Heinrich August Marschner's opera Der Vampyr (The Vampire) premiered in Leipzig in 1828. The libretto was written by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück, Marschner's brother-in-law. The story takes place in Scotland in the present day of the time.
The story is based on John Polidori's short story “The Vampyre,” which was first published in the April 1819 edition of New Monthly Magazine. The story was based on a fragment written by Lord Byron, and the publishers credited the completed story to Byron to attract a wider audience, despite protests by both authors. Elements of the plot are also drawn from theatrical adaptations of "The Vampyre" by Charles Nodier (Le vampire, 1820), J.R. Planché (The Vampire, or The Bride of the Isles, 1820), and Heinrich Ludwig Ritter (Der Vampyr, oder Die Todten-braut, 1821).
Other operas by Heinrich Marschner include Der Templer und die Jüdin and Hans Heiling.
Richard Wagner and Der Vampyr
In 1833, Richard Wagner composed an allegro to replace the second half of Aubry's aria in the second act. This replacement was intended to strengthen Aubry's character, and the effort was well-received by the audience. Der Vampyr is still sometimes performed with Wagner's allegro in place of Marschner's original agitato.
Characters
- Lord Ruthven, the vampire (Baritone)
- Sir Humphrey Davenaut (Bass)
- Malwina, his daughter (Soprano)
- Sir Edgar Aubry, her lover (Tenor)
- Sir John Berkley (Bass)
- Janthe, his daughter (Soprano)
- George Dibdin, a servant (Tenor)
- Emmy Perth, his fiancée (Soprano)
- Toms Blunt, a peasant (Baritone)
- Suse, his wife (Mezzo-soprano)
- James Gadshill, a peasant (Tenor)
- Richard Scrop, a peasant (Tenor)
- Robert Green, a peasant (Bass)
- The Vampire Master (Spoken)
- John Perth, Emmy's father (Spoken)
Plot
Act I
Scene 1 - Outside the Vampire Cave
A chorus of witches and ghosts announces the arrival of the Vampire Master, who makes Lord Ruthven swear to kill three women in the next twenty-four hours in order to earn one more year of life as a vampire. Janthe appears, intending to elope with Ruthven, but her father has followed her with a hunting party and the couple escapes into the vampire cave. Berkley, Janthe's father, hears her scream and, finding her dead from a vampire bite, stabs Ruthven. Ruthven's friend Aubry arrives, and Ruthven instructs Aubry to drag him into the moonlight. Aubry realizes that Ruthven must be a vampire, but Ruthven makes him swear not to tell anyone for the next twenty-four hours.
Scene 2 - Davenaut's Castle
Malwina observes the beautiful spring morning while she waits for Aubry. He arrives and they joyfully reunite, intending to ask her father for permission to marry. Davenaut, however, announces that she has been promised to the Earl of Marsden. Aubry realizes that the Earl is actually Lord Ruthven, but cannot warn Malwina because of his oath.
Act II
Scene 1 - A Peasant Wedding
Emmy Perth waits for her bridegroom, George. They learn that Janthe was killed by a vampire the previous night, and Emmy relates a warning tale about vampires. Ruthven arrives and attempts to seduce Emmy. George overhears and becomes angry.
Aubry threatens to break his oath, but Ruthven informs him that if he did so, he would become a vampire himself.
Ruthven seduces and murders Emmy, and the peasants' merriment is interrupted by the discovery of Emmy's body.
Scene 2 - Davenaut's Castle
Aubry attempts once againt to warn Malwina. He tries to stop the wedding, but Davenaut has him dragged off. He forces his way back and, just as the period of the oath is up, reveals Ruthven as a vampire. Ruthven is dragged to hell, and Aubry and Malwina are allowed to marry.
Sources:
- Melitz, Leo, trans. Richard Salinger. The Opera Goers' Complete Guide. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1921.
- Newman, Ernest. The Life of Richard Wagner. London: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
- Palmer, Allen Dean. Heinrich August Marschner: 1795-1861. UMI Research Press: Ann Arbor, 1980.
- Rosetti, William Michael, ed. The Diary of John William Polidori. London, E. Matthews, 1911.
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