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''The Amber Witch'' is an opera four acts composed by William Vincent Wallace to an English libretto by Henry Fothergill Chorley, after Lady Duff-Gordon's translation of Meinold's ''Maria Schweidler: Die Bernsteinhexe''. It premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre, London on 28 February 1861 conducted by Charles Hallé with Helen Lemmens-Sherrington in the title role.〔Beale (2007) p. 126〕〔''The Players'' (9 March 1861) p. 283〕 ==Background and performance history== The libretto was based on a Gothic novel by Johann Wilhelm Meinhold, ''Maria Schweidler die Bernsteinhexe'', which had been translated into English by Lady Duff-Gordon and published in 1844 as ''The Amber Witch''. The work was very popular in Victorian England and had gone through several editions by the time Wallace chose it as the subject for his fourth and most ambitious opera.〔Bleiler (1971) pp. vii-viii〕 The novel, unlike the opera is on which it was based, retained its popularity and continued to be published both on its own and in anthologies into the 21st century. It was a favourite of Oscar Wilde's when he was a boy,〔Wilde (1998) p. 3〕 and in 1895 it was published in a luxury edition illustrated by Philip Burne-Jones.〔''New York Times'' (17 March 1895) p. 31〕 Wallace had sketched out most of the opera in 1860, and it premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre on 28 February 1861 with Charles Hallé conducting.〔 ''The Times'' reported that the first night's performance was a success and that "the music is almost as complicated as it is beautiful".〔''The Times'', 1 March 1861, quoted in Beale (2007) p. 128〕 Wallace considered it his best opera,〔Flood (1912) p. 28〕 and Queen Victoria attended one of the early performances, but it met with only mixed success with audiences. After its run at Her Majesty's Theatre, it transferred to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane with most of the original cast, including Charles Santley. (Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa replaced Helen Lemmens-Sherrington in the title role.)〔Mapleson (1888) pp. 28-29〕 Santley recalled in his memoirs that although ''The Amber Witch'' contained some fine music, it played to nearly empty houses at Drury Lane.〔Santley (1892/2008) p. 189〕 In 1866 at a concert to raise funds for Wallace's widow and children, two members of the original cast, Helen Lemmens-Sherrington and John Patey, sang three pieces from the ''Amber Witch'' – "Hark! How the chimes", "When the elves at dawn do pass" and "My Long Hair Is Braided".〔''The Musical World'' (6 January 1866) p. 12.〕 The opera was revived in London in the 1880s and again in 1899 by the Moody-Manners touring company.〔Beale (2007) p. 129〕 Like most of Wallace's operas, it then sank into obscurity, although Mary's aria was a popular concert piece for a time and selections from the opera (arranged for organ) were played at New York's Chickering Hall in December 1886.〔Krehbiel (1887/2008) p. 60〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Amber Witch (opera)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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