Though I guess I don't have actual proof or anything, I am personally sure that someone involved in the libretto (Méry/du Locle/Verdi) knew the story of Katte, as all the changes made from Schiller in Posa's personality (and there are a lot!) are structured to make Posa even more relatable and heroic and sweet and totally in love with self-sacrificing for Carlo. (Selenak pointed out somewhere above, or possibly on the last post, that 19thC vs. 18thC sensibilities were just different and everyone thought Posa was awesome in both incarnations, but it's also true that everything (and that line, and another line I'll talk about when discussing the clip) sort of points to a very Katte-like interpretation. And she also pointed out Fontane, who wrote his Katte-centric take -- including " 'Er gehe mit Freuden in den Tod', so sagte er" -- a couple of years before the opera was produced (although that line was in the very first version, I believe, so it may not have been influenced by Fontane in particular).)
no subject
totally in love withself-sacrificing for Carlo. (Selenak pointed out somewhere above, or possibly on the last post, that 19thC vs. 18thC sensibilities were just different and everyone thought Posa was awesome in both incarnations, but it's also true that everything (and that line, and another line I'll talk about when discussing the clip) sort of points to a very Katte-like interpretation. And she also pointed out Fontane, who wrote his Katte-centric take -- including " 'Er gehe mit Freuden in den Tod', so sagte er" -- a couple of years before the opera was produced (although that line was in the very first version, I believe, so it may not have been influenced by Fontane in particular).)