Carl Maria von Weber - Abu Hassan (1811) - No. 2. The married couple

"Abu Hassan" is a German singspiel in one act by a young Carl Maria von Weber, one of his first successes, in fact, a light, vivacious work that was well received at its' Munich premiere which took place on June 4, 1811. The libretto, written by Franz Carl Hiemer, was derived from "Le dormier eveille" or "The sleeper awakened" by Antoine Galland, in turn relating one of the tales of the "Thousand & One Arabian Nights" which were, in part, the chief instigators of the Turkish craze that steadily transmitted into a series of operas set in the Middle East and Africa, including Mozart's "L'oca del Cairo" and, more famously, "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail" and Rossini's "L'italiana in Algeri", to name just a few examples. Weber's librettist actually used only the second half of the story, while the entire piece was later set by Meyerbeer's 1815 "Lustspiel Wirth und Gast".

The subject of this comic work concerns a debtor, Abu Hassan (tenor), and his wife, Fatime (soprano), and their efforts to outsmart the Caliph (and his creditor, Omar (bass)) and gain from him the money allotted for their supposed funerals, so that they can pay their debts and live in ease. They are both beset by creditors as the opera opens (as was Weber himself at the time of the opera's composition; in fact, Franz Carl Hiemer, a friend from Weber's Stuttgart days where they both had been frequently in debt, sent Weber the libretto in March of 1810, while the composer slowly set the opera in the following several months). Thankfully, all ends happily for all (except the wicked Omar who is imprisoned for his misdeeds by the Caliph (spoken role)).

The 1944 recording that I am using is quite wonderful in both the orchestra's vivid playing and the soloists' well-characterized singing (with the tenor being a possessor of a slightly dry but believable in the context of the role voice), while the sound quality is not as clear as it could have been, though it does not distract from the overall enjoyment of the piece and the performance:

Leopold Ludwig - Conductor,
Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie Orchester - Orchestra,
Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie Chor - Chorus.

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Fatima,
Erich Witte - Abu Hassan,
Michael Bohnen - Omar.

For this series of uploads I decided to present solely the music material, while omitting the dialogue and the opening recitative of the tenor's aria and much of the creditors' chorus (here limited to the final stretta) to post the opera in just four uploads (the work is actually quite short, lasting about an hour); I've also made some changes to the order in which the numbers appear in the opera (I will, of course, mention these replacements in the description), forming a slightly more conventional but more or less logically developing structure.

IV (V in the opera). Aria for Fatime - "Wird Nachtigall". Fatime's two-part aria, originally her only solo opportunity, seems just a hint routine in its' drama and musical development, as the woman muses on the state of the couple's affairs, but it is vindicated by a superb cello obbligato in its' slow section and more than enough ornamentation for the moderato.

V (IV in the opera). Duet for Abu & Fatime - "Siehst du diese". There were a total of eight original pieces and an overture when the work was premiered; but in 1813 Weber added a love duet for Abu and Fatime to establish the closeness of their relationship. While its' more serious style might put it into direct contrast to the general character of the opera, the sheer gentility of the andante and the delightfully ornamented cabaletta seem more than ample reasons for its' inclusion. A lovely addition to the work on all counts.

Hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Weber
• romantic
• classical
• belcanto
• coloratura

[corelli2]

I sometimes forget how beautiful Schwartzkopf's voice was, especially in this kind of rep. Just stunning.