''Fantasio'' is an opera in two acts composed by

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended t ...

. The German-language libretto was written by Smyth and

Henry Bennet Brewster Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal ...

. Described in the libretto as a ''phantastische Comödie'' (

fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...

comedy), it was based on

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

's 1834 play of the same name. The opera premiered at the Deutsches Nationaltheater in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...

on 24 May 1898.

Performance history

Smyth turned to composing opera on the advice of conductor

Hermann Levi Hermann Levi (7 November 1839 – 13 May 1900) was a German Jewish orchestral conductor. Levi was born in Giessen, Germany, the son of a rabbi. He was educated at Giessen and Mannheim, and came to Vinzenz Lachner's notice. From 1855 to 1858 ...

, who praised her aptitude for dramatic composition when she showed him her Mass in D in Munich. The idea of adapting a play by Alfred de Musset came from her friend

Empress Eugénie An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (emp ...

. From 1894, Smyth made frequent trips around Europe trying to arrange a premiere for ''Fantasio''. She received a string of rejections, but conductor

Felix Mottl right Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911) was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which ''Agnes Bernauer'' (Weimar ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

became interested. It was eventually staged at Weimar thanks to support from Mottl, who wrote to the Weimar conductor

Bernhard Stavenhagen Bernhard Stavenhagen (24 November 1862 – 25 December 1914) was a German pianist, composer and conductor. His musical style was influenced by Franz Liszt, and as a conductor he was a strong advocate of new music. Biography Born in Greiz, he com ...

, and from

Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , image = Held Carl Alexander Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach@Weimar Schlossmuseum.jpg , image_size = , caption = , succession = Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , reign = 8 July 1853 – 5 January 1901 , predecessor = ...

and Baroness Olga Meyendorff. However, the reviews were poor. The correspondent for the ' described it as a mediocre production with the exception of the leading roles. Although many noted the difficulty of her score and some felt she had tried to be too clever, using heavy and complicated techniques where lightness and simplicity would have been more appropriate, Smyth's claims of praise for her

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", or ...

are corroborated by the reviews.Kertesz, Elizabeth Jane. "Issues in the Critical Reception of Ethel Smyth's Mass and First Four Operas in England and Germany". Thesis, 2001. In 1901 Mottl conducted it at Karlsruhe, but it was not revived again. Smyth later acknowledged that the libretto was weak and out of kilter with the tempestuous music, but thought that the experience had been valuable for her subsequent operatic career.

References

Cited sources * * * Further reading *Pendle, Karin Anna (2001)
''Women and Music: A History''
p. 155. Indiana University Press *Wood, Elizabeth (1995). "'The Lesbian in the Opera: Desire Unmasked in Smyth's ''Fantasio'' and ''Fête Galante''" in Corinne E. Blackmer and Patricia Juliana Smith (eds.) ''En Travesti: Women, Gender Subversion, Opera'', pp. 285–305. Columbia University Press.

External links

''Fantasio: Phantastische Comödie in zwei Akten''
(complete libretto published in 1898) {{Authority control Operas by Ethel Smyth German-language operas 1898 operas Operas Operas based on plays Operas based on works by Alfred de Musset