diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-08 21:52:59 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-08 21:52:59 -0800 |
| commit | 2cfd40767d0c278a4b6768dffb4b8d27a70566aa (patch) | |
| tree | 4047304d0a1bc7af80080aa7061eba061925ba9b /40540-0.txt | |
| parent | 7b7d4b1ad9be552da712fe768fb329cbe9b685fd (diff) | |
Diffstat (limited to '40540-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 40540-0.txt | 34025 |
1 files changed, 34025 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/40540-0.txt b/40540-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..085a14a --- /dev/null +++ b/40540-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,34025 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40540 *** + +[Transcriber's Note: _The Complete Opera Book_ has been an important +opera reference work since its first publication in 1919. It has been +revised and updated a number of times, most famously by George +Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, and most recently in 1997. + +This e-book was prepared from the 1919 first edition. Gustav Kobbé was +killed in a sailing accident in 1918 and apparently did not have the +opportunity to make corrections before the book was published. There +are consequently numerous typographical, spelling, and formatting +errors and inconsistencies in the first edition, the most obvious of +which have been corrected without note in this e-book. Ambiguous +errors are noted in a [Transcriber's Note] where they appear. The +author's deliberate interchanges of foreign words or names and their +equivalents in English or other languages have been preserved as they +appear in the original. Misplaced Table of Contents and index entries +have been moved to their proper places. + +Photograph illustrations have been moved so as not to break up the +flow of the text. + +Italic text is marked with _underscores_, and bold text with =equal +signs=.] + + + + +The Complete Opera Book + +The Stories of the Operas, together with 400 of the Leading Airs and +Motives in Musical Notation + + +By + +Gustav Kobbé + +Author of "Wagner's Music-Dramas Analysed," "All-of-a-Sudden Carmen," +etc. + + +_Illustrated with One Hundred Portraits in Costume and Scenes from +Opera_ + + + G.P. Putnam's Sons + New York and London + =The Knickerbocker Press= + 1919 + + COPYRIGHT, 1919 + BY + GUSTAV KOBBÉ + +=The Knickerbocker Press, New York= + + + + +_By Gustav Kobbé_ + + All-of-a-Sudden Carmen + The Complete Opera Book + + + + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Mary Garden as Sapho] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Pirie MacDonald + +GUSTAV KOBBÉ] + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Through the thoughtfulness of William J. Henderson I was asked to +supply material for _The Complete Opera Book_, which was missing at +the time of Mr. Kobbé's death. + +In performing my share of the work it has been my endeavor to confine +myself to facts, rather than to intrude with personal opinions upon a +work which should stand as a monument to Mr. Kobbé's musical knowledge +and convictions. + +KATHARINE WRIGHT. + +NEW YORK, 1919. + + + + +Contents + + + PAGE + + Schools of Opera 1 + + Opera before Gluck 4 + + Christoph Willibald Gluck, 1714-1787 8 + Orpheus and Eurydice + Armide + Iphigenia in Tauris + + Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791 21 + Marriage of Figaro + Don Giovanni + Magic Flute + + Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827 54 + Fidelio + + Carl Maria von Weber, 1786-1826 63 + Freischütz + Euryanthe + Oberon + + Why Some Operas are rarely given 77 + + From Weber to Wagner 79 + + Richard Wagner, 1813-1883 81 + Rienzi + Flying Dutchman + Tannhäuser + Lohengrin + Ring of the Nibelung + Rheingold--Walküre--Siegfried--Götterdämmerung + Tristan and Isolde + Meistersinger + Parsifal + + Gioachino Antonio Rossini, 1792-1868 293 + Barber of Seville + Semiramide + William Tell + + Vincenzo Bellini, 1802-1835 318 + Sonnambula + Norma + Puritani + + Gaetano Donizetti, 1797-1848 334 + Elisire d'Amore + Lucrezia Borgia + Lucia di Lammermoor + Daughter of the Regiment + Favorita + Linda di Chamounix + Don Pasquale + + Giuseppe Verdi, 1813-1901 376 + Ernani + Rigoletto + Trovatore + Traviata + Ballo in Maschera + + Before and After "Ballo in Maschera" 433 + Luisa Miller + Sicilian Vespers + Force of Destiny + Don Carlos + Aïda + Othello + Falstaff + + Arrigo Boïto, 1842- 474 + Mephistopheles + Nero + + Amilcare Ponchielli, 1834-1886 481 + Gioconda + + French Opera 493 + + Méhul to Meyerbeer 495 + + Étienne Nicholas Méhul, 1763-1817 495 + Joseph + + François Adrien Boieldieu, 1775-1834 495 + Caliph of Bagdad + Jean de Paris + Dame Blanche + + Daniel François Esprit Auber, 1782-1871 496 + Masaniello + Fra Diavolo + + Louis J.F. Hérold, 1791-1833 497 + Zampa + + Adolphe Charles Adam, 1802-1856 497 + Postilion of Longumeau + + Jacques François Fromental Élie Halévy, 1799-1862 498 + Juive + + Giacomo Meyerbeer, 1791-1864 499 + Robert le Diable + Huguenots + Prophet + L'Africaine + Star of the North + Dinorah + + Hector Berlioz, 1803-1869 535 + Benvenuto Cellini + Beatrice and Benedict + Trojans + Damnation of Faust + + Friedrich von Flotow, 1812-1883 546 + Martha + + Charles François Gounod, 1818-1893 561 + Faust + Romeo and Juliet + + Ambroise Thomas, 1811-1896 580 + Mignon + Hamlet + + Georges Bizet 586 + Carmen + Pearl Fishers + Djamileh + + Italian Opera Since Verdi 607 + + Pietro Mascagni, 1863- 610 + Cavalleria Rusticana + Maschere + Friend Fritz + Iris + Lodoletta + Isabeau + + Ruggiero Leoncavallo, 1858- 627 + Pagliacci + + Giacomo Puccini, 1858- 638 + Villi + Manon Lescaut + Bohème + Tosca + Madam Butterfly + Girl of the Golden West + Rondine + Sister Angelica + Tabarro + Gianni Schicchi + + Riccardo Zandonai 680 + Francesca da Rimini + + Franco Leoni, 1864- 686 + L'Oracolo + Rip Van Winkle + Raggio di Luna + Ib and Little Christina + + Italo Montemezzi, 1875- 690 + Love of Three Kings + Giovanni Gallurese + Hélléra + + Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, 1876- 698 + Jewels of the Madonna + Donne Curiose + Secret of Suzanne + Doctor Cupid + + Umberto Giordano, 1867- 707 + Madame Sans-Gêne + André Chénier + Fedora + Siberia + + Modern Italian Opera 715 + + Luigi Mancinelli 715 + Ero e Leandro + + Riccardo Zandonai 716 + Conchita + + Alberto Franchetti 717 + Cristoforo Colombo + + Luigi and Federico Ricci 718 + Crispino e la Comare + + Alfred Catalani 719 + Loreley + + Umberto Giordano 720 + Fedora + + Alberto Franchetti 721 + Germania + + Modern French Opera 723 + + Jacques Offenbach 723 + Tales of Hoffmann + + Delibes 724 + Lakmé + + Saint-Saëns 725 + Samson et Dalila + + Lalo 727 + Roi d'Ys + + Massenet 727 + Grisélidis + Thaïs + Manon + Le Cid + Don Quichotte + Cinderella + Navarraise + Jongleur de Nôtre Dame + Werther + Hérodiade + Sapho + Cléopâtre + + Gustave Charpentier 750 + Louise + + Reyer 752 + Salammbô + + Debussy 752 + Pelléas and Mélisande + + Pierre Louÿs 756 + Aphrodite + + Alfred Bruneau 758 + Attack on the Mill + + Paul Dukas 759 + Ariadne and Blue-Beard + + Henri Février 761 + Monna Vanna + Gismonda + + Henri Rabaud 763 + Marouf + + Sylvio Lazzari 764 + Grasshopper + + Xavier Leroux 765 + Queen Fiammette + Wayfarer + + Raoul Gunsbourg 767 + Old Eagle + + Modern German and Bohemian Opera 769 + St. Elizabeth + + Peter Cornelius 770 + Barber of Bagdad + + Herman Goetz 772 + Taming of the Shrew + + Karl Goldmark 773 + Queen of Sheba + Cricket on the Hearth + + Engelbert Humperdinck 776 + Königskinder + Hänsel and Gretel + + Brüll 779 + Golden Cross + + Blech 781 + Sealed In + + Viktor E. Nessler 784 + Trumpeter of Säkkingen + + Wilhelm Kienzl 787 + Evangelist + Kuhreigen + + Ludwig Thuille 791 + Lobetanz + + Hugo Wolf 792 + Magistrate + + Richard Strauss, 1864- 796 + Fire Famine + Guntram + Salome + Elektra + Rosenkavalier + Ariadne on Naxos + + Friedrich Smetana 815 + Bartered Bride + + Russian Opera 818 + + Michael Ivanovich Glinka 818 + Russlan and Ludmilla + + Borodin 819 + Prince Igor + + Moussorgsky 822 + Boris Godounoff + + Peter Ilitsch Tschaikowsky 825 + Eugen Onegin + Pique-Dame + + Rimsky-Korsakoff 828 + Coq d'Or + + Ignace Jan Paderewski 830 + Manru + + American Opera 832 + + Frederick Shepherd Converse 832 + Sacrifice + Pipe of Desire + + Charles Wakefield Cadman 834 + Shanewis + + John Adams Hugo 834 + Temple Dancer + + Joseph Breil 836 + Legend + + Victor Herbert 837 + Natomah + + Horatio Parker 840 + Mona + + Walter Damrosch 841 + Cyrano + + Reginald de Koven 843 + Canterbury Pilgrims + + Spanish Opera 849 + + Enrique Granados, 1867-1916 849 + Goyescas + + Index 851 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + Mary Garden as Sapho _Frontispiece_ + + Louise Homer as Orpheus in "Orpheus and Eurydice" 10 + + Hempel (_Susanna_), Matzenauer (_The Countess_), and + Farrar (_Cherubino_) in "Le Nozze di Figaro" 26 + + Scotti as _Don Giovanni_ 34 + + Sembrich as _Zerlina_ in "Don Giovanni" 35 + + Scotti as _Don Giovanni_ 42 + + Alten and Goritz as _Papagena_ and _Papageno_ in "The + Magic Flute" 43 + + Matzenauer as _Fidelio_ 56 + + Farrar as _Elizabeth_ in "Tannhäuser" 108 + + "Tannhäuser," Finale, Act II. _Tannhäuser_ (Maclennan), + _Elizabeth_ (Fornia), _Wolfram_ (Dean), _The + Landgrave_ (Cranston) 109 + + Sembach as _Lohengrin_ 122 + + Schumann-Heink as _Ortrud_ in "Lohengrin" 123 + + Emma Eames as _Elsa_ in "Lohengrin" 128 + + Louise Homer as _Fricka_ in "The Ring of the Nibelung" 129 + + Lilli Lehmann as _Brünnhilde_ in "Die Walküre" 166 + + "The Valkyr" Act I. _Hunding_ (Parker), _Sieglinde_ + (Rennyson), and _Siegmund_ (Maclennan) 167 + + Fremstad as _Brünnhilde_ in "Die Walküre" 172 + + Fremstad as _Sieglinde_ in "Die Walküre" 173 + + Weil as _Wotan_ in "Die Walküre" 178 + + "Die Walküre" Act III. _Brünnhilde_ (Margaret + Crawford) 179 + + Édouard de Reszke as _Hagen_ in "Götterdämmerung" 210 + + Jean de Reszke as _Siegfried_ in "Götterdämmerung" 211 + + Nordica as _Isolde_ 228 + + Lilli Lehmann as _Isolde_ 236 + + Jean de Reszke as _Tristan_ 237 + + Gadski as _Isolde_ 242 + + Ternina as _Isolde_ 243 + + Emil Fischer as _Hans Sachs_ in "Die Meistersinger" 248 + + Weil and Goritz as _Hans Sachs_ and _Beckmesser_ in "Die + Meistersinger" 249 + + The Grail-Bearer 272 + + Winckelmann and Materna as _Parsifal_ and _Kundry_ 273 + + Scaria as _Gurnemanz_ 273 + + Sammarco as _Figaro_ in "The Barber of Seville" 298 + + Galli-Curci as _Rosina_ in "The Barber of Seville" 302 + + Sembrich as _Rosina_ in "The Barber of Seville" 303 + + Hempel (_Adina_) and Caruso (_Nemorino_) in "L'Elisir + d'Amore" 336 + + Caruso as _Edgardo_ in "Lucia di Lammermoor" 348 + + Galli-Curci as _Lucia_ in "Lucia di Lammermoor" 349 + + Galli-Curci as _Gilda_ in "Rigoletto" 392 + + Caruso as the Duke in "Rigoletto" 393 + + The Quartet in "Rigoletto." _The Duke_ (Sheehan), + _Maddalena_ (Albright), _Gilda_ (Easton), _Rigoletto_ + (Goff) 400 + + Riccardo Martin as _Manrico_ in "Il Trovatore" 401 + + Schumann-Heink as _Azucena_ in "Il Trovatore" 410 + + Galli-Curci as _Violetta_ in "La Traviata" 411 + + Farrar as _Violetta_ in "La Traviata" 420 + + Scotti as _Germont_ in "La Traviata" 421 + + Emma Eames as _Aïda_ 442 + + Saléza as _Rhadames_ in "Aïda" 443 + + Louise Homer as _Amneris_ in "Aïda" 448 + + Rosina Galli in the Ballet of "Aïda" 449 + + Alda as _Desdemona_ in "Otello" 460 + + Amato as _Barnaba_ in "La Gioconda" 461 + + Caruso as _Enzo_ in "La Gioconda" 488 + + Louise Homer as _Laura_ in "La Gioconda" 489 + + Plançon as _Saint Bris_ in "The Huguenots" 508 + + Jean de Reszke as _Raoul_ in "The Huguenots" 509 + + Ober and De Luca; Caruso and Hempel in "Martha" 548 + + Plançon as _Méphistophélès_ in "Faust" 549 + + Galli-Curci as _Juliette_ in "Roméo et Juliette" 578 + + Calvé as _Carmen_ with Sparkes as _Frasquita_, and Braslau + as _Mercedes_ 579 + + Caruso as _Don José_ in "Carmen" 590 + + Caruso as _Don José_ in "Carmen" 591 + + Calvé as _Carmen_ 594 + + Amato as _Escamillo_ in "Carmen" 595 + + Gadski as _Santuzza_ in "Cavalleria Rusticana" 614 + + Bori as _Iris_ 615 + + Caruso as _Canio_ in "I Pagliacci" 630 + + Farrar as _Nedda_ in "I Pagliacci" 631 + + Farrar as _Mimi_ in "La Bohème" 644 + + Café Momus Scene, "La Bohème." Act II. _Mimi_ + (Rennyson), _Musette_ (Joel), _Rudolph_ (Sheehan) 645 + + Cavalieri as _Tosca_ 656 + + Scotti as _Scarpia_ 657 + + Emma Eames as _Tosca_ 660 + + Caruso as _Mario_ in "Tosca" 661 + + Farrar as _Tosca_ 664 + + "Madama Butterfly." Act I. (Francis Maclennan, + Renée Vivienne, and Thomas Richards) 665 + + Farrar as _Cio-Cio-San_ in "Madama Butterfly" 668 + + Destinn as _Minnie_, Caruso as _Johnson_, and Amato as + _Jack Rance_ in "The Girl of the Golden West" 669 + + Alda as _Francesca_, and Martinelli as _Paolo_ in "Francesca + da Rimini" 682 + + Bori and Ferrari-Fontana in "The Love of Three + Kings" 683 + + Farrar as Catherine in "Mme. Sans-Gêne" 710 + + Galli-Curci as _Lakmé_ 711 + + Caruso as _Samson_ in "Samson and Dalila" 726 + + Mary Garden as _Grisélidis_ 727 + + Mary Garden as _Thaïs_ 730 + + Farrar and Amato as _Thaïs_ and _Athanaël_ 731 + + Farrar as _Thaïs_ 734 + + Farrar and Amato as _Thaïs_ and _Athanaël_ 735 + + Caruso as _Des Grieux_ in "Manon" 738 + + Mary Garden in "Le Jongleur de Nôtre Dame" 739 + + Mary Garden as _Louise_ 750 + + Lucienne Bréval as _Salammbô_ 751 + + Mary Garden as _Mélisande_ in "Pelléas and Mélisande" 754 + + Farrar as the _Goose Girl_ in "Königskinder" 776 + + Van Dyck and Mattfeld as _Hänsel_ and _Gretel_ 777 + + Mary Garden as _Salome_ 802 + + Hempel as the _Princess_ and Ober as _Octavian_ in "Der + Rosenkavalier" 803 + + Scene from the Ballet in "Prince Igor" (with Rosina + Galli) 820 + + Anna Case as _Feodor_, Didur as _Boris_, and Sparkes as + _Xenia_ in "Boris Godounoff" 821 + + + + +The Complete Opera Book + + + + +Schools of Opera + + +There are three great schools of opera,--Italian, French, and German. +None other has developed sufficiently to require comment in this brief +chapter. + +Of the three standard schools, the Italian is the most frankly +melodious. When at its best, Italian vocal melody ravishes the senses. +When not at its best, it merely tickles the ear and offends common +sense. "Aïda" was a turning point in Italian music. Before Verdi +composed "Aïda," Italian opera, despite its many beauties, was largely +a thing of temperament, inspirationally, but often also carelessly set +forth. Now, Italian opera composers no longer accept any libretto +thrust at them. They think out their scores more carefully; they +produce works in which due attention is paid to both vocal and +orchestral effect. The older composers still represented in the +repertoire are Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi. The last-named, +however, also reaches well over into the modern school of Italian +opera, whose foremost living exponent is Puccini. + +Although Rameau (1683-1764), whose "Castor and Pollux" held the stage +until supplanted by Gluck's works, was a native of France, French +opera had for its founder the Italian, Lully; and one of its chief +exponents was the German, Meyerbeer. Two foreigners, therefore, have +had a large share in developing the school. It boasts, however, many +distinguished natives--Halévy, Auber, Gounod, Bizet, Massenet. + +In the French school of opera the instrumental support of the voice is +far richer and the combination of vocal and instrumental effect more +discriminating than in the old school of Italian opera. A first cousin +of Italian opera, the French, nevertheless, is more carefully thought +out, sometimes even too calculated; but, in general, less florid, and +never indifferent to the librettist and the significance of the lines +he has written and the situations he has evoked. Massenet is, in the +truest sense, the most recent representative of the school of +Meyerbeer and Gounod, for Bizet's "Carmen" is unique, and Débussy's +"Pelléas et Mélisande" a wholly separate manifestation of French art +for the lyric stage. + +The German school of opera is distinguished by a seriousness of +purpose that discards all effort at vocal display for itself alone, +and strives, in a score, well-balanced as between voice and orchestra, +to express more forcibly than could the spoken work, the drama that +has been set to music. + +An opera house like the Metropolitan, which practically has three +companies, presents Italian, French, and German operas in the language +in which they were written, or at least usually does so. Any speaker +before an English-speaking audience can always elicit prolonged +applause by maintaining that in English-speaking countries opera +should be sung in English. But, in point of fact, and even +disregarding the atrocities that masquerade as translations of opera +into English, opera should be sung in the language in which it is +written. For language unconsciously affects, I might even say +determines, the structure of the melody. + +Far more important than language, however, is it that opera be sung by +great artists. For these assimilate music and give it forth in all +its essence of truth and beauty. Were great artists to sing opera in +Choctaw, it would still be welcome as compared with opera rendered by +inferior interpreters, no matter in what language. + + + + +Opera Before Gluck + + +Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice" (Orpheus and Eurydice), produced in 1762, +is the oldest opera in the repertoire of the modern opera house. But +when you are told that the Grand Opéra, Paris, was founded by Lully, +an Italian composer, in 1672; that Italians were writing operas nearly +a century earlier; that a German, Reinhard Keiser (1679-1739), is +known to have composed at least 116 operas; and that another German, +Johann Adolph Hasse, composed among his operas, numbering at least a +hundred, one entitled "Artaxerxes," two airs from which were sung by +Carlo Broschi every evening for ten years to soothe King Philip V. of +Spain;--you will realize that opera existed, and even flourished +before Gluck produced his "Orpheus and Eurydice." + +Opera originated in Florence toward the close of the sixteenth +century. A band of composers, enthusiastic, intellectual, aimed at +reproducing the musical declamation which they believed to have been +characteristic of the representation of Greek tragedy. Their scores +were not melodious, but composed in a style of declamatory recitative +highly dramatic for its day. What usually is classed as the first +opera, Jacopo Peri's "Dafne," was privately performed in the Palazzo +Corsi, Florence, in 1597. So great was its success that Peri was +commissioned, in 1600, to write a similar work for the festivities +incidental to the marriage of Henry IV. of France with Maria de +Medici, and composed "Euridice," said to have been the first opera +ever produced in public. + +The new art form received great stimulus from Claudio Monteverdi, the +Duke of Mantua's director of music, who composed "Arianna" (Ariadne) +in honor of the marriage of Francesco Gonzaga with Margherita, Infanta +of Savoy. The scene in which _Ariadne_ bewails her desertion by her +lover was so dramatically written (from the standpoint of the day, of +course) that it produced a sensation. The permanency of opera was +assured, when Monteverdi brought out, with even greater success, his +opera "Orfeo," which showed a further advance in dramatic expression, +as well as in the treatment of the instrumental score. This composer +invented the tremolo for strings--marvellous then, commonplace now, +and even reprehensible, unless employed with great skill. + +Monteverdi's scores contained, besides recitative, suggestions of +melody. The Venetian composer, Cavalli, introduced melody more +conspicuously into the vocal score in order to relieve the monotonous +effect of a continuous recitative, that was interrupted only by brief +melodious phrases. In his airs for voice he foreshadowed the aria +form, which was destined to be freely developed by Alessandro +Scarlatti (1659-1725). Scarlatti was the first to introduce into an +opera score the _ritornello_--the instrumental introduction, +interlude, or postlude to a composition for voice. Indeed, Scarlatti +is regarded as the founder of what we call Italian opera, the chief +characteristic of which is melody for the voice with a comparatively +simple accompaniment. + +By developing vocal melody to a point at which it ceased to be +dramatically expressive, but degenerated into mere voice pyrotechnics, +composers who followed Scarlatti laid themselves open to the charge of +being too subservient to the singers, and of sacrificing dramatic +truth and depth of expression to the vanity of those upon the stage. +Opera became too much a series of show-pieces for its interpreters. +The first practical and effective protest against this came from +Lully, who already has been mentioned. He banished all meaningless +embellishment from his scores. But in the many years that intervened +between Lully's career and Gluck's, the abuse set in again. Then +Gluck, from copying the florid Italian style of operatic composition +early in his career, changed his entire method as late as 1762, when +he was nearly fifty years old, and produced "Orfeo ed Euridice." From +that time on he became the champion for the restoration of opera to +its proper function as a well-balanced score, in which the voice, +while pre-eminent, does not "run away with the whole show." + +Indeed, throughout the history of opera, there have been recurring +periods, when it has become necessary for composers with the true +interest of the lyric stage at heart, to restore the proper balance +between the creator of a work and its interpreters, in other words to +prevent opera from degenerating from a musical drama of truly dramatic +significance to a mere framework for the display of vocal +pyrotechnics. Such a reformer was Wagner. Verdi, born the same year as +Wagner (1813), but outliving him nearly twenty years, exemplified both +the faults and virtues of opera. In his earlier works, many of which +have completely disappeared from the stage, he catered almost entirely +to his singers. But in "Aïda" he produced a masterpiece full of melody +which, while offering every opportunity for beautiful singing, never +degenerates into mere vocal display. What is here said of Verdi could +have been said of Gluck. His earlier operas were in the florid style. +Not until he composed "Orpheus and Eurydice" did he approach opera +from the point of view of a reformer. "Orpheus" was his "Aïda." + +Regarding opera Gluck wrote that "the true mission of music is to +second the poetry, by strengthening the expression of the sentiments +and increasing the interest of the situations, without interrupting +and weakening the action by superfluous ornaments in order to tickle +the ear and display the agility of fine voices." + +These words might have been written by Richard Wagner, they express so +well what he accomplished in the century following that in which Gluck +lived. They might also have been penned by Verdi, had he chosen to +write an introduction to his "Aïda," "Otello," or "Falstaff"; and they +are followed by every successful composer of grand opera +today--Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Massenet, Strauss. + +In fact, however much the public may be carried away temporarily by +astonishing vocal display introduced without reason save to be +astonishing, the fate of every work for the lyric stage eventually has +been decided on the principle enunciated above. Without being aware of +it, the public has applied it. For no matter how sensationally popular +a work may have been at any time, it has not survived unless, +consciously or unconsciously, the composer has been guided by the +cardinal principle of true dramatic expression. + +Finally, I must not be misunderstood as condemning, at wholesale, +vocal numbers in opera that require extraordinary technique. Scenes in +opera frequently offer legitimate occasion for brilliant vocal +display. Witness the arias of the _Queen of the Night_ in "The Magic +Flute," "Una voce poco fa" in "The Barber of Seville," "Ah! non +giunge" in "Sonnambula," the mad scene in "Lucia," "Caro nome" in +"Rigoletto," the "Jewel Song" in "Faust," and even _Brünnhilde's_ +valkyr shout in "Die Walküre"--works for the lyric stage that have +escorted thousands of operatic scores to the grave, with Gluck's +gospel on the true mission of opera for a funeral service. + + + + +Christoph Willibald Gluck + +(1714-1787) + + +Gluck is the earliest opera composer represented in the repertoire of +the modern opera house. In this country three of his works survive. +These are, in the order of their production, "Orfeo ed Euridice" +(Orpheus and Eurydice), "Armide," and "Iphigénie en Tauride" +(Iphigenia in Tauris). "Orpheus and Eurydice," produced in 1762, is +the oldest work of its kind on the stage. It is the great-great-grandfather +of operas. + +Its composer was a musical reformer and "Orpheus" was the first +product of his musical reform. He had been a composer of operas in the +florid vocal style, which sacrificed the dramatic verities to the +whims, fancies, and ambitions of the singers, who sought only to show +off their voices. Gluck began, with his "Orpheus," to pay due regard +to true dramatic expression. His great merit is that he accomplished +this without ignoring the beauty and importance of the voice, but by +striking a correct balance between the vocal and instrumental portions +of the score. + +Simple as his operas appear to us today, they aroused a strife +comparable only with that which convulsed musical circles during the +progress of Wagner's career. The opposition to his reforms reached its +height in Paris, whither he went in 1772. His opponents invited Nicola +Piccini, at that time famous as a composer of operas in the florid +Italian style, to compete with him. So fierce was the war between +Gluckists and Piccinists, that duels were fought and lives sacrificed +over the respective merits of the two composers. Finally each produced +an opera on the subject of "Iphigenia in Tauris." Gluck's triumphed, +Piccini's failed. + +Completely victorious, Gluck retired to Vienna, where he died, +November 25, 1787. + + +ORFEO ED EURIDICE + +ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE + + Opera in three acts. Music by Christoph Willibald Gluck; + book by Raniero di Calzabigi. Productions and revivals. + Vienna, October 5, 1762; Paris, as "Orphée et Eurydice," + 1774; London, Covent Garden, June 26, 1860; New York, + Metropolitan Opera House, 1885 (in German); Academy of + Music, American Opera Company, in English, under Theodore + Thomas, January 8, 1886, with Helene Hastreiter, Emma Juch, + and Minnie Dilthey; Metropolitan Opera House, 1910 (with + Homer, Gadski, and Alma Gluck). + + CHARACTERS + + ORPHEUS _Contralto_ + EURYDICE _Soprano_ + AMOR, God of Love _Soprano_ + A HAPPY SHADE _Soprano_ + + Shepherds and Shepherdesses, Furies and Demons, Heroes and + Heroines in Hades. + + _Time_--Antiquity. + + _Place_--Greece and the Nether Regions. + +Following a brief and solemn prelude, the curtain rises on Act I, +showing a grotto with the tomb of _Eurydice_. The beautiful bride of +_Orpheus_ has died. Her husband and friends are mourning at her tomb. +During an affecting aria and chorus ("Thou whom I loved") funeral +honours are paid to the dead bride. A second orchestra, behind the +scenes, echoes, with charming effect, the distracted husband's +evocations to his bride and the mournful measures of the chorus, +until, in answer to the piercing cries of _Orpheus_ and the +exclamatory recitative, "Gods, cruel gods," _Amor_ appears. He tells +the bereaved husband that Zeus has taken pity on him. He shall have +permission to go down into Hades and endeavour to propitiate Pluto and +his minions solely through the power of his music. But, should he +rescue _Eurydice_, he must on no account look back at her until he has +crossed the Styx. + +Upon that condition, so difficult to fulfil, because of the love of +_Orpheus_ for his bride, turns the whole story. For should he, in +answer to her pleading, look back, or explain to her why he cannot do +so, she will immediately die. But _Orpheus_, confident in his power of +song and in his ability to stand the test imposed by Zeus and bring +his beloved _Eurydice_ back to earth, receives the message with great +joy. + +"Fulfil with joy the will of the gods," sings _Amor_, and _Orpheus_, +having implored the aid of the deities, departs for the Nether World. + +[Illustration: Copyright Photo by Dupont + +Louise Homer as Orpheus in "Orpheus and Eurydice"] + +Act I. Entrance to Hades. When _Orpheus_ appears, he is greeted with +threats by the _Furies_. The scene, beginning with the chorus, "Who is +this mortal?" is still considered a masterpiece of dramatic music. The +_Furies_ call upon Cerberus, the triple-headed dog monster that guards +the entrance to the Nether World, to tear in pieces the mortal who so +daringly approaches. The bark of the monster is reproduced in the +score. This effect, however, while interesting, is but a minor +incident. What lifts the scene to its thrilling climax is the +infuriated "No!" which is hurled at _Orpheus_ by the dwellers at the +entrance to Hades, when, having recourse to song, he tells of his love +for _Eurydice_ and his grief over her death and begs to be allowed to +seek her. He voices his plea in the air, "A thousand griefs, +threatening shades." The sweetness of his music wins the sympathy of +the _Furies_. They allow him to enter the Valley of the Blest, a +beautiful spot where the good spirits in Hades find rest. (Song for +_Eurydice_ and her companions, "In this tranquil and lovely abode +of the blest.") _Orpheus_ comes seeking _Eurydice_. His recitative, +"What pure light!" is answered by a chorus of happy shades, "Sweet +singer, you are welcome." To him they bring the lovely _Eurydice_. +_Orpheus_, beside himself with joy, but remembering the warning of +_Amor_, takes his bride by the hand and, with averted gaze, leads her +from the vale. + +She cannot understand his action. He seeks to soothe her injured +feelings. (Duet: "On my faith relying.") But his efforts are vain; nor +can he offer her any explanation, for he has also been forbidden to +make known to her the reason for his apparent indifference. + +Act III. A wood. _Orpheus_, still under the prohibition imposed by the +gods, has released the hand of his bride and is hurrying on in advance +of her urging her to follow. She, still not comprehending why he does +not even cast a glance upon her, protests that without his love she +prefers to die. + +_Orpheus_, no longer able to resist the appeal of his beloved bride, +forgets the warning of _Amor_. He turns and passionately clasps +_Eurydice_ in his arms. Immediately she dies. + +It is then that _Orpheus_ intones the lament, "Che farò senza +Euridice" (I have lost my _Eurydice_), that air in the score which has +truly become immortal and by which Gluck, when the opera as a whole +shall have disappeared from the stage, will still be remembered. + +[Music] + +"All forms of language have been exhausted to praise the stupor of +grief, the passion, the despair expressed in this sublime number," +says a writer in the Clément and Larousse _Dictionnaire des Opéras_. +It is equalled only by the lines of Virgil: + + Vox ipsa et frigida lingua, + "Ah! miseram Eurydicen," anima fugiente, vocabat; + "Eurydicen;" toto referabant flumine ripae. + + [E'en then his trembling tongue invok'd his bride; + With his last voice, "Eurydice," he cried, + "Eurydice," the rocks and river banks replied. + + DRYDEN.] + +In fact it is so beautiful that _Amor_, affected by the grief of +_Orpheus_ appears to him, touches _Eurydice_ and restores her to life +and to her husband's arms. + +The legend of "Orpheus and Eurydice" as related in Virgil's +_Georgics_, from which are the lines just quoted is one of the +classics of antiquity. In "Orfeo ed Euridice" Gluck has preserved the +chaste classicism of the original. Orpheus was the son of Apollo and +the muse Calliope. He played so divinely that trees uprooted +themselves and rocks were loosened from their fastnesses in order to +follow him. His bride, Eurydice, was the daughter of a Thracian +shepherd. + +The rôle of _Orpheus_ was written for the celebrated male contralto +Guadagni. For the Paris production the composer added three bars to +the most famous number of the score, the "Che farò senza Euridice," +illustrated above. These presumably were the three last bars, the +concluding phrases of the peroration of the immortal air. He also was +obliged to transpose the part of _Orpheus_ for the tenor Legros, for +whom he introduced a vocal number not only entirely out of keeping +with the rôle, but not even of his own composition--a bravura aria +from "Tancred," an opera by the obscure Italian composer Fernandino +Bertoni. It is believed that the tenor importuned Gluck for something +that would show off his voice, whereupon the composer handed him the +Bertoni air. Legros introduced it at the end of the first act, where +to this day it remains in the printed score. + +When the tenor Nourrit sang the rôle many years later, he substituted +the far more appropriate aria, "Ô transport, ô désordre extrême" (O +transport, O ecstasy extreme) from Gluck's own "Echo and Narcissus." + +But that the opera, as it came from Gluck's pen, required nothing +more, appeared in the notable revival at the Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, +November, 1859, under Berlioz's direction, when that distinguished +composer restored the rôle of _Orpheus_ to its original form and for a +hundred and fifty nights the celebrated contralto, Pauline +Viardot-Garcia, sang it to enthusiastic houses. + +The best production of the work in this country was that of the +American Opera Company. It was suited, as no other opera was, to the +exact capacity of that ill-starred organization. The representation +was in four acts instead of three, the second act being divided into +two, a division to which it easily lends itself. + +The opera has been the object of unstinted praise. Of the second act +the same French authority quoted above says that from the first note +to the last, it is "a complete masterpiece and one of the most +astonishing productions of the human mind. The chorus of demons, 'What +mortal dares,' in turn questions, becomes wrathful, bursts into a +turmoil of threats, gradually becomes tranquil and is hushed, as if +subdued and conquered by the music of _Orpheus's_ lyre. What is more +moving than the phrase 'Laissez-vous toucher par mes pleurs'? (A +thousand griefs, threatening shades.) Seeing a large audience +captivated by this mythological subject; an audience mixed, frivolous +and unthinking, transported and swayed by this scene, one recognizes +the real power of music. The composer conquered his hearers as his +_Orpheus_ succeeded in subduing the _Furies_. Nowhere, in no work, is +the effect more gripping. The scene in the Elysian fields also has +its beauties. The air of _Eurydice_, the chorus of happy shades, have +the breath of inalterable calm, peace and serenity." + +Gaetano Guadagni, who created the rôle of _Orpheus_, was one of the +most famous male contralti of the eighteenth century. Händel assigned +to him contralto parts in the "Messiah" and "Samson," and it was Gluck +himself who procured his engagement at Vienna. The French production +of the opera was preceded by an act of homage, which showed the +interest of the French in Gluck's work. For while it had its first +performance in Vienna, the score was first printed in Paris and at the +expense of Count Durazzo. The success of the Paris production was so +great that Gluck's former pupil, Marie Antoinette, granted him a +pension of 6,000 francs with an addition of the same sum for every +fresh work he should produce on the French stage. + +The libretto of Calzabigi was, for its day, charged with a vast amount +of human interest, passion, and dramatic intensity. In these +particulars it was as novel as Gluck's score, and possibly had an +influence upon him in the direction of his operatic reforms. + + +ARMIDE + + Opera in five acts by Gluck; words by François Quinault, + founded on Tasso's _Jerusalem Delivered_. + + Produced, Paris, 1777, at the Académie de Musique; New York, + Metropolitan Opera House, November 14, 1910, with Fremstad, + Caruso, Homer, Gluck, and Amato. + + CHARACTERS + + ARMIDE, a Sorceress, Niece of Hidraot _Soprano_ + PHENICE } { _Soprano_ + SIDONIE } her attendants { _Soprano_ + HATE, a Fury _Soprano_ + LUCINDE } { _Soprano_ + MÉLISSE } apparitions { _Soprano_ + RENAUD (RINALDO), a Knight of the Crusade + under Godfrey of Bouillon _Tenor_ + ARTEMIDORE, Captive Knight Delivered by Renaud _Tenor_ + THE DANISH KNIGHT } Crusaders { _Tenor_ + UBALDE } { _Bass_ + HIDRAOT, King of Damascus _Bass_ + ARONTES, leader of the Saracens _Bass_ + A Naiad, a Love _Apparitions_ + + Populace, Apparitions and Furies. + + _Time_--First Crusade, 1098. + + _Place_--Damascus. + +Act I. Hall of _Armide's_ palace at Damascus. _Phenice_ and _Sidonie_ +are praising the beauty of _Armide_. But she is depressed at her +failure to vanquish the intrepid knight, _Renaud_, although all others +have been vanquished by her. _Hidraot_, entering, expresses a desire +to see _Armide_ married. The princess tells him that, should she ever +yield to love, only a hero shall inspire it. People of Damascus enter +to celebrate the victory won by _Armide's_ sorcery over the knights of +Godfrey. In the midst of the festivities _Arontes_, who has had charge +of the captive knights, appears and announces their rescue by a single +warrior, none other than _Renaud_, upon whom _Armide_ now vows +vengeance. + +Act II. A desert spot. _Artemidore_, one of the Christian knights, +thanks _Renaud_ for his rescue. _Renaud_ has been banished from +Godfrey's camp for the misdeed of another, whom he will not betray. +_Artemidore_ warns him to beware the blandishments of _Armide_, then +departs. _Renaud_ falls asleep by the bank of a stream. _Hidraot_ and +_Armide_ come upon the scene. He urges her to employ her supernatural +powers to aid in the pursuit of _Renaud_. After the king has departed, +she discovers _Renaud_. At her behest apparitions, in the disguise of +charming nymphs, shepherds and shepherdesses, bind him with garlands +of flowers. _Armide_ now approaches to slay her sleeping enemy with a +dagger, but, in the act of striking him, she is overcome with love for +him, and bids the apparitions transport her and her hero to some +"farthest desert, where she may hide her weakness and her shame." + +Act III. Wild and rugged landscape. _Armide_, alone, is deploring the +conquest of her heart by _Renaud_. _Phenice_ and _Sidonie_ come to her +and urge her to abandon herself to love. They assure her that _Renaud_ +cannot fail to be enchanted by her beauty. _Armide_, reluctant to +yield, summons _Hate_, who is ready to do her bidding and expel love +from her bosom. But at the critical moment _Armide_ cries out to +desist, and _Hate_ retires with the threat never to return. + +Act IV. From yawning chasms and caves wild beasts and monsters emerge +in order to frighten _Ubalde_ and a _Danish Knight_, who have come in +quest of _Renaud_. _Ubalde_ carries a magic shield and sceptre, to +counteract the enchantments of _Armide_, and to deliver _Renaud_. The +knights attack and vanquish the monsters. The desert changes into a +beautiful garden. An apparition, disguised as _Lucinde_, a girl +beloved by the _Danish Knight_, is here, accompanied by apparitions in +various pleasing disguises. _Lucinde_ tries to detain the knight from +continuing upon his errand, but upon _Ubalde_ touching her with the +golden sceptre, she vanishes. The two then resume their journey to the +rescue of _Renaud_. + +Act V. Another part of the enchanted garden. _Renaud_, bedecked with +garlands, endeavours to detain _Armide_, who, haunted by dark +presentiment, wishes to consult with the powers of Hades. She leaves +_Renaud_ to be entertained by a company of happy _Lovers_. They, +however, fail to divert the lovelorn warrior, and are dismissed by +him. _Ubalde_ and the _Danish Knight_ appear. By holding the magic +shield before _Renaud's_ eyes, they counteract the passion that has +swayed him. He is following the two knights, when _Armide_ returns and +vainly tries to detain him. Proof against her blandishments, he leaves +her to seek glory. _Armide_ deserted, summons _Hate_ to slay him. But +_Hate_, once driven away, refuses to return. _Armide_ then bids the +_Furies_ destroy the enchanted palace. They obey. She perishes in the +ruins. (Or, according to the libretto, "departs in a flying car"--an +early instance of aviation in opera!) + +There are more than fifty operas on the subject of _Armide_. Gluck's +has survived them all. Nearly a century before his opera was produced +at the Académie, Paris, that institution was the scene of the first +performance of "Armide et Renaud," composed by Lully to the same +libretto used by Gluck, Quinault having been Lully's librettist in +ordinary. + +"Armide" is not a work of such strong human appeal as "Orpheus"; but +for its day it was a highly dramatic production; and it still admits +of elaborate spectacle. The air for _Renaud_ in the second act, "Plus +j'observe ces lieux, et plus je les admire!" (The more I view this +spot the more charmed I am); the shepherd's song almost immediately +following; _Armide's_ air at the opening of the third act, "Ah! si la +liberté me doit être ravie" (Ah! if liberty is lost to me); the +exquisite solo and chorus in the enchanted garden, "Les plaisirs ont +choisi pour asile" (Pleasure has chosen for its retreat) are classics. +Several of the ballet numbers long were popular. + +In assigning to a singer of unusual merit the ungrateful rôle of the +_Danish Knight_, Gluck said: "A single stanza will compensate you, I +hope, for so courteously consenting to take the part." It was the +stanza, "Nôtre général vous rappelle" (Our commander summons you), +with which the knight in Act V recalls _Renaud_ to his duty. "Never," +says the relater of the anecdote, "was a prediction more completely +fulfilled. The stanza in question produced a sensation." + + +IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE + +IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS + + Opera in four acts by Gluck, words by François Guillard. + + Produced at the Académie de Musique, Paris, May 18, 1779; + Metropolitan Opera House, New York, November 25, 1916, with + Kurt, Weil, Sembach, Braun, and Rappold. + + CHARACTERS + + IPHIGÉNIE, Priestess of Diana _Soprano_ + ORESTES, her Brother _Baritone_ + PYLADES, his Friend _Tenor_ + THOAS, King of Scythia _Bass_ + DIANA _Soprano_ + + SCYTHIANS, Priestesses of Diana. + + _Time_--Antiquity, after the Trojan War. + + _Place_--Tauris. + +_Iphigénie_ is the daughter of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. Agamemnon +was slain by his wife, Clytemnestra, who, in turn, was killed by her +son, _Orestes_. _Iphigénie_ is ignorant of these happenings. She has +been a priestess of Diana and has not seen _Orestes_ for many years. + +Act I. Before the atrium of the temple of Diana. To priestesses and +Greek maidens, _Iphigénie_ tells of her dream that misfortune has come +to her family in the distant country of her birth. _Thoas_, entering, +calls for a human sacrifice to ward off danger that has been foretold +to him. Some of his people, hastily coming upon the scene, bring with +them as captives _Orestes_ and _Pylades_, Greek youths who have landed +upon the coast. They report that _Orestes_ constantly speaks of having +committed a crime and of being pursued by Furies. + +Act II. Temple of Diana. _Orestes_ bewails his fate. _Pylades_ sings +of his undying friendship for him. _Pylades_ is separated from +_Orestes_, who temporarily loses his mind. _Iphigénie_ questions him. +_Orestes_, under her influence, becomes calmer, but refrains from +disclosing his identity. He tells her, however, that he is from +Mycenae, that Agamemnon (their father) has been slain by his wife, +that Clytemnestra's son, _Orestes_, has slain her in revenge, and is +himself dead. Of the once great family only a daughter, Electra, +remains. + +Act III. _Iphigénie_ is struck with the resemblance of the stranger to +her brother and, in order to save him from the sacrifice demanded by +_Thoas_, charges him to deliver a letter to Electra. He declines to +leave _Pylades_; nor until _Orestes_ affirms that he will commit +suicide, rather than accept freedom at the price of his friend's life, +does _Pylades_ agree to take the letter, and then only because he +hopes to bring succour to _Orestes_. + +Act IV. All is ready for the sacrifice. _Iphigénie_ has the knife +poised for the fatal thrust, when, through an exclamation uttered by +_Orestes_, she recognizes him as her brother. The priestesses offer +him obeisance as King. _Thoas_, however, enters and demands the +sacrifice. _Iphigénie_ declares that she will die with her brother. At +that moment _Pylades_ at the head of a rescue party enters the temple. +A combat ensues in which _Thoas_ is killed. _Diana_ herself appears, +pardons _Orestes_ and returns to the Greeks her likeness which the +Scythians had stolen and over which they had built the temple. + +Gluck was sixty-five, when he brought out "Iphigénie en Tauride." A +contemporary remarked that there were many fine passages in the opera. +"There is only one," said the Abbé Arnaud. "Which?"--"The entire +work." + +The mad scene for _Orestes_, in the second act, has been called +Gluck's greatest single achievement. Mention should also be made of +the dream of _Iphigénie_, the dances of the Scythians, the air of +_Thoas_, "De noirs pressentiments mon âme intimidée" (My spirit is +depressed by dark forebodings); the air of _Pylades_, "Unis dès la +plus tendre enfance" (United since our earliest infancy); +_Iphigénie's_ "Ô malheureuse (unhappy) Iphigénie," and "Je t'implore +et je tremble" (I pray you and I tremble); and the hymn to Diana, +"Chaste fille de Latone" (Chaste daughter of the crescent moon). + +Here may be related an incident at the rehearsal of the work, which +proves the dramatic significance Gluck sought to impart to his music. +In the second act, while _Orestes_ is singing, "Le calme rentre dans +mon coeur," (Once more my heart is calm), the orchestral +accompaniment continues to express the agitation of his thoughts. +During the rehearsal the members of the orchestra, not understanding +the passage, came to a stop. "Go on all the same," cried Gluck. "He +lies. He has killed his mother!" + +Gluck's enemies prevailed upon his rival, Piccini, to write an +"Iphigénie en Tauride" in opposition. It was produced in January, +1781, met with failure, and put a definite stop to Piccini's rivalry +with Gluck. At the performance the prima donna was intoxicated. This +caused a spectator to shout: + +"'Iphigénie en Tauride!' allons donc, c'est 'Iphigénie en Champagne!'" +(Iphigenia in Tauris! Do tell! Shouldn't it be Iphigenia in +Champagne?) + +The laugh that followed sealed the doom of the work. + +The Metropolitan production employs the version of the work made by +Richard Strauss, which involves changes in the finales of the first +and last acts. Ballet music from "Orfeo" and "Armide" also is +introduced. + + + + +Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart + +(1756-1791) + + +The operas of Gluck supplanted those of Lully and Rameau. Those of +Mozart, while they did not supplant Gluck's, wrested from them the +sceptre of supremacy. In a general way it may be said that, before +Mozart's time, composers of grand opera reached back to antiquity and +mythology, or to the early Christian era, for their subjects. Their +works moved with a certain restricted grandeur. Their characters were +remote. + +Mozart's subjects were more modern, even contemporary. Moreover, he +was one of the brightest stars in the musical firmament. His was a +complete and easy mastery of all forms of music. "In his music +breathes the warm-hearted, laughter-loving artist," writes Theodore +Baker. That is a correct characterization. "The Marriage of Figaro" is +still regarded as a model of what a comic grand opera, if so I may +call it, should be. "Don Giovanni," despite its tragic _dénouement_, +sparkles with humour, and _Don Giovanni_ himself, despite the evil he +does, is a jovial character. "The Magic Flute" is full of amusing +incidents and, if its relationship to the rites of freemasonry has +been correctly interpreted, was a contemporary subject of strong human +interest, notwithstanding its story being laid in ancient Egypt. In +fact it may be said that, in the evolution of opera, Mozart was the +first to impart to it a strong human interest with humour playing +about it like sunlight. + +The libretto of "The Marriage of Figaro" was derived from a +contemporary French comedy; "Don Giovanni," though its plot is taken +from an old Spanish story, has in its principal character a type of +libertine, whose reckless daring inspires loyalty not only in his +servant, but even in at least one of his victims--a type as familiar +to Mozart's contemporaries as it is to us; the probable contemporary +significance of "The Magic Flute" I have already mentioned, and the +point is further considered under the head of that opera. + +For the most part as free from unnecessary vocal embellishments as are +the operas of Gluck, Mozart, being the more gifted composer, attained +an even higher degree of dramatic expression than his predecessor. May +I say that he even gave to the voice a human clang it hitherto had +lacked, and in this respect also advanced the art of opera? By this I +mean that, full of dramatic significance as his voice parts are, they +have, too, an ingratiating human quality which the music of his +predecessor lacks. In plasticity of orchestration his operas also mark +a great advance. + +Excepting a few works by Gluck, every opera before Mozart and the +operas of every composer contemporary with him, and for a considerable +period after him, have disappeared from the repertoire. The next two +operas to hold the stage, Beethoven's "Fidelio" (in its final form) +and Rossini's "Barber of Seville" were not produced until 1814 and +1816--respectively twenty-three and twenty-five years after Mozart's +death. + +That Mozart was a genius by the grace of God will appear from the +simple statement that his career came to an end at the age of +thirty-five. Compare this with the long careers of the three other +composers, whose influence upon opera was supreme--Gluck, Wagner, and +Verdi. Gluck died in his seventy-third year, Wagner in his +seventieth, and Verdi in his eighty-eighth. Yet the composer who laid +down his pen and went to a pauper's grave at thirty-five, contributed +as much as any of these to the evolution of the art of opera. + + +LE NOZZE DI FIGARO + +THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO + + Opera in four acts by Mozart; words by Lorenzo da Ponte, + after Beaumarchais. Produced at the National Theatre, + Vienna, May 1, 1786, Mozart conducting. Académie de Musique, + Paris, as "Le Mariage de Figaro" (with Beaumarchais's + dialogue), 1793; as "Les Noces de Figaro" (words by Barbier + and Carré), 1858. London, in Italian, King's Theatre, June + 18, 1812. New York, 1823, with T. Phillips, of Dublin, as + _Figaro_; May 10, 1824, with Pearman as _Figaro_ and Mrs. + Holman, as _Susanna_; January 18, 1828, with Elizabeth + Alston, as _Susanna_; all these were in English and at the + Park Theatre. (See concluding paragraph of this article.) + Notable revivals in Italian, at the Metropolitan Opera + House: 1902, with Sembrich, Eames, Fritzi Scheff, de Reszke, + and Campanari; 1909, Sembrich, Eames, Farrar, and Scotti; + 1916, Hempel, Matzenauer, Farrar, and Scotti. + + CHARACTERS + + COUNT ALMAVIVA _Baritone_ + FIGARO, his valet _Baritone_ + DOCTOR BARTOLO, a Physician _Bass_ + DON BASILIO, a music-master _Tenor_ + CHERUBINO, a page _Soprano_ + ANTONIO, a gardener _Bass_ + DON CURZIO, counsellor at law _Tenor_ + COUNTESS ALMAVIVA _Soprano_ + SUSANNA, her personal maid, affianced + to FIGARO _Soprano_ + MARCELLINA, a duenna _Soprano_ + BARBARINA, ANTONIO's daughter _Soprano_ + + _Time_--17th Century. + + _Place_--The Count's château of Aguas Frescas, near Seville. + +"Le Nozze di Figaro" was composed by Mozart by command of Emperor +Joseph II., of Austria. After congratulating the composer at the end +of the first performance, the Emperor said to him: "You must admit, +however, my dear Mozart, that there are a great many notes in your +score." "Not one too many, Sire," was Mozart's reply. + +(The anecdote, it should be noted, also, is told of the first +performance of Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte.") + +No opera composed before "Le Nozze di Figaro" can be compared with it +for development of ensemble, charm and novelty of melody, richness and +variety of orchestration. Yet Mozart composed this score in a month. +The finale to the second act occupied him but two days. In the music +the sparkle of high comedy alternates with the deeper sentiment of the +affections. + +Michael Kelly, the English tenor, who was the _Basilio_ and _Curzio_ +in the original production, tells in his memoirs of the splendid +sonority with which Benucci, the _Figaro_, sang the martial "Non più +andrai" at the first orchestral rehearsal. Mozart, who was on the +stage in a crimson pelisse and cocked hat trimmed with gold lace, kept +repeating _sotto voce_, "Bravo, bravo, Benucci!" At the conclusion the +orchestra and all on the stage burst into applause and vociferous +acclaim of Mozart: + +"Bravo, bravo, Maestro! Viva, viva, grande Mozart!" + +Further, the _Reminiscences_ of Kelly inform us of the enthusiastic +reception of "Le Nozze di Figaro" upon its production, almost +everything being encored, so that the time required for its +performance was nearly doubled. Notwithstanding this success, it was +withdrawn after comparatively few representations, owing to Italian +intrigue at the court and opera, led by Mozart's rival, the composer +Salieri--now heard of only because of that rivalry. In Prague, where +the opera was produced in January, 1787, its success was so great that +Bondini, the manager of the company, was able to persuade Mozart to +compose an opera for first performance in Prague. The result was "Don +Giovanni." + +The story of "Le Nozze di Figaro" is a sequel to that of "The Barber +of Seville," which Rossini set to music. Both are derived from +"Figaro" comedies by Beaumarchais. In Rossini's opera it is _Figaro_, +at the time a barber in Seville, who plays the go-between for _Count +Almaviva_ and his beloved _Rosina_, _Dr. Bartolo's_ pretty ward. +_Rosina_ is now the wife of the _Count_, who unfortunately, is +promiscuous in his attentions to women, including _Susanna_, the +_Countess's_ vivacious maid, who is affianced to _Figaro_. The latter +and the music-master _Basilio_ who, in their time helped to hoodwink +_Bartolo_, are in the service of the _Count_, _Figaro_ having been +rewarded with the position of valet and majordomo. _Bartolo_, for +whom, as formerly, _Marcellina_ is keeping house, still is _Figaro's_ +enemy, because of the latter's interference with his plans to marry +_Rosina_ and so secure her fortune to himself. The other characters in +the opera also belong to the personnel of the _Count's_ household. + +Aside from the difference between Rossini's and Mozart's scores, which +are alike only in that each opera is a masterpiece of the comic +sentiment, there is at least one difference between the stories. In +Rossini's "Barber" _Figaro_, a man, is the mainspring of the action. +In Mozart's opera it is _Susanna_, a woman; and a clever woman may +possess in the rôle of protagonist in comedy a chicness and sparkle +quite impossible to a man. The whole plot of "Le Nozze di Figaro" +plays around _Susanna's_ efforts to nip in the bud the intrigue in +which the _Count_ wishes to engage her. She is aided by the _Countess_ +and by _Figaro_; but she still must appear to encourage while evading +the _Count's_ advances, and do so without offending him, lest both she +and her affianced be made to suffer through his disfavour. In the +libretto there is much that is _risqué_, suggestive. But as the +average opera-goer does not understand the subtleties of the Italian +language, and the average English translation is too clumsy to +preserve them, it is quite possible--especially in this advanced +age--to attend a performance of "Le Nozze di Figaro" without +imperilling one's morals. + +There is a romping overture. Then, in Act I, we learn that _Figaro_, +_Count Almaviva's_ valet, wants to get married. _Susanna_, the +_Countess's_ maid, is the chosen one. The _Count_ has assigned to them +a room near his, ostensibly because his valet will be able to respond +quickly to his summons. The room is the scene of this Act. _Susanna_ +tells her lover that the true reason for the _Count's_ choice of their +room is the fact that their noble master is running after her. Now +_Figaro_ is willing enough to "play up" for the little _Count_, if he +should take it into his head "to venture on a little dance" once too +often. ("Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino!") + +[Music] + +Unfortunately, however, _Figaro_ himself is in a fix. He has borrowed +money from _Marcellina_, _Bartolo's_ housekeeper, and he has promised +to marry her in case of his inability to repay her. She now appears, +to demand of _Figaro_ the fulfilment of his promise. _Bartolo_ +encourages her in this, both out of spite against _Figaro_ and because +he wants to be rid of the old woman, who has been his mistress and +even borne him a son, who, however, was kidnapped soon after his +birth. There is a vengeance aria for _Bartolo_, and a spiteful duet +for _Marcellina_ and _Susanna_, beginning: "Via resti servita, madama +brillante" (Go first, I entreat you, Miss, model of beauty!). + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Hempel (Susanna), Matzenauer (the Countess), and Farrar (Cherubino) in +"Le Nozze di Figaro"] + +The next scene opens between the page, _Cherubino_, a boy in love +with every petticoat, and _Susanna_. He begs _Susanna_ to intercede +for him with the _Count_, who has dismissed him. _Cherubino_ desires +to stay around the _Countess_, for whom he has conceived one of his +grand passions. "Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio"--(Ah, what feelings +now possess me!). The _Count's_ step is heard. _Cherubino_ hides +himself behind a chair, from where he hears the _Count_ paying court +to _Susanna_. The voice of the music-master then is heard from +without. The _Count_ moves toward the door. _Cherubino_, taking +advantage of this, slips out from behind the chair and conceals +himself in it under a dress that has been thrown over it. The _Count_, +however, instead of going out, hides behind the chair, in the same +place where _Cherubino_ has been. _Basilio_, who has entered, now +makes all kinds of malicious remarks and insinuations about the +flirtations of _Cherubino_ with _Susanna_ and also with the +_Countess_. The _Count_, enraged at the free use of his wife's name, +emerges from behind the chair. Only the day before, he says, he has +caught that rascal, _Cherubino_, with the gardener's daughter +_Barbarina_ (with whom the _Count_ also is flirting). _Cherubino_, he +continues, was hidden under a coverlet, "just as if under this dress +here." Then, suiting the action to the words, by way of demonstration, +he lifts the gown from the chair, and lo! there is _Cherubino_. The +_Count_ is furious. But as the page has overheard him making love to +_Susanna_, and as _Figaro_ and others have come in to beg that he be +forgiven, the _Count_, while no longer permitting him to remain in the +castle, grants him an officer's commission in his own regiment. It is +here that _Figaro_ addresses _Cherubino_ in the dashing martial air, +"Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso" (Play no more, the part of a +lover). + +Act II. Still, the _Count_, for whom the claims of _Marcellina_ upon +_Figaro_ have come in very opportunely, has not given consent for his +valet's wedding. He wishes to carry his own intrigue with _Susanna_, +the genuineness of whose love for _Figaro_ he underestimates, to a +successful issue. _Susanna_ and _Figaro_ meet in the _Countess's_ +room. The _Countess_ has been soliloquizing upon love, of whose +fickleness the _Count_ has but provided too many examples.