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Notre Dame (opera)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Notre Dame is a romantic opera by Franz Schmidt, to a libretto by himself and Leopold Wilk (1876–1944), a professional chemist and amateur poet.[1] It is based loosely on the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo.

Composition

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The opera was written between 1904 and 1906.[2] Schmidt approached the opera by writing the orchestral parts of the score first, adding the vocal parts in later.[1] He incorporated some material from an unfinished fantasia for piano and orchestra.[1]

Notre Dame was first performed in Vienna on 1 April 1914. The principal female role of Esmeralda was created by Marie Gutheil-Schoder.

The work was popular till the early 1920s, then faded from view. It has been revived in Vienna and Dresden, and has been recorded at least twice.[1]

The opera is best known for its orchestral Intermezzo, which was first performed, along with the Carnival Music,[1] on 6 December 1903 in Vienna, as Zwischenspiel aus einer unvollständigen romantischen Oper.[3] These pieces were not composed with any opera in mind, but were later incorporated into Notre Dame, which he started writing in August 1904.[1] The composer and violinist Karl Goldmark described the Intermezzo as "the most beautiful of Gypsy music".[4]

Roles

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Role Voice type Premiere: 1 April 1914, Vienna
Esmeralda soprano Marie Gutheil-Schoder
Gringoire tenor
Phoebus tenor
Quasimodo bass
Archdeacon baritone Joseph Schwarz[5]

Revivals

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Recordings

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Notre Dame Classical Archives
  2. ^ a b c Oxford Journals[dead link]
  3. ^ Franz Schmidt (Composer) bach-cantatas.com
  4. ^ seiso.us
  5. ^ Ottner, Carmen (1991). Studien zu Franz Schmidt: Oper in Wien 1900-1925: Symposium 1989. Doblinger. p. 138. ISBN 9783900695200.
  6. ^ Financial Times, 27 April 2010
  7. ^ Arkiv Music