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Der Freischutz

19K views 51 replies 22 participants last post by  The Conte 
#1 ·
I want to ask you about only one DVD avaiable in "my" shop with Der Freischutz which I'm about to buy. Is it famous and regarded recording which you can recognize?

Here goes the info:

Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper i orkiestra Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg directed by Leopold Ludwig

Maks: Ernst Kozub, tenor
Kacper: Gott lob Frick, bas
Kilian: Franz Grundheber, baryton
Kuno: Toni Blankenheim, bas
Agata: Arlene Saunders, sopran
Anusia: Edith Mathis, sopran
Otokar: Tom Krause, baryton

1968, Hamburg.

And:

Chor der Wiener Staatsoper i orkiestra Wiener Philharmoniker directed by Otto Ackermann

Maks: Hans Hopf, tenor
Kacper: Marjan Rus, bas
Kilian: Karl Donch, baryton
Kuno: Franz Bierbach, bas
Agata: Maud Cunitz, sopran
Anusia: Emmy Loose, sopran
Otokar: Alfred Poell, baryton

1951, Vienna.
 
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#2 ·
So yeah, whats up with Der Freischutz anyway? That this post never got responded to suggests it is not a popular opera, yet there are maybe half a dozen or so commercial productions.

I have been scoping this opera and the only one that looks good is the old one conducted by Leopold Ludwig. But I am not sure I want to get into this opera. There is a weird part in some forest glen or gulley or something where strange stuff happens.

What does anybody think of this opera?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Fantastic opera with the emphasis on the fantasy part. It's really a fairy tale and the Wolf's Glen scene is just mesmerising. Some of Weber's greatest music and the first DVD referred to in the OP is o.k. but a bit dated. Ernst Kozub was the original choice for Siegfried in the Solti Ring so he has the voice and Frick is his usual excellent self.
 
#4 ·
Fantastic opera with the emphasis on the fantasy part. It's really a fairy tale and the Wolf's Glen scene is just mesmerising. Some of Weber's greatest music and the DVD referred to in the OP is o.k. but a bid dated.
Dated is good. At least it does not sport giant self-manipulating rabbits that some Amazon Reviewers note are in this production:
 
#5 ·
This is a great opera. It can even be considered the mother of German Romantic opera. It takes the display of extreme emotions one step farther than Mozart, or even Beethoven, did. The Wolf's Glen scene mentioned above, this radical departure from 18th century rationalism, has an incredible power even today. Wagner said of "Der Freischütz" that was the 'more German of all operas'.

Formally speaking, is a singspiel, with the use of dialogues, along with singing. Weber also present a great overture, and starts the road that would finally take to the leitmotif.

For starters, I think this is ok:

 
#9 · (Edited)
Absolutely delightful opera, the epitome of German folk tale Romanticism. You can smell the spruces and firs.
That is a beautiful characterization and the very reason I like that opera. It is out there in nature, in the forests, in the glens, under open skies. It lacks the intellectual depth of Wagner, but the music is delightful, and the story an enjoyable fairy tale that should not be taken too seriously.
 
#15 · (Edited)
My favorite remains the Keilberth, but the Kleiber is excellent. I also enjoy a less celebrated one under Robert Heger; Birgit Nilsson is an unusual choice for Agathe (it was actually her debut role years before), but the cast including Nicolai Gedda as an outstanding Max is fine, and veteran Heger's conducting is wonderfully atmospheric, captured in great sound.
 
#19 ·
Absolutely wonderful opera!!!

Wonderfully balanced work and one of the first use of "leitmotiv" in that form I think. Very "modern" sounding sound colors for that period. To my ears it sounds more modern than Beethoven's 9th in a way (the ninth wasn't yet completed when Der Freischutz premiered)
Weber was more modern than Beethoven (who by then transcended period). It might not be too much to say that Der Freischutz was the seminal work of German Romanticism.
 
#21 ·
I want to ask you about only one DVD avaiable in "my" shop with Der Freischutz which I'm about to buy. Is it famous and regarded recording which you can recognize?

Here goes the info:

Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper i orkiestra Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg directed by Leopold Ludwig

Maks: Ernst Kozub, tenor
Kacper: Gott lob Frick, bas
Kilian: Franz Grundheber, baryton
Kuno: Toni Blankenheim, bas
Agata: Arlene Saunders, sopran
Anusia: Edith Mathis, sopran
Otokar: Tom Krause, baryton

1968, Hamburg.
I have been watching this one. Am about 1 hr and 20 minutes in and like it a lot. Not so keen on the Wolf Glenn scene (and that is in general, not this DVD), but the rest is wonderful and the singing is great! Best part is that it has a happy ending.
 
