Franz Schreker (1878-1934, austrian composer) was born in Monaco and grew up during travels across half of Europe and, after the early death of his father, the family moved to Vienna (1888) where in 1892, with the help of a scholarship, Schreker entered the Vienna Conservatory. Starting with violin studies, with Sigismund Bachrich and Arnold Rosé, he moved into the composition class of Robert Fuchs, graduating as a composer in 1900.

Schreker is well known for his operas and wrote the libretto and composed his opera "Der Schatzgräber" after the great success of "Der ferne Klang" (1912) and "Die Gezeichneten" (1918). "Der Schatzgräber", questioning the value of materialism versus love, was to prove particularly powerful in post-War Europe. After the Frankfurt premiere in January 1920, productions popped up in major cities across the continent and Schreker became one of the most performed composers of his generation. While his biggest competition Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal had pursued a similar path in the overtly Wagnerian "Die Frau ohne Schatten" – which opened in Vienna on 10 October 1919 – their ‘last Romantic opera’ lacked Schreker’s allegorical punch. Strauss retreated further into Gemütlichkeit, while Schreker continued to wrestle with the dilemma of being an artist in the modern world.

Synopsis
The opera is set in legendary medieval times. The queen has lost her jewels, and with them her beauty and fertility. The fool knows about Elis, a wandering minstrel whose magic lute points out all hidden treasures to him. The king promises the fool that he will be allowed to choose a wife as a reward, if Ellis can find the jewels.

Els, daughter of the innkeeper, has to marry a brutal but rich young nobleman she despises. She therefore sends him away to find the queen's jewels, and has him murdered by Albi, her servant. The minstrel Elis presents Els with an ornament he has found in the woods. Els falls in love with the young minstrel, but then the body of the dead nobleman is found in the woods; the bailiff, who wants Els for himself, arrests Elis on suspicion of murder.

Elis is to be hanged. Els seeks the advice of the fool, who promises to help. The king's messenger stops the execution at the last moment, so Elis can go in search of the ornament. To avoid being exposed, Els orders Albi to steal the minstrel's magic lute.
During a night of love, Els shows herself to Elis in the full beauty of the jewels. She hands over the jewellery to him, on condition that he will never ask her about the provenance, and will always trust her.

Elis has returned the jewels to the queen. During a celebration, the bailiff intervenes and announces that Albi has confessed to the murder. Els is denounced as the instigator of the murder, and the bailiff demands her immediate execution. But the fool reminds the king of his promise: he chooses Els as his wife and thus saves her from being executed.

One year later, Els is dying. Only the fool has remained with her. He fetches the minstrel, who sings his most beautiful ballad for Els. She dies in the minstrel's arms.

Moderne interpretatie van een beroemde maar vergeten opera uit de vroege 20e eeuw
Dit album bevat een opname van de opera Der Schatzgräber van de Oostenrijkse componist Franz Schreker, uitgevoerd door de Nederlandse Opera en het Nederlands Filharmonisch Orkest.

Schreker is bekend van zijn opera’s, die de situatie aan de het begin van de 20e eeuw weerspiegelen. Schreker werd tijdens zijn leven succesvol door de vele uitvoeringen van zijn opera’s, zoals Der Ferne Klang (1912), Die Gezeichneten (1918) en Der Schatzgräber (1920). Hij was een van de bekendste componisten van zijn tijd. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd zijn werk echter vergeten.

Schreker begon met het componeren van Der Schatzgräber in 1915, midden in de Eerste Wereldoorlog. De opera onderzoekt de waarde van materialisme tegenover de liefde, en sloot goed aan bij de situatie na de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Na de première in Frankfurt in 1920 werd het werk uitgevoerd in grote steden door heel Europa.

Live-Mitschnitt einer gelungenen Aufführung von Franz Schrekers "Die Schatzgräber" mit der Nederlandse Opera.

Im September 2012 wurde am Amsterdamer Musiektheater Franz Schrekers Oper "Die Schatzgräber" neu inszeniert. Die ambitionierte Aufführung unter dem Intendanten Pierre Audi wurde ein großer Erfolg. Dazu schrieb Joachim Lange im Online Musik Magazin:
„Marc Albrecht, diesmal am Pult des Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, lässt die pulsierende, Fin de Siècle-parfümierte Orchester-Klangpracht immer wieder aus der Weite des Amsterdamer Grabens aufsteigen, krönt sie mit funkelnden Bläsern und berauschenden Tutti. Wenn er sie zurücknimmt, nur um dann erneut die pure Opulenz aufleuchten zu lassen, werden die gut ausgesuchten Stimmen (vor allem die frei sopranglitzernde, manchmal deutsch, meist vokaleuropäisch klingende von Manuela Uhl als Els) zum Teil eines Klangfeuerwerkes, dessen Sog zwar ohne narrative Strenge, aber nicht ohne Pathos auskommt.“

Seconda registrazione assoluta di Der Schatzgräber – la prima, su Capriccio, risale al 1989.

Assai noto per la sua produzione operistica, Schreker redasse il libretto e compose la musica di Der Schatzgräber [Il cercatore di tesori] dopo il grande successo di Der ferne Klang [Il suono lontano] (1912) e Die Gezeichneten [I predestinati] (1918). Indagando il valore del materialismo rispetto all’Amore, Der Schatzgräber si rivelerà un’opera particolarmente sentita nell’Europa postbellica. Dopo il debutto a Francoforte, nel gennaio 1920, le rappresentazioni proliferarono nelle maggiori metropoli europee e Schreker divenne uno dei più importanti compositori della sua generazione. Anche se già i colleghi Richard Strauss e Hugo von Hofmannsthal avevano perseguito una strada simile nell’opera scopertamente wagneriana Die Frau ohne Schatten [La donna senz’ombra] – andata in scena a Vienna il 10 ottobre 1919 –, la loro ‘ultima opera romantica’ non aveva la forza allegorica di Schreker. Strauss si ritirò ulteriormente nella Gemütlichkeit [comodità], mentre Schreker continuerà a lottare con il dilemma di essere un artista della modernità.