German Verismo opera competition 1893

[Wheesht]

I have now placed an order for the manuscripts Ms. 299/2,1-51 to be digitised and will post here once it has been done.
I could also contact the Coburg State Archives to see what their holdings can tell us about the opera competition, but it will take some time before I get around to doing that.

[Wheesht]

The librarian in Coburg has written to say that a list of all 124 entries has been found. There is apparently a folder for each opera, with correspondence and appraisals. Here are all entries:

1.   Franz Rosenkranz: Balder.
2.   W. Steinhart : Die Banditen-Braut.
3.   Bernhard Scholz: Der Nachtwächter.
4.   Adolf Mohr: Das Marienbild.
5.   Camillo Feller: Gianettino l'Inglese.
6.   Ludwig Meyer: Baronin als Bäuerin.
7.   Rudolf Wurmb: Charlotte d'Jory.
8.   Eduard Braun: Capitain Corner.
9.   Joseph Rieß: Die Sühne.
10.   Ludwig Grünberger: Das Volksgericht auf Capri
11.   Kaspar Mynona: Ein Traumgebilde.
12.   Rudolph Spuller : Der Spion.
13.   Paul Lorberg: Margaretha's Verbannung.
14.   Franz Parsche: Die Biedermänner.
15.   Anonym: Der Vetter Veit.
16.   Carl Zimmermann: Die Braut von Abydos.
17.   Robert Horst: Nils.
18.   Clemens Frankenstein: Suleika.
19.   Max Weydert: Francesco Michieli.
20.   Alexander Myon: Der Deserteur.
21.   Alfred Ernst: Irrige Rache.
22.   Otto Kurth: Das Glück von Hohenstein.
23.   Leopold Bauer: Elsa.
24.   Louis Seibert: Helge.
25.   Stieber (Halle): Das Verlöbnis im Dunkeln.
26.   Thadäus von Borodzics: Die Sühne.
27.   G. Fr.Mögling: Die Wunderblume.
28.   Peter Faßbaender: Gudrun.
29.   Josef Zbiral: Enoch Arden.
30.   Hugo Möbius: Terameo und Rosa.
31.   Richard Kronstorfer: Ostermontag in Palermo.
32.   C.A. Raida: Des Königs Cadetten.
33.   Eduard Behm: Sarolta.
34.   G. Grunewald: Astrella.
35.   W. Freudenberg: Das Mädchen von Treppi.
36.   Carl Grammann: Das Irrlicht.
37.   A. Leitermayer: Hans Burgauer.
38.   Emil Liepe: Colomba.
39.   Hans Dütschke: Die Wurzel d e r Wahrheit.
40.   Franz Kurti: Erlöst.
41.   Alfred Wernicke: Der Wilderer.
42.   Friedrich Schuchard: Engelsliebe.
43.   Valentin Albert: Männertreue.
44.   Carl Grammann: Ingrid.
45.   Victor Boschetti: Die Brüder.
46.   Wilhelm Floderer: Gunther.
47.   F. Rörich: Sheraba.
48.   Hans Maria Wallner: Isabell.
49.   Josef Richard: Der Berggeist.
50.   Fritz Char: Der Schelm von Bergen.
51.   Paul Niepel: Mariella.
52.   Max Puchats: Die Entsühnten.
53.   Franz Lehar: Rodrigo.
54.   Julius Georg Baumann: Gerroth.
55.   Julius L. Wulf: La noche triste.
56.   Fr. Becker: Das hohe C.
