Heinrich Marschner … For many Dutch opera goers, no more than a name. No wonder: when was he last performed here?

I myself have a huge soft spot for his romantic horror fairy tales Der Vampyr and Hans Heilings but Der Templer und die Jüdin? No, I have never heard of it.

Yet the opera was once a successful work. Indeed, after its premiere on 22 December 1829, it became Marschner’s most popular and frequently performed opera (200 times in 70 years). And it is not just any opera, Der Templer und die Jüdin is a great romantic opera like they have long since ceased to be made.

The libretto is based on Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819), the first great historical novel in literary history. The story is very simple and complicated at the same time. You have the bad guys (the Normans = French) and the good guys (The Saxons = English).

There is a king (Richard Lionheart), who, after ‘visiting’ the Holy Land with crusaders, has to re-fight his throne, preferably incognito. And there is a Templar who falls in love with a beautiful Jew. He kidnaps her to win her heart (and more), but she wants nothing to do with him. Against her better judgment, she has fallen in love with a wounded knight (Ivanhoe, but no one knows that). Unfortunately for her, Ivanhoe has been piling on his cousin for years, whom he is not allowed to marry because she is destined for another.

A lot of turmoil ensues. Poor Rebecca is condemned to be burned at the stake, but an anonymous paladin saves her life. It turns out to be Ivanhoe. He marries his beloved and everyone (except the templar, who is now dead) lives happily ever after….

A dragon of a story? Perhaps, but to me it reminds me of the good old days, when good always triumphed. Of the times when, with the sound of the crackling wood in the fireplace in the background and a cup of chocolate milk in your hand, you nestled on the sofa to listen to a delightful radio play on the radio.

The comparison with a radio play does not come out of the blue. There is no libretto in the opera released by the Myto company. There is not even a synopsis! The whole story is narrated by a kind of ‘ZDF lady’. So her warm voice and involved recitation remind me strongly of (and sometimes long for!) the old-fashioned radio plays. It has something. Especially when combined with the dull mono sound – the opera was recorded (live?) in Vienna in 1961. I can imagine a Hi-Fi freak not liking this, but for me it’s a pure, childlike delight.

The music is, as befits a great romantic opera – grand, sweeping, with growling violins and ominous cellos. There are (church) bells and natural sounds. One thinks Weber, Schubert (Fierrabras!) and early Wagner. And, of course, Marschner himself.

The performance? As far as the sound allows to judge it properly: the baritone Georg Uggl is a fantastic Brian de Bois Gilbert (the Templar from the title) and Liana Synek is a very moving Rebecca. Her beautiful, high soprano deserves to be heard. But actually they all sing well, all these (to me) unknown greats.

The Grosses Orchester der RAVAG (the predecessor of ORF) is conducted by Kurt Tenner and as a bonus you get the highlights, sung in Italian (!), from Der Vampyr, recorded in Milan in 1953. Nice!