Eugen d'Albert's operas, although popular and occasionally very successful during his lifetime, have all but disappeared from the repertory. The librettists are generally blamed for the works' weaknesses, for much of d'Albert's music is on par with that of Mascagni and Leoncavallo in its detail, lyric content, and overall structure.

D'Albert's seventh opera, Tiefland, received its premiere on November 13, 1903, at the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague. The text is by Rudolph Lothar and is based on the Catalan drama Terra baixa of 1896, by Angel Guimerá. The first performance was a great success, and within a decade, the work was performed throughout Europe and was staged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1908. It is d'Albert's most popular work. Oddly, it was never given in Italy or Paris and today plays only in German-speaking countries. Tiefland is the most successful opera of the so-called "German Versitic School," which encompasses works in German that tend toward the characteristics associated with Italian verismo operas.

With the violent text of Tiefland, d'Albert created what is his most powerful dramatic work. Elements such as betrayal and murder, as well as characters who come from less-than-glamorous backgrounds, prompted him to employ the language of Italian verismo opera as he never had before. One great difference between Tiefland and its Italian models is the complexity with which d'Albert and Lothar infuse their characters. At first Marta has a dismissive, mocking attitude toward Pedro, whom she considers a mountain yokel. However, she comes to care for him and realizes that he is the only way for her to escape her unhealthy situation in the valley. As Marta's thoughts change, so does her music, which becomes more detailed, intricate and lyrical. Pedro's music, too, progresses as he grows from a naïve country boy to seasoned valley inhabitant, achieving a better understanding of his surroundings. One of the highlights of the score is Pedro's "Wolfserzählung" (Wolf Story). Here, a lyric vocal style combines with verismo aspects of the material surrounding the number to create a musically balanced scene. Sebastiano, who learns nothing and remains the same shallow villain throughout, has music of constant stiffness that does not vary in style. Such attention to detail in the development of three-dimensional characters sets Tiefland apart from most of the Italian verismo operas with which it is compared.

© John Palmer, Rovi