The performances of the Seiler company of actors, which had come to Weimar in the autumn of 1771 in the place of the Koch company, suggested to Wieland the idea of a grand, serious German opera in addition to the operettas which had met with so much success.[ 13 ] His "Alcestis"[ 14 ] was intended as an important step in this direction, as is proved by his "Letters on the German opera of 'Alcestis,'"[ 15 ] which, by their comparison of himself with Euripides, called forth Goethe's burlesque. His opera met with ready acknowledgment, but at the same time with severe and deserved blame.[ 16 ] It was thought to be too evidently fashioned after Metastasio's pattern, both in plan and treatment; and to be wanting in dramatic interest, true passion, and lively characteristic; the public found the opera tedious and trivial, and took just umbrage at the conception of Hercules as a virtuous humdrum citizen. Wieland found in Schweitzer an ideal composer, who identified himself with the poet, who could be silent when the poet wished to speak alone, but who hastened to aid him at need with all the resources of musical art; a composer, too, who thought more of producing a true impression on the mind of his hearers, than of flattering their ears, inciting their curiosity or even adhering too closely to the mechanical rules of his art. Wieland was not content with placing Schweitzer on a level with the best Italian composers; in a letter to Klein[ 17 ] he speaks of Gluck's "Alceste" as a divine work, but does not hesitate to declare Schweitzer's composition to be the best that had SCHWEITZER'S "ALCESTE." ever been heard of the kind. Schweitzer's music[ 18 ] was in fact much applauded, and he was judged to have accomplished more than the poet.[ 19 ] His efforts after a true and forcible musical expression of emotion, and after originality, are worthy of all praise; and phrases here and there, particularly in the accompanied recitative, are of charming effect, while the orchestra is carefully treated, and not at all after the usual manner of Italian opera. On the other hand he has been justly blamed for his slavish adherence to the old form of the aria, with da capo, middle passage, bravura passages, and ritomello; he is unequal, too, and his effects are all those of detail. What is wanting is genius, original power of creation, which forms details into one great whole, and produces something altogether new and complete. This was felt by Zelter[ 20 ] and by Mozart, who wrote to his father that the best part of Schweitzer's melancholy "Alceste" (besides the beginnings, middles and endings of some of the songs) was the beginning of the recitative, "O Jugendzeit," and the worst (together with the greater part of the opera) was the overture. This consists of two movements, an adagio and a fugue, which are both unimportant and commonplace.
"Alceste" was first performed in Weimar on May 28, 1773, and frequently repeated, always with the greatest success;[ 21 ] this was also the case in Gotha and Frankfort; and on August 13, 1775, Karl Theodor produced the opera with great brilliancy at Schwetzingen.[ 22 ] The success was great, and it was considered as marking an epoch that a German opera, written by a German poet, composed by a German musician, and sung by German artists, should be produced successfully by a German Prince. In the following summer MANNHEIM. Wieland received a commission to write a new opera, which Schweitzer was to compose under his immediate direction.
The way being once cleared, it was easy to take further steps in the same direction. The Elector hit upon the idea of representing scenes from the national history in German musical dramas.[ 23 ] Professor Anton Klein, formerly a Jesuit, and always one of the most zealous supporters of the patriotic struggle then proceeding, wrote for this purpose "Günther von Schwarzburg,"[ 24 ] which was composed by Holzbauer,[ 25 ] and performed on January 5, in the magnificent opera-house,[ 26 ] with all the expenses guaranteed.[ 27 ] Schubart had anticipated with joy "the glorious revolution in taste,"[ 28 ] and the applause was great, although the success was not so deep and lasting as might have been expected. The critics[ 29 ] found much in the text at which to take exception; Wieland shrank from speaking in the "Mercury" about "this so-called opera" for fear lest, absurd as it might appear, his criticism might be taken for envy.[ 30 ] An evident effort is made to give the work a deeper tone than one of mere patriotic sentiment; but in spite of the exalted emotion and passion of the words and music, and of all that could be done in the way of scenic accessories, the opera was too wanting in dramatic treatment and characterisation to take very deep root. The phraseology is in imitation of Klopstock, but the effort after force and "GÜNTHER V. SCHWARZBURG." originality is so clumsily made that Wieland's contempt is justified. Of the music, it was said by the minister Hompesch that the predominant feeling and ideas were neither French nor Italian, but genuinely German;[ 31 ] Schubart praised its mixture of German feeling and foreign grace,[ 32 ] and other critics spoke of its stamp of genius and its gentle grace.[ 33 ] Mozart, who saw the opera the day after his arrival at Mannheim, wrote to his father (November 16, 1777): "Holzbauer's music is very fine; far too good for the poetry. I am amazed at the spirit of so old a man as Holzbauer, for you would not believe the amount of fire in his music." The force and animation of Holzbauer's music are still apparent, though it is wanting in elevation and true musical sentiment. He has not attained to original dramatic characterisation except in single touches, more especially in the recitatives; he never deviates from the customary Italian form, but the adaptation of this form to German song was in itself considered a remarkable innovation.
