Opera's first horror scene
The Wolf's Glen in Der Freischütz changed what opera could do.
martinroell from Dresden — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Txllxt TxllxT — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kalispera Dell — CC BY 3.0 · Rijksmuseum — CC0
A bronze statue in front of Dresden's Semper Opera House, to the composer Carl Maria von Weber, raised in 1860 by the sculptor Ernst Rietschel. Weber worked in Dresden as director of German opera between 1817 and 1826, and in this city he wrote Der Freischütz — the opera regarded as the birth of German Romantic opera. What made it decisive is that it broke the dominance of Italian opera: it was written in German, its subject drawn from German folklore — a marksman making a bargain with diabolical powers for bullets that cannot miss — and its music uses forest sounds and the horn to create an atmosphere opera had not known before. Its Wolf's Glen scene is regarded as the first genuine horror scene in the history of opera. It influenced Wagner directly, who built his entire project on it. The statue stands where it should: in front of the house he directed. A two-minute stop within a visit to Theaterplatz.
The Wolf's Glen in Der Freischütz changed what opera could do.
An opera in German on a subject from German folklore.
It influenced his entire operatic project directly.
In front of the Semper Opera House, central Dresden
Among the most famous opera houses in the world, built by Gottfried Semper in the nineteenth century. It burned once and was rebuilt, then was destroyed in the bombing of 1945 and stood in ruin for forty years, reopening in 1985 after a meticulous reconstruction. Operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss were premiered there. It is visited on a daytime guided tour or by attending a performance.
Dresden's main square of cultural buildings: the Semper Opera, the Residenzschloss, the Zwinger complex and Dresden Cathedral — all around a single space. You stand in the middle and there is not one building not worth looking at. It is the best point from which any visitor to Dresden should start.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.