WeGA, Rezeptionsdokumente, Digitale Edition
author: Anonymus
source date: 1. Oktober 1887
language: en
availability: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

FOREIGN NOTES.

The so-called “completion”, by Herr Mahler of Leipzig, of Weber’s unfinished opera “Die drei Pintos,” to which we alluded in our last number, has been a leading topic in the German press, and has excites much general curiosity. At the same time a great deal of misconception appears to prevail, both as regards the condition in which Weber had left the work, and its subsequent history. The facts, briefly stated, are these: Weber began to conceive his musical themes for a comic opera dealing with a Spanish subject, and entitled “Die drei Pintos” (the libretto by his friend, Hofrath Winkler), immediatly after the completion of his “Freischütz,” and while yet engaged upon the music to “Preciosa.” He continued his sketches to the “Pintos” until the end of year 1821, after which, though he had by no means abandoned the work in his mind, no more at all events was written down. Moreover, the master’s time was fully occupied subsequently with the composition of “Euryanthe” and “Oberon.” The sketches to the “Pintos,” found at his death, amounted to seven numbers, more or less clearly indicating the composer’s intentions, but none of them instrumented. Little enough, indeed, for the purpose of performance, and yet representing some 1,700 bars of music emanating from Weber’s most mature period. Efforts were made on behalf of the composer’s widow to complete the work upon the basis of existing indications, and Meyerbeer, Weber’s fellow-student, with the Abbé Vogler,[^1] was entrusted with the task. After most careful examination of the sketches, Meyerbeer declared himself unable to do as he was bid, pointing out the absolute impossibility to get at the composer’s intentions in certain places, saying, “As in numerous other works of his, it is but one note that would solve the enigma; but this one was only known to him, and it was through it that he frequently produced the highest effects.”[^2] Thus all hopes of welding the existing fragments into something which might be fairly called a posthumous opera by the composer of “Freischütz” were abandoned. Recently, however, the idea was revived by the grandson of the composer, who wrote a fresh libretto for the purpose (the one furnished by Winkler being considered a rather weak production), while retaining the outlines of the original plot, and his friend, Herr Mahler, set to work entusiastically to accomplish that which Meyerbeer had, somewhat diplomatically no doubt, declared to be impossible. Herr Ludwig Hartmann, the able Dresden critic, who has lately heard some of the resuscitated music referred to, writes in the Dresdener Tagblatt, inter alia, as follows: –“The young capellmeister Mahler has here identified himself more completely and absolutely with the composer than ever Meyerbeer could have possibly done. The entire work is really Weber’s music, some of it being borrowed from his long-forgotten earlier works, and all compiled in the most ingenious way and with an assiduity truly surprising. The score, however, is not as yet, quite completed. . . . The musical public will be delighted with the charming, sparkling, truly Weberian melodies here contained; and in any case, so much has actually been done of the work by Weber’s own hand, that no fears need be entertained that the result of the reconstruction of the opera could be at all detrimental to the master’s memory.” “Die drei Pintos” will be produced in a few months at the Leipzig Stadt-Theater, and it will then be shown how far Herr Hartmann’s sanguine anticipations have been justified.

[^1: Das Komma ist hier missverständlich gesetzt, da der Satz so audrückt, Vogler und Meyerbeer hätten gemeinsam an der Vervollständigung der Pintos gearbeitet. Gemeint ist aber, dass Weber und Meyerbeer gemeinsam bei Vogler studiert haben.]

[^2: Es ist unklar, woher das Zitat bzw. der Ausspruch Meyerbeers stammt.]

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