Ein Feldlager in Schlesien - Casting

Casting

There was to be one other problem. The leading soprano role, that of Vielka, was composed for the big soprano "icon" of the period: Jenny Lind, who was already on the threshold of becoming world famous. Meyerbeer had heard her in Paris, been very favorably impressed, and decided to engage her for Berlin. But she was in Stockholm during some of the rehearsals, and Leopoldine Tuczek, the company's regular coloratura, and Lind's understudy as Vielka, had been singing the part. The latter felt entitled to the role; Meyerbeer was overruled by the Intendant of the opera house, Karl Theodor von Küstner, and it was given to Tuczek. Lind accepted the situation gracefully, and, eight days later, on 15 December, made a triumphant Berlin debut. In the meantime, the lu kewarm success of Feldlager was partly blamed on Tuczek, and the opera was withdrawn after five performances.

Lind's success as Normain Berlin was such that she was signed to a new contract, and finally sang Vielka in early January. According to Schultz's biography of Lind, the success was so great that "when it was announced that Jenny would appear a second time in Feldlager, there was such a demand for tickets that the manager raised the price of admission. The opera was repeated over and over. There was never a night that the theater could not have been filled two or three times, and four clerks were kept busy answering letters and filling the request for tickets."

Following the opening at the Berlin Hofoper on 7 December 1844, Ein Feldlager in Schlesien was given in that city fairly regularly until 1891, but it apparently was never considered for export to other cities in its original version. This is probably due to its nature as a work glorifying the Prussian royal family, which made it highly suitable for Berlin audiences, especially on state occasions, but much less so for other European capitals, or even other German cities.