95117 schumann bl2 v5 by Klassiek.nl

95117 Schumann_BL2 v5.qxp_. 20/02/2015 14:15 Page 2

Robert Schumann 1810–1856 Genoveva Op.81 Opera in four acts · Libretto by Robert Reinick and Robert Schumann, after Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Hebbel Setting: Medieval Germany

Siegfried, Count Palatine ...................................DIETRICH FISCHER-DIESKAU Genoveva of Brabant, Siegfried’s wife ..........................................EDDA MOSER Golo, Siegfried’s head servant.................................................PETER SCHREIER Margaretha, a servant.........................................................GISELA SCHRÖTER Drago, an old steward..........................................................SIEGFRIED VOGEL Hidulfus, Bishop of Trier...................................................SIEGFRIED LORENZ Balthasar, Siegfried’s servant ......................................KARL-HEINZ STRYCZEK Caspar, a hunter.........................................................WOLFGANG HELLMICH

Rundfunkchor Berlin chorus master and director of stage music Wolf-Dieter Hauschild Gewandhausorchester Leipzig

Compact Disc 1 1

4 5

6 7

Kurt Masur 8

Overture Act 1 No.1 Chorus and Recitative Erhebet Herz und Hände (Chorus) Zu einem gottgefäll’gen Kampfe (Hidulfus/Chorus) No.2 Recitative and Aria Möcht’ ziehn mit ihnen! (Golo) Frieden zieh’ in meine Brust (Golo) Siegfried! Siegfried! (Golo) No.3 Duet So wenig Monden erst (Siegfried/Genoveva) No.4 Recitative Dies gilt uns! (Siegfried/Drago/Genoveva/Golo) Meines Weibes nimm dich an (Siegfried/Golo/Genoveva/Chorus) No.5 Chorus Auf, auf in das Feld! (Chorus/Genoveva/Siegfried/Golo) No.6 Recitative and Scene Der rauhe Kriegsmann! (Golo) O Lippen, süße Lippen! (Golo/Genoveva) No.7 Finale Sieh da, welch feiner Rittersmann! (Margaretha) Was hab ich getan (Golo/Margaretha) Du läßt die arme Frau allein (Margaretha/Golo) Mit neuem Leben erfüllst du mich wieder (Golo/Margaretha)

69’17 8’27

5’31

6’09

2’20 3’28

2’57 3’32

8’21

95117 Schumann_BL2 v5.qxp_. 20/02/2015 14:15 Page 4

12 13

Act 2 No.8 Scene, Chorus and Recitative O weh des Scheidens, das er tat (Genoveva) Füllet die Becher (Chorus/Genoveva) Ihr seid es, Golo? (Genoveva/Golo) No.9 Duet Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär’ (Genoveva/Golo) Was ist Euch? (Genoveva/Golo) Das wort, das traf (Golo) No.10 Duet and Scene Dem Himmel Dank (Drago/Golo) Ich lauscht’ an der Tür (Margaretha/Golo) Dort schleichen über’n Hof sie sacht (Genoveva) No.11 Aria O du, der über alle wacht (Genoveva) No.12 Finale Sacht, sacht, aufgemacht! (Chorus/Balthasar/Genoveva) Zurück, ihr Schurken! (Golo/Genoveva/Chorus/Balthasar/Drago) Glaubt, was Ihr seht! (Genoveva/Balthasar/Margaretha/Golo) Führt sie hinunter, bindet sie! (Chorus)

3 8’05

6’20

4’14 4 2’56 6’43 5

6 Compact Disc 2

1 2

Act 3 No.13 Duet Nichts hält mich mehr (Siegfried/Margaretha) No.14 Recitative, Lied and Duet Ja, wart’ du bis zum jüngsten Tag (Siegfried) Bald blick’ ich dich wieder (Siegfried) Wer sprengt so eilig in das Tor herein! (Siegfried/Golo) Doch halt! Es fällt mir ein (Siegfried)

