FULL GENOVEVA (Schumann) Dresden 2023 Carolyn Sampson, Marcel Beekman, Johannes Weisser, Marie Seidler

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Genoveva   
• Composer: Schumann Robert  
• Libretto: Robert Reinick, Robert Schumann  
• Venue & Opera Company: Kulturpalast, Dresden, Germany  
• Recorded: June 4, 2023
• Type: Concert Semi-staged
• Singers: Carolyn Sampson, Marcel Beekman, Johannes Weisser, Marie Seidler, Yorck Felix Speer, Cornelius Uhle, Marcell Krokovay, Zacharias Galaviz
• Conductor: Aapo Häkkinen  
• Orchestra: Helsinki Baroque Orchestra  
• Chorus: Arnold Schoenberg Chor  
• Chorus Master: Erwin Ortner  
• Stage Director:   
• Costume Designer:   

Information about the Recording

• Published by: Helsinki Baroque Orchestra  
• Date Published: 2024  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  
• Video Recording from: YouTube     FULL VIDEO
•  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

Genoveva, Op. 81, is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at the Stadttheater in Leipzig, with the composer conducting. It received only three performances during the premiere, and the negative criticism it received in the press played a decisive role in Schumann’s decision to not write a second opera.

Genoveva is based on the story of Genevieve of Brabant, a medieval legend set in the 8th century that is reputedly based on the 13th century life of Marie of Brabant, wife of Louis II, Duke of Bavaria. The story gained in popularity during the first half of the 19th century, primarily in Germany through various theatrical settings. Two of the settings from this period, Ludwig Tieck’s play Leben und Tod der heiligen Genoveva (Life and Death of Saint Genoveva) and Christian Friedrich Hebbel’s play Genoveva, served as the basis for the opera’s libretto.

The plot of the opera has several similarities with Wagner’s Lohengrin, which was composed during the same period as Schumann was writing Genoveva.

Genoveva has never won a large popular audience, but it continues to be revived at regular intervals throughout the world and has been recorded several times.

Synopsis
Act 1
The opera begins with Hidulfus, Bishop of Trier, summoning Brabant’s Christian knights to join Charles Martel’s crusade against a feared Saracen conquest of Europe. Siegfried, Count of Brabante, answers the call. In preparing to leave for war, he entrusts his wife, Genoveva, to his young servant, Golo.
Act 2
Despite Golo’s overwhelming desire for her, Genoveva persistently rejects his advances. Infuriated by these rejections, Golo seeks revenge against Genoveva by staging a trap to discredit her. One night, Golo sneaks Drago, an old steward, into Genoveva’s bedroom to fake an adulterous affair that is then witnessed by other servants, brought to the scene by Golo. In their rage, the servants kill Drago and Genoveva is imprisoned for adultery.
Act 3
Word of this imagined infidelity gets back to Siegfried, who then commands Golo to put Genoveva to death. Drago’s ghost appears in front of Margaretha and tells her that if she does not reveal the truth, she will die.
Act 4
As two armed men are dispatched to kill Genoveva, her life is saved through the intervention of a mute, deaf boy. Siegfried then discovers Golo’s treachery and restores his wife’s honour.
Quoted from Wikipedia