1800年前後，德語歌劇作曲家試圖建立一種異於義語歌劇及法語歌劇的風格，然因德語歌劇缺乏原創性的劇本，致使這個理想難以實現。十九世紀初，德語歌劇逐漸循著「浪漫歌劇」類型，發展出屬於自我的特色，並且藉由E.T.A.霍夫曼1816年的《水精》以及韋伯1821年的《魔彈射手》等首演成功的代表作品，開創「德語浪漫歌劇」之歷史。
然而，在這些被歷史認同的作品之前，已誕生了許多其他的浪漫歌劇，這些更為早期的浪漫歌劇，標誌了一段鮮為人知的德語歌劇過渡性發展歷程。本文擬以馮‧索登1806年的「浪漫歌劇」《長生藥酒》劇本手稿為例，並以作曲家霍夫曼的浪漫歌劇美學為視角，探究該劇劇情中的浪漫特質與劇本手稿中的音樂戲劇結構，並分析霍夫曼1808年面對這份劇本手稿時的曲譜策略，嘗試指出早期浪漫歌劇在德語歌劇發展中的特殊面向。

Around 1800, German composers attempted to establish an operatic style that differed from Italian and French operas. However, they could not achieve it, as authentic German librettos hardly existed then. These composers gradually developed their style in early nineteenth century by applying the subject matter of romantic opera to their work, finally creating a history of German opera. Representative works include E.T.A Hoffmann’s Undine (1816) and Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz (1821), both of which enjoyed a successful premiere.
Prior to the representative and more renowned works, a large number of operas contributed to the transition to and making of the German opera history in this era. In this article, I will use Julius von Soden’s The Drink of Immortality – Romantic Opera in Four Acts (1806) as my primary case study. My major source is the manuscript of libretto of this work. I will focus on the romantic essence of the narrative, which will be examined hand in hand with Hoffmann’s romantic opera aesthetic. I will also consider its dramaturgical structure and Hoffmann’s compositional strategy to situate early romantic opera in the context of German opera’s development in the 19th century.