''The Magic Knight'' is a one-act

Victorian burlesque Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as travesty or extravaganza, is a genre of theatrical entertainment that was popular in Victorian England and in the New York theatre of the mid-19th century. It is a form of parody in which a well-known oper ...

with music by

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...

and a libretto by Edgar Smith. The piece parodies

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's opera ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...

''. The original production opened at Weber's Music Hall in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on December 25, 1906, and ran for 102 performances until March 23, 1907. It was played as a show within a show with Herbert and Smith's two-act operetta, ''

Dream City Diamond Research and Mercantile City, also known as DREAM City, is an upcoming business district in Surat, Gujarat, India. It will be built on of land near Khajod, along the lines of the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City and Dholera Smar ...

''. Modern performances of the piece, especially with orchestra, are rare. It was performed without orchestra, within ''Dream City'', during the 2006 Victor Herbert Festival in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. It was performed in

Ohio Light Opera The Ohio Light Opera is a professional opera company based in Wooster, Ohio that performs the light opera repertory, including Gilbert and Sullivan, American, British and continental operettas, and other musical theatre works, especially of the late ...

's 2014 Festival, and the company released a full recording of ''Dream City'' and ''The Magic Knight'' through

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. In May 2024, Albany Records wa ...

. There is also a live production recording available through the Operetta Foundation.

Synopsis

Elsa is accused of murdering her brother, Godfrey, who has mysteriously disappeared, but Elsa is guilty of nothing more than an excessive fondness for singing cadenzas. Frederick, who was to have married Elsa, marries the enchantress Ortrud, instead. Ortrud has turned Godfrey into a swan. Elsa calls upon a magic knight to save her by engaging in combat with Frederick. A first call to fairyland to summon the knight is unsuccessful, but after a second call, the knight arrives on the back of the enchanted swan. The knight soon defeats the cowardly Frederick and turns the swan back into Godfrey. He asks Elsa to marry him, but when she asks his name, the enchantment is broken. He must return to fairyland, leaving Elsa alone and grief-stricken, but still singing cadenzas.

Musical numbers

*Prelude *Our King Is Here – Ensemble *The Court Is Called to Order – The King *Elsa Is Accused – Frederick and Tunite *I'm Such a Modest Maiden – Elsa *The Human Canary – Elsa *The Magic Knight Is Summoned – The Herald *Oh, Look Who's Here – Elsa and Chorus *Ta Ta, My Dainty Little Darling – Lohengrin *The Cake-Walk Duel – Lohengrin and Frederick *The Confession – Ortrud

Roles and original cast

*The King (A base monarch) – Frank Belcher *Elsa (A typical grand operatic maiden in the usual distressing predicament) –

Lillian Blauvelt Lillian Blauvelt (1873–1947) was a popular opera singer in New York City and internationally in the first decade of the 20th century. Her voice was a lyric soprano with a very pure timbre and dramatic distinction. Her vocal range was from G to ...

*Ortrud (Her

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

aunt, given to dabbling in the art of magic) – Cora Tracey *Lohengrin (A professional rescuer of distressed maidens) – Maurice Farkoa *The Herald (A mediaeval news announcer) – W. L. Romaine *The Swan, Godfrey (An item in a foul conspiracy) – Lores Grimm *Frederick (Her hen-pecked uncle) –

Otis Harlan Otis Harlan (December 29, 1865 – January 20, 1940) was an American actor and comedian. He voiced Happy, one of the Seven Dwarfs in the Disney animated film '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. This made him the earliest born actor to feature ...

Three knights: *Lastnite – Billie Norton *Tunite – Lois Ewell *Tumaronite – Lillian deLee

Recording

A recording of ''The Magic Knight'' was released with ''

'' in 2006 by the Comic Opera Guild.Information about Victor Herbert recordings, including ''The Magic Knight''
/ref> A recording of ''Dream City'' and ''The Magic Knight'' was released in 2014 by Ohio Light Opera.

References

External links

*Johnson, Colin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Knight, The Operas English-language operettas 1907 operas Operas by Victor Herbert Musicals by Edgar Smith Musicals by Victor Herbert Operas based on works by Richard Wagner