About the work
Singspiel ('comic opera') in one act by Heinrich Marschner to a libretto by Friedrich Kind, who later also wrote the libretto for Carl Maria von Weber's 'Der Freischütz'. As Dresden's music director, Marschner himself conducted the premiere on 22 February 1825.
Plot
At her guardian Lorenz's wish, Suschen is to marry the wealthy farmer Barthel so that he can take over his smithy, but she loves the forester Felix instead. Together with Felix, she lures Barthel into illegally felling a tree in the forest. Caught in the act, Barthel escapes punishment only by selling the smithy to Lorenz, clearing the way for Suschen and Felix to marry.
Cultural significance
The premiere flopped: the Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung judged that neither text nor music had pleased, and the work then went unperformed for decades. Only in 1853 did Marschner release a revised version under the title 'Geborgt' at Berlin's Krollsches Theater.