About the work
Das Nachtlager in Granada is a romantic opera in two acts by Conradin Kreutzer. Karl Johann Braun von Braunthal wrote the libretto after Friedrich Kind's 1818 play of the same name. The opera premiered on 13 January 1834 at the Josephstädter Theater in Vienna; a revised version with through-composed recitatives followed in 1837 at the Kärntnertortheater.
Plot
Near Granada, the peasant girl Gabriele and the huntsman Gomez are in love, but her uncle Ambrosio wants her to marry the wealthy Vasco instead. A stranger, himself a hunter, takes up their cause and pleads with the prince regent on their behalf. When Vasco and his accomplice Pedro try to kill the stranger at night in a ruined castle, Gabriele warns him in time — and the stranger reveals himself to be the prince regent. The attackers are seized, and the couple receives his blessing and a dowry.
Cultural significance
The opera became Kreutzer's most successful stage work and, despite changing musical tastes, is said to have held the German stage for roughly half a century. Especially well remembered is the first-act finale with evening bells and alphorns, the chorus 'Schon die Abendglocken klangen'.