DER FREISCHUTZ " Der Freischfitz," or " The Freeshooter," a romantic opera in two acts, with words by Friedrich Kind and music by Carl Maria von Weber, was first produced in Berlin, June 18, 1821.
Prince Ottokar.
Cuno, the head ranger.
Max, Caspar, two young foresters serving under him.
Kilian, a rich peasant A Hermit.
Zamiel, the fiend huntsman.
Agathe, Cuno's daughter.
Anna, her cousin.
Chorus of Hunters, peasants, bridesmaids and invisible spirits.
The scene is laid in Bohemia, shortly after the Seven Years' War. The story of the opera is founded on a tradi tion among the German followers of Nimrod, that whoever chooses to seek the aid of Zamiel, the demon huntsman, might by selling his soul to him, receive seven magic bullets which would hit the desired mark with unerring accuracy. If he succeeded in gaining another victim for Zamiel, his own time of life would be extended but if he failed in this, his life was forfeited.
When the story opens, Cuno, the head ranger to Otto kar, a Bohemian Prince, has promised his daughter Agathe to Max, one of his subordinates, on condition that he win , in an approaching contest of marksmanship. Caspar, a second forester who has made the fatal bargain with the fiend, causes Max, who always has been a skilled marksman, to shoot poorly at a preliminary trial. Jeered at by his com panions and hopeless of winning his adored Agathe, the lover is in despair and believes himself deserted by heaven. Caspar has a double motive in wishing Max's downfall. He must bring a new victim to the fiend and, furthermore, he is in love with Agathe, whom he hopes to win. To tempt his rival, he gives him his rifle and bids him fire at an eagle soaring so far above them that it is but a speck in the sky. To the youth's astonishment, the huge bird falls dead at his feet, while demon laughter echoes about him. Casper plucks a feather and puts it in Max's cap, telling him to think of Agathe's delight in his prowess. Max, however, recoils when he learns the nature of the bullet, but Caspar pictures to him the sorrow of the maiden if he (Max) fails to win her and, with consummate hypocrisy, tries to convince him that it is his duty to take advantage of every means within his power.
Finally, Max promises to meet Caspar in the Wolf's Glen at midnight to secure a new supply of bullets. The exultant Caspar believes that he has not only accomplished the down 4fall of Max but has gained for himself respite from the fiend.
The second act opens in Cuno's house, where Agathe and Anna, her lively cousin, the former lamenting the .fall of an ancestral portrait from the wall, which she fears to be an evil omen. Only a few hours previously, she has met a peasant in the wood who has warned her of some danger and has given, her a magic rose-wreath with which to ward it off. Max comes but he, too, is filled with fore bodings and his heart almost stops beating when he learns that the portrait fell just at seven o'clock, the time he shot the eagle. At a late hour, Max goes to keep his tryst in the Wolf's Glen, though implored by the maidens to remain with them. Before his arrival, Caspar has bargained with the Demon and has bought the young hunter's destruction, in return for which he, himself, may have three years more of life. Six of the bullets shall do Max's bidding but the seventh shall kill his bride. When Max approaches, the chorus of invisible spirits is heard no more. Zamiel vanishes to the sound of low thunder and, as Caspar blows the fire which rises out of the ground, the birds of night flutter weirdly about his head.
Suddenly, Max discerns on an opposite rock his mother's wraith, raising a ghostly hand in warning. Fearing that he may yet lose his victim, Caspar calls on Zamiel for help and, in place of his mother's form is seen that of Agathe, who appears distracted and is about to throw her self down the cascade. This silent argument settles the matter with Max and he hastens to assist Caspar in melt ing over the fire in a crucible a weird decoction out of which the bullets are to be formed. At the casting of the seventh, a frightful storm throws Max to the ground and Zamiel seizes his hand.