Happy Little Seahorses: Brahms’ Unwritten “Melusine” Opera

Laurie McManus of Shenandoah Conservatory gives a talk on a little-known opera libretto that was given to Johannes Brahms for consideration. While Johannes Brahms excelled in many musical arenas, he never managed to compose an opera, despite a lingering interest and much encouragement from his friends. The most encouraging and persistent of those friends was Hermann Levi, a Jewish conductor whose later advocacy for Richard Wagner has overshadowed his relationship with Brahms in the 1860s and early 70s. The Library of Congress holds extensive correspondence between Brahms and Levi, including a drafted opera libretto that Levi sent to Brahms in a letter from July 1871. The libretto was a joint effort between Levi and a local mutual friend, Anna Ettlinger, a published author and women’s rights advocate. The libretto might be called a “hidden gem” of the Library’s Brahms collection, given that it has never been transcribed or discussed in any substantial form in the Brahms literature—until now!

This event will be held as part of the AMS/Library of Congress Lecture Series.