56’46

7 2’50 10’12

No.15 Finale Ich sah ein Kind im Traum (Margaretha) Ei nun, wer stört sie? (Margaretha/Siegfried/Golo) Erscheint! (1. Bild) (Margaretha/Chorus/Siegfried/Golo) Erscheint! Erscheint! (2. Bild) (Margaretha/Chorus/Siegfried/Golo) Erscheint! Erscheint! Erscheint! (3. Bild) (Margaretha/Chorus/Siegfried/Drago’s Ghost) Furchtbar Gesicht, verschwind! (Margaretha/Ghost) Entsetzen packt mich (Margaretha/Ghost) Act 4 No.16 Scene, Lied and Aria Steil und steiler ragen die Felsen (Genoveva/Caspar/Balthasar) Sie hatten beid’ sich herzlich lieb (Caspar/Balthasar) Die letzte Hoffnung schwindet (Genoveva) Ich höre Schritte (Genoveva) No.17 Scene Kennt Ihr den Ring? (Golo/Genoveva) Ihr Männer, tretet vor! (Golo/Balthasar/Caspar) Habt Ihr noch einen Wunsch (Caspar/Genoveva) No.18 Recitative, Trio and Scene with chorus Weib, heuchelt nicht (Balthasar/Genoveva) Umsonst versucht mein Mund (Genoveva/Caspar/Balthasar) Sie ist’s, am Kreuze dort! (Chorus/Margaretha/Siegfried/Genoveva) No.19 Duet O laß es ruhn, dein Aug’, auf mir! (Siegfried/Genoveva) Kommt alle mit ins Schloß (Siegfried/Chorus) No.20 Double Chorus Bestreut den Weg mit grünen Mai’n (Chorus) Nun hebet Herz und Hände (Chorus) No.21 Finale Seid mir gegrüßt (Hidulfus/Genoveva/Siegfried/Chorus) Erschalle, festlicher Sang (Chorus/Siegfried/Genoveva)

13’50

9’30

6’03

4’18

2’36

3’21

3’56 5

95117 Schumann_BL2 v5.qxp_. 20/02/2015 14:15 Page 6

...I may turn my mind to opera one day ‘Genoveva – but not the sentimental tale of old.’ This is how Robert Schumann tried to describe his only operatic effort in a letter to Heinrich Dorn, his one-time teacher of composition. The ‘sentimental tale of old’ to which he referred was the ancient legend of Genoveva that Heinrich Heine, in his own account, first discovered ‘in the old, naive and innocent form of a badly printed chapbook in Cologne, which contained woodcuts that were of very poor quality but featured moving scenes of the poor, naked Countess of the Palatinate, left with nothing but her long hair to cover her shame and depending on the compassion of a hind to suckle her little son Schmerzenreich (born in the wilderness)’. Heine was only mildly ironic in relating the story, as he was a great admirer of folklore, but was this the right plot for a play or even an opera in the mid-19th century? Robert Schumann, who was surely imbued with a sound dose of realism, asked himself the same question. His answer can be gauged from the opera itself, the result of an intensive creative process. The outcome of his labours was not a sentimental tale of miracles in a romantic German forest setting, but – as he continued in his letter to Dorn – ‘a piece of real life as all drama should be’. In fact, his treatment of the Genoveva subject was based on any of the legendary versions that had survived down the ages, as exemplified by Christoph von Schmid’s folk tale, various puppet plays and adaptations for amateur dramatic societies. He opted instead for Friedrich Hebbel’s psychological drama (1843) in which the much-admired playwright portrayed the conflict between Golo, ‘driven to diabolical acts by human motives (unrequited love)’, and the steadfast Genoveva. This was the clue he needed to find the right dramatic and musical approach and to give utterance to his foremost artistic goal, the moral betterment of an imperfect world, in unmistakable terms. His choice of subject was also motivated by patriotic feelings. Hebbel had pointed out with reference to his Genoveva: ‘Any drama will come alive only to the extent as it expresses the spirit of the age which brings it forth, i.e. its highest and truest interests (including national aspirations just as in the case of Richard Wagner).’ 6

