Die Brautwahl (The Bridal Choice) is a "comic-fantastic" opera in three acts and an epilogue by
Ferruccio Busoni. The German libretto, by Busoni himself, is based on a short story by
E. T. A. Hoffmann. Busoni began work on this, his first completed opera, in 1905.
Die Brautwahl was first performed at the Stadttheater in Hamburg on 12 April 1912. It was not a success with audiences but its failure did not discourage the composer's ambition to write for the operatic stage.
The artist Edmund is in love with Albertine but he has many rivals for her hand. These include the "revenant" Manasse, his son Baron Bensch and the bureaucrat Thusman. The "bridal choice" of the title is finally decided by a trial involving three caskets which Edmund wins.
