Preface
“Haven’t you heard about ‘Freischütz’? Not yet? Poor you! But at least haven’t you heard about the song ‘We wind round thee the bridal wreath’ of this Opera? No? You’re a lucky man.”
Heinrich Heine, Briefe aus Berlin, 16.3.1822.
I am inspired by Heinrich Heine to write a note about the very well received German Opera “Freischütz”. Like the song of bridal wreath had haunted him, I am also haunted by Freischütz in another way that I am going to tell in this piece of writing.
I simplified the story: Forester Max would be the successor and the son-in-law of a retiring forester. It is a tradition that he needs to go through a test in order to become a successor and to marry his lover – Agathe. As the date of test drew near, his worries increased and had bad luck in everything he did. Finally, he traded with devil to secure success which almost have killed Agathe because of the trade. Anyway, the heavens decided a happy ending for the couple.
Before “Freischütz”
I was having a drink with some of my choir members after a choir practice session.
“I have visitors from Thüringen, we will go for Freischütz in Stuttgart tomorrow!” I claimed.
“I did not know that Freischütz is your taste, it’s very different from Bach!” V said. He mentioned Bach, because we are now practicing Bach Cantata BWV 106.
“I did not know that Freischütz is your taste, it’s very different from Bach!” V said. He mentioned Bach, because we are now practicing Bach Cantata BWV 106.
“Still very cool! I like the music so much, especially the orchestra and the folk music.” W said.
“And they are wearing traditional costume, do you know Lederhose? ” X asked.
“It’s about forester, a very traditional profession … ” Y said.
“Hey people, we should stop being spoiler. You will see how cool the Freischütz is by yourself!” Z winked to me.
It seemed that they were even more excited about Freischütz than me, although I am the one who is going to the Opera.
Throughout “Freischütz”
I thought I’d stepped into a different world as I arrived in the Opera House, ladies with grand evening dresses and shiny jewellery. If they’d said they were performing, I would not have second thought about it.
I often heard about the worry that the hair colour of concert/ opera goer is bleaching. People get grey and white hair sooner if they visit too much concert/ opera. But if you want to preserve your youthful dark coloured hair and still visiting opera, Freischütz is highly recommended. More than one third of the audience were between 10 – 25 years old. And I can tell that they enjoyed it very much, at least the school boy who sat beside me.
“Tell me what made Freischütz so attractive to school kids?” I asked my friend, who visited the Opera when she was a teenager.
“Isn’t it spooky?” she replied.
Ok, I remembered I was frightened at the moment when the ferocious eyes of the owl lit up. It was spooky!
Anyway, the scene of the forester choir was my favourite. The exaggerated singing movements of the choir members and the very creative conducting gestures of choir conductor were pleasant to watch. It would be really fun if my choir were to sing like this, then I was so amused by my own idea and laughed. Until I felt the glance of the school boy sitting next to me, asking “is there any punchline?”, I tried to behave.
Now came the moment of epiphanies. I divide them into three points.
1. Never give in to fear even it is extremely scary. Max was scared of the uncertainty about whether he could pass the test and traded himself with devil for certainty, which is human nature.
Looking back on my life over the last decade, the only certainty is uncertainty. Like now, my visa expired on the same day my contract ends. My close friends know that, they keep an eye on the job market for me. My new German colleague: “Are you now planning for your farewell concert in September? Aren’t you just started not long ago?” I am totally with her. I just got to know this new place, and now I’m planning my departure already, a bit absurd. I explained to her, I just need to plan how many rehearsals for each project with different music groups we have in church. And I did not mention the visa problem to her.
It may not be Germany, but whether I go or stay, I need a reason to apply for a visa. The only place that I do not have visa problems is the place I can least imagine to be after 16 years of nomadic life.
Scary, huh? However, uncertainty should not paralyze the wonderful musical life I am having now. So many exciting music projects yet to carry out. People always tell me that I am brave, that is a wrong picture. I just do not have any other option than to be brave, because I tend to lose my ground when I start to fear and it could be disastrous if I made a decision out of fear. Like Max.
2. Weakness could be positive.
Even so, Max’s weakness could be positive. A test helps us to become a better person, it helps us to develop nice characteristics, for example humility. Knowing that life is full of uncertainties, so that we will be humble, receive everything with gratitude.
Imagine if Max passed the test with his ability, years later, he might say to Agathe: “I marry you because I proved to your father that I am able.” But after the incident of trade with the devil out of fear of uncertainty, years later, he might say to Agathe: “I was weak and almost killed you with my unwise decision, but in the end you’re still willing to marry me. ” Just to compare the 2 different outcomes, and think about what would you prefer.
3. Despite the devil’s evil plot, heaven still has the last say. It is very comforting to experience this in the opera. Agathe fainted but didn’t die, the rose and love protected her, a hermit showed up and presented a wise solution for Max. It ended happily. Bravo!
After “Freischütz”
On the next day, my adopted German brother came to help me install ceiling lamps in my kitchen and living room, his little daughter followed him. As he was working on the lamp, I was playing with the little girl. She was describing a theatre that she called “Frau Holle” (Grimms’ Fairy Tales).
“It’s snowing inside the theatre, can you imagine it?” she said.
“Really? It must be cold and wet I guess?”
“No, it’s not the real snow.” she smiled shyly.
“Oh, you know what? I was in an Opera yesterday. It’s similar to theatre only with more singing and orchestra. It’s about forester. One of them killed the fox!”
“Really? It must be cold and wet I guess?”
“No, it’s not the real snow.” she smiled shyly.
“Oh, you know what? I was in an Opera yesterday. It’s similar to theatre only with more singing and orchestra. It’s about forester. One of them killed the fox!”
I regretted mentioning the fox right after I said it. She was telling me the beautiful romantic snowing scene of Frau Holle, and I told her about the tragic fox. There were so many nice scenes to talk about, for example the partying and dancing in traditional costume or the very moving scene that a friend was comforting a sad friend, but why did I told her about the dead fox?
At that moment I was so tangled in my thought, her father shared his Opera experience with us, Freischütz is the one and only Opera that he watched. His music teacher arranged for the whole class to visit Freischütz. He found it was close to people and fun too.
After that the little girl asked me:
“Do you have colours and paper? I’m going to draw a magical forest for your living room!”
The picture is hanging in my living room, to my relief no dead fox found inside it. One day, I was staring at the picture, and a thought came across my mind. Maybe it is time to work on a play? It might be a love story, not necessarily about forester but a spooky element is a must.
The End