Schumann was even more emphatic, affirming that he was ‘praying for German opera every morning and evening’. Schumann’s resolve, discernible in the way he formulated his goal as early as 1842, barely suggests the long and arduous path that lay ahead. Having developed a passion for the theatre while receiving a classical education in Zwickau, Schumann later gave up his literary ambitions to become an avant-garde composer who firmly believed that he would be able to proclaim his message in purely musical terms, without any recourse to the word. This attitude led him to think little of vocal music at first, but it was not long before he frankly admitted: ‘It is hard to describe how much I relish the idea of writing for the voice rather than for an instrument... I have made many new discoveries, and I may turn my mind to opera one day.’ He began to look for suitable material, but his search proved very difficult; witness the long list of subjects which he contemplated but then discarded: Faust, Wilhelm Meister, Till Eulenspiegel etc. On 1 April 1847, however, he settled on the text of Genoveva and pursued the matter with single-minded persistence. The overture and the libretto were finished before the end of 1847, and the rest of the work was completed the following year in a matter of eight months. The score was ready on 4 August 1848, but it was not until 25 June 1850 that the opera was introduced to the public under Schumann’s direction in Leipzig’s Stadttheater. Even then it was given a mixed reception among critics and audiences alike, and the misfortune of circumstances prevented the work from gaining a permanent place in the repertory. Admittedly, there are shortcomings and weaknesses in the plot and dramatic makeup of Genoveva, but the value of the music is no longer in doubt. The overture, which has always been recognised as one of Schumann’s finest orchestral pieces, is inseparable from the opera itself, as it introduces the basic and later recurring motifs that are subsequently developed more fully in a very ingenious and subtle way. The strong points of the opera are a flowing, songlike vocal line, associated in particular with the moving title role, a rich spectrum of orchestral colours employed for psychological characterisation, and a sophisticated use of harmony that looks forward to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Incidentally, the plot is quite 7

95117 Schumann_BL2 v5.qxp_. 20/02/2015 14:15 Page 8

dramatic and effective, as a number of sensitive productions have demonstrated. This first recording of the work, which Kurt Masur conducted in Leipzig – the venue of the premiere – in 1976, was first released on CD in July 1992 to mark the conductor’s 65th birthday.

Synopsis Act 1 Count Siegfried of the Palatinate goes off to war to join the campaign of Charles Martel against the Moors, encouraged by Bishop Hidulfus. He entrusts his young wife, Genoveva, to the care of his friend, Golo, who is secretly in love with Genoveva. When she falls unconscious after saying goodbye to her husband, he kisses her. He is spurred on by his erstwhile nurse, the sorceress Margaretha, who is plotting revenge against Siegfried.

Act 3 Siegfried has nursed his wounds in Strasbourg. Margaretha’s attempts to poison him have proved unsuccessful. Now she tries to enthrall him with a tale about a magic mirror that she claims can bring back images of the past. When Golo arrives to inform him about Genoveva’s alleged infidelity, Siegfried wants to try out the mirror. Believing the treacherous images conjured up for him, he decides that Genoveva must die. But the spirit of the murdered Drago forces Margaretha to re-join Siegfried and Golo to reveal the truth. Act 4 The death sentence is to be carried out in the middle of the forest. Golo tries to persuade Genoveva to flee. When she rejects him once again, he goes away to take his own life. Having learned the truth from Margaretha, Siegfried arrives to save Genoveva, and amid general rejoicing Hidulfus blesses the reunited couple. 훿 Gerd Nauhaus Translation: Bernd Zöllner

Act 2 The lonely Genoveva, listening to the noise of the servants with apprehension, learns from Golo that the Frankish army has been victorious. She hopes that Siegfried will return soon, but Golo takes advantage of her elated feelings and tries to embrace her. Repulsed by the words ‘Begone, vile bastard’, Golo decides to take his revenge and enlists the steward, Drago, for his sinister plans. Drago hides in Genoveva’s bedroom as proof of her alleged infidelity, but on being detected he is killed as her supposed lover. Genoveva is thrown into the dungeon at Golo’s behest.

Libretto available at www.brilliantclassics.com

95117 Schumann_BL2 v5.qxp_. 20/02/2015 14:15 Page 10

More in the Brilliant Classics Opera Collection

Pfitzner: Palestrina 95113 3CD

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer 94664 2CD

D’Albert: Tiefland 95114 2CD

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden 94626 3CD

Recording: October 1976, Studio Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche, Leipzig, Germany Recording producer: Reimar Bluth Balance engineer: Horst Kunze Recording engineer: Gerald Junge Editing: Lianne Klasen  1978 Edel Gesellschaft für Produktmarketing mbH 훿 2015 Brilliant Classics Licensed from Edel Germany GmbH