About the work
Silvana is a romantic opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber, with a libretto by Franz Carl Hiemer. It is a thorough reworking of his earlier, unsuccessful youthful opera "Das Waldmädchen", composed when he was fourteen, and premiered on 16 September 1810 at the Nationaltheater Frankfurt.
Plot
The knight Rudolf meets the mute forest girl Silvana in the woods and falls in love with her, even though he is already promised to another woman. Only after many complications does it emerge that Silvana is the long-lost sister of his betrothed – who herself loves someone else – and that Silvana has merely been feigning her muteness all along.
Cultural significance
With a title character who does not sing or speak a single line until the very end, Silvana is one of the most unusual female roles in early German romantic opera; the premiere was a success and, unlike his discarded first opera, brought the young Weber his first wider recognition.