57.   Br. Oelsner: Der Brautgang
58.   Hugo Bohlig: Azur.
59.   Gustav Schreck: Aino.
60.   M. Charisius: Ein großer Schatz.
61.   Victor Hausmann: Enoch Arden.
62.   Adolph Sonnenfeld: Fiorita.
63.   H. Klocke: Helione.
64.   Gustav Hohmann: Susanna.
65.   K. Zillmann: Ingurd.
66.   Albert Kanders: Der Minnesänger.
67.   Hugo Rückbeil: Eine Kyffhäusersage.
68.   Gustav Adolf Schmidt: Die Wägrader Hochzeit.
69.   Paul Umlauft: Evanthia;
70.   Emil Kaiser: Das Hexenlied.
71.   Adalbert Spiller: Madame Olympia.
72.   Robert Wiemann: Der Gefangene im Kaukasus.
73.   Heinrich Zöllner: Eine Nacht im Kriege.
74.   Anonym: Der Strike der Schmiede.
75.   Karl Rella: Majuma.
76.   H. Schulz - Beuthen: Ohne Mann.
77.   Arthur Möller: Magdalena.
78.   Ludwig Burger: König Mathias erste Liebe.
79.   R. Thoma: Jone.
80.   Carl Stix: Der Schmied von Alcala.
81.   Carl Stenzel: Ein Tag des Herrn.
82.   Robert Kratz: Die Burgfrau.
83.   Jean Grimm: Zuleima.
84.   Bernhard Tittel: Hilda.
85.   Georg Rauchenecker: Sanna.
86.   J.B. Zerlett: Die Strandhexe.
87.   Carl Somborn: Thilenor.
88.   C . Josef Brambach: Ein deutscher Tell.
89.   Carl Goepfert: Der Geiger von Gmünd.
90.   Josef Forster: Die Rose von Pontevedra.
91.   Leo Blech: Ajlaja.
92.   Otto Lies: Des Nächsten Weib.
93.   H. Schilling: Frauenliebe .
94.   Otto Fiebach: Dittas Zopf.
95.   Paul Damas: Deutsche Perlen.
96.   Felix Woyrsch: Helga.
97.   Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen: Die Paria.
98.   Victor von Erlanger: In einer Frühlingsnacht.
99.   Anonym: Strandgut.
100.   Hermann Soucouß: Verbotene Liebe.
101.   Heinrich Rietsch: Walter von der Vogelweide
102.   J.P. Gotthard: Hermann und Dorothea.
103.   Baptist Wilhelm Hanekam: Der Tugendpreis.
104.   Anton Beer: Liebe.
105.   Hermann Franz: Schön Suschen.
106.   Georg Pittrich: Mara.
107.   K. Dibbern: Edeltraute.
108.   E.Jordan: Ein Abendteuer Heinrich IV. v. Frankreich.
109.   Alfred Kaiser: Unehrlich Volk.
110.   Otto Wolf: Flora.
111.   Rudolph Freiherr von Procházka: Agamemnon.
112.   Wenzel Josef Heller: Im Zauberwald.
113.   E. Mestenhauser: Bei Murten.
114.   Alfred Lorenz: Helge's Erwachen.
115.   Hermann Schorcht: Der Wilderer.
116.   Gustav Rüdiger: Der Hexenmeister.
117.   L. Wahlke: Der Stein der Weisen & Auf Tod und Leben.
118.   Georg Langenbeck: Thankmar.
119.   Mathias Neumann: Die Wetterhexe.
120.   Max Marschalk: Phanor und Phanette.
121.   Franz de la Motte: Das Gottesurtheil.
122.   Heinrich Weidt: Madeleine.
123.   Heinrich Schmidt: Deutsche Treue.
124.   Otto Böhme: Der Franzose.
 

