Weber was at the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to dethrone Rossini from his position as the leading operatic composer in Europe. In his breakthrough and most popular opera Der Freischütz (‘The Marksman’) composed in 1821, he succeeded in his aim of establishing a truly German form. Turning to the folklore and folk songs of his native land he took a story of a marksman who makes a pact with the Devil, vesting it with powerful intensity – not least in the famous Wolf’s Glen scene – and an astonishing control of orchestral colour and atmosphere.

This DVD/Blu-ray release came from a 2017 production by Teatro alla Scala, directed by Matthias Hartmann and conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. The opera has not been performed at La Scala since 1998.

World-renowned conductor Myung-Whun Chung is known as a pupil of the legendary Carlo Maria Giulini (who also conducted the same opera at La Scala in 1955). Bachtrack wrote of this production: ‘From the earliest notes of the wonderful ouverture, we had an idea of the treasures of a score characterized by particular effects assigned from time to time to various instruments… Chung achieved a perfect balance between the realistic and the supernatural aspects of the work…’ Recently, Myung-Whun Chung was announced as one of the nominees for Conductor of the Year, in the 2019 International Opera Awards.

This production features an illustrious cast led by soprano Julia Kleiter as Agathe. She has previously recorded J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (857400102) and St John Passion (857381718) for Naxos. MusicWeb International praised her performance of the Passion: ‘Julia Kleiter has the perfect voice for this kind of music, and sings her arias pretty well…’ A recording of the St Matthew Passion was recently released (857403638).

Bass Günther Groissböck took on the role of Kaspar. He has performed in leading theatres all over the world, playing many important roles like Sarastro (The Magic Flute) at Teatro alla Scala and Wiener Staatsoper, Hunding (Die Walküre) and Fafner (Das Rheingold) at the Paris National Opera, and as Boris Godunov at Teatro Real de Madrid, among others.

Cast:
- Ottokar: Michael Kraus (baritone)
- Kuno / Samiel's voice: Frank van Hove (bass)
- Agathe: Julia Kleiter (soprano)
- Ännchen: Eva Liebau (soprano)
- Kaspar: Günther Groissböck (bass)
- Max: Michael König (tenor)
- A Hermit: Stephen Milling (bass)
- Kilian: Till von Orlowsky (baritone)

Stage director: Matthias Hartmann

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM stereo and DTS 5.1
Language: German
Region code: 0 (worldwide)