Weber's life creative path briefly. Carl Maria von Weber - the founder of the German romantic opera

Carl Maria von Weber entered the history of music as the founder of the romantic German opera. In this capacity, the memory of him is immortalized even in space: the asteroids Evryant, Rezia, Preciosa, Fatme and Zubaid are named after the characters of his operas. The opera genre really occupies a central place in his work, which, however, is not limited to operas. Weber was not only a composer - he acted as a conductor and pianist, showed himself as a writer.

Weber came from a family that was by no means the most respected (it was no coincidence that Leopold Mozart was dissatisfied with the marriage of his son to a representative of this kind) - and the father of the future composer was a completely “worthy” representative of his family: gifted, but prone to adventures, he managed to be both an artist and a speculator, and a soldier, and an official, and a musician in an itinerant troupe. Karl was the sixth of his surviving children, and the father, seeing the ability of his offspring, set out to make artists out of them. Carl was notable for poor health since childhood, but this did not prevent him from traveling with his family's musical and drama itinerant troupe. His childhood passed behind the scenes of various theaters, his toys were theatrical props.

Weber Sr., who was haunted by the laurels of the Mozart family, noticed the musical talent of his son and wanted to make him a child prodigy. The first piano teacher was Karl's older brother Fritz, who constantly yelled at him and even beat the boy, his father was not much more patient, so his studies were not successful. But at the age of ten, Karl had a real mentor - Peter Heushkel, and later he studied with Michael Haydn (brother of the great composer). Karl showed his talent as a composer by creating six fughettas, which his father hastened to publish.

At the age of twelve, Weber almost gave up the idea of ​​​​becoming a composer: at the insistence of his father, he began writing the opera The Power of Love and Wine, but the cabinet where the unfinished score was stored burned down in the most mysterious way (no other piece of furniture in the room was damaged) . Seeing this as a sign from above, Karl abandoned the composition and took up lithography, but the love of music still prevailed, and two years later his opera The Silent Forest Girl was staged for the first time, and a year later a new work was completed - Peter Schmol and his neighbor”, staged in 1802 in Augsburg.

In later years, Weber studied with Franz Lauska and also with Georg Josef Vogler. On the recommendation of the latter, he became Kapellmeister in 1804. opera house in Breslau. He tried to improve the work of the theater: he seated the orchestra in a new way, achieving greater unity of sound, streamlined the system of rehearsals, and insisted on including only highly artistic works in the repertoire. Weber's innovations did not arouse understanding among either the artists, or the management, or the public, accustomed to light entertainment performances.

The activities of the conductor did not interfere with composing music. Weber wrote songs and numerous pieces for viola, horn, violin and other instruments, but the most significant work of those years was the opera Rübetzal, based on a German fairy tale (only four numbers of it have survived).

In 1806, Weber left Breslau and became the head of the court orchestra of Prince Eugene of Württemberg and managed to create two symphonies during his service. Soon the orchestra was disbanded due to the outbreak of war, and Weber, on the recommendation of the prince, became the personal secretary of his brother Ludwig. The composer had to keep accounts, negotiate with merchants and moneylenders, and do other things that were absolutely not characteristic of him. “Get out of here ... Into the open ... The field of activity of the artist is the whole world,” says the novel “The Life of the Artist,” on which he began working in 1809. At the same time, he began to compose two operas - “Sylvanas” and “Abu Gasan.

Service at the court of Ludwig of Württemberg ended with an arrest on an unjust charge. Weber spent only sixteen days in prison, but it was after that that he felt truly mature man. As a pianist, he successfully gave concerts in Mannheim, Frankfurt am Main and other cities, created concert pieces for various instruments (he had a special love for the bassoon and clarinet), wrote articles and reviews. He made many concert trips in 1811-1812, but in 1813 the war forced him to stay in Prague, where he worked for several years as a conductor in the opera house. He unfolded vigorous activity- the number of premieres carried out in one year was in the tens, there was little time left for composing music. And yet, some works were written precisely in those years - for example, a collection of songs on poems by Theodor Körner "The Sword and Lyre".

