About the work
Genoveva is Robert Schumann's only completed opera, composed between 1847 and 1849 to a libretto by Robert Reinick, which Schumann himself revised. It draws on the Genoveva plays of Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Hebbel, both based on the medieval legend of Saint Genevieve of Brabant. The premiere took place on 25 June 1850 at the Stadttheater Leipzig, conducted by Schumann himself.
Plot
While Count Palatine Siegfried is away at war, his spurned steward Golo falsely accuses his wife Genoveva of infidelity. Believing the intrigue, Siegfried orders her execution, but she is saved at the last moment and flees into the wilderness. Only when Golo's treachery comes to light does Siegfried recognize his error, and the family is reunited.
Cultural significance
The opera found little success in Schumann's lifetime: after only three performances and lukewarm reviews, he abandoned plans for a second opera. As the composer's sole work for the stage, "Genoveva" is nonetheless occasionally revived and is seen as testimony to Schumann's engagement with musical drama in the German Romantic tradition.