Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

74 THE FOLKUNGS
Grand Opera in Five Acts By Edmund Kretschmer
Libretto By Mosenthal
First Produced Dresden, June, 1875
Chief Characters Princess Maria, Karin, Magnus, Bengt (Duke of Schoonen), Sten Patrik, Lars
Olafsen, Abbot Ansgar
THE action takes place in Sweden, during the thirteenth century. The young Prince Magnus has
been lured away to the lonely convent of Nydal on the mountain tops by Sten Patrik, the tool of
Bengt, Duke of Schoonen, who is conspiring against the throne, hoping, by getting rid of the heir,
to marry the Princess Maria,. his cousin, and ascend the throne after the death of the old King Erik.
The young Prince is now told that he must either prepare for instant death, or take the vows of the
convent to which he has been brought; and, having no means of defending himself against the
ruffian followers of Sten, the royal youth swears upon the latter's sword to forego his rights and
enter the convent. He is therefore received as an orphan youth by the Abbot, who sets him, as the
first test of his good faith, to keep watch outside the convent gates throughout the night during a
snowstorm. During his vigil, however, Magnus is accosted by a stranger, in whom he recognises
Lars Olafsen, the son of his old nurse, Karin, who has come to seek for his lost foster-brother, and
has tracked him to the convent. Lars tells him that King Erik is dead, and that the heir having
disappeared his cousin the Princess Maria is to be crowned in his stead, and also to be wedded to
the conspirator Duke of Schoonen, who will thus gain the ruling power he desires; and when
Magnus hears this, and realises the cruel plot of which he is the victim, and also learns that the
Danes are invading his country, he determines to return with Lars to organise a defending party,
announcing, however, that he will go in disguise, because he considers himself bound by his vow
not to claim his rights, intending to return to the convent when the enemies have been driven forth.
The pair therefore set off at once to join the gallant company already gathered by Lars; and when
Sten Patrik learns next morning from the monks that their new member has vanished, he regards it
as certain that the young Prince has been lost in the snowstorm and has died from exposure. In Act
2 the Princess Maria bids farewell to her own people, on the eve of her coronation; and when she
had been led away Lars appears with a gallant army of followers, whose leader is Prince Magnus,
who still retains his incognito, though he is recognised by the old nurse Karin. In the next act, the
Princess Maria, as the next heir of the Folkungs, is crowned; and on being urged to name as
consort the Duke of Schoonen, whom she dislikes and fears, she is suddenly arrested by the sight
of the new leader of the gallant defending army, in whom she recognises Magnus, whom she has
loved from childhood, and who had always loved her in return. She joyfully announces that the
young Prince has come to claim his own; but Magnus, still regarding himself bound by his oath to
Sten Patrik, denies his identity, to her consternation. The Duke thereupon desires her to have the
seeming impostor imprisoned; but Maria refuses to do so, hoping for an opportunity of proving
her lover's identity. The opportunity soon occurs; for when Magnus is led to his mother's chamber,
he forgets the part he has been playing, and breaks forth into the utterance of happy recollections
of his childhood, which proves beyond doubt to the hidden witnesses of the scene that he is indeed
their long-lost Prince. Maria gladly comes forth to welcome him, and is passionately embraced by
Magnus, who forgets all in the joy of the moment; but, when he realises presently that he has