--"Porgi +amor, qualche ristoro" (Love, thou holy, purest passion.) _Figaro_ has +contrived a plan to gain the consent of the _Count_ to his wedding +with _Susanna_. The valet's scheme is to make the _Count_ ashamed of +his own flirtations. _Figaro_ has sent a letter to the _Count_, which +divulges a supposed rendezvous of the _Countess_ in the garden. At the +same time _Susanna_ is to make an appointment to meet the _Count_ in +the same spot. But, in place of _Susanna_, _Cherubino_, dressed in +_Susanna's_ clothes, will meet the _Count_. Both will be caught by the +_Countess_ and the _Count_ thus be confounded. + +_Cherubino_ is then brought in to try on _Susanna's_ clothes. He sings +to the _Countess_ an air of sentiment, one of the famous vocal numbers +of the opera, the exquisite: "Voi che sapete, che cosa è amor" (What +is this feeling makes me so sad). + +[Music] + +The _Countess_, examining his officer's commission, finds that the +seal to it has been forgotten. While in the midst of these proceedings +someone knocks. It is the _Count_. Consternation. _Cherubino_ flees +into the _Countess's_ room and _Susanna_ hides behind a curtain. The +evident embarrassment of his wife arouses the suspicions of her +husband, who, gay himself, is very jealous of her. He tries the door +_Cherubino_ has bolted from the inside, then goes off to get tools to +break it down with. He takes his wife with him. While he is away, +_Cherubino_ slips out and leaps out of a window into the garden. In +his place, _Susanna_ bolts herself in the room, so that, when the +_Count_ breaks open the door, it is only to discover that _Susanna_ is +in his wife's room. All would be well, but unfortunately _Antonio_, +the gardener, enters. A man, he says, has jumped out of the +_Countess's_ window and broken a flowerpot. _Figaro_, who has come in, +and who senses that something has gone wrong, says that it was he who +was with _Susanna_ and jumped out of the window. But the gardener has +found a paper. He shows it. It is _Cherubino's_ commission. How did +_Figaro_ come by it? The _Countess_ whispers something to _Figaro_. +Ah, yes; _Cherubino_ handed it to him in order that he should obtain +the missing seal. + +Everything appears to be cleared up when _Marcellina_, accompanied by +_Bartolo_, comes to lodge formal complaint against _Figaro_ for breach +of promise, which for the _Count_ is a much desired pretext to refuse +again his consent to _Figaro's_ wedding with _Susanna_. These, the +culminating episodes of this act, form a finale which is justly +admired, a finale so gradually developed and so skilfully evolved +that, although only the principals participate in it, it is as +effective as if it employed a full ensemble of soloists, chorus, and +orchestra worked up in the most elaborate fashion. Indeed, for +effectiveness produced by simple means, the operas of Mozart are +models. + +But to return to the story. At the trial in Act III, between +_Marcellina_ and _Figaro_, it develops that _Figaro_ is her long-lost +natural son. _Susanna_ pays the costs of the trial and nothing now +seems to stand in the way of her union with _Figaro_. The _Count_, +however, is not yet entirely cured of his fickle fancies. So the +_Countess_ and _Susanna_ hit upon still another scheme in this play of +complications. During the wedding festivities _Susanna_ is to contrive +to send secretly to the _Count_ a note, in which she invites him to +meet her. Then the _Countess_, dressed in _Susanna's_ clothes, is to +meet him at the place named. _Figaro_ knows nothing of this plan. +Chancing to find out about the note, he too becomes jealous--another, +though minor, contribution to the mix-up of emotions. In this act the +concoction of the letter by the _Countess_ and _Susanna_ is the basis +of the most beautiful vocal number in the opera, the "letter duet" or +Canzonetta sull'aria (the "Canzonetta of the Zephyr")--"Che soave +zeffiretto" (Hither gentle zephyr); an exquisite melody, in which the +lady dictates, the maid writes down, and the voices of both blend in +comment. + +[Music] + +The final Act brings about the desired result after a series of +amusing _contretemps_ in the garden. The _Count_ sinks on his knees +before his _Countess_ and, as the curtain falls, there is reason to +hope that he is prepared to mend his ways. + +Regarding the early performances of "Figaro" in this country, these +early performances were given "with Mozart's music, but adapted by +Henry Rowley Bishop." When I was a boy, a humorous way of commenting +upon an artistic sacrilege was to exclaim: "Ah! Mozart improved by +Bishop!" I presume the phrase came down from these early +representations of "The Marriage of Figaro." Bishop was the composer +of "Home, Sweet Home." In 1839 his wife eloped with Bochsa, the harp +virtuoso, afterwards settled in New York, and for many years sang in +concert and taught under the name of Mme. Anna Bishop. + + +DON GIOVANNI + + Opera in two acts by Mozart; text by Lorenzo da Ponte. + Productions, Prague, Oct. 29, 1787; Vienna, May 17, 1788; + London, April 12, 1817; New York, Park Theatre, May 23, + 1826. + + Original title: "Il Dissoluto Punito, ossia il Don Giovanni" + (The Reprobate Punished, or Don Giovanni). The work was + originally characterized as an _opera buffa_, or _dramma + giocoso_, but Mozart's noble setting lifted it out of that + category. + + CHARACTERS + + DON PEDRO, the Commandant _Bass_ + DONNA ANNA, his daughter _Soprano_ + DON OTTAVIO, her betrothed _Tenor_ + DON GIOVANNI _Baritone_ + LEPORELLO, his servant _Bass_ + DONNA ELVIRA _Soprano_ + ZERLINA _Soprano_ + MASETTO, betrothed to ZERLINA _Tenor_ + [Transcriber's Note: should be 'Baritone'] + +"Don Giovanni" was presented for the first time in Prague, because +Mozart, satisfied with the manner in which Bondini's troupe had sung +his "Marriage of Figaro" a little more than a year before, had agreed +to write another work for the same house. + +The story on which da Ponte based his libretto--the statue of a +murdered man accepting an insolent invitation to banquet with his +murderer, appearing at the feast and dragging him down to hell--is +very old. It goes back to the Middle Ages, probably further. A French +authority considers that da Ponte derived his libretto from "Le Festin +de Pierre," Molière's version of the old tale. Da Ponte, however, made +free use of "Il Convitato di Pietra" (The Stone-Guest), a libretto +written by the Italian theatrical poet Bertati for the composer +Giuseppe Gazzaniga. Whoever desires to follow up this interesting +phase of the subject will find the entire libretto of Bertati's +"Convitato" reprinted, with a learned commentary by Chrysander, in +volume iv of the _Vierteljahrheft für Musikwissenschaft_ (Music +Science Quarterly), a copy of which is in the New York Public Library. + +Mozart agreed to hand over the finished score in time for the autumn +season of 1787, for the sum of one hundred ducats ($240). Richard +Strauss receives for a new opera a guarantee of ten performances at a +thousand dollars--$10,000 in all--and, of course, his royalties +thereafter. There is quite a distinction in these matters between the +eighteenth century and the present. And what a lot of good a few +thousand dollars would have done the impecunious composer of the +immortal "Don Giovanni!" Also, one is tempted to ask oneself if any +modern ten thousand dollar opera will live as long as the two hundred +and forty dollar one which already is 130 years old. + +Bondini's company, for which Mozart wrote his masterpiece of dramatic +music, furnished the following cast: _Don Giovanni_, Signor Bassi, +twenty-two years old, a fine baritone, an excellent singer and actor; +_Donna Anna_, Signora Teresa Saporiti; _Donna Elvira_, Signora +Catarina Micelli, who had great talent for dramatic expression; +_Zerlina_, Signora Teresa Bondini, wife of the manager; _Don Ottavio_, +Signor Antonio Baglioni, with a sweet, flexible tenor voice; +_Leporello_, Signor Felice Ponziani, an excellent basso comico; _Don +Pedro_ (the Commandant), and _Masetto_, Signor Giuseppe Lolli. + +Mozart directed the rehearsals, had the singers come to his house to +study, gave them advice how some of the difficult passages should be +executed, explained the characters they represented, and exacted +finish, detail, and accuracy. Sometimes he even chided the artists for +an Italian impetuosity, which might be out of keeping with the charm +of his melodies. At the first rehearsal, however, not being satisfied +with the way in which Signora Bondini gave _Zerlina's_ cry of terror +from behind the scenes, when the _Don_ is supposed to attempt her +ruin, Mozart left the orchestra and went upon the stage. Ordering the +first act finale to be repeated from the minuet on, he concealed +himself in the wings. There, in the peasant dress of _Zerlina_, with +its short skirt, stood Signora Bondini, waiting for her cue. When it +came, Mozart quickly reached out a hand from his place of concealment +and pinched her leg. She gave a piercing shriek. "There! That is how I +want it," he said, emerging from the wings, while the Bondini, not +knowing whether to laugh or blush, did both. + +One of the most striking features of the score, the warning words +which the statue of the _Commandant_, in the plaza before the +cathedral of Seville, utters within the hearing of _Don Giovanni_ and +_Leporello_, was originally accompanied by the trombones only. At +rehearsal in Prague, Mozart, not satisfied with the way the passage +was played, stepped over toward the desks at which the trombonists +sat. + +One of them spoke up: "It can't be played any better. Even you +couldn't teach us how." + +Mozart smiled. "Heaven forbid," he said, "that I should attempt to +teach you how to play the trombone. But let me have the parts." + +Looking them over he immediately made up his mind what to do. With a +few quick strokes of the pen, he added the wood-wind instruments as +they are now found in the score. + +It is well known that the overture of "Don Giovanni" was written +almost on the eve of the first performance. Mozart passed a gay +evening with some friends. One of them said to him: "Tomorrow the +first performance of 'Don Giovanni' will take place, and you have not +yet composed the overture!" Mozart pretended to get nervous about it +and withdrew to his room, where he found music-paper, pens, and ink. +He began to compose about midnight. Whenever he grew sleepy, his wife, +who was by his side, entertained him with stories to keep him awake. +It is said that it took him but three hours to produce this overture. + +The next evening, a little before the curtain rose, the copyists +finished transcribing the parts for the orchestra. Hardly had they +brought the sheets, still wet, to the theatre, when Mozart, greeted by +enthusiastic applause, entered the orchestra and took his seat at the +piano. Although the musicians had not had time to rehearse the +overture, they played it with such precision that the audience broke +out into fresh applause. As the curtain rose and _Leporello_ came +forward to sing his solo, Mozart laughingly whispered to the musicians +near him: "Some notes fell under the stands. But it went well." + +The overture consists of an introduction which reproduces the scene of +the banquet at which the statue appears. It is followed by an allegro +which characterizes the impetuous, pleasure-seeking _Don_, oblivious +to consequences. It reproduces the dominant character of the opera. + +Without pause, Mozart links up the overture with the song of +_Leporello_. The four principal personages of the opera appear early +in the proceedings. The tragedy which brings them together so soon and +starts the action, gives an effective touch of fore-ordained +retribution to the misdeeds upon which _Don Giovanni_ so gaily enters. +This early part of the opera divides itself into four episodes. +Wrapped in his cloak and seated in the garden of a house in Seville, +Spain, which _Don Giovanni_, on amorous adventure bent, has +entered secretly during the night--it is the residence of the +_Commandant_--_Leporello_ is complaining of the fate which makes him a +servant to such a restless and dangerous master. "Notte e giorno +faticar" (Never rest by day or night), runs his song. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Scotti as Don Giovanni] + +_Don Giovanni_ hurriedly issues from the house, pursued by _Donna +Anna_. There follows a trio in which the wrath of the insulted woman, +the annoyance of the libertine, and the cowardice of _Leporello_ are +expressed simultaneously and in turn in manner most admirable. _The +Commandant_, attracted by the disturbance, arrives, draws his sword, +and a duel ensues. In the unequal combat between the aged +_Commandant_ and the agile _Don_, the _Commandant_ receives a fatal +wound. The trio which follows between _Don Giovanni_, the dying +_Commandant_, and _Leporello_ is a unique passage in the history of +musical art. The genius of Mozart, tender, profound, pathetic, +religious, is revealed in its entirety. Written in a solemn rhythm and +in the key of F minor, so appropriate to dispose the mind to a gentle +sadness, this trio, which fills only eighteen measures, contains in a +restricted outline, but in master-strokes, the fundamental idea of +this mysterious drama of crime and retribution. While the _Commandant_ +is breathing his last, emitting notes broken by long pauses, _Donna +Anna_, who, during the duel between her father and _Don Giovanni_, has +hurried off for help, returns accompanied by her servants and by _Don +Ottavio_, her affianced. She utters a cry of terror at seeing the dead +body of her father. The recitative which expresses her despair is +intensely dramatic. The duet which she sings with _Don Ottavio_ is +both impassioned and solicitous, impetuous on her part, solicitous on +his; for the rôle of _Don Ottavio_ is stamped with the delicacy of +sentiment, the respectful reserve of a well-born youth who is +consoling the woman who is to be his wife. The passage, "Lascia, O +cara, la rimembranza amara!" (Through love's devotion, dear one) is of +peculiar beauty in musical expression. + +After _Donna Anna_ and _Don Ottavio_ have left, there enters _Donna +Elvira_. The air she sings expresses a complicated nuance of passion. +_Donna Elvira_ is another of _Don Giovanni's_ deserted ones. There are +in the tears of this woman not only the grief of one who has been +loved and now implores heaven for comfort, but also the indignation of +one who has been deserted and betrayed. When she cries with emotion: +"Ah! chi mi dice mai quel barbaro dov'è?" (In memory still lingers his +love's delusive sway) one feels that, in spite of her outbursts of +anger, she is ready to forgive, if only a regretful smile shall +recall to her the man who was able to charm her. + +_Don Giovanni_ hears from afar the voice of a woman in tears. He +approaches, saying: "Cerchiam di consolare il suo tormento" (I must +seek to console her sorrow). "Ah! yes," murmurs _Leporello_, under his +breath: "Così ne consolò mille e otto cento" (He has consoled fully +eighteen hundred). _Leporello_ is charged by _Don Giovanni_, who, +recognizing _Donna Elvira_, hurries away, to explain to her the +reasons why he deserted her. The servant fulfils his mission as a +complaisant valet. For it is here that he sings the "Madamina" air, +which is so famous, and in which he relates with the skill of a +historian the numerous amours of his master in the different parts of +the world. + +The "Air of Madamina," "Madamina! il catalogo"--(Dear lady, the +catalogue) is a perfect passage of its kind; an exquisite mixture of +grace and finish, of irony and sentiment, of comic declamation and +melody, the whole enhanced by the poetry and skill of the accessories. +There is nothing too much, nothing too little; no excess of detail to +mar the whole. Every word is illustrated by the composer's imagination +without his many brilliant sallies injuring the general effect. +According to _Leporello's_ catalogue his master's adventures in love +have numbered 2065. To these Italy has contributed 245 [Transcriber's +Note: should be '640'], Germany 231, France 100, Turkey 91, and Spain, +his native land, 1003. The recital enrages _Donna Elvira_. She vows +vengeance upon her betrayer. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Sembrich as Zerlina in "Don Giovanni"] + +The scene changes to the countryside of _Don Giovanni's_ palace near +Seville. A troop of gay peasants is seen arriving. The young and +pretty _Zerlina_ with _Masetto_, her affianced, and their friends are +singing and dancing in honour of their approaching marriage. _Don +Giovanni_ and _Leporello_ join this gathering of light-hearted and +simple young people. Having cast covetous eyes upon _Zerlina_, and +having aroused her vanity and her spirit of coquetry by polished words +of gallantry, the _Don_ orders _Leporello_ to get rid of the jealous +_Masetto_ by taking the entire gathering--excepting, of course, +_Zerlina_--to his château. _Leporello_ grumbles, but carries out his +master's order. The latter, left alone with _Zerlina_, sings a duet +with her which is one of the gems, not alone of this opera, but of +opera in general: "Là ci darem la mano!" (Your hand in mine, my +dearest). _Donna Elvira_ appears and by her denunciation of _Don +Giovanni_, "Ah! fuggi il traditore," makes clear to _Zerlina_ the +character of her fascinating admirer. _Donna Anna_ and _Don Ottavio_ +come upon the stage and sing a quartette which begins: "Non ti fidar, +o misera, di quel ribaldo cor" (Place not thy trust, O mourning one, +in this polluted soul), at the end of which _Donna Anna_, as _Don +Giovanni_ departs, recognizes in his accents the voice of her father's +assassin. Her narrative of the events of that terrible night is a +declamatory recitative "in style as bold and as tragic as the finest +recitatives of Gluck." + +_Don Giovanni_ orders preparations for the festival in his palace. He +gives his commands to _Leporello_ in the "Champagne aria," "Finch' han +dal vino" (Wine, flow a fountain), which is almost breathless with +exuberance of anticipated revel. Then there is the ingratiating air of +_Zerlina_ begging _Masetto's_ forgiveness for having flirted with the +_Don_, "Batti, batti, o bel Masetto" (Chide me, chide me, dear +Masetto), a number of enchanting grace, followed by a brilliantly +triumphant allegro, "Pace, pace o vita mia" (Love, I see you're now +relenting). + +[Music] + +The finale to the first act of "Don Giovanni" rightly passes for one +of the masterpieces of dramatic music. _Leporello_, having opened a +window to let the fresh evening air enter the palace hall, the violins +of a small orchestra within are heard in the first measures of the +graceful minuet. _Leporello_ sees three maskers, two women and a man, +outside. In accordance with custom they are bidden to enter. _Don +Giovanni_ does not know that they are _Donna Anna_, _Donna Elvira_, +and _Don Ottavio_, bent upon seeking the murderer of the _Commandant_ +and bringing him to justice. But even had he been aware of their +purpose it probably would have made no difference, for courage this +dissolute character certainly had. + +After a moment of hesitation, after having taken council together, and +repressing a movement of horror which they feel at the sight of the +man whose crimes have darkened their lives, _Donna Elvira_, _Donna +Anna_, and _Don Ottavio_ decide to carry out their undertaking at all +cost and to whatever end. Before entering the château, they pause on +the threshold and, their souls moved by a holy fear, they address +Heaven in one of the most touching prayers written by the hand of man. +It is the number known throughout the world of music as the "Trio of +the Masks," "Protegga, il giusto cielo"--(Just Heaven, now defend +us)--one of those rare passages which, by its clearness of form, its +elegance of musical diction, and its profundity of sentiment, moves +the layman and charms the connoisseur. + +[Music: + + D ANNA + Protegga il giusto cielo + + D ELVIRA + Vendichi + + D OTTAV + Protegga il giusto cielo] + +The festivities begin with the familiar minuet. Its graceful rhythm is +prolonged indefinitely as a fundamental idea, while in succession, +two small orchestras on the stage, take up, one a rustic quadrille in +double time, the other a waltz. Notwithstanding the differences in +rhythm, the three dances are combined with a skill that piques the ear +and excites admiration. The scene would be even more natural and +entertaining than it usually is, if the orchestras on the stage always +followed the direction _accordano_ (tune up) which occurs in the score +eight bars before each begins to play its dance, and if the dances +themselves were carried out according to directions. Only the ladies +and gentlemen should engage in the minuet, the peasants in the +quadrille; and before _Don Giovanni_ leads off _Zerlina_ into an +adjoining room he should have taken part with her in this dance, while +_Leporello_ seeks to divert the jealous _Masetto's_ attention by +seizing him in an apparent exuberance of spirits and insisting on +dancing the waltz with him. _Masetto's_ suspicions, however, are not +to be allayed. He breaks away from _Leporello_. The latter hurries to +warn his master. But just as he has passed through the door, +_Zerlina's_ piercing shriek for help is heard from within. _Don +Giovanni_ rushes out, sword in hand, dragging out with him none other +than poor _Leporello_, whom he has opportunely seized in the entrance, +and whom, under pretence that he is the guilty party, he threatens to +kill in order to turn upon him the suspicion that rests upon himself. +But this ruse fails to deceive any one. _Donna Anna_, _Donna Elvira_, +and _Don Ottavio_ unmask and accuse _Don Giovanni_ of the murder of +the _Commandant_, "Tutto già si sà" (Everything is known and you are +recognized). Taken aback, at first, _Don Giovanni_ soon recovers +himself. Turning, at bay, he defies the enraged crowd. A storm is +rising without. A storm sweeps over the orchestra. Thunder growls in +the basses, lightning plays on the fiddles. _Don Giovanni_, cool, +intrepid, cuts a passage through the crowd upon which, at the same +time, he hurls his contempt. (In a performance at the Academy of +Music, New York, about 1872, I saw _Don Giovanni_ stand off the crowd +with a pistol.) + +The second act opens with a brief duet between _Don Giovanni_ and +_Leporello_. The trio which follows: "Ah! taci, ingiusto core" (Ah, +silence, heart rebellious), for _Donna Elvira_, _Leporello_, and _Don +Giovanni_, is an exquisite passage. _Donna Elvira_, leaning sadly on a +balcony, allows her melancholy regrets to wander in the pale moonlight +which envelops her figure in a semi-transparent gloom. In spite of the +scene which she has recently witnessed, in spite of wrongs she herself +has endured, she cannot hate _Don Giovanni_ or efface his image from +her heart. Her reward is that her recreant lover in the darkness +below, changes costume with his servant and while _Leporello_, +disguised as the _Don_, attracts _Donna Elvira_ into the garden, the +cavalier himself addresses to _Zerlina_, who has been taken under +_Donna Elvira's_ protection, the charming serenade: "Deh! vieni alla +finestra" (Appear, love at thy window), which he accompanies on the +mandolin, or should so accompany, for usually the accompaniment is +played pizzicato by the orchestra. + +As the result of complications, which I shall not attempt to follow, +_Masetto_, who is seeking to administer physical chastisement to _Don +Giovanni_, receives instead a drubbing from the latter. + +_Zerlina_, while by no means indifferent to the attentions of the +dashing _Don_, is at heart faithful to _Masetto_ and, while I fancy +she is by no means obtuse to the humorous aspect of his chastisement +by _Don Giovanni_, she comes trippingly out of the house and consoles +the poor fellow with the graceful measures of "Vedrai carino, se sei +buonino" (List, and I'll find love, if you are kind love). + +Shortly after this episode comes _Don Ottavio's_ famous air, the solo +number which makes the rôle worth while, "Il mio tesoro intanto" (Fly +then, my love, entreating). Upon this air praise has been exhausted. +It has been called the "pietra di paragone" of tenors--the touchstone, +the supreme test of classic song. + +[Music] + +Retribution upon _Don Giovanni_ is not to be too long deferred. After +the escapade of the serenade and the drubbing of _Masetto_, the _Don_, +who has made off, chances to meet in the churchyard (or in the public +square) with _Leporello_, who meanwhile has gotten rid of _Donna +Elvira_. It is about two in the morning. They see the newly erected +statue to the murdered _Commandant_. _Don Giovanni_ bids it, through +_Leporello_, to supper with him in his palace. Will it accept? The +statue answers, "Yea!" _Leporello_ is terrified. And _Don Giovanni_? + +"In truth the scene is bizarre. The old boy comes to supper. Now +hasten and bestir yourself to spread a royal feast." + +Such is the sole reflection that the fateful miracle, to which he has +just been a witness, draws from this miscreant, who, whatever else he +may be, is brave. + +Back in his palace, _Don Giovanni_ seats himself at table and sings of +the pleasures of life. An orchestra on the stage plays airs from +Vincente Martino's "Una Cosa Rara" (A Rare Thing); Sarti's "Fra Due +Litiganti" (Between Two Litigants), and Mozart's own "Nozze di +Figaro," _Leporello_ announcing the selections. The "Figaro" air is +"Non più andrai" (Play no more, boy, the part of a lover). + +_Donna Elvira_ enters. On her knees she begs the man who has betrayed +her to mend his ways. Her plea falls on deaf ears. She leaves. Her +shriek is heard from the corridor. She re-enters and flees the palace +by another door. + +"Va a veder che cos'è stato" (Go, and see what it is) _Don Giovanni_ +commands _Leporello_. + +The latter returns trembling with fright. He has seen in the corridor +"l'uom di sasso, l'uomo bianco"--the man of stone, the big white man. + +Seizing a candle, drawing his sword, _Don Giovanni_ boldly goes into +the corridor. A few moments later he backs into the room, receding +before the statue of the _Commandant_. The lights go out. All is dark +save for the flame of the candle in _Don Giovanni's_ hand. Slowly, +with heavy footsteps that re-echo, the statue enters. It speaks. + +"Don Giovanni, you have invited me to sit at table with you. Lo! I am +here." + +Well knowing the fate in store for him, yet, with unebbing courage, +_Don Giovanni_ nonchalantly commands _Leporello_ to serve supper. + +"Desist!" exclaims the statue. "He who has sat at a heavenly banquet, +does not break the bread of mortals.... Don Giovanni, will you come to +sup with me?" + +"I will," fearlessly answers the _Don_. + +"Give me your hand in gage thereof." + +"Here it is." + +_Don Giovanni_ extends his hand. The statue's huge hand of stone +closes upon it. + +"Huh! what an icy grasp!"--"Repent! Change your course at your last +hour."--"No, far from me such a thought."--"Repent, O miscreant!"--"No, +you old fool."--"Repent!"--"No!" + +Nothing daunts him. A fiery pit opens. Demons seize him--unrepentant +to the end--and drag him down. + +The music of the scene is gripping, yet accomplished without an +addition to the ordinary orchestra of Mozart's day, without straining +after effect, without any means save those commonly to his hand. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Scotti as Don Giovanni] + +In the modern opera house the final curtain falls upon this scene. +In the work, however, there is another scene in which the other +characters moralize upon _Don Giovanni's_ end. There is one +accusation, however, none can urge against him. He was not a coward. +Therein lies the appeal of the character. His is a brilliant, +impetuous figure, with a dash of philosophy, which is that, sometime, +somewhere, in the course of his amours, he will discover the perfect +woman from whose lips he will be able to draw the sweetness of all +women. Moreover he is a villain with a keen sense of humour. +Inexcusable in real life, he is a debonair, fascinating figure on the +stage, whereas _Donna Anna_, _Donna Elvira_, and _Don Ottavio_ are +mere hinges in the drama and as creations purely musical. _Zerlina_, +on the other hand, is one of Mozart's most delectable characters. +_Leporello_, too, is clearly drawn, dramatically and musically; a +coward, yet loyal to the master who appeals to a strain of the +humorous in him and whose courage he admires. + +For the Vienna production Mozart wrote three new vocal numbers, which +are printed in the score as additions. Caterina Cavalieri, the +_Elvira_, had complained to Mozart, that the Viennese public did not +appreciate her as did audiences of other cities and begged him for +something that would give her voice full scope. The result was the +fine aria: "Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata." The _Ottavio_, Signor +Morello, was considered unequal to "Il mio tesoro," so Mozart wrote +the less exacting "Dalla sua pace," for him. To amuse the public he +inserted a comic duet, "Per queste tue manine," for _Zerlina_ and +_Leporello_. This usually is omitted. The other two inserts were +interpolated in the second act of the opera before the finale. In the +Metropolitan Opera House version, however, _Donna Elvira_ sings "Mi +tradì" to express her rage after the "Madamina" of Leporello; and _Don +Ottavio_ sings "Dalla sua pace" before the scene in _Don Giovanni's_ +château. + +The first performance of "Don Giovanni" in America took place in the +Park Theatre, New York, on Tuesday evening, May 23, 1826. I have +verified the date in the file of the New York _Evening Post_. "This +evening for the first time in America, the semi-serious opera of 'Il +Don Giovanni,'" reads the advertisement of that date. Then follows the +cast. Manuel Garcia played the title rôle; Manuel Garcia, Jr., +afterwards inventor of the laryngoscope, who reached the age of 101, +dying in London in 1906, was _Leporello_; Mme. Barbieri, _Donna Anna_; +Mme. Garcia, _Donna Elvira_; Signorina Maria Garcia (afterwards famous +under her married name of Malibran), _Zerlina_; Milon, whom Mr. +Krehbiel identifies as a violoncellist later with the Philharmonic +Society, _Don Ottavio_; and Carlo Angrisani, _Masetto_, a rôle he had +sung at the first London performance of the work. + +Da Ponte, the librettist of the work, who had become Professor of +Italian at Columbia College, had induced Garcia to put on the opera. +At the first performance during the finale of the first act everything +went at sixes and sevens, in spite of the efforts of Garcia, in the +title rôle, to keep things together. Finally, sword in hand, he +stepped to the front of the stage, ordered the performance stopped, +and, exhorting the singers not to commit the crime of ruining a +masterwork, started the finale over again, which now went all right. + +It is related by da Ponte that "my 'Don Giovanni,'" as he called it, +made such a success that a friend of his who always fell asleep at +operatic performances, not only remained awake during the whole of +"Don Giovanni," but told him he couldn't sleep a wink the rest of the +night for excitement. + +Pauline Viardot-Garcia, sister of Signorina Garcia (afterwards Mme. +Malibran), the _Zerlina_ of the first New York performance, owned the +original autograph score of "Don Giovanni." She bequeathed it to the +Paris Conservatoire. + +The opera has engaged the services of famous artists. Faure and Maurel +were great _Don Giovannis_, Jean de Reszke sang the rôle, while he was +still a baritone; Scotti made his _début_ at the Metropolitan Opera +House, December 27, 1899, in the rôle, with Nordica as _Donna Anna_, +Suzanne Adams, as _Donna Elvira_, Sembrich as _Zerlina_, and Édouard +de Reszke as _Leporello_. Renaud appeared as _Don Giovanni_ at the +Manhattan Opera House. Lablache was accounted the greatest of +_Leporellos_. The rôle of _Don Ottavio_ has been sung by Rubini and +Mario. At the Mozart Festival, Salzburg, 1914, the opera was given +with Lilli Lehmann, Farrar, and McCormack in the cast. + +A curious aside in the history of the work was an "adaptation," +produced by Kalkbrenner in Paris, 1805. How greatly this differed from +the original may be judged from the fact that the trio of the masks +was sung, not by _Donna Anna_, _Donna Elvira_, and _Don Ottavio_, but +by three policemen! + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Alten and Goritz as Papagena and Papageno in "The Magic Flute"] + + +THE MAGIC FLUTE + +DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE + + Opera in two acts by Mozart; words by Emanuel Schikaneder + and Gieseke. Produced, September 30, 1791, in Vienna, in the + Theatre auf der Wieden; Paris, 1801, as "Les Mystères + d'Isis"; London, King's Theatre, June 6, 1811 (Italian); + Covent Garden, May 27, 1833 (German); Drury Lane, March 10, + 1838 (English); New York, Park Theatre, April 17, 1833 + (English). The rôle of _Astrofiammante, Queen of the Night_, + has been sung here by Carlotta Patti, Ilma di Murska, + Gerster, Sembrich, and Hempel. + + CHARACTERS + + SARASTRO, High Priest of Isis _Bass_ + TAMINO, an Egyptian Prince _Tenor_ + PAPAGENO, a bird-catcher _Baritone_ + ASTROFIAMMANTE, Queen of the Night _Soprano_ + PAMINA, her daughter _Soprano_ + MONOSTATOS, a Moor, chief slave of + the Temple _Baritone_ + PAPAGENA _Soprano_ + + Three Ladies-in-Waiting to the Queen; Three Youths of the + Temple; Priests, Priestesses, Slaves, etc. + + _Time_--Egypt, about the reign of Rameses I. + + _Place_--Near and at the Temple of Isis, Memphis. + +The libretto to "The Magic Flute" is considered such a jumble of +nonsense that it is as well to endeavour to extract some sense from +it. + +Emanuel Johann Schikaneder, who wrote it with the aid of a chorister +named Gieseke, was a friend of Mozart and a member of the same Masonic +Lodge. He also was the manager of a theatrical company and had +persuaded Mozart to compose the music to a puppet show for him. He had +selected for this show the story of "Lulu" by Liebeskind, which had +appeared in a volume of Oriental tales brought out by Wieland under +the title of "Dschinnistan." In the original tale a wicked sorcerer +has stolen the daughter of the Queen of Night, who is restored by a +Prince by means of magic. While Schikaneder was busy on his libretto, +a fairy story by Perinet, music by Wenzel Müller, and treating of the +same subject, was given at another Viennese theatre. Its great success +interfered with Schikaneder's original plan. + +At that time, however, freemasonry was a much discussed subject. It +had been interdicted by Maria Theresa and armed forces were employed +to break up the lodges. As a practical man Schikaneder saw his chance +to exploit the interdicted rites on the stage. Out of the wicked +sorcerer he made _Sarastro_, the sage priest of Isis. The ordeals of +_Tamino_ and _Pamina_ became copies of the ceremonials of freemasonry. +He also laid the scene of the opera in Egypt, where freemasonry +believes its rites to have originated. In addition to all this +Mozart's beautiful music ennobled the libretto even in its dull and +unpoetical passages, and lent to the whole a touch of the mysterious +and sacred. "The muse of Mozart lightly bears her century of +existence," writes a French authority, of this score. + +Because of its supposed relation to freemasonry, commentators have +identified the vengeful _Queen of the Night_ with Maria Theresa, and +_Tamino_ with the Emperor. _Pamina_, _Papageno_, and _Papagena_ are +set down as types of the people, and _Monostatos_ as the fugleman of +monasticism. + +Mozart wrote on "The Magic Flute" from March until July and in +September, 1791. September 30, two months before his death, the first +performance was given. + +In the overture to "The Magic Flute" the heavy reiterated chords +represent, it has been suggested, the knocking at the door of the +lodge room, especially as they are heard again in the temple scene, +when the novitiate of _Tamino_ is about to begin. The brilliancy of +the fugued allegro often has been commented on as well as the +resemblance of its theme to that of Clementi's sonata in B-flat. + +The story of "The Magic Flute" opens Act I, with _Tamino_ endeavouring +to escape from a huge snake. He trips in running and falls +unconscious. Hearing his cries for help, three black-garbed +_Ladies-in-Waiting_ of the _Queen of the Night_ appear and kill the +snake with their spears. Quite unwillingly they leave the handsome +youth, who, on recovering consciousness, sees dancing toward him an +odd-looking man entirely covered with feathers. It is _Papageno_, a +bird-catcher. He tells the astonished _Tamino_ that this is the realm +of the _Queen of the Night_. Nor, seeing that the snake is dead, does +he hesitate to boast that it was he who killed the monster. For this +lie he is immediately punished. The three _Ladies-in-Waiting_ reappear +and place a padlock on his mouth. Then they show _Tamino_ the +miniature of a maiden, whose magical beauty at once fills his heart +with ardent love. Enter the _Queen of the Night_. She tells _Tamino_ +the portrait is that of her daughter, _Pamina_, who has been taken +from her by a wicked sorcerer, _Sarastro_. She has chosen _Tamino_ to +deliver the maiden and as a reward he will receive her hand in +marriage. The _Queen_ then disappears and the three _Ladies-in-Waiting_ +come back. They take the padlock from _Papageno's_ mouth, give him a +set of chimes and _Tamino_ a golden flute. By the aid of these magical +instruments they will be able to escape the perils of their journey, +on which they will be accompanied by three youths or genii. + +Change of scene. A richly furnished apartment in _Sarastro's_ palace +is disclosed. A brutal Moor, _Monostatos_, is pursuing _Pamina_ with +unwelcome attentions. The appearance of _Papageno_ puts him to flight. +The bird-catcher recognizes _Pamina_ as the daughter of the _Queen of +the Night_, and assures her that she will soon be rescued. In the +meantime the _Three Youths_ guide _Tamino_ to a grove where three +temples stand. He is driven away from the doors of two, but at the +third there appears a priest who informs him that _Sarastro_ is no +tyrant, no wicked sorcerer as the _Queen_ had warned him, but a man of +wisdom and of noble character. + +The sound of _Papageno's_ voice arouses _Tamino_ from the meditations +inspired by the words of the priest. He hastens forth and seeks to +call his companion by playing on his flute. _Papageno_ is not alone. +He is trying to escape with _Pamina_, but is prevented by the +appearance of _Monostatos_ and some slaves, who endeavour to seize +them. But _Papageno_ sets the Moor and his slaves dancing by playing +on his magic chimes. + +Trumpet blasts announce the coming of _Sarastro_. _Pamina_ falls at +the feet of the High Priest and explains that she was trying to escape +the unwelcome attentions of the Moor. The latter now drags _Tamino_ +in, but instead of the reward he expects, receives a sound flogging. +By the command of _Sarastro_, _Tamino_ and _Pamina_ are brought into +the Temple of Ordeals, where they must prove that they are worthy of +the higher happiness. + +Act II. In the Palm Grove. _Sarastro_ informs the priests of the plans +which he has laid. The gods have decided that _Pamina_ shall become +the wife of the noble youth _Tamino_. _Tamino_, however, must prove, +by his own power, that he is worthy of admission to the Temple. +Therefore _Sarastro_ has taken under his protection _Pamina_, daughter +of the _Queen of the Night_, to whom is due all darkness and +superstition. But the couple must go through severe ordeals in order +to be worthy of entering the Temple of Light, and thus of thwarting +the sinister machinations of the _Queen_. + +In the succeeding scenes we see these fabulous ordeals, which +_Tamino_, with the assistance of his magic flute and his own purity of +purpose, finally overcomes in company with _Pamina_. Darkness is +banished and the young couple enter into the light of the Temple of +the Sun. _Papageno_ also fares well, for he receives _Papagena_ for +wife. + +There is much nonsense and even buffoonery in "The Magic Flute"; and, +in spite of real nobility in the rôle and music of _Sarastro_, Mr. +Krehbiel's comment that the piece should be regarded as somewhat in +the same category as a Christmas pantomime is by no means far-fetched. +It lends itself to elaborate production, and spectacular performances +of it have been given at the Metropolitan Opera House. + +Its representation requires for the rôle of _Astrofiammante, Queen of +the Night_, a soprano of extraordinarily high range and agility of +voice, as each of the two great airs of this vengeful lady extend to +high F and are so brilliant in style that one associates with them +almost anything but the dire outpouring of threats their text is +intended to convey. They were composed because Mozart's +sister-in-law, Josepha Weber (Mme. Hofer) was in the cast of the first +performance and her voice was such as has been described above. The +_Queen_ has an air in Act I and another in Act II. A quotation from +the second, the so-called "Vengeance aria," will show the range and +brilliancy of voice required of a singer in the rôle of +_Astrofiammante_. + +[Music] + +One is surprised to learn that this _tour de force_ of brilliant +vocalization is set to words beginning: "Vengeance of hell is boiling +in my bosom"; for by no means does it boil with a vengeance. + +_Papageno_ in his dress of feathers is an amusing character. His first +song, "A fowler bold in me you see," with interludes on his pipes, is +jovial; and after his mouth has been padlocked his inarticulate and +oft-repeated "Hm!" can always be made provocative of laughter. With +_Pamina_ he has a charming duet "The manly heart that love desires." +The chimes with which he causes _Monostatos_ and his slaves to dance, +willy-nilly, are delightful and so is his duet with _Papagena_, near +the end of the opera. _Tamino_, with the magic flute, charms the wild +beasts. They come forth from their lairs and lie at his feet. "Thy +magic tones shall speak for me," is his principal air. The concerted +number for _Pamina_ and trio of female voices (the _Three Youths_ or +genii) is of exceeding grace. The two _Men in Armour_, who in one of +the scenes of the ordeals guard the portal to a subterranean cavern +and announce to _Tamino_ the awards that await him, do so to the vocal +strains of an old German sacred melody with much admired counterpoint +in the orchestra. + +Next, however, in significance to the music for _Astrofiammante_ and, +indeed, of far nobler character than the airs for the _Queen of the +Night_, are the invocation of Isis by _Sarastro_, "O, Isis and +Osiris," with its interluding chant of the priests, and his air, +"Within this hallowed dwelling." Not only the solemnity of the vocal +score but the beauty of the orchestral accompaniment, so rich, yet so +restrained, justly cause these two numbers to rank with Mozart's +finest achievements. + +"Die Zauberflöte" (The Magic Flute) was its composer's swan-song in +opera and perhaps his greatest popular success. Yet he is said to have +made little or nothing out of it, having reserved as his compensation +the right to dispose of copies of the score to other theatres. Copies, +however, were procured surreptitiously; his last illness set in; and, +poor business man that he was, others reaped the rewards of his +genius. + +In 1801, ten years after Mozart's death, there was produced in Paris +an extraordinary version of "The Magic Flute," entitled "Les Mystères +d'Isis" (The Mysteries of Isis). Underlying this was a considerable +portion of "The Magic Flute" score, but also introduced in it were +fragments from other works of the composer ("Don Giovanni," "Figaro," +"Clemenza di Tito") and even bits from Haydn symphonies. Yet this +hodge-podge not only had great success--owing to the magic of Mozart's +music--it actually was revived more than a quarter of a century later, +and the real "Zauberflöte" was not given in Paris until 1829. + +Besides the operas discussed, Mozart produced (1781) "Idomeneo" and +(1791) "La Clemenza di Tito." In 1768, when he was twelve years old, a +one-act "Singspiel" or musical comedy, "Bastien and Bastienne," based +on a French vaudeville by Mme. Favart, was privately played in Vienna. +With text rearranged by Max Kalbeck, the graceful little piece has +been revived with success. The story is of the simplest. Two lovers, +_Bastien_ (tenor) and _Bastienne_ (soprano), have quarrelled. Without +the slightest complication in the plot, they are brought together by +the third character, an old shepherd named _Colas_ (bass). "Der +Schauspieldirektor" (The Impresario), another little comedy opera, +produced 1786, introduces that clever rogue, Schikaneder, at whose +entreaty "The Magic Flute" was composed. The other characters include +Mozart himself, and Mme. Hofer, his sister-in-law, who was the _Queen +of the Night_ in the original cast of "The Magic Flute." The story +deals with the troubles of an impresario due to the jealousy of prima +donnas. "Before they are engaged, opera singers are very engaging, +except when they are engaged in singing." This line is from H.E. +Krehbiel's translation of the libretto, produced, with "Bastien and +Bastienne" (translated by Alice Matullah, as a "lyric pastoral"), at +the Empire Theatre, New York, October 26, 1916. These charming +productions were made by the Society of American Singers with a +company including David Bispham (Schikaneder and Colas), Albert Reiss +(Mozart and Bastien), Mabel Garrison, and Lucy Gates; the direction +that of Mr. Reiss. + +There remain to be mentioned two other operatic comedies by Mozart: +"The Elopement from the Serail" (Belmonte und Constanze), 1782, in +three acts; and "Così fan Tutte" (They All Do It), 1790, in two. The +music of "Così fan Tutte" is so sparkling that various attempts have +been made to relieve it of the handicap imposed by the banality of the +original libretto by da Ponte. Herman Levi's version has proven the +most successful of the various rearrangements. The characters are two +Andalusian sisters, _Fiordiligi_ (soprano), _Dorabella_ (soprano); two +officers, their fiancés, _Ferrando_ (tenor), and _Guglielmo_ +(baritone); _Alfonso_ (bass); and _Despina_ (soprano), maid to the two +sisters. + +_Alfonso_ lays a wager with the officers that, like all women, their +fiancées will prove unfaithful, if opportunity were offered. The men +pretend their regiment has been ordered to Havana, then return in +disguise and lay siege to the young ladies. In various ways, including +a threat of suicide, the women's sympathies are played upon. In the +original they are moved to pledge their hearts and hands to the +supposed new-comers. A reconciliation follows their simple +pronouncement that "they all do it." + +In the revised version, they become cognizant of the intrigue, play +their parts in it knowingly, at the right moment disclose their +knowledge, shame their lovers, and forgive them. An actual wager laid +in Vienna is said to have furnished the basis for da Ponte's +libretto. + + + + +Ludwig van Beethoven + + +FIDELIO + + "Fidelio," opera in two acts, by Ludwig van Beethoven. + Produced in three acts, as "Fidelio, oder, die eheliche + Liebe" (Fidelio, or Conjugal Love), at the Theatre on the + Wien [Transcriber's Note: should be 'Theater auf der Wieden, + Vienna'], November 20, 1805. Revised and given at the + Imperial Private Theatre, March 29, 1806, but withdrawn after + a few performances. Again revised and successfully brought + out May 23, 1814, at the Kärnthnerthor Theatre (Theatre at + the Carinthian Gate), Vienna. Paris, Théâtre Lyrique, May 5, + 1860. London, King's Theatre, May 18, 1832; Covent Garden, + June 12, 1835, with Malibran; May 20, 1851, in Italian, with + recitatives by Balfe. New York, Park Theatre, September 9, + 1839. (See last paragraph of this article.) The libretto was + by Sonnleithner after Bouilly; first revision by Breuning; + second by Treitschke. Four overtures, "Leonore," Nos. 1, 2, + and 3; and "Fidelio." + + CHARACTERS + + FLORESTAN, a Spanish Nobleman _Tenor_ + LEONORE, his wife, in male attire as FIDELIO _Soprano_ + DON FERNANDO, Prime Minister of Spain _Bass_ + PIZARRO, Governor of the prison and enemy + to FLORESTAN _Bass_ + ROCCO, chief jailer _Bass_ + MARCELLINA, daughter of ROCCO _Soprano_ + JACQUINO, assistant to ROCCO _Tenor_ + + Soldiers, prisoners, people. + + _Time_--18th Century. + + _Place_--A fortress, near Seville, Spain, used as a prison + for political offenders. + +Ludwig van Beethoven, composer of "Fidelio," was born at Bonn, +December 16, 1770. He died at Vienna, March 26, 1827. As he composed +but this one opera, and as his fame rests chiefly on his great +achievements outside the domain of the stage--symphonies, sonatas, +etc.