''Jephtas Gelübde'' (''The vow of

Jephthah Jephthah (pronounced ; he, יִפְתָּח, ''Yīftāḥ''), appears in the Book of Judges as a judge who presided over Israel for a period of six years (). According to Judges, he lived in Gilead. His father's name is also given as Gilead, ...

'') was the first opera composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The libretto, which is elaborated from the biblical story of Jephthah, was by . The first performance was at the Hoftheater (

Cuvilliés Theatre The Cuvilliés Theatre (german: link=no, Cuvilliés-Theater) or Old Residence Theatre (''Altes Residenztheater'') is the former court theatre of the Residenz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. History Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph (reg ...

) in Munich on 23 December 1812. Two manuscripts of the score survive, one in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, London, the other in Brussels.

Composition history

Meyerbeer wrote ''Jephtas Gelübde'' while he was studying with Abt Vogler (and while he was still known as Jakob, rather than the first name Giacomo which he was to adopt after his studies in Italy). He completed the score in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

in April 1812, writing the overture last of all. During his revision of the score in June and July, Meyerbeer had already begun writing his second opera, ''Wirth und Gast''. The score reflects Vogler's interest in colourful orchestration. Rehearsals began for the opera in November 1812, with which Meyerbeer was not satisfied. "Deliberate and accidental hindrances of every sort intruded, and even on 20 December I was not certain whether the opera would be given in the 23rd. Anxiety, annoyance and vexation of every sort bothered me in these six weeks."Meyerbeer (1999), p. 295 In the event there were three performances, and the opera was fairly successful with many numbers applauded, although the composer thought that Lanius, as Jephta, "played very mediocrely".

Roles

Recordings

*Jephtas Gelübde - Sönke Tams Freier, Andrea Chudak, Ziazan, Marcus Elsäßer, Laurence Kalaidjian,

Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra The Sofia Philharmonic ( Bulgarian: Софийска филхармония) was founded in 1928. The current music director is Nayden Todorov. Sofia Philharmonic includes the National Philharmonic Orchestra, National Philharmonic Choir "Svetos ...

, Dario Salvi. 2 CDs Marco Polo 2023

References

Notes Sources *Meyerbeer, G., (trans. and ed.

Robert Letellier Robert Ignatius Letellier (born 1953, in Durban, South Africa) is a cultural historian and academic, specialising in the history of music, Romantic literature and the Bible. He teaches at the Maryvale Institute and the Institute of Continuing Edu ...

), ''Diaries, Volume 1'', Associated University Presses, 1999.

Composition history

Roles

Recordings

References

Further reading