Hidden treasures - Heinrich Marschner - Der Vampyr (1828) - Selected highlights

Painting: "A sunset on the Crimea" by Ivan Aivazovsky.

History: By the time the German composer Heinrich Marschner (1795-1861) began composing "Der Vampyr", he was already a relatively mature, if rather unsuccessful, musician: he demonstrated an interest in music at a very young age, even writing his own version of "La clemenza di Tito" in 1815. However, his numerous attempts to launch a career as a theatrical composer constantly failed (an echo of Schubert, perhaps?): Marschner collaborated with a great number of librettists and playwrights on both operas and incidental music, yet, some favorable reviews notwithstanding, Marschner could not achieve any form of lasting success. Only around 1827 did the composer finally receive his big break. In Magdeburg Marschner became acquainted with his brother-in-law, Wohlbruck, a popular actor. The two seized upon the idea of collaborating on an opera involving vampires, and the resulting work became a resounding success on its first performance on the 29th of March, 1828, in Leipzig. Only the composer's "Hans Heiling" (1833), managed to surpass this triumph. However, Marschner's other forays into opera were mostly quite disappointing.

Narrative: The Byronic plot, adapted from multiple literary sources, is, perhaps, one of the first true romantic opera thrillers: Lord Ruthven (baritone), a vampire, is granted an opportunity to win another year of life on Earth by killing three victims before the next midnight. And, indeed, as the narrative progresses, two women, young brides-to-be, fall victim to the vampire's thirst for blood. Finally, Ruthven, under the guise of the Earl of Marschten, plans to marry and kill a third young girl, Malwine Davenant (soprano). However, during the wedding ceremony, Edward Aubry (tenor), Malwine's beloved, who was sworn to secrecy by Ruthven because the vampire once saved his life, reveals the true nature of the title hero who is promptly dragged down to hell. As an act of good will, the repentant father, Sir Humphrey (bass), blesses the couple's union. The main sources of this strangely involving, if slightly naive, story are quite obvious. The vampire bears a striking resemblance to Don Giovanni, while his three victims mirror the female characters of Mozart. On the other hand, the work as a whole, with its atmosphere of rustic horror, is a clear successor to Weber's "Die Frechzeit".

Music: Marschner seems to have suffered the awful fate of being situated between two contrasting musical idioms: though Marschner can be credited for further developing the magical world of Weber and creating a strong tragic protagonist who would become the focal point of Wagner's "Der fliegende Hollander", he seems to act more as a transitional figure, rather than an independent composer (much like Vaccai to Bellini). This is especially tragic when we consider the many merits that "Der Vampyr" holds. Marschner, similar to Mendelssohn and Weber, adopts an undeniably attractive idiom of instantly appealing, slightly rustic melodies and glowing accompaniments of warm Germanic inspiration. Though somewhat lacking in pure elegance (in particular, much of "Der Vampyr" features strangely underlined bass lines), Marschner's music attains a striking forward drive and passionate atmosphere which are sustained throughout the work. The highlights are numerous and make the work well-worth of revival: the properly chilling overture which features fascinating interplay between the winds and the strings; numerous choruses of surprising freshness and charm (such as the shades' scene that closes the introduction to the opera); the genuinely affecting terzettino for the lovers and Malwine's father; the passionate andante of Aubry's aria; finally, the handsome "faith" leitmotiv which is repeated several times throughout the opera. All in all, a work of unusual freshness, sincerity and, perhaps, just a bit of naiveté.

Recording: The 2002 Capriccio Records recording, under the strong leadership of Helmuth Froschauer who emphasizes the rare freshness of both the WDR Rundfunkchor and Rundfunkorchester Koln. The cast is uniformly strong, with an especially charming pair of lovers, though Hawlata's highly realistic Ruthven is a bit too down-to-earth to be a tragic figure.

Sir Humphrey - Markus Marquardt,
Malwine - Regina Klepper,
Aubry - Jonas Kaufmann,
Lord Ruthven - Franz Hawlata,
George (tenor), a servant of the Davenants - Thomas Dewald,
Sir Berkly (bass) - Yoo-Chang Nah,
Janthe, his daughter, the first victim/Emmy (sopranos), George's bethrowed - Anke Hoffmann,
Gadshill, Scrop (tenors), Green & Blunt (basses), residents of Marschten - Hein Heidbuchel, Kay Immer, Franz Gerihsen & Josef Otten,
Suse (mezzo-soprano), Blutn's wife - Marietta Schwittay-Niedzwicki.

Hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• belcanto
• Marschner
• classical

[sisifus100]

Wundervolle lyrische Oper...Jonas Kaufmann at his young days...thank you so much...

[MrChipi12345]

I live in a street thats called marschner str

[keef19611]

Duchy Opera are staging a brand new touring production of this work in October 2011 across Cornwall, with an original English translation by Paul Drayton and Keith Sparrow.

[wilhiamas]

I am subscribing to you! I was enchanted by your presentation of Liszt's forgotten opera and now this fabulous opera about vampires! I enjoy reading your essays too. What other treasures are in store?

[Phabathanbob]

@AmericanEvita Thanks. I will look it up and listen to it. Are we the only two Marschner fans on youtube?

[AmericanEvita]

@Phabathanbob I've never seen it. The few Der Vampyr productions are post modern and it's not the original Marschner envisioned on the stage, which was a kind of Der Freischutz with a Don Giovanni type vampire. It's set in a forest, it's very Romantic Era, except with a seductive vampire. The music sounds very Beethoven-ish. I really like the recording with soprano Anna Tomowa Sintow on the Opera D'Oro CD label. It's glorious

[Phabathanbob]

@AmericanEvita Have you seen the English TV version of Der Vampyr, (Teh Vampire) with Omar Ebrahim, Richard van Allen, Fiona O Neill etc, Adaptation by Janet Street Porter? Worth watching.

[Phabathanbob]

Marschner is a bridge between Weber and Wagner. See his opera "Hans Heiling" for more goth stuff!

[AmericanEvita]

To this day I can't believe they actually made an opera about a vampire in 1828. This is during the height of bel canto operas and just before Verdi made it big, and here the German composer Heinrich Marschner basically made an opera about Dracula LOL This is also years before Bram Stroker wrote the book Dracula. Impressive singing...wonderful story, excellent Romantic Gothic Era spectacle!

[eutuve]

Lindoro,

you leave me speachless !

grazie mille..

eu