Lortzing was the most important German composer before Wagner to write his own librettos. He preferred to draw his material from obscure plays or other sources, avoiding the well-trodden path through the classics. Regarding the selection of subject matter, Lortzing once wrote, "I would make no other general rule, except not to grasp at easily accessible classical pieces.... Forgotten sources, like Der Bürgermeister von Saardam...one can make something of them." It was from Der Bürgermeister von Saardam, oder Die zwei Peter by Georg Christian Römer (1766-1829) that Lortzing developed his comic opera Zar und Zimmermann (The Czar and the Carpenter). Römer in turn based his comedy on earlier French sources; it had its premiere in 1822 in Berlin. From Römer, Lortzing took the first two acts almost intact, some sections word for word, but greatly modified Römer's third act, especially the ending, in which the Czar, Lefort, Peter, and Marie sail away from Saardam.

Zar und Zimmermann was Lortzing's second comic opera; the first was Die beiden Schützen, composed in 1835 but produced only in early 1837. The success of his first effort prompted Lortzing to forge ahead with another work based on the youth of Peter the Great. Historical facts inform Lortzing's Zar und Zimmermann. In 1697, Peter the Great (ca. 1672-1725) did indeed leave Russia accompanied by his friend and advisor Lefort for adventures abroad. The two stopped in the Netherlands port town of Zaandam, on the river Zaan, to learn the art of shipbuilding. They stayed in Zaandam only eight days. Peter's wanderlust drew him to Amsterdam, where he signed on with the Dutch East India Company for four months of work.

Zar und Zimmermann premiered on December 22, 1837, at the Stadttheater in Leipzig. Lortzing, a well-rounded musician indeed, sang the role of Peter Ivanov, and Lortzing's mother played the role of Widow Browe. Although Zar und Zimmermann received a warm reception at its premiere, it was its first Berlin performance two years later that proved to be its springboard to great success.

As in earlier German comic operas, dialogue advances the plot between musical numbers. Sometimes dialogue is even interpolated into the numbers themselves, as in Marie's "Die Eifersucht ist eine Plage" (Jealousy is a Plague), from Act I, in which Ivanov gives spoken responses as Marie tries to quiet his jealousy.

Van Bett is a classic buffo bass, derived from Rossini's Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia. One of Lortzing's most amusing strokes comes in Van Bett's "O sancta justitia, ich möchte rasen" (Sacred Justice, I Would Rage), in which the low F natural he fails to produce finally appears in the bassoon. One of the finest ensembles from the opera also involves Van Bett: at the beginning of Act Three, he attempts to rehearse a chorus. The incompetent singers constantly misunderstand their conductor, enter incorrectly, and blame Van Bett. Overall, the integration of the opera's various elements into a continuous whole is remarkable. The party in Act Two is, in Lortzing's words, "high-comedy, stupid," and shows Lortzing at his best, writing for a combination of buffo parts intermingled and alternating with solo segments. Throughout Zar und Zimmermann, Lortzing's musical articulation of his characters is exemplary. The aged moan, while the young speak with optimistic vigor.

© John Palmer, Rovi