[Aramis]

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.

 

[SixFootScowl]

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?

 

[Barbebleu]

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.

 

[SixFootScowl]

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:

 

[schigolch]

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:

 

[Barbebleu]

Dated is good. At least it does not sport giant self-manipulating rabbits that some Amazon Reviewers note are in this production:

I'm with you Florestan, one to bodyswerve.

 

[SixFootScowl]

For starters, I think this is ok:

And the ladies are quite pleasant too!

 

[Woodduck]

Absolutely delightful opera, the epitome of German folk tale Romanticism. You can smell the spruces and firs.

I don't know about videos, but the recording under Keilberth with the exquisite Elisabeth Grummer as Agathe is classic.

A sample of Grummer:

 

[SiegendesLicht]

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.

 

[SixFootScowl]

Absolutely delightful opera, the epitome of German folk tale Romanticism. You can smell the spruces and firs.

Whelp, I guess I better get a copy of this one and get into it. Sounds wonderful. Mendelssohn loved it so it has to be great.

...in 1821, the 12-year-old Mendelssohn attended the premiere of Weber's Der Freischütz and was swept away ...

ref.

 

[kineno]

Whelp, I guess I better get a copy of this one and get into it. Sounds wonderful. Mendelssohn loved it so it has to be great.

ref.

Highly thought of by Wagner as well. It's generally regarded as a very major influence on The Flying Dutchman; the two have a lot in common. In grad school I took a Wagner course in which a great deal of time was spent on this influence.

 

[SixFootScowl]

Highly thought of by Wagner as well. It's generally regarded as a very major influence on The Flying Dutchman; the two have a lot in common. In grad school I took a Wagner course in which a great deal of time was spent on this influence.

Fascinating information to keep in mind as I view this opera! The Flying Dutchman is one of my favorite Wagner operas.

 

[Pugg]

Kleibers recording is almost unbeatable, however, Sir Colin Davis came very close.

 

[SixFootScowl]

Kleibers recording is almost unbeatable, however, Sir Colin Davis came very close.

Kleiber--especially with Janowitz.

 

[Woodduck]

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.

 

[Guest]

Kubelik has also made a very good Freischütz,Keilberth and Kleiber ,I have them all three,

 

[Reichstag aus LICHT]

I'm with you Florestan, one to bodyswerve.

I quite like that production; granted, the Max is a bit wooden, but the other characters and chorus are excellent. It has a wonderfully over-the-top Wolf's Glen scene (where the aforementioned self-pleasing rabbit lives) and the creepiest Samiel ever.

 

[Razumovskymas]

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)



I have the Sir Collin Davis (2012): nice big sound

 

[Woodduck]

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.

 

[Razumovskymas]

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.

If I'm not mistaken, Weber was the first to put the woodwinds behind the strings in the orchestra. How more modern can you be!! ;-)