''Die beiden Neffen'' (''The Two Nephews''), also known as ''Der Onkel aus Boston'' (''The Uncle from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

''), is a three-act

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Johann Ludwig Casper.

Background

''Die beiden Neffen'' was written by between May 1822 and 1823, during which time Mendelssohn celebrated his fourteenth birthday. The libretto was by Casper who had provided books for his three previous Singspiels, ''Die Soldatenliebschaft'' (Soldier's Love) (1820), ''Die beiden Pädagogen'' (The Two Teachers) (1821) and ''Die wandernden Komödianten'' (The Roving Actors) (1822). ''Die beiden Neffen'' was the last of their collaborations. These pieces were designed for performance within the family circle at the musical gatherings regularly organised by Felix's father

Abraham Mendelssohn Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy (born Abraham Mendelssohn; 10 December 1776 – 19 November 1835) was a German Jewish banker and philanthropist. He was the father of Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, Rebecka Mendelssohn, and Paul Mendel ...

. ''Die beiden Neffen'' was performed in the garden house of the Mendelssohn family on Felix's 15th birthday (3 February 1824). Like Mendelssohn's other juvenile operas, the work shows the influence of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

, but without any of the individuality which began to show in the later '' Die Hochzeit des Camacho''. The dialogue for the third act has been lost, but has been reconstructed, enabling the first modern performances; on 3 October 2004 (concert performance in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

), and on 14 April 2007 (staged performance, Pfalztheater,

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

). There is also a CD recording conducted by

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakade ...

.Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, cond. Helmuth Rilling, Hänssler Classics (2005).

Roles

Synopsis

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

in the 1780s. Baron von Felsig has returned unexpectedly from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. The consequent problems of mistaken identities and misunderstandings fill out an undistinguished storyline leading to a traditional happy ending.

Recordings

''Die beiden Neffen oder Der Onkel aus Boston'',

Kate Royal Kate Royal (born 1979) is an English lyric soprano. Royal was born in London and attended Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, Dorset. She later studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then the National Opera Studio, graduating in ...

Lothar Odinius Lothar or Lothair is a Danish, Finnish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish masculine given name, while Lotár is a Hungarian masculine given name. Both names are modern forms of the Germanic Chlothar (which is a blended form of ''Hlūdaz'', meani ...

Carsten Süß Karsten or Carsten is a both a given name and a surname. It is believed to be either derived from a Low German form of Christian, or "man from karst". Notable persons with the name include: Given name ;Carsten: * Carsten Becker (born 1990), Germa ...

Gächinger Kantorei Gächinger Kantorei (Gächingen Chorale), which uses the old German spelling of its name, the Gaechinger Cantorey, is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen (part of St. Johann close to Reutl ...

Bach-Collegium Stuttgart Bach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra. Its members are mostly orchestra musicians from Germany and ...

, Helmut Rilling, Hänssler Classics, 2004

Notes

Sources

Oxford Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

*James L. Zychowitz, ''Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Der Onkel aus Boston'' (review)
Opera Today, 30 September 2005

External links

Helmuth Rilling conducts the overture to ''Der Onkel aus Boston'' (YouTube)Extract from 1st act of same performance (YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beiden Neffen, Die Operas 1824 operas Singspiele German-language operas Operas by Felix Mendelssohn Operas set in Germany