Marschner: Der Templer und die Jüdin
Soloists
Grosses Orchester Der RAVAG
Kurt Tenner
Marschner along with Lortzing (who will be next in this project) was the leading composer of German operas between Weber and Wagner. He is most notable for the gothic elements in his two most famous operas, Hans Heiling and Der Vampyr but his style picked up many elements of early Romantic music. This opera is his version of Scott’s Ivanhoe. It has a place in the footnotes of musical history because Schumann quoted an aria from Act 3 of the opera, in which Ivanhoe sings of the virtues of England, in his Symphonic Etudes. This was as a tribute to the English composer Sterndale Benrett, to whom Schumann’s work is dedicated.
I have heard this opera before but I was glad to re make its acquaintance. It is less distinctive thn the two more famous Marschner operas I mentioned earlier but on its own terms was very enjoyable. While it has its dramatic moments much of it is quite light in character, reminding us that early Romantic opera in German used folk like elements and simple choruses as a key ingredient. This was a very old recording derived originally from a radio performance so the sound quality was not great - I suspect that some of the nuances were probably lost. I made the same comment in relation to another Marschner operas - Der Holzldieb https://andrew365newpieces.blogspot.com/2025/12/marschner-der-holzdiebsol.html- in my 365 project last year. It would be really good to get some modern recordings of a range of Marschner operas - I rate him highly and would like to hear more of his work.
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