From 1817 Weber lived and worked in Dresden. Here, Italian operas and German dramas were staged in the Royal Drama - the question was not even raised for years, so Weber had at his disposal not singers, but singing actors, while Italians were reluctant to perform in German operas, and the language barrier created difficulties. But even under such conditions, Weber managed to stage operas by German composers. The Dresden period includes two the best operas composer: in 1821 "" was written, and in 1822 - "Evryant". Biggest Success fell to the lot of "Free shooter".

In 1825 Weber began working on the opera Oberon commissioned by the Covent Garden Theatre. Work on it was repeatedly interrupted due to an exacerbation of a lung disease, and yet in 1826 the opera was completed. Along with the creation of the opera, Weber, under the terms of the contract, had to conduct several performances and concerts. He understood that in his state of health a trip to London would be sheer suicide, but he thought about the interests of the family: “Whether I go or not, I will die this year,” he said. “However, if I go, my children will have food when their father dies.”

The premiere of Oberon in London was a great success. The composer did not have time to return to his homeland - he died and was buried in England. In 1844, through the efforts of Richard Wagner, the ashes of the composer were transported to Dresden, at the burial ceremony sounded funeral march, which Wagner composed on motifs from the opera "Evryant".

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Biography

Weber was born into the family of a musician and theatrical entrepreneur, always immersed in various projects. Childhood and youth were spent wandering around the cities of Germany together with a small theater troupe of his father, which is why it cannot be said that he went through a systematic and strict music school in his youth. Almost the first piano teacher, with whom Weber studied for more or less a long time, was Johann Peter Heushkel, then, according to theory, Michael Haydn, lessons were also taken from G. Vogler. - the first works of Weber appeared - small fugues. Weber was then a student of the organist Kalcher in Munich. More thoroughly the theory of composition Weber subsequently went through with Abbot Vogler, having fellow students Meyerbeer and Gottfried Weber; at the same time he studied piano with Franz Lauska. Weber's first stage experience was the opera Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins. Although he wrote a lot in his early youth, his first success came with his opera Das Waldmädchen (1800). The 14-year-old composer's opera was given on many stages in Europe and even in St. Petersburg. Subsequently, Weber reworked this opera, which, under the name "Sylvanas", held on for a long time on many German opera stages.

Having written the opera "Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn" (1802), symphonies, piano sonatas, the cantata "Der erste Ton", the opera "Abu Hassan" (1811), he conducted the orchestra in different cities and gave concerts.

Max Weber, his son wrote a biography of his famous father.

Compositions

• Hinterlassene Schriften, ed. Hellem (Dresden, 1828);
• Karl Maria von W. Ein Lebensbild", Max Maria von W. (1864);
• Webergedenkbuch by Kohut (1887);
• "Reisebriefe von Karl Maria von W. an seine Gattin" (Leipzig, 1886);
• Chronol. thematischer Katalog der Werke von Karl Maria von W." (Berlin, 1871).

Of the works of Weber, in addition to those mentioned above, we point out the concertos for piano and orchestra, op. 11, op. 32; "Concert-stuck", op. 79; string quartet, string trio, six sonatas for piano and violin, op. 10; grand concert duet for clarinet and piano, op. 48; sonatas op. 24, 49, 70; polonaises, rondos, variations for piano, 2 concertos for clarinet and orchestra, Variations for clarinet and piano, Concertino for clarinet and orchestra; andante and rondo for bassoon and orchestra, concerto for bassoon, "Aufforderung zum Tanz" ("Invitation à la danse"), etc.

operas

• "Forest Girl" (German) Das Waldmadchen), 1800 - isolated fragments survive
• "Peter Schmol and his Neighbors" (German) Peter Schmoll and Seine Nachbarn ), 1802
• "Rubetzal" (German) Rubezahl), 1805 - isolated fragments survive
• "Sylvanas" (German) Silvana), 1810
• "Abu Hasan" (German) Abu Hassan), 1811
• "Free Shooter" (German) Der Freischutz), 1821
• "Three Pintos" (German) Die drei Pintos) - not finished; completed by Mahler in 1888.
• Evryanta (German) Euryanthe), 1823
• "Oberon" (German) Oberon), 1826

