Notre Dame (opera)
Encyclopedia
Notre Dame is a romantic opera by Franz Schmidt
, to a libretto by himself and Leopold Wilk (1876-1944), a professional chemist and amateur poet. It is based loosely on the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
.
The opera was written between 1904 and 1906. Schmidt approached the opera by writing the orchestral parts of the score first, adding the vocal parts in later. He incorporated some material from an unfinished fantasia for piano and orchestra.
Notre Dame was first performed in Vienna
on 1 April 1914. The principal female role of Esmeralda was created by Marie Gutheil-Schoder
.
The work was popular till the early 1920s, then faded from view. It has been revived in Vienna and Dresden, and has been recorded at least twice.
The opera is best known for its orchestral Intermezzo, which was first performed, along with the Carnival Music, on 6 December 1903 in Vienna, as Zwischenspiel aus einer unvollständigen romantischen Oper. These pieces were not composed with any opera in mind, but were later incorporated into Notre Dame, which he started writing in August 1904. The composer and violinist Karl Goldmark
described the Intermezzo as "the most beautiful of Gypsy music".
Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...
, to a libretto by himself and Leopold Wilk (1876-1944), a professional chemist and amateur poet. It is based loosely on the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
.
The opera was written between 1904 and 1906. Schmidt approached the opera by writing the orchestral parts of the score first, adding the vocal parts in later. He incorporated some material from an unfinished fantasia for piano and orchestra.
Notre Dame was first performed 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...
on 1 April 1914. The principal female role of Esmeralda was created by Marie Gutheil-Schoder
Marie Gutheil-Schoder
Marie Gutheil-Schoder was one of the most important German sopranos of her day.Born Marie Schoder, in 1899 she married Gustav Gutheil, with whom she lived until his death in 1914....
.
The work was popular till the early 1920s, then faded from view. It has been revived in Vienna and Dresden, and has been recorded at least twice.
The opera is best known for its orchestral Intermezzo, which was first performed, along with the Carnival Music, on 6 December 1903 in Vienna, as Zwischenspiel aus einer unvollständigen romantischen Oper. These pieces were not composed with any opera in mind, but were later incorporated into Notre Dame, which he started writing in August 1904. The composer and violinist Karl Goldmark
Karl Goldmark
Karl Goldmark, also known originally as Károly Goldmark and later sometimes as Carl Goldmark; May 18, 1830, Keszthely – January 2, 1915, Vienna) was a Hungarian composer.- Life and career :...
described the Intermezzo as "the most beautiful of Gypsy music".
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere: 1 April 1914, Vienna |
|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda | 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... |
Marie Gutheil-Schoder |
| Gringoire | 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... |
|
| Phoebus | tenor | |
| Quasimodo | 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... |
|
| Archdeacon | 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... |
|
Revivals
- post-World War II, Vienna State OperaVienna State OperaThe Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
- 1975, Julia MigenesJulia MigenesJulia Migenes is an American mezzo-soprano working primarily in musical theatre repertoire. She was born on the Lower East Side of New York to a family of Greek and Irish-Puerto Rican descent...
, Walter Berry, Vienna VolksoperVienna VolksoperThe Vienna Volksoper is a major opera house in Vienna, Austria. It gives about three hundred performances of twenty-five productions during an annual season running from September through June.... - 2010, Camilla Nylund (Esmeralda), Robert Gambill (Phoebus), Oliver Ringelhahn (Gringoire), Markus Butter (Archdeacon), Jan-Hendrik RooteringJan-Hendrik RooteringJan-Hendrik Rootering is a German-born bass-baritone, son of the Dutch tenor Hendrikus Rootering from whom he had his first lessons...
(Quasimodo), DresdenDresdenDresden 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....
SemperoperSemperoperThe Semperoper is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden and the concert hall of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden . It is located near the Elbe River in the historic center of Dresden, Germany.The opera house was originally built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841...
under Gerd AlbrechtGerd AlbrechtGerd Albrecht is a German conductor. He was a first-prize winner at the International Conductors Competition in Besançon at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the Mainz Municipal Theatre, and Generalmusikdirektor in...
Recordings
- 1949, Karl Ostertag (Tenor), Wilhelm Schlichting (Baritone), Hanne Munch (Mezzo Soprano), Max Proebstl (Bass), Hans HopfHans HopfHans Hopf was a German operatic tenor, one of the leading heldentenors of the immediate postwar period....
(Tenor), Hilde Scheppan (Soprano), Bavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraBavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraThe Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, in German Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is the internationally renowned orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk , based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the three principal orchestras in the city of Munich, along with the Munich Philharmonic...
under Hans Altmann - 1988, Dame Gwyneth Jones (Esmeralda), James KingJames King (tenor)James King was widely regarded as the finest American heldentenor of the post-war period.-Biography:Born in Dodge City, Kansas, King studied music at Louisiana State University and earned a master's degree in 1952 from Kansas City University. He started singing as a baritone, but noticed in 1955...
(Phoebus), Kurt MollKurt MollKurt Moll is a German operatic bass, now retired.-Biography:Moll was born in Buir, near Cologne, Germany. As a child, he played the cello and hoped to become a great cellist. He also sang in the school choir, and the conductor encouraged him to concentrate on singing...
(Quasimodo), Horst Laubenthal (Gringoire), Hartmut Welker (Archdeacon); Andreas Juffinger, Hans Helm, Kaja Borris, with Berlin Radio Symphony OrchestraBerlin Radio Symphony OrchestraBerlin Radio Symphony Orchestra can refer to one of two orchestras:* The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, known from 1956 to 1993 as the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and situated in West Berlin during the Cold War...
under Christof PerickChristof PerickChristof Prick , who uses the name Christof Perick in English-speaking countries, is a German orchestra conductor. His father was the concertmaster of the Hamburg Philharmonic.Perick's conducting posts include:...