Weber’s opera featuring the supernatural Samiel and the hunter Max is Der Freischütz.
The German title is commonly translated as The Free-shooter or The Freeshooter. The libretto by Friedrich Kind draws on German folklore about enchanted bullets that can hit their target, but whose final shot is controlled by supernatural forces.
Max wants to win a shooting contest so that he can marry Agathe, the daughter of the hereditary forester Kuno. Max’s rival Kaspar persuades him to obtain magic bullets in the Wolf’s Glen, where the demonic figure Samiel is invoked. The plot therefore mixes village life, romantic feeling and dark supernatural imagery.
Der Freischütz premiered at Berlin’s Schauspielhaus on 18 June 1821. It is often described as a foundational German Romantic opera, especially for its atmospheric orchestration, forest setting and use of supernatural subject matter.