Adelheit von Veltheim

Extract

Schauspiel mit Gesang in four acts by Christian Gottlob Neefe to a libretto by Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Grossmann; Frankfurt, Theater in der Junghof, 23 September 1780.

Achmet, Pasha of Tunis, so loves the captive German Adelheit von Veltheim that he has raised her to the status of his sole wife. Her fiancé Karl von Bingen, also a captive, works in the Pasha’s garden. He is the object of the attentions of Donna Olivia, a hot-headed Italian in the Pasha’s harem who is furious over the preferment shown to Adelheit. Karl, intent on abducting Adelheit, plays along with Olivia’s scheme to escape with him. With a ladder she has provided, he and Adelheit flee to a waiting frigate, but the Pasha’s forces overtake them and the Maltese knights on board. Asked to judge Karl’s behaviour, the knights condemn him to death, but the Pasha forgives the couple and frees them and the rest of his harem....