--it is possible, as Storck suggests in his _Opernbuch_, to +dispense with biographical data and confine ourselves to facts +relating to "Fidelio." + +The libretto, which appealed to the composer by reason of its pure and +idealistic motive, was not written for Beethoven. It was a French book +by Bouilly and had been used by three composers: Pierre Gabeaux +(1798); Simon Mayr, Donizetti's teacher at Bergamo and the composer of +more than seventy operas (1805); and Paër, whose "Leonora, ossia +l'Amore Conjugale" (Leonora, or Conjugal Love) was brought out at +Dresden in December, 1804. + +It was Schikaneder, the librettist and producer of Mozart's "Magic +Flute," who commissioned Beethoven to compose an opera. But it was +finally executed for Baron von Braun, who had succeeded to the +management of the Theatre on the Wien. + +Beethoven's heart was bound up in the work. Conscientious to the last +detail in everything he did, this noble man, inspired by a noble +theme, appears to have put even more labour into his opera than into +any other one work. There are no less than sixteen sketches for the +opening of _Florestan's_ first air and 346 pages of sketches for the +opera. Nor did his labour in it cease when the opera was completed and +performed. + +Bouilly's libretto was translated and made over for Beethoven by +Schubert's friend Joseph Sonnleithner. The opera was brought out +November 20th and repeated November 21 and 22, 1805. It was a failure. +The French were in occupation of Vienna, which the Emperor of Austria +and the court had abandoned, and conditions generally were upset. But +even Beethoven's friends did not blame the non-success of the opera +upon these untoward circumstances. It had inherent defects, as was +apparent even a century later, when at the "Fidelio" centennial +celebration in Berlin, the original version was restored and +performed. + +To remedy these, Beethoven's friend, Stephan von Breuning, condensed +the three acts to two and the composer made changes in the score. This +second version was brought forward April 29, 1806, with better +success, but a quarrel with von Braun led Beethoven to withdraw it. It +seems to have required seven years for the _entente cordiale_ between +composer and manager to become re-established. Then Baron von Braun +had the book taken in hand by a practical librettist, Georg Friedrich +Treitschke. Upon receiving the revision, which greatly pleased him, +Beethoven in his turn re-revised the score. In this form "Fidelio" was +brought out May 23, 1814, in the Theatre am Kärnthnerthor. There was +no question of failure this time. The opera took its place in the +repertoire and when, eight years later, Mme. Schröder-Devrient sang +the title rôle, her success in it was sensational. + +There are four overtures to the work, three entitled "Leonore" (Nos. +1, 2, and 3) and one "Fidelio." The "Leonore" overtures are +incorrectly numbered. The No. 2 was given at the original performance +and is, therefore, No. 1. The greatest and justly the most famous, the +No. 3, is really No. 2. The so-called No. 1 was composed for a +projected performance at Prague, which never came off. The score and +parts, in a copyist's hand, but with corrections by Beethoven, were +discovered after the composer's death. When it was recognized as an +overture to the opera, the conclusion that it was the earliest one, +which he probably had laid aside, was not unnaturally arrived at. The +"Fidelio" overture was intended for the second revision, but was not +ready in time. The overture to "The Ruins of Athens" was substituted. +The overture to "Fidelio" usually is played before the opera and the +"Leonore," No. 3, between the acts. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Matzenauer as Fidelio] + +Of the "Leonore," No. 3, I think it is within bounds to say that it is +the first great overture that sums up in its thematic material and in +its general scope, construction, and working out, the story of the +opera which it precedes. Even the trumpet call is brought in with +stirring dramatic effect. It may be said that from this time on the +melodies of their operas were drawn on more and more by composers for +the thematic material of their overtures, which thus became +music-dramas in miniature. The overture "Leonore," No. 3, also is an +established work in the classical concert repertoire, as is also +_Leonore's_ recitative and air in the first act. + +In the story of the opera, _Florestan_, a noble Spaniard, has aroused +the enmity of _Pizarro_, governor of a gloomy mediæval fortress, used +as a place of confinement for political prisoners. _Pizarro_ has been +enabled secretly to seize _Florestan_ and cast him into the darkest +dungeon of the fortress, at the same time spreading a report of his +death. Indeed, _Pizarro_ actually plans to do away with _Florestan_ by +slow starvation; or, if necessary, by means more swift. + +One person, however, suspects the truth--_Leonore_, the wife of +_Florestan_. Her faithfulness, the risks she takes, the danger she +runs, in order to save her husband, and the final triumph of conjugal +love over the sinister machinations of _Pizarro_, form the motive of +the story of "Fidelio," a title derived from the name assumed by +_Leonore_, when, disguised as a man, she obtains employment as +assistant to _Rocco_, the chief jailer of the prison. _Fidelio_ has +been at work and has become a great favourite with _Rocco_, as well as +with _Marcellina_, the jailer's daughter. The latter, in fact, much +prefers the gentle, comely youth, _Fidelio_, to _Jacquino_, the +turnkey, who, before _Fidelio's_ appearance upon the scene, believed +himself to be her accepted lover. _Leonore_ cannot make her sex known +to the girl. It would ruin her plans to save her husband. Such is the +situation when the curtain rises on the first act, which is laid in +the courtyard of the prison. + +Act I. The opera opens with a brisk duet between _Jacquino_ and +_Marcellina_, in which he urges her definitely to accept him and she +cleverly puts him off. Left alone she expresses her regret for +_Jacquino_, but wishes she were united with _Fidelio_. ("O wär' ich +schon mit dir vereint"--O, were I but with you united.) + +Afterward she is joined by her father. Then _Leonore_ (as _Fidelio_) +enters the courtyard. She has a basket of provisions and also is +carrying some fetters which she has taken to be repaired. +_Marcellina_, seeing how weary _Leonore_ is, hastens to relieve the +supposed youth of his burden. _Rocco_ hints not only tolerantly but +even encouragingly at what he believes to be the fancy _Fidelio_ and +_Marcellina_ have taken to each other. This leads up to the quartet in +canon form, one of the notable vocal numbers of the opera, "Mir ist so +wunderbar" (How wondrous the emotion). Being a canon, the theme +enunciated by each of the four characters is the same, but if the +difference in the sentiments of each character is indicated by subtle +nuance of expression on the part of the singers, and the intonation be +correct, the beauty of this quartet becomes plain even at a first +hearing. The participants are _Leonore_, _Marcellina_, _Rocco_, and +_Jacquino_, who appears toward the close. "After this canon," say the +stage directions, so clearly is the form of the quartet recognized, +"_Jacquino_ goes back to his lodge." + +[Music] + +_Rocco_ then voices a song in praise of money and the need of it for +young people about to marry. ("Wenn sich Nichts mit Nichts +verbindet"--When you nothing add to nothing.) The situation is +awkward for _Leonore_, but the rescue of her husband demands that she +continue to masquerade as a man. Moreover there is an excuse in the +palpable fact that before she entered _Rocco's_ service, _Jacquino_ +was in high favour with _Marcellina_ and probably will have no +difficulty in re-establishing himself therein, when the comely youth +_Fidelio_, turns out to be _Leonore_, the faithful wife of +_Florestan_. + +Through a description which _Rocco_ gives of the prisoners, _Leonore_ +now learns what she had not been sure of before. Her husband is +confined in this fortress and in its deepest dungeon. + +A short march, with a pronounced and characteristic rhythm, announces +the approach of _Pizarro_. He looks over his despatches. One of them +warns him that _Fernando_, the Minister of State, is about to inspect +the fortress, accusations having been made to him that _Pizarro_ has +used his power as governor to wreak vengeance upon his private +enemies. A man of quick decision, _Pizarro_ determines to do away with +_Florestan_ at once. His aria, "Ha! welch' ein Augenblick!" (Ah! the +great moment!) is one of the most difficult solos in the dramatic +repertoire for bass voice. When really mastered, however, it also is +one of the most effective. + +_Pizarro_ posts a trumpeter on the ramparts with a sentry to watch the +road from Seville. As soon as a state equipage with outriders is +sighted, the trumpeter is to blow a signal. Having thus made sure of +being warned of the approach of the _Minister_, he tosses a +well-filled purse to _Rocco_, and bids him "for the safety of the +State," to make away with the most dangerous of the prisoners--meaning +_Florestan_. _Rocco_ declines to commit murder, but when _Pizarro_ +takes it upon himself to do the deed, _Rocco_ consents to dig a grave +in an old cistern in the vaults, so that all traces of the crime will +be hidden from the expected visitor. + +_Leonore_, who has overheard the plot, now gives vent to her feelings +in the highly dramatic recitative: "Abscheulicher! wo eilst du hin!" +("Accursed one! Where hasten'st thou!"); followed by the beautiful +air, "Komm Hoffnung" (Come, hope!), a deeply moving expression of +confidence that her love and faith will enable her, with the aid of +Providence, to save her husband's life. Soon afterwards she learns +that, as _Rocco's_ assistant, she is to help him in digging the grave. +She will be near her husband and either able to aid him or at least +die with him. + +The prisoners from the upper tiers are now, on _Leonore's_ +intercession, permitted a brief opportunity to breathe the open air. +The cells are unlocked and they are allowed to stroll in the garden of +the fortress, until _Pizarro_, hearing of this, angrily puts an end to +it. The chorus of the prisoners, subdued like the half-suppressed joy +of fearsome beings, is one of the significant passages of the score. + +Act II. The scene is in the dungeon where _Florestan_ is in heavy +chains. To one side is the old cistern covered with rubbish. Musically +the act opens with _Florestan's_ recitative and air, a fit companion +piece to _Leonore's_ "Komm Hoffnung" in Act I. The whispered duet +between _Leonore_ and _Rocco_ as they dig the grave and the orchestral +accompaniment impress one with the gruesome significance of the scene. + +_Pizarro_ enters the vault, exultantly makes himself known to his +enemy, and draws his dagger for the fatal thrust. _Leonore_ throws +herself in his way. Pushed aside, she again interposes herself between +the would-be murderer and his victim, and, pointing at him a loaded +pistol, which she has had concealed about her person, cries out: +"First slay his wife!" + +At this moment, in itself so tense, a trumpet call rings out from the +direction of the fortress wall. _Jacquino_ appears at the head of the +stone stairway leading down into the dungeon. The _Minister of State_ +is at hand. His vanguard is at the gate. _Florestan_ is saved. There +is a rapturous duet, "O, namenlose Freude" (Joy inexpressible) for him +and the devoted wife to whom he owes his life. + +In _Florestan_ the _Minister of State_ recognizes his friend, whom he +believed to have died, according to the reports set afloat by +_Pizarro_, who himself is now apprehended. To _Leonore_ is assigned +the joyful task of unlocking and loosening her husband's fetters and +freeing him from his chains. A chorus of rejoicing: "Wer ein solches +Weib errungen" (He, whom such a wife has cherished) brings the opera +to a close. + +It is well said in George P. Upton's book, _The Standard Operas_, that +"as a drama and as an opera, 'Fidelio' stands almost alone in its +perfect purity, in the moral grandeur of its subject, and in the +resplendent ideality of its music." Even those who do not appreciate +the beauty of such a work, and, unfortunately their number is +considerable, cannot fail to agree with me that the trumpet call, +which brings the prison scene to a climax, is one of the most dramatic +moments in opera. I was a boy when, more than forty years ago, I first +heard "Fidelio" in Wiesbaden. But I still remember the thrill, when +that trumpet call split the air with the message that the _Minister of +State_ was in sight and that _Leonore_ had saved her husband. + +[Music] + +When "Fidelio" had its first American performance (New York, Park +Theatre, September 9, 1839) the opera did not fill the entire evening. +The entertainment, as a whole, was a curiosity from present-day +standards. First came Beethoven's opera, with Mrs. Martyn as +_Leonore_. Then a _pas seul_ was danced by Mme. Araline; the whole +concluding with "The Deep, Deep Sea," in which Mr. Placide appeared as +_The Great American Sea Serpent_. This seems incredible. But I have +searched for and found the advertisement in the New York _Evening +Post_, and the facts are stated. + +Under Dr. Leopold Damrosch, "Fidelio" was performed at the +Metropolitan Opera House in the season of 1884-85; under Anton Seidl, +during the season of 1886-87, with Brandt and Niemann as well as with +Lehmann and Niemann as _Leonore_ and _Florestan_. + +The 1886-87 representations of "Fidelio," by great artists under a +great conductor, are among the most vivid memories of opera-goers so +fortunate as to have heard them. + + + + +Weber and his Operas + + +Carl Maria von Weber, born at Eutin, Oldenberg, December 18, 1786, +died in London, June 5, 1826, is the composer of "Der Freischütz;" +"Euryanthe," and "Oberon." + +"Der Freischütz" was first heard in Berlin, June 18, 1821. "Euryanthe" +was produced in Vienna, October 25, 1823. "Oberon" had its first +performance at Covent Garden, London, April 12, 1826. Eight weeks +later Weber died. A sufferer from consumption, his malady was +aggravated by over-exertion in finishing the score of "Oberon," +rehearsing and conducting the opera, and attending the social +functions arranged in his honour. + + +DER FREISCHÜTZ + + The first American performance of this opera, which is in + three acts, was in English. The event took place in the Park + Theatre, New York, March 2, 1825. This was only four years + later than the production in Berlin. It was not heard here + in German until a performance at the old Broadway Theatre. + This occurred in 1856 under the direction of Carl Bergmann. + London heard it, in English, July 23, 1824; in German, at + the King's Theatre, May 9, 1832; in Italian, as "Il Franco + Arciero," at Covent Garden, March 16, 1825. For this + performance Costa wrote recitatives to replace the dialogue. + Berlioz did the same for the production at the Grand Opéra, + Paris, as "Le Franc Archer," June 7, 1841. "Freischütz" + means "free-shooter"--someone who shoots with magic bullets. + + CHARACTERS + + PRINCE OTTOKAR _Baritone_ + CUNO, head ranger _Bass_ + MAX, a forester _Tenor_ + KASPAR, a forester _Bass_ + KILIAN, a peasant _Tenor_ + A HERMIT _Bass_ + ZAMIEL, the wild huntsman _Speaking Part_ + AGATHE, Cuno's daughter _Soprano_ + AENNCHEN (ANNETTE), her cousin _Soprano_ + + _Time_--Middle of 18th Century. + + _Place_--Bohemia. + +Act I. At the target range. _Kilian_, the peasant, has defeated _Max_, +the forester, at a prize shooting, a Schützenfest, maybe. _Max_, of +course, should have won. Being a forester, accustomed to the use of +fire-arms, it is disgraceful for him to have been defeated by a mere +peasant. + +_Kilian_ "rubs it in" by mocking him in song and the men and girls of +the village join in the mocking chorus--a clever bit of teasing in +music and establishing at the very start the originality in melody, +style, and character of the opera. + +The hereditary forester, _Cuno_, is worried over the poor showing +_Max_ has made not only on that day, but for some time past. There is +to be a "shoot" on the morrow before _Prince Ottokar_. In order to win +the hand in marriage of _Agathe_, _Cuno's_ daughter, and the eventual +succession as hereditary forester, _Max_ must carry off the honours in +the competition now so near at hand. He himself is in despair. Life +will be worthless to him without _Agathe_. Yet he seems to have lost +all his cunning as a shot. + +It is now, when the others have gone, that another forester, _Kaspar_, +a man of dark visage and of morose and forbidding character, +approaches him. He hands him his gun, points to an eagle circling far +on high, and tells him to fire at it. _Max_ shoots. From its dizzy +height the bird falls dead at his feet. It is a wonderful shot. +_Kaspar_ explains to him that he has shot with a "free," or charmed +bullet; that such bullets always hit what the marksman wills them to; +and that if _Max_ will meet him in the Wolf's Glen at midnight, they +will mould bullets with one of which, on the morrow, he easily can win +_Agathe's_ hand and the hereditary office of forester. _Max_, to whom +victory means all that is dear to him, consents. + +Act II. _Agathe's_ room in the head ranger's house. The girl has +gloomy forebodings. Even her sprightly relative, _Aennchen_, is unable +to cheer her up. At last _Max_, whom she has been awaiting, comes. +Very soon, however, he says he is obliged to leave, because he has +shot a deer in the Wolf's Glen and must go after it. In vain the girls +warn him against the locality, which is said to be haunted. + +The scene changes to the Wolf's Glen, the haunt of _Zamiel_ the wild +huntsman (otherwise the devil) to whom _Kaspar_ has sold himself, and +to whom now he plans to turn over _Max_ as a victim, in order to gain +for himself a brief respite on earth, his time to _Zamiel_ being up. +The younger forester joins him in the Wolf's Glen and together they +mould seven magic bullets, six of which go true to the mark. The +seventh goes whither _Zamiel_ wills it. + +Act III. The first scene again plays in the forester's house. _Agathe_ +still is filled with forebodings. She is attired for the test shooting +which also will make her _Max's_ bride, if he is successful. Faith +dispels her gloom. The bridesmaids enter and wind the bridal garland. + +The time arrives for the test shooting. But only the seventh bullet, +the one which _Zamiel_ speeds whither he wishes, remains to _Max_. His +others he has used up on the hunt in order to show off before the +_Prince_. _Kaspar_ climbs a tree to watch the proceedings from a safe +place of concealment. He expects _Max_ to be _Zamiel's_ victim. Before +the whole village and the _Prince_ the test shot is to be made. The +Prince points to a flying dove. At that moment _Agathe_ appears +accompanied by a _Hermit_, a holy man. She calls out to _Max_ not to +shoot, that she is the dove. But _Max_ already has pulled the trigger. +The shot resounds. _Agathe_ falls--but only in a swoon. It is _Kaspar_ +who tumbles from the tree and rolls, fatally wounded, on the turf. +_Zamiel_ has had no power over _Max_, for the young forester had not +come to the Wolf's Glen of his own free will, but only after being +tempted by _Kaspar_. Therefore _Kaspar_ himself had to be the victim +of the seventh bullet. Upon the _Hermit's_ intercession, _Max_, who +has confessed everything, is forgiven by _Prince Ottokar_, the test +shot is abolished and a year's probation substituted for it. + +Many people are familiar with music from "Der Freischütz" without +being aware that it is from that opera. Several melodies from it have +been adapted as hymn tunes, and are often sung in church. In Act I, +are _Kilian's_ song and the chorus in which the men and women, young +and old, rally _Max_ upon his bad luck. There is an expressive trio +for _Max_, _Kaspar_, and _Cuno_, with chorus "O diese Sonne!" (O +fateful morrow.) There is a short waltz. _Max's_ solo, "Durch die +Wälder, durch die Auen" (Through the forest and o'er the meadows) is a +melody of great beauty, and this also can be said of his other solo in +the same scene, "Jetzt ist wohl ihr Fenster offen" (Now mayhap her +window opens), while the scene comes to a close with gloomy, +despairing accents, as _Zamiel_, unseen of course by _Max_, hovers, a +threatening shadow, in the background. There follows _Kaspar's_ +drinking song, forced in its hilariousness and ending in grotesque +laughter, _Kaspar_ being the familiar of _Zamiel_, the wild huntsman. +His air ("Triumph! Triumph! Vengeance will succeed") is wholly in +keeping with his sinister character. + +Act II opens with a delightful duet for _Agathe_ and _Aennchen_ and a +charmingly coquettish little air for the latter (Comes a comely youth +a-wooing). Then comes _Agathe's_ principal scene. She opens the window +and, as the moonlight floods the room, intones the prayer so simple, +so exquisite, so expressive: "Leise, leise, fromme Weise" (Softly +sighing, day is dying). + +[Music] + +This is followed, after a recitative, by a rapturous, descending +passage leading into an ecstatic melody: "Alle meine Pulse schlagen" +(All my pulses now are beating) as she sees her lover approaching. + +[Music] + +The music of the Wolf's Glen scene long has been considered the most +expressive rendering of the gruesome that is to be found in a musical +score. The stage apparatus that goes with it is such that it makes the +young sit up and take notice, while their elders, because of its +naïveté, are entertained. The ghost of _Max's_ mother appears to him +and strives to warn him away. Cadaverous, spooky-looking animals crawl +out from caves in the rocks and spit flames and sparks. Wagner got +more than one hint from the scene. But in the crucible of his genius +the glen became the lofty Valkyr rock, and the backdrop with the wild +hunt the superb "Ride of the Valkyries," while other details are +transfigured in that sublime episode, "The Magic Fire Scene." + +After a brief introduction, with suggestions of the hunting chorus +later in the action, the third act opens with _Agathe's_ lovely +cavatina, "And though a cloud the sun obscure." There are a couple of +solos for _Aennchen_, and then comes the enchanting chorus of +bridesmaids. This is the piece which Richard Wagner, then seven years +old, was playing in a room, adjoining which his stepfather, Ludwig +Geyer, lay in his last illness. Geyer had shown much interest in the +boy and in what might become of him. As he listened to him playing the +bridesmaids' chorus from "Der Freischütz" he turned to his wife, +Wagner's mother, and said: "What if he should have a talent for +music?" + +In the next scene are the spirited hunting chorus and the brilliant +finale, in which recurs the jubilant melody from _Agathe's_ second act +scene. + +The overture to "Der Freischütz" is the first in which an operatic +composer unreservedly has made use of melodies from the opera itself. +Beethoven, in the third "Leonore" overture, utilizes the theme of +_Florestan's_ air and the trumpet call. Weber has used not merely +thematic material but complete melodies. Following the beautiful +passage for horns at the beginning of the overture (a passage which, +like _Agathe's_ prayer, has been taken up into the Protestant hymnal) +is the music of _Max's_ outcry when, in the opera, he senses rather +than sees the passage of _Zamiel_ across the stage, after which comes +the sombre music of _Max's_ air: "Hatt denn der Himmel mich +verlassen?" (Am I then by heaven forsaken?). This leads up to the +music of _Agathe's_ outburst of joy when she sees her lover +approaching; and this is given complete. + +The structure of this overture is much like that of the overture to +"Tannhäuser" by Richard Wagner. There also is a resemblance in contour +between the music of _Agathe's_ jubilation and that of _Tannhäuser's_ +hymn to Venus. Wagner worshipped Weber. Without a suggestion of +plagiarism, the contour of Wagner's melodic idiom is that of Weber's. +The resemblance to Weber in the general structure of the finales to +the first acts of "Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin" is obvious. Even in +some of the leading motives of the Wagner music-dramas, the student +will find the melodic contour of Weber still persisting. What could be +more in the spirit of Weber than the ringing _Parsifal_ motive, one of +the last things from the pen of Richard Wagner? + +Indeed the importance of Weber in the logical development of music and +specifically of opera, lies in the fact that he is the founder of the +romantic school in music;--a school of which Wagner is the +culmination. Weber is as truly the forerunner of Wagner as Haydn is of +Mozart, and Mozart of Beethoven. From the "Freischütz" Wagner derived +his early predilection for legendary subjects, as witness the "Flying +Dutchman," "Tannhäuser," and "Lohengrin," from which it was but a step +to the mythological subject of the "Ring" dramas. + +"Der Freischütz" is heard far too rarely in this country. But Weber's +importance as the founder of the romantic school and as the inspired +forerunner of Wagner long has been recognized. Without this +recognition there would be missing an important link in the evolution +of music and, specifically, of opera. + + +EURYANTHE + + Opera in three acts by Weber. Book, by Helmine von Chezy, + adapted from "L'Histoire de Gérard de Nevers et de la belle + et vertueuse Euryanthe, sa mie." Produced, Vienna, + Kärnthnerthor Theatre (Theatre at the Carinthian Gate), + October 25, 1823. New York, by Carl Anschütz, at Wallack's + Theatre, Broadway and Broome Street, 1863; Metropolitan + Opera House, December 23, 1887, with Lehmann, Brandt, + Alvary, and Fischer, Anton Seidl conducting. + + CHARACTERS + + EURYANTHE DE SAVOIE _Soprano_ + EGLANTINE DE PUISET _Mezzo-Soprano_ + LYSIART DE FORÊT _Baritone_ + ADOLAR DE NEVERS _Tenor_ + LOUIS VI _Bass_ + + _Time_--Beginning of the Twelfth Century. + + _Place_--France. + +Act I. Palace of the King. Count _Adolar_ chants the beauty and virtue +of his betrothed, _Euryanthe._ Count _Lysiart_ sneers and boasts that +he can lead her astray. The two noblemen stake their possessions upon +the result. + +Garden of the Palace of Nevers. _Euryanthe_ sings of her longing for +_Adolar_. _Eglantine_, the daughter of a rebellious subject who, made +a prisoner, has, on _Euryanthe's_ plea, been allowed the freedom of +the domain, is in love with _Adolar._ She has sensed that _Euryanthe_ +and her lover guard a secret. Hoping to estrange _Adolar_ from her, +she seeks to gain _Euryanthe's_ confidence and only too successfully. +For _Euryanthe_ confides to her that _Adolar's_ dead sister, who lies +in the lonely tomb in the garden, has appeared to _Adolar_ and herself +and confessed that, her lover having been slain in battle, she has +killed herself by drinking poison from her ring; nor can her soul find +rest until someone, innocently accused, shall wet the ring with tears. +To hold this secret inviolate has been imposed upon _Euryanthe_ by +_Adolar_ as a sacred duty. Too late she repents of having communicated +it to _Eglantine_ who, on her part, is filled with malicious glee. +_Lysiart_ arrives to conduct _Adolar's_ betrothed to the royal palace. + +Act II. _Lysiart_ despairs of accomplishing his fell purpose when +_Eglantine_ emerges from the tomb with the ring and reveals to him its +secret. In the royal palace, before a brilliant assembly, _Lysiart_ +claims to have won his wager, and, in proof, produces the ring, the +secret of which he claims _Euryanthe_ has communicated to him. She +protests her innocence, but in vain. _Adolar_ renounces his rank and +estates with which _Lysiart_ is forthwith invested and endowed, and, +dragging _Euryanthe_ after him, rushes into the forest where he +intends to kill her and then himself. + +Act III. In a rocky mountain gorge _Adolar_ draws his sword and is +about to slay _Euryanthe_, who in vain protests her innocence. At that +moment a huge serpent appears. _Euryanthe_ throws herself between it +and _Adolar_ in order to save him. He fights the serpent and kills it; +then, although _Euryanthe_ vows she would rather he slew her than not +love her, he goes his way leaving her to heaven's protection. She is +discovered by the _King_, who credits her story and promises to +vindicate her, when she tells him that it was through _Eglantine_, to +whom she disclosed the secret of the tomb, that _Lysiart_ obtained +possession of the ring. + +Gardens of Nevers, where preparations are making for the wedding of +_Lysiart_ and _Eglantine_. _Adolar_ enters in black armour with visor +down. _Eglantine_, still madly in love with him and dreading her union +with _Lysiart_, is so affected by the significance of the complete +silence with which the assembled villagers and others watch her pass, +that, half out of her mind, she raves about the unjust degradation she +has brought upon _Euryanthe_. + +_Adolar_, disclosing his identity, challenges _Lysiart_ to combat. But +before they can draw, the _King_ appears. In order to punish _Adolar_ +for his lack of faith in _Euryanthe_, he tells him that she is dead. +Savagely triumphant over her rival's end, _Eglantine_ now makes known +the entire plot and is slain by _Lysiart_. At that moment _Euryanthe_ +rushes into _Adolar's_ arms. _Lysiart_ is led off a captive. +_Adolar's_ sister finds eternal rest in her tomb because the ring has +been bedewed by the tears wept by the innocent _Euryanthe_. + +The libretto of "Euryanthe" is accounted extremely stupid, even for an +opera, and the work is rarely given. The opera, however, is important +historically as another stepping-stone in the direction of Wagner. +Several Wagnerian commentators regard the tomb motive as having +conveyed to the Bayreuth master more than a suggestion of the +Leitmotif system which he developed so fully in his music-drama. +_Adolar_, in black armour, is believed to have suggested _Parsifal's_ +appearance in sable harness and accoutrements in the last act of +"Parsifal." In any event, Wagner was a close student of Weber and +there is more than one phrase in "Euryanthe" that finds its echo in +"Lohengrin," although of plagiarism in the ordinary sense there is +none. + +While "Euryanthe" has never been popular, some of its music is very +fine. The overture may be said to consist of two vigorous, stirringly +dramatic sections separated by the weird tomb motive. The opening +chorus in the _King's_ palace is sonorous and effective. There is a +very beautiful romanza for _Adolar_ ("'Neath almond trees in +blossom"). In the challenge of the knights to the test of Euryanthe's +virtue occurs the vigorous phrase with which the overture opens. +_Euryanthe_ has an exquisite cavatina ("Chimes in the valley"). There +is an effective duet for _Euryanthe_ and _Eglantine_ ("Threatful +gather clouds about me"). A scene for _Eglantine_ is followed by the +finale--a chorus with solo for _Euryanthe_. + +_Lysiart's_ recitations and aria ("Where seek to hide?"), expressive +of hatred and defiance--a powerfully dramatic number--opens the second +act. There is a darkly premonitory duet for _Lysiart_ and _Eglantine_. +_Adolar_ has a tranquil aria ("When zephyrs waft me peace"); and a +duet full of abandon with _Euryanthe_ ("To you my soul I give"). The +finale is a quartette with chorus. The hunting chorus in the last act, +previous to the _King's_ discovery of _Euryanthe_, has been called +Weber's finest inspiration. + +Something should be done by means of a new libretto or by re-editing +to give "Euryanthe" the position it deserves in the modern operatic +repertoire. An attempt at a new libretto was made in Paris in 1857, at +the Théâtre Lyrique. It failed. Having read a synopsis of that +libretto, I can readily understand why. It is, if possible, more +absurd than the original. Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" is derived from +the same source as "Euryanthe," which shows that, after all, something +could be made of the story. + + +OBERON, + +OR THE ELF-KING'S OATH + + Opera in three acts, by Weber. Words by James Robinson + Planché. + + CHARACTERS + + OBERON _Tenor_ + TITANIA _Mute Character_ + PUCK _Contralto_ + DROLL _Contralto_ + HUON DE BORDEAUX _Tenor_ + SCHERASMIN, his esquire _Baritone_ + HAROUN EL RASCHID _Baritone_ + REZIA, his daughter _Soprano_ + FATIMA, her slave _Soprano_ + PRINCE BABEKAN _Tenor_ + EMIR ALMANSOR _Baritone_ + ROSCHANA, his wife _Contralto_ + ABDALLAH, a pirate _Bass_ + CHARLEMAGNE _Bass_ + +In a tribute to Weber, the librettist of "Oberon" wrote a sketch of +the action and also gave as the origin of the story the tale of "Huon +de Bordeaux," from the old collection of romances known as "La +Bibliothèque Bleue." Wieland's poem "Oberon," is based upon the old +romance and Sotheby's translation furnished Planché with the +groundwork for the text. + +According to Planché's description of the action, _Oberon_, the Elfin +King, having quarrelled with his fairy partner, _Titania_, vows never +to be reconciled to her till he shall find two lovers constant through +peril and temptation. To seek such a pair his "tricksy spirit," +_Puck_, has ranged in vain through the world. _Puck_, however, hears +sentence passed on _Sir Huon_, of Bordeaux, a young knight, who, +having been insulted by the son of _Charlemagne_, kills him in single +combat, and is for this condemned by the monarch to proceed to Bagdad, +slay him who sits on the _Caliph's_ left hand, and claim the +_Caliph's_ daughter as his bride. _Oberon_ instantly resolves to make +this pair the instruments of his reunion with his queen, and for this +purpose he brings up _Huon_ and _Scherasmin_ asleep before him, +enamours the knight by showing him _Rezia_, daughter of the _Caliph_, +in a vision, transports him at his waking to Bagdad, and having given +him a magic horn, by the blasts of which he is always to summon the +assistance of _Oberon_, and a cup that fills at pleasure, disappears. +_Sir Huon_ rescues a man from a lion, who proves afterwards to be +_Prince Babekan_, who is betrothed to _Rezia_. One of the properties +of the cup is to detect misconduct. He offers it to _Babekan_. On +raising it to his lips the wine turns to flame, and thus proves him a +villain. He attempts to assassinate _Huon_, but is put to flight. The +knight then learns from an old woman that the princess is to be +married next day, but that _Rezia_ has been influenced, like her +lover, by a vision, and is resolved to be his alone. She believes that +fate will protect her from her nuptials with _Babekan_, which are to +be solemnized on the next day. _Huon_ enters, fights with and +vanquishes _Babekan_, and having spellbound the rest by a blast of the +magic horn, he and _Scherasmin_ carry off _Rezia_ and _Fatima_. They +are soon shipwrecked. _Rezia_ is captured by pirates on a desert +island and brought to Tunis, where she is sold to the _Emir_ and +exposed to every temptation, but she remains constant. _Sir Huon_, by +the order of _Oberon_, is also conveyed thither. He undergoes similar +trials from _Roschana_, the jealous wife of the _Emir_, but proving +invulnerable she accuses him to her husband, and he is condemned to be +burned on the same pyre with _Rezia_. They are rescued by +_Scherasmin_, who has the magic horn, and sets all those who would +harm _Sir Huon_ and _Rezia_ dancing. _Oberon_ appears with his queen, +whom he has regained by the constancy of the lovers, and the opera +concludes with _Charlemagne's_ pardon of _Huon_. + +The chief musical numbers are, in the first act, _Huon's_ grand scene, +beginning with a description of the glories to be won in battle: in +the second act, an attractive quartette, "Over the dark blue waters," +_Puck's_ invocation of the spirits and their response, the great scene +for _Rezia_, "Ocean, thou mighty monster, that liest like a green +serpent coiled around the world," and the charming mermaid's song; +and, in the third act, the finale. + +As is the case with "Euryanthe," the puerilities of the libretto to +"Oberon" appear to have been too much even for Weber's beautiful +music. Either that, or else Weber is suffering the fate of all obvious +forerunners: which is that their genius finds its full and lasting +fruition in those whose greater genius it has caused to germinate and +ripen. Thus the full fruition of Weber's genius is found in the Wagner +operas and music-dramas. Even the fine overtures, "Freischütz," +"Euryanthe," and "Oberon," in former years so often found in the +classical concert repertoire, are played less and less frequently. The +"Tannhäuser" overture has supplanted them. The "Oberon" overture, like +that to "Freischütz" and "Euryanthe," is composed of material from the +opera--the horn solo from _Sir Huon's_ scena, portions of the fairies, +chorus and the third-act finale, the climax of _Rezia's_ scene in the +second act, and _Puck's_ invocation. + +In his youth Weber composed, to words by Heimer, an amusing little +musical comedy entitled "Abu Hassan." It was produced in Dresden under +the composer's direction. The text is derived from a well-known tale +in the _Arabian Nights_. Another youthful opera by Weber, "Silvana," +was produced at Frankfort-on-Main in 1810. The text, based upon an +old Rhine legend of a feud between two brothers, has been rearranged +by Ernst Pasqué, the score by Ferdinand Lange, who, in the ballet in +the second act, has introduced Weber's "Invitation à la Valse" and his +"Polonaise," besides utilizing other music by the composer. The +fragment of another work, a comic opera, "The Three Pintos," text by +Theodor Hell, was taken in hand and completed, the music by Gustav +Mahler, the libretto by Weber's grandson, Carl von Weber. + + + + +Why Some Operas are Rarely Given + + +There is hardly a writer on music, no matter how advanced his views, +who will not agree with me in all I have said in praise of "Orpheus +and Eurydice," the principal Mozart operas, Beethoven's "Fidelio," and +Weber's "Freischütz" and "Euryanthe." The question therefore arises: +"Why are these works not performed with greater frequency?" + +A general answer would be that the modern opera house is too large for +the refined and delicate music of Gluck and Mozart to be heard to best +effect. Moreover, these are the earliest works in the repertoire. + +In Mozart's case there is the further reason that "Don Giovanni" and +"The Magic Flute" are very difficult to give. An adequate performance +of "Don Giovanni" calls for three prima donnas of the highest rank. +The demands of "The Magic Flute" upon the female personnel of an opera +company also are very great--that is if the work is to be given at all +adequately and effectively. Moreover, the _recitativo secco_ (dry +recitative) of the Mozart operas--a recitative which, at a performance +of "Don Giovanni" in the Academy of Music, New York, I have heard +accompanied by the conductor on an upright pianoforte--is tedious to +ears accustomed to have every phrase in modern opera sung to an +expressive orchestral accompaniment. As regards "Fidelio" it has +spoken dialogue; and if anything has been demonstrated over and over +again, it is that American audiences of today simply will not stand +for spoken dialogue in grand opera. That also, together with the +extreme naïveté of their librettos, is the great handicap of the Weber +operas. It is neither an easy nor an agreeable descent from the +vocalized to the spoken word. And so, works, admittedly great, are +permitted to lapse into unpardonable desuetude, because no genius, +willing or capable, has come forward to change the _recitativo secco_ +of Mozart, or the dialogue that affronts the hearer in the other works +mentioned, into recitatives that will restore these operas to their +deserved place in the modern repertoire. Berlioz tried it with "Der +Freischütz" and appears to have failed; nor have the "Freischütz" +recitatives by Costa seemingly fared any better. This may have +deterred others from making further attempts of the kind. But it seems +as if a lesser genius than Berlioz, and a talent superior to Costa's, +might succeed where they failed. + + + + +From Weber to Wagner + + +In the evolution of opera from Weber to Wagner a gap was filled by +composers of but little reputation here, although their names are +known to every student of the lyric stage. Heinrich Marschner +(1795-1861) composed in "Hans Heiling," Berlin, 1833, an opera based +on legendary material. Its success may have confirmed Wagner's bent +toward dramatic sources of this kind already aroused by his admiration +for Weber. "Hans Heiling," "Der Vampyr" (The Vampire), and "Der +Templer und Die Judin" (Templar and Jewess, a version of _Ivanhoe_) +long held an important place in the operatic repertoire of their +composer's native land. On the other hand "Faust" (1818) and +"Jessonda" (1823), by Ludwig Spohr (1784-1859), have about completely +disappeared. Spohr, however, deserves mention as being one of the +first professional musicians of prominence to encourage Wagner. +Incapable of appreciating either Beethoven or Weber, yet, strange to +say, he at once recognized the merits of "The Flying Dutchman" and +"Tannhäuser," and even of "Lohengrin"--at the time sealed volumes to +most musicians and music lovers. As court conductor at Kassel, he +brought out the first two Wagner operas mentioned respectively in 1842 +and 1853; and was eager to produce "Lohengrin," but was prevented by +opposition from the court. + +Meyerbeer and his principal operas will be considered at length in the +chapters in this book devoted to French opera. There is no doubt, +however, that what may be called the "largeness" of Meyerbeer's style +and the effectiveness of his instrumentation had their influence on +Wagner. + +Gasparo Spontini (1774-1851) was an Italian by birth, but I believe +can be said to have made absolutely no impression on the development +of Italian opera. His principal works, "La Vestale" (The Vestal +Virgin), and "Fernando Cortez," were brought out in Paris and later in +Berlin, where he was general music director, 1820-1841. His operas +were heavily scored, especially for brass. Much that is noisy in +"Rienzi" may be traced to Spontini, but later Wagner understood how to +utilize the brass in the most eloquent manner; for, like Shakespeare, +Wagner possessed the genius that converts the dross of others into +refined gold. + +Mention may be here made of three composers of light opera, who +succeeded in evolving a refined and charming type of the art. We at +least know the delightful overture to "The Merry Wives of Windsor," by +Otto Nicolai (1810-1849); and the whole opera, produced in Berlin a +few months before Nicolai died, is equally frolicksome and graceful. +Conradin Kreutzer (1780-1849) brought out, in 1836, "Das Nachtlager in +Granada" (A Night's Camp in Granada), a melodious and sparkling score. + +But the German light opera composer par excellence is Albert Lortzing +(1803-1851). His chief works are, "Czar und Zimmermann" (Czar and +Carpenter), 1834, with its beautiful baritone solo, "In childhood I +played with a sceptre and crown"; "Der Wildschütz" (The Poacher); +"Undine"; and "Der Waffenschmied" (The Armourer) which last also has a +deeply expressive solo for baritone, "Ich auch war einst Jüngling mit +lockigem Haar" (I too was a youth once with fair, curly hair). + + + + +Richard Wagner + +(1813-1883) + + +Richard Wagner was born at Leipsic, May 22, 1813. His father was clerk +to the city police court and a man of good education. During the +French occupation of Leipsic he was, owing to his knowledge of French, +made chief of police. He was fond of poetry and had a special love for +the drama, often taking part in amateur theatricals. + +Five months after Richard's birth his father died of an epidemic fever +brought on by the carnage during the battle of Leipsic, October 16, +18, and 19, 1813. In 1815 his widow, whom he had left in most +straitened circumstances, married Ludwig Geyer, an actor, a +playwright, and a portrait painter. By inheritance from his father, by +association with his stepfather, who was very fond of him, Wagner +readily acquired the dramatic faculty so pronounced in his operas and +music-dramas of which he is both author and composer. + +At the time Wagner's mother married Geyer, he was a member of the +Court Theatre at Dresden. Thither the family removed. When the boy was +eight years old, he had learned to play on the pianoforte the chorus +of bridesmaids from "Der Freischütz," then quite new. The day before +Geyer's death, September 30, 1821, Richard was playing this piece in +an adjoining room and heard Geyer say to his mother: "Do you think he +might have a gift for music?" Coming out of the death room Wagner's +mother said to him: "Of you he wanted to make something." "From this +time on," writes Wagner in his early autobiographical sketch, "I +always had an idea that I was destined to amount to something in this +world." + +At school Wagner made quite a little reputation as a writer of verses. +He was such an enthusiastic admirer of Shakespeare that at the age of +fourteen he began a grand tragedy, of which he himself says that it +was a jumble of _Hamlet_ and _Lear_. So many people died in the course +of it that their ghosts had to return in order to keep the fifth act +going. + +In 1833, at the age of twenty, Wagner began his career as a +professional musician. His elder brother Albert was engaged as tenor, +actor, and stage manager at the Würzburg theatre. A position as chorus +master being offered to Richard, he accepted it, although his salary +was a pittance of ten florins a month. However, the experience was +valuable. He was able to profit by many useful hints from his brother, +the Musikverein performed several of his compositions, and his duties +were not so arduous but that he found time to write the words and +music of an opera in three acts entitled "The Fairies"--first +performed in June, 1888, five years after his death, at Munich. In the +autumn of 1834 he was called to the conductorship of the opera at +Magdeburg. There he wrote and produced an opera, "Das Liebesverbot" +(Love Veto), based on Shakespeare's _Measure for Measure_. The theatre +at Magdeburg was, however, on the ragged edge of bankruptcy, and +during the spring of 1836 matters became so bad that it was evident +the theatre must soon close. Finally only twelve days were left for +the rehearsing and the performance of his opera. The result was that +the production went completely to pieces, singers forgetting their +lines and music, and a repetition which was announced could not come +off because of a free fight behind the scenes between two of the +principal singers. Wagner describes this in the following amusing +passage in his autobiographical sketch: + +"All at once the husband of my prima donna (the impersonator of +_Isabella_) pounced upon the second tenor, a very young and handsome +fellow (the singer of my _Claudio_), against whom the injured spouse +had long cherished a secret jealousy. It seemed that the prima donna's +husband, who had from behind the curtains inspected with me the +composition of the audience, considered that the time had now arrived +when, without damage to the prospects of the theatre, he could take +his revenge on his wife's lover. _Claudio_ was so pounded and +belaboured by him that the unhappy individual was compelled to retire +to the dressing-room with his face all bleeding. _Isabella_ was +informed of this, and, rushing desperately toward her furious lord, +received from him such a series of violent cuffs that she forthwith +went into spasms. The confusion among my personnel was now quite +boundless: everybody took sides with one party or the other, and +everything seemed on the point of a general fight. It seemed as if +this unhappy evening appeared to all of them precisely calculated for +a final settling up of all sorts of fancied insults. This much was +evident, that the couple who had suffered under the 'love veto' +(Liebesverbot) of _Isabella's_ husband, were certainly unable to +appear on this occasion." + +Wagner was next engaged as orchestral conductor at Königsberg, where +he married the actress Wilhelmina, or Minna Planer. Later he received +notice of his appointment as conductor and of the engagement of his +wife and sister at the theatre at Riga, on the Russian side of the +Baltic. + +In Riga he began the composition of his first great success, +"Rienzi." He completed the libretto during the summer of 1838, and +began the music in the autumn, and when his contract terminated in the +spring of 1839 the first two acts were finished. In July, accompanied +by his wife and a huge Newfoundland dog, he boarded a sailing vessel +for London, at the port of Pilau, his intention being to go from +London to Paris. "I shall never forget the voyage," he says. "It was +full of disaster. Three times we nearly suffered shipwreck, and once +were obliged to seek safety in a Norwegian harbour.... The legend of +the 'Flying Dutchman' was confirmed by the sailors, and the +circumstances gave it a distinct and characteristic colour in my +mind." No wonder the sea is depicted so graphically in his opera "The +Flying Dutchman." + +He arrived in Paris in September, 1839, and remained until April 7, +1842, from his twenty-sixth to his twenty-ninth year. This Parisian +sojourn was one of the bitter experiences of his life. At times he +actually suffered from cold and hunger, and was obliged to do a vast +amount of most uncongenial kind of hack work. + +November 19, 1840, he completed the score of "Rienzi," and in December +forwarded it to the director of the Royal Theatre at Dresden. While +awaiting a reply, he contributed to the newspapers and did all kinds +of musical drudgery for Schlesinger, the music publisher, even making +arrangements for the cornet à piston. Finally word came from Dresden. +"Rienzi" had aroused the enthusiasm of the chorus master, Fischer, and +of the tenor Tichatschek, who saw that the title rôle was exactly +suited to his robust, dramatic voice. Then there was Mme. +Schröder-Devrient for the part of _Adriano_. The opera was produced +October 20, 1842, the performance beginning at six and ending just +before midnight, to the enthusiastic plaudits of an immense audience. +So great was the excitement that in spite of the late hour people +remained awake to talk over the success. "We all ought to have gone +to bed," relates a witness, "but we did nothing of the kind." Early +the next morning Wagner appeared at the theatre in order to make +excisions from the score, which he thought its great length +necessitated. But when he returned in the afternoon to see if they had +been executed, the copyist excused himself by saying the singers had +protested against any cuts. Tichatschek said: "I will have no cuts; it +is too heavenly." After a while, owing to its length, the opera was +divided into two evenings. + +The success of "Rienzi" led the Dresden management to put "The Flying +Dutchman" in rehearsal. It was brought out after somewhat hasty +preparations, January 2, 1843. The opera was so different from +"Rienzi," its sombre beauty contrasted so darkly with the glaring, +brilliant music and scenery of the latter, that the audience failed to +grasp it. In fact, after "Rienzi," it was a disappointment. + +Before the end of January, 1843, not long after the success of +"Rienzi," Wagner was appointed one of the Royal conductors at Dresden. +He was installed February 2d. One of his first duties was to assist +Berlioz at the rehearsals of the latter's concerts. Wagner's work in +his new position was somewhat varied, consisting not only of +conducting operas, but also music between the acts at theatrical +performances and at church services. The principal operas which he +rehearsed and conducted were "Euryanthe," "Freischütz," "Don +Giovanni," "The Magic Flute," Gluck's "Armide," and "Iphigenia in +Aulis." The last-named was revised both as regards words and music by +him, and his changes are now generally accepted. + +Meanwhile he worked arduously on "Tannhäuser," completing it April 13, +1844. It was produced at Dresden, October 19, 1845. At first the work +proved even a greater puzzle to the public than "The Flying Dutchman" +had, and evoked comments which nowadays, when the opera has actually +become a classic, seem ridiculous. Some people even suggested that the +plot of the opera should be changed so that _Tannhäuser_ should marry +_Elizabeth_. + +The management of the Dresden theatre, which had witnessed the +brilliant success of "Rienzi" and had seen "The Flying Dutchman" and +"Tannhäuser" at least hold their own in spite of the most virulent +opposition, looked upon his next work, "Lohengrin," as altogether too +risky and put off its production indefinitely. + +Thinking that political changes might put an end to the routine +stagnation in musical matters, Wagner joined in the revolutionary +agitation of '48 and '49. In May, 1849, the disturbances at Dresden +reached such an alarming point that the Saxon Court fled. Prussian +troops were dispatched to quell the riot and Wagner thought it +advisable to flee. He went to Weimar, where Liszt was busy rehearsing +"Tannhäuser." While attending a rehearsal of this work, May 19, news +was received that orders had been issued for his arrest as a +politically dangerous individual. Liszt at once procured a passport +and Wagner started for Paris. In June he went to Zurich, where he +found Dresden friends and where his wife joined him, being enabled to +do so through the zeal of Liszt, who raised the money to defray her +journey from Dresden. + +Liszt brought out "Lohengrin" at Weimar, August 28, 1850. The +reception of "Lohengrin" did not at first differ much from that +accorded to "Tannhäuser." Yet the performance made a deep impression. +The fact that the weight of Liszt's influence had been cast in its +favour gave vast importance to the event, and it may be said that +through this performance Wagner's cause received its first great +stimulus. The so-called Wagner movement may be said to have dated from +this production of "Lohengrin." + +He finished the librettos of the "Nibelung" dramas in 1853. By May, +1854, the music of "Das Rheingold" was composed. The following month +he began "Die Walküre" and finished all but the instrumentation during +the following winter and the full score in 1856. Previous to this, in +fact already in the autumn of 1854, he had sketched some of the music +of "Siegfried," and in the spring of 1857 the full score of the first +act and of the greater part of the second act was finished. Then, +recognizing the difficulties which he would encounter in securing a +performance of the "Ring," and appalled by the prospect of the battle +he would be obliged to wage, he was so disheartened that he abandoned +the composition of "Siegfried" at the _Waldweben_ scene and turned to +"Tristan." His idea at that time was that "Tristan" would be short and +comparatively easy to perform. Genius that he was, he believed that +because it was easy for him to write great music it would be easy for +others to interpret it. A very curious, not to say laughable, incident +occurred at this time. An agent of the Emperor of Brazil called and +asked if Wagner would compose an opera for an Italian troupe at Rio de +Janeiro, and would he conduct the work himself, all upon his own +terms. The composition of "Tristan" actually was begun with a view of +its being performed by Italians in Brazil! + +The poem of "Tristan" was finished early in 1857, and in the winter of +the same year the full score of the first act was ready to be +forwarded to the engraver. The second act is dated Venice, March 2, +1859. The third is dated Lyons, August, 1859. + +It is interesting to note in connection with "Tristan" that, while +Wagner wrote it because he thought it would be easy to secure its +performance, he subsequently found more difficulty in getting it +produced than any other of his works. In September, 1859, he again +went to Paris with the somewhat curious hope that he could there find +opportunity to produce "Tristan" with German artists. Through the +intercession of the Princess Metternich, the Emperor ordered the +production of "Tannhäuser" at the Opéra. Beginning March 13, 1861, +three performances were given, of which it is difficult to say whether +the performance was on the stage or in the auditorium, for the uproar +in the house often drowned the sounds from the stage. The members of +the Jockey Club, who objected to the absence of a ballet, armed +themselves with shrill whistles, on which they began to blow whenever +there was the slightest hint of applause, and the result was that +between the efforts of the singers to make themselves heard and of +Wagner's friends to applaud, and the shrill whistling from his +enemies, there was confusion worse confounded. But Wagner's friendship +with Princess Metternich bore good fruit. Through her mediation, it is +supposed, he received permission to return to all parts of Germany but +Saxony. It was not until March, 1862, thirteen years after his +banishment, that he was again allowed to enter the kingdom of his +birth and first success. + +His first thought now was to secure the production of "Tristan," but +at Vienna, after fifty-seven rehearsals, it was put upon the shelf as +impossible. + +In 1863, while working upon "Die Meistersinger," at Penzing, near +Vienna, he published his "Nibelung" dramas, expressing his hope that +through the bounty of one of the German rulers the completion and +performance of his "Ring of the Nibelung" would be made possible. But +in the spring of 1864, worn out by his struggle with poverty and +almost broken in spirit by his contest with public and critics, he +actually determined to give up his public career, and eagerly grasped +the opportunity to visit a private country seat in Switzerland. Just +at this very moment, when despair had settled upon him, the long +wished-for help came. King Ludwig II., of Bavaria, bade him come to +Munich, where he settled in 1864. "Tristan" was produced there June +10, 1865. June 21, 1868, a model performance of "Die Meistersinger," +which he had finished in 1867, was given at Munich under the direction +of von Bülow, Richter acting as chorus master and Wagner supervising +all the details. Wagner also worked steadily at the unfinished portion +of the "Ring," completing the instrumentation of the third act of +"Siegfried" in 1869 and the introduction and first act of "The Dusk of +the Gods" in June, 1870. + +August 25, 1870, his first wife having died January 25, 1866, after +five years' separation from him, he married the divorced wife of von +Bülow, Cosima Liszt. In 1869 and 1870, respectively "The Rhinegold" +and "The Valkyr" were performed at the Court Theatre in Munich. + +Bayreuth having been determined upon as the place where a theatre for +the special production of his "Ring" should be built, Wagner settled +there in April, 1872. By November, 1874, "Dusk of the Gods" received +its finishing touches, and rehearsals had already been held at +Bayreuth. During the summer of 1875, under Wagner's supervision, Hans +Richter held full rehearsals there, and at last, twenty-eight years +after its first conception, on August 13th, 14th, 16th, and 17th, +again from August 20 to 23, and from August 27 to 30, 1876, "The Ring +of the Nibelung" was performed at Bayreuth with the following cast: +_Wotan_, Betz; _Loge_, Vogel; _Alberich_, Hill; _Mime_, Schlosser; +_Fricka_, Frau Grün; _Donner_ and _Gunther_, Gura; _Erda_ and +_Waltraute_, Frau Jaide; _Siegmund_, Niemann; _Sieglinde_, Frl. +Schefsky; _Brünnhilde_, Frau Materna; _Siegfried_, Unger; _Hagen_, +Siehr; _Gutrune_, Frl. Weckerin; _Rhinedaughters_, Lilli and Marie +Lehmann, and Frl. Lammert. First violin, Wilhelmj; conductor, Hans +Richter. The first _Rhinedaughter_ was the same Lilli Lehmann who, in +later years, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, became one of +the greatest of prima donnas and, as regards the Wagnerian repertoire, +set a standard for all time. Materna appeared at that house in the +"Valkyr" production under Dr. Damrosch, in January, 1885, and Niemann +was heard there later. + +To revert to Bayreuth, "Parsifal" was produced there in July, 1882. In +the autumn of that year, Wagner's health being in an unsatisfactory +state, though no alarming symptoms had shown themselves, he took up +his residence in Venice at the Palazzo Vendramini, on the Grand Canal. +He died February 13, 1883. + +In manner incidental, that is, without attention formally being called +to the subject, Wagner's reform of the lyric stage is set forth in the +descriptive accounts of his music-dramas which follow, and in which +the leading motives are quoted in musical notation. But something +directly to the point must be said here. + +Once again, like Gluck a century before, Wagner opposed the assumption +of superiority on the part of the interpreter--the singer--over the +composer. He opposed it in manner so thorough-going that he changed +the whole face of opera. A far greater tribute to Wagner's genius than +the lame attempts of some German composers at imitating him, is the +frank adoption of certain phases of his method by modern French and +Italian composers, beginning with Verdi in "Aïda." While by no means a +Wagnerian work, since it contains not a trace of the theory of the +leading motive, "Aïda," through the richness of its instrumentation, +the significant accompaniment of its recitative, the lack of mere +_bravura_ embellishment in its vocal score, and its sober reaching out +for true dramatic effect in the treatment of the voices, substituting +this for ostentatious brilliancy and ear-tickling fluency, plainly +shows the influence of Wagner upon the greatest of Italian composers. +And what is true of "Aïda," is equally applicable to the whole school +of Italian _verismo_ that came after Verdi--Mascagni, Leoncavallo, +Puccini. + +Wagner's works are conceived and executed upon a gigantic scale. They +are Shakespearian in their dimensions and in their tragic power; or, +as in the "Meistersinger," in their comedy element. Each of his works +is highly individual. The "Ring" dramas and "Tristan" are unmistakably +Wagner. Yet how individually characteristic the music of each! That of +the "Ring" is of elemental power. The "Tristan" music is molten +passion. Equally characteristic and individual are his other scores. + +The theory evolved by Wagner was that the lyric stage should present +not a series of melodies for voice upon a mere framework of plot and +versified story, but a serious work of dramatic art, the music to +which should, both vocally and instrumentally, express the ever +varying development of the drama. With this end in view he invented a +melodious recitative which only at certain great crises in the +progress of the action--such as the love-climax, the gathering at the +Valkyr Rock, the "Farewell," and the "Magic Fire" scenes in "The +Valkyr"; the meeting of _Siegfried_ and _Brünnhilde_ in "Siegfried"; +the love duet and "Love-Death" in "Tristan"--swells into prolonged +melody. Note that I say prolonged melody. For besides these prolonged +melodies, there is almost constant melody, besides marvellous +orchestral colour, in the weft and woof of the recitative. This is +produced by the artistic use of leading motives, every leading motive +being a brief, but expressive, melody--so brief that, to one coming to +Wagner without previous study or experience, the melodious quality of +his recitative is not appreciated at first. After a while, however, +the hearer begins to recognize certain brief, but melodious and +musically eloquent phrases--leading motives--as belonging to certain +characters in the drama or to certain influences potent in its +development, such as hate, love, jealousy, the desire for revenge, +etc. Often to express a combination of circumstances, influences, +passions, or personal actions, these leading motives, these brief +melodious phrases, are combined with a skill that is unprecedented; or +the voice may express one, while the orchestra combines with it in +another. + +To enable the orchestra to follow these constantly changing phases in +the evolution and development of the drama, and often to give +utterance to them separately, it was necessary for Wagner to have most +intimate knowledge of the individual tone quality and characteristics +of every instrument in the orchestra, and this mastery of what I may +call instrumental personality he possessed to a hitherto undreamed-of +degree. Nor has anyone since equalled him in it. The result is a +choice and variety of instrumentation which in itself is almost an +equivalent for dramatic action and enables the orchestra to adapt +itself with unerring accuracy to the varying phases of the drama. + +Consider that, when Wagner first projected his theory of the +music-drama, singers were accustomed in opera to step into the +limelight and, standing there, deliver themselves of set melodies, +acknowledge applause and give as many encores as were called for, in +fact were "it," while the real creative thing, the opera, was but +secondary, and it is easy to comprehend the opposition which his works +aroused among the personnel of the lyric stage; for music-drama +demands a singer's absorption not only in the music but also in the +action. A Wagner music-drama requires great singers, but the singers +no longer absorb everything. They are part--a most important part, it +is true--of a performance, in which the drama itself, the orchestra, +and the stage pictures are also of great importance. A performance of +a Wagner music-drama, to be effective, must be a well-rounded, +eloquent whole. The drama must be well acted from a purely dramatic +point of view. It must be well sung from a purely vocal point of view. +It must be well interpreted from a purely orchestral point of view. It +must be well produced from a purely stage point of view. For all these +elements go hand in hand. It is, of course, well known that Wagner was +the author of his own librettos and showed himself a dramatist of the +highest order for the lyric stage. + +While his music-dramas at first aroused great opposition among +operatic artists, growing familiarity with them caused these artists +to change their view. The interpretation of a Wagner character was +discovered to be a combined intellectual and emotional task which +slowly, but surely, appealed more and more to the great singers of the +lyric stage. They derived a new dignity and satisfaction from their +work, especially as audiences also began to realize that, instead of +mere entertainment, performances of Wagner music-dramas were +experiences that both stirred the emotions to their depths and +appealed to the intellect as well. To this day Lilli Lehmann is +regarded by all, who had the good fortune to hear her at the +Metropolitan Opera House, as the greatest prima donna and the most +dignified figure in the history of the lyric stage in this country; +for on the lyric stage the interpretation of the great characters in +Wagnerian music-drama already had come to be regarded as equal to the +interpretation of the great Shakespearian characters on the dramatic. + +Wagner's genius was so supreme that, although he has been dead +thirty-four years, he is still without a successor. Through the force +of his own genius he appears destined to remain the sole exponent of +the art form of which he was the creator. But his influence is still +potent. This we discover not only in the enrichment of the orchestral +accompaniment in opera, but in the banishment of senseless vocal +embellishment, in the search for true dramatic expression and, in +general, in the greater seriousness with which opera is taken as an +art. Even the minor point of lowering the lights in the auditorium +during a performance, so as to concentrate attention upon the stage, +is due to him; and even the older Italian operas are now given with an +attention to detail, scenic setting, and an endeavour to bring out +their dramatic effects, quite unheard of before his day. He was, +indeed, a reformer of the lyric stage whose influence long will be +potent "all along the line." + + +RIENZI, DER LETZTE DER TRIBUNEN + +RIENZI, THE LAST OF THE TRIBUNES + + Opera in five acts. Words and music by Wagner. Produced, + Dresden, October 20, 1842. London, Her Majesty's Theatre, + April 16, 1869. New York, Academy of Music, 1878, with + Charles R. Adams, as _Rienzi_, Pappenheim as _Adriano_; + Metropolitan Opera House, February 5, 1886, with Sylva as + _Rienzi_, Lehmann as _Irene_, Brandt as _Adriano_, Fischer + as _Colonna_. + + CHARACTERS + + COLA RIENZI, Roman Tribune and Papal Notary _Tenor_ + IRENE, his sister _Soprano_ + STEFFANO COLONNA _Bass_ + ADRIANO, his son _Mezzo-Soprano_ + PAOLO ORSINO _Bass_ + RAIMONDO, Papal Legate _Bass_ + BARONCELLO } { _Tenor_ + CECCO DEL VECCHIO } Roman citizens { _Bass_ + MESSENGER OF PEACE _Soprano_ + + Ambassadors, Nobles, Priests, Monks, Soldiers, Messengers, + and Populace in General. + + _Time_--Middle of the Fourteenth Century. + + _Place_--Rome. + +_Orsino_, a Roman patrician, attempts to abduct _Irene_, the sister of +_Rienzi_, a papal notary, but is opposed at the critical moment by +_Colonna_, another patrician. A fight ensues between the two factions, +in the midst of which _Adriano_, the son of _Colonna_, who is in love +with _Irene_, appears to defend her. A crowd is attracted by the +tumult, and among others _Rienzi_ comes upon the scene. Enraged at the +insult offered his sister, and stirred on by _Cardinal Raimondo_, he +urges the people to resist the outrages of the nobles. _Adriano_ is +impelled by his love for _Irene_ to cast his lot with her brother. The +nobles are overpowered, and appear at the capitol to swear allegiance +to _Rienzi_, but during the festal proceedings _Adriano_ warns him +that the nobles have plotted to kill him. An attempt which _Orsino_ +makes upon him with a dagger is frustrated by a steel breastplate +which _Rienzi_ wears under his robe. + +The nobles are seized and condemned to death, but on _Adriano's_ +pleading they are spared. They, however, violate their oath of +submission, and the people again under _Rienzi's_ leadership rise and +exterminate them, _Adriano_ having pleaded in vain. In the end the +people prove fickle. The popular tide turns against _Rienzi_, +especially in consequence of the report that he is in league with the +German emperor, and intends to restore the Roman pontiff to power. As +a festive procession is escorting him to church, _Adriano_ rushes upon +him with a drawn dagger, being infuriated at the slaughter of his +family, but the blow is averted. Instead of the "Te Deum," however, +with which _Rienzi_ expected to be greeted on his entrance to the +church, he hears the malediction and sees the ecclesiastical +dignitaries placing the ban of excommunication against him upon the +doors. _Adriano_ hurries to _Irene_ to warn her of her brother's +danger, and urges her to seek safety with him in flight. She, however, +repels him, and seeks her brother, determined to die with him, if need +be. She finds him at prayer in the capitol, but rejects his counsel to +save herself with _Adriano_. _Rienzi_ appeals to the infuriated +populace which has gathered around the capitol, but they do not heed +him. They fire the capitol with their torches, and hurl stones at +_Rienzi_ and _Irene_. As _Adriano_ sees his beloved one and her +brother doomed to death in the flames, he throws away his sword, +rushes into the capitol, and perishes with them. + +The overture of "Rienzi" gives a vivid idea of the action of the +opera. Soon after the beginning there is heard the broad and stately +melody of _Rienzi's_ prayer, and then the Rienzi Motive, a typical +phrase, which is used with great effect later in the opera. It is +followed in the overture by the lively melody heard in the concluding +portion of the finale of the second act. These are the three most +conspicuous portions of the overture, in which there are, however, +numerous tumultuous passages reflecting the dramatic excitement which +pervades many scenes. + +The opening of the first act is full of animation, the orchestra +depicting the tumult which prevails during the struggle between the +nobles. _Rienzi's_ brief recitative is a masterpiece of declamatory +music, and his call to arms is spirited. It is followed by a trio +between _Irene_, _Rienzi_, and _Adriano_, and this in turn by a duet +for the two last-named which is full of fire. The finale opens with a +double chorus for the populace and the monks in the Lateran, +accompanied by the organ. Then there is a broad and energetic appeal +to the people from _Rienzi_, and amid the shouts of the populace and +the ringing tones of the trumpets the act closes. + +The insurrection of the people against the nobles is successful, and +_Rienzi_, in the second act, awaits at the capitol the patricians who +are to pledge him their submission. The act opens with a broad and +stately march, to which the messengers of peace enter. They sing a +graceful chorus. This is followed by a chorus for the senators, and +the nobles then tender their submission. There is a terzetto, between +_Adriano_, _Colonna_, and _Orsino_, in which the nobles express their +contempt for the young patrician. The finale which then begins is +highly spectacular. There is a march for the ambassadors, and a grand +ballet, historical in character, and supposed to be symbolical of the +triumphs of ancient Rome. In the midst of this occurs the assault upon +_Rienzi_. _Rienzi's_ pardon of the nobles is conveyed in a broadly +beautiful melody, and this is succeeded by the animated passage heard +in the overture. With it are mingled the chants of the monks, the +shouts of the people who are opposed to the cardinal and nobles, and +the tolling of bells. + +The third act opens tumultuously. The people have been aroused by +fresh outrages on the part of the nobles. _Rienzi's_ emissaries +disperse, after a furious chorus, to rouse the populace to vengeance. +After they have left, _Adriano_ has his great air, a number which can +never fail of effect when sung with all the expression of which it is +capable. The rest of the act is a grand accumulation of martial music +or noise, whichever one chooses to call it, and includes the +stupendous battle hymn, which is accompanied by the clashing of sword +and shields, the ringing of bells, and all the tumult incidental to a +riot. After _Adriano_ has pleaded in vain with _Rienzi_ for the +nobles, and the various bands of armed citizens have dispersed, there +is a duet between _Adriano_ and _Irene_, in which _Adriano_ takes +farewell of her. The victorious populace appears and the act closes +with their triumphant shouts. The fourth act is brief, and beyond the +description given in the synopsis of the plot, requires no further +comment. + +The fifth act opens with the beautiful prayer of _Rienzi_, already +familiar from the overture. There is a tender duet between _Rienzi_ +and _Irene_, an impassioned aria for _Rienzi_, a duet for _Irene_ and +_Adriano_, and then the finale, which is chiefly choral. + + +DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER + +THE FLYING DUTCHMAN + + Opera in three acts, words and music by Richard Wagner. + Produced, Royal Opera, Dresden, January 2, 1843. London, + July 23, 1870, as "L'Olandese Dannato"; October 3, 1876, by + Carl Rosa, in English. New York, Academy of Music, January + 26, 1877, in English, with Clara Louise Kellogg; March 12, + 1877, in German; in the spring of 1883, in Italian, with + Albani, Galassi, and Ravelli. + + CHARACTERS + + DALAND, a Norwegian sea captain _Bass_ + SENTA, his daughter _Soprano_ + ERIC, a huntsman _Tenor_ + MARY, SENTA'S nurse _Contralto_ + DALAND'S Steersman _Tenor_ + THE DUTCHMAN _Baritone_ + + Sailors, Maidens, Hunters, etc. + + _Time_--Eighteenth Century. + + _Place_--A Norwegian Fishing Village. + +From "Rienzi" Wagner took a great stride to "The Flying Dutchman." +This is the first milestone on the road from opera to music-drama. Of +his "Rienzi" the composer was in after years ashamed, writing to +Liszt: "I, as an artist and man, have not the heart for the +reconstruction of that, to my taste, superannuated work, which in +consequence of its immoderate dimensions, I have had to remodel more +than once. I have no longer the heart for it, and desire from all my +soul to do something new instead." He spoke of it as a youthful error, +but in "The Flying Dutchman" there is little, if anything, which could +have troubled his artistic conscience. + +One can hardly imagine the legend more effective dramatically and +musically than it is in Wagner's libretto and score. It is a work of +wild and sombre beauty, relieved only occasionally by touches of light +and grace, and has all the interest attaching to a work in which for +the first time a genius feels himself conscious of his greatness. If +it is not as impressive as "Tannhäuser" or "Lohengrin," nor as +stupendous as the music-dramas, that is because the subject of the +work is lighter. As his genius developed, his choice of subjects and +his treatment of them passed through as complete an evolution as his +musical theory, so that when he finally abandoned the operatic form +and adopted his system of leading motives, he conceived, for the +dramatic bases of his scores, dramas which it would be difficult to +fancy set to any other music than that which is so characteristic in +his music-dramas. + +Wagner's present libretto is based upon the weirdly picturesque legend +of "The Flying Dutchman"--the Wandering Jew of the ocean. A Dutch sea +captain, who, we are told, tried to double the Cape of Good Hope in +the teeth of a furious gale, swore that he would accomplish his +purpose even if he kept on sailing forever. The devil, hearing the +oath, condemned the captain to sail the sea until Judgment Day, +without hope of release, unless he should find a woman who would love +him faithfully unto death. Once in every seven years he is allowed to +go ashore in search of a woman who will redeem him through her +faithful love. + +The opera opens just as a term of seven years has elapsed. The +_Dutchman's_ ship comes to anchor in a bay of the coast of Norway, in +which the ship of _Daland_, a Norwegian sea captain, has sought +shelter from the storm. _Daland's_ home is not far from the bay, and +the _Dutchman_, learning he has a daughter, asks permission to woo +her, offering him in return all his treasures. _Daland_ readily +consents. His daughter, _Senta_, is a romantic maiden upon whom the +legend of "The Flying Dutchman" has made a deep impression. As +_Daland_ ushers the _Dutchman_ into his home _Senta_ is gazing +dreamily upon a picture representing the unhappy hero of the legend. +The resemblance of the stranger to the face in this picture is so +striking that the emotional girl is at once attracted to him, and +pledges him her faith, deeming it her mission to save him. Later on, +_Eric_, a young huntsman, who is in love with her, pleads his cause +with her, and the _Dutchman_, overhearing them, and thinking himself +again forsaken, rushes off to his vessel. _Senta_ cries out that she +is faithful to him, but is held back by _Eric_, _Daland_, and her +friends. The _Dutchman_, who really loves _Senta_, then proclaims who +he is, thinking to terrify her, and at once puts to sea. But she, +undismayed by his words, and truly faithful unto death, breaks away +from those who are holding her, and rushing to the edge of a cliff +casts herself into the ocean, with her arms outstretched toward him. +The phantom ship sinks, the sea rises high and falls back into a +seething whirlpool. In the sunset glow the forms of _Senta_ and the +_Dutchman_ are seen rising in each other's embrace from the sea and +floating upward. + +In "The Flying Dutchman" Wagner employs several leading motives, not, +indeed, with the skill which he displays in his music-dramas, but with +considerably greater freedom of treatment than in "Rienzi." There we +had but one leading motive, which never varied in form. The overture, +which may be said to be an eloquent and beautiful musical narrative of +the whole opera, contains all these leading motives. It opens with a +stormy passage, out of which there bursts the strong but sombre Motive +of the Flying Dutchman himself, the dark hero of the legend. The +orchestra fairly seethes and rages like the sea roaring under the lash +of a terrific storm. And through all this furious orchestration there +is heard again and again the motive of the _Dutchman_, as if his +figure could be seen amid all the gloom and fury of the elements. +There he stands, hoping for death, yet indestructible. As the excited +music gradually dies away, there is heard a calm, somewhat undulating +phrase which occurs in the opera when the _Dutchman's_ vessel puts +into the quiet Norwegian harbour. Then, also, there occurs again the +motive of the _Dutchman_, but this time played softly, as if the +storm-driven wretch had at last found a moment's peace. + +We at once recognize to whom it is due that he has found this moment +of repose, for we hear like prophetic measures the strains of the +beautiful ballad which is sung by _Senta_ in the second act of the +opera, in which she relates the legend of "The Flying Dutchman" and +tells of his unhappy fate. She is the one whom he is to meet when he +goes ashore. The entire ballad is not heard at this point, only the +opening of the second part, which may be taken as indicating in this +overture the simplicity and beauty of _Senta's_ character. In fact, it +would not be too much to call this opening phrase the Senta Motive. It +is followed by the phrase which indicates the coming to anchor of the +_Dutchman's_ vessel; then we hear the Motive of the Dutchman himself, +dying away with the faintest possible effect. With sudden energy the +orchestra dashes into the surging ocean music, introducing this time +the wild, pathetic plaint sung by the _Dutchman_ in the first act of +the opera. Again we hear his motive, and again the music seems to +represent the surging, swirling ocean when aroused by a furious +tempest. Even when we hear the measures of the sailors' chorus the +orchestra continues its furious pace, making it appear as if the +sailors were shouting above the storm. + +Characteristic in this overture, and also throughout the opera, +especially in _Senta's_ ballad, is what may be called the Ocean +Motive, which most graphically depicts the wild and terrible aspect of +the ocean during a storm. It is varied from time to time, but never +loses its characteristic force and weirdness. The overture ends with +an impassioned burst of melody based upon a portion of the concluding +phrases of _Senta's_ ballad; phrases which we hear once more at the +end of the opera when she sacrifices herself in order to save her +lover. + +A wild and stormy scene is disclosed when the curtain rises upon the +first act. The sea occupies the greater part of the scene, and +stretches itself out far toward the horizon. A storm is raging. +_Daland's_ ship has sought shelter in a little cove formed by the +cliffs. Sailors are employed in furling sails and coiling ropes. +_Daland_ is standing on a rock, looking about him to discover in what +place they are. The orchestra, chiefly with the wild ocean music heard +in the overture, depicts the raging of the storm, and above it are +heard the shouts of the sailors at work: "Ho-jo-he! Hal-lo-jo!" + +_Daland_ discovers that they have missed their port by seven miles on +account of the storm, and deplores his bad luck that when so near his +home and his beloved child, he should have been driven out of his +course. As the storm seems to be abating the sailors descend into the +hold and _Daland_ goes down into the cabin to rest, leaving his +steersman in charge of the deck. The steersman walks the deck once or +twice and then sits down near the rudder, yawning, and then rousing +himself as if sleep were coming over him. As if to force himself to +remain awake he intones a sailor song, an exquisite little melody, +with a dash of the sea in its undulating measures. He intones the +second verse, but sleep overcomes him and the phrases become more and +more detached, until at last he falls asleep. + +The storm begins to rage again and it grows darker. Suddenly the ship +of the _Flying Dutchman_, with blood-red sails and black mast, looms +up in the distance. She glides over the waves as if she did not feel +the storm at all, and quickly enters the harbour over against the ship +of the Norwegian; then silently and without the least noise the +spectral crew furl the sails. The _Dutchman_ goes on shore. + +Here now occur the weird, dramatic recitative and aria: "The term is +passed, and once again are ended seven long years." As the _Dutchman_ +leans in brooding silence against a rock in the foreground, _Daland_ +comes out of the cabin and observes the ship. He rouses the steersman, +who begins singing again a phrase of his song, until _Daland_ points +out the strange vessel to him, when he springs up and hails her +through a speaking trumpet. _Daland_, however, perceives the +_Dutchman_ and going ashore questions him. It is then that the +_Dutchman_, after relating a mariner's story of ill luck and disaster, +asks _Daland_ to take him to his home and allow him to woo his +daughter, offering him his treasures. At this point we have a graceful +and pretty duet, _Daland_ readily consenting that the _Dutchman_ +accompany him. The storm having subsided and the wind being fair, the +crews of the vessels hoist sail to leave port, _Daland's_ vessel +disappearing just as the _Dutchman_ goes on board his ship. + +After an introduction in which we hear a portion of the steersman's +song, and also that phrase which denotes the appearance of the +_Dutchman's_ vessel in the harbour, the curtain rises upon a room in +_Daland's_ house. On the walls are pictures of vessels, charts, and on +the farther wall the portrait of a pale man with a dark beard. +_Senta_, leaning back in an armchair, is absorbed in dreamy +contemplation of the portrait. Her old nurse, _Mary_, and her young +friends are sitting in various parts of the room, spinning. Here we +have that charming musical number famous all the musical world over, +perhaps largely through Liszt's admirable piano arrangement of it, the +"Spinning Chorus." For graceful and engaging beauty it cannot be +surpassed, and may be cited as a striking instance of Wagner's gift of +melody, should anybody at this late day be foolish enough to require +proof of his genius in that respect. The girls tease _Senta_ for +gazing so dreamily at the portrait of the _Flying Dutchman_, and +finally ask her if she will not sing his ballad. + +This ballad is a masterpiece of composition, vocally and +instrumentally, being melodious as well as descriptive. It begins with +the storm music familiar from the overture, and with the weird +measures of the Flying Dutchman's Motive, which sound like a voice +calling in distress across the sea. + +[Music] + +_Senta_ repeats the measures of this motive, and then we have the +simple phrases beginning: "A ship the restless ocean sweeps." +Throughout this portion of the ballad the orchestra depicts the +surging and heaving of the ocean, _Senta's_ voice ringing out +dramatically above the accompaniment. She then tells how he can be +delivered from his curse, this portion being set to the measures which +were heard in the overture, _Senta_ finally proclaiming, in the +broadly delivered, yet rapturous phrases with which the overture ends, + +[Music] + +that she is the woman who will save him by being faithful to him unto +death. The girls about her spring up in terror and _Eric_, who has +just entered the door and heard her outcry, hastens to her side. He +brings news of the arrival of _Daland's_ vessel, and _Mary_ and the +girls hasten forth to meet the sailors. _Senta_ wishes to follow, but +_Eric_ restrains her and pleads his love for her in melodious +measures. _Senta_, however, will not give him an answer at this time. +He then tells her of a dream he has had, in which he saw a weird +vessel from which two men, one her father, the other a ghastly-looking +stranger, made their way. Her he saw going to the stranger and +entreating him for his regard. + +_Senta_, worked up to the highest pitch of excitement by _Eric's_ +words, now exclaims: "He seeks for me and I for him," and _Eric_, full +of despair and horror, rushes away. _Senta_, after her outburst of +excitement, remains again sunk in contemplation of the picture, softly +repeating the measures of her romance. The door opens and the +_Dutchman_ and _Daland_ appear. The _Dutchman_ is the first to enter. +_Senta_ turns from the picture to him, and, uttering a loud cry of +wonder, remains standing as if transfixed without removing her eyes +from the _Dutchman_. _Daland_, seeing that she does not greet him, +comes up to her. She seizes his hand and after a hasty greeting asks +him who the stranger is. _Daland_ tells her of the stranger's request, +and leaves them alone. Then follows a duet for _Senta_ and the +_Dutchman_, with its broad, smoothly-flowing melody and its many +phrases of dramatic power, in which _Senta_ gives herself up +unreservedly to the hero of her romantic attachment, _Daland_ finally +entering and adding his congratulations to their betrothal. This scene +closes the act. + +The music of it re-echoes through the introduction of the next act and +goes over into a vigorous sailors' chorus and dance. The scene shows a +bay with a rocky shore. _Daland's_ house is in the foreground on one +side, the background is occupied by his and the _Dutchman's_ ships, +which lie near one another. The Norwegian ship is lighted up, and all +the sailors are making merry on the deck. In strange contrast is the +_Flying Dutchman's_ vessel. An unnatural darkness hangs over it and +the stillness of death reigns aboard. The sailors and the girls in +their merry-making call loudly toward the Dutch ship to join them, but +no reply is heard from the weird vessel. Finally the sailors call +louder and louder and taunt the crew of the other ship. Then suddenly +the sea, which has been quite calm, begins to rise. The storm wind +whistles through the cordage of the strange vessel, and as dark bluish +flames flare up in the rigging, the weird crew show themselves, and +sing a wild chorus, which strikes terror into all the merrymakers. The +girls have fled, and the Norwegian sailors quit their deck, making the +sign of the cross. The crew of the Flying Dutchman observing this, +disappear with shrill laughter. Over their ship comes the stillness of +death. Thick darkness is spread over it and the air and the sea become +calm as before. + +_Senta_ now comes with trembling steps out of the house. She is +followed by _Eric_. He pleads with her and entreats her to remember +his love for her, and speaks also of the encouragement which she once +gave him. The _Dutchman_ has entered unperceived and has been +listening. _Eric_ seeing him, at once recognizes the man of ghastly +mien whom he saw in his vision. When the _Flying Dutchman_ bids her +farewell, because he deems himself abandoned, and _Senta_ endeavours +to follow him, _Eric_ holds her and summons others to his aid. But, in +spite of all resistance, _Senta_ seeks to tear herself loose. Then it +is that the _Flying Dutchman_ proclaims who he is and puts to sea. +_Senta_, however, freeing herself, rushes to a cliff overhanging the +sea, and calling out, + + "Praise thou thine angel for what he saith; + Here stand I faithful, yea, to death," + +casts herself into the sea. Then occurs the concluding tableau, the +work ending with the portion of the ballad which brought the overture +and spinning scene to a close. + + +TANNHÄUSER + +UND DER SÄNGERKRIEG AUF DEM WARTBURG + +(AND THE SONG CONTEST AT THE WARTBURG) + + Opera in three acts, words and music by Richard Wagner. + Produced, Royal Opera, Dresden, October 19, 1845. Paris, + Grand Opéra, March 13, 1861. London, Covent Garden, May 6, + 1876, in Italian; Her Majesty's Theatre, February 14, 1882, + in English; Drury Lane, May 23, 1882, in German, under Hans + Richter. New York, Stadt Theatre, April 4, 1859, and July, + 1861, conducted by Carl Bergmann; under Adolff Neuendorff's + direction, 1870, and, Academy of Music, 1877; Metropolitan + Opera House, opening night of German Opera, under Dr. + Leopold Damrosch, November 17, 1884, with Seidl-Kraus as + _Elizabeth_, Anna Slach as _Venus_, Schott as _Tannhäuser_, + Adolf Robinson as _Wolfram_, Josef Kögel as the _Landgrave_. + + CHARACTERS + + HERMANN, Landgrave of Thuringia _Bass_ + TANNHÄUSER } _Tenor_ + WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH } _Baritone_ + WALTER VON DER VOGELWEIDE } Knights and _Tenor_ + BITEROLF } Minnesinger _Bass_ + HEINRICH DER SCHREIBER } _Tenor_ + REINMAR VON ZWETER } _Bass_ + ELIZABETH, niece of the Landgrave _Soprano_ + VENUS _Soprano_ + A YOUNG SHEPHERD _Soprano_ + FOUR NOBLE PAGES _Soprano and Alto_ + + Nobles, Knights, Ladies, elder and younger Pilgrims, Sirens, + Naiads, Nymphs, Bacchantes. + + _Time_--Early Thirteenth Century. + + _Place_--Near Eisenach. + +The story of "Tannhäuser" is laid in and near the Wartburg, where, +during the thirteenth century, the Landgraves of the Thuringian Valley +held sway. They were lovers of art, especially of poetry and music, +and at the Wartburg many peaceful contests between the famous +minnesingers took place. Near this castle rises the Venusberg. +According to tradition the interior of this mountain was inhabited by +Holda, the Goddess of Spring, who, however, in time became identified +with the Goddess of Love. Her court was filled with nymphs and sirens, +and it was her greatest joy to entice into the mountain the knights of +the Wartburg and hold them captive to her beauty. + +Among those whom she has thus lured into the rosy recesses of the +Venusberg is _Tannhäuser_. + +In spite of her beauty, however, he is weary of her charms and longs +for a glimpse of the world. He seems to have heard the tolling of +bells and other earthly sounds, and these stimulate his yearning to be +set free from the magic charms of the goddess. + +In vain she prophesies evil to him should he return to the world. With +the cry that his hope rests in the Virgin, he tears himself away from +her. In one of the swiftest and most effective of scenic changes the +court of _Venus_ disappears and in a moment we see _Tannhäuser_ +prostrate before a cross in a valley upon which the Wartburg +peacefully looks down. _Pilgrims_ on their way to Rome pass him by and +_Tannhäuser_ thinks of joining them in order that at Rome he may +obtain forgiveness for his crime in allowing himself to be enticed +into the Venusberg. But at that moment the _Landgrave_ and a number of +minnesingers on their return from the chase come upon him and, +recognizing him, endeavour to persuade him to return to the Wartburg +with them. Their pleas, however, are vain, until one of them, _Wolfram +von Eschenbach_, tells him that since he has left the Wartburg a great +sadness has come over the niece of the _Landgrave_, _Elizabeth_. It is +evident that _Tannhäuser_ has been in love with her, and that it is +because of her beauty and virtue that he regrets so deeply having been +lured into the Venusberg. For _Wolfram's_ words stir him profoundly. +To the great joy of all, he agrees to return to the Wartburg, the +scene of his many triumphs as a minnesinger in the contests of song. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Farrar as Elizabeth in "Tannhäuser"] + +[Illustration: Photo by Hall + +"Tannhäuser," Finale, Act II + +Tannhäuser (Maclennan), Elizabeth (Fornia), Wolfram (Dean) + +The Landgrave (Cranston)] + +The _Landgrave_, feeling sure that _Tannhäuser_ will win the prize at +the contest of song soon to be held, offers the hand of his niece to +the winner. The minnesingers sing tamely of the beauty of virtuous +love, but _Tannhäuser_, suddenly remembering the seductive and magical +beauties of the Venusberg, cannot control himself, and bursts out +into a reckless hymn in praise of _Venus_. Horrified at his words, the +knights draw their swords and would slay him, but _Elizabeth_ throws +herself between him and them. Crushed and penitent, _Tannhäuser_ +stands behind her, and the _Landgrave_, moved by her willingness to +sacrifice herself for her sinful lover, announces that he will be +allowed to join a second band of pilgrims who are going to Rome and to +plead with the Pope for forgiveness. + +_Elizabeth_ prayerfully awaits his return; but, as she is kneeling by +the crucifix in front of the Wartburg, the _Pilgrims_ pass her by and +in the band she does not see her lover. Slowly and sadly she returns +to the castle to die. When the _Pilgrims'_ voices have died away, and +_Elizabeth_ has returned to the castle, leaving only _Wolfram_, who is +also deeply enamoured of her, upon the scene, _Tannhäuser_ appears, +weary and dejected. He has sought to obtain forgiveness in vain. The +Pope has cast him out forever, proclaiming that no more than that his +staff can put forth leaves can he expect forgiveness. He has come back +to re-enter the Venusberg. _Wolfram_ seeks to restrain him, but it is +not until he invokes the name of _Elizabeth_ that _Tannhäuser_ is +saved. A cortège approaches, and, as _Tannhäuser_ recognizes the form +of _Elizabeth_ on the bier, he sinks down on her coffin and dies. Just +then the second band of pilgrims arrive, bearing _Tannhäuser's_ staff, +which has put forth blossoms, thus showing that his sins have been +forgiven. + +From "The Flying Dutchman" to "Tannhäuser," dramatically and +musically, is, if anything, a greater stride than from "Rienzi" to +"The Flying Dutchman." In each of his successive works Wagner +demonstrates greater and deeper powers as a dramatic poet and +composer. True it is that in nearly every one of them woman appears as +the redeeming angel of sinful man, but the circumstances differ so +that this beautiful tribute always interests us anew. + +The overture of the opera has long been a favorite piece on concert +programs. Like that of "The Flying Dutchman" it is the story of the +whole opera told in music. It certainly is one of the most brilliant +and effective pieces of orchestral music and its popularity is easily +understood. It opens with the melody of the _Pilgrims'_ chorus, +beginning softly as if coming from a distance and gradually increasing +in power until it is heard in all its grandeur. At this point it is +joined by a violently agitated accompaniment on the violins. This +passage evoked great criticism when it was first produced and for many +years thereafter. It was thought to mar the beauty of the pilgrims' +chorus. But without doing so at all it conveys additional dramatic +meaning, for these agitated phrases depict the restlessness of the +world as compared with the grateful tranquillity of religious faith as +set forth in the melody of the _Pilgrims'_ chorus. + +[Music] + +Having reached a climax, this chorus gradually dies away, and +suddenly, and with intense dramatic contrast, we have all the +seductive spells of the Venusberg displayed before us--that is, +musically displayed; but then the music is so wonderfully vivid, it +depicts with such marvellous clearness the many-coloured alluring +scene at the court of the unholy goddess, it gives vent so freely to +the sinful excitement which pervades the Venusberg, that we actually +seem to see what we hear. This passes over in turn to the impassioned +burst of song in which _Tannhäuser_ hymns Venus's praise, and +immediately after we have the boisterous and vigorous music which +accompanies the threatening action of the _Landgrave_ and +minnesingers when they draw their swords upon _Tannhäuser_ in order to +take vengeance upon him for his crimes. Upon these three episodes of +the drama, which so characteristically give insight into its plot and +action, the overture is based, and it very naturally concludes with +the _Pilgrims'_ chorus which seems to voice the final forgiveness of +_Tannhäuser_. + +The curtain rises, disclosing all the seductive spells of the +Venusberg. _Tannhäuser_ lies in the arms of _Venus_, who reclines upon +a flowery couch. Nymphs, sirens, and satyrs are dancing about them and +in the distance are grottoes alive with amorous figures. Various +mythological amours, such as that of Leda and the swan, are supposed +to be in progress, but fortunately at a mitigating distance. + +[Music] + +Much of the music familiar from the overture is heard during this +scene, but it gains in effect from the distant voices of the sirens +and, of course, from artistic scenery and grouping and well-executed +dances of the denizens of _Venus's_ court. Very dramatic, too, is the +scene between _Venus_ and _Tannhäuser_, when the latter sings his hymn +in her praise, but at the same time proclaims that he desires to +return to the world. In alluring strains she endeavours to tempt him +to remain with her, but when she discovers that he is bound upon +going, she vehemently warns him of the misfortunes which await him +upon earth and prophesies that he will some day return to her and +penitently ask to be taken back into her realm. + +Dramatic and effective as this scene is in the original score, it has +gained immensely in power by the additions which Wagner made for the +production of the work in Paris, in 1861. The overture does not, in +this version, come to a formal close, but after the manner of Wagner's +later works, the transition is made directly from it to the scene of +the Venusberg. The dances have been elaborated and laid out upon a +more careful allegorical basis and the music of _Venus_ has been +greatly strengthened from a dramatic point of view, so that now the +scene in which she pleads with him to remain and afterwards warns him +against the sorrows to which he will be exposed, are among the finest +of Wagner's compositions, rivalling in dramatic power the ripest work +in his music-dramas. + +Wagner's knowledge of the stage is shown in the wonderfully dramatic +effect in the change of scene from the Venusberg to the landscape in +the valley of the Wartburg. One moment we have the variegated allures +of the court of the Goddess of Love, with its dancing nymphs, sirens, +and satyrs, its beautiful grottoes and groups; the next all this has +disappeared and from the heated atmosphere of _Venus's_ unholy rites +we are suddenly transported to a peaceful scene whose influence upon +us is deepened by the crucifix in the foreground, before which +_Tannhäuser_ kneels in penitence. The peacefulness of the scene is +further enhanced by the appearance upon a rocky eminence to the left +of a young _Shepherd_ who pipes a pastoral strain, while in the +background are heard the tinkling of bells, as though his sheep were +there grazing upon some upland meadow. Before he has finished piping +his lay the voices of the _Pilgrims_ are heard in the distance, their +solemn measures being interrupted by little phrases piped by the +_Shepherd_. As the _Pilgrims_ approach, the chorus becomes louder, +and as they pass over the stage and bow before the crucifix, their +praise swells into an eloquent psalm of devotion. + +_Tannhäuser_ is deeply affected and gives way to his feelings in a +lament, against which are heard the voices of the _Pilgrims_ as they +recede in the distance. This whole scene is one of marvellous beauty, +the contrast between it and the preceding episode being enhanced by +the religiously tranquil nature of what transpires and of the +accompanying music. Upon this peaceful scene the notes of +hunting-horns now break in, and gradually the _Landgrave_ and his +hunters gather about _Tannhäuser_. _Wolfram_ recognizes him and tells +the others who he is. They greet him in an expressive septette, and +_Wolfram_, finding he is bent upon following the _Pilgrims_ to Rome, +asks permission of the _Landgrave_ to inform him of the impression +which he seems to have made upon _Elizabeth_. This he does in a +melodious solo, and _Tannhäuser_, overcome by his love for +_Elizabeth_, consents to return to the halls which have missed him so +long. Exclamations of joy greet his decision, and the act closes with +an enthusiastic _ensemble_, which is a glorious piece of concerted +music, and never fails of brilliant effect when it is well executed, +especially if the representative of _Tannhäuser_ has a voice that can +soar above the others, which, unfortunately, is not always the case. +The accompanying scenic grouping should also be in keeping with the +composer's instructions. The _Landgrave's_ suite should gradually +arrive, bearing the game which has been slain, and horses and +hunting-hounds should be led on the stage. Finally, the _Landgrave_ +and minnesingers mount their steeds and ride away