The most distinguished vocalists, male and female, of the Mannheim opera were, thanks to Holzbauer's excellent school of music, almost all Germans.[ 34 ] Among them was Dorothea Wendling (née Spumi, 1737-1811), "the German Melpomene of Mannheim's Golden Age,"[ 35 ] who excited universal admiration by her perfect and expressive singing. According to Wieland she surpassed even Mara, and he found in her his ideal of song, as the language of the mind and the heart, every note being the living expression of the purest and most ardent emotion, and the whole song a continuous thread of beauty.[ 36 ] Her beauty (Heinse saw in her MANNHEIM. countenance all that was caressing, soft, and feminine, combined with the glow and animation of a passionate nature)[ 37 ] and her excellent acting[ 38 ] elevated her performances to a very high point. Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Auguste Wendling (née Sarselli, 1746-1786), though less famous, and hindered by continued ill-health, was nevertheless a praiseworthy singer; while Franciska Danzi (1756-1791), married afterwards to the oboist, Le Brun,[ 39 ] was an artist of the first rank, in her beauty and the compass of her voice, as well as in her thorough musical cultivation: at the time of Mozart's visit to Mannheim she was in London on leave of absence.[ 40 ]
But the fame of these youthful singers was far surpassed by that of the now elderly tenor Anton Raaff.[ 41 ] He was born in 1714 at the village of Holzem, not far from Bonn, and was educated at the Jesuit seminary in Bonn. He had a beautiful voice, and the ease with which he sang by ear made it a great labour to him to learn his notes. The Elector Clemens August, who heard him sing in church, provided for his education as a singer, and gave him a salary of 200 thalers. After causing him to study a part in an oratorio, the Elector took him to Munich, where he was engaged by Ferrandini (p. 133) to appear in opera. This led to his going to study at Bologna under Bemacchi, from whose severe school he came forth as one of the finest tenor singers of the century. He sang in 1738 at Florence, at the wedding of Maria Theresa, left Italy in 1742 to return to Bonn, where his salary was raised to 750 florins, and sang at different German courts; in 1749 he performed in Jomelli's "Didone" at Vienna, to Metastasio's great satisfaction.[ 42 ] After a short stay in Italy, he repaired in 1752 to ANTON RAAFF. Lisbon for three years, and from thence in 1755 to Madrid, where he lived in close friendship with his musical director, Farinelli.[ 43 ] In 1759 they went together to Naples; here, it is said, his singing made so deep an impression on the Princess Belmonte-Pignatelli as to cure her of a deep melancholy into which she had been thrown by the death of her husband.[ 44 ] On his return to Germany, in 1770, the Elector Karl Theodor besought him to enter his service, on which Raaff modestly declared that he should esteem himself happy if the Elector would be content with the small remnant of his powers which was left to him. His voice was of the finest tenor quality that could be heard, from the deepest to the highest notes even, clear, and full. With a perfect mastery of the art of song, displaying itself in his extraordinary power of singing, at sight and of varying and introducing cadenzas, he combined a feeling delivery "that seemed but an echo of his own good heart," and a clear, deliberate judgment on things musical.[ 45 ] Added to all this his enunciation was so distinct that even in the largest hall not a syllable was lost. When Mozart first heard him in "Günther von Schwarzburg" his chief impression was that of an old man's failing strength. He writes (November 8, 1777):—
Herr Raaff sang his four songs and about 450 incidental bars in such a manner as to show that it is want of voice which makes it so bad. Unless one reminds oneself all the time that it is Raaff, the old and celebrated tenor, who is singing, one cannot help laughing. As for myself, if I had not known it was Raaff, I should have died of laughing. As it was, I took out my handkerchief and blew my nose. He never was, they tell me, anything of an actor; he should only be heard, not seen; his presence is not at all good. In the opera he has to die, singing a long, long, slow air, and he died with a smiling mouth, his voice falling so at the end as to be quite inaudible. I was sitting in the MANNHEIM. orchestra, next to Wendling, the flute-player, and I remarked that it was unnatural to expect a man to go on singing till he fell down dead. "Never mind," said I, "a little patience, and it will soon be over." "I think it will," said he, and laughed.
After hearing him oftener, Mozart did more justice to Raaff's artistic skill, but he always thought his style wanting in simplicity. In a letter from Paris (June 12, 1778) he pronounces a more detailed judgment, true to his convictions, yet anxious not to wrong the excellent man, of whom he was extremely fond:—
At his début in the "Concert Spirituel" here he sang Bach's scena, "Non so d'onde viene," which is my favourite song. I never heard him sing it before, and he pleased me; his style suits the song, but the style in itself, that of the Bernacchi school, is not at all to my taste. There is too much in it of cantabile. I grant that when he was younger and in his prime the effect must have been sometimes quite startling. I like it, too, but there is too much of it; it is often ludicrous. What really pleases me is his singing of certain little things andantino, which he does in his own style. Everything in its place. I imagine that his forte was bravura singing, which gives him still, in spite of age, a good chest and a long breath. His voice is fine, and very pleasant. If I shut my eyes when he is singing I hear considerable resemblance to Meissner's, only Raaff's voice is the pleasanter of the two. Meissner, as you know, has the bad habit of endeavouring to make his voice tremble; Raaff never does this; he cannot bear it. But, as far as true cantabile is concerned, I like Meissner better than Raaff, though he, too, according to my judgment, makes too much of it. In bravura passages and roulades, and in his good distinct utterance, Raaff bears off the palm.
All who saw Raaff on the stage pronounced him to be no actor, but only a singer. In private he preserved the serenity and moderation of an estimable and genuinely pious character. His moral conduct was faultless, his opinions earnest and severe. He had occasional fits of passion, but was for the most part good-humoured and benevolent, a true and self-denying friend. No wonder that Mozart conceived a strong and lasting attachment to such a man as this.[ 46 ]
