List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber

German composer Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) is best remembered by his operas, of which he wrote 10 between 1798 and 1826. His first four survive in various states: a juvenile work, Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins (comp. 1798) is completely lost, while 2 fragments survive for Das Waldmädchen (1800). The libretto to Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn (1803) is lost and only 3 numbers from Rübezahl (comp. 1804–05) survive. The two aforementioned operas were revised as the stand alone overtures of Grande ouverture à plusieurs instruments (rev. 1807) and Der Beherrscher der Geister (rev. 1811) respectively. Weber's following operas – Silvana (1810), Abu Hassan (1811), Der Freischütz (1821), Die drei Pintos (comp. 1820–21), Euryanthe (1823), Oberon (1826) – were all performed within his life time and survive intact, except Die drei Pintos which was completed by Gustav Mahler and performed in 1887.[1][2]

The Schauspielhaus Berlin (now Konzerthaus Berlin) where Weber's most famous opera, Der Freischütz, premiered in 1821

Weber was born into a time where most important German composers – Handel, Hasse, Gluck and Mozart – used mostly or exclusively Italian librettos. In 1798 at the age of 12–13 Weber had recently moved to Munich and wrote his first opera, Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins, under the supervision of his teacher, Johann Nepomuk Kalcher. The work was never performed and nothing is known of it other than being a Singspiel; it is completely lost, probably destroyed by a fire in Kalcher's house.[1][3]

The librettos have been by Carl von Steinsberg, Josef Türk (after Carl Gottlob Cramer), Johann Gottlieb Rhode (after Johann Karl August Musäus), twice by Franz Carl Hiemer (one after Steinsberg), Johann Friedrich Kind, Theodor Hell, Helmina von Chézy and James Planché.

List of operas

Operas by Carl Maria von Weber[4]

J.[lower-alpha 1] Op.	Title	Status	Period	Genre and acts	Librettist	Premiere	Venue	WeV[lower-alpha 2]
Anh. 6	Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins (The Power of Love and Wine)[5][lower-alpha 3]	lost[lower-alpha 4]	1798	Singspiel Unknown acts	Unknown	colspan=2 data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | Unperformed	C.1
Anh. 1	Das Waldmädchen[lower-alpha 5] (The Girl of the Forest)[7][lower-alpha 6]	fragments[lower-alpha 7]	1800	Romantische Oper 2 acts	Steinsberg	24 November 1800	Freiberg, Buttermarkt	C.2
J. 8 Op. 8	Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn (Peter Schmoll and his Neighbours)[8]	dialogue lost	1801–02	Opera 2 acts	Türk after Cramer	March? 1803	Augsburg	C.3
J. 44–6	Rübezahl	fragments[lower-alpha 8]	1804–05	Opera 2 acts	Rhode after Musäus	colspan=2 data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | Unperformed	C.4
J. 87 Score	Silvana	survived	1808–10	Romantische Oper 3 acts	Hiemer after Steinsberg[lower-alpha 9]	16 September 1810	Frankfurt	C.5
J. 106 Score	Abu Hassan	survived	1810–11	Singspiel 1 act	Hiemer after One Thousand and One Nights	4 June 1811	Munich, Residenz	C.6
J. 277 Op. 77 Score	Der Freischütz (The Freeshooter)[9]	survived	1817–21	Romantische Oper 3 acts	Kind after Apel	18 June 1821	Berlin, Schauspielhaus	C.7
Anh. 5 Score	Die drei Pintos (The Three Pintos)[10]	incomplete Completed by Mahler 1887	1820–21	Komische Oper 3 acts	Hell after Seidel Revised by C. Weber[lower-alpha 10] and Mahler	20 January 1888	Leipzig, Neues Stadt	C.8
J. 291 Op. 81 Score	Euryanthe	survived	1822–23	Grosse Heroisch-Romantische Oper 3 acts	Helmina after a 13th-century French romance[lower-alpha 11]	25 October 1823	Vienna, Kärntnertortheater	C.9
J. 306 Score	Oberon	survived	1825–26	Romantische Oper 3 acts	Planché after Wieland	12 April 1826	London, Royal Opera House	C.10

Notes

1. Jähns; catalogue numbers of Weber's works as compiled by Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns (1871).
2. Catalogue number from Carl Maria von Weber Gesamtausgabe, an online database of Weber's life and complete works
3. Alternatively translated as: The Force of Love and Wine[6]
4. Probably destroyed in a fire.[1]
5. Also known as Das stumme Waldmädchen or Das Mädchen im Spessarter Wald
6. Alternatively translated as: The Forest Maiden[6]
7. 2 fragments survive; was thought to be lost until 2000 where these fragments were discovered by Natalia Gubkina in the Russian archive of the Mariinsky State Theater.[8] Much of the music was probably reworked into Silvana.[1]
8. 3 nos. survive
9. Hiemer based Silvana off Steinsberg's libretto for Weber's earlier opera, Das Waldmädchen.
10. Carl Von Weber, the grandson of Carl Maria von Weber
11. Anonymous 13th-century French romance entitled: L'Histoire du très-noble et chevalereux prince Gérard, comte de Nevers et la très-virtueuse et très chaste princesse Euriant de Savoye, sa mye.

References

1. Brown 2002a.
2. Morgan 2017, p. 50.
3. Warrack 1976, p. 32.
4. Information is from Warrack 1976, p. 379 and Brown 2002a in addition to any other references in the row.
5. Morgan 2017, p. 8.
6. Osborne 2007, p. 594.
7. Morgan 2017, p. 9.
8. Morgan 2017, p. 14.
9. Morgan 2017, p. 16.
10. Brown 2002b.

Sources

• Brown, Clive (2002a) [1992]. "Weber, Carl Maria (Friedrich Ernst) von". Grove Music Online. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004022.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (subscription or UK public library membership required)

• Brown, Clive (2002b) [1992]. "Drei Pintos, Die". Grove Music Online. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004022.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (subscription or UK public library membership required)

• Morgan, Joseph E. (2017). Experiencing Carl Maria Von Weber:A Listener's Companion. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1442255579.

• Osborne, Charles (2007). The Opera Lover's Companion. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300123739.

• Warrack, John (1976). Carl Maria Von Weber. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521291217.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)