#22 ·
So what is going on about Der Freischutz? It's been a year and quite quite here. I still have my one set, Harnoncourt. I wanted the Kubelik set for Behrens, but it was too expensive and I found a cheap highlights set of it instead, but really should have gotten the whole set.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I am still fascinated by the above recording, which I think maybe misdated at 1952 because, given the conductor and cast, this Der Freischutz discography only lists it for 1949. If that is the case then there are a couple other releases available, particularly this one:


However, I discovered a site where you can stream the opera online. This site also gives 1949 for the same conductor and cast.
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2006/02/weber_der_freis_1.php

However, the sound clips for the above "1951" Profil recording sound a LOT better than these streamed clips, so maybe there is a difference, or maybe the streamed one is from a different release and Profil set has been remastered. At any rate, I could not stand it any longer and so have ordered the Profil set, which I happily await:

 
#28 · (Edited)
I am trying to figure out if these are actually two separate recordings or if somewhere along the line the 1949 recording was mislabelled as 1951. Both have same conductor, same concert hall, same cast. (Click on images to blow them up to readable size.)

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Wikipedia's listing for this opera does not even have Kempe in the discography.

This discography includes the 1949 performance, but not the 1951.

And this discography has the 1951 performance, but not the 1949.

When I put "Erster Aufzug Hier im ird'schen Jammertal (Kaspar)" up on Audacity from the 1951 set and compared it to the 1949 (from the streaming link I posted earlier), they looked and sounded similar but for differences in that the 1951 set must have been remastered (it does say mastered from the original tapes).
 
#29 ·
I remember going to see this at 1982 at Covent Garden and haven’t listened to it since. Well, not until last week when I purchased the LSO version conducted by Colin Davies. I assume it is a concert version but it very refreshing hearing it played by a great orchestra with a concert chorus. I’m really enjoying getting back into this music. Has anyone else heard this version and if so what are your impressions?
 
#30 ·
I remember going to see this at 1982 at Covent Garden and haven't listened to it since. Well, not until last week when I purchased the LSO version conducted by Colin Davies. I assume it is a concert version but it very refreshing hearing it played by a great orchestra with a concert chorus. I'm really enjoying getting back into this music. Has anyone else heard this version and if so what are your impressions?
A very discerning member of TC, Pugg, likes the Colin Davis set very much: See post here.
 
#37 ·
Hey, I just read in a Der Freischutz CD booklet that the white flowers the hermit gave Agathe are what protected her from the Devil's bullet killing her. Previously, I had thought that Samiel had simply double crossed Caspar. but perhaps it was a little of both.
 
#46 · (Edited)
Just want to say that this opera is absolutely glorious, one of my top 10 for sure. The blend of naive folksiness and dark, opulent Romanticism is absolutely contagious. One of the best overtures in opera, great orchestration, complex and likable characters, an engaging fantasical plot, and some truly ravishing arias. It reminds me somewhat of a Grimm or Andersen fairy tale. I've only heard the Keilberth, but I have no inclination to hear the generally-recommended Kleiber since Janowitz and Schreier normally don't float my boat. I definitely prefer it to Fidelio and Magic Flute among pre-Wagner German operas.
 
#47 · (Edited)
Schreier is not ideal; I am not even too fond of Adam's Kaspar. The stars of the Kleiber are Janowitz and Kleiber and maybe the Staatskapelle.
I don't prefer it vs. Flute and Fidelio. Freischütz is indebted to both, I believe. The great ensembles at the ends of the first act of Fidelio (with the prisoners returning to their dungeons) and Freischütz (O diese Sonne) seem similar and Florestan's dungeon scene has often been mentioned as having a similarly dark romantic tone (although it is of course rather different from the Wolf's glen).

But Freischütz is certainly a huge step towards both Romanticism and a specifically German opera. I think it does not travel so well and is far more popular in German speaking countries.
 
#48 · (Edited)
Now this is a unique production, and pretty fun one too. I would do away with a couple bits in the Wolf Glen scene (including the self-manipulating rabbit) but otherwise quite a nice production. However, they threw in this bit right before Max notices the wound from the falling portrait, Agathe says this to him (after he lunged toward her suddenly). I do not see that statement in my other two Freischutz DVDs. Is this weird? Was the subtitle guy just having some fun? I don't know German so cannot tell.
 
#51 ·
Listening to Kleiber's recording today, for the first time in a while. I have heard Keilberth and while I don't own it, it's on my wishlist. Der Freischütz is an opera I love, and I wish it were performed more often on my side of the Atlantic. Luckily there are a few great recordings of it and the classic Leopold Ludwig video, which is actually the only version I've ever seen.

I'm wondering about one other name that hasn't come up on this thread: Eugen Jochum. He recorded it in 1959 for Deutsche Grammophon with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (early-ish stereo, just a year after Keilberth). Cast includes Irmgard Seefried as Agathe, Rita Streich as Ännchen, Kurt Böhme as Kaspar, and Eberhard Waechter as Ottokar. Max is sung by Richard Holm. It certainly looks good on paper. What are people's thoughts on this one? Attached are some pictures of the various incarnations I've seen online.


 
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