Der Wildschütz (The Poacher)

by Gustav Albert Lortzing (1801 - 1851).
Komische Oper in three acts. 1842.
Libretto by the composer, after the play Der Rehbock, oder Die schuldlosen Schuldbewussten (The Roebuck, or The Guiltless, Conscious of Guilt) by August von Kotzebue.
First performance in Leipzig on 31st December 1842.

The schoolmaster Baculus and his Gretchen celebrate their village betrothal, but Baculus is accused by the Count of poaching and is dismissed. Gretchen would intercede for him, but this task is undertaken by Baroness Freimann, a young widow and sister to the Count, whom she has not seen for some time. She has come, in fact, disguised as a boy, to see the husband her brother has proposed for her, Baron Kronthal, the Count's brother-in-law. Baron and Count are attracted to her in her disguise as Gretchen. The Countess, a woman of intellectual pretensions, does not recognise her brother, imagining the Baron has designs on her, and fails to persuade her husband to forgive Baculus. The Baron proposes to the supposed Gretchen, while the Count postpones a decision on Baculus, suggesting that the couple stay the night at his castle. Count and Baron come to blows, as they each try to prevent the other's approach to the false Gretchen. Found in a compromising situation by the Countess, the Baroness is taken by the Countess to her own room for the night, while the Baron tries to bribe Baculus to give up Gretchen, an offer he misunderstands. All misunderstandings are clarified in the third act, when identities are revealed.

Lortzing's opera Der Wildschütz, oder Die Stimme der Natur (The Poacher, or The Voice of Nature) follows the example of Weber in its opening peasant celebration. There is broad comedy in the portrayal of the old schoolmaster Baculus, ready to part with his own Gretchen, as he thinks, for the fine sum of Fünftausend Taler (Five thousand taler), money that will provide him with all kinds of things, allowing an element of topical invention to the singer. The Count sings of his eye for pretty girls in the third act Wie freundlich strahlt die helle Morgensonne (How friendly beams the morning sun).