Die Jagd 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...

 by the German composer Johann Adam Hiller. It takes the form of a Singspiel

Singspiel

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

in three acts. The libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in 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 mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

, by Christian Felix Weiße

Christian Felix Weiße

Christian Felix Weiße was a German writer and pedagogue. Weiße was among the leading representatives of the Enlightenment in Germany and is regarded as the founder of German children's literature.-Life:...

, 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

Robert Dodsley

Robert Dodsley was an English bookseller and miscellaneous writer.-Life:He was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school....

, and the opéra comique

Opéra comique

Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...

by Michel-Jean Sedaine

Michel-Jean Sedaine

Michel-Jean Sedaine was a French dramatist, was born in Paris.- Biography :His father, who was an architect, died when Sedaine was quite young, leaving no fortune, and the boy began life as a mason's labourer...

 (originally set by Monsigny

Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny

Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny was a French composer and a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts .He is considered alongside André Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor to have been the founder of a new musical genre, the opéra comique, laying a path for other French composers such as...

). The opera was first performed at the Schlosstheater, 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 29 January 1770. Die Jagd is considered one of the most important early Singspiele. It was admired by Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

 and Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...	Premiere cast, 29 January 1770 Conductor: Johann Adam Hiller
The king	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...
Michel	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...
Marthe	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...
Röschen	soprano
Hännchen	soprano
Christel	tenor
Töffel	bass
Count Schmetterling	spoken role
Treuwerth	spoken role
Gürge	spoken role
Quaas	spoken role

Act 1

The farmer Michel will not permit his daughter Röschen to marry Töffel before the mysterious disappearance of his son Christel's fiancée, Hännchen, has been explained.

Act 2

Hännchen returns and explains she had been kidnapped by Count Schmetterling. A storm forces everyone to take cover, including the members of the king's hunting party.

Act 3

The king takes refuge in Michel's house but does not say who he is. Hännchen recognises one of his huntsmen as the count who had abducted her. The king reveals his true identity, banishes the count and rewards Michel and his family.

Sources

• The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
• Del Teatro
• Amadeus Online