- Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung (“Taming of the Shrew”) is a four-act comic opera. The librettist, Joseph Viktor Widmann, based his text on the Shakespeare play.
- The opera was an instant success and performed internationally over the next couple of decades. However, perhaps due to the composer’s early demise, both Goetz and his Shakespearean opera faded into obscurity by the turn of the century.1
- Fun fact – Goetz premiered the overture from the opera in 1873, over a year before the opera as a whole premiered in Mannheim in 1874, so the overture has a long tradition of being performed as a stand-alone piece.2
Sources
- Christopher Fifield, “Goetz, Hermann,” Grove Music Online (2001), Accessed August 18, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000011360.
- Christoph Henzel, “Hermann Goetz (1840-76),” in accompanying booklet, Herman Goetz: Symphony / Violin Concerto / Overture »Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung« performed by the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover conducted by Werner Andreas Albert, CPO 999076, 2000, compact disc.
Cut IDs
41514