Adelheit von Veltheim
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| Mehmet, ''overseer of the Seraglio'' || Johann Friedrich Helmuth | | Mehmet, ''overseer of the Seraglio'' || Johann Friedrich Helmuth | ||
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| Adolph von Posen<ref>This character does not appear in any | | Adolph von Posen<ref>This character does not appear in any the printed libretto books after the premiere.</ref> || Anton Steiger | ||
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| Turkish Women of the Seraglio, White and <br> Black Slaves, Janissaries, German Knights || unnamed <br> | | Turkish Women of the Seraglio, White and <br> Black Slaves, Janissaries, German Knights || unnamed <br> | ||
Revision as of 19:59, 1 July 2023
SeiN 10
Schauspiel mit Gesang, premiered in Frankfurt am Main, 23 September 1780
Libretto by Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann
Overview
Neefe and Großmann wrote this extensive four-act Singspiel for their troupe's guest season at the 1780 Autumn Fair at Frankfurt's Theater in der Junghof, their second short residence that year. In its first performance at the Bonn court a few weeks later, Adelheit was given pride of place on 11 October during the pomp around Archduke Maximilian Franz's election as Coadjutor (i.e. Maximilian Friedrich's successor as Elector of Cologne). The Archduke was duly impressed, and "honored Großmann with a precious gold watch and 50 new Louis d'or to divide among the company."(footnote: [1])
The dramatis personae, and the actors and singers from Großmann's company who created the roles,(footnote: [2]) are as follows:
| Role | Premiere Cast |
|---|---|
| Achmet, Bassa of Tunis | Heinrich Christian Pleißner |
| Adelheit von Veltheim, a German woman | Anna Christiane Josephi |
| Donna Velaska, a Spanish woman | Maria Franziska Helmuth |
| La Feuquiere, a French woman | Christiane Brandt |
| Miss Flovr, an English woman | Henriette Huber |
| Donna Olivia, an Italian woman | Susanna Neefe |
| Franz von Veltheim | Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann |
| Karl von Bingen, under the name Osman | Franz Brandt |
| Mehmet, overseer of the Seraglio | Johann Friedrich Helmuth |
| Adolph von Posen[3] | Anton Steiger |
| Turkish Women of the Seraglio, White and Black Slaves, Janissaries, German Knights |
unnamed |
The libretto is often compared to Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's contemporaneous Belmont und Constanze, which Mozart set as Die Entführung aus dem Serail two years later. Both deal with abducted European women held captive in Middle Eastern harems, who then are saved by their European fiancés. Großmann's libretto, however, deals explicitly with noblewomen. The Bassa's harem includes several other abductees of various European backgrounds – along with the stereotypical personality traits to match: the delicate and haughty La Feuquiere, the stoic and caustic Donna Velaska, the spirited and bossy Donna Olivia, and the proper and diplomatic Miss Flovr.
Sources
Libretto:
- Leipzig: Dyck, 1781: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Slg.Her 1825; and Washington, Library of Congress, ML 48 S7068
- Cologne: Imhof, 1784: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, P.o.germ. 524
Further Reading
Notes
- ↑ Theater-Journal für Deutschland, no. 20, p. 16
- ↑ A copy of playbill is reproduced in Albert Richard Mohr, Das Frankfurter Mozart-Buch. Ein Beitrag zur Mozartforschung (Frankfurt: Kramer, 1968), p. 60. Only the first names of the performers are given. The remaining details have been filled in by comparison with the roster of Großmann's company printed in Reichart's Theater-Kalender, auf das Jahr 1782, pp. 202–217
- ↑ This character does not appear in any the printed libretto books after the premiere.