In astronomy

• The asteroid (527) Evryanta is named after the protagonist of Carl Weber's opera "Evryanta" (English)
• The asteroid 528 Rezia is named after the heroine of Karl Weber's Oberon. (English) Russian , opened in 1904
• The asteroid (529) Preciosa is named after the heroine of Karl Weber's opera Preciosa. (English) Russian opened in 1904.
• Asteroids named after heroines of Carl Weber's opera Abu Hasan (865) Zubaid (English) Russian and (866) Fatma (English) Russian opened in 1917.

Bibliography

Dresden. Grave of Carl Maria von Weber and his family

• Ferman V., Opera Theatre, M., 1961;
• Khokhlovkina A., Western European Opera, M., 1962:
• Koenigsberg A., Carl-Maria Weber, M. - L., 1965;
• Bialik M. G. Weber's Opera in Russia // F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Traditions of Musical Professionalism: Collection scientific papers/ Comp. G. I. Ganzburg. - Kharkov, 1995. - C. 90 - 103.
• Laux K., C. M. von Weber, Lpz., 1966;
• Moser H. J.. C. M. von Weber. Leben und Werk, 2 Aufl., Lpz., 1955.

Notes

Links

• Works by Weber at Classical Connect Free Library classical music on Classical Connect
• Summary (synopsis) of the opera "Free Shooter" on the site "100 operas"
• Carl Maria Weber: sheet music of works at the International Music Score Library Project

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• Deceased in London
• Composers of Germany
• opera composers
• Romantic composers
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• Born in 1786
• Deceased in 1826
• who died of tuberculosis
• Founders of national opera art
• Musicians alphabetically

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See what "Weber, Carl Maria von" is in other dictionaries:

- (Weber, Carl Maria von) CARL MARIA VON WEBER (1786 1826), founder of the German romantic opera. Karl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born in Eutin (Oldenburg, now the land of Schleswig Holstein), November 18 or 19, 1786. His father, Baron Franz ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

- (Weber) (1786 1826), German composer and conductor, music critic. Founder of German romantic opera. 10 operas (The Free Shooter, 1821; Evryant, 1823; Oberon, 1826), virtuoso concert pieces for piano. ("Invitation to ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Weber Karl Maria von (18 or 11/19/1786, Eitin, ‒ 5/6/1826, London), German composer, conductor, pianist, music writer. Founder of the German romantic opera. Born into the family of a musician and theatrical entrepreneur. Childhood and ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

As a true romantic, Weber is versatile: although the center of attraction for him was the opera, he also wrote an excellent instrumental music and achieved success as a concert pianist. In addition, Weber proved to be gifted music critic.

WEBER, CARL MARIA VON (Weber, Carl Maria von) (1786–1826), founder of German romantic opera. Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born in Eutin (Oldenburg, now Schleswig-Holstein), on November 18 or 19, 1786. His father, Baron Franz Anton von Weber (uncle of Mozart's wife Constanza, née Weber), was an accomplished violinist and director of a traveling theater troupes. Karl Maria grew up in the atmosphere of the theater and took his first steps in music under the guidance of stepbrother, an excellent musician, who in turn studied with J. Haydn. Later, Weber studied composition with M. Haydn and G. Vogler. WITH young years Weber was attracted to opera; in 1813 he became director of the opera house in Prague (where he was one of the first to stage Fidelio Beethoven, an opera that until then had been performed only in Vienna). In 1816 he was invited to head the newly founded Deutsche Oper in Dresden. European fame came to him after the Berlin premiere of his opera The Free Gunner (Der Freischtz) in 1821. In the spring of 1826, Weber traveled to London to direct the production of his new opera Oberon, written for the Covent Garden Theatre. However, the composer did not endure the hardships of the journey and died of tuberculosis in London on June 5, 1826.

