About the work
Euryanthe is a "grand heroic-romantic opera" in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber, with a libretto by Helmina von Chézy based on a medieval French romance. Weber himself conducted the premiere on 25 October 1823 at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna.
Plot
Count Adolar wagers his lands on the faithfulness of his betrothed Euryanthe. The jealous Eglantine steals a secret concerning the death of Adolar's sister and hands it to Count Lysiart as supposed proof of Euryanthe's infidelity. Only when Eglantine breaks down under the weight of her own deceit is the slander exposed, and the lovers are reunited.
Cultural significance
With Euryanthe, Weber created his only through-composed opera without spoken dialogue, modelled on major Italian and French stage works – an approach Richard Wagner later cited explicitly as a model for his "Lohengrin". Even so, the opera, seen as dramatically confused, disappeared from the stage after about twenty performances.