music
Liberated from its ludicrous libretto: how the magnificence of Oberon can be properly heard at last
Full of panache and originality, Weber’s grand opera is the work of a composer at the height of his powers – but its plot is a load of nonsense. The conductor of its Proms premiere celebrates its brilliance
TL;DR
- Carl Maria von Weber's final opera, Oberon, premiered 200 years ago in London.
- The opera is admired for its inventive and beautiful music, but criticized for its weak libretto.
- Wagner was inspired by Weber and raised funds to repatriate his body to Dresden.
- Weber's three major operas are Der Freischütz, Euryanthe, and Oberon, with Der Freischütz being a pioneering German national romantic opera.
- Oberon's libretto by James Robinson Planché is described as a phantasmagoria or a picaresque farrago of nonsense.
- For the Proms premiere, author Timothy Knapman created a new, rewritten text for Oberon.
- The music of Oberon is characterized by immediacy, daring, panache, and confidence, reflecting Weber's skill as a theatre composer.
- Specific musical highlights include the overture, the act one finale, and Reiza's aria 'Ocean, Thou Mighty Monster'.
- The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique will perform using period instruments, focusing on lively and lithe execution.
- The conductor, who played Oberon as a bassoonist, views performing it as a dream come true and aims for a lively, risky, and physical performance.