With the possible exception of the choral partsongs and the late works,
sacred and secular, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, Schumann's dra-
matic music constitutes the least explored area of his output. His opera
Genoveva, the only one of the major dramatic compositions to have
acquired something of a critical tradition, is little known and rarely
performed; the first complete recording of the work was made as re-
cently as October 1976. ¹ Likewise, the other dramatic essays of the Dres-
den years have fared poorly in contemporary concert life: only the Over-
ture to Manfred has secured a place in the standard repertory; selections
from the Scenen aus Göthe's Faust (WoO 3) are only infrequently ac-
corded a spot on concert programs.

Conventional wisdom has it that Schumann possessed neither the
temperament nor the talent necessary for a successful career in the the-
atre. A born lyricist with an ill-developed sense for characterization, or
so we are told, Schumann could not but fail as a dramatist. ² In a word,
Schumann's dramatic music has been deemed undramatic. If by "dra-
matic" we mean "stagey," then there is no doubt some truth to the
charge. Critics who take their bearings from Aristotle Poetics might
justifiably complain of too much dianoia ("thought") and far too little
opsis ("spectacle") in Schumann's approach to drama. Successful drama-
tists often have a bit of the trickster, even the charlatan about them
(among musicians, Wagner was exemplary in this regard), while Schu-

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