Undine (Lortzing)

Undine (Lortzing)

Undine is an opera in four acts by Albert Lortzing. The German libretto was by the composer after Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's story of the same name.

There had been a revival of interest in Fouqué following the writer's death in 1843 to which Lortzing responded. Unlike Lortzing's earlier comedies, this work is a serious one, described as a romantische Zauberoper ('romantic magic opera').

A number of other operas and ballets have been based on Fouqué's version of the myth of the water spirit Ondine, including Tchaikovsky's Undina, E T A Hoffmann's Undine, Cesare Pugni's Ondine and Hans Werner Henze's Undine.