As a true romantic, Weber is versatile: although opera was his center of attraction, he also wrote excellent instrumental music and achieved success as a concert pianist. In addition, Weber proved to be a gifted music critic. At the age of 14, he mastered the lithographic printing method invented by A. Zenefelder (1771-1834), and even improved it. As Weber wrote to the Viennese publisher Artaria, this improvement made it possible "to engrave sheet music on stone with a result equal to that of the best English copper engravings."

Weber's Free Gunner is the first true romantic opera. Evryanta (Euryanthe, 1823) was an attempt to create a musical drama, and this work had a significant impact on Wagner's Lohengrin. However, the composer, who was seriously ill by this time, did not fully cope with the difficulties of the task he had set, and Evryant had only a short success (only the overture to the opera became popular). The same applies to Oberon (Oberon, 1826), created based on Shakespeare's comedies The Tempest and Dream in midsummer night. Although this opera has delightful elven music, lovely scenes of nature, and a captivating song of mermaids in the second act, in our time only the inspirational overture to Oberon is performed. Among Weber's writings in other genres, two can be noted piano concertos and the frequently performed concert piece for piano and orchestra; four sonatas; several cycles of variations and the famous Invitation to the Dance for piano solo (later instrumented by Hector Berlioz).

In the history of Western Europe musical culture Weber's name is associated primarily with the creation of a romantic German opera. The premiere of his "Magic Shooter", held in Berlin on June 18, 1821 under the direction of the author, was an event historical significance. She put an end to the long domination of foreign, primarily Italian, opera music on the stages of German theaters.

Weber's childhood passed in the atmosphere of a wandering provincial theater. His mother was a singer, and his father was a violinist and leader of a small theater troupe. The excellent knowledge of the stage acquired in childhood was later very useful to Weber, as opera composer. Although constant traveling interfered with the systematic study of music, at the age of 11 he became an outstanding virtuoso pianist of his time.

From the age of 18, Weber's independent activity as an opera conductor begins. For more than 10 years, he has been moving from place to place, without a permanent home and experiencing enormous financial difficulties. It was not until 1817 that he finally settled in Dresden, taking over the leadership of the German musical theater. The Dresden period was the pinnacle of his creative activity when the composer's best operas appeared: "Magic Shooter", "Euryant", "Oberon". Simultaneously with The Magic Shooter, two of Weber's famous program pieces were created - the piano "Invitation to Dance" And "Concert piece" for piano and orchestra. Both works demonstrate the composer's characteristic brilliant concert style.

In search of ways to create a national national opera Weber turned to the latest German literature. The composer communicated personally with many German romantic writers.

Opera "Magic Shooter"

The Magic Shooter is Weber's most popular composition. Its Berlin premiere was a sensational success. Soon after, the opera toured theaters all over the world. There are several reasons for such a brilliant success:

1 -I, the most important, is a reliance on the traditions of the original German culture. Pictures of German folk life with its customs, the favorite motifs of German fairy tales, the image of the forest (as common in German folklore as the image of the open steppe in Russian folk art, or the image of the sea in English). The music of the opera is filled with melodies in the spirit of peasant German songs and dances, the sounds of a hunting horn (the most a prime example- temperamental choir of hunters from 3 days, which received world fame). All this touched the innermost strings of the German soul, everything was associated with national ideals.

“For the Germans ... here, at every step, they have their own, native, both on stage and in music, as familiar from childhood as we, for example, singing “Luchinushka” or “Kamarinsky” ... "- wrote A.N. Serov.

2 . The opera appeared in an atmosphere of patriotic upsurge caused by the liberation from Napoleonic despotism.

3 . The most important feature"Magic Shooter" is that Weber approached the outline in a completely new way. folk life. Unlike the operas of the 18th century, the characters from the people are shown not in a comedic, emphatically everyday way, but deeply poetic. everyday scenes folk life (peasant holiday, hunting competition) were discharged from amazing love, sincerity. It is no coincidence that the best choral numbers - the choir of hunters, the choir of bridesmaids - have become popular. Some radically changed the traditional circle of intonations opera arias and choirs.

