The original production opened at Weber's Music Hall in New York City on December 25, 1906, and ran for 102 performances until March 23, 1907. It was played as a show within a show with Herbert and Smith's two-act operetta, Dream City.[1]
Modern performances of the piece, especially with orchestra, are rare. It was performed without orchestra, within Dream City, during the 2006 Victor Herbert Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[2] It was performed in Ohio Light Opera's 2014 Festival, and the company released a full recording of Dream City and The Magic Knight through Albany Records. There is also a live production recording available through the Operetta Foundation.[citation needed]
Elsa is accused of murdering her brother, Godfrey, who has mysteriously disappeared, but Elsa is guilty of nothing more than an excessive fondness for singing cadenzas. Frederick, who was to have married Elsa, marries the enchantress Ortrud, instead. Ortrud has turned Godfrey into a swan. Elsa calls upon a magic knight to save her by engaging in combat with Frederick. A first call to fairyland to summon the knight is unsuccessful, but after a second call, the knight arrives on the back of the enchanted swan. The knight soon defeats the cowardly Frederick and turns the swan back into Godfrey. He asks Elsa to marry him, but when she asks his name, the enchantment is broken. He must return to fairyland, leaving Elsa alone and grief-stricken, but still singing cadenzas.
Musical numbersedit
Prelude
Our King Is Here – Ensemble
The Court Is Called to Order – The King
Elsa Is Accused – Frederick and Tunite
I'm Such a Modest Maiden – Elsa
The Human Canary – Elsa
The Magic Knight Is Summoned – The Herald
Oh, Look Who's Here – Elsa and Chorus
Ta Ta, My Dainty Little Darling – Lohengrin
The Cake-Walk Duel – Lohengrin and Frederick
The Confession – Ortrud
Roles and original castedit
The King (A base monarch) – Frank Belcher
Elsa (A typical grand operatic maiden in the usual distressing predicament) – Lillian Blauvelt
Ortrud (Her contralto aunt, given to dabbling in the art of magic) – Cora Tracey
Lohengrin (A professional rescuer of distressed maidens) – Maurice Farkoa
The Herald (A mediaeval news announcer) – W. L. Romaine
The Swan, Godfrey (An item in a foul conspiracy) – Lores Grimm
A recording of The Magic Knight was released with Dream City in 2006 by the Comic Opera Guild.[3] A recording of Dream City and The Magic Knight was released in 2014 by Ohio Light Opera.[citation needed]
Referencesedit
^Information about The Magic Knight at the IBDB database
^Listing of performances, including 2006 performance of The Magic Knight
magic, knight, victorian, burlesque, with, music, victor, herbert, libretto, edgar, smith, piece, parodies, wagner, opera, lohengrin, original, production, opened, weber, music, hall, york, city, december, 1906, performances, until, march, 1907, played, show, . The Magic Knight is a one act Victorian burlesque with music by Victor Herbert and a libretto by Edgar Smith The piece parodies Wagner s opera Lohengrin The original production opened at Weber s Music Hall in New York City on December 25 1906 and ran for 102 performances until March 23 1907 It was played as a show within a show with Herbert and Smith s two act operetta Dream City 1 Modern performances of the piece especially with orchestra are rare It was performed without orchestra within Dream City during the 2006 Victor Herbert Festival in Ann Arbor Michigan 2 It was performed in Ohio Light Opera s 2014 Festival and the company released a full recording of Dream City and The Magic Knight through Albany Records There is also a live production recording available through the Operetta Foundation citation needed Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Musical numbers 3 Roles and original cast 4 Recording 5 References 6 External linksSynopsis editElsa is accused of murdering her brother Godfrey who has mysteriously disappeared but Elsa is guilty of nothing more than an excessive fondness for singing cadenzas Frederick who was to have married Elsa marries the enchantress Ortrud instead Ortrud has turned Godfrey into a swan Elsa calls upon a magic knight to save her by engaging in combat with Frederick A first call to fairyland to summon the knight is unsuccessful but after a second call the knight arrives on the back of the enchanted swan The knight soon defeats the cowardly Frederick and turns the swan back into Godfrey He asks Elsa to marry him but when she asks his name the enchantment is broken He must return to fairyland leaving Elsa alone and grief stricken but still singing cadenzas Musical numbers editPrelude Our King Is Here Ensemble The Court Is Called to Order The King Elsa Is Accused Frederick and Tunite I m Such a Modest Maiden Elsa The Human Canary Elsa The Magic Knight Is Summoned The Herald Oh Look Who s Here Elsa and Chorus Ta Ta My Dainty Little Darling Lohengrin The Cake Walk Duel Lohengrin and Frederick The Confession OrtrudRoles and original cast editThe King A base monarch Frank Belcher Elsa A typical grand operatic maiden in the usual distressing predicament Lillian Blauvelt Ortrud Her contralto aunt given to dabbling in the art of magic Cora Tracey Lohengrin A professional rescuer of distressed maidens Maurice Farkoa The Herald A mediaeval news announcer W L Romaine The Swan Godfrey An item in a foul conspiracy Lores Grimm Frederick Her hen pecked uncle Otis Harlan Three knights Lastnite Billie Norton Tunite Lois Ewell Tumaronite Lillian deLeeRecording editA recording of The Magic Knight was released with Dream City in 2006 by the Comic Opera Guild 3 A recording of Dream City and The Magic Knight was released in 2014 by Ohio Light Opera citation needed References edit Information about The Magic Knight at the IBDB database Listing of performances including 2006 performance of The Magic Knight Information about Victor Herbert recordings including The Magic KnightExternal links editReview of The Magic Knight Johnson Colin Links to MIDI files and other information about The Magic Knight Portals nbsp Classical music nbsp Opera nbsp Music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Magic Knight amp oldid 1171097987, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
