Carl Maria von Weber - DER FREISCHÜTZ - Overture

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DER FREISCHÜTZ
Romantische Oper in 3 Aufzügen
Composer: Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826)
Libretto: Johann Friedrich Kind
First performance: Schauspielhaus Berlin, 18 June 1821

SETTING: Bohemia, at the end of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648)

PLOT: The ‘Freischütz’ is a marksman who has made a pact with the devil for ‘Freikugeln’, magic bullets that can shoot whatever he wants; the seventh bullet, however, is the devil’s. In Weber’s opera, Kaspar, the assistant forester, has sold his soul to Samiel, the Black Huntsman, and is due to lose it the next day. Kaspar persuades Max, an assistant forester, to make magic bullets; Max has to show his prowess at a competition the next day to succeed the head forester and marry his daughter Agathe. In this way, Kaspar hopes to gain another three years of life. Despite Agathe and her cousin Ännchen’s warnings, Max goes to the dreadful Wolf’s Glen at midnight, where Kaspar summons Samiel and makes the magic bullets. Kaspar’s plans fail; Samiel drags him to hell, and, after a year of probation, Max will marry Agathe.

Overture

Conductor: Eugen Jochum
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Radiofunks
Munich, 1959