Plot for his opera, the composer found in the short story German writer August Apel from "The Book of Ghosts". Weber read this short story as early as 1810, but did not immediately take up composing music. The libretto was composed by the Dresden actor and writer I. Kind, using the composer's instructions. The action takes place in a Czech village in the 17th century.

In terms of genre, The Magic Shooter is a folk fairy tale opera with features of a singspiel. Her dramaturgy is based on the interweaving of three lines, each of which is associated with its own range of musical and expressive means:

• fantastic;
• folk-genre, characterizing the images of hunting life and forest nature;
• lyrical and psychological, revealing the images of the main characters - Max and Agatha.

The fantastic line of the opera is the most innovative. She had a huge impact on the whole music of the 19th century, in particular, on the fiction of Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Wagner. Its climax is in the finale of Act II (in "Wolf Gorge").

Scene in Wolf's Gorge has a through (free) structure, it consists of a number of episodes independent of the material.

In the 1st, introductory, a mysterious, sinister atmosphere reigns, a choir of invisible spirits sounds. Its creepy, "infernal" (hellish) character is created by extremely laconic expressive means: this is the alternation of two sounds - "fis" and "a" in a monotonous rhythm, harmonized by t and VII in the key of fis-moll.

2nd section - an excited dialogue between Kaspar and Samiel. Samiel is not a singing person, he only speaks, and only in his kingdom - the Wolf's Gorge, although during the opera he quite often appears on stage (passes, disappears). It is always accompanied by a short and very bright leitmotif - an ominous colorful spot (a chord and several abrupt fading sounds in the dull sound of low timbres. These are clarinets in a low register, bassoons and timpani);

Episode 3 (allegro) is dedicated to the characterization of Kaspar, who is anxiously waiting for Max;

The music of the 4th section characterizes the appearance of Max, his fear and mental struggle;

5th, final section - the episode of casting bullets - the culmination of the entire finale. It is solved almost exclusively by orchestral means. Every picturesque stage detail (the appearance of creepy ghosts, a thunderstorm, wild Hunt", a flame erupting from the earth) receives its original musical characteristic with the help of timbre and harmonic colors. Bizarre dissonances predominate, especially reduced seventh chords, tritone combinations, chromatisms, and unusual tonal comparisons. The tonal plan is built on a reduced seventh chord: Fis - a - C - Es.

Weber opens up new visual possibilities for instruments, especially wind instruments: staccato horns, sustained low sounds of clarinets, unusual timbre combinations. The innovative discoveries of Weber's Wolf Valley had a tremendous impact on all the music of the 19th century, in particular, on the fantasy of Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Wagner.

The images of gloomy fantasy are contrasted with cheerful folk scenes. Their music - somewhat naive, ingenuous, sincere - is permeated folklore elements, characteristic melodic turns of everyday songwriting, as well as fair music of Thuringia.

The folk-genre line is embodied in the mass scenes of the 1st and 3rd acts of the opera. This is a picture of a peasant holiday in a choral introduction, a scene of a competition between hunters. The march sounds like it is being performed by rural musicians. The rustic waltz is distinguished by its underlined unpretentiousness.

The main image of the opera - Max, the first typical romantic hero in music. He is endowed with the features of a psychological split: the influence of Caspar, behind whom are the forces of hell, is opposed by the purity of the loving Agatha. Full disclosure of the image of Max, as well as Agatha, is given in the scene and aria of the first act. This is a great aria-monologue, where a deep spiritual conflict is revealed.

wonderful overture"Magic Shooter" is written in sonata form with a slow start. It is built on musical themes operas (this is Samiel's sinister leitmotif in the introduction, the theme of "hellish forces" (the main and connecting parts of the sonata Allegro), the themes of Max and Agatha ( side party). Colliding the themes of "infernal forces" with the themes of Max and Agatha, the composer logically leads the development to the solemnly jubilant theme of Agatha, which sounds like a hymn to happiness and love.

