Music
Apart from some references to Beethoven, and, in the Ruthven/Emmy/George scene, a similarity with Don Giovanni/Zerlina/Masetto, Marschner's opera is a notable link between two other operas with supernatural elements, Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz (1821) and Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (1843). Much of the music is reminiscent of Weber: one example is the Aubry/Malwina duet whose tune also appears in the overture, and there is a marked similarity between the Witches' Sabbath and the Wolf's Glen (Freischütz). Marschner, however, made no attempt to introduce any local colour into his score. On the other hand, Emmy's Legend of the Vampire prefigures Senta's aria about the story of the Flying Dutchman, and the identical description, "der bleiche Mann" (the pallid man), appears in both.
Wagner, in fact, conducted Der Vampyr when at Würzburg in 1833. When his brother, who sang the part of Aubry, complained that the aria "Wie ein schöner Frühlingsmorgen" was not effective enough, Wagner replaced Marschner's original agitato ending with a new allegro of his own. Despite being well received at the time, Wagner's allegro is rarely performed.
The opera is normally performed in the 1924 edition by Hans Pfitzner.
Read more about this topic: Der Vampyr
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