Der Töpfer

Last updated

Der Töpfer (The Potter) is a singspiel, described as a komische Oper, in one act by Johann André. The libretto was by the composer. The work was one of the first German operas to be published in full score.

Singspiel opera genre

A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk-like. Singspiel plots are generally comic or romantic in nature, and frequently include elements of magic, fantastical creatures, and comically exaggerated characterizations of good and evil.

Johann André German composer

Johann André was a German musician, composer and music publisher of the Classical period. He was born and died in Offenbach am Main.

Libretto text used for an extended musical work

A libretto is the text used in, or intended for an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet.

Contents

Performance history

The opera was first performed in Hanau on 22 January 1773. It was a success and was praised by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe for its simplicity and beauty.

Hanau Place in Hesse, Germany

Hanau is a large town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the river Main, making it an important transport centre. The town is known for being the birthplace of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm and Franciscus Sylvius. Since the 16th century it was a centre of precious metal working with many goldsmiths. It is home to Heraeus, one of the largest family-owned companies in Germany.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 18th/19th-century German writer, artist, and politician

Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe was a German writer and statesman. His works include four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; and treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. In addition, there are numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him extant.

Roles

Role Voice type Premiere Cast, 22 January 1773
(Conductor:)
Marthe soprano  
Hannchen, her daughtersoprano 
Gürge, a peasant tenor  
Amschel, a Jew bass  

Synopsis

Marthe, hoping to win a lottery, tries to put off the marriage of her daughter Hannchen to Gürge with the intention of making a better match.

Related Research Articles

<i>Indigo und die vierzig Räuber</i> operetta by Johann Strauss

Indigo und die vierzig Räuber is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Maximilian Steiner based on the tale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.

<i>Alessandro Severo</i> opera by Georg Friedrich Händel

Alessandro Severo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1738. It is one of Handel's three pasticcio works, made up of the music and arias of his previous operas Giustino, Berenice and Arminio. Only the overture and recitatives were new. The impresario Johann Jacob Heidegger probably selected the 1717 libretto by Apostolo Zeno, originally written for Antonio Lotti and re-used by many composers thereafter.

<i>Der Jasager</i> opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht

Der Jasager is an opera by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht.

Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung is a German-language comic opera in four acts by the German composer Hermann Goetz. It was written between 1868 and 1872 and first performed at the National Theatre Mannheim on 11 October 1874 under the conductor Ernst Frank. The libretto, by Joseph Victor Widmann and the composer, is based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The style of the opera shows Goetz turning away from the musical ideas of Richard Wagner towards the classicism of Mozart. Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung was a huge success, not only in Germany but in the United States and in Great Britain, where it received high praise from George Bernard Shaw.

Der Templer und die Jüdin is an opera in three acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück was based on a number of intermediate works based in turn on Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.

Die Jagd is an opera by the German composer Johann Adam Hiller. It takes the form of a Singspiel in three acts. The libretto by Christian Felix Weiße is based on the plays La partie de chasse de Henri IV by Charles Collé, The King and the Miller of Mansfield by Robert Dodsley, and the opéra comique by Michel-Jean Sedaine. The opera was first performed at the Schlosstheater, Weimar on 29 January 1770. Die Jagd is considered one of the most important early Singspiele. It was admired by Goethe and Wagner.

<i>Waldmeister</i> operetta by Johann Strauss II

Waldmeister (Woodruff) is an operetta written by Johann Strauss II. It was first performed on 4 December 1895 at the Theater an der Wien. Although not as popular as some of Strauss' other operettas, such as Der Zigeunerbaron and Die Fledermaus, it was given eighty-eight performances, and was much admired by Johannes Brahms, a friend of the composer.

<i>Der lustige Krieg</i> opera

Der lustige Krieg is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. Its libretto was by F Zell and Richard Genée. The operetta was well received at its premiere, and was performed 69 times during its first run.

