of the Viennese Theater an der Wien, Franz Pokorny, requested permission for a production of Feldlager with Jenny Lind. This presented a problem due to the historical rivalry between the Hohenzollern and Habsburg dynasties. The libretto was therefore rewritten, at first by Rellstab, later by Birch-Pfeiffer. In the new version, Vielka, the King became a duke, and Saldorf a General. Whilst the first two acts are similar in plot to Feldlager, the last act is set in the castle of Count Aubitz and has a very different plot line. There is a complex series of disguises, mistaken identities, and attacks on the life of the duke, in one of which Vielka intercepts a bullet and is killed. In her final aria she has a vision of heaven. This version was premiered in Vienna on 18 February 1847. Lind took over the role of Vielka at the fourth performance. Reception Feldlager came halfway between the first and the last two of Meyerbeer's four big five-act grand operas. It was his first attempt in some 30 years to compose a less serious work, or "Singspiel". In it, especially in the first and third acts, it is possible to see the influence of lighter composers, particularly Auber and Flotow. But much of the second act, especially the finale, is pure Meyerbeer of the grand operas. It has even been suggested that the triple march is reminiscent of the gathering of the cantons in William Tell. Meyerbeer had come up with a similar idea years before, when first the Egyptians and then the Crusaders march onto the scene in the finale of Act I of Il crociato in Egitto. The big hits of the opera were Jenny Lind's air with two flutes in the third act, and the finale of the second act, which featured the famous triple march. The work was to be given in Berlin a total of 67 times, the last performance taking place in 1891. After Jenny Lind left, Tuczek reassumed the role, with many other important prima donnas, including Pauline Lucca, following in her footsteps. L'étoile du nord The opera underwent a further transformation in 1854 as L'étoile du nord (q.v.) Recordings Vielka was revived in Berlin in the 1980s, a recording of which revival is available from the Meyerbeer Fan Club. See also Agnes von Hohenstaufen Günther von Schwarzburg Theodor Körner References Notes Sources Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The