Die Brautwahl

 ( Operas Based On Works By E. T. A. Hoffmann ) 

Die Brautwahl ( The Bridal Choice) is a "comic-fantastic" opera in three acts and an epilogue by Ferruccio Busoni. The German libretto, by Busoni himself, is based on a short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Busoni began work on this, his first completed opera, in 1905.

Die Brautwahl was first performed at the Stadttheater Hamburg on 12 April 1912. It was not a success with audiences but its failure did not discourage the composer's ambition to write for the operatic stage.

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Roles

+ !Role !Voice type !Premiere cast, 12 April 1912 Conductor: Gustav Brecher
Albertine	soprano	Elisabeth Schumann
Edmund Lehsen	tenor	Otto Marak
Dionysius Thusman	tenor
Bensch	tenor
Voswindel	baritone	Hermann Wiedemann
Leonhard	baritone	Robert vom Scheidt
Manasse	bass
Servant	tenor	Fritz Windgassen

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Synopsis The artist Edmund is in love with Albertine but he has many rivals for her hand. These include the "revenant" Manasse, his son Baron Bensch and the bureaucrat Thusman. The "bridal choice" of the title is finally decided by a trial involving three caskets which Edmund wins.

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Recordings

• 1999: Siegfried Vogel, Carola Höhn, Graham Clark, Vinson Cole, Deutsche Oper Berlin Chorus, Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim (Teldec)

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Further reading

• Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001.
• Müller, Ingo: Die Rezeption E.T.A. Hoffmanns in der klassischen Musik des 19. bis 21. Jahrhunderts. In: “Unheimlich Fantastisch – E.T.A. Hoffmann 2022”. Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung der Staatsbibliothek Berlin in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Deutschen Romantik-Museum Frankfurt a. M. und der Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, hg. von Benjamin Schlodder, Christina Schmitz, Bettina Wagner und Wolfgang Bunzel, Leipzig 2022, ISBN 3959055730 S. 315-322.

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External links

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