toward the castle. + +The scene of the second act is laid in the singers' hall of the +Wartburg. The introduction depicts _Elizabeth's_ joy at _Tannhäuser's_ +return, and when the curtain rises she at once enters and joyfully +greets the scenes of _Tannhäuser's_ former triumphs in broadly +dramatic melodious phrases. _Wolfram_ then appears, conducting +_Tannhäuser_ to her. _Elizabeth_ seems overjoyed to see him, but then +checks herself, and her maidenly modesty, which veils her transport at +meeting him, again finds expression in a number of hesitating but +exceedingly beautiful phrases. She asks _Tannhäuser_ where he has +been, but he, of course, gives misleading answers. Finally, however, +he tells her she is the one who has attracted him back to the castle. +Their love finds expression in a swift and rapidly flowing dramatic +duet, which unfortunately is rarely given in its entirety, although as +a glorious outburst of emotional music it certainly deserves to be +heard in the exact form and length in which the composer wrote it. + +There is then a scene of much tender feeling between the _Landgrave_ +and _Elizabeth_, in which the former tells her that he will offer her +hand as prize to the singer whom she shall crown as winner. The first +strains of the grand march are then heard. This is one of Wagner's +most brilliant and effective orchestral and vocal pieces. Though in +perfect march rhythm, it is not intended that the guests who assembled +at the Wartburg shall enter like a company of soldiers. On the +contrary, they arrive in irregular detachments, stride across the +floor, and make their obeisance in a perfectly natural manner. After +an address by the _Landgrave_, which can hardly be called remarkably +interesting, the singers draw lots to decide who among them shall +begin. This prize singing is, unfortunately, not so great in musical +value as the rest of the score, and, unless a person understands the +words, it is decidedly long drawn out. What, however, redeems it is a +gradually growing dramatic excitement as _Tannhäuser_ voices his +contempt for what seem to him the tame tributes paid to love by the +minnesingers, an excitement which reaches its climax when, no longer +able to restrain himself, he bursts forth into his hymn in praise of +the unholy charms of _Venus_. + +[Music] + +The women cry out in horror and rush from the hall as if the very +atmosphere were tainted by his presence, and the men, drawing their +swords, rush upon him. This brings us to the great dramatic moment, +when, with a shriek, _Elizabeth_, in spite of his betrayal of her +love, throws herself protectingly before him, and thus appears a +second time as his saving angel. In short and excited phrases the men +pour forth their wrath at _Tannhäuser's_ crime in having sojourned +with _Venus_, and he, realizing its enormity, seems crushed with a +consciousness of his guilt. Of wondrous beauty is the septette, "An +angel has from heaven descended," which rises to a magnificent climax +and is one of the finest pieces of dramatic writing in Wagner's +scores, although often execrably sung and rarely receiving complete +justice. The voices of young _Pilgrims_ are heard in the valley. The +_Landgrave_ then announces the conditions upon which _Tannhäuser_ can +again obtain forgiveness, and _Tannhäuser_ joins the pilgrims on their +way to Rome. + +The third act displays once more the valley of the Wartburg, the same +scene as that to which the Venusberg changed in the first act. +_Elizabeth_, arrayed in white, is kneeling, in deep prayer, before the +crucifix. At one side, and watching her tenderly, stands _Wolfram_. +After a sad recitative from _Wolfram_, the chorus of returning +_Pilgrims_ is heard in the distance. They sing the melody heard in the +overture and in the first act; and the same effect of gradual approach +is produced by a superb crescendo as they reach and cross the scene. +With almost piteous anxiety and grief _Elizabeth_ scans them closely +as they go by, to see if _Tannhäuser_ be among them, and when the +last one has passed and she realizes that he has not returned, she +sinks again upon her knees before the crucifix and sings the prayer, +"Almighty Virgin, hear my sorrow," music in which there is most +beautifully combined the expression of poignant grief with trust in +the will of the Almighty. As she rises and turns toward the castle, +_Wolfram_, by his gesture, seems to ask her if he cannot accompany +her, but she declines his offer and slowly goes her way up the +mountain. + +Meanwhile night has fallen upon the scene and the evening star glows +softly above the castle. It is then that _Wolfram_, accompanying +himself on his lyre, intones the wondrously tender and beautiful "Song +to the Evening Star," confessing therein his love for the saintly +_Elizabeth_. + +[Music] + +Then _Tannhäuser_, dejected, footsore, and weary, appears, and in +broken accents asks _Wolfram_ to show him the way back to the +Venusberg. _Wolfram_ bids him stay his steps and persuades him to tell +him the story of his pilgrimage. In fierce, dramatic accents, +_Tannhäuser_ relates all that he has suffered on his way to Rome and +the terrible judgment pronounced upon him by the Pope. This is a +highly impressive episode, clearly foreshadowing Wagner's dramatic use +of musical recitative in his later music-dramas. Only a singer of the +highest rank can do justice to it. + +_Tannhäuser_ proclaims that, having lost all chance of salvation, he +will once more give himself up to the delights of the Venusberg. A +roseate light illumines the recesses of the mountain and the unholy +company of the Venusberg again is seen, _Venus_ stretching out her +arms for _Tannhäuser_, to welcome him. But at last, when _Tannhäuser_ +seems unable to resist _Venus'_ enticing voice any longer, _Wolfram_ +conjures him by the memory of the sainted _Elizabeth_. Then _Venus_ +knows that all is lost. The light dies away and the magic charms of +the Venusberg disappear. Amid tolling of bells and mournful voices a +funeral procession comes down the mountain. Recognizing the features +of _Elizabeth_, the dying _Tannhäuser_ falls upon her corpse. The +younger pilgrims arrive with the staff, which has again put forth +leaves, and amid the hallelujahs of the pilgrims the opera closes. + +Besides the character of _Elizabeth_ that of _Wolfram_ stands out for +its tender, manly beauty. In love with _Elizabeth_, he is yet the +means of bringing back her lover to her, and in the end saves that +lover from perdition, so that they may be united in death. + + +LOHENGRIN + + Opera in three acts, by Richard Wagner. Produced, Weimar, + Germany, August 28, 1850, under the direction of Franz + Liszt; London, Covent Garden, May 8, 1875; New York, Stadt + Theater, in German, April 3, 1871; Academy of Music, in + Italian, March 23, 1874, with Nilsson, Cary, Campanini, and + Del Puente; Metropolitan Opera House, in German, November + 23, 1885, with Seidl-Kraus, Brandt, Stritt, Robinson, and + Fischer, American début of Anton Seidl as conductor. + + CHARACTERS + + HENRY THE FOWLER, King of Germany _Bass_ + LOHENGRIN _Tenor_ + ELSA OF BRABANT _Soprano_ + DUKE GODFREY, her brother _Mute_ + FREDERICK OF TELRAMUND, Count of Brabant _Baritone_ + ORTRUD, his wife _Mezzo-Soprano_ + THE KING'S HERALD _Bass_ + + Saxon, Thuringian, and Brabantian Counts and Nobles, Ladies + of Honour, Pages, Attendants. + + _Time_--First half of the Tenth Century. + + _Scene_--Antwerp. + +The circumstances attending the creation and first production of +"Lohengrin" are most interesting. + +Prior to and for more than a decade after he wrote and composed the +work Wagner suffered many vicissitudes. In Paris, where he lived from +hand to mouth before "Rienzi" was accepted by the Royal Opera House at +Dresden, he was absolutely poverty-stricken and often at a loss how to +procure the next meal. + +"Rienzi" was produced at the Dresden Opera in 1842. It was brilliantly +successful. "The Flying Dutchman," which followed, was less so, and +"Tannhäuser" seemed even less attractive to its early audiences. +Therefore it is no wonder that, although Wagner was royal conductor in +Dresden, he could not succeed in having "Lohengrin" accepted there for +performance. Today "Rienzi" hardly can be said to hold its own in the +repertoire outside of its composer's native country. The sombre beauty +of "The Flying Dutchman," though recognized by musicians and serious +music lovers, has prevented its becoming popular. But "Tannhäuser," +looked at so askance at first, and "Lohengrin," absolutely rejected, +are standard operas and, when well given, among the most popular works +of the lyric stage. Especially is this true of "Lohengrin." + +This opera, at the time of its composition so novel and so strange, +yet filled with beauties of orchestration and harmony that are now +quoted as leading examples in books on these subjects, was composed in +less than a year. The acts were finished almost, if not quite, in +reversed order. For Wagner wrote the third act first, beginning it in +September, 1846, and completing it March 5, 1847. The first act +occupied him from May 12th to June 8th, less than a month; the second +act from June 18th to August 2d. Fresh and beautiful as "Lohengrin" +still sounds today, it is, in fact, a classic. + +Wagner's music, however, was so little understood at the time, that +even before "Lohengrin" was produced and not a note of it had been +heard, people made fun of it. A lithographer named Meser had issued +Wagner's previous three scores, but the enterprise had not been a +success. People said that before publishing "Rienzi," Meser had lived +on the first floor. "Rienzi" had driven him to the second; "The Flying +Dutchman" and "Tannhäuser" to the third; and now "Lohengrin" would +drive him to the garret--a prophecy that didn't come true, because he +refused to publish it. + +In 1849, "Lohengrin" still not having been accepted by the Dresden +Opera, Wagner, as already has been stated, took part in the May +revolution, which, apparently successful for a very short time, was +quickly suppressed by the military. The composer of "Lohengrin" and +the future composer of the "Ring of the Nibelung," "Tristan und +Isolde," "Meistersinger," and "Parsifal," is said to have made his +escape from Dresden in the disguise of a coachman. Occasionally there +turns up in sales as a great rarity a copy of the warrant for Wagner's +arrest issued by the Dresden police. As it gives a description of him +at the time when he had but recently composed "Lohengrin," I will +quote it: + + "Wagner is thirty-seven to thirty-eight years of age, of + medium stature, has brown hair, an open forehead; eyebrows, + brown; eyes, greyish blue; nose and mouth, proportioned; + chin, round, and wears spectacles. Special characteristics: + rapid in movements and speech. Dress: coat of dark green + buckskin, trousers of black cloth, velvet vest, silk + neckerchief, ordinary felt hat and boots." + +Much fun has been made of the expression "chin, round, and wears +spectacles." Wagner got out of Dresden on the pass of a Dr. Widmann, +whom he resembled. It has been suggested that he made the resemblance +still closer by discontinuing the habit of wearing spectacles on his +chin. + +I saw Wagner several times in Bayreuth in the summer of 1882, when I +attended the first performance of "Parsifal," as correspondent by +cable and letter for one of the large New York dailies. Except that +his hair was grey (and that he no longer wore his spectacles on his +chin) the description in the warrant still held good, especially as +regards his rapidity of movement and speech, to which I may add a +marked vivacity of gesture. There, too, I saw the friend, who had +helped him over so many rough places in his early career, Franz Liszt, +his hair white with age, but framing a face as strong and keen as an +eagle's. I saw them seated at a banquet, and with them Cosima, Liszt's +daughter, who was Wagner's second wife, and their son, Siegfried +Wagner; Cosima the image of her father, and Siegfried a miniature +replica of the composer to whom we owe "Lohengrin" and the +music-dramas that followed it. The following summer one of the four +was missing. I have the "Parsifal" program with mourning border +signifying that the performances of the work were in memory of its +creator. + +In April, 1850, Wagner, then an exile in Zurich, wrote to Liszt: +"Bring out my 'Lohengrin!' You are the only one to whom I would put +this request; to no one but you would I entrust the production of this +opera; but to you I surrender it with the fullest, most joyous +confidence." + +Wagner himself describes the appeal and the result, by saying that at +a time when he was ill, unhappy, and in despair, his eye fell on the +score of "Lohengrin" which he had almost forgotten. "A pitiful feeling +overcame me that these tones would never resound from the deathly-pale +paper; two words I wrote to Liszt, the answer to which was nothing +else than the information that, as far as the resources of the Weimar +Opera permitted, the most elaborate preparations were being made for +the production of 'Lohengrin.'" + +Liszt's reply to which Wagner refers, and which gives some details +regarding "the elaborate preparations," while testifying to his full +comprehension of Wagner's genius and the importance of his new score +as a work of art, may well cause us to smile today at the small scale +on which things were done in 1850. + +"Your 'Lohengrin,'" he wrote, "will be given under conditions that are +most unusual and most favourable for its success. The direction will +spend on this occasion almost 2000 thalers [about $1500]--a sum +unprecedented at Weimar within memory of man ... the bass clarinet has +been bought," etc. Ten times fifteen hundred dollars might well be +required today for a properly elaborate production of "Lohengrin," and +the opera orchestra that had to send out and buy a bass clarinet would +be a curiosity. But Weimar had what no other opera house could boast +of--Franz Liszt as conductor. + +Under his brilliant direction "Lohengrin" had at Weimar its first +performance on any stage, August 28, 1850. This was the anniversary of +Goethe's birth, the date of the dedication of the Weimar monument to +the poet, Herder, and, by a coincidence that does not appear to have +struck either Wagner or Liszt, the third anniversary of the completion +of "Lohengrin." The work was performed without cuts and before an +audience which included some of the leading musical and literary men +of Germany. The performance made a deep impression. The circumstance +that Liszt added the charm of his personality to it and that the +weight of his influence had been thrown in its favour alone gave vast +importance to the event. Indeed, through Liszt's production of +Wagner's early operas Weimar became, as Henry T. Finck has said in +_Wagner and His Works_, a sort of preliminary Bayreuth. Occasionally +special opera trains were put on for the accommodation of visitors to +the Wagner performances. In January, 1853, Liszt writes to Wagner that +"the public interest in 'Lohengrin' is rapidly increasing. You are +already very popular at the various Weimar hotels, where it is not +easy to get a room on the days when your operas are given." The Liszt +production of "Lohengrin" was a turning point in his career, the +determining influence that led him to throw himself heart and soul +into the composition of the "Ring of the Nibelung." + +On May 15, 1861, when, through the intervention of Princess +Metternich, he had been permitted to return to Germany, fourteen years +after he had finished "Lohengrin" and eleven years after its +production at Weimar, he himself heard it for the first time at +Vienna. A tragedy of fourteen years--to create a masterpiece of the +lyric stage, and be forced to wait that long to hear it! + +Before proceeding to a complete descriptive account of the "Lohengrin" +story and music I will give a brief summary of the plot and a similar +characterization of the score. + +Wagner appears to have become so saturated with the subject of his +dramas that he transported himself in mind and temperament to the very +time in which his scenes are laid. So vividly does he portray the +mythological occurrences told in "Lohengrin" that one can almost +imagine he had been an eye-witness of them. This capacity of artistic +reproduction of a remote period would alone entitle him to rank as a +great dramatist. But he has done much more; he has taken unpromising +material, which in the original is strung out over a period of years, +and, by condensing the action to two days, has converted it into a +swiftly moving drama. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Sembach as Lohengrin] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Schumann-Heink as Ortrud in "Lohengrin"] + +The story of "Lohengrin" is briefly as follows: The Hungarians have +invaded Germany, and _King Henry I._ visits Antwerp for the purpose +of raising a force to combat them. He finds the country in a condition +of anarchy. The dukedom is claimed by _Frederick_, who has married +_Ortrud_, a daughter of the Prince of Friesland. The legitimate heir, +_Godfrey_, has mysteriously disappeared, and his sister, _Elsa_, is +charged by _Frederick_ and _Ortrud_ with having done away with him in +order that she might obtain the sovereignty. The _King_ summons her +before him so that the cause may be tried by the ordeal of single +combat between _Frederick_ and a champion who may be willing to appear +for _Elsa_. None of the knights will defend her cause. She then +describes a champion whose form has appeared to her in a vision, and +she proclaims that he shall be her champion. Her pretence is derided +by _Frederick_ and his followers, who think that she is out of her +mind; but after a triple summons by the _Herald_, there is seen in the +distance on the river, a boat drawn by a swan, and in it a knight clad +in silver armour. He comes to champion _Elsa's_ cause, and before the +combat betroths himself to her, but makes a strict condition that she +shall never question him as to his name or birthplace, for should she, +he would be obliged to depart. She assents to the conditions, and the +combat which ensues results in _Frederick's_ ignominious defeat. +Judgment of exile is pronounced on him. + +Instead, however, of leaving the country he lingers in the +neighbourhood of Brabant, plotting with _Ortrud_ how they may compass +the ruin of _Lohengrin_ and _Elsa_. _Ortrud_ by her entreaties moves +_Elsa_ to pity, and persuades her to seek a reprieve for _Frederick_, +at the same time, however, using every opportunity to instil doubts in +_Elsa's_ mind regarding her champion, and rousing her to such a pitch +of nervous curiosity that she is on the point of asking him the +forbidden question. After the bridal ceremonies, and in the bridal +chamber, the distrust which _Ortrud_ and _Frederick_ have engendered +in _Elsa's_ mind so overcomes her faith that she vehemently puts the +forbidden question to her champion. Almost at the same moment +_Frederick_ and four of his followers force their way into the +apartment, intending to take the knight's life. A single blow of his +sword, however, stretches _Frederick_ lifeless, and his followers bear +his corpse away. Placing _Elsa_ in the charge of her ladies-in-waiting, +and ordering them to take her to the presence of the _King_, he +repairs thither himself. + +The Brabantian hosts are gathering, and he is expected to lead them to +battle, but owing to _Elsa's_ question he is now obliged to disclose +who he is and to take his departure. He proclaims that he is +_Lohengrin_, son of Parsifal, Knight of the Holy Grail, and that he +can linger no longer in Brabant, but must return to the place of his +coming. The swan has once more appeared, drawing the boat down the +river, and bidding _Elsa_ farewell he steps into the little shell-like +craft. Then _Ortrud_, with malicious glee, declares that the swan is +none other than _Elsa's_ brother, whom she (_Ortrud_) bewitched into +this form, and that he would have been changed back again to his human +shape had it not been for _Elsa's_ rashness. But _Lohengrin_, through +his supernatural powers, is able to undo _Ortrud's_ work, and at a +word from him the swan disappears and _Godfrey_ stands in its place. A +dove now descends, and, hovering in front of the boat, draws it away +with _Lohengrin_, while _Elsa_ expires in her brother's arms. + +Owing to the lyric character of the story upon which "Lohengrin" is +based, the opera, while not at all lacking in strong dramatic +situations is characterized by a subtler and more subdued +melodiousness than "Tannhäuser," is more exquisitely lyrical in fact +than any Wagnerian work except "Parsifal." + +There are typical themes in the score, but they are hardly handled +with the varied effect that entitles them to be called leading +motives. On the other hand there are fascinating details of +orchestration. These are important because the composer has given +significant clang-tints to the music that is heard in connection with +the different characters in the story. He uses the brass chiefly to +accompany the _King_, and, of course, the martial choruses; the +plaintive, yet spiritual high wood-wind for _Elsa_; the English horn +and sombre bass clarinet--the instrument that had to be bought--for +_Ortrud_; the violins, especially in high harmonic positions, to +indicate the Grail and its representative, for _Lohengrin_ is a Knight +of the Holy Grail. Even the keys employed are distinctive. The +_Herald's_ trumpeters blow in C and greet the _King's_ arrival in that +bright key. F-sharp minor is the dark, threatful key that indicates +_Ortrud's_ appearance. The key of A, which is the purest for strings +and the most ethereal in effect, on account of the greater ease of +using "harmonics," announces the approach of _Lohengrin_ and the +subtle influence of the Grail. + +Moreover Wagner was the first composer to discover that celestial +effects of tone colour are produced by the prolonged notes of the +combined violins and wood-wind in the highest positions more truly +than by the harp. It is the association of ideas with the Scriptures, +wherein the harp frequently is mentioned, because it was the most +perfected instrument of the period, that has led other composers to +employ it for celestial tone-painting. But while no one appreciated +the beauty of the harp more than Wagner, or has employed it with finer +effect than he, his celestial tone-pictures with high-violins and +wood-wind are distinctly more ecstatic than those of other composers. + +The music clothes the drama most admirably. The Vorspiel or Prelude +immediately places the listener in the proper mood for the story which +is to unfold itself, and for the score, vocal and instrumental, whose +strains are to fall upon his ear. + +The Prelude is based entirely upon one theme, a beautiful one and +expressive of the sanctity of the Grail, of which _Lohengrin_ is one +of the knights. Violins and flutes with long-drawn-out, ethereal +chords open the Prelude. Then is heard on the violins, so divided as +to heighten the delicacy of the effect, the Motive of the Grail, the +cup in which the Saviour's blood is supposed to have been caught as it +flowed from the wound in His side, while he was on the Cross. No +modern book on orchestration is considered complete unless it quotes +this passage from the score, which is at once the earliest and, after +seventy years, still the most perfect example of the effect of +celestial harmony produced on the high notes of the divided violin +choir. This interesting passage in the score is as follows: + +[Music] + +Although this is the only motive that occurs in the Prelude, the ear +never wearies of it. Its effectiveness is due to the wonderful skill +with which Wagner handles the theme, working it up through a superb +crescendo to a magnificent climax, with all the splendours of +Wagnerian orchestration, after which it dies away again to the +ethereal harmonies with which it first greeted the listener. + +Act I. The curtain, on rising, discloses a scene of unwonted life on +the plain near the River Scheldt, where the stream winds toward +Antwerp. On an elevated seat under a huge oak sits _King Henry I._ On +either side are his Saxon and Thuringian nobles. Facing him with the +knights of Brabant are _Count Frederick of Telramund_ and his wife, +_Ortrud_, daughter of the Prince of Friesland, of dark, almost +forbidding beauty, and with a treacherous mingling of haughtiness and +humility in her carriage. + +It is a strange tale the _King_ has just heard fall from _Frederick of +Telramund's_ lips. _Henry_ has assembled the Brabantians on the plain +by the Scheldt in order to summon them to join his army and aid in +checking the threatened invasion of Germany by the Hungarians. But he +has found the Brabantians themselves torn by factional strife, some +supporting, others opposing _Frederick_ in his claim to the ducal +succession of Brabant. + +"Sire," says _Frederick_, when called upon by the _King_ to explain +the cause of the discord that has come upon the land, "the late Duke +of Brabant upon his death-bed confided to me, his kinsman, the care of +his two children, _Elsa_ and her young brother _Godfrey_, with the +right to claim the maid as my wife. But one day _Elsa_ led the boy +into the forest and returned alone. From her pale face and faltering +lips I judged only too well of what had happened, and I now publicly +accuse _Elsa_ of having made away with her brother that she might be +sole heir to Brabant and reject my right to her hand. Her hand! +Horrified, I shrank from her and took a wife whom I could truly love. +Now as nearest kinsman of the duke I claim this land as my own, my +wife, too, being of the race that once gave a line of princes to +Brabant." + +So saying, he leads _Ortrud_ forward, and she, lowering her dark +visage, makes a deep obeisance to the _King_. To the latter but one +course is open. A terrible accusation has been uttered, and an appeal +must be made to the immediate judgment of God in trial by combat +between _Frederick_ and whoever may appear as champion for _Elsa_. +Solemnly the _King_ hangs his shield on the oak, the Saxons and +Thuringians thrust the points of their swords into the ground, while +the Brabantians lay theirs before them. The royal _Herald_ steps +forward. "Elsa, without delay appear!" he calls in a loud voice. + +A sudden hush falls upon the scene, as a slender figure robed in +white slowly advances toward the _King_. It is _Elsa_. With her fair +brow, gentle mien, and timid footsteps it seems impossible that she +can be the object of _Frederick's_ dire charge. But there are dark +forces conspiring against her, of which none knows save her accuser +and the wife he has chosen from the remoter North. In Friesland the +weird rites of Odin and the ancient gods still had many secret +adherents, _Ortrud_ among them, and it is the hope of this heathenish +woman, through the undoing of _Elsa_, and the accession of _Frederick_ +whom she has completely under her influence, to check the spread of +the Christian faith toward the North and restore the rites of Odin in +Brabant. To this end she is ready to bring all the black magic of +which she secretly is mistress into play. What wonder that _Elsa_, as +she encounters her malevolent gaze, lowers her eyes with a shudder! + +Up to the moment of _Elsa's_ entrance, the music is harsh and +vigorous, reflecting _Frederick's_ excitement as, incited by _Ortrud_, +he brings forward his charge against _Elsa_. With her appearance a +change immediately comes over the music. It is soft, gentle, and +plaintive; not, however, entirely hopeless, as if the maiden, being +conscious of her innocence, does not despair of her fate. + +"Elsa," gently asks the _King_, "whom name you as your champion?" She +answers as if in a trance; and it is at this point that the music of +"Elsa's Dream" is heard. In the course of this, violins whisper the +Grail Motive and in dreamy rapture _Elsa_ sings, "I see, in splendour +shining, a knight of glorious mien. His eyes rest upon me with +tranquil gaze. He stands amid clouds beside a house of gold, and +resting on his sword. Heaven has sent him to save me. He shall my +champion be!" + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Emma Eames as Elsa in "Lohengrin"] + +The men regard each other in wonder. But a sneer curls around +_Ortrud's_ lips, and _Frederick_ again proclaims his readiness to +prove his accusation in trial by combat for life and death. + +"_Elsa_," the _King_ asks once more, "whom have you chosen as your +champion?" + +"Him whom Heaven shall send me; and to him, whatever he shall ask of +me, I freely will give, e'en though it be myself as bride!" Again +there is heard the lovely, broad and flowing melody of which I have +already spoken and which may be designated as the ELSA MOTIVE. + +[Music] + +The _Herald_ now stations his trumpeters at the corners of the plain +and bids them blow a blast toward the four points of the compass. When +the last echo has died away he calls aloud: + +"He who in right of Heaven comes here to fight for _Elsa_ of Brabant, +let him step forth!" + +The deep silence that follows is broken by _Frederick's_ voice. "No +one appears to repel my charge. 'Tis proven." + +"My King," implores _Elsa_, whose growing agitation is watched by +_Ortrud_ with a malevolent smile, "my champion bides afar. He has not +yet heard the summons. I pray you let it go forth once more." + +Again the trumpeters blow toward the four points of the compass, again +the _Herald_ cries his call, again there is the fateful silence. "The +Heavens are silent. She is doomed," murmured the men. Then _Elsa_ +throws herself upon her knees and raises her eyes in prayer. Suddenly +there is a commotion among the men nearest the river bank. + +"A wonder!" they cry. "A swan! A swan--drawing a boat by a golden +chain! In the boat stands a knight! See, it approaches! His armour is +so bright it blinds our eyes! A wonder! A wonder!" + +There is a rush toward the bank and a great shout of acclaim, as the +swan with a graceful sweep rounds a bend in the river and brings the +shell-like boat, in which stands a knight in dazzling armour and of +noble mien, up to the shore. Not daring to trust her senses and turn +to behold the wondrous spectacle, _Elsa_ gazes in rapture heavenward, +while _Ortrud_ and _Telramund_, their fell intrigue suddenly halted by +a marvel that surpasses their comprehension, regard each other with +mingled amazement and alarm. + +A strange feeling of awe overcomes the assembly, and the tumult with +which the advent of the knight has been hailed dies away to breathless +silence, as he extends his hand and in tender accents bids farewell to +the swan, which gently inclines its head and then glides away with the +boat, vanishing as it had come. There is a chorus, in which, in +half-hushed voices, the crowd gives expression to the mystery of the +scene. Then the men fall back and the Knight of the Swan, for a silver +swan surmounts his helmet and is blazoned upon his shield, having made +due obeisance to the _King_, advances to where _Elsa_ stands and, +resting his eyes upon her pure and radiant beauty, questions her. + +"Elsa, if I become your champion and right the foul wrong that is +sought to be put upon you, will you confide your future to me; will +you become my bride?" + +"My guardian, my defender!" she exclaims ecstatically. "All that I +have, all that I am, is yours!" + +"Elsa," he says slowly, as if wishing her to weigh every word, "if I +champion your cause and take you to wife, there is one promise I must +exact: Never must you ask me whence I come or what my name." + +"I promise," she answers, serenely meeting his warning look. He +repeats the warning and again she promises to observe it. + +"Elsa, I love you!" he exclaims, as he clasps her in his arms. Then +addressing the _King_ he proclaims his readiness to defend her +innocence in trial by combat. + +In this scene occurs one of the significant themes of the opera, the +MOTIVE OF WARNING--for it is Elsa's disregard of it and the breaking +of her promise that brings her happiness to an end. + +[Music] + +Three Saxons for the Knight and three Brabantians for _Frederick_ +solemnly pace off the circle within which the combatants are to fight. +The _King_, drawing his sword, strikes three resounding blows with it +upon his shield. At the first stroke the Knight and _Frederick_ take +their positions. At the second they draw their swords. At the third +they advance to the encounter. _Frederick_ is no coward. His +willingness to meet the Knight whose coming had been so strange proves +that. But his blows are skilfully warded off until the Swan Knight, +finding an opening, fells him with a powerful stroke. _Frederick's_ +life is forfeited, but his conqueror, perchance knowing that he has +been naught but a tool in the hands of a woman leagued with the powers +of evil, spares it and bids his fallen foe rise. The _King_ leads +_Elsa_ to the victor, while all hail him as her deliverer and +betrothed. + +The scenes here described are most stirring. Before the combat begins, +the _King_ intones a prayer, in which first the principals and then +the chorus join with noble effect, while the music of rejoicing over +the Knight's victory has an irresistible onsweep. + +Act II. That night in the fortress of Antwerp, the palace where abide +the knights is brilliantly illuminated and sounds of revelry issue +from it, and lights shine from the kemenate, where _Elsa's_ +maids-in-waiting are preparing her for the bridal on the morrow. But +in the shadow of the walls sit two figures, a man and a woman; the +man, his head bowed in despair, the woman looking vindictively toward +the palace. They are _Frederick_ and _Ortrud_, who have been condemned +to banishment, he utterly dejected, she still trusting in the power of +her heathenish gods. To her the Swan Knight's chivalrous forbearance +in sparing _Frederick's_ life has seemed weak instead of noble, and +_Elsa_ she regards as an insipid dreamer and easy victim. Not knowing +that _Ortrud_ still darkly schemes to ruin _Elsa_ and restore him to +power, _Frederick_ denounces her in an outburst of rage and despair. + +As another burst of revelry, another flash of light, causes +_Frederick_ to bow his head in deeper gloom, _Ortrud_ begins to unfold +her plot to him. How long will a woman like _Elsa_--as sweet as she is +beautiful, but also as weak--be able to restrain herself from asking +the forbidden question? Once her suspicion aroused that the Knight is +concealing from her something in his past life, growing jealousy will +impel her first to seek to coax from him, then to demand of him his +name and lineage. Let _Frederick_ conceal himself within the minster, +and when the bridal procession reaches the steps, come forth and, +accusing the Knight of treachery and deceit, demand that he be +compelled to disclose his name and origin. He will refuse, and thus, +even before _Elsa_ enters the minster, she will begin to be beset by +doubts. She herself meanwhile will seek to enter the kemenate and play +upon her credulousness. "She is for me; her champion is for you. Soon +the daughter of Odin will teach you all the joys of vengeance!" is +_Ortrud's_ sinister exclamation as she finishes. + +Indeed it seems as if Fate were playing into her hand. For at that +very moment _Elsa_, all clad in white, comes out upon the balcony of +the kemenate and, sighing with happiness, breathes out upon the night +air her rapture at the thought of what bliss the coming day has in +store for her. As she lets her gaze rest on the calm night she hears a +piteous voice calling her name, and looking down sees _Ortrud_, her +hands raised in supplication to her. Moved by the spectacle of one but +a short time before so proud and now apparently in such utter +dejection, the guileless maid descends and, herself opening the door +of the kemenate, hastens to _Ortrud_, raises her to her feet, and +gently leads her in, while, hidden in the shadows, _Frederick of +Telramund_ bides his time for action. Thus within and without, +mischief is plotting for the unsuspecting _Elsa_. + +These episodes, following the appearance of _Elsa_ upon the balcony, +are known as the "Balcony Scene." It opens with the exquisite melody +which _Elsa_ breathes upon the zephyrs of the night in gratitude to +heaven for the champion sent to her defence. Then, when in pity she +has hastened down to _Ortrud_, the latter pours doubts regarding her +champion into _Elsa's_ mind. Who is he? Whence came he? May he not as +unexpectedly depart? The whole closes with a beautiful duet, which is +repeated by the orchestra, as _Ortrud_ is conducted by _Elsa_ into the +apartment. + +It is early morn. People begin to gather in the open place before the +minster and, by the time the sun is high, the space is crowded with +folk eager to view the bridal procession. They sing a fine and +spirited chorus. + +At the appointed hour four pages come out upon the balcony of the +kemenate and cry out: + +"Make way, our Lady Elsa comes!" Descending, they clear a path through +the crowd to the steps of the minster. A long train of richly clad +women emerges upon the balcony, slowly comes down the steps and, +proceeding past the palace, winds toward the minster. At that moment a +great shout, "Hail! Elsa of Brabant!" goes up, as the bride herself +appears followed by her ladies-in-waiting. For the moment _Ortrud's_ +presence in the train is unnoticed, but as _Elsa_ approaches the +minster, _Frederick's_ wife suddenly throws herself in her path. + +"Back, Elsa!" she cries. "I am not a menial, born to follow you! +Although your Knight has overthrown my husband, you cannot boast of +who he is--his very name, the place whence he came, are unknown. +Strong must be his motives to forbid you to question him. To what foul +disgrace would he be brought were he compelled to answer!" + +Fortunately the _King_, the bridegroom, and the nobles approaching +from the palace, _Elsa_ shrinks from _Ortrud_ to her champion's side +and hides her face against his breast. At that moment _Frederick of +Telramund_, taking his cue from _Ortrud_, comes out upon the minster +steps and repeats his wife's accusation. Then, profiting by the +confusion, he slips away in the crowd. The insidious poison, however, +has already begun to take effect. For even as the _King_ taking the +Knight on his right and _Elsa_ on his left conducts them up the +minster steps, the trembling bride catches sight of _Ortrud_ whose +hand is raised in threat and warning; and it is clinging to her +champion, in love indeed but love mingled with doubt and fear, that +she passes through the portal, and into the edifice. + +These are crucial scenes. The procession to the minster, often known +as the bridal procession, must not be confused with the "Bridal +Chorus." It is familiar music, however, because at weddings it often +is played softly as a musical background to the ceremony. + +Act III. The wedding festivities are described in the brilliant +"Introduction to Act III." This is followed in the opera by the +"Bridal Chorus," which, wherever heard--on stage or in church--falls +with renewed freshness and significance upon the ear. In this scene +the Knight and _Elsa_ are conducted to the bridal chamber in the +castle. From the right enter _Elsa's_ ladies-in-waiting leading the +bride; from the left the _King_ and nobles leading the Knight. +Preceding both trains are pages bearing lights; and voices chant the +bridal chorus. The _King_ ceremoniously embraces the couple and then +the procession makes its way out, until, as the last strains of the +chorus die away, _Elsa_ and her champion are for the first time alone. + +It should be a moment of supreme happiness for both, and indeed, +_Elsa_ exclaims as her bridegroom takes her to his arms, that words +cannot give expression to all its hidden sweetness. Yet, when he +tenderly breathes her name, it serves only to remind her that she +cannot respond by uttering his. "How sweetly sounds my name when +spoken by you, while I, alas, cannot reply with yours. Surely, some +day, you will tell me, all in secret, and I shall be able to whisper +it when none but you is near!" + +In her words the Knight perceives but too clearly the seeds of the +fatal mistrust sown by _Ortrud_ and _Frederick_. Gently he leaves her +side and throwing open the casement, points to the moonlit landscape +where the river winds its course along the plain. The same subtle +magic that can conjure up this scene from the night has brought him to +her, made him love her, and give unshrinking credence to her vow never +to question his name or origin. Will she now wantonly destroy the +wondrous spell of moonlight and love? + +But still _Elsa_ urges him. "Let me be flattered by your trust and +confidence. Your secret will be safe in my heart. No threats, not even +of death, shall tear it from my lips. Tell me who you are and whence +you come!" + +"Elsa!" he cries, "come to my heart. Let me feel that happiness is +mine at last. Let your love and confidence compensate me for what I +have left behind me. Cast dark suspicion aside. For know, I came not +hither from night and grieving but from the abode of light and noble +pleasures." + +But his words have the very opposite effect of what he had hoped for. +"Heaven help me!" exclaims _Elsa_. "What must I hear! Already you are +beginning to look back with longing to the joys you have given up for +me. Some day you will leave me to sorrow and regret. I have no magic +spells wherewith to hold you. Ah!"--and now she cries out like one +distracted and with eyes straining at distance--"See!--the +swan!--I see him floating on the waters yonder! You summon him, +embark!--Love--madness--whatever it may be--your name declare, your +lineage and your home!" + +Hardly have these mad words been spoken by her when, as she stands +before her husband of a few hours, she sees something that with a +sudden shock brings her to her senses. Rushing to the divan where the +pages laid the Knight's sword, she seizes it and thrusts it into his +hand, and he, turning to discover what peril threatens, sees +_Frederick_, followed by four Brabantian nobles, burst into the room. +With one stroke he lays the leader lifeless, and the others, seeing +him fall, go down on their knees in token of submission. At a sign +from the Knight they arise and, lifting _Frederick's_ body, bear it +away. Then the Knight summons _Elsa's_ ladies-in-waiting and bids them +prepare her in her richest garments to meet him before the _King_. +"There I will make fitting answer to her questions, tell her my name, +my rank, and whence I come." + +Sadly he watches her being led away, while she, no longer the happy +bride, but the picture of utter dejection, turns and raises her hands +to him in supplication as though she would still implore him to undo +the ruin her lack of faith in him has wrought. + +Some of the most beautiful as well as some of the most dramatic music +of the score occurs in these scenes. + +The love duet is exquisite--one of the sweetest and tenderest passages +of which the lyric stage can boast. A very beautiful musical episode +is that in which the Knight, pointing through the open casement to the +flowery close below, softly illumined by the moon, sings to an +accompaniment of what might be called musical moonbeams, "Say, dost +thou breathe the incense sweet of flowers?" But when, in spite of the +tender warning which he conveys to her, she begins questioning him, he +turns toward her and in a passionate musical phrase begs her to trust +him and abide with him in loving faith. Her dread that the memory of +the delightful place from which he has come will wean him from her; +the wild vision in which she imagines she sees the swan approaching to +bear him away from her, and when she puts to him the forbidden +questions, are details expressed with wonderful vividness in the +music. + +After the attack by _Frederick_ and his death, there is a dramatic +silence during which _Elsa_ sinks on her husband's breast and faints. +When I say silence I do not mean that there is a total cessation of +sound, for silence can be more impressively expressed in music than by +actual silence itself. It is done by Wagner in this case by long +drawn-out chords followed by faint taps on the tympani. When the +Knight bends down to _Elsa_, raises her, and gently places her on a +couch, echoes of the love duet add to the mournfulness of the music. +The scene closes with the Motive of Warning, which resounds with dread +meaning. + +A quick change of scene should be made at this point in the +performance of the opera, but as a rule the change takes so long that +the third act is virtually given in two acts. + +It is on the banks of the Scheldt, the very spot where he had +disembarked, that the Knight elects to make reply to _Elsa's_ +questions. There the _King_, the nobles, and the Brabantians, whom he +was to lead, are awaiting him to take command, and as their leader +they hail him when he appears. This scene, "Promise of Victory," is in +the form of a brilliant march and chorus, during which the Counts of +Brabant, followed by their vassals, enter on horseback from various +directions. In the average performance of the opera, however, much of +it is sacrificed in order to shorten the representation. + +The Knight answers their hail by telling them that he has come to bid +them farewell, that _Elsa_ has been lured to break her vow and ask the +forbidden questions which he now is there to answer. From distant +lands he came, from Montsalvat, where stands the temple of the Holy +Grail, his father, Percival, its King, and he, _Lohengrin_, its +Knight. And now, his name and lineage known, he must return, for the +Grail gives strength to its knights to right wrong and protect the +innocent only so long as the secret of their power remains unrevealed. + +Even while he speaks the swan is seen floating down the river. Sadly +_Lohengrin_ bids _Elsa_ farewell. Sadly all, save one, look on. For +_Ortrud_, who now pushes her way through the spectators, it is a +moment of triumph. + +"Depart in all your glory," she calls out. "The swan that draws you +away is none other than Elsa's brother Godfrey, changed by my magic +into his present form. Had she kept her vow, had you been allowed to +tarry, you would have freed him from my spell. The ancient gods, whom +faithfully I serve, thus punish human faithlessness!" + +By the river bank _Lohengrin_ falls upon his knees and prays in +silence. Suddenly a white dove descends over the boat. Rising, +_Lohengrin_ loosens the golden chain by which the swan is attached to +the boat; the swan vanishes; in its place _Godfrey_ stands upon the +bank, and _Lohengrin_, entering the boat, is drawn away by the dove. +At sight of the young Duke, _Ortrud_ falls with a shriek, while the +Brabantian nobles kneel before him as he advances and makes obeisance +to the _King_. _Elsa_ gazes on him in rapture until, mindful of her +own sorrow, as the boat in which _Lohengrin_ stands vanishes around +the upper bend of the river, she cries out, "My husband! My husband!" +and falls back in death in her brother's arms. + +_Lohengrin's_ narrative of his origin is beautifully set to music +familiar from the Prelude; but when he proclaims his name we hear the +same measures which _Elsa_ sang in the second part of her dream in the +first act. Very beautiful and tender is the music which he sings when +he hands _Elsa_ his horn, his sword, and his ring to give to her +brother, should he return, and also his greeting to the swan when it +comes to bear him back. The work is brought to a close with a +repetition of the music of the second portion of _Elsa's_ dream, +followed by a superb climax with the Motive of the Grail. + + +DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN + +THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG + + A stage-festival play for three days and a preliminary + evening (Ein Bühnenfestspiel für drei Tage und einen + Vorabend), words and music by Richard Wagner. + + The first performance of the entire cycle of four + music-dramas took place at Bayreuth, August 13, 14, 16, and + 17, 1876. "Das Rheingold" had been given September 22, 1869, + and "Die Walküre," June 26, 1870, at Munich. + + January 30, 1888, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, + "Die Walküre" was given as the first performance of the + "Ring" in America, with the omission, however, of "Das + Rheingold," the cycle therefore being incomplete, consisting + only of the three music-dramas--"Die Walküre," "Siegfried," + and "Götterdämmerung"; in other words the trilogy without + the Vorabend, or preliminary evening. + + Beginning Monday, March 4, 1889, with "Das Rheingold," the + complete cycle, "Der Ring des Nibelungen," was given for the + first time in America; "Die Walküre" following Tuesday, + March 5; "Siegfried," Friday, March 8; "Götterdämmerung," + Monday, March 11. The cycle was immediately repeated. Anton + Seidl was the conductor. Among the principals were Lilli + Lehmann, Max Alvary, and Emil Fischer. + + Seidl conducted the production of the "Ring" in London, + under the direction of Angelo Neumann, at Her Majesty's + Theatre, May 5-9, 1882. + + The "Ring" really is a tetralogy. Wagner, however, called it + a trilogy, regarding "Das Rheingold" only as a Vorabend to + the three longer music-dramas. + + In the repetitions of the "Ring" in this country many + distinguished artists have appeared: Lehmann, Moran-Olden, + Nordica, Ternina, Fremstad, Gadski, Kurt, as _Brünnhilde_; + Lehmann, Nordica, Eames, Fremstad, as _Sieglinde_; Alvary + and Jean de Reszke as _Siegfried_, both in "Siegfried" and + "Götterdämmerung"; Niemann and Van Dyck, as _Siegmund_; + Fischer and Van Rooy as _Wotan_; Schumann-Heink and Homer as + _Waltraute_ and _Erda_. + +[Illustration: Copyright A. Dupont, N.Y. + +Louise Homer as Fricka in "The Ring of the Nibelung"] + + +INTRODUCTION + +The "Ring of the Nibelung" consists of four music-dramas--"Das +Rheingold" (The Rhinegold), "Die Walküre" (The Valkyr), "Siegfried," +and "Götterdämmerung" (Dusk of the Gods). The "books" of these were +written in inverse order. Wagner made a dramatic sketch of the +Nibelung myth as early as the autumn of 1848, and between then and the +autumn of 1850 he wrote the "Death of Siegfried." This subsequently +became the "Dusk of the Gods." Meanwhile Wagner's ideas as to the +proper treatment of the myth seem to have undergone a change. +"Siegfried's Death" ended with Brünnhilde leading Siegfried to +Valhalla,--dramatic, but without the deeper ethical significance of +the later version, when Wagner evidently conceived the purpose of +connecting the final catastrophe of his trilogy with the "Dusk of the +Gods," or end of all things, in Northern mythology, and of embodying a +profound truth in the action of the music-dramas. This metaphysical +significance of the work is believed to be sufficiently explained in +the brief synopsis of the plot of the trilogy and in the descriptive +musical and dramatic analyses below. + +In the autumn of 1850 when Wagner was on the point of sketching out +the music of "Siegfried's Death," he recognized that he must lead up +to it with another drama, and "Young Siegfried," afterwards +"Siegfried," was the result. This in turn he found incomplete, and +finally decided to supplement it with the "Valkyr" and "Rhinegold." + +"Das Rheingold" was produced in Munich, at the Court Theatre, +September 22, 1869; "Die Walküre," on the same stage, June 20, 1870. +"Siegfried" and "Dusk of the Gods" were not performed until 1876, when +they were produced at Bayreuth. + +Of the principal characters in the "Ring of the Nibelung," _Alberich_, +the Nibelung, and _Wotan_, the chief of the gods, are symbolic of +greed for wealth and power. This lust leads _Alberich_ to renounce +love--the most sacred of emotions--in order that he may rob the +_Rhinedaughters_ of the Rhinegold and forge from it the ring which is +to make him all-powerful. _Wotan_ by strategy obtains the ring, but +instead of returning it to the _Rhinedaughters_, he gives it to the +giants, _Fafner_ and _Fasolt_, as ransom for _Freia_, the goddess of +youth and beauty, whom he had promised to the giants as a reward for +building Walhalla. _Alberich_ has cursed the ring and all into whose +possession it may come. The giants no sooner obtain it than they fall +to quarrelling over it. _Fafner_ slays _Fasolt_ and then retires to a +cave in the heart of a forest where, in the form of a dragon, he +guards the ring and the rest of the treasure which _Wotan_ wrested +from _Alberich_ and also gave to the giants as ransom for _Freia_. +This treasure includes the Tarnhelmet, a helmet made of Rhinegold, the +wearer of which can assume any guise. + +_Wotan_ having witnessed the slaying of _Fasolt_, is filled with dread +lest the curse of _Alberich_ be visited upon the gods. To defend +_Walhalla_ against the assaults of _Alberich_ and the host of +Nibelungs, he begets in union with _Erda_, the goddess of wisdom, the +Valkyrs (chief among them _Brünnhilde_), wild maidens who course +through the air on superb chargers and bear the bodies of departed +heroes to Walhalla, where they revive and aid the gods in warding off +the attacks of the Nibelungs. But it is also necessary that the +curse-laden ring should be wrested from _Fafner_ and restored through +purely unselfish motives to the _Rhinedaughters_, and the curse thus +lifted from the race of the gods. None of the gods can do this because +their