About the work
Eugen d’Albert's „Der Improvisator“ is an opera in three acts to a libretto by Gustav Kastropp. It premiered on 26 February 1902 at the Royal Opera in Berlin.
Plot
In Padua in 1540, under Venetian foreign rule, the Venice-appointed doge Angelo Malepieri comes under growing pressure from the very system of informers and denunciation that sustains his power. On false charges brought by his steward Sesto, a confidant is condemned to death; Malepieri's daughter Silvia helps free the condemned man — the singer and improvising poet Cassio Belloni, the title character — from prison. The action culminates in a carnival with a masked ball, where the political intrigues come to a head.
Cultural significance
With its subject of espionage and arbitrary rule in Venetian-occupied Padua, „Der Improvisator“ is one of the more politically pointed librettos of d’Albert's early period; the opera never secured a lasting place in the repertoire alongside „Tiefland“.