# Happy Little Seahorses: Brahms’ Unwritten “Melusine” Opera

Laurie McManus of Shenandoah Conservatory discussed an unfamiliar opera libretto that was given to Johannes Brahms for consideration. While Johannes Brahms excelled in many musical arenas, he never managed to compose an opera, despite a lingering interest and encouragement from his friends. The most persistent of those friends was Hermann Levi, a Jewish conductor whose later advocacy for Richard Wagner overshadowed his relationship with Brahms in the 1860s and early 70s. The Library of Congress holds extensive correspondence between Brahms and Levi, including a drafted opera libretto that Levi sent to Brahms in a letter from July 1871. The libretto was a joint effort between Levi and a local mutual friend, Anna Ettlinger, an author and women’s rights advocate. The libretto might be called a “hidden gem” of the Library’s Brahms collection, given that it has never been transcribed or discussed in any substantial form until now. Presented in association with the American Musicological Society.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2025
- Runtime: 1 h 4 min
- By: Sommerfeld, Paul
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/video-10630/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/video-10630?play=1)