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Franz Schreker’s The Treasure Seeker In New Production at Netherlands Opera

Aug. 29, 2012

Franz Schreker’s <em>The Treasure Seeker</em> In New Production at Netherlands Opera

During the 1920s, Austrian composer Franz Schreker was a favorite among opera and musical theatre-goers for his lush and colorful works. This September, audiences at the Netherlands Opera are introduced to one of Schreker’s most popular opera Der Schatzgräber (The Treasure Seeker) mounted in a new production directed by Ivo van Hove. Conducted by Marc Albrecht, the four-act opera opens on September 1 with seven subsequent performances.

Composed between 1915 and 1918 and set to the composer’s libretto, the opera premiered in 1920 in Frankfurt. Although a member of the emerging German avant-garde school, Schreker wrote operas that were harmonically lush and popular with audiences. He created dramatic development through musical means, and focused on themes about art and sensuality. The Treasure Seeker quickly became one of Schreker’s most successful works in the post WWI-era, but it declined in popularity when tonal music fell out of favor and the Nazi regime abruptly ended his career.

The medieval story centers around Els, a greedy woman who has the nobleman she was forced to marry murdered in order to acquire additional pieces of the queen’s stolen jewels. The jewels can only be traced with the help of a musical lute, and after speaking with his jester, the king orders a minstrel named Elisto to search for the jewels and to find the nobleman’s murderer. However, when Els and Elisto meet, they fall in love. When it’s discovered that Els is behind the murder, she is sentenced to death. But the king’s jester intercedes and reminds the king of his promise to him that if he succeeds in solving the theft and the murder, then he may marry any woman of his choice—and the jester chooses Els as his bride. In the epilogue, Elisto comes to ease Els' suffering by serenading her with his most beautiful ballad.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the Netherlands Opera’s new production of The Treasure Seeker, visit www.dno.nl.

For more information about Franz Schreker, log-on to www.universaledition.com.

Franz Schreker
Der Schatzgräber (The Treasure Seeker) (1915-1918)
libretto (Ger) by the omposer
opera in four acts (with a prologue and epilogue)
for soprano, two mezzo-sopranos, alto, five tenors, lyric tenor, four baritones, high bass, four basses, low bass (mezzo-soprano, 1.alt, 2.alt in pit) and SATB chorus
3(3.pic).2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn-4.3.3.btba-timp.4perc.high bells-2hp.cel-str
stage music: 3 hn, 3 tpt
145’

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