was to be replaced by Henry Eugene Abbey for the following season.
Many critics wondered why, given its pedigree, its age, and its relative obscurity, Diana von Solange was even considered for performance by the Metropolitan. Although it was never proven, many critics suspected that Stanton and others in the company were motivated by the Duke's known "lavishness ... in the distribution of orders, especially among musicians".[2] The general manager and other executives were believed to have in fact received such decorations, but were reportedly too ashamed of the whole debacle to be seen in public wearing them. However, Louis Auchincloss, Stanton's grand-nephew, suggests Stanton wanted to honor the Duke as a fellow admirer of Richard Wagner, to whom Ernest II had considered dedicating the opera.[3]
Despite the opera's poor reception, Andreas Dippel was singled out for praise by numerous critics; this, coupled with his other successes during the season, led to his being retained on the company's roster for the following year.
Notes
↑ Grove's Dictionary of Music, 5th ed, 1954, Liszt: Works, p. 275
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to 1918. In November 1918, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was forced to abdicate. In 1920, the northern part of the duchy was merged with six other Thuringian free states to form the Free State of Thuringia: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Altenburg and Saxe-Meiningen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, as well as the People's State of Reuss. The southern part of the duchy, as southernmost of the Thuringian states, was the only one which, after a referendum, became part of the Free State of Bavaria.
Ernest I was the last sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and, from 1826, the first sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was the father of Albert, Prince Consort, who was the husband of Queen Victoria. Ernest fought against Napoleon Bonaparte, and through construction projects and the establishment of a court theatre, he left a strong imprint on his residence town, Coburg.
The House of Wettin was a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and Saxony in 1423. These areas cover large parts of Central Germany as a cultural area of Germany.
Saxe-Meiningen was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia.
Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the fourth child and third daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. As the wife of Ernst II, she was Princess consort of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. She was a granddaughter of both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Tsar Alexander II of Russia.
Ernest II was Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 29 January 1844 to his death in 1893. He was born in Coburg to Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. His father became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1826 through an exchange of territories.
Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ; was the wife of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the mother of Duke Ernst II and Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.
The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is a European royal house. It takes its name from its oldest domain, the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and its members later sat on the thrones of Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal, and the United Kingdom and its dominions.
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha line in 1825, in which the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld line received Gotha, but lost Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen.
Two grand opera companies in Chicago, Illinois, have gone by the name Chicago Grand Opera Company during the first half of the 20th century. Like many opera ventures in Chicago, both succumbed to financial difficulties within a few years, and it wasn't until 1954 that a lasting company was formed in the city.
Andreas Dippel was a German-born operatic tenor and impresario who from 1908 to 1910 was the joint manager of the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Hubertus Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha is the eldest son of Ernst-Leopold Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha and his first wife, Ingeborg Henig.
Events from the year 1878 in Germany.
Landestheater Coburg is a medium-sized three-division theatre in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany. Located on Schlossplatz, a central square, the Neoclassical building has 550 seats. In 2008, the theatre employed 250 permanent staff and 100 part-time employees.
The Veste Coburg is one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses of Germany. It is situated on a hill above the town of Coburg, in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria.
Georg Liebling was a German pianist and composer. Part of the Liebling family of musicians, he had an active international career as a concert pianist and accompanist from the 1880s into the 1920s. He also worked as a piano teacher for most of his life, beginning that occupation at the age of 16 and continuing up until his death more than 50 years later. He taught on the faculties of the Kullack Conservatory in Berlin (1881–1889), the Guildhall School of Music in London (1898–1906), and the Hollywood Conservatory of Music in the early 1930s in addition to teaching privately in Berlin, Munich, and New York City. As a composer, his salon compositions are noteworthy, especially the Air de Ballet and Romance; a gavotte, and the vocal Lieblingswalzer. Also notable is his 1908 opera Die heilige Katharina.
Schloss Ketschendorf is a Gothic Revival residence, located in Ketschendorf, at the foot of the Buchberg, in the town of Coburg, in the state of Bavaria, Germany.
Callenberg Castle is a schloss on a wooded hill in Beiersdorf, an Ortsteil of Coburg, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the town centre. It was a hunting lodge and summer residence and has long been the principal residence of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. It is currently owned by Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who created the Ducal Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House Order. A large and architecturally important family chapel is contained within.
The Ernestine Gymnasium is a humanistic and modern gymnasium in Gotha, Germany, the successor of the Illustrious Gymnasium, founded in 1524, which in 1853 was merged with the recently founded Real-Gymnasium Ernestinum, named in honour of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The merged school continued to be known as the Ernestinum. Until 1947, when it was closed, it was considered the oldest gymnasium in the German-speaking world. It was re-founded in 1991, shortly after German reunification.
Johann Otto Prechtler was an Austrian civil servant, and a poet, dramatist and librettist.
References
Ralph Braun in "Zwanzig Jahre internationale Coburger Johann Strauss Begegnungen" [permanent dead link] pag.43, Coburg 2007
Eaton, Quaintance. The Miracle of the Met: An Informal History of the Metropolitan Opera 1883–1967. New York: Meredith Press, 1968.
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