With E.T.A. Hoffmann, Wieland, Tiek, Brentano, Arnim, Jean Paul, W. Müller.

Musical numbers alternate with spoken dialogues. Samiel is a non-singing face. In the spirit of the singspiel interpreted secondary image cheerful, frisky Ankhen.

Weber's childhood passed in the atmosphere of a wandering provincial theater. His mother was a singer, and his father was a violinist and leader of a small theater troupe. The excellent knowledge of the stage, acquired in childhood, was later very useful to Weber as an opera composer. Although constant traveling interfered with the study of music, at the age of 11, Karl Maria became an outstanding pianist virtuoso.

From the age of 18, Weber's independent activity as an opera conductor begins. For more than 10 years, he moved from place to place, without a permanent home and experiencing huge financial difficulties,worked as a pianist and conductor. Only in 1817 did Weber settle in Dresden.In 1817 he married the singer Caroline Brand.INDresdenWeber took over the leadership of the German musical theater andorganized the theater of the German opera, as opposed to the theater Italian opera under the leadership of Morlacchi.

The Dresden period became the pinnacle of his creative activity, Weber's best operas appeared: Free Gunner, Evryant, Oberon.

In the history of Western European musical culture, Weber's name is associated primarily with the creation of a romantic German opera. The premiere of his "Free Gunner", held in Berlin on June 18, 1821 under the direction of the author, became an event of historical significance. She put an end to the long domination of foreign, primarily Italian, opera music on the stages of German theaters.Simultaneously with The Free Shooter, two famous program pieces by Weber were created - the piano "Invitation to the Dance" and "Concert Piece" for piano and orchestra. Both works demonstrate the composer's characteristic brilliant concert style.

In search of ways to create a folk-national opera, Weber turned to the latest German literature. The composer communicated personally with many German romantic writers.. Dramatic moments, loving, subtle features of musical expression, fantasy element- everything was available wide talent Weber. Most various images outlined by this musical poet with great sensitivity, melody, a rare expression. A patriot at heart, he not only developed folk melodies, but also created his own in pure folk spirit.

Presentingin 1821 "Free shooter",Webersignificantly anticipated the romanticism of such composers as Bellini and Donizetti, who appeared ten years later, or Rossini, who staged William Tell in 1829. In general, 1821 was significant for the preparation of romanticism in music: at this time, Beethoven composed the Thirty-first Sonata op. 110 for piano, Schubert introduced the song "The King of the Forest" and began the Eighth Symphony, "Unfinished". Already in the overture of The Free Gunner, Weber moves towards the future and frees himself from the influence of the theater of the recent past, Spohr's Faust or Hoffmann's Ondine, or the French opera that influenced these predecessors.

The opera Evryanta is a romantic opera. The author of the libretto is Helmina von Chezy.

History based on works Giovanni Boccaccio, William Shakespeare, as well as medieval French novel"The story of Gerard de Nevers and the beautiful and virtuous Euryanta of Savoy, his dear."

The beautiful girl Evryant is betrothed to Count Adolard de Nevers. Count Liziart is also in love with her - in the presence of the monarch, he announces that he will achieve her love. Moreover, if he can prove that the girl is unfaithful to her fiancé, then Count Adollar will have to give his possessions to the self-confident count. Adoljar is confident in his beloved, and therefore, without a shadow of a doubt, accepts the terms of the dispute.

