Artist:
Heinrich August Marschner
- Born August 16, 1795 in Zittau, Saxony
- Died December 14, 1861 in Hannover
- Period: Romantic (1820-1869)
- Country: Germany
- Genres: Opera
Biography
Heinrich August Marschner is generally considered both a key figure in German opera in the second quarter of the nineteenth century and an important link between Weber and Wagner. His 1827 opera Der Vampyr was an overwhelming success that is still staged today. Marschner followed it shortly with two more operatic triumphs, Der Templer und die Jüdin (1829) and Hans Heiling (1833). After these sensations, Marschner failed to achieve a significant success on stage, though the 1838 opera Der Babu, showed he still possessed remarkable, if inconsistent, talent. Marschner was born in Zittau, Germany, on August 16, 1795. Despite his father's wishes that music be only an amateur pursuit, Marschner converted the instruction provided by his father (studies with Karl Gottlieb Hering and others) into a career as a burgeoning composer, with the appearance of his successful 1810 ballet Die Stolze Bäuerin.Yet, apparently undecided on his career goals, Marschner traveled to Leipzig in 1813 to study law. But he could not resist music for long, and in 1816 he composed the singspiel Der Kiffhaeuser Berg. It was not a success, as were ensuing stage works, like the opera Saidar und Zulima (1818) and various incidental scores to plays, like Ali Baba, oder Die 40 Räuber (1823). Marschner had little luck in his personal life at this time as well, marrying twice, the first time in 1817, the second in 1820. Both wives died quickly (the first after only six months) and in 1826 Marschner married for the third time, a year after his second wife had died. His new bride was soprano Marianne Wohlbrück.
But his bad luck would soon end with the appearance of his 1827 opera Der Vampyr, composed to a libretto by his new brother-in-law, actor Wilhelm August Wohlbrück. The pair's next collaboration, the aforementioned Der Templer (1829), was also a great success. Marschner was now arguably the undisputed leading figure in German opera. In 1830 he accepted the post of Hofkapellmeister in Hanover, where he would complete Hans Heiling in 1833, regarded by many as his magnum opus. After this triumph Marschner did not produce another successful stage work. Even his personal life returned to its luckless beginnings: his wife died in 1854. But the tenacious Marschner married for the fourth time a year later. He died in Hanover in 1861. ~ Robert Cummings, All Music Guide