motive in doing so would not be unselfish. Hence _Wotan_, for a +time, casts off his divinity, and in human disguise as Wälse, begets +in union with a human woman the Wälsung twins, _Siegmund_ and +_Sieglinde_. _Siegmund_ he hopes will be the hero who will slay +_Fafner_ and restore the ring to the _Rhinedaughters_. To nerve him +for this task, _Wotan_ surrounds the Wälsungs with numerous hardships. +_Sieglinde_ is forced to become the wife of her robber, _Hunding_. +_Siegmund_, storm-driven, seeks shelter in _Hunding's_ hut, where he +and his sister, recognizing one another, flee together. _Hunding_ +overtakes them and _Wotan_, as _Siegmund_ has been guilty of a crime +against the marriage vow, is obliged, at the request of his spouse +_Fricka_, the Juno of Northern mythology, to give victory to +_Hunding_. _Brünnhilde_, contrary to _Wotan's_ command, takes pity on +_Siegmund_, and seeks to shield him against _Hunding_. For this, +_Wotan_ causes her to fall into a profound slumber. The hero who will +penetrate the barrier of fire with which _Wotan_ has surrounded the +rock upon which she slumbers can claim her as his bride. + +After _Siegmund's_ death _Sieglinde_ gives birth to _Siegfried_, a son +of their illicit union, who is reared by one of the Nibelungs, _Mime_, +in the forest where _Fafner_ guards the Nibelung treasure. _Mime_ is +seeking to weld the pieces of _Siegmund's_ sword (Nothung or Needful) +in order that _Siegfried_ may slay _Fafner_, _Mime_ hoping then to +kill the youth and to possess himself of the treasure. But he cannot +weld the sword. At last _Siegfried_, learning that it was his father's +weapon, welds the pieces and slays _Fafner_. His lips having come in +contact with his bloody fingers, he is, through the magic power of the +dragon's blood, enabled to understand the language of the birds, and a +little feathery songster warns him of _Mime's_ treachery. _Siegfried_ +slays the Nibelung and is then guided to the fiery barrier around the +Valkyr rock. Penetrating this, he comes upon _Brünnhilde_, and +enraptured with her beauty, awakens her and claims her as his bride. +She, the virgin pride of the goddess, yielding to the love of the +woman, gives herself up to him. He plights his troth with the +curse-laden ring which he has wrested from _Fafner_. + +_Siegfried_ goes forth in quest of adventure. On the Rhine lives the +Gibichung _Gunther_, his sister _Gutrune_ and their half-brother +_Hagen_, none other than the son of the Nibelung _Alberich_. _Hagen_, +knowing of _Siegfried's_ coming, plans his destruction in order to +regain the ring for the Nibelungs. Therefore, craftily concealing +_Brünnhilde's_ and _Siegfried's_ relations from _Gunther_, he incites +a longing in the latter to possess _Brünnhilde_ as his bride. Carrying +out a plot evolved by _Hagen_, _Gutrune_ on _Siegfried's_ arrival +presents to him a drinking-horn filled with a love-potion. _Siegfried_ +drinks, is led through the effect of the potion to forget that +_Brünnhilde_ is his bride, and, becoming enamoured of _Gutrune_, asks +her in marriage of _Gunther_. The latter consents, provided +_Siegfried_ will disguise himself in the Tarnhelmet as _Gunther_ and +lead _Brünnhilde_ to him as bride. _Siegfried_ readily agrees, and in +the guise of _Gunther_ overcomes _Brünnhilde_ and delivers her to the +Gibichung. But _Brünnhilde_, recognizing on _Siegfried_ the ring, +which her conquerer had drawn from her finger, accuses him of +treachery in delivering her, his own bride, to _Gunther_. The latter, +unmasked and also suspicious of _Siegfried_, conspires with _Hagen_ +and _Brünnhilde_, who, knowing naught of the love-potion, is roused to +a frenzy of hate and jealousy by _Siegfried's_ seeming treachery, to +compass the young hero's death. _Hagen_ slays _Siegfried_ during a +hunt, and then in a quarrel with _Gunther_ over the ring also kills +the Gibichung. + +Meanwhile _Brünnhilde_ has learned through the _Rhinedaughters_ of the +treachery of which she and _Siegfried_ have been the victims. All her +jealous hatred of _Siegfried_ yields to her old love for him and a +passionate yearning to join him in death. She draws the ring from his +finger and places it on her own, then hurls a torch upon the pyre. +Mounting her steed, she plunges into the flames. One of the +_Rhinedaughters_, swimming in on the rising waters, seizes the +curse-laden ring. _Hagen_ rushes into the flooding Rhine hoping to +regain it, but the other _Rhinedaughters_ grasp him and draw him down +into the flood. Not only the flames of the pyre, but a glow which +pervades the whole horizon illumine the scene. It is Walhalla being +consumed by fire. Through love--the very emotion _Alberich_ renounced +in order to gain wealth and power--_Brünnhilde_ has caused the old +order of things to pass away and a human era to dawn in place of the +old mythological one of the gods. + +The sum of all that has been written concerning the book of "The Ring +of the Nibelung" is probably larger than the sum of all that has been +written concerning the librettos used by all other composers. What can +be said of the ordinary opera libretto beyond Voltaire's remark that +"what is too stupid to be spoken is sung"? But "The Ring of the +Nibelung" produced vehement discussion. It was attacked and defended, +praised and ridiculed, extolled and condemned. And it survived all the +discussion it called forth. It is the outstanding fact in Wagner's +career that he always triumphed. He threw his lance into the midst of +his enemies and fought his way up to it. No matter how much opposition +his music-dramas excited, they gradually found their way into the +repertoire. + +It was contended on many sides that a book like "The Ring of the +Nibelung" could not be set to music. Certainly it could not be after +the fashion of an ordinary opera. Perhaps people were so accustomed to +the books of nonsense which figured as opera librettos that they +thought "The Ring of the Nibelung" was so great a work that its action +and climaxes were beyond the scope of musical expression. For such, +Wagner has placed music on a higher level. He has shown that music +makes a great drama greater. + +One of the most remarkable features of Wagner's works is the author's +complete absorption of the times of which he wrote. He seems to have +gone back to the very period in which the scenes of his music-dramas +are laid and to have himself lived through the events in his plots. +Hans Sachs could not have left a more faithful portrayal of life in +the Nuremberg of his day than Wagner has given us in "Die +Meistersinger." In "The Ring of the Nibelung" he has done more--he has +absorbed an imaginary epoch; lived over the days of gods and demigods; +infused life into mythological figures. "The Rhinegold," which is full +of varied interest from its first note to its last, deals entirely +with beings of mythology. They are presented true to life--if that +expression may be used in connection with beings that never +lived--that is to say, they are so vividly drawn that we forget such +beings never lived, and take as much interest in their doings and +saying as if they were lifelike reproductions of historical +characters. Was there ever a love scene more thrilling than that +between _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_? It represents the gradations of +the love of two souls from its first awakening to its rapturous +greeting in full self-consciousness. No one stops to think during that +impassioned scene that the close relationship between _Siegmund_ and +_Sieglinde_ would in these days have been a bar to their legal union. +For all we know, in those moments when the impassioned music of that +scene whirls us away in its resistless current, not a drop of related +blood courses through their veins. It has been said that we could not +be interested in mythological beings--that "The Ring of the Nibelung" +lacked human interest. In reply, I say that wonderful as is the first +act of "The Valkyr," there is nothing in it to compare in wild and +lofty beauty with the last act of that music-drama--especially the +scene between _Brünnhilde_ and _Wotan_. + +That there are faults of dramatic construction in "The Ring of the +Nibelung" I admit. In what follows I have not hesitated to point them +out. But there are faults of construction in Shakespeare. What would +be the critical verdict if "Hamlet" were now to have its first +performance in the exact form in which Shakespeare left it? With all +its faults of dramatic construction "The Ring of the Nibelung" is a +remarkable drama, full of life and action and logically developed, the +events leading up to superb climaxes. Wagner was doubly inspired. He +was both a great dramatist and a great musician. + +The chief faults of dramatic construction of which Wagner was guilty +in "The Ring of the Nibelung" are certain unduly prolonged scenes +which are merely episodical--that is, unnecessary to the development +of the plot so that they delay the action and weary the audience to a +point which endangers the success of the really sublime portions of +the score. In several of these scenes, there is a great amount of +narrative, the story of events with which we have become familiar +being retold in detail although some incidents which connect the plot +of the particular music-drama with that of the preceding one are also +related. But, as narrative on the stage makes little impression, and, +when it is sung perhaps none at all, because it cannot be well +understood, it would seem as if prefaces to the dramas could have +taken the place of these narratives. Certain it is that these long +drawn-out scenes did more to retard the popular recognition of +Wagner's genius than the activity of hostile critics and musicians. +Still, it should be remembered that these music-dramas were composed +for performance under the circumstances which prevail at Bayreuth, +where the performances begin in the afternoon and there are long waits +between the acts, during which you can refresh yourself by a stroll or +by the more mundane pleasures of the table. Then, after an hour's +relaxation of the mind and of the sense of hearing, you are ready to +hear another act. Under these agreeable conditions one remains +sufficiently fresh to enjoy the music even of the dramatically faulty +scenes. + +One of the characters in "The Ring of the Nibelung," _Brünnhilde_, is +Wagner's noblest creation. She takes upon herself the sins of the gods +and by her expiation frees the world from the curse of lust for wealth +and power. She is a perfect dramatic incarnation of the profound and +beautiful metaphysical motive upon which the plot of "The Ring of the +Nibelung" is based. + +There now follow descriptive accounts of the stories and music of the +four component parts of this work by Wagner--perhaps his greatest. + + +DAS RHEINGOLD + +THE RHINEGOLD + + Prologue in four scenes to the trilogy of music-dramas, "The + Ring of the Nibelung," by Richard Wagner. "Des Rheingold" + was produced, Munich, September 22, 1869. "The Ring of the + Nibelung" was given complete for the first time in the + Wagner Theatre, Bayreuth, in August, 1876. In the first + American performance of "Das Rheingold," Metropolitan Opera + House, New York, January 4, 1889, Fischer was _Wotan_, + Alvary _Loge_, Moran-Oldern _Fricka_, and Katti Bettaque + _Freia_. + + CHARACTERS + + WOTAN } _Baritone-Bass_ + DONNER } Gods _Baritone-Bass_ + FROH } _Tenor_ + LOGE } _Tenor_ + + FASOLT } Giants _Baritone-Bass_ + FAFNER } _Bass_ + + ALBERICH } Nibelungs _Baritone-Bass_ + MIME } _Tenor_ + + FRICKA } _Soprano_ + FREIA } Goddesses _Soprano_ + ERDA } _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + WOGLINDE } _Soprano_ + WELLGUNDE } Rhinedaughters _Soprano_ + FLOSSHILDE } _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + _Time_--Legendary. + + _Place_--The bed of the Rhine; a mountainous district near + the Rhine; the subterranean caverns of Nibelheim. + +In "The Rhinegold" we meet with supernatural beings of German +mythology--the Rhinedaughters _Woglinde_, _Wellgunde_, and +_Flosshilde_, whose duty it is to guard the precious Rhinegold; +_Wotan_, the chief of the gods; his spouse _Fricka_; _Loge_, the God +of Fire (the diplomat of Walhalla); _Freia_, the Goddess of Youth and +Beauty; her brothers _Donner_ and _Froh_; _Erda_, the all-wise woman; +the giants _Fafner_ and _Fasolt_; _Alberich_ and _Mime_ of the race +of Nibelungs, cunning, treacherous gnomes who dwell in the bowels of +the earth. + +The first scene of "Rhinegold" is laid in the Rhine, at the bottom of +the river, where the _Rhinedaughters_ guard the Rhinegold. + +The work opens with a wonderfully descriptive Prelude, which depicts +with marvellous art (marvellous because so simple) the transition from +the quietude of the water-depths to the wavy life of the +_Rhinedaughters_. The double basses intone E-flat. Only this note is +heard during four bars. Then three contra bassoons add a B-flat. The +chord, thus formed, sounds until the 136th bar. With the sixteenth bar +there flows over this seemingly immovable triad, as the current of a +river flows over its immovable bed, the =Motive of the Rhine=. + +[Music] + +A horn intones this motive. Then one horn after another takes it up +until its wave-like tones are heard on the eight horns. On the flowing +accompaniment of the 'cellos the motive is carried to the wood-wind. +It rises higher and higher, the other strings successively joining in +the accompaniment, which now flows on in gentle undulations until the +motive is heard on the high notes of the wood-wind, while the violins +have joined in the accompaniment. When the theme thus seems to have +stirred the waters from their depth to their surface the curtain +rises. + +The scene shows the bed and flowing waters of the Rhine, the light of +day reaching the depths only as a greenish twilight. The current flows +on over rugged rocks and through dark chasms. + +_Woglinde_ is circling gracefully around the central ridge of rock. To +an accompaniment as wavy as the waters through which she swims, she +sings: + + Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle, + Walle zur Wiege! Wagala weia! + Wallala, Weiala weia! + +They are sung to the =Motive of the Rhinedaughters=. + +[Music: Weia Waga! Woge, du Welle, walle zur Wiege! Wagala weia! +wallala, weiala weia!] + +In wavy sport the _Rhinedaughters_ dart from cliff to cliff. Meanwhile +_Alberich_ has clambered from the depths up to one of the cliffs, and +watches, while standing in its shadow, the gambols of the +_Rhinedaughters_. As he speaks to them there is a momentary harshness +in the music, whose flowing rhythm is broken. In futile endeavours to +clamber up to them, he inveighs against the "slippery slime" which +causes him to lose his foothold. + +_Woglinde_, _Wellgunde_, and _Flosshilde_ in turn gambol almost within +his reach, only to dart away again. He curses his own weakness in the +=Motive of the Nibelungs' Servitude=. + +[Music] + +Swimming high above him the _Rhinedaughters_ incite him with gleeful +cries to chase them. _Alberich_ tries to ascend, but always slips and +falls down. Then his gaze is attracted and held by a glow which +suddenly pervades the waves above him and increases until from the +highest point of the central cliff a bright, golden ray shoots through +the water. Amid the shimmering accompaniment of the violins is heard +on the horn the =Rhinegold Motive=. + +[Music] + +With shouts of triumph the _Rhinedaughters_ swim around the rock. +Their cry "Rhinegold," is a characteristic motive. The =Rhinedaughters' +Shout of Triumph= and the accompaniment to it are as follows: + +[Music: Rheingold!] + +As the river glitters with golden light the Rhinegold Motive rings out +brilliantly on the trumpet. The Nibelung is fascinated by the sheen. +The _Rhinedaughters_ gossip with one another, and _Alberich_ thus +learns that the light is that of the Rhinegold, and that whoever shall +shape a ring from this gold will become invested with great power. We +hear =The Ring Motive=. + +[Music] + +_Flosshilde_ bids her sisters cease their prattle, lest some sinister +foe should overhear them. _Wellgunde_ and _Woglinde_ ridicule their +sister's anxiety, saying that no one would care to filch the gold, +because it would give power only to him who abjures or renounces love. +At this point is heard the darkly prophetic =Motive of the Renunciation +of Love=. + +[Music] + +_Alberich_ reflects on the words of the _Rhinedaughters_. The Ring +Motive occurs both in voice and orchestra in mysterious pianissimo +(like an echo of _Alberich's_ sinister thoughts), and is followed by +the Motive of Renunciation. Then is heard the sharp, decisive rhythm +of the Nibelung Motive. _Alberich_ fiercely springs over to the +central rock. The _Rhinedaughters_ scream and dart away in different +directions. _Alberich_ has reached the summit of the highest cliff. + +"Hark, ye floods! Love I renounce forever!" he cries, and amid the +crash of the Rhinegold Motive he seizes the gold and disappears in the +depths. With screams of terror the _Rhinedaughters_ dive after the +robber through the darkened water, guided by _Alberich's_ shrill, +mocking laugh. + +There is a transformation. Waters and rocks sink. As they disappear, +the billowy accompaniment sinks lower and lower in the orchestra. +Above it rises once more the Motive of Renunciation. The Ring Motive +is heard, and then, as the waves change into nebulous clouds, the +billowy accompaniment rises pianissimo until, with a repetition of the +Ring Motive, the action passes to the second scene. One crime has +already been committed--the theft of the Rhinegold by _Alberich_. How +that crime and the ring which he shapes from the gold inspire other +crimes is told in the course of the following scenes of "Rhinegold." +Hence the significance of the Ring Motive as a connecting link between +the first and second scenes. + +Scene II. Dawn illumines a castle with glittering turrets on a rocky +height at the back. Through a deep valley between this and the +foreground flows the Rhine. + +The =Walhalla Motive= now heard is a motive of superb beauty. It greets +us again and again in "Rhinegold" and frequently in the later +music-dramas of the cycle. Walhalla is the abode of gods and heroes. +Its motive is divinely, heroically beautiful. Though essentially broad +and stately, it often assumes a tender mood, like the chivalric +gentleness which every hero feels toward woman. Thus it is here. In +crescendo and decrescendo it rises and falls, as rises and falls with +each breath the bosom of the beautiful _Fricka_, who slumbers at +_Wotan's_ side. + +[Music] + +As _Fricka_ awakens, her eyes fall on the castle. In her surprise she +calls to her spouse. _Wotan_ dreams on, the Ring Motive, and later the +Walhalla Motive, being heard in the orchestra, for with the ring +_Wotan_ is planning to compensate the giants for building Walhalla, +instead of rewarding them by presenting _Freia_ to them as he has +promised. As he opens his eyes and sees the castle you hear the Spear +Motive, which is a characteristic variation of the Motive of Compact. +For _Wotan_ should enforce, if needful, the compacts of the gods with +his spear. + +_Wotan_ sings of the glory of Walhalla. _Fricka_ reminds him of his +compact with the giants to deliver over to them for their work in +building Walhalla, _Freia_, the Goddess of Youth and Beauty. This +introduces on the 'cellos and double basses the =Motive of Compact=, a +theme expressive of the binding force of law and with the inherent +dignity and power of the sense of justice. + +[Music] + +In a domestic spat between _Wotan_ and _Fricka_, _Wotan_ charges that +she was as anxious as he to have Walhalla built. _Fricka_ answers that +she desired to have it erected in order to persuade him to lead a more +domestic life. At _Fricka's_ words, + + "Halls, bright and gleaming," + +the =Fricka Motive= is heard, a caressing motive of much grace and +beauty. + +[Music] + +It is also prominent in _Wotan's_ reply immediately following. _Wotan_ +tells _Fricka_ that he never intended to really give up _Freia_ to the +giants. Chromatics, like little tongues of flame, appear in the +accompaniment. They are suggestive of the Loge Motive, for with the +aid of _Loge_ the God of Fire, _Wotan_ hopes to trick the giants and +save _Freia_. + +"Then save her at once!" calls Fricka, as _Freia_ enters in hasty +flight. The =Motive of Flight= is as follows: + +[Music] + +The following is the =Freia Motive=: + +[Music] + +With _Freia's_ exclamations that the giants are pursuing her, the +first suggestion of the Giant Motive appears and as these "great, +hulking fellows" enter, the heavy, clumsy =Giant Motive= is heard in its +entirety: + +[Music] + +For the giants, _Fasolt_, and _Fafner_, have come to demand that +_Wotan_ deliver up to them _Freia_, according to his promise when they +agreed to build Walhalla for him. In the ensuing scene, in which +_Wotan_ parleys with the _Giants_, the Giant Motive, the Walhalla +Motive, the Motive of the Compact, and the first bar of the Freia +Motive figure until _Fasolt's_ threatening words, + + "Peace wane when you break your compact," + +when there is heard a version of the Motive of Compact characteristic +enough to be distinguished as the =Motive of Compact with the Giants=: + +[Music] + +The Walhalla, Giant, and Freia motives again are heard until _Fafner_ +speaks of the golden apples which grow in _Freia's_ garden. These +golden apples are the fruit of which the gods partake in order to +enjoy eternal youth. The Motive of Eternal Youth, which now appears, +is one of the loveliest in the cycle. It seems as though age could not +wither it, nor custom stale its infinite variety. Its first bar is +reminiscent of the Ring Motive, for there is subtle relationship +between the Golden Apples of Freia and the Rhinegold. Here is the +=Motive of Eternal Youth=: + +[Music] + +It is finely combined with the Giant Motive at _Fafner's_ words: + + "Let her forthwith be torn from them all." + +_Froh_ and _Donner_, _Freia's_ brothers, enter hastily to save their +sister. _Froh_ clasps her in his arms, while _Donner_ confronts the +giants, the Motive of Eternal Youth rings out triumphantly on the +horns and wood-wind. But _Freia's_ hope is short-lived. For though +_Wotan_ desires to keep _Freia_ in Walhalla, he dare not offend the +giants. At this critical moment, however, he sees his cunning +adviser, _Loge_, approaching. These are _Loge's_ characteristic +motives: + +[Music] + +_Wotan_ upbraids _Loge_ for not having discovered something which the +giants would be willing to accept as a substitute for _Freia_. _Loge_ +says he has travelled the world over without finding aught that would +compensate man for the renunciation of a lovely woman. This leads to +_Loge's_ narrative of his wanderings. With great cunning he tells +_Wotan_ of the theft of the Rhinegold and of the wondrous worth of a +ring shaped from the gold. Thus he incites the listening giants to ask +for it as a compensation for giving up _Freia_. Hence Wagner, as +_Loge_ begins his narrative, has blended, with a marvellous sense of +musical beauty and dramatic fitness, two phrases: the Freia Motive and +the accompaniment to the _Rhinedaughters'_ Shout of Triumph in the +first scene. This music continues until _Loge_ says that he discovered +but one person (_Alberich_) who was willing to renounce love. Then the +Rhinegold Motive is sounded tristly in a minor key and immediately +afterward is heard the Motive of Renunciation. + +_Loge_ next tells how _Alberich_ stole the gold. He has already +excited the curiosity of the giants, and when _Fafner_ asks him what +power _Alberich_ will gain through the possession of the gold, he +dwells upon the magical attributes of the ring shaped from Rhinegold. + +_Loge's_ diplomacy is beginning to bear results. _Fafner_ tells +_Fasolt_ that he deems the possession of the gold more important than +_Freia_. Notice here how the Freia motive, so prominent when the +giants insisted on her as their compensation, is relegated to the bass +and how the Rhinegold Motive breaks in upon the Motive of Eternal +Youth, as _Fafner_ and _Fasolt_ again advance toward _Wotan_, and bid +him wrest the gold from _Alberich_ and give it to them as ransom for +_Freia_. _Wotan_ refuses, for he himself now lusts for the ring made +of Rhinegold. The giants having proclaimed that they will give _Wotan_ +until evening to determine upon his course, seize _Freia_ and drag her +away. Pallor now settles upon the faces of the gods; they seem to have +grown older. They are affected by the absence of _Freia_, the Goddess +of Youth, whose motives are but palely reflected by the orchestra. At +last _Wotan_ proclaims that he will go with _Loge_ to Nibelung and +wrest the entire treasure of Rhinegold from _Alberich_ as ransom for +_Freia_. + +_Loge_ disappears down a crevice in the side of the rock. From it a +sulphurous vapour at once issues. When _Wotan_ has followed _Loge_ +into the cleft the vapour fills the stage and conceals the remaining +characters. The vapours thicken to a black cloud, continually rising +upward until rocky chasms are seen. These have an upward motion, so +that the stage appears to be sinking deeper and deeper. With a _molto +vivace_ the orchestra dashes into the Motive of Flight. From various +distant points ruddy gleams of light illumine the chasms, and when the +Flight Motive has died away, only the increasing clangour of the +smithies is heard from all directions. This is the typical =Nibelung +Motive=, characteristic of Alberich's Nibelungs toiling at the anvil +for him. Gradually the sounds grow fainter. + +[Music] + +Then as the Ring Motive resounds like a shout of malicious triumph +(expressive of _Alberich's_ malignant joy at his possession of power), +there is seen a subterranean cavern, apparently of illimitable depth, +from which narrow shafts lead in all directions. + +Scene III. _Alberich_ enters from a side cleft dragging after him the +shrieking _Mime_. The latter lets fall a helmet which _Alberich_ at +once seizes. It is the Tarnhelmet, made of Rhinegold, the wearing of +which enables the wearer to become invisible or assume any shape. As +_Alberich_ closely examines the helmet the =Motive of the Tarnhelmet= is +heard. + +[Music] + +It is mysterious, uncanny. To test its power _Alberich_ puts it on and +changes into a column of vapour. He asks _Mime_ if he is visible, and +when _Mime_ answers in the negative _Alberich_ cries out shrilly, +"Then feel me instead," at the same time making poor _Mime_ writhe +under the blows of a visible scourge. _Alberich_ then departs--still +in the form of a vaporous column--to announce to the _Nibelungs_ that +they are henceforth his slavish subjects. _Mime_ cowers down with fear +and pain. + +_Wotan_ and _Loge_ enter from one of the upper shafts. _Mime_ tells +them how _Alberich_ has become all-powerful through the ring and the +Tarnhelmet made of the Rhinegold. Then _Alberich_, who has taken off +the Tarnhelmet and hung it from his girdle, is seen in the distance, +driving a crowd of _Nibelungs_ before him from the caves below. They +are laden with gold and silver, which he forces them to pile up in one +place and so form a hoard. He suddenly perceives _Wotan_ and _Loge_. +After abusing _Mime_ for permitting strangers to enter Nibelheim, he +commands the _Nibelungs_ to descend again into the cavern in search of +new treasure for him. They hesitate. You hear the Ring Motive. +_Alberich_ draws the ring from his finger, stretches it threateningly +toward the _Nibelungs_, and commands them to obey their master. + +They disperse in headlong flight, with _Mime_, into the cavernous +recesses. _Alberich_ looks with mistrust upon _Wotan_ and _Loge_. +_Wotan_ tells him they have heard report of his wealth and power and +have come to ascertain if it is true. The Nibelung points to the +hoard. He boasts that the whole world will come under his sway (Ring +Motive), that the gods who now laugh and love in the enjoyment of +youth and beauty will become subject to him (Freia Motive); for he has +abjured love (Motive of Renunciation). Hence, even the gods in +Walhalla shall dread him (Walhalla Motive) and he bids them beware of +the time when the night-begotten host of the Nibelungs shall rise from +Nibelheim into the realm of daylight. (Rhinegold Motive followed by +Walhalla Motive, for it is through the power gained by the Rhinegold +that _Alberich_ hopes to possess himself of Walhalla.) _Loge_ +cunningly flatters _Alberich_, and when the latter tells him of the +Tarnhelmet, feigns disbelief of _Alberich's_ statements. _Alberich_, +to prove their truth, puts on the helmet and transforms himself into a +huge serpent. The Serpent Motive expresses the windings and writhings +of the monster. The serpent vanishes and _Alberich_ reappears. When +_Loge_ doubts if _Alberich_ can transform himself into something very +small, the Nibelung changes into a toad. Now is _Loge's_ chance. He +calls _Wotan_ to set his foot on the toad. As _Wotan_ does so, _Loge_ +puts his hand to its head and seizes the Tarnhelmet. _Alberich_ is +seen writhing under _Wotan's_ foot. _Loge_ binds _Alberich_; both +seize him, drag him to the shaft from which they descended and +disappear ascending. + +The scene changes in the reverse direction to that in which it changed +when _Wotan_ and _Loge_ were descending to Nibelheim. The orchestra +accompanies the change of scene. The Ring Motive dies away from +crashing fortissimo to piano, to be succeeded by the dark Motive of +Renunciation. Then is heard the clangour of the Nibelung smithies. The +Giant, Walhalla, Loge, and Servitude Motives follow the last with +crushing force as _Wotan_ and _Loge_ emerge from the cleft, dragging +the pinioned _Alberich_ with them. His lease of power was brief. He is +again in a condition of servitude. + +Scene IV. A pale mist still veils the prospect as at the end of the +second scene. _Loge_ and _Wotan_ place _Alberich_ on the ground and +_Loge_ dances around the pinioned Nibelung, mockingly snapping his +fingers at the prisoner. _Wotan_ joins _Loge_ in his mockery of +_Alberich_. The Nibelung asks what he must give for his freedom. "Your +hoard and your glittering gold," is _Wotan's_ answer. _Alberich_ +assents to the ransom and _Loge_ frees the gnome's right hand. +_Alberich_ raises the ring to his lips and murmurs a secret behest. +The _Nibelungs_ emerge from the cleft and heap up the hoard. Then, as +_Alberich_ stretches out the ring toward them, they rush in terror +toward the cleft, into which they disappear. _Alberich_ now asks for +his freedom, but _Loge_ throws the Tarnhelmet on to the heap. _Wotan_ +demands that _Alberich_ also give up the ring. At these words dismay +and terror are depicted on the Nibelung's face. He had hoped to save +the ring, but in vain. _Wotan_ tears it from the gnome's finger. Then +_Alberich_, impelled by hate and rage, curses the ring. The =Motive of +the Curse=: + +[Music] + +To it should be added the syncopated measures expressive of the +ever-threatening and ever-active =Nibelung's Hate=: + +[Music] + +Amid heavy thuds of the Motive of Servitude _Alberich_ vanishes in the +cleft. + +The mist begins to rise. It grows lighter. The Giant Motive and the +Motive of Eternal Youth are heard, for the giants are approaching with +_Freia_. _Donner_, _Froh_, and _Fricka_ hasten to greet _Wotan_. +_Fasolt_ and _Fafner_ enter with _Freia_. It has grown clear except +that the mist still hides the distant castle. _Freia's_ presence seems +to have restored youth to the gods. _Fasolt_ asks for the ransom for +_Freia_. _Wotan_ points to the hoard. With staves the giants measure +off a space of the height and width of _Freia_. That space must be +filled out with treasure. + +_Loge_ and _Froh_ pile up the hoard, but the giants are not satisfied +even when the Tarnhelmet has been added. They wish also the ring to +fill out a crevice. _Wotan_ turns in anger away from them. A bluish +light glimmers in the rocky cleft to the right, and through it _Erda_ +rises. She warns _Wotan_ against retaining possession of the ring. The +Erda Motive bears a strong resemblance to the Rhine Motive. + +The syncopated notes of the Nibelung's Malevolence, so threateningly +indicative of the harm which _Alberich_ is plotting, are also heard in +_Erda's_ warning. + +_Wotan_, heeding her words, throws the ring upon the hoard. The giants +release _Freia_, who rushes joyfully towards the gods. Here the Freia +Motive combined with the Flight Motive, now no longer agitated but +joyful, rings out gleefully. Soon, however, these motives are +interrupted by the Giant and Nibelung motives, and later the +Nibelung's Hate and Ring Motive. For _Alberich's_ curse already is +beginning its dread work. The giants dispute over the spoils, their +dispute waxes to strife, and at last _Fafner_ slays _Fasolt_ and +snatches the ring from the dying giant, while, as the gods gaze +horror-stricken upon the scene, the Curse Motive resounds with +crushing force. + +_Loge_ congratulates _Wotan_ on having given up the curse-laden ring. +But even _Fricka's_ caresses, as she asks _Wotan_ to lead her into +Walhalla, cannot divert the god's mind from dark thoughts, and the +Curse Motive accompanies his gloomy reflections--for the ring has +passed through his hands. It was he who wrested it from +_Alberich_--and its curse rests on all who have touched it. + +_Donner_ ascends to the top of a lofty rock. He gathers the mists +around him until he is enveloped by a black cloud. He swings his +hammer. There is a flash of lightning, a crash of thunder, and lo! the +cloud vanishes. A rainbow bridge spans the valley to Walhalla, which +is illumined by the setting sun. + +_Wotan_ eloquently greets Walhalla, and then, taking _Fricka_ by the +hand, leads the procession of the gods into the castle. + +The music of this scene is of wondrous eloquence and beauty. Six harps +are added to the ordinary orchestral instruments, and as the +variegated bridge is seen their arpeggios shimmer like the colours of +the rainbow around the broad, majestic =Rainbow Motive=: + +[Music] + +Then the stately Walhalla Motive resounds as the gods gaze, lost in +admiration, at the Walhalla. It gives way to the Ring Motive as +_Wotan_ speaks of the day's ills; and then as he is inspired by the +idea of begetting a race of demigods to conquer the Nibelungs, there +is heard for the first time the =Sword Motive=: + +[Music] + +The cries of the _Rhinedaughters_ greet _Wotan_. They beg him to +restore the ring to them. But _Wotan_ must remain deaf to their +entreaties. He gave the ring, which he should have restored to the +_Rhinedaughters_, to the giants, as ransom for _Freia_. + +The Walhalla Motive swells to a majestic climax and the gods enter the +castle. Amid shimmering arpeggios the Rainbow Motive resounds. The +gods have attained the height of their glory--but the Nibelung's curse +is still potent, and it will bring woe upon all who have possessed or +will possess the ring until it is restored to the _Rhinedaughters_. +_Fasolt_ was only the first victim of _Alberich's_ curse. + + +DIE WALKÜRE + +THE VALKYR + + Music-drama in three acts, words and music by Richard + Wagner. Produced, Munich, June 25, 1870. New York, Academy + of Music, April 2, 1877, an incomplete and inadequate + performance with Pappenheim as _Brünnhilde_, Pauline Canissa + _Sieglinde_, A. Bischoff _Siegmund_, Felix Preusser _Wotan_, + A. Blum _Hunding_, Mme. Listner _Fricka_, Frida de Gebel, + _Gerhilde_, Adolf Neuendorff, conductor. The real first + performance in America was conducted by Dr. Leopold Damrosch + at the Metropolitan Opera House, January 30, 1885, with + Materna, the original Bayreuth _Brünnhilde_ in that rôle, + Schott as _Siegmund_, Seidl-Kraus as _Sieglinde_, Marianne + Brandt as _Fricka_, Staudigl as _Wotan_, and Kögel as + _Hunding_. + + CHARACTERS + + SIEGMUND _Tenor_ + HUNDING _Bass_ + WOTAN _Baritone-Bass_ + SIEGLINDE _Soprano_ + BRÜNNHILDE _Soprano_ + FRICKA _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + Valkyrs (Sopranos and Mezzo-Sopranos): Gerhilde, Ortlinde, + Waltraute, Schwertleite, Helmwige, Siegrune, Grimgerde, + Rossweisse. + + _Time_--Legendary. + + _Place_--Interior of Hunding's hut; a rocky height; the peak + of a rocky mountain (the Brünnhilde-rock). + +_Wotan's_ enjoyment of Walhalla was destined to be short-lived. Filled +with dismay by the death of _Fasolt_ in the combat of the giants for +the accursed ring, and impelled by a dread presentiment that the force +of the curse would be visited upon the gods, he descended from +Walhalla to the abode of the all-wise woman, _Erda_, who bore him nine +daughters. These were the Valkyrs, headed by _Brünnhilde_--the wild +horsewomen of the air, who on winged steeds bore the dead heroes to +Walhalla, the warriors' heaven. With the aid of the Valkyrs and the +heroes they gathered to Walhalla, _Wotan_ hoped to repel any assault +upon his castle by the enemies of the gods. + +But though the host of heroes grew to a goodly number, the terror of +_Alberich's_ curse still haunted the chief of gods. He might have +freed himself from it had he returned the ring and helmet made of +Rhinegold to the _Rhinedaughters_, from whom _Alberich_ filched it; +but in his desire to persuade the giants to relinquish _Freia_, whom +he had promised to them as a reward for building Walhalla, he, having +wrested the ring from _Alberich_, gave it to the giants instead of +returning it to the _Rhinedaughters_. He saw the giants contending for +the possession of the ring and saw _Fasolt_ slain--the first victim of +_Alberich's_ curse. He knows that the giant _Fafner_, having assumed +the shape of a huge serpent, now guards the Nibelung treasure, which +includes the ring and the Tarnhelmet, in a cave in the heart of a +dense forest. How shall the Rhinegold be restored to the +_Rhinedaughters_? + +_Wotan_ hopes that this may be consummated by a human hero who, free +from the lust for power which obtains among the gods, shall, with a +sword of _Wotan's_ own forging, slay _Fafner_, gain possession of the +Rhinegold and restore it to its rightful owners, thus righting +_Wotan's_ guilty act and freeing the gods from the curse. To +accomplish this _Wotan_, in human guise as _Wälse_, begets, in wedlock +with a human, the twins _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_. How the curse of +_Alberich_ is visited upon these is related in "The Valkyr." + +The dramatis personæ in "The Valkyr" are _Brünnhilde_, the valkyr, and +her eight sister valkyrs; _Fricka_, _Sieglinde_, _Siegmund_, _Hunding_ +(the husband of _Sieglinde_), and _Wotan_. The action begins after the +forced marriage of _Sieglinde_ to _Hunding_. The Wälsungs are in +ignorance of the divinity of their father. They know him only as +_Wälse_. + +Act I. In the introduction to "The Rhinegold," we saw the Rhine +flowing peacefully toward the sea and the innocent gambols of the +_Rhinedaughters_. But "The Valkyr" opens in storm and stress. The +peace and happiness of the first scene of the cycle seem to have +vanished from the earth with _Alberich's_ abjuration of love, his +theft of the gold, and _Wotan's_ equally treacherous acts. + +This "Valkyr" Vorspiel is a masterly representation in tone of a storm +gathering for its last infuriated onslaught. The elements are +unleashed. The wind sweeps through the forest. Lightning flashes in +jagged streaks across the black heavens. There is a crash of thunder +and the storm has spent its force. + +Two leading motives are employed in this introduction. They are the +=Storm Motive= and the =Donner Motive=. The =Storm Motive= is as follows: + +[Music] + +These themes are elemental. From them Wagner has composed storm music +of convincing power. + +In the early portion of this vorspiel only the string instruments are +used. Gradually the instrumentation grows more powerful. With the +climax we have a tremendous _ff_ on the contra tuba and two tympani, +followed by the crash of the Donner Motive on the wind instruments. + +The storm then gradually dies away. Before it has quite passed over, +the curtain rises, revealing the large hall of _Hunding's_ dwelling. +This hall is built around a huge ash-tree, whose trunk and branches +pierce the roof, over which the foliage is supposed to spread. There +are walls of rough-hewn boards, here and there hung with large plaited +and woven hangings. In the right foreground is a large open hearth; +back of it in a recess is the larder, separated from the hall by a +woven hanging, half drawn. In the background is a large door. A few +steps in the left foreground lead up to the door of an inner room. The +furniture of the hall is primitive and rude. It consists chiefly of a +table, bench, and stools in front of the ash-tree. Only the light of +the fire on the hearth illumines the room; though occasionally its +fitful gleam is slightly intensified by a distant flash of lightning +from the departing storm. + +The door in the background is opened from without. _Siegmund_, +supporting himself with his hand on the bolt, stands in the entrance. +He seems exhausted. His appearance is that of a fugitive who has +reached the limit of his powers of endurance. Seeing no one in the +hall, he staggers toward the hearth and sinks upon a bearskin rug +before it, with the exclamation: + + Whose hearth this may be, + Here I must rest me. + +[Illustration: Lilli Lehmann as Brünnhilde in "Die Walküre"] + +[Illustration: Photo by Hall + +"The Valkyr." Act I + +Hunding (Parker), Sieglinde (Rennyson), and Siegmund (Maclennan)] + +Wagner's treatment of this scene is masterly. As _Siegmund_ stands in +the entrance we hear the =Siegmund Motive=. This is a sad, weary strain +on 'cellos and basses. It seems the wearier for the burden of an +accompanying figure on the horns, beneath which it seems to stagger as +_Siegmund_ staggers toward the hearth. Thus the music not only +reflects _Siegmund's_ weary mien, but accompanies most graphically his +weary gait. Perhaps Wagner's intention was more metaphysical. Maybe +the burden beneath which the Siegmund Motive staggers is the curse of +_Alberich_. It is through that curse that _Siegmund's_ life has been +one of storm and stress. + +[Music] + +When the storm-beaten Wälsung has sunk upon the rug the Siegmund +Motive is followed by the Storm Motive, _pp_--and the storm has died +away. The door of the room to the left opens and a young +woman--_Sieglinde_--appears. She has heard someone enter, and, +thinking her husband returned, has come forth to meet him--not +impelled to this by love, but by fear. For _Hunding_ had, while her +father and kinsmen were away on the hunt, laid waste their dwelling +and abducted her and forcibly married her. Ill-fated herself, she is +moved to compassion at sight of the storm-driven fugitive before the +hearth, and bends over him. + +Her compassionate action is accompanied by a new motive, which by +Wagner's commentators has been entitled the Motive of Compassion. But +it seems to me to have a further meaning as expressing the sympathy +between two souls, a tie so subtle that it is at first invisible even +to those whom it unites. _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_, it will be +remembered, belong to the same race; and though they are at this point +of the action unknown to one another, yet, as _Sieglinde_ bends over +the hunted, storm-beaten _Siegmund_, that subtle sympathy causes her +to regard him with more solicitude than would be awakened by any other +unfortunate stranger. Hence I have called this motive the =Motive of +Sympathy=--taking sympathy in its double meaning of compassion and +affinity of feeling: + +[Music] + +The beauty of this brief phrase is enhanced by its unpretentiousness. +It wells up from the orchestra as spontaneously as pity mingled with +sympathetic sorrow wells up from the heart of a gentle woman. As it is +_Siegmund_ who has awakened these feelings in _Sieglinde_, the Motive +of Sympathy is heard simultaneously with the Siegmund Motive. + +_Siegmund_, suddenly raising his head, ejaculates, "Water, water!" +_Sieglinde_ hastily snatches up a drinking-horn and, having quickly +filled it at a spring near the house, swiftly returns and hands it to +_Siegmund_. As though new hope were engendered in _Siegmund's_ breast +by _Sieglinde's_ gentle ministration, the Siegmund Motive rises higher +and higher, gathering passion in its upward sweep and then, combined +again with the Motive of Sympathy, sinks to an expression of heartfelt +gratitude. This passage is scored entirely for strings. Yet no +composer, except Wagner, has evoked from a full orchestra sounds +richer or more sensuously beautiful. + +Having quaffed from the proffered cup the stranger lifts a searching +gaze to her features, as if they awakened within him memories the +significance of which he himself cannot fathom. She, too, is strangely +affected by his gaze. How has fate interwoven their lives that these +two people, a man and a woman, looking upon each other apparently for +the first time, are so thrilled by a mysterious sense of affinity? + +Here occurs the =Love Motive= played throughout as a violoncello solo, +with accompaniment of eight violoncellos and two double basses; +exquisite in tone colour and one of the most tenderly expressive +phrases ever penned. + +[Music] + +The Love Motive is the mainspring of this act. For this act tells the +story of love from its inception to its consummation. Similarly in the +course of this act the Love Motive rises by degrees of intensity from +an expression of the first tender presentiment of affection to the +very ecstasy of love. + +_Siegmund_ asks with whom he has found shelter. _Sieglinde_ replies +that the house is _Hunding's_, and she his wife, and requests +_Siegmund_ to await her husband's return. + + Weaponless am I: + The wounded guest, + He will surely give shelter, + +is _Siegmund's_ reply. With anxious celerity, _Sieglinde_ asks him to +show her his wounds. But, refreshed by the draught of cool spring +water and with hope revived by her sympathetic presence, he gathers +force and, raising himself to a sitting posture, exclaims that his +wounds are but slight; his frame is still firm, and had sword and +shield held half so well, he would not have fled from his foes. His +strength was spent in flight through the storm, but the night that +sank on his vision has yielded again to the sunshine of _Sieglinde's_ +presence. At these words the Motive of Sympathy rises like a sweet +hope. _Sieglinde_ fills the drinking-horn with mead and offers it to +_Siegmund_. He asks her to take the first sip. She does so and then +hands it to him. His eyes rest upon her while he drinks. As he returns +the drinking-horn to her there are traces of deep emotion in his +mien. He sighs and gloomily bows his head. The action at this point is +most expressively accompanied by the orchestra. Specially noteworthy +is an impassioned upward sweep of the Motive of Sympathy as _Siegmund_ +regards _Sieglinde_ with traces of deep emotion in his mien. + +In a voice that trembles with emotion, he says: "You have harboured +one whom misfortune follows wherever he wends his footsteps. Lest +through me misfortune enter this house, I will depart." With firm, +determined strides he already has reached the door, when she, +forgetting all in the vague memories that his presence have stirred +within her, calls after him: + +"Tarry! You cannot bring sorrow to the house where sorrow already +reigns!" + +Her words are followed by a phrase freighted as if with sorrow, the +Motive of the Wälsung Race, or =Wälsung Motive=: + +[Music] + +_Siegmund_ returns to the hearth, while she, as if shamed by her +outburst of feeling, allows her eyes to sink toward the ground. +Leaning against the hearth, he rests his calm, steady gaze upon her, +until she again raises her eyes to his, and they regard each other in +long silence and with deep emotion. The woman is the first to start. +She hears _Hunding_ leading his horse to the stall, and soon afterward +he stands upon the threshold looking darkly upon his wife and the +stranger. _Hunding_ is a man of great strength and stature, his eyes +heavy-browed, his sinister features framed in thick black hair and +beard, a sombre, threatful personality boding little good to whomever +crosses his path. + +With the approach of _Hunding_ there is a sudden change in the +character of the music. Like a premonition of _Hunding's_ entrance we +hear the =Hunding Motive=, _pp_. Then as _Hunding_, armed with spear +and shield, stands upon the threshold, this Hunding Motive--as dark, +forbidding, and portentous of woe to the two Wälsungs as _Hunding's_ +sombre visage--resounds with dread power on the tubas: + +[Music] + +Although weaponless, and _Hunding_ armed with spear and shield, the +fugitive meets his scrutiny without flinching, while the woman, +anticipating her husband's inquiry, explains that she had discovered +him lying exhausted at the hearth and given him shelter. With an +assumed graciousness that makes him, if anything, more forbidding, +_Hunding_ orders her prepare the meal. While she does so he glances +repeatedly from her to the stranger whom she has harboured, as if +comparing their features and finding in them something to arouse his +suspicions. "How like unto her," he mutters. + +"Your name and story?" he asks, after they have seated themselves at +the table in front of the ash-tree, and when the stranger hesitates, +_Hunding_ points to the woman's eager, inquiring look. + +"Guest," she urges, little knowing the suspicions her husband +harbours, "gladly would I know whence you come." + +Slowly, as if oppressed by heavy memories, he begins his story, +carefully, however, continuing to conceal his name, since for all he +knows, _Hunding_ may be one of the enemies of his race. Amid +incredible hardships, surrounded by enemies against whom he and his +kin constantly were obliged to defend themselves, he grew up in the +forest. He and his father returned from one of their hunts to find the +hut in ashes, his mother a corpse, and no trace of his twin sister. In +one of the combats with their foes he became separated from his +father. + +At this point you hear the Walhalla Motive, for _Siegmund's_ father +was none other than _Wotan_, known to his human descendants, however, +only as Wälse. In _Wotan's_ narrative in the next act it will be +discovered that _Wotan_ purposely created these misfortunes for +_Siegmund_, in order to strengthen him for his task. + +Continuing his narrative _Siegmund_ says that, since losing track of +his father, he has wandered from place to place, ever with misfortune +in his wake. That very day he has defended a maid whom her brothers +wished to force into marriage. But when, in the combat that ensued, he +had slain her brothers, she turned upon him and denounced him as a +murderer, while the kinsmen of the slain, summoned to vengeance, +attacked him from all quarters. He fought until shield and sword were +shattered, then fled to find chance shelter in _Hunding's_ dwelling. