Jessonda
Music by Louis Spohr · libretto by Eduard Heinrich Gehe · premiered 1823 · at Hoftheater Kassel
Jessonda is a grand opera (Große Oper) by Louis Spohr, written in 1822. The German libretto was written by Eduard Heinrich Gehe, based on Antoine-Marin Lemierre's 1770 play La veuve du Malabar ou L'Empire des coutumes. Spohr had been newly appointed Hofkapellmeister in Kassel. He had reservations about Weber's recently performed Der Freischütz, and sought a subject that was poetic and uncomplicated, avoiding, in his setting, any spoken dialogue. He was opposed to the use of speech on mundane subjects in an operatic context. Ballets and spectacle were provided in set pieces that might also attract ordinary theatre-goers, in a German form of grand opera.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Jessonda", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Louis Spohr is the composer of record for this opera.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Louis Spohr", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Louis Spohr
- Faust (1808)