[Wheesht]

The composer for no. 52 is most probably Max Puchat, not Puchats.

[eschiss1]

Which makes sense- Max Puchats would mean "By/Of Max Puchat", I think. Max Puchat's string quartet is pretty good.

[Mark Thomas]

Wow! A few familiar (or at least known) names there, but the vast majority have sunk without trace.

[eschiss1]

and some are at best known who people to browse IMSLP and back issues of NZM etc. like us committed music dorks

[Wheesht]

committed music dorks

As one such music dork, I am happy to state that the digitalisation of Ms. 299/2,1-51 from Coburg Library has now arrived. I will/would take a considerable amount of time to go through it all. If anyone is interested in a link to my folder with the 85 .tif files I was sent, they can PM me.
The letters are to or from these composers and conductors:
Hermann Levi, Carl Goldmark, Emanuel Faltis, Carl Reinecke, plus several drafts of letters by people whose names are not known. They are all in the old German handwriting.

[Mark Thomas]

Not to be discouraging, but good luck with that. I find it utterly indecipherable.

[Wheesht]

Agreed, it is often rather more intricate than copperplate. Still, depending on an individual's handwriting and the condition of the document or the quality of the scan, I may be able to decipher parts at least. Especially if the contents appear to be promising.

[Mark Thomas]

That's always an incentive, I agree. Bon chance! Thomas.

[tpaloj]

Thank you Wheesht for starting this thread, and moreover for communicating with the library about their materials related to the contest.

I've been studying Umlauft's Evanthia a little. It feels like a pretty good opera, based on the vocal score.

The Coburg Library website has digitized the "Evanthia" folder, which contains correspondence from the judges with their evaluations on the work. I'm no expert with German handwriting and it's a real struggle to copy it. After hardship I managed to transcribe just one of the letters to some satisfaction.

Ernst Schuch, from Dresden, writes:

Ein zweifellos hervorragendes Werk, jedenfalls in erste Linie zu stellen – als Höhepunkt musikalisch erscheint das Liebesduett – (Scene 10). Endlich ein Dichter, der den Muth hat, zum Ideal zurückzukehren, uns gute Menschen, gute, ideale Beweggründe zu schildern – und wie schön und prägnant in der Form. Preis dem Dichter und Componisten, hier haben wir die Arbeit eines grossen Talentes vor uns. —

Die ruhelose Harmonik wirkt oft befremdend. Selten dass ein Accord sich naturgemäss auflöst und die Folge von mehreren Septimenaccorden – z. B. 12 Takte vor der fünften Scene in 3 Takten fünf in directer Folge, wird zur [...].

There are letters from Joseph Sucher, from Berlin, Emanuel Faltis, from Coburg, and Carl Reinecke, from Leipzig, which I couldn't transcribe sufficiently. No letter or recommendation from Hermann Levi for Evanthia appears in this digitized folder.

Finally, the succinct Carl Goldmark, from Wien, writes:

Evanthia ohne jede Erfindung.

PS. For a bit of fun trivia, there's an article in The Sun, a NY newspaper from 17 September 1893, in which in addition to information on the winning entries some info on nationalities and occupations of the participants is disclosed:

Of the 124 competitors fourty-eight were from Prussia, twelve from Bavaria, four from Baden, thirty-three from Austria, four from Hungary, two from Württemberg, one from Mecklenburg, one from Hessen, one from Hanover, one was a German in Holland, one in England and one ignotus. Of these, moreover, two were priests, one a doctor, one still at school, two in the army, four schoolmasters, two music teachers, one an opera singer, three orchestra members, eight conductors, one conservatory director, twelve musical directors, and eighty-seven "true artists" and composers. Assuredly a goodly and motley array!

[John Boyer]

That list is amazing. Can you imagine living in a world where an opera competition produces 124 entries?

[Simon]

At least one entry was by a female composer. No. 60. Ein großer Schatz, was composed by Magdalena/Magdalene Charisius, born Friedlaender (1840-1901), a composer and music teacher who lived most of her life in Königsberg, East Prussia (today's Kaliningrad).

According to the Lexikon deutscher Frauen der Feder, published in 1898, she was the author of 3 operas, one oratorio and about 500 vocal works (four of these are kept at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). With the heavy bombings Königsberg suffered during World War II, followed by the expulsion of the German population, and the demolition conducted by the Soviet government, one would expect almost nothing remains of Charisius' compositions, beside this opera.