Eglantina, the daughter of a rebellious feudal lord, comes to the aid of Count Liziart. At one time, she was saved by Evryanta, but instead of gratitude, she hates the girl: after all, Evryanta turned out to be a more successful rival in love. Having won the trust of Evryants, Eglantine learns a terrible secret: Emma, ​​Adoljar's sister, once lost her fiancé. She could not cope with her grief and poisoned herself with poison from her ring. But everyone knows that a suicide cannot find peace until a tear of an innocent victim falls on the coffin. Eglantine takes the fatal ring from the coffin and gives it to Liziart. Then he presents the ring to the king and declares that Evryanta has become his mistress. The lands of Adoljar pass to the evil count, and the lost Adoljar wants to kill his ex-fiancee. Evryanta manages to convince the monarch that she is right: after all, she was slandered. From the shocks suffered, the girl loses consciousness, and everyone thinks that she died of grief. Meanwhile, Count Lisiart wants to marry Eglantine. But the girl almost lost her mind - she was tortured by remorse. She accidentally reveals the truth to Adoljar, who challenges Liziart to a duel. But he was not destined to take place: the king arrived. He informs the counts of the death of Evryanta. Eglantina rejoices, but not for long: in a fit of joy, she reveals the terrible secret of her betrayal and already Liziart kills her, then goes to execution. Adoljar repents of the disbelief of his beloved, who has gone so untimely into another world. But here the living Evryant, crying with joy, embraces her lover in her arms. Her tears gave Emma eternal rest.

In 1822 the composer received an order to write a new opera from Domenico Barbaia. The head of the Vienna theater wanted to receive a work in the folk spirit, with fantastic and colorful domestic scenes. The libretto was written by Helmina von Schezy. The text was edited 11 times due to the complexity of the plot and the limited scope of the scene. Musical accompaniment was written in a year and a half.

The opera Evryanta marked a new operatic genre. The score is different detailed drawing characters, choral and orchestral parts give the plot a special brightness.

Many critics consider the opera's plot to be initially confusing and illogical. Carl Maria von Weber directed the first four productions, the opera was a success. However, it is believed that this was the success of the author of the play rather than the play itself. And the reduction of Evryants after the departure of the composer made the work even more difficult to perceive.

- "Evryant" was dedicated to the Emperor of Austria Franz I.

- The first production of Evryanta with Henrietta Sontag in the title role was not successful. Then, the opera gained its well-deserved significance and was considered a prologue to Wagner's musical dramas. The images of Liziart and Eglantine in musical expression anticipate Ortrud and Telramund in Wagner's Lohengrin.

When Weber approached the Euryanta, Einstein writes, “his sharpest antipode, Spontini, had already, in a sense, cleared the way for him; at the same time, Spontini only gave the classical opera seria colossal, monumental dimensions thanks to crowd scenes and emotional stress. In Evryanta a new, more romantic tone appears, and if the public did not immediately appreciate this opera, then composers of the next generations deeply appreciated it.

The work of Weber, who laid the foundations of the German national opera (along with Mozart's The Magic Flute), determined double meaning his opera heritage, which Giulio Confalonieri writes well about: “As a faithful romantic, Weber found in legends and folk tales a source of music devoid of notes, but ready to sound ... Along with these elements, he also wanted to freely express his own temperament: Unexpected transitions from one tone to opposite, a daring convergence of extremes, coexisting with each other in accordance with the new laws of romantic Franco-German music, were brought to the limit by the composer, state of mind who, due to consumption, was constantly restless and feverish. This duality, which seems to contradict the unity of style and actually violates it, gave rise to a painful desire to leave, by virtue of the very life choice, from last meaning existence: from reality - with it, perhaps, only in the magical "Oberon" reconciliation is supposed, and even then partial and incomplete.Exhausted by a lot of organizational work and terminally ill, after a period of treatment in Marienbad (1824), Weber staged the opera Oberon (1826) in London, which was received with enthusiasm.

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Academic Symphony Orchestra Moscow Philharmonic conducted by Simonov

In the form of a kind of protest against the "gray everyday life" of real life, in search of an imaginary idyll and beauty, romantic poets created a wonderful enchanting world in their works. This world of romantic dreams was first given musical expression in Weber's Oberon. The composer gave it a playful, scherzo lighting.
The music of the opera seems to be imbued with a magical light. Pictures of nature (air dances of elves during moonlight, mermaids emerging from the sparkling ocean, flights of the spirits of air, water and earth) are conveyed by the sparkling, subtlest colors of the orchestra. With special virtuosity and expressiveness, the French horn and wooden wind instruments(clar-no, flutes).
The richness of the orchestral and harmonic palette is combined in Oberon with the utmost simplicity. musical forms. The bright melodiousness of the folk-household warehouse and dance rhythms permeate many numbers of this opera.