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Fremstad as Brünnhilde in "Die Walküre"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Fremstad as Sieglinde in "Die Walküre"] + +The story of _Siegmund_ is told in melodious recitative. It is not a +melody in the old-fashioned meaning of the term, but it fairly teems +with melodiousness. It will have been observed that incidents very +different in kind are related by _Siegmund_. It would be impossible to +treat this narrative with sufficient variety of expression in a +melody. But in Wagner's melodious recitative the musical phrases +reflect every incident narrated by _Siegmund_. For instance, when +_Siegmund_ tells how he went hunting with his father there is joyous +freshness and abandon in the music, which, however, suddenly sinks to +sadness as he narrates how they returned and found the Wälsung +dwelling devastated by enemies. We hear also the Hunding Motive at +this point, which thus indicates that whose who brought this +misfortune upon the Wälsungs were none other than _Hunding_ and his +kinsmen. As _Siegmund_ tells how, when he was separated from his +father, he sought to mingle with men and women, you hear the Love +Motive, while his description of his latest combat is accompanied by +the rhythm of the Hunding Motive. Those whom _Siegmund_ slew were +_Hunding's_ kinsmen. Thus _Siegmund's_ dark fate has driven him to +seek shelter in the house of the very man who is the arch-enemy of his +race and is bound by the laws of kinship to avenge on _Siegmund_ the +death of kinsmen. + +As _Siegmund_ concludes his narrative the Wälsung Motive is heard. +Gazing with ardent longing toward _Sieglinde_, he says: + + Now know'st thou, questioning wife, + Why "Peaceful" is not my name. + +These words are sung to a lovely phrase. Then, as _Siegmund_ rises and +strides over to the hearth, while _Sieglinde_, pale and deeply +affected by his tale, bows her head, there is heard on the horns, +bassoons, violas, and 'cellos a motive expressive of the heroic +fortitude of the Wälsungs in struggling against their fate. It is the +=Motive of the Wälsungs' Heroism=, a motive steeped in the tragedy of +futile struggle against destiny. + +[Music] + +The sombre visage at the head of the table has grown even darker and +more threatening. _Hunding_ arises. "I know a ruthless race to whom +nothing is sacred, and hated of all," he says. "Mine were the kinsmen +you slew. I, too, was summoned from my home to take blood vengeance +upon the slayer. Returning, I find him here. You have been offered +shelter for the night, and for the night you are safe. But tomorrow be +prepared to defend yourself." + +Alone, unarmed, and in the house of his enemy! And yet the same roof +harbours a friend--the woman. What strange affinity has brought them +together under the eye of the pitiless savage with whom she has been +forced into marriage? The embers on the hearth collapse. The glow +that for a moment pervades the room seems to his excited senses a +reflection from the eyes of the woman to whom he has been so +unaccountably yet so strongly drawn. Even the spot on the old +ash-tree, where he saw her glance linger before she left the room, +seems to have caught its sheen. Then the embers die out. All grows +dark. + +The scene is eloquently set to music. _Siegmund's_ gloomy thoughts are +accompanied by the threatening rhythm of the Hunding Motive and the +Sword Motive in a minor key, for _Siegmund_ is still weaponless. + + A sword my father did promise.... + Wälse! Wälse! Where is thy sword! + +The Sword Motive rings out like a shout of triumph. As the embers of +the fire collapse, there is seen in the glare, that for a moment falls +upon the ash-tree, the hilt of a sword whose blade is buried in the +trunk of the tree at the point upon which _Sieglinde's_ look last +rested. While the Motive of the Sword gently rises and falls, like the +coming and going of a lovely memory, _Siegmund_ apostrophizes the +sheen as the reflection of _Sieglinde's_ glance. And although the +embers die out, and night falls upon the scene, in _Siegmund's_ +thoughts the memory of that pitying, loving look glimmers on. + +Is it his excited fancy that makes him hear the door of the inner +chamber softly open and light footsteps coming in his direction? No; +for he becomes conscious of a form, her form, dimly limned upon the +darkness. He springs to his feet. _Sieglinde_ is by his side. She has +given _Hunding_ a sleeping-potion. She will point out a weapon to +_Siegmund_--a sword. If he can wield it she will call him the greatest +hero, for only the mightiest can wield it. The music quickens with +the subdued excitement in the breasts of the two Wälsungs. You hear +the Sword Motive and above it, on horns, clarinet, and oboe, a new +motive--that of the =Wälsungs' Call to Victory=: + +[Music] + +for _Sieglinde_ hopes that with the sword the stranger, who has +awakened so quickly love in her breast, will overcome _Hunding_. This +motive has a resistless, onward sweep. _Sieglinde_, amid the strains +of the stately Walhalla Motive, followed by the Sword Motive, narrates +the story of the sword. While _Hunding_ and his kinsmen were feasting +in honour of her forced marriage with him, an aged stranger entered +the hall. The men knew him not and shrank from his fiery glance. But +upon her his look rested with tender compassion. With a mighty thrust +he buried a sword up to its hilt in the trunk of the ash-tree. Whoever +drew it from its sheath to him it should belong. The stranger went his +way. One after another the strong men tugged at the hilt--but in vain. +Then she knew who the aged stranger was and for whom the sword was +destined. + +The Sword Motive rings out like a joyous shout, and _Sieglinde's_ +voice mingles with the triumphant notes of the Wälsungs' Call to +Victory as she turns to _Siegmund_: + + O, found I in thee + The friend in need! + +The Motive of the Wälsungs' heroism, now no longer full of tragic +import, but forceful and defiant--and _Siegmund_ holds _Sieglinde_ in +his embrace. + +There is a rush of wind. The woven hangings flap and fall. As the +lovers turn, a glorious sight greets their eyes. The landscape is +illumined by the moon. Its silver sheen flows down the hills and +quivers along the meadows whose grasses tremble in the breeze. All +nature seems to be throbbing in unison with the hearts of the lovers, +and, turning to the woman, _Siegmund_ greets her with the =Love Song=: + +[Music] + +The Love Motive, impassioned, irresistible, sweeps through the +harmonies--and Love and Spring are united. The Love Motive also +pulsates through _Sieglinde's_ ecstatic reply after she has given +herself fully up to _Siegmund_ in the Flight Motive--for before his +coming her woes have fled as winter flies before the coming of spring. +With _Siegmund's_ exclamation: + + Oh, wondrous vision! + Rapturous woman! + +there rises from the orchestra like a vision of loveliness the Motive +of Freia, the Venus of German mythology. In its embrace it folds this +pulsating theme: + +[Music] + +It throbs on like a love-kiss until it seemingly yields to the +blandishments of this caressing phrase: + +[Music] + +This throbbing, pulsating, caressing music is succeeded by a moment of +repose. The woman again gazes searchingly into the man's features. She +has seen his face before. When? Now she remembers. It is when she has +seen her own reflection in a brook! And his voice? It seems to her +like an echo of her own. And his glance; has it never before rested on +her? She is sure it has, and she will tell him when. + +She repeats how, while _Hunding_ and his kinsmen were feasting at her +marriage, an aged man entered the hall and, drawing a sword, thrust it +to the hilt in the ash-tree. The first to draw it out, to him it +should belong. One after another the men strove to loosen the sword, +but in vain. Once the aged man's glance rested on her and shone with +the same light as now shines in his who has come to her through night +and storm. He who thrust the sword into the tree was of her own race, +the Wälsungs. Who is he? + +"I, too, have seen that light, but in your eyes!" exclaimed the +fugitive. "I, too, am of your race. I, too, am a Wälsung, my father +none other than Wälse himself." + +"Was Wälse your father?" she cries ecstatically. "For you, then, this +sword was thrust in the tree! Let me name you, as I recall you from +far back in my childhood, _Siegmund_--_Siegmund_--_Siegmund_!" + +"Yes, I am _Siegmund_; and you, too, I now know well. You are +_Sieglinde_. Fate has willed that we two of our unhappy race, shall +meet again and save each other or perish together." + +Then, leaping upon the table, he grasps the sword-hilt which protrudes +from the trunk of the ash-tree where he has seen that strange glow in +the light of the dying embers. A mighty tug, and he draws it from the +tree as a blade from its scabbard. Brandishing it in triumph, he leaps +to the floor and, clasping _Sieglinde_, rushes forth with her into the +night. + +And the music? It fairly seethes with excitement. As _Siegmund_ leaps +upon the table, the Motive of the Wälsungs' Heroism rings out as if in +defiance of the enemies of the race. The Sword Motive--and he has +grasped the hilt; the Motive of Compact, ominous of the fatality which +hangs over the Wälsungs; the Motive of Renunciation, with its +threatening import; then the Sword Motive--brilliant like the glitter +of refulgent steel--and _Siegmund_ has unsheathed the sword. The +Wälsungs' Call to Victory, like a song of triumph; a superb upward +sweep of the Sword Motive; the Love Motive, now rushing onward in the +very ecstasy of passion, and _Siegmund_ holds in his embrace +_Sieglinde_, his bride--of the same doomed race as himself! + +Act II. In the _Vorspiel_ the orchestra, with an upward rush of the +Sword Motive, resolved into 9-8 time, the orchestra dashes into the +Motive of Flight. The Sword Motive in this 9-8 rhythm closely +resembles the Motive of the Valkyr's Ride, and the Flight Motive in +the version in which it appears is much like the Valkyr's Shout. The +Ride and the Shout are heard in the course of the _Vorspiel_, the +former with tremendous force on trumpets and trombones as the curtain +rises on a wild, rocky mountain pass, at the back of which, through a +natural rock-formed arch, a gorge slopes downward. + +In the foreground stands _Wotan_, armed with spear, shield, and +helmet. Before him is _Brünnhilde_ in the superb costume of the +Valkyr. The stormy spirit of the _Vorspiel_ pervades the music of +_Wotan's_ command to _Brünnhilde_ that she bridle her steed for battle +and spur it to the fray to do combat for _Siegmund_ against _Hunding_. +_Brünnhilde_ greets _Wotan's_ command with the weirdly joyous =Shout of +the Valkyrs= + +[Music: Hojotoho! Heiaha-ha.] + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Weil as Wotan in "Die Walküre"] + +[Illustration: Photo by Hall + +"Die Walküre." Act III + +Brünnhilde (Margaret Crawford)] + +It is the cry of the wild horsewomen of the air, coursing through +storm-clouds, their shields flashing back the lightning, their voices +mingling with the shrieks of the tempest. Weirder, wilder joy has +never found expression in music. One seems to see the steeds of the +air and streaks of lightning playing around their riders, and to hear +the whistling of the wind. + +The accompanying figure is based on the Motive of the =Ride of the +Valkyrs=: + +[Music] + +_Brünnhilde_, having leapt from rock to rock to the highest peak of +the mountain, again faces _Wotan_, and with delightful banter calls to +him that _Fricka_ is approaching in her ram-drawn chariot. _Fricka_ +has appeared, descended from her chariot, and advances toward _Wotan_, +_Brünnhilde_ having meanwhile disappeared behind the mountain height. + +_Fricka_ is the protector of the marriage vow, and as such she has +come in anger to demand from _Wotan_ vengeance in behalf of _Hunding_. +As she advances hastily toward _Wotan_, her angry, passionate +demeanour is reflected by the orchestra, and this effective musical +expression of _Fricka's_ ire is often heard in the course of the +scene. When near _Wotan_ she moderates her pace, and her angry +demeanour gives way to sullen dignity. + +_Wotan_, though knowing well what has brought _Fricka_ upon the scene, +feigns ignorance of the cause of her agitation and asks what it is +that harasses her. Her reply is preceded by the stern Hunding motive. +She tells _Wotan_ that she, as the protectress of the sanctity of the +marriage vow, has heard _Hunding's_ voice calling for vengeance upon +the Wälsung twins. Her words, "His voice for vengeance is raised," +are set to a phrase strongly suggestive of _Alberich's_ curse. It +seems as though the avenging Nibelung were pursuing _Wotan's_ children +and thus striking a blow at _Wotan_ himself through _Fricka_. The Love +Motive breathes through _Wotan's_ protest that _Siegmund_ and +_Sieglinde_ only yielded to the music of the spring night. _Wotan_ +argues that _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_ are true lovers, and _Fricka_ +should smile instead of venting her wrath on them. The motive of the +Love Song, the Love Motive, and the caressing phrase heard in the love +scene are beautifully blended with _Wotan's_ words. In strong contrast +to these motives is the music in _Fricka's_ outburst of wrath, +introduced by the phrase reflecting her ire, which is repeated several +times in the course of this episode. _Wotan_ explains to her why he +begat the Wälsung race and the hopes he has founded upon it. But +_Fricka_ mistrusts him. What can mortals accomplish that the gods, who +are far mightier than mortals, cannot accomplish? _Hunding_ must be +avenged on _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_. _Wotan_ must withdraw his +protection from _Siegmund_. Now appears a phrase which expresses +_Wotan's_ impotent wrath--impotent because _Fricka_ brings forward the +unanswerable argument that if the Wälsungs go unpunished by her, as +guardian of the marriage vow, she, the Queen of the Gods, will be held +up to the scorn of mankind. + +_Wotan_ would fain save the Wälsungs. But _Fricka's_ argument is +conclusive. He cannot protect _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_, because +their escape from punishment would bring degradation upon the +queen-goddess and the whole race of the gods, and result in their +immediate fall. _Wotan's_ wrath rises at the thought of sacrificing +his beloved children to the vengeance of _Hunding_, but he is +impotent. His far-reaching plans are brought to nought. He sees the +hope of having the Ring restored to the _Rhinedaughters_ by the +voluntary act of a hero of the Wälsung race vanish. The curse of +_Alberich_ hangs over him like a dark, threatening cloud. The =Motive +of Wotan's Wrath= is as follows: + +[Music] + +_Brünnhilde's_ joyous shouts are heard from the height. _Wotan_ +exclaims that he had summoned the Valkyr to do battle for _Siegmund_. +In broad, stately measures, _Fricka_ proclaims that her honour shall +be guarded by _Brünnhilde's_ shield and demands of _Wotan_ an oath +that in the coming combat the Wälsung shall fall. _Wotan_ takes the +oath and throws himself dejectedly down upon a rocky seat. _Fricka_ +strides toward the back. She pauses a moment with a gesture of queenly +command before _Brünnhilde_, who has led her horse down the height and +into a cave to the right, then departs. + +In this scene we have witnessed the spectacle of a mighty god vainly +struggling to avert ruin from his race. That it is due to irresistible +fate and not merely to _Fricka_ that _Wotan's_ plans succumb, is made +clear by the darkly ominous notes of Alberich's Curse, which resound +as _Wotan_, wrapt in gloomy brooding, leans back against the rocky +seat, and also when, in a paroxysm of despair, he gives vent to his +feelings, a passage which, for overpowering intensity of expression, +stands out even from among Wagner's writings. The final words of this +outburst of grief: + + The saddest I among all men, + +are set to this variant of the Motive of Renunciation; the meaning of +this phrase having been expanded from the renunciation of love by +_Alberich_ to cover the renunciation of happiness which is forced upon +_Wotan_ by avenging fate: + +[Music] + +_Brünnhilde_ casts away shield, spear, and helmet, and sinking down at +_Wotan's_ feet looks up to him with affectionate anxiety. Here we see +in the Valkyr the touch of tenderness, without which a truly heroic +character is never complete. + +Musically it is beautifully expressed by the Love Motive, which, when +_Wotan_, as if awakening from a reverie, fondly strokes her hair, goes +over into the Siegmund Motive. It is over the fate of his beloved +Wälsungs _Wotan_ has been brooding. Immediately following +_Brünnhilde's_ words, + + What an I were I not thy will, + +is a wonderfully soft yet rich melody on four horns. It is one of +those beautiful details in which Wagner's works abound. + +In _Wotan's_ narrative, which now follows, the chief of the gods tells +_Brünnhilde_ of the events which have brought this sorrow upon him, of +his failure to restore the stolen gold to the _Rhinedaughters_; of his +dread of _Alberich's_ curse; how she and her sister Valkyrs were born +to him by _Erda_; of the necessity that a hero should without aid of +the gods gain the Ring and Tarnhelmet from _Fafner_ and restore the +Rhinegold to the _Rhinedaughters_; how he begot the Wälsungs and +inured them to hardships in the hope that one of the race would free +the gods from _Alberich's_ curse. + +The motives heard in _Wotan's_ narrative will be recognized, except +one, which is new. This is expressive of the stress to which the gods +are subjected through _Wotan's_ crime. It is first heard when _Wotan_ +tells of the hero who alone can regain the ring. It is the =Motive of +the Gods' Stress=. + +[Music] + +Excited by remorse and despair _Wotan_ bids farewell to the glory of +the gods. Then he in terrible mockery blesses the Nibelung's heir--for +_Alberich_ has wedded and to him has been born a son, upon whom the +Nibelung depends to continue his death struggle with the gods. +Terrified by this outburst of wrath, _Brünnhilde_ asks what her duty +shall be in the approaching combat. _Wotan_ commands her to do +_Fricka's_ bidding and withdraw protection from _Siegmund_. In vain +_Brünnhilde_ pleads for the Wälsung whom she knows _Wotan_ loves, and +wished a victor until _Fricka_ exacted a promise from him to avenge +_Hunding_. But her pleading is in vain. _Wotan_ is no longer the +all-powerful chief of the gods--through his breach of faith he has +become the slave of fate. Hence we hear, as _Wotan_ rushes away, +driven by chagrin, rage, and despair, chords heavy with the crushing +force of fate. + +Slowly and sadly _Brünnhilde_ bends down for her weapons, her actions +being accompanied by the Valkyr Motive. Bereft of its stormy +impetuosity it is as trist as her thoughts. Lost in sad reflections, +which find beautiful expression in the orchestra, she turns toward the +background. + +Suddenly the sadly expressive phrases are interrupted by the Motive of +Flight. Looking down into the valley the Valkyr perceives _Siegmund_ +and _Sieglinde_ approaching in hasty flight. She then disappears in +the cave. With a superb crescendo the Motive of Flight reaches its +climax and the two Wälsungs are seen approaching through the natural +arch. For hours they have toiled forward; often _Sieglinde's_ limbs +have threatened to fail her, yet never have the fugitives been able to +shake off the dread sound of _Hunding_ winding his horn as he called +upon his kinsmen to redouble their efforts to overtake the two +Wälsungs. Even now, as they come up the gorge and pass under a rocky +arch to the height of the divide, the pursuit can be heard. They are +human quarry of the hunt. Terror has begun to unsettle _Sieglinde's_ +reason. When _Siegmund_ bids her rest she stares wildly before her, +then gazes with growing rapture into his eyes and throws her arms +around his neck, only to shriek suddenly: "Away, away!" as she hears +the distant horn-calls, then to grow rigid and stare vacantly before +her as _Siegmund_ announces to her that here he proposes to end their +flight, here await _Hunding_, and test the temper of _Wälse's_ sword. +Then she tries to thrust him away. Let him leave her to her fate and +save himself. But a moment later, although she still clings to him, +she apparently is gazing into vacancy and crying out that he has +deserted her. At last, utterly overcome by the strain of flight with +the avenger on the trail, she faints, her hold on _Siegmund_ relaxes, +and she would have fallen had he not caught her form in his arms. +Slowly he lets himself down on a rocky seat, drawing her with him, so +that when he is seated her head rests on his lap. Tenderly he looks +down upon the companion of his flight, and, while, like a mournful +memory, the orchestra intones the Love Motive, he presses a kiss upon +her brow--she of his own race, like him doomed to misfortune, +dedicated to death, should the sword which he has unsheathed from +_Hunding's_ ash-tree prove traitor. As he looks up from _Sieglinde_ he +is startled. For there stands on the rock above them a shining +apparition in flowing robes, breastplate, and helmet, and leaning upon +a spear. It is _Brünnhilde_, the Valkyr, daughter of _Wotan_. + +=The Motive of Fate=--so full of solemn import--is heard. + +[Music] + +While her earnest look rests upon him, there is heard the =Motive of +the Death-Song=, a tristly prophetic strain. + +[Music] + +_Brünnhilde_ advances and then, pausing again, leans with one hand on +her charger's neck, and, grasping shield and spear with the other, +gazes upon _Siegmund_. Then there rises from the orchestra, in strains +of rich, soft, alluring beauty, an inversion of the Walhalla Motive. +The Fate, Death-Song and Walhalla motives recur, and _Siegmund_, +raising his eyes and meeting _Brünnhilde's_ look, questions her and +receives her answers. The episode is so fraught with solemnity that +the shadow of death seems to have fallen upon the scene. The solemn +beauty of the music impresses itself the more upon the listener, +because of the agitated, agonized scene which preceded it. To the +Wälsung, who meets her gaze so calmly, _Brünnhilde_ speaks in solemn +tones: + +"Siegmund, look on me. I am she whom soon you must prepare to follow." +Then she paints for him in glowing colours the joys of Walhalla, where +_Wälse_, his father, is awaiting him and where he will have heroes for +his companions, himself the hero of many valiant deeds. _Siegmund_ +listens unmoved. In reply he frames but one question: "When I enter +Walhalla, will _Sieglinde_ be there to greet me?" + +When _Brünnhilde_ answers that in Walhalla he will be attended by +valkyrs and wishmaidens, but that _Sieglinde_ will not be there to +meet him, he scorns the delights she has held out. Let her greet +_Wotan_ from him, and _Wälse_, his father, too, as well as the +wishmaidens. He will remain with _Sieglinde_. + +Then the radiant Valkyr, moved by _Siegmund's_ calm determination to +sacrifice even a place among the heroes of Walhalla for the woman he +loves, makes known to him the fate to which he has been doomed. +_Wotan_ desired to give him victory over _Hunding_, and she had been +summoned by the chief of the gods and commanded to hover above the +combatants, and by shielding _Siegmund_ from _Hunding's_ thrusts, +render the Wälsung's victory certain. But _Wotan's_ spouse, _Fricka_, +who, as the first among the goddesses, is guardian of the marriage +vows, has heard _Hunding's_ voice calling for vengeance, and has +demanded that vengeance be his. Let _Siegmund_ therefore prepare for +Walhalla, but let him leave _Sieglinde_ in her care. She will protect +her. + +"No other living being but I shall touch her," exclaims the Wälsung, +as he draws his sword. "If the Wälsung sword is to be shattered on +Hunding's spear, to which I am to fall a victim, it first shall bury +itself in her breast and save her from a worse fate!" He poises the +sword ready for the thrust above the unconscious _Sieglinde_. + +"Hold!" cries _Brünnhilde_, thrilled by his heroic love. "Whatever the +consequences which Wotan, in his wrath, shall visit upon me, today, +for the first time I disobey him. Sieglinde shall live, and with her +Siegmund! Yours the victory over Hunding. Now Wälsung, prepare for +battle!" + +_Hunding's_ horn-calls sound nearer and nearer. _Siegmund_ judges that +he has ascended the other side of the gorge, intending to cross the +rocky arch. Already _Brünnhilde_ has gone to take her place where she +knows the combatants must meet. With a last look and a last kiss for +_Sieglinde_, _Siegmund_ gently lays her down and begins to ascend +toward the peak. Mist gathers; storm-clouds roll over the mountain; +soon he is lost to sight. Slowly _Sieglinde_ regains her senses. She +looks for _Siegmund_. Instead of seeing him bending over her she hears +_Hunding's_ voice as if from among the clouds, calling him to combat; +then _Siegmund's_ accepting the challenge. She staggers toward the +peak. Suddenly a bright light pierces the clouds. Above her she sees +the men fighting, _Brünnhilde_ protecting _Siegmund_ who is aiming a +deadly stroke at _Hunding_. + +At that moment, however, the light is diffused with a reddish glow. In +it _Wotan_ appears. As _Siegmund's_ sword cuts the air on its errand +of death, the god interposes his spear, the sword breaks in two and +_Hunding_ thrusts his spear into the defenceless Wälsung's breast. The +second victim of _Alberich's_ curse has met his fate. + +With a wild shriek, _Sieglinde_ falls to the ground, to be caught up +by _Brünnhilde_ and swung upon the Valkyr's charger, which, urged on +by its mistress, now herself a fugitive from _Wotan's_ anger, dashes +down the defile in headlong flight for the Valkyr rock. + +Act III. The third act opens with the famous "Ride of the Valkyrs," a +number so familiar that detailed reference to it is scarcely +necessary. The wild maidens of Walhalla coursing upon winged steeds +through storm-clouds, their weapons flashing in the gleam of +lightning, their weird laughter mingling with the crash of thunder, +have come to hold tryst upon the Valkyr rock. + +When eight of the Valkyrs have gathered upon the rocky summit of the +mountain, they espy _Brünnhilde_ approaching. It is with savage shouts +of "Hojotoho! Heiha!" those who already have reached their savage +eyrie, watch for the coming of their wild sisters. Fitful flashes of +lightning herald their approach as they storm fearlessly through the +wind and cloud, their weird shouts mingling with the clash of thunder. +"Hojotoho! Heihe!--Hojotoho! Heiha!" + +But, strange burden! Instead of a slain hero across her pommel, +_Brünnhilde_ bears a woman, and instead of urging her horse to the +highest crag, she alights below. The Valkyrs hasten down the rock, and +there the wild sisters of the air stand, curiously awaiting the +approach of _Brünnhilde_. + +In frantic haste the Valkyr tells her sisters what has transpired, and +how _Wotan_ is pursuing her to punish her for her disobedience. One +of the Valkyrs ascends the rock and, looking in the direction from +which _Brünnhilde_ has come, calls out that even now she can descry +the red glow behind the storm-clouds that denotes _Wotan's_ approach. +Quickly _Brünnhilde_ bids _Sieglinde_ seek refuge in the forest beyond +the Valkyr rock. The latter, who has been lost in gloomy brooding, +starts at her rescuer's supplication and in strains replete with +mournful beauty begs that she may be left to her fate and follow +_Siegmund_ in death. The glorious prophecy in which _Brünnhilde_ now +foretells to _Sieglinde_ that she is to become the mother of +_Siegfried_, is based upon the =Siegfried Motive=: + +[Music] + +_Sieglinde_, in joyous frenzy, blesses _Brünnhilde_ and hastens to +find safety in a dense forest to the eastward, the same forest in +which _Fafner_, in the form of a serpent, guards the Rhinegold +treasures. + +_Wotan_, in hot pursuit of _Brünnhilde_, reaches the mountain summit. +In vain her sisters entreat him to spare her. He harshly threatens +them unless they cease their entreaties, and with wild cries of fear +they hastily depart. + +In the ensuing scene between _Wotan_ and _Brünnhilde_, in which the +latter seeks to justify her action, is heard one of the most beautiful +themes of the cycle. + +It is the =Motive of Brünnhilde's Pleading=, which finds its loveliest +expression when she addresses _Wotan_ in the passage beginning: + +[Music: Thou, who this love within my breast inspired.] + +_Brünnhilde_ is _Wotan's_ favourite daughter, but instead of the +loving pride with which he always has been wont to regard her, his +features are dark with anger at her disobedience of his command. He +had decreed _Siegmund's_ death. She has striven to give victory to the +Wälsung. Throwing herself at her father's feet, she pleads that he +himself had intended to save _Siegmund_ and had been turned from his +purpose only by _Fricka's_ interference, and that he had yielded only +most grudgingly to _Fricka's_ insistent behest. Therefore, when she, +his daughter, profoundly moved by _Siegmund's_ love for _Sieglinde_, +and her sympathies aroused by the sad plight of the fugitives, +disregarded his command, she nevertheless acted in accordance with his +real inclinations. But _Wotan_ is obdurate. She has revelled in the +very feelings which he was obliged, at _Fricka's_ behest, to +forego--admiration for _Siegmund's_ heroism and sympathy for him in +his misfortune. Therefore she must be punished. He will cause her to +fall into a deep sleep upon the Valkyr rock, which shall become the +Brünnhilde-rock, and to the first man who finds her and awakens her, +she, no longer a Valkyr, but a mere woman, shall fall prey. + +This great scene between _Wotan_ and _Brünnhilde_ is introduced by an +orchestral passage. The Valkyr lies in penitence at her father's feet. +In the expressive orchestral measures the Motive of Wotan's Wrath +mingles with that of Brünnhilde's Pleading. The motives thus form a +prelude to the scene in which the Valkyr seeks to appease her father's +anger, not through a specious plea, but by laying bare the promptings +of a noble heart, which forced her, against the chief god's command, +to intervene for _Siegmund_. The Motive of Brünnhilde's Pleading is +heard in its simplest form at _Brünnhilde's_ words: + + Was it so shameful what I have done, + +and it may be noticed that as she proceeds the Motive of Wotan's +Wrath, heard in the accompaniment, grows less stern, until with her +plea, + + Soften thy wrath, + +it assumes a tone of regretful sorrow. + +_Wotan's_ feelings toward _Brünnhilde_ have softened for the time from +anger to grief that he must mete out punishment for her disobedience. +In his reply excitement subsides to gloom. It would be difficult to +point to other music more touchingly expressive of deep contrition +than the phrase in which _Brünnhilde_ pleads that _Wotan_ himself +taught her to love _Siegmund_. It is here that the Motive of +Brünnhilde's Pleading assumes the form in the notation given above. +Then we hear from _Wotan_ that he had abandoned _Siegmund_ to his +fate, because he had lost hope in the cause of the gods and wished to +end his woe in the wreck of the world. The weird terror of the Curse +Motive hangs over this outburst of despair. In broad and beautiful +strains _Wotan_ then depicts _Brünnhilde_ yielding to her emotions +when she intervened for _Siegmund_. + +_Brünnhilde_ makes her last appeal. She tells her father that +_Sieglinde_ has found refuge in the forest, and that there she will +give birth to a son, _Siegfried_,--the hero for whom the gods have +been waiting to overthrow their enemies. If she must suffer for her +disobedience, let _Wotan_ surround her sleeping form with a fiery +circle which only such a hero will dare penetrate. The Motive of +Brünnhilde's Pleading and the Siegfried Motive vie with each other in +giving expression to the beauty, tenderness, and majesty of this +scene. + +Gently the god raises her and tenderly kisses her brow; and thus bids +farewell to the best beloved of his daughters. Slowly she sinks upon +the rock. He closes her helmet and covers her with her shield. Then, +with his spear, he invokes the god of fire. Tongues of flame leap from +the crevices of the rock. Wildly fluttering fire breaks out on all +sides. The forest beyond glows like a furnace, with brighter streaks +shooting and throbbing through the mass, as _Wotan_, with a last look +at the sleeping form of _Brünnhilde_, vanishes beyond the fiery +circle. + +A majestic orchestral passage opens _Wotan's_ farewell to +_Brünnhilde_. In all music for bass voice this scene has no peer. Such +tender, mournful beauty has never found expression in music--and this, +whether we regard the vocal part or the orchestral accompaniment in +which the lovely =Slumber Motive=: + +[Music] + +As _Wotan_ leads _Brünnhilde_ to the rock, upon which she sinks, +closes her helmet, and covers her with her shield, then invokes +_Loge_, and, after gazing fondly upon the slumbering Valkyr, vanishes +amid the magic flames, the Slumber Motive, the Magic Fire Motive, and +the Siegfried Motive combine to place the music of the scene with the +most brilliant and beautiful portion of our heritage from the great +master-musician. But here, too, lurks Destiny. Towards the close of +this glorious finale we hear again the ominous muttering of the Motive +of Fate. _Brünnhilde_ may be saved from ignominy, _Siegfried_ may be +born to _Sieglinde_--but the crushing weight of _Alberich's_ curse +still rests upon the race of the gods. + + +SIEGFRIED + + Music-drama in three acts, by Richard Wagner. Produced, + Bayreuth, August 16, 1876. London, by the Carl Rosa Company, + 1898, in English. New York, Metropolitan Opera House, + November 9, 1887, with Lehmann (_Brünnhilde_), Fischer + (_Wotan_), Alvary (_Siegfried_), and Seidl-Kraus (_Forest + bird_). + + CHARACTERS + + SIEGFRIED _Tenor_ + MIME _Tenor_ + WOTAN (disguised as the WANDERER) _Baritone-Bass_ + ALBERICH _Baritone-Bass_ + FAFNER _Bass_ + ERDA _Contralto_ + FOREST BIRD _Soprano_ + BRÜNNHILDE _Soprano_ + + _Time_--Legendary. + + _Place_--A rocky cave in the forest; deep in the forest; + wild region at foot of a rocky mount; the Brünnhilde-rock. + +The Nibelungs were not present in the dramatic action of "The Valkyr," +though the sinister influence of _Alberich_ shaped the tragedy of +_Siegmund's_ death. In "Siegfried" several characters of "The +Rhinegold," who do not take part in "The Valkyr," reappear. These are +the Nibelungs _Alberich_ and _Mime_; the giant _Fafner_, who in the +guise of a serpent guards the Ring, the Tarnhelmet, and the Nibelung +hoard in a cavern, and _Erda_. + +_Siegfried_ has been born of _Sieglinde_, who died in giving birth to +him. This scion of the Wälsung race has been reared by _Mime_, who +found him in the forest by his dead mother's side. _Mime_ is plotting +to obtain possession of the ring and of _Fafner's_ other treasures, +and hopes to be aided in his designs by the lusty youth. _Wotan_, +disguised as a wanderer, is watching the course of events, again +hopeful that a hero of the Wälsung race will free the gods from +_Alberich's_ curse. Surrounded by magic fire, _Brünnhilde_ still lies +in deep slumber on the Brünnhilde Rock. + +The _Vorspiel_ of "Siegfried" is expressive of _Mime's_ planning and +plotting. It begins with music of a mysterious brooding character. +Mingling with this is the Motive of the Hoard, familiar from "The +Rhinegold." Then is heard the Nibelung Motive. After reaching a +forceful climax it passes over to the Motive of the Ring, which rises +from pianissimo to a crashing climax. The ring is to be the prize of +all _Mime's_ plotting. He hopes to weld the pieces of _Siegmund's_ +sword together, and that with this sword _Siegfried_ will slay +_Fafner_. Then _Mime_ will slay _Siegfried_ and possess himself of the +ring. Thus it is to serve his own ends only, that _Mime_ is craftily +rearing _Siegfried_. + +The opening scene shows _Mime_ forging a sword at a natural forge +formed in a rocky cave. In a soliloquy he discloses the purpose of his +labours and laments that _Siegfried_ shivers every sword which has +been forged for him. Could he (_Mime_) but unite the pieces of +_Siegmund's_ sword! At this thought the Sword Motive rings out +brilliantly, and is jubilantly repeated, accompanied by a variant of +the Walhalla Motive. For if the pieces of the sword were welded +together, and _Siegfried_ were with it to slay _Fafner_, _Mime_ could +surreptitiously obtain possession of the ring, slay _Siegfried_, rule +over the gods in Walhalla, and circumvent _Alberich's_ plans for +regaining the hoard. + +_Mime_ is still at work when _Siegfried_ enters, clad in a wild forest +garb. Over it a silver horn is slung by a chain. The sturdy youth has +captured a bear. He leads it by a bast rope, with which he gives it +full play so that it can make a dash at _Mime_. As the latter flees +terrified behind the forge, _Siegfried_ gives vent to his high spirits +in shouts of laughter. Musically his buoyant nature is expressed by a +theme inspired by the fresh, joyful spirit of a wild, woodland life. +It may be called, to distinguish it from the Siegfried Motive, the +=Motive of Siegfried the Fearless=. + +[Music] + +It pervades with its joyous impetuosity the ensuing scene, in which +_Siegfried_ has his sport with _Mime_, until tiring of it, he loosens +the rope from the bear's neck and drives the animal back into the +forest. In a pretty, graceful phrase _Siegfried_ tells how he blew his +horn, hoping it would be answered by a pleasanter companion than +_Mime_. Then he examines the sword which _Mime_ has been forging. The +Siegfried Motive resounds as he inveighs against the weapon's +weakness, then shivers it on the anvil. The orchestra, with a rush, +takes up the =Motive of Siegfried the Impetuous=. + +[Music] + +This is a theme full of youthful snap and dash. _Mime_ tells +_Siegfried_ how he tenderly reared him from infancy. The music here is +as simple and pretty as a folk-song, for _Mime's_ reminiscences of +_Siegfried's_ infancy are set to a charming melody, as though _Mime_ +were recalling to _Siegfried's_ memory a cradle song of those days. +But _Siegfried_ grows impatient. If _Mime_ really tended him so kindly +out of pure affection, why should _Mime_ be so repulsive to him; and +yet why should he, in spite of _Mime's_ repulsiveness, always return +to the cave? The dwarf explains that he is to _Siegfried_ what the +father is to the fledgling. This leads to a beautiful lyric episode. +_Siegfried_ says that he saw the birds mating, the deer pairing, the +she-wolf nursing her cubs. Whom shall he call Mother? Who is _Mime's_ +wife? This episode is pervaded by the lovely =Motive of Love-Life=. + +[Music] + +_Mime_ endeavours to persuade _Siegfried_ that he is his father and +mother in one. But _Siegfried_ has noticed that the young of birds and +deer and wolves look like the parents. He has seen his features +reflected in the brook, and knows he does not resemble the hideous +_Mime_. The notes of the Love-Life Motive pervade this episode. When +_Siegfried_ speaks of seeing his own likeness, we also hear the +Siegfried Motive. _Mime_, forced by _Siegfried_ to speak the truth, +tells of _Sieglinde's_ death while giving birth to _Siegfried_. +Throughout this scene we find reminiscences of the first act of "The +Valkyr," the Wälsung Motive, the Motive of Sympathy, and the Love +Motive. Finally, when _Mime_ produces as evidence of the truth of his +words the two pieces of _Siegmund's_ sword, the Sword Motive rings out +brilliantly. _Siegfried_ exclaims that _Mime_ must weld the pieces +into a trusty weapon. Then follows _Siegfried's_ "Wander Song," so +full of joyous abandon. Once the sword welded, he will leave the hated +_Mime_ for ever. As the fish darts through the water, as the bird +flies so free, he will flee from the repulsive dwarf. With joyous +exclamations he runs from the cave into the forest. + + * * * * * + +The frank, boisterous nature of _Siegfried_ is charmingly portrayed. +His buoyant vivacity finds capital expression in the Motives of +Siegfried the Fearless, Siegfried the Impetuous, and his "Wander +Song," while the vein of tenderness in his character seems to run +through the Love-Life Motive. His harsh treatment of _Mime_ is not +brutal; for _Siegfried_ frankly avows his loathing for the dwarf, and +we feel, knowing _Mime's_ plotting against the young Wälsung, that +_Siegfried's_ hatred is the spontaneous aversion of a frank nature for +an insidious one. + +_Mime_ has a gloomy soliloquy. It is interrupted by the entrance of +_Wotan_, disguised as a wanderer. At the moment _Mime_ is in despair +because he cannot weld the pieces of _Siegmund's_ sword. When the +_Wanderer_ departs, he has prophesied that only he who does not know +what fear is--only a fearless hero--can weld the fragments, and that +through this fearless hero _Mime_ shall lose his life. This prophecy +is reached through a somewhat curious process which must be +unintelligible to anyone who has not made a study of the libretto. The +_Wanderer_, seating himself, wagers his head that he can correctly +answer any three questions which _Mime_ may put to him. _Mime_ then +asks: "What is the race born in the earth's deep bowels?" The +_Wanderer_ answers: "The Nibelungs." _Mime's_ second question is: +"What race dwells on the earth's back?" The _Wanderer_ replies: "The +race of giants." _Mime_ finally asks: "What race dwells on cloudy +heights?" The _Wanderer_ answers: "The race of the gods." The +_Wanderer_, having thus answered correctly _Mime's_ three questions, +now put three questions to _Mime_: "What is that noble race which +_Wotan_ ruthlessly dealt with, and yet which he deemeth most dear?" +_Mime_ answers correctly: "The Wälsungs." Then the _Wanderer_ asks: +"What sword must _Siegfried_ then strike with, dealing to _Fafner_ +death?" _Mime_ answers correctly: "With _Siegmund's_ sword." "Who," +asks the _Wanderer_, "can weld its fragments?" _Mime_ is terrified, +for he cannot answer. Then _Wotan_ utters the prophecy of the fearless +hero. + +The scene is musically most eloquent. It is introduced by two motives, +representing _Wotan_ as the Wanderer. The mysterious chords of the +former seem characteristic of _Wotan's_ disguise. + +The latter, with its plodding, heavily-tramping movement, is the +motive of _Wotan's_ wandering. + +The third new motive found in this scene is characteristically +expressive of the _Cringing Mime_. + +Several motives familiar from "The Rhinegold" and "The Valkyr" are +heard here. The Motive of Compact so powerfully expressive of the +binding force of law, the Nibelung and Walhalla motives from "The +Rhinegold," and the Wälsungs' Heroism motives from the first act of +"The Valkyr," are among these. + +When the _Wanderer_ has vanished in the forest _Mime_ sinks back on +his stool in despair. Staring after _Wotan_ into the sunlit forest, +the shimmering rays flitting over the soft green mosses with every +movement of the branches and each tremor of the leaves seem to him +like flickering flames and treacherous will-o'-the-wisps. We hear the +Loge Motive (_Loge_ being the god of fire) familiar from "The +Rhinegold" and the finale of "The Valkyr." At last _Mime_ rises to his +feet in terror. He seems to see _Fafner_ in his serpent's guise +approaching to devour him, and in a paroxysm of fear he falls with a +shriek behind the anvil. Just then _Siegfried_ bursts out of the +thicket, and with the fresh, buoyant "Wander Song" and the Motive of +Siegfried the Fearless, the weird mystery which hung over the former +scene is dispelled. _Siegfried_ looks about him for _Mime_ until he +sees the dwarf lying behind the anvil. + +Laughingly the young Wälsung asks the dwarf if he has thus been +welding the sword. "The sword? The sword?" repeats _Mime_ confusedly, +as he advances, and his mind wanders back to _Wotan's_ prophecy of the +fearless hero. Regaining his senses he tells _Siegfried_ there is one +thing he has yet to learn, namely, to be afraid; that his mother +charged him (_Mime_) to teach fear to him (_Siegfried_). _Mime_ asks +_Siegfried_ if he has never felt his heart beating when in the +gloaming he heard strange sounds and saw weirdly glimmering lights in +the forest. _Siegfried_ replies that he never has. He knows not what +fear is. If it is necessary before he goes forth in quest of adventure +to learn what fear is he would like to be taught. But how can _Mime_ +teach him? + +The Magic Fire Motive and Brünnhilde's Slumber Motive familiar from +Wotan's Farewell, and the Magic Fire scene in the third act of "The +Valkyr" are heard here, the former depicting the weirdly glimmering +lights with which _Mime_ has sought to infuse dread into _Siegfried's_ +breast, the latter prophesying that, penetrating fearlessly the fiery +circle, _Siegfried_ will reach _Brünnhilde_. Then _Mime_ tells +_Siegfried_ of _Fafner_, thinking thus to strike terror into the young +Wälsung's breast. But far from it! _Siegfried_ is incited by _Mime's_ +words to meet _Fafner_ in combat. Has _Mime_ welded the fragments of +_Siegmund's_ sword, asks _Siegfried_. The dwarf confesses his +impotency. _Siegfried_ seizes the fragments. He will forge his own +sword. Here begins the great scene of the forging of the sword. Like a +shout of victory the Motive of Siegfried the Fearless rings out and +the orchestra fairly glows as _Siegfried_ heaps a great mass of coal +on the forge-hearth, and, fanning the heat, begins to file away at the +fragments of the sword. + +The roar of the fire, the sudden intensity of the fierce white heat to +which the young Wälsung fans the glow--these we would respectively +hear and see were the music given without scenery or action, so +graphic is Wagner's score. The Sword Motive leaps like a brilliant +tongue of flame over the heavy thuds of a forceful variant of the +Motive of Compact, till brightly gleaming runs add to the brilliancy +of the score, which reflects all the quickening, quivering effulgence +of the scene. How the music flows like a fiery flood and how it hisses +as _Siegfried_ pours the molten contents of the crucible into a mould +and then plunges the latter into water! The glowing steel lies on the +anvil and _Siegfried_ swings the hammer. With every stroke his joyous +excitement is intensified. At last the work is done. He brandishes the +sword and with one stroke splits the anvil from top to bottom. With +the crash of the Sword Motive, united with the Motive of Siegfried the +Fearless, the orchestra dashes into a furious prestissimo, and +_Siegfried_, shouting with glee, holds aloft the sword! + +Act II. The second act opens with a darkly portentous _Vorspiel_. On +the very threshold of it we meet _Fafner_ in his motive, which is so +clearly based on the Giant Motive that there is no necessity for +quoting it. Through themes which are familiar from earlier portions of +the work, the _Vorspiel_ rises to a crashing fortissimo. + +The curtain lifts on a thick forest. At the back is the entrance to +_Fafner's_ cave, the lower part of which is hidden by rising ground in +the middle of the stage, which slopes down toward the back. In the +darkness the outlines of a figure are dimly discerned. It is the +Nibelung _Alberich_, haunting the domain which hides the treasures of +which he was despoiled. From the forest comes a gust of wind. A bluish +light gleams from the same direction. _Wotan_, still in the guise of a +Wanderer, enters. + +The ensuing scene between _Alberich_ and the _Wanderer_ is, from a +dramatic point of view, episodical. Suffice it to say that the fine +self-poise of _Wotan_ and the maliciously restless character of +_Alberich_ are superbly contrasted. When _Wotan_ has departed the +Nibelung slips into a rocky crevice, where he remains hidden when +_Siegfried_ and _Mime_ enter. _Mime_ endeavours to awaken dread in +_Siegfried's_ heart by describing _Fafner's_ terrible form and powers. +But _Siegfried's_ courage is not weakened. On the contrary, with +heroic impetuosity, he asks to be at once confronted with _Fafner_. +_Mime_, well knowing that _Fafner_ will soon awaken and issue from his +cave to meet _Siegfried_ in mortal combat, lingers on in the hope that +both may fall, until the young Wälsung drives him away. + +Now begins a beautiful lyric episode. _Siegfried_ reclines under a +linden-tree, and looks up through the branches. The rustling of the +trees is heard. Over the tremulous whispers of the orchestra--known +from concert programs as the "Waldweben" (forest-weaving)--rises a +lovely variant of the Wälsung Motive. _Siegfried_ is asking himself +how his mother may have looked, and this variant of the theme which +was first heard in "The Valkyr," when _Sieglinde_ told _Siegmund_ that +her home was the home of woe, rises like a memory of her image. +Serenely the sweet strains of the Love-Life Motive soothe his sad +thoughts. _Siegfried_, once more entranced by forest sounds, listens +intently. Birds' voices greet him. A little feathery songster, whose +notes mingle with the rustling leaves of the linden-tree, especially +charms him. + +The forest voices--the humming of insects, the piping of the birds, +the amorous quiver of the branches--quicken his half-defined +aspirations. Can the little singer explain his longing? He listens, +but cannot catch the meaning of the song. Perhaps, if he can imitate +it he may understand it. Springing to a stream hard by, he cuts a reed +with his sword and quickly fashions a pipe from it. He blows on it, +but it sounds shrill. He listens again to the birds. He may not be +able to imitate his song on the reed, but on his silver horn he can +wind a woodland tune. Putting the horn to his lips he makes the forest +ring with its notes: + +[Music] + +The notes of the horn have awakened _Fafner_ who now, in the guise of +a huge serpent or dragon, crawls toward _Siegfried_. Perhaps the less +said about the combat between _Siegfried_ and _Fafner_ the better. +This scene, which seems very spirited in the libretto, is ridiculous +on the stage. To make it effective it should be carried out very far +back--best of all out of sight--so that the magnificent music will +not be marred by the sight of an impossible monster. The music is +highly dramatic. The exultant force of the Motive of Siegfried the +Fearless, which rings out as _Siegfried_ rushes upon _Fafner_, the +crashing chord as the serpent roars when _Siegfried_ buries the sword +in its heart, the rearing, plunging music as the monster rears and +plunges with agony--these are some of the most graphic features of the +score. + +_Siegfried_ raises his fingers to his lips and licks the blood from +them. Immediately after the blood has touched his lips he seems to +understand the bird, which has again begun its song, while the forest +voices once more weave their tremulous melody. The bird tells +_Siegfried_ of the ring and helmet and of the other treasures in +_Fafner's_ cave, and _Siegfried_ enters it in quest of them. With his +disappearance the forest-weaving suddenly changes to the harsh, +scolding notes heard in the beginning of the Nibelheim scene in "The +Rhinegold." _Mime_ slinks in and timidly looks about him to make sure +of Fafner's death. At the same time _Alberich_ issues forth from the +crevice in which he was concealed. This scene, in which the two +Nibelungs berate each other, is capitally treated, and its humour +affords a striking contrast to the preceding scenes. + +As _Siegfried_ comes out of the cave and brings the ring and helmet +from darkness to the light of day, there are heard the Ring Motive, +the Motive of the Rhinedaughters' Shout of Triumph, and the Rhinegold +Motive. The forest-weaving again begins, and the birds bid the young +Wälsung beware of _Mime_. The dwarf now approaches _Siegfried_ with +repulsive sycophancy. But under a smiling face lurks a plotting heart. +_Siegfried_ is enabled through the supernatural gifts with which he +has become endowed to fathom the purpose of the dwarf, who +unconsciously discloses his scheme to poison _Siegfried_. The young +Wälsung slays _Mime_, who, as he dies, hears _Alberich's_ mocking +laugh. Though the Motive of Siegfried the Fearless predominates at +this point, we also hear the Nibelung Motive and the Motive of the +Curse--indicating _Alberich's_ evil intent toward _Siegfried_. + +_Siegfried_ again reclines under the linden. His soul is tremulous +with an undefined longing. As he gazes in almost painful emotion up to +the branches and asks if the bird can tell him where he can find a +friend, his being seems stirred by awakening passion. + +The music quickens with an impetuous phrase, which seems to define the +first joyous thrill of passion in the youthful hero. It is the Motive +of =Love's Joy=: + +[Music] + +It is interrupted by a beautiful variant of the Motive of Love-Life, +which continues until above the forest-weaving the bird again thrills +him with its tale of a glorious maid who has so long slumbered upon +the fire-guarded rock. With the Motive of Love's joy coursing through +the orchestra, _Siegfried_ bids the feathery songster continue, and, +finally, to guide him to _Brünnhilde_. In answer, the bird flutters +from the linden branch, hovers over _Siegfried_, and hesitatingly +flies before him until it takes a definite course toward the +background. _Siegfried_ follows the little singer, the Motive of +Love's joy, succeeded by that of Siegfried the Fearless, bringing the +act to a close. + +Act III. The third act opens with a stormy introduction in which the +Motive of the Ride of the Valkyrs accompanies the Motive of the Gods' +Stress, the Compact, and the Erda motives. The introduction reaches +its climax with the =Motive of the Dusk of the Gods=: + +[Music] + +Then to the sombre, questioning phrase of the Motive of Fate, the +action begins to disclose the significance of this _Vorspiel_. A wild +region at the foot of a rocky mountain is seen. It is night. A fierce +storm rages. In dire distress and fearful that through _Siegfried_ and +_Brünnhilde_ the rulership of the world may pass from the gods to the +human race, _Wotan_ summons _Erda_ from her subterranean dwelling. But +_Erda_ has no counsel for the storm-driven, conscience-stricken god. + +The scene reaches its climax in _Wotan's_ noble renunciation of the +empire of the world. Weary of strife, weary of struggling against the +decree of fate, he renounces his sway. Let the era of human love +supplant this dynasty, sweeping away the gods and the Nibelungs in its +mighty current. It is the last defiance of all-conquering fate by the +ruler of a mighty race. After a powerful struggle against irresistible +forces, _Wotan_ comprehends that the twilight of the gods will be the +dawn of a more glorious epoch. A phrase of great dignity gives force +to _Wotan's_ utterances. It is the =Motive of the World's Heritage=: + +[Music] + +_Siegfried_ enters, guided to the spot by the bird; _Wotan_ checks his +progress with the same spear which shivered _Siegmund's_ sword. +_Siegfried_ must fight his way to _Brünnhilde_. With a mighty blow the +young Wälsung shatters the spear and _Wotan_ disappears 'mid the crash +of the Motive of Compact--for the spear with which it was the chief +god's duty to enforce compacts is shattered. Meanwhile the gleam of +fire has become noticeable. Fiery clouds float down from the mountain. +_Siegfried_ stands at the rim of the magic circle. Winding his horn he +plunges into the seething flames. Around the Motive of Siegfried the +Fearless and the Siegfried Motive flash the Magic Fire and Loge +motives. + +The flames, having flashed forth with dazzling brilliancy, gradually +pale before the red glow of dawn till a rosy mist envelops the scene. +When it rises, the rock and _Brünnhilde_ in deep slumber under the +fir-tree, as in the finale of "The Valkyr," are seen. _Siegfried_ +appears on the height in the background. As he gazes upon the scene +there are heard the Fate and Slumber motives and then the orchestra +weaves a lovely variant of the Freia