[eschiss1]

3 vocal works and a libretto, I think. But yes, if there's anything else surviving I wouldn't know where to look.

[G.D.]

Ok, so who are the composers in this list?

I mean, I am stumped already on the first entry:
1.   Franz Rosenkranz: Balder.
I can find absolutely no information on this composer, though there is a composer and oboist from the classical era with that name which makes searches a bit tricky. Could it be a pseudonym? At least the title of his entry suggests that he, like many others on the list, didn't really care too much about (or understand) the "verismo" request.
2.  W. Steinhart : Die Banditen-Braut.
I find little information on this composer either, though Kalliope-Verbund gives us Wilhelm Steinhart (1819-1899). Since he is designated as "conductor" elsewhere, I suppose he was a local Theaterkapellmeister. He is also significantly older than most of the other participants; that, and the title of his work, make one suspect he submitted a distinctly old-fashioned robber opera.
3.   Bernhard Scholz: Der Nachtwächter.
Scholz is familiar enough to people on this forum, though one might note that Wikipedia (and other) lists of his operas don't list Der Nachtwächter. Apparently, Scholz simply dusted off a minor 1871 operetta and submitted it. According to the rules ("original work"), it should have been immediately disqualified (and might have been).
4.   Adolf Mohr: Das Marienbild.
5.   Camillo Feller: Gianettino l'Inglese.
At least these two were real (if obscure) composers: Adolf Mohr (1841-1905) has a brief stub in Catalan (?) wikipedia, Camillo Feller (1863-1942) a brief stub in Czech wikipedia.
6.   Ludwig Meyer: Baronin als Bäuerin.
Another mystery. As someone else has pointed out somewhere (I think?), there is a composer with that name listed with a number of works on IMSLP but that's probably not the right one. There are, however, apparently records of a Ludwig Meyer working as a theatre manager and artistic director at the Hamburg Stadttheater and various local theatres who would be a more likely candidate. The Pushkin setting (I assume) would also probably miss the "verismo" mark.
7.   Rudolf Wurmb: Charlotte d'Jory.
At least this is a real person: Rudolf Wurmb (1842–1907) was an Austrian composer, opera singer and vocal coach, and there are at least some lieder published in his name.
8.   Eduard Braun: Capitain Corner.
Difficult to find much information on this one either, but there is one "Eduard Braun" who did some arrangements of Carl Loewe songs. One hypothesis could be that Braun was a professional musician working for publishing houses like Schott, but I don't know. That Captain Corner was a real, semi-legendary figure in the 19th century suggests a romantic naval adventure opera that probably missed the verismo mark.
9.   Joseph Rieß: Die Sühne.
Also a complete unknown to me. The topic is at least appropriately verismo. Ingeborg Bronsart published an opera on the same topic some 16 years later, but it is perhaps farfetched to wonder whether this could be the same work submitted under a pseudonym?
10.   Ludwig Grünberger: Das Volksgericht auf Capri
Grünberger (1839-1896) is real and has a German wikipedia page. It attributes one single opera to him, Die Heimkehr, performed in 1894, which is definitely the same work ("Die Handlung spielt am Abend der Sommersonnenwende, in einem Dorf auf der Insel Capri. Themen sind Eifersucht, Mord und Flucht")
11.   Kaspar Mynona: Ein Traumgebilde.
Hard not to notice that "Mynona" is "Anonym" backwards. Since I found no match for the title of the opera, I suppose this one will be tricky.
12.   Rudolph Spuller: Der Spion.
For this one we can at least find some contemporaneous newspaper articles talking about performances by "piano virtuoso" Rudolf Spuller. I assume it is the same person: a professional pianist who tried his hand at an entry here (at least the title suggests that he understood what the competition was looking for). But I find little other information.

Well, those are my results after quick google searches for the first 12 entries, but I am not remotely a music scholar and have no idea what sources to consult to locate more information. Anyone else know anything?