General editor: Jürgen Selk
Due to the lack of much source material, exacerbated by further losses during the Second World War, it is currently not possible to publish Meyerbeer’s “complete” works. The main focus is the stage works of Meyerbeer.
In recent years Meyerbeer research has made huge steps forwards, and the importance of the composer’s historical and operatic role has been reintroduced into our consciousness. At the same time, the way in which his output has been transmitted complicates the research process as the investigation of the source material has uncovered the complicated creative processes, whose course was determined by conceptual changes, such as varying performance demands. Many of the printed scores and piano pieces seem incomplete, unreliable, and unusable. Thus, many of the theaters that would like to perform Meyerbeer’s works face almost insurmountable challenges. A historical-critical edition is therefore urgently necessary. Only then can opera audiences truly discover the “real” Meyerbeer.
Meyerbeer’s compositions will be presented in editions that on the one side will do justice to the claims of modern philology, and on the other side will satisfy the challenges of the performance practice. The release of the edition will manifest Meyerbeer’s musical achievements and will at long last be accessible to historians.
Critical Editions available
I. Stage Works
Le Prophète
Edited by Matthias Brzoska
Les Huguenots
Edited by Oliver Jacob
Margherita d’Anjou
Edited by Paolo A. Rossini and Peter Kaiser
Robert le Diable
Edited by Wolfgang Kühnhold and Peter Kaiser
Semiramide
Edited by Marco Beghelli and Stefano Piana
Vasco de Gama (L’Africaine)
Edited by Jürgen Selk
In preparation
Gott und die Natur
Edited by Peter Kaiser
Le Pardon de Ploërmel / Dinorah