A magnificent Oberon Overture, built entirely on themes from the opera.

In terms of brilliance, subtlety, richness of colors, this overture stands out among all modern symphonic music. Many romantic composers followed the path blazed by Weber; Mendelssohn in the overture and scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Berlioz in the Mab Fairies scherzo, Schumann in Ariel's scene from Faust.

The exotic coloring of the traditionally comedy "oriental" scenes also turned out to be new in Oberon. In their music, Weber used an authentic oriental motif, recorded by one of the travelers in the East.

Interesting Facts

At the age of twelve, Weber composed his first comic opera"The Power of Love and Wine". The score of the opera was kept in a closet. Soon, in an incomprehensible way, a closet with contentsburned down. It should be noted that apart from the cabinet, nothing was damaged. Weber took this as a "sign from above" and decided to abandon music, devoting himself to lithography.
However, passion for musicdid not pass and at the age of fourteen Weber wrote new opera"Silent Forest Girl" The opera was first staged in 1800. Then it was staged quite often in Vienna, Prague and even St. Petersburg. After a very successful start musical career Weber stopped believing in omens and "signs from above."

The motto of Weber's work was the famous words that the composer asked to be placed in the form of his own autograph on the released engraving with his portrait: "Weber expresses the will of God, Beethoven - the will of Beethoven, and Rossini ... the will of the Viennese"

In Breslau with Weber happened tragic case which nearly cost him his life. He invited a friend to dinner, and while waiting for him sat down to work. Frozen while workingWeberdecided to warm himself with a sip of wine, but in the semi-darkness he took a sip from a wine flask in which Weber's father kept sulfuric acid for graviation works. The composer fell down lifeless. Weber's friend, meanwhile, was lateand came only with the onset of night. The composer's window was lit, but no one answered the knock. A friend pushed open the unlocked door and saw Weber's body lying lifeless on the floor. A broken flask was lying nearby, from which there was a pungent smell. To cries for help, Weber's father ran out of the next room, together they took the composer to the hospital. Weber was brought back to life, but his mouth and throat were terribly burned, and his vocal cords did not work. So Weber lost his beautiful voice. All later life he had to speak in a whisper. He once whispered to one of his friends:

They say Mozart was killed by Salieri, but I did without him ...

Weber was very fond of animals. His house resembled a zoo: the hunting dog Ali, the gray cat Maune, the capuchin monkey Shnuf and many birds surrounded the musician's family. The favorite was a large Indian raven - every morning he importantly said to the composer: "Good evening."
Once Carolina made a truly wonderful gift to her husband. Especially for Weber's birthday, costumes for animals were sewn, and the next morning a funny procession went to the birthday man's room - congratulations! .. Ali was turned into an elephant with a long trunk and big ears, but silk handkerchiefs replaced him. He was followed by a cat disguised as a donkey, with a pair of slippers instead of bags on her back. A monkey hobbled along puffy dress, a hat with a huge feather coquettishly bounced on her head ...
Weber jumped for joy like a child, and then something unimaginable began: he forgot about his sores, failures, and even about competing composers ... Animals and happy Weber rushed over chairs and tables, and a serious raven said to everyone an infinite number of times:

Good evening!

It is a pity that Rossini did not see this ...

From time to time, enthusiastic praises appeared in the Parisian newspapers for the greatest of the greatest maestro of all times and peoples - Weber. Moreover, laudatory articles unknown author were written with knowledge of all the subtleties of the composer's music. And it is not surprising, because these praises to Weber were sung by ... Weber himself.He was so in love with himself that with the consent of his wife, three of the four children were named after their father: Carl Maria, Maria Carolina and Carolina Maria.