Alfonso und Estrella is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 with music by Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

, set to a German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 libretto by Franz von Schober

Franz von Schober

Franz Adolf Friedrich Schober, since 1801 von Schober was an Austrian poet, librettist, lithographer, actor in Breslau and Legationsrat in Weimar....

, written in 1822. Along with the later Fierrabras

Fierrabras (opera)

Fierrabras is a three-act opera written by the composer Franz Schubert in 1823, to a libretto by Josef Kupelwieser, the general manager of the Theater am Kärntnertor...

, composed in 1823, it marks Schubert's attempt to compose grand Romantic opera in German, departing from the Singspiel

Singspiel

A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...

 tradition.

Background

In close collaboration with von Schober in the region of St. Pölten, Schubert wrote the music for Alfonso und Estrella between September 1821 and February 1822. Schober, only one year older than the young Schubert, and a dabbler in literature, music and theatre, was enthusiastic about the collaboration. Schubert and Schober shared an appreciation for the operatic theories of Ignaz von Mosel, a patron of Schubert's, who supported Gluck’s operatic ideals. This influence may have led to the omission of all spoken dialog, parting from the German Singspiel form followed in operas such as Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Beethoven's Fidelio

Fidelio

Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...

, and Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....

's Der Freischütz

Der Freischütz

Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...

.

Performance history

Schubert never heard the opera performed in his lifetime. Opera houses in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 and Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

 all had refused to stage it. The opera received its premiere performance in Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

 on 24 June 1854, conducted by Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

. Liszt had published an essay on the opera in advance of the first Weimar performance, and also had made cuts to the score for the production. Subsequent productions in the 1880s were in Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe

The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...

, Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. The first UK stage premiere was at Reading University Opera on 22 February 1977. The opera did not receive a complete, uncut performance, even the realisations in Graz (1991) and Vienna (1997, conducted by Harnoncourt

Harnoncourt

Harnoncourt may refer to:Harnoncourt is a commune until 1977 in southern Belgium, now in the Rouvroy. And name of an Austrian noble family originated from that place name....

 had been shortened.

Context and analysis

A repeated criticism of the opera is its lack of dramatic action and pacing. Critics have suggested it is precisely because Schubert had minimal opportunity to see his late dramatic works performed during his lifetime that he lacked the perspective, and that which might have been revealed by it, available to other composers such as Beethoven who revised Fidelio on multiple occasions after public performance, to judge his operas from a distance. Elizabeth Norman McKay has noted how Schubert incorporated his understanding of the music of Gioachino Rossini into the opera. Till Gerrit Waidelich has published a monograph on the opera, detailing its history in composition and performance. Although it is believed Schubert intended to compose a grand Romantic opera, employing a large chorus and orchestra, at many points in the work he retained the simpler style of his earlier Singspiels. At other times, however, strong vocal lines, rich orchestration, and jarring harmonic progressions predominate. McKay has noted that, "[i]n such sections Schubert shows not only his genius for setting words to music and his sensitivity to orchestral colors but also his ability to manage the large resources of big operatic ensembles." As one critic has elegantly stated, "Schubert's great operatic asset -- aside from his incredible gift for melody -- was the ability to take cues from a word, a thought or a verbal description and translate them into musical accompaniment."

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast 24 June 1854 (Conductor: Franz Liszt Franz Liszt Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age... )
King Froila	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	August Höfer
Mauregato, the usurper	baritone	Hans Feodor von Milde
Estrella, Mauregato's daughter	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Rosa von Milde-Agthe
Alfonso, King Froila's son	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Eduard Liebert
Adolfo, Mauregato's general	bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...	Carl Mayerhofer

Synopsis

Alfonso is the son of the deposed King Froila, of León

Kingdom of León

The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

. Froila is concerned that Alfonso is anxious to lead a revolt against Mauregato, the usurper of Froila's throne. At the court of Leon, Adolfo, an ambitious general, is in love with Estrella, the daughter of Mauregato. However, Mauregato has said that only the man who has the "Chain of Eurich" may marry Estrella. Angry at being denied Mauregato in marriage, Adolfo plans a coup against Mauregato.

During a hunting expedition, Estrella is separated from her party. She and Alfonso meet and fall in love, unaware of the identity of the other. Alfonso gives Estrella a necklace that he has always carried, and directs her on a safe path home. Back at court, she tells her story, and Mauregato recognizes the necklace as the "Chain of Eurich". Before he can tell her of its meaning, the rebellion led by Adolfo has begun, and Adolfo captures Estrella. Alfonso learns that Estrella is Mauregato's daughter, and then sides with Mauregato against the rebels. Mauregato's forces defeat Adolfo, and Alfonso rescues Estrella. However, Mauregato has a crisis of conscience, and he restores Froila to his throne. In turn, Froila gives up his power to Alfonso and Estrella.

Note: Historically, the Kingdom of Leon did have a king called Froila

Fruela II of León

Fruela II was the King of Asturias from the death of his father, Alfonso III of Asturias, in 910 to his own death. When his father died, the kingdom was divided, with the third son, Fruela, taking the original portion ; the second, Ordoño, taking Galicia; and the eldest, García, taking León...

, and the kingdom was in his time troubled by instability and power struggles, but not those recounted in the opera.

Recordings

A complete recording of the opera was issued in 1978, with Otmar Suitner

Otmar Suitner

Otmar Suitner was an Austrian conductor who spent most of his professional career in East Germany. He was born in Innsbruck and died in Berlin. He was Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden from 1960 to 1964, and then Music Director at the Berlin State Opera from 1964 to 1990...

 conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin

Staatskapelle Berlin

The Staatskapelle Berlin is a German orchestra, the orchestra of the Berlin State Opera .The orchestra traces its roots to 1570, when Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg established an orchestra at his court...

 and Berlin Radio Chorus and major parts sung by Edith Mathis

Edith Mathis

Edith Mathis is a renowned Swiss soprano and a leading exponent of the works of Mozart. She studied in Lucerne and debuted there in 1956 in The Magic Flute...

 (Estrella), Peter Schreier

Peter Schreier

Peter Schreier is a German tenor and conductor.-Early life:Schreier was born in Meissen, Saxony, and spent his first years in the small village of Gauernitz, near Meissen, where his father was a teacher, cantor and organist...

 (Alfonso), Hermann Prey

Hermann Prey

Hermann Prey was a German lyric baritone. He is most famous for lieder and for light comic baritone roles in opera.-Biography:...

 (Mauregato), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...

 (Froila) and Theo Adam

Theo Adam

Theo Adam is a distinguished German classical bass-baritone who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and recitals from the 1940s through the 1990s. He particularly excelled in portraying roles from the operas of Richard Wagner...

 (Adolfo). Originally made by the East German record company VEB Deutsche Schallplatten

VEB Deutsche Schallplatten

From the 1950s until the 1980s the VEB Deutsche Schallplatten was the monopolistic music publisher in the German Democratic Republic.On August 12, 1946, the East Berlin singer and actor Ernst Busch got permission by Soviet military administration to institute a publishing house for music.On...

, it was first issued in the West on EMI (US catalogue: Angel SCLX-3878) and has since been issued on CD on Berlin Classics 0021562BC.

• Video on DVD : 2004 Teatro Lirico di Cagliari- Gérard Korsten, conductor
  Cast: Eva Mei, Rainer Trost, Alfred Muff, Markus Werba - Dynamic (record label)
  Dynamic (record label)
  Dynamic is an Italian independent record label located in Genoa. Founded in 1978, it specialises in classical music and opera, especially rarely performed works and has produced several world premiere recordings...
  
  - Cat. 33451