Three of the greatest composers of art songs — Schubert, Schumann, and Hugo Wolf — also harbored operatic ambitions. All of them wrote operas and set great store by them, but none has ever gained a foothold in the repertory.
Clara and Robert Schumann
Revisiting Schumann's opera 'Genoveva'
By Richard Dyer [Boston Globe, 1 Apr 05]
Three of the greatest composers of art songs — Schubert, Schumann, and Hugo Wolf — also harbored operatic ambitions. All of them wrote operas and set great store by them, but none has ever gained a foothold in the repertory.
Schumann planned more than a dozen operas, but completed only one, ''Genoveva." It failed at its premiere in 1850, but the score has never ceased to attract the curiosity and admiration of musicians, beginning with Liszt. The overture has enjoyed intermittent life in the concert hall, and there have been at least three recordings of the complete work, the best of which was made by conductor Kurt Masur in 1977.