The Father of German Romantic Opera

Abstract

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) was born in north Germany. His father was something of a musician and wound up as an impresario of a theatrical troupe that consisted mainly of his own children. Carl Maria grew up in the world of the theater. An appointment as a conductor of opera at Breslau when he was eighteen launched him on his professional career. In the next decade he began to compose in earnest, also establishing his reputation as conductor and piano virtuoso. With his aristocratic bearing and poetic air he was a wandering minstrel such as appealed to the romantic imagination. He conceived of opera as a union of arts in which voices, orchestra and action were joined in a convincing whole. Weber found a wider sphere of activity when the King of Saxony appointed him conductor of the German wing of the opera in Dresden. Amid the vexations of his official career, his strength sapped by tuberculosis, Weber produced his three major works. Der Freischütz was one of the most spectacular successes in operatic history. Eurante and Oberon sought to reconcile German romanticism with the Italian tradition. At forty Weber was finished. He accepted an invitation to London to conduct Oberon which had been commissioned for Covent Garden. Mortally ill, he experienced the final triumph of his career. He conducted the first twelve performances of the opera and died in London shortly after, a wanderer to no end.