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. [1] It is based loosely on the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo.
Composition
The opera was written between 1904 and 1906. [2] Schmidt approached the opera by writing the orchestral parts of the score first, adding the vocal parts in later. [1] He incorporated some material from an unfinished fantasia for piano and orchestra. [1]
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. [1]
The opera is best known for its orchestral Intermezzo, which was first performed, along with the Carnival Music, [1] on 6 December 1903 in Vienna, as Zwischenspiel aus einer unvollständigen romantischen Oper. [3] These pieces were not composed with any opera in mind, but were later incorporated into Notre Dame, which he started writing in August 1904. [1] The composer and violinist Karl Goldmark described the Intermezzo as "the most beautiful of Gypsy music". [4]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere: 1 April 1914, Vienna |
|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda | soprano | Marie Gutheil-Schoder |
| Gringoire | tenor | |
| Phoebus | tenor | |
| Quasimodo | bass | |
| Archdeacon | baritone | Joseph Schwarz [5] |
Revivals
- post-World War II, Vienna State Opera [1]
- 1975, Julia Migenes, Walter Berry, Vienna Volksoper [1] [2]
- 2010, Camilla Nylund (Esmeralda), Robert Gambill (Phoebus), Oliver Ringelhahn (Gringoire), Markus Butter (Archdeacon), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Quasimodo), Dresden Semperoper under Gerd Albrecht [6]
Recordings
- 1949, Karl Ostertag (tenor), Wilhelm Schlichting (baritone), Hanne Munch (mezzo-soprano), Max Proebstl (bass), Hans Hopf (tenor), Hilde Scheppan (soprano), Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hans Altmann [7]
- 1988, Dame Gwyneth Jones (Esmeralda), James King (Phoebus), Kurt Moll (Quasimodo), Horst Laubenthal (Gringoire), Hartmut Welker (Archdeacon); Andreas Juffinger, Hans Helm, Kaja Borris, with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Christof Perick. [2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Notre Dame Classical Archives
- ^ a b c Oxford Journals[ dead link]
- ^ Franz Schmidt (Composer) bach-cantatas.com
- ^ seiso.us
- ^ Ottner, Carmen (1991). Studien zu Franz Schmidt: Oper in Wien 1900-1925: Symposium 1989. Doblinger. p. 138. ISBN 9783900695200.
- ^ Financial Times, 27 April 2010
- ^ Arkiv Music
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