Overview
- Carl Maria von Weber died of tuberculosis in London on June 5, 1826, a fact central to bicentenary coverage that also recalls his final trip for the premiere of Oberon.
- Der Freischütz, premiered in 1821, remains his defining work and the focus of concerts and broadcasts marking the 200th anniversary.
- Weber settled in Dresden in 1817 as Royal Kapellmeister, where he produced his major operas and shaped the city’s musical life before illness curtailed his output to Euryanthe and Oberon.
- Coverage and a new Arte documentary emphasize Weber’s role as a stylistic bridge between Viennese Classicism and Romanticism and note his influence on composers such as Berlioz and Wagner.
- Commentators revisit how Richard Wagner’s 1844 eulogy at Weber’s reburial helped nationalize his image, a framing now questioned by scholars who stress Weber’s cosmopolitan influences and local Dresden lore such as the anecdote of his pet capuchin.