About the work
Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde is a one-act Liederspiel by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy to a libretto by his friend Karl Klingemann. The twenty-year-old composer wrote it in 1829 during a stay in Wales, extended by bad weather, as a gift for his parents' silver wedding anniversary. The premiere took place on 26 December 1829 at the family's private Berlin residence before around 120 guests, with Mendelssohn himself conducting.
Plot
In a German village, the vagrant Kauz poses as Hermann, the long-missing son of the mayor Schulz, in order to marry the mayor's ward Lisbeth. When the real Hermann returns disguised as a wandering musician and is recognised by Lisbeth, the deception unravels after several mix-ups, and the piece ends with the reunion of the lovers.
Cultural significance
At the premiere, Mendelssohn's sisters Fanny and Rebecka sang the female roles, with family members and friends taking the male parts; the only professional singer was the tenor Eduard Mantius. Mendelssohn deliberately kept the work private — partly in reaction to the failure of his opera The Marriage of Camacho — and had it published only after his death; the first public performance took place in Leipzig on 10 April 1851, followed the same year by Henry F. Chorley's English version, Son and Stranger, in London. The overture and Kauz's aria 'I am a much-travelled man' remain in the repertoire today.