On the 200th anniversary of Carl Maria von Weber’s death

The 200th anniversary of Carl Maria von Weber’s death on 5 June 1826 is an occasion to shine the spotlight on his works. Bärenreiter · Alkor offers a range of interesting editions by Weber, including Symphonies No. 1 (1806/07) and No. 2 (1807). Only the vocal part survives of the aria “Wonnig süßes Hoffnungsträumen” for soprano and orchestra after “Die drei Pintos”; the orchestration was made by Fritz Oeser thereby making the piece performable once more. Special attention should be paid to “Der Freischütz”. For the performance at the Paris Opéra, Hector Berlioz composed French recitatives under the title “Le Freyschütz”, which replace the spoken passages. As well as this, he orchestrated “L’invitation à la valse” as an incidental ballet. Berlioz’s exciting arrangement of Weber’s Romantic opera continues to offer a captivating alternative to the original composition today.