<i>Das Spitzentuch der Königin</i> opera

Das Spitzentuch der Königin is an operetta by Johann Strauss II. The libretto by Heinrich Bohrmann-Riegen and Richard Genée was based on the Spanish writer Cervantes.

<i>Temistocle</i> (J.C. Bach) opera by Johann Christian Bach

Temistocle (Themistocles) is an opera seria in three acts by the German composer Johann Christian Bach. The Italian text is an extensive revision of the libretto by Metastasio first set by Antonio Caldara in 1736, by Mattia Verazi, court poet and private secretary to the Elector Palatine Carl Theodor. The opera was the first of two which J.C. Bach set for the Elector Palatine. Some of the music was reused from earlier works, including part of the overture from Carattaco.

Erwin und Elmire is a singspiel, described as a Schauspiel mit Gesang, in two acts by the German composer Johann André, with a libretto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, after Oliver Goldsmith's ballad of Angelica and Edwin, The Hermit, in chapter 8 of his sentimental novel The Vicar of Wakefield.

<i>Ritter Pázmán</i> opera composed by Johann Strauss II, libretto by Ludwig Dóczi

Ritter Pázmán is a three-act opera composed by Johann Strauss II, with the libretto by Ludwig Dóczi. It premiered at the Hofoper in Vienna on New Year's Day in 1892. It is based on a Hungarian narrative poem, Pázmán lovag, written by the Hungarian poet János Arany, and takes about three hours to play its course.

<i>Demofoonte</i> (Gluck) opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck

Demofoonte is a dramma per musica or opera in 3 acts by composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. The work uses an Italian language libretto by Pietro Metastasio. The opera premiered on 6 January 1743 at the Teatro Regio Ducal in Milan.

Lorenzo Filiasi was an Italian composer. His opera Manuel Menendez won the Sonzongo publisher's composition competition in 1904. This led to the work's premiere at the Teatro Lirico in Milan on 15 May 1904. Popularly received, the opera was mounted by opera houses throughout Italy, including the Teatro Costanzi in Rome and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples in 1905. His opera Fior di Neve was given its premiere at La Scala on 1 April 1911 and his opera Mattutino d'Assisi premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo on 16 January 1941.

<i>Il Pompeo</i> Opera by Alessandro Scarlatti

Il Pompeo is a dramma per musica in three acts by composer Alessandro Scarlatti. Written in 1682 when Scarlatti was 22 years old, it was his fourth opera and first dramatic work on a serious and grand subject. The opera uses an Italian language libretto by Nicolò Minato which had previously been used by Francesco Cavalli for his 1666 opera Pompeo Magno. The work premiered at the Teatro di Palazzo Colonna in Rome on 25 January 1683.

<i>Una follia</i> opera

Una follia is a farsa in one act by composer Gaetano Donizetti. The work premiered on 15 December 1818 at the Teatro San Luca in Venice. The opera uses the same Italian-language libretto by Bartolomeo Merelli after August von Kotzebue's Der Graf von Burgund that Donizetti used for his Enrico di Borgogna a month earlier, but with different music. It was given one performance and "never performed again, and its score has never been found."

Der Roland von Berlin is an opera in four acts by composer Ruggero Leoncavallo. The work uses a German-language libretto by Leoncavallo which is based on Willibald Alexis's 1840 historical novel of the same name. The opera premiered at the Berlin State Opera on 13 December 1904. Its premiere in Italy was given at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples the following month where it was sung in Italian with the title Rolando.

<i>Ernelinde, princesse de Norvège</i> opera written by Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet

Ernelinde, princesse de Norvège is a three-act operatic tragédie lyrique, by the French composer François-André Danican Philidor. The libretto was by Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet, after Francesco Silvani's opera libretto La fede tradita, e vendicata.

I due timidi is a one-act radio opera composed in 1950 by Nino Rota with libretto by the film writer Suso Cecchi d'Amico.

References

Stanley John Sadie was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980), which was published as the first edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.