Erwin und Elmire
Music by Anna Amalia · premiered 1775 · at Frankfurt
Erwin und Elmire is an opera in two acts by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, with a libretto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, after Oliver Goldsmith's ballad of Angelica and Edwin, The Hermit, in his sentimental novel The Vicar of Wakefield. Goethe moved to Weimar, in circumstances decisive for his future career, in November 1775. There he was introduced to Anna Amalia (1739–1807), the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a formidable political figure who was also a fine composer. Goethe's arrival in Weimar coincided with her partial withdrawal from political life as her son had reached the age of maturity, and Anna seized the opportunity to provide her own setting of Erwin and Elmire for the Court Theatre, where it was first performed on 24 May 1776.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Erwin und Elmire", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Anna Amalia or Anna Amalie may refer to: Anna Amalie of Baden-Durlach, Countess of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1595–1651), regent of Nassau-Saarbrücken from 1640 until her death Princess Anna Amalie of Prussia or Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (1723–1787), Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg and composer Anna Amalia, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (née Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 1739–1807) German composer and patron of the arts Duchess Anna Amalia Library, in Weimar de:Anna Amalia zu den drei Rosen, a Masonic lodge A number of Annas have the middle name Amalia: Anna Abert or Anna Amalie Abert (1906–1996), German musicologist Anna Amelia Obermeyer (1907–2001), South African botanist
Text from the Wikipedia article "Anna Amalia", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.