Eduard Devrient
Encyclopedia
Eduard Devrient (11 August 18014 October 1877) was a German
baritone
, librettist
, playwright
, actor
, theatre director and theatre reformer and historian.
Devrient came from a theatrical family. His uncle was Ludwig Devrient
and his brother Karl
was the first husband of Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
.
He was born and studied in Berlin
and performed in a number of German opera houses between 1819 and 1834, when he lost his singing voice and turned his attention to writing and acting. From 1844-6 he worked in Dresden
as actor/director, and he directed the Hoftheater in Karlsruhe
from 1852 until his retirement in 1870.
As a singer, he performed in works by Gluck
, Mozart
, Beethoven
and Weber
, among others, and sang in the première of Marschner
's Hans Heiling
(in the title-role; Devrient also wrote its libretto). He also sang in the 1831 Berlin premiere of Der Templer und die Jüdin
(as Bois-Guilbert).
He also took the part of Christ in the 1829 revival by his friend Felix Mendelssohn
of J. S. Bach
's St Matthew Passion, having previously sung the role of Carrasco in Mendelssohn's only publicly performed opera, Die Hochzeit des Camacho
(1827).
He wrote a number of plays and two other opera librettos, Die Kirmes and Der Zigeuner, both set by Wilhelm Taubert
. In Karlsruhe, he initiated a number of theatre reforms and also wrote a number of works on the ideal of a national theatre.
Eduard Devrient died in Karlsruhe. His son Otto Devrient
also worked in the theatre.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, librettist
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, theatre director and theatre reformer and historian.
Devrient came from a theatrical family. His uncle was Ludwig Devrient
Ludwig Devrient
Ludwig Devrient was a German actor, noted for his playing in the works of Shakespeare and Schiller.Devrient, who was born in Berlin, left a commercial career for the stage in 1804. He was a member of a notable theatrical family. His three nephews were actors...
and his brother Karl
Karl August Devrient
Karl August Devrient was a German stage actor best known for performances of Schiller and Shakespeare. He was related to other notable German actors, including:* his uncle Ludwig;* his brothers Philipp Eduard and Gustav Emil;...
was the first husband of Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, born Wilhelmine Schröder , was a German operatic soprano. As a singer she combined a rare quality of tone with dramatic intensity of expression, which was as remarkable on the concert platform as in opera.- Biography :Schröder was born in Hamburg, the daughter of the...
.
He was born and studied in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and performed in a number of German opera houses between 1819 and 1834, when he lost his singing voice and turned his attention to writing and acting. From 1844-6 he worked in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
as actor/director, and he directed the Hoftheater in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
from 1852 until his retirement in 1870.
As a singer, he performed in works by Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
and Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
, among others, and sang in the première of Marschner
Heinrich Marschner
Heinrich August Marschner , was the most important composer of German Romantic opera between Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, and is remembered principally for his operas Hans Heiling , Der Vampyr , and Der Templer und die Jüdin...
's Hans Heiling
Hans Heiling
Hans Heiling is a German Romantic opera in 3 acts with prologue by Heinrich Marschner with a libretto by Eduard Devrient, who also sang the title role at the première which occurred at the Königliche Hofoper , Berlin on 24 May 1833, and went on to become his most successful opera...
(in the title-role; Devrient also wrote its libretto). He also sang in the 1831 Berlin premiere of Der Templer und die Jüdin
Der Templer und die Jüdin
Der Templer und die Jüdin is an opera in three acts by Heinrich Marschner...
(as Bois-Guilbert).
He also took the part of Christ in the 1829 revival by his friend Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
of J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's St Matthew Passion, having previously sung the role of Carrasco in Mendelssohn's only publicly performed opera, Die Hochzeit des Camacho
Die Hochzeit des Camacho
Die Hochzeit des Camacho is a Singspiel in two acts by Felix Mendelssohn, to a libretto probably written largely by Friedrich Voigt, based on an episode in Cervantes's Don Quixote. The opera is listed as Mendelssohn's op. 10...
(1827).
He wrote a number of plays and two other opera librettos, Die Kirmes and Der Zigeuner, both set by Wilhelm Taubert
Wilhelm Taubert
Carl Gottfried Wilhelm Taubert was a German pianist, composer, and conductor.Taubert studied under Ludwig Berger and Bernhard Klein . In 1831 he became assistant conductor and accompanist for Berlin court concerts...
. In Karlsruhe, he initiated a number of theatre reforms and also wrote a number of works on the ideal of a national theatre.
Eduard Devrient died in Karlsruhe. His son Otto Devrient
Otto Devrient
Otto Devrient was a German actor and playwright.Devrient was the son of Philipp Eduard Devrient. He first went on stage in 1856, training in Stuttgart, Berlin and Leipzig...
also worked in the theatre.