Motive. This is followed by the +softly caressing strains of the Fricka Motive. _Fricka_ sought to make +_Wotan_ faithful to her by bonds of love, and hence the Fricka Motive +in this scene does not reflect her personality, but rather the +awakening of the love which is to thrill _Siegfried_ when he has +beheld _Brünnhilde's_ features. As he sees _Brünnhilde's_ charger +slumbering in the grove we hear the Motive of the Valkyr's Ride, and +when his gaze is attracted by the sheen of _Brünnhilde's_ armour, the +theme of Wotan's Farewell. Approaching the armed slumberer under the +fir-tree, _Siegfried_ raises the shield and discloses the figure of +the sleeper, the face being almost hidden by the helmet. + +Carefully he loosens the helmet. As he takes it off _Brünnhilde's_ +face is disclosed and her long curls flow down over her bosom. +_Siegfried_ gazes upon her enraptured. Drawing his sword he cuts the +rings of mail on both sides, gently lifts off the corselet and +greaves, and _Brünnhilde_, in soft female drapery, lies before him. He +starts back in wonder. Notes of impassioned import--the Motive of +Love's Joy--express the feelings that well up from his heart as for +the first time he beholds a woman. The fearless hero is infused with +fear by a slumbering woman. The Wälsung Motive, afterwards beautifully +varied with the Motive of Love's Joy, accompanies his utterances, the +climax of his emotional excitement being expressed in a majestic +crescendo of the Freia Motive. A sudden feeling of awe gives him at +least the outward appearance of calmness. With the Motive of Fate he +faces his destiny; and then, while the Freia Motive rises like a +vision of loveliness, he sinks over _Brünnhilde_, and with closed eyes +presses his lips to hers. + +_Brünnhilde_ awakens. _Siegfried_ starts up. She rises, and with a +noble gesture greets in majestic accents her return to the sight of +earth. Strains of loftier eloquence than those of her greeting have +never been composed. _Brünnhilde_ rises from her magic slumbers in the +majesty of womanhood: + +[Music] + +With the Motive of Fate she asks who is the hero who has awakened her. +The superb Siegfried Motive gives back the proud answer. In rapturous +phrases they greet one another. It is the =Motive of Love's Greeting=, + +[Music] + +which unites their voices in impassioned accents until, as if this +motive no longer sufficed to express their ecstasy, it is followed by +the =Motive of Love's Passion=, + +[Music] + +which, with the Siegfried Motive, rises and falls with the heaving of +_Brünnhilde's_ bosom. + +These motives course impetuously through this scene. Here and there we +have others recalling former portions of the cycle--the Wälsung +Motive, when _Brünnhilde_ refers to _Siegfried's_ mother, _Sieglinde_; +the Motive of Brünnhilde's Pleading, when she tells him of her +defiance of _Wotan's_ behest; a variant of the Walhalla Motive when +she speaks of herself in Walhalla; and the Motive of the World's +Heritage, with which _Siegfried_ claims her, this last leading over to +a forceful climax of the Motive of Brünnhilde's Pleading, which is +followed by a lovely, tranquil episode introduced by the =Motive of +Love's Peace=, + +[Music] + +succeeded by a motive, ardent yet tender--the =Motive of Siegfried the +Protector=: + +[Music] + +These motives accompany the action most expressively. _Brünnhilde_ +still hesitates to cast off for ever the supernatural characteristics +of the Valkyr and give herself up entirely to _Siegfried_. The young +hero's growing ecstasy finds expression in the Motive of Love's Joy. +At last it awakens a responsive note of purely human passion in +_Brünnhilde_ and, answering the proud Siegfried Motive with the +jubilant Shout of the Valkyrs and the ecstatic measures of Love's +Passion, she proclaims herself his. + +With a love duet--nothing puny and purring, but rapturous and +proud--the music-drama comes to a close. _Siegfried_, a scion of the +Wälsung race, has won _Brünnhilde_ for his bride, and upon her finger +has placed the ring fashioned of Rhinegold by _Alberich_ in the +caverns of Nibelheim, the abode of the Nibelungs. Clasping her in his +arms and drawing her to his breast, he has felt her splendid physical +being thrill with a passion wholly responsive to his. Will the gods be +saved through them, or does the curse of _Alberich_ still rest on the +ring worn by _Brünnhilde_ as a pledge of love? + + +GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG + +DUSK OF THE GODS + + Music-drama in a prologue and three acts, words and music by + Richard Wagner. Produced, Bayreuth, August 17, 1876. + + New York, Metropolitan Opera House, January 25, 1888, with + Lehmann (_Brünnhilde_), Seidl-Kraus (_Gutrune_), Niemann + (_Siegfried_), Robinson (_Gunther_), and Fischer (_Hagen_). + Other performances at the Metropolitan Opera House have had, + among others, Alvary and Jean de Reszke as _Siegfried_ and + Édouard de Reszke as _Hagen_. + + CHARACTERS + + SIEGFRIED _Tenor_ + GUNTHER _Baritone_ + ALBERICH _Baritone_ + HAGEN _Bass_ + BRÜNNHILDE _Soprano_ + GUTRUNE _Soprano_ + WALTRAUTE _Mezzo-Soprano_ + FIRST, SECOND, AND + THIRD NORN _Contralto, Mezzo-Soprano, and Soprano_ + WOGLINDE, WELLGUNDE, AND + FLOSSHILDE _Sopranos and Mezzo-Soprano_ + + Vassals and Women. + + _Time_--Legendary. + + _Place_--On the Brünnhilde-Rock; Gunther's castle on the + Rhine; wooded district by the Rhine. + +THE PROLOGUE + +The first scene of the prologue is a weird conference of the three +grey sisters of fate--the _Norns_ who wind the skein of life. They +have met on the Valkyrs' rock and their words forebode the end of the +gods. At last the skein they have been winding breaks--the final +catastrophe is impending. + +An orchestral interlude depicts the transition from the unearthly +gloom of the Norn scene to break of day, the climax being reached in a +majestic burst of music as _Siegfried_ and _Brünnhilde_, he in full +armour, she leading her steed by the bridle, issue forth from the +rocky cavern in the background. This climax owes its eloquence to +three motives--that of the Ride of the Valkyrs and two new motives, +the one as lovely as the other is heroic, the =Brünnhilde Motive=, + +[Music] + +and the =Motive of Siegfried the Hero=: + +[Music] + +The Brünnhilde Motive expresses the strain of pure, tender womanhood +in the nature of the former Valkyr, and proclaims her womanly ecstasy +over wholly requited love. The motive of Siegfried the Hero is clearly +developed from the motive of Siegfried the Fearless. Fearless youth +has developed into heroic man. In this scene _Brünnhilde_ and +_Siegfried_ plight their troth, and _Siegfried_ having given to +_Brünnhilde_ the fatal ring and having received from her the steed +Grane, which once bore her in her wild course through the +storm-clouds, bids her farewell and sets forth in quest of further +adventure. In this scene, one of Wagner's most beautiful creations, +occur the two new motives already quoted, and a third--the =Motive of +Brünnhilde's Love=. + +[Music] + +A strong, deep woman's nature has given herself up to love. Her +passion is as strong and deep as her nature. It is not a surface-heat +passion. It is love rising from the depths of a heroic woman's soul. +The grandeur of her ideal of _Siegfried_, her thoughts of him as a +hero winning fame, her pride in his prowess, her love for one whom she +deems the bravest among men, culminate in the Motive of Brünnhilde's +Love. + +_Siegfried_ disappears with the steed behind the rocks and +_Brünnhilde_ stands upon the cliff looking down the valley after him; +his horn is heard from below and _Brünnhilde_ with rapturous gesture +waves him farewell. The orchestra accompanies the action with the +Brünnhilde Motive, the Motive of Siegfried the Fearless, and finally +with the theme of the love duet with which "Siegfried" closed. + +The curtain then falls, and between the prologue and the first act an +orchestral interlude describes _Siegfried's_ voyage down the Rhine to +the castle of the Gibichungs where dwell _Gunther_, his sister +_Gutrune_, and their half-brother _Hagen_, the son of _Alberich_. +Through _Hagen_ the curse hurled by _Alberich_ in "The Rhinegold" at +all into whose possession the ring shall come, is to be worked out to +the end of its fell purpose--_Siegfried_ betrayed and destroyed and +the rule of the gods brought to an end by _Brünnhilde's_ expiation. + +In the interlude between the prologue and the first act we first hear +the brilliant Motive of Siegfried the Fearless and then the gracefully +flowing Motives of the Rhine, and of the Rhinedaughters' Shout of +Triumph with the Motives of the Rhinegold and Ring. _Hagen's_ +malevolent plotting, of which we are soon to learn in the first act, +is foreshadowed by the sombre harmonies which suddenly pervade the +music. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Édouard de Reszke as Hagen in "Götterdämmerung"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Jean de Reszke as Siegfried in "Götterdämmerung"] + +Act I. On the river lies the hall of the Gibichungs, where house +_Gunther_, his sister _Gutrune_, and _Hagen_, their half-brother. +_Gutrune_ is a maiden of fair mien, _Gunther_ a man of average +strength and courage, _Hagen_ a sinister plotter, large of stature and +sombre of visage. Long he has planned to possess himself of the +ring fashioned of Rhinegold. He is aware that it was guarded by the +dragon, has been taken from the hoard by _Siegfried_, and by him given +to _Brünnhilde_. And now observe the subtle craft with which he +prepares to compass his plans. + +A descendant, through his father, _Alberich_, the Nibelung, of a race +which practised the black art, he plots to make _Siegfried_ forget +_Brünnhilde_ through a love-potion to be administered to him by +_Gutrune_. Then, when under the fiery influence of the potion and all +forgetful of _Brünnhilde_, _Siegfried_ demands _Gutrune_ to wife, the +price demanded will be that he win _Brünnhilde_ as bride for +_Gunther_. Before _Siegfried_ comes in sight, before _Gunther_ and +_Gutrune_ so much as even know that he is nearing the hall of the +Gibichungs, _Hagen_ begins to lay the foundation for this seemingly +impossible plot. For it is at this opportune moment _Gunther_ chances +to address him: + +"Hark, Hagen, and let your answer be true. Do I head the race of the +Gibichungs with honour?" + +"Aye," replies _Hagen_, "and yet, Gunther, you remain unwived while +Gutrune still lacks a husband." Then he tells _Gunther_ of +_Brünnhilde_--"a circle of flame surrounds the rock on which she +dwells, but he who can brave that fire may win her for wife. If +Siegfried does this in your stead, and brings her to you as bride, +will she not be yours?" _Hagen_ craftily conceals from his +half-brother and from _Gutrune_ the fact that _Siegfried_ already has +won _Brünnhilde_ for himself; but having aroused in _Gunther_ the +desire to possess her, he forthwith unfolds his plan and reminds +_Gutrune_ of the magic love-potion which it is in her power to +administer to _Siegfried_. + +At the very beginning of this act the Hagen Motive is heard. +Particularly noticeable in it are the first two sharp, decisive +chords. They recur with dramatic force in the third act when _Hagen_ +slays _Siegfried_. The =Hagen Motive= is as follows: + +[Music] + +This is followed by the =Gibichung Motive=, the two motives being +frequently heard in the opening scene. + +[Music] + +Added to these is the =Motive of the Love-Potion= which is to cause +_Siegfried_ to forget _Brünnhilde_, and conceive a violent passion for +_Gutrune_. + +[Music] + +Whatever hesitation may have been in _Gutrune's_ mind, because of the +trick which is involved in the plot, vanishes when soon afterwards +_Siegfried's_ horn-call announces his approach from the river, and, as +he brings his boat up to the bank, she sees this hero among men in all +his youthful strength and beauty. She hastily withdraws, to carry out +her part in the plot that is to bind him to her. + +The three men remain to parley. _Hagen_ skilfully questions +_Siegfried_ regarding his combat with the dragon. Has he taken nothing +from the hoard? + +"Only a ring, which I have left in a woman's keep," answers +_Siegfried_; "and this." He points to a steel network that hangs from +his girdle. + +"Ha," exclaims _Hagen_, "the Tarnhelmet! I recognize it as the artful +work of the Nibelungs. Place it on your head and it enables you to +assume any guise." He then flings open a door and on the platform of a +short flight of steps that leads up to it, stands _Gutrune_, in her +hand a drinking-horn which she extends toward _Siegfried_. + +"Welcome, guest, to the house of the Gibichungs. A daughter of the +race extends to you this greeting." And so, while _Hagen_ looks grimly +on, the fair _Gutrune_ offers _Siegfried_ the draught that is to +transform his whole nature. Courteously, but without regarding her +with more than friendly interest, _Siegfried_ takes the horn from her +hands and drains it. As if a new element coursed through his veins, +there is a sudden change in his manner. Handing the horn back to her +he regards her with fiery glances, she blushingly lowering her eyes +and withdrawing to the inner apartment. New in this scene is the +=Gutrune Motive=: + +[Music] + +"Gunther, your sister's name? Have you a wife?" _Siegfried_ asks +excitedly. + +"I have set my heart on a woman," replies _Gunther_, "but may not win +her. A far-off rock, fire-encircled, is her home." + +"A far-off rock, fire-encircled," repeats _Siegfried_, as if striving +to remember something long forgotten; and when _Gunther_ utters +_Brünnhilde's_ name, _Siegfried_ shows by his mien and gesture that it +no longer signifies aught to him. The love-potion has caused him to +forget her. + +"I will press through the circle of flame," he exclaims. "I will seize +her and bring her to you--if you will give me Gutrune for wife." + +And so the unhallowed bargain is struck and sealed with the oath of +blood-brotherhood, and _Siegfried_ departs with _Gunther_ to capture +_Brünnhilde_ as bride for the Gibichung. The compact of +blood-brotherhood is a most sacred one. _Siegfried_ and _Gunther_ each +with his sword draws blood from his arm, which he allows to mingle +with wine in a drinking-horn held by _Hagen_; each lays two fingers +upon the horn, and then, having pledged blood-brotherhood, drinks the +blood and wine. This ceremony is significantly introduced by the +Motive of the Curse followed by the Motive of Compact. Phrases of +_Siegfried's_ and _Gunther's_ pledge are set to a new motive whose +forceful simplicity effectively expresses the idea of truth. It is the +=Motive of the Vow=. + +[Music] + +Abruptly following _Siegfried's_ pledge: + + Thus I drink thee troth, + +are those two chords of the Hagen Motive which are heard again in the +third act when the Nibelung has slain _Siegfried_. It should perhaps +be repeated here that _Gunther_ is not aware of the union which +existed between _Brünnhilde_ and _Siegfried_, _Hagen_ having concealed +this from his half-brother, who believes that he will receive the +Valkyr in all her goddess-like virginity. + +When _Siegfried_ and _Gunther_ have departed and _Gutrune_, having +sighed her farewell after her lover, has retired, _Hagen_ broods with +wicked glee over the successful inauguration of his plot. During a +brief orchestral interlude a drop-curtain conceals the scene which, +when the curtain again rises, has changed to the Valkyr's rock, where +sits _Brünnhilde_, lost in contemplation of the Ring, while the Motive +of Siegfried the Protector is heard on the orchestra like a blissful +memory of the love scene in "Siegfried." + +Her rapturous reminiscences are interrupted by the sounds of an +approaching storm and from the dark cloud there issues one of the +Valkyrs, _Waltraute_, who comes to ask of _Brünnhilde_ that she cast +back the ring _Siegfried_ has given her--the ring cursed by +_Alberich_--into the Rhine, and thus lift the curse from the race of +gods. But _Brünnhilde_ refuses: + + More than Walhalla's welfare, + More than the good of the gods, + The ring I guard. + +It is dusk. The magic fire rising from the valley throws a glow over +the landscape. The notes of _Siegfried's_ horn are heard. _Brünnhilde_ +joyously prepares to meet him. Suddenly she sees a stranger leap +through the flames. It is _Siegfried_, but through the Tarnhelmet (the +motive of which, followed by the Gunther Motive dominates the first +part of the scene) he has assumed the guise of the Gibichung. In vain +_Brünnhilde_ seeks to defend herself with the might which the ring +imparts. She is powerless against the intruder. As he tears the ring +from her finger, the Motive of the Curse resounds with tragic import, +followed by trist echoes of the Motive of Siegfried the Protector and +of the Brünnhilde Motive, the last being succeeded by the Tarnhelmet +Motive expressive of the evil magic which has wrought this change in +_Siegfried_. _Brünnhilde_, in abject recognition of her impotence, +enters the cavern. Before _Siegfried_ follows her he draws his sword +Nothung (Needful) and exclaims: + + Now, Nothung, witness thou, that chaste my wooing is; + To keep my faith with my brother, separate me from his bride. + +Phrases of the pledge of Brotherhood followed by the Brünnhilde, +Gutrune, and Sword motives accompany his words. The thuds of the +typical Nibelung rhythm resound, and lead to the last crashing chord +of this eventful act. + +Act II. The ominous Motive of the Nibelung's Malevolence introduces +the second act. The curtain rises upon the exterior of the hall of the +Gibichungs. To the right is the open entrance to the hall, to the left +the bank of the Rhine, from which rises a rocky ascent toward the +background. It is night. _Hagen_, spear in hand and shield at side, +leans in sleep against a pillar of the hall. Through the weird +moonlight _Alberich_ appears. He urges _Hagen_ to murder _Siegfried_ +and to seize the ring from his finger. After hearing _Hagen's_ oath +that he will be faithful to the hate he has inherited, _Alberich_ +disappears. The weirdness of the surroundings, the monotony of +_Hagen's_ answers, uttered seemingly in sleep, as if, even when the +Nibelung slumbered, his mind remained active, imbue this scene with +mystery. + +A charming orchestral interlude depicts the break of day. Its serene +beauty is, however, broken in upon by the =Motive of Hagen's Wicked +Glee=, which I quote, as it frequently occurs in the course of +succeeding events. + +[Music] + +All night _Hagen_ has watched by the bank of the river for the return +of the men from the quest. It is daylight when _Siegfried_ returns, +tells him of his success, and bids him prepare to receive _Gunther_ +and _Brünnhilde_. On his finger he wears the ring--the ring made of +Rhinegold, and cursed by _Alberich_--the same with which he pledged +his troth to _Brünnhilde_, but which in the struggle of the night, and +disguised by the Tarnhelmet as _Gunther_, he has torn from her +finger--the very ring the possession of which _Hagen_ craves, and for +which he is plotting. _Gutrune_ has joined them. _Siegfried_ leads her +into the hall. + +_Hagen_, placing an ox-horn to his lips, blows a loud call toward the +four points of the compass, summoning the Gibichung vassals to the +festivities attending the double wedding--_Siegfried_ and _Gutrune_, +_Gunther_ and _Brünnhilde_; and when the Gibichung brings his boat up +to the bank, the shore is crowded with men who greet him boisterously, +while _Brünnhilde_ stands there pale and with downcast eyes. But as +_Siegfried_ leads _Gutrune_ forward to meet _Gunther_ and his bride, +and _Gunther_ calls _Siegfried_ by name, _Brünnhilde_ starts, raises +her eyes, stares at _Siegfried_ in amazement, drops _Gunther's_ hand, +advances, as if by sudden impulse, a step toward the man who awakened +her from her magic slumber on the rock, then recoils in horror, her +eyes fixed upon him, while all look on in wonder. The Motive of +Siegfried the Hero, the Sword Motive, and the Chords of the Hagen +Motive emphasize with a tumultuous crash the dramatic significance of +the situation. There is a sudden hush--_Brünnhilde_ astounded and +dumb, _Siegfried_ unconscious of guilt quietly self-possessed, +_Gunther_, _Gutrune_, and the vassals silent with amazement--it is +during this moment of tension that we hear the motive which expresses +the thought uppermost in _Brünnhilde_, the thought which would find +expression in a burst of frenzy were not her wrath held in check by +her inability to quite grasp the meaning of the situation or to +fathom the depth of the treachery of which she has been the victim. +This is the =Motive of Vengeance=: + +[Music] + +"What troubles Brünnhilde?" composedly asks _Siegfried_, from whom all +memory of his first meeting with the rock maiden and his love for her +have been effaced by the potion. Then, observing that she sways and is +about to fall, he supports her with his arm. + +"Siegfried knows me not!" she whispers faintly, as she looks up into +his face. + +"There stands your husband," is _Siegfried's_ reply, as he points to +_Gunther_. The gesture discloses to _Brünnhilde's_ sight the ring upon +his finger, the ring he gave her, and which to her horror _Gunther_, +as she supposed, had wrested from her. In the flash of its precious +metal she sees the whole significance of the wretched situation in +which she finds herself, and discovers the intrigue, the trick, of +which she has been the victim. She knows nothing, however, of the +treachery _Hagen_ is plotting, or of the love-potion that has aroused +in _Siegfried_ an uncontrollable passion to possess _Gutrune_, has +caused him to forget her, and led him to win her for _Gunther_. There +at _Gutrune's_ side, and about to wed her, stands the man she loves. +To _Brünnhilde_, infuriated with jealousy, her pride wounded to the +quick, _Siegfried_ appears simply to have betrayed her to _Gunther_ +through infatuation for another woman. + +"The ring," she cries out, "was taken from me by that man," pointing +to _Gunther_. "How came it on your finger? Or, if it is not the +ring"--again she addresses _Gunther_--"where is the one you tore from +my hand?" + +_Gunther_, knowing nothing about the ring, plainly is perplexed. "Ha," +cries out _Brünnhilde_ in uncontrollable rage, "then it was Siegfried +disguised as you and not you yourself who won it from me! Know then, +Gunther, that you, too, have been betrayed by him. For this man who +would wed your sister, and as part of the price bring me to you as +bride, was wedded to me!" + +In all but _Hagen_ and _Siegfried_, _Brünnhilde's_ words arouse +consternation. _Hagen_, noting their effect on _Gunther_, from whom he +craftily has concealed _Siegfried's_ true relation to _Brünnhilde_, +sees in the episode an added opportunity to mould the Gibichung to his +plan to do away with _Siegfried_. The latter, through the effect of +the potion, is rendered wholly unconscious of the truth of what +_Brünnhilde_ has said. He even has forgotten that he ever has parted +with the ring, and, when the men, jealous of _Gunther's_ honour, crowd +about him, and _Gunther_ and _Gutrune_ in intense excitement wait on +his reply, he calmly proclaims that he found it among the dragon's +treasure and never has parted with it. To the truth of this assertion, +to a denial of all _Brünnhilde_ has accused him of, he announces +himself ready to swear at the point of any spear which is offered for +the oath, the strongest manner in which the asseveration can be made +and, in the belief of the time, rendering his death certain at the +point of that very spear should he swear falsely. + +How eloquent the music of these exciting scenes!--Crashing chords of +the Ring Motive followed by that of the Curse, as _Brünnhilde_ +recognizes the ring on _Siegfried's_ finger, the Motive of Vengeance, +the Walhalla Motive, as she invokes the gods to witness her +humiliation, the touchingly pathetic Motive of Brünnhilde's Pleading, +as she vainly strives to awaken fond memories in _Siegfried_; then +again the Motive of Vengeance, as the oath is about to be taken, the +Murder Motive and the Hagen Motive at the taking of the oath, for the +spear is _Hagen's_; and in _Brünnhilde's_ asseveration, the Valkyr +music coursing through the orchestra. + +It is _Hagen_ who offers his weapon for the oath. "Guardian of honour, +hallowed weapon," swears _Siegfried_, "where steel can pierce me, +there pierce me; where death can be dealt me, there deal it me, if +ever I was wed to Brünnhilde, if ever I have wronged Gutrune's +brother." + +At his words, _Brünnhilde_, livid with rage, strides into the circle +of men, and thrusting _Siegfried's_ fingers away from the spearhead, +lays her own upon it. + +"Guardian of honour, hallowed weapon," she cries, "I dedicate your +steel to his destruction. I bless your point that it may blight him. +For broken are all his oaths, and perjured now he proves himself." + +_Siegfried_ shrugs his shoulders. To him _Brünnhilde's_ imprecations +are but the ravings of an overwrought brain. "Gunther, look to your +lady. Give the tameless mountain maid time to rest and recover," he +calls out to Gutrune's brother. "And now, men, follow us to table, and +make merry at our wedding feast!" Then with a laugh and in highest +spirits, he throws his arm about _Gutrune_ and draws her after him +into the hall, the vassals and women following them. + +But _Brünnhilde_, _Hagen_, and _Gunther_ remain behind; _Brünnhilde_ +half stunned at sight of the man with whom she has exchanged troth, +gaily leading another to marriage, as though his vows had been mere +chaff; _Gunther_, suspicious that his honour wittingly has been +betrayed by _Siegfried_, and that _Brünnhilde's_ words are true; +_Hagen_, in whose hands _Gunther_ is like clay, waiting the +opportunity to prompt both _Brünnhilde_ and his half-brother to +vengeance. + +"Coward," cries _Brünnhilde_ to _Gunther_, "to hide behind another in +order to undo me! Has the race of the Gibichungs fallen so low in +prowess?" + +"Deceiver, and yet deceived! Betrayer, and yet myself betrayed," wails +_Gunther_. "Hagen, wise one, have you no counsel?" + +"No counsel," grimly answers _Hagen_, "save Siegfried's death." + +"His death!" + +"Aye, all these things demand his death." + +"But, Gutrune, to whom I gave him, how would we stand with her if we +so avenged ourselves?" For even in his injured pride _Gunther_ feels +that he has had a share in what _Siegfried_ has done. + +But _Hagen_ is prepared with a plan that will free _Gunther_ and +himself of all accusation. "Tomorrow," he suggests, "we will go on a +great hunt. As Siegfried boldly rushes ahead we will fell him from the +rear, and give out that he was killed by a wild boar." + +"So be it," exclaims _Brünnhilde_; "let his death atone for the shame +he has wrought me. He has violated his oath; he shall die!" + +At that moment as they turn toward the hall, he whose death they have +decreed, a wreath of oak on his brow and leading _Gutrune_, whose hair +is bedecked with flowers, steps out on the threshold as though +wondering at their delay and urges them to enter. _Gunther_, taking +_Brünnhilde_ by the hand, follows him in. _Hagen_ alone remains +behind, and with a look of grim triumph watches them as they disappear +within. And so, although the valley of the Rhine re-echoes with glad +sounds, it is the Murder Motive that brings the act to a close. + +Act III. How picturesque the _mise-en-scène_ of this act--a clearing +in the forest primeval near a spot where the bank of the Rhine slopes +toward the river. On the shore, above the stream, stands _Siegfried_. +Baffled in the pursuit of game, he is looking for _Gunther_, _Hagen_, +and his other comrades of the hunt, in order to join them. + +One of the loveliest scenes of the trilogy now ensues. The +_Rhinedaughters_ swim up to the bank and, circling gracefully in the +current of the river, endeavour to coax from him the ring of +Rhinegold. It is an episode full of whimsical badinage and, if +anything, more charming even than the opening of "Rhinegold." + +_Siegfried_ refuses to give up the ring. The _Rhinedaughters_ swim off +leaving him to his fate. + +Here is the principal theme of their song in this scene: + +[Music] + +Distant hunting-horns are heard. _Gunther_, _Hagen_, and their +attendants gradually assemble and encamp themselves. _Hagen_ fills a +drinking-horn and hands it to _Siegfried_ whom he persuades to relate +the story of his life. This _Siegfried_ does in a wonderfully +picturesque, musical, and dramatic story in which motives, often heard +before, charm us anew. + +In the course of his narrative he refreshes himself by a draught from +the drinking-horn into which meanwhile _Hagen_ has pressed the juice +of an herb. Through this the effect of the love-potion is so far +counteracted that tender memories of _Brünnhilde_ well up within him +and he tells with artless enthusiasm how he penetrated the circle of +flame about the Valkyr, found _Brünnhilde_ slumbering there, awoke her +with his kiss, and won her. _Gunther_ springs up aghast at this +revelation. Now he knows that _Brünnhilde's_ accusation is true. + +Two ravens fly overhead. As _Siegfried_ turns to look after them the +Motive of the Curse resounds and _Hagen_ plunges his spear into the +young hero's back. _Gunther_ and the vassals throw themselves upon +_Hagen_. The Siegfried Motive, cut short with a crashing chord, the +two murderous chords of the Hagen Motive forming the bass--and +_Siegfried_, who with a last effort has heaved his shield aloft to +hurl it at _Hagen_, lets it fall, and, collapsing, drops upon it. So +overpowered are the witnesses--even _Gunther_--by the suddenness and +enormity of the crime that, after a few disjointed exclamations, they +gather, bowed with grief, around _Siegfried_. _Hagen_, with stony +indifference turns away and disappears over the height. + +With the fall of the last scion of the Wälsung race we hear a new +motive, simple yet indescribably fraught with sorrow, the =Death +Motive=. + +[Music] + +_Siegfried_, supported by two men, rises to a sitting posture, and +with a strange rapture gleaming in his glance, intones his death-song. +It is an ecstatic greeting to _Brünnhilde_. "Brünnhilde!" he exclaims, +"thy wakener comes to wake thee with his kiss." The ethereal harmonies +of the Motive of Brünnhilde's Awakening, the Motive of Fate, the +Siegfried Motive swelling into the Motive of Love's Greeting and dying +away through the Motive of Love's Passion to Siegfried's last +whispered accents--"Brünnhilde beckons to me"--in the Motive of +Fate--and _Siegfried_ sinks back in death. + +Full of pathos though this episode be, it but brings us to the +threshold of a scene of such overwhelming power that it may without +exaggeration be singled out as the supreme musico-dramatic climax of +all that Wagner wrought, indeed of all music. _Siegfried's_ last +ecstatic greeting to his Valkyr bride has made us realize the +blackness of the treachery which tore the young hero and _Brünnhilde_ +asunder and led to his death; and now as we are bowed down with a +grief too deep for utterance--like the grief with which a nation +gathers at the grave of its noblest hero--Wagner voices for us, in +music of overwhelmingly tragic power, feelings which are beyond +expression in human speech. This is not a "funeral march," as it is +often absurdly called--it is the awful mystery of death itself +expressed in music. + +Motionless with grief the men gather around _Siegfried's_ corpse. +Night falls. The moon casts a pale, sad light over the scene. At the +silent bidding of _Gunther_ the vassals raise the body and bear it in +solemn procession over the rocky height. Meanwhile with majestic +solemnity the orchestra voices the funeral oration of the "world's +greatest hero." One by one, but tragically interrupted by the Motive +of Death, we hear the motives which tell the story of the Wälsungs' +futile struggle with destiny--the Wälsung Motive, the Motive of the +Wälsungs' Heroism, the Motive of Sympathy, and the Love Motive, the +Sword Motive, the Siegfried Motive, and the Motive of Siegfried the +Hero, around which the Death Motive swirls and crashes like a black, +death-dealing, all-wrecking flood, forming an overwhelmingly powerful +climax that dies away into the Brünnhilde Motive with which, as with a +heart-broken sigh, the heroic dirge is brought to a close. + +Meanwhile the scene has changed to the Hall of the Gibichungs as in +the first act. _Gutrune_ is listening through the night for some +sound which may announce the return of the hunt. + +Men and women bearing torches precede in great agitation the funeral +train. _Hagen_ grimly announces to _Gutrune_ that _Siegfried_ is dead. +Wild with grief she overwhelms _Gunther_ with violent accusations. He +points to _Hagen_ whose sole reply is to demand the ring as spoil. +_Gunther_ refuses. _Hagen_ draws his sword and after a brief combat +slays _Gunther_. He is about to snatch the ring from _Siegfried's_ +finger, when the corpse's hand suddenly raises itself threateningly, +and all--even _Hagen_--fall back in consternation. + +_Brünnhilde_ advances solemnly from the back. While watching on the +bank of the Rhine she has learned from the _Rhinedaughters_ the +treachery of which she and _Siegfried_ have been the victims. Her mien +is ennobled by a look of tragic exaltation. To her the grief of +_Gutrune_ is but the whining of a child. When the latter realizes that +it was _Brünnhilde_ whom she caused _Siegfried_ to forget through the +love-potion, she falls fainting over _Gunther's_ body. _Hagen_ leaning +on his spear is lost in gloomy brooding. + +_Brünnhilde_ turns solemnly to the men and women and bids them erect a +funeral pyre. The orchestral harmonies shimmer with the Magic Fire +Motive through which courses the Motive of the Ride of the Valkyrs. +Then, her countenance transfigured by love, she gazes upon her dead +hero and apostrophizes his memory in the Motive of Love's Greeting. +From him she looks upward and in the Walhalla Motive and the Motive of +Brünnhilde's Pleading passionately inveighs against the injustice of +the gods. The Curse Motive is followed by a wonderfully beautiful +combination of the Walhalla Motive and the Motive of the Gods' Stress +at _Brünnhilde's_ words: + + Rest thee! Rest thee! O, God! + +For with the fading away of Walhalla, and the inauguration of the +reign of human love in place of that of lust and greed--a change to be +wrought by the approaching expiation of _Brünnhilde_ for the crimes +which began with the wresting of the Rhinegold from the +_Rhinedaughters_--_Wotan's_ stress will be at an end. _Brünnhilde_, +having told in the graceful, rippling Rhine music how she learned of +_Hagen's_ treachery through the _Rhinedaughters_, places upon her +finger the ring. Then turning toward the pyre upon which _Siegfried's_ +body rests, she snatches a huge firebrand from one of the men, and +flings it upon the pyre, which kindles brightly. As the moment of her +immolation approaches the Motive of Expiation begins to dominate the +scene. + +_Brünnhilde_ mounts her Valkyr charger, Grane, who oft bore her +through the clouds, while lightning flashed and thunder reverberated. +With one leap the steed bears her into the blazing pyre. + +The Rhine overflows. Borne on the flood, the _Rhinedaughters_ swim to +the pyre and draw, from _Brünnhilde's_ finger, the ring. _Hagen_, +seeing the object of all his plotting in their possession, plunges +after them. Two of them encircle him with their arms and draw him down +with them into the flood. The third holds up the ring in triumph. + +In the heavens is perceived a deep glow. It is Götterdämmerung--the +dusk of the gods. An epoch has come to a close. Walhalla is in flames. +Once more its stately motive resounds, only to crumble, like a ruin, +before the onsweeping power of the motive of expiation. The Siegfried +Motive with a crash in the orchestra; once more then the Motive of +Expiation. The sordid empire of the gods has passed away. A new era, +that of human love, has dawned through the expiation of _Brünnhilde_. +As in "The Flying Dutchman" and "Tannhäuser," it is through woman that +comes redemption. + + +TRISTAN UND ISOLDE + +TRISTAN AND ISOLDE + + Music-drama in three acts, words and music by Richard + Wagner, who calls the work, "eine Handlung" (an action). + Produced, under the direction of Hans von Bülow, Munich, + June 10, 1865. First London production, June 20, 1882. + Produced, December 1, 1886, with Anton Seidl as conductor, + at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, with Niemann + (_Tristan_), Fischer (_King Marke_), Lehmann (_Isolde_), + Robinson (_Kurwenal_), von Milde (_Melot_), Brandt + (_Brangäne_), Kemlitz (a _Shepherd_), Alvary (a _Sailor_), + Sänger (a _Helmsman_). Jean de Reszke is accounted the + greatest _Tristan_ heard at the Metropolitan. Nordica, + Ternina, Fremstad, and Gadski are other _Isoldes_, who have + been heard at that house. Édouard de Reszke sang _King + Marke_, and Bispham _Kurwenal_. + + CHARACTERS + + TRISTAN, a Cornish knight, nephew to KING MARKE _Tenor_ + KING MARKE, of Cornwall _Bass_ + ISOLDE, an Irish princess _Soprano_ + KURWENAL, one of TRISTAN'S retainers _Baritone_ + MELOT, a courtier _Baritone_ + BRANGÄNE, ISOLDE'S attendant _Mezzo-Soprano_ + A SHEPHERD _Tenor_ + A SAILOR _Tenor_ + A HELMSMAN _Baritone_ + + Sailors, Knights, Esquires, and Men-at-Arms. + + _Time_--Legendary. + + _Place_--A ship at sea; outside _King Marke's_ palace, + Cornwall; the platform at Kareol, _Tristan's_ castle. + +Wagner was obliged to remodel the "Tristan" legend thoroughly before +it became available for a modern drama. He has shorn it of all +unnecessary incidents and worked over the main episodes into a +concise, vigorous, swiftly moving drama, admirably adapted for the +stage. He shows keen dramatic insight in the manner in which he adapts +the love-potion of the legends to his purpose. In the legends the love +of Tristan and Isolde is merely "chemical"--entirely the result of the +love-philtre. Wagner, however, presents them from the outset as +enamoured of one another, so that the potion simply quickens a passion +already active. + +To the courtesy of G. Schirmer, Inc., publishers of my _Wagner's +Music-Dramas Analysed_, I am indebted, as I have already stated +elsewhere, for permission to use material from that book. I have there +placed a brief summary of the story of "Tristan and Isolde" before the +descriptive account of the "book" and music, and, accordingly do so +here. + +In the Wagnerian version the plot is briefly as follows: _Tristan_, +having lost his parents in infancy, has been reared at the court of +his uncle, _Marke_, King of Cornwall. He has slain in combat Morold, +an Irish knight, who had come to Cornwall, to collect the tribute that +country had been paying to Ireland. Morold was affianced to his cousin +_Isolde_, daughter of the Irish king. _Tristan_, having been +dangerously wounded in the combat, places himself, without disclosing +his identity, under the care of Morold's affianced, _Isolde_, who +comes of a race skilled in magic arts. She discerns who he is; but, +although she is aware that she is harbouring the slayer of her +affianced, she spares him and carefully tends him, for she has +conceived a deep passion for him. _Tristan_ also becomes enamoured of +her, but both deem their love unrequited. Soon after _Tristan's_ +return to Cornwall, he is dispatched to Ireland by _Marke_, that he +may win _Isolde_ as Queen for the Cornish king. + +The music-drama opens on board the vessel in which _Tristan_ bears +_Isolde_ to Cornwall. Deeming her love for _Tristan_ unrequited she +determines to end her sorrow by quaffing a death-potion; and +_Tristan_, feeling that the woman he loves is about to be wedded to +another, readily consents to share it with her. But _Brangäne_, +_Isolde's_ companion, substitutes a love-potion for the death-draught. +This rouses their love to resistless passion. Not long after they +reach Cornwall, they are surprised in the castle garden by the King +and his suite, and _Tristan_ is severely wounded by _Melot_, one of +_Marke's_ knights. _Kurwenal_, _Tristan's_ faithful retainer, bears +him to his native place, Kareol. Hither _Isolde_ follows him, arriving +in time to fold him in her arms as he expires. She breathes her last +over his corpse. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Nordica as Isolde] + +THE VORSPIEL + +All who have made a study of opera, and do not regard it merely as a +form of amusement, are agreed that the score of "Tristan and Isolde" +is the greatest setting of a love story for the lyric stage. In fact +to call it a love story seems a slight. It is a tale of tragic +passion, culminating in death, unfolded in the surge and palpitation +of immortal music. + +This passion smouldered in the heart of the man and woman of this epic +of love. It could not burst into clear flame because over it lay the +pall of duty--a knight's to his king, a wife's to her husband. They +elected to die; drank, as they thought, a death potion. Instead it was +a magic love-philtre, craftily substituted by the woman's confidante. +Then love, no longer vague and hesitating, but roused by sorcerous +means to the highest rapture, found expression in the complete +abandonment of the lovers to their ecstasy--and their fate. + +What precedes the draught of the potion in the drama, is narrative, +explanatory and prefatorial. Once _Tristan_ and _Isolde_ have shared +the goblet, passion is unleashed. The goal is death. + +The magic love-philtre is the excitant in this story of rapture and +gloom. The _Vorspiel_ therefore opens most fittingly with a motive +which expresses the incipient effect of the potion upon _Tristan_ and +_Isolde_. It clearly can be divided into two parts, one descending, +the other ascending chromatically. The potion overcomes the +restraining influence of duty in two beings and leaves them at the +mercy of their passions. The first part, with its descending +chromatics, is pervaded by a certain trist mood, as if _Tristan_ were +still vaguely forewarned by his conscience of the impending tragedy. +The second soars ecstatically upward. It is the woman yielding +unquestioningly to the rapture of requited love. Therefore, while the +phrase may be called the Motive of the Love-Potion, or, as Wolzogen +calls it, of Yearning, it seems best to divide it into the =Tristan and +Isolde Motives= (A and B). + +[Music] + +The two motives having been twice repeated, there is a fermate. Then +the Isolde Motive alone is heard, so that the attention of the hearer +is fixed upon it. For in this tragedy, as in that of Eden, it is the +woman who takes the first decisive step. After another fermate, the +last two notes of the Isolde Motive are twice repeated, dying away to +_pp_. Then a variation of the Isolde Motive + +[Music] + +leads with an impassioned upward sweep into another version, full of +sensuous yearning, and distinct enough to form a new Motive, the +=Motive of the Love Glance=. + +[Music] + +This occurs again and again in the course of the _Vorspiel_. Though +readily recognized, it is sufficiently varied with each repetition +never to allow the emotional excitement to subside. In fact, the +_Vorspiel_ gathers impetus as it proceeds, until, with an inversion of +the Love Glance Motive, borne to a higher and higher level of +exaltation by upward rushing runs, it reaches its climax in a paroxysm +of love, to die away with repetitions of the Tristan, the Isolde, and +the Love Glance motives. + +[Music] + +In the themes it employs this prelude tells, in music, the story of +the love of _Tristan_ and _Isolde_. We have the motives of the hero +and heroine of the drama, and the Motive of the Love Glance. When as +is the case in concerts, the finale of the work, "Isolde's +Love-Death," is linked to the _Vorspiel_, we are entrusted with the +beginning and the end of the music-drama, forming an eloquent epitome +of the tragic story. + +Act I. Wagner wisely refrains from actually placing before us on the +stage, the events that transpired in Ireland before _Tristan_ was +despatched thither to bring _Isolde_ as a bride to _King Marke_. The +events, which led to the two meetings between _Tristan_ and _Isolde_, +are told in _Isolde's_ narrative, which forms an important part of the +first act. This act opens aboard the vessel in which _Tristan_ is +conveying _Isolde_ to Cornwall. + +The opening scene shows _Isolde_ reclining on a couch, her face hid in +soft pillows, in a tent-like apartment on the forward deck of a +vessel. It is hung with rich tapestries, which hide the rest of the +ship from view. _Brangäne_ has partially drawn aside one of the +hangings and is gazing out upon the sea. From above, as though from +the rigging, is heard the voice of a young _Sailor_ singing a farewell +song to his "Irish maid." It has a wild charm and is a capital example +of Wagner's skill in giving local colouring to his music. The words, +"Frisch weht der Wind der Heimath zu" (The wind blows freshly toward +our home) are sung to a phrase which occurs frequently in the course +of this scene. It represents most graphically the heaving of the sea +and may be appropriately termed the Ocean Motive. It undulates +gracefully through _Brangäne's_ reply to _Isolde's_ question as to the +vessel's course, surges wildly around _Isolde's_ outburst of impotent +anger when she learns that Cornwall's shore is not far distant, and +breaks itself in savage fury against her despairing wrath as she +invokes the elements to destroy the ship and all upon it. =Ocean +Motive.= + +[Music] + +It is her hopeless passion for _Tristan_ which has prostrated +_Isolde_, for the Motive of the Love Glance accompanies her first +exclamation as she starts up excitedly. + +_Isolde_ calls upon _Brangäne_ to throw aside the hangings, that she +may have air. _Brangäne_ obeys. The deck of the ship, and, beyond it, +the ocean, are disclosed. Around the mainmast sailors are busy +splicing ropes. Beyond them, on the after deck, are knights and +esquires. A little aside from them stands _Tristan_, gazing out upon +the sea. At his feet reclines _Kurwenal_, his esquire. The young +sailor's voice is again heard. + +_Isolde_ beholds _Tristan_. Her wrath at the thought that he whom she +loves is bearing her as bride to another vents itself in a vengeful +phrase. She invokes death upon him. This phrase is the =Motive of +Death=. + +[Music] + +The Motive of the Love Glance is heard--and gives away _Isolde's_ +secret--as she asks _Brangäne_ in what estimation she holds _Tristan_. +It develops into a triumphant strain as _Brangäne_ sings his praises. +_Isolde_ then bids her command _Tristan_ to come into her presence. +This command is given with the Motive of Death, for it is their mutual +death _Isolde_ wishes to compass. As _Brangäne_ goes to do her +mistress's bidding, a graceful variation of the Ocean Motive is heard, +the bass marking the rhythmic motions of the sailors at the ropes. +_Tristan_ refuses to leave the helm and when _Brangäne_ repeats +_Isolde's_ command, _Kurwenal_ answers in deft measures in praise of +_Tristan_. Knights, esquires, and sailors repeat the refrain. The +boisterous measures--"Hail to our brave Tristan!"--form the =Tristan +Call=. + +[Music: Heil unser Held Tristan,] + +_Isolde's_ wrath at _Kurwenal's_ taunts find vent in a narrative in +which she tells _Brangäne_ that once a wounded knight calling himself +Tantris landed on Ireland's shore to seek her healing art. Into a +niche in his sword she fitted a sword splinter she had found imbedded +in the head of Morold, which had been sent to her in mockery after he +had been slain in a combat with the Cornish foe. She brandished the +sword over the knight, whom thus by his weapon she knew to be +_Tristan_, her betrothed's slayer. But _Tristan's_ glance fell upon +her. Under its spell she was powerless. She nursed him back to health, +and he vowed eternal gratitude as he left her. The chief theme of this +narrative is derived from the Tristan Motive. + +[Music] + + What of the boat, so bare, so frail, + That drifted to our shore? + What of the sorely stricken man feebly extended there? + Isolde's art he humbly sought; + With balsam, herbs, and healing salves, + From wounds that laid him low, + She nursed him back to strength. + +Exquisite is the transition of the phrase "His eyes in mine were +gazing," to the Isolde and Love Glance motives. The passage beginning: +"Who silently his life had spared," is followed by the Tristan Call, +_Isolde_ seeming to compare sarcastically what she considers his +betrayal of her with his fame as a hero. Her outburst of wrath as she +inveighs against his treachery in now bearing her as bride to _King +Marke_, carries the narrative to a superb climax. _Brangäne_ seeks to +comfort _Isolde_, but the latter, looking fixedly before her, +confides, almost involuntarily, her love for _Tristan_. + +It is clear, even from this brief description, with what constantly +varying expression the narrative of Isolde is treated. Wrath, desire +for vengeance, rapturous memories that cannot be dissembled, finally a +confession of love to _Brangäne_--such are the emotions that surge to +the surface. + +They lead _Brangäne_ to exclaim: "Where lives the man who would not +love you?" Then she weirdly whispers of the love-potion and takes a +phial from a golden salver. The motives of the Love Glance and of the +Love-Potion accompany her words and action. But _Isolde_ seizes +another phial, which she holds up triumphantly. It is the +death-potion. Here is heard an ominous phrase of three notes--the +=Motive of Fate=. + +[Music] + +A forceful orchestral climax, in which the demons of despairing wrath +seem unleashed, is followed by the cries of the sailors greeting the +sight of the land, where she is to be married to _King Marke_. +_Isolde_ hears them with growing terror. _Kurwenal_ brusquely calls to +her and _Brangäne_ to prepare soon to go ashore. _Isolde_ orders +_Kurwenal_ that he command _Tristan_ to come into her presence; then +bids _Brangäne_ prepare the death-potion. The Death Motive accompanies +her final commands to _Kurwenal_ and _Brangäne_, and the Fate Motive +also drones threatfully through the weird measures. But _Brangäne_ +artfully substitutes the love-potion for the death-draught. + +_Kurwenal_ announces _Tristan's_ approach. _Isolde_, seeking to +control her agitation, strides to the couch, and, supporting herself +by it, gazes fixedly at the entrance where _Tristan_ remains +standing. The motive which announces his appearance is full of tragic +defiance, as if _Tristan_ felt that he stood upon the threshold of +death, yet was ready to meet his fate unflinchingly. It alternates +effectively with the Fate Motive, and is used most dramatically +throughout the succeeding scene between _Tristan_ and _Isolde_. +Sombrely impressive is the passage when he bids _Isolde_ slay him with +the sword she once held over him. + + If so thou didst love thy lord, + Lift once again this sword, + Thrust with it, nor refrain, + Lest the weapon fall again. + +Shouts of the sailors announce the proximity of land. In a variant of +her narrative theme _Isolde_ mockingly anticipates _Tristan's_ praise +of her as he leads her into _King Marke's_ presence. At the same time +she hands him the goblet which contains, as she thinks, the +death-potion and invites him to quaff it. Again the shouts of the +sailors are heard, and _Tristan_, seizing the goblet, raises it to his +lips with the ecstasy of one from whose soul a great sorrow is about +to be lifted. When he has half emptied it, _Isolde_ wrests it from him +and drains it. + +The tremor that passes over _Isolde_ loosens her grasp upon the +goblet. It falls from her hand. She faces _Tristan_. + +Is the weird light in their eyes the last upflare of passion before +the final darkness? What does the music answer as it enfolds them in +its wondrous harmonies? The Isolde Motive;--then what? Not the glassy +stare of death; the Love Glance, like a swift shaft of light +penetrating the gloom. The spell is broken. _Isolde_ sinks into +_Tristan's_ embrace. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Lilli Lehmann as Isolde] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Jean de Reszke as Tristan] + +Voices! They hear them not. Sailors are shouting with joy that the +voyage is over. Upon the lovers all sounds are lost, save their own +short, quick interchange of phrases, in which the rapture of their +passion, at last uncovered, finds speech. Music surges about them. But +for _Brangäne_ they would be lost. It is she who parts them, as the +hangings are thrust aside. + +Knights, esquires, sailors crowd the deck. From a rocky height _King +Marke's_ castle looks down upon the ship, now riding at anchor in the +harbour. Peace and joy everywhere save in the lovers' breasts! +_Isolde_ faints in _Tristan's_ arms. Yet it is a triumphant climax of +the Isolde Motive that is heard above the jubilation of the ship-folk, +as the act comes to a close. + +Act II. This act also has an introduction, which together with the +first scene between _Isolde_ and _Brangäne_, constitutes a wonderful +mood picture in music. Even Wagner's bitterest critic, Edward +Hanslick, of Vienna, was forced to compare it with the loveliest +creations of Schubert, in which that composer steeps the senses in +dreams of night and love. + +And so, this introduction of the second act opens with a motive of +peculiar significance. During the love scene in the previous act, +_Tristan_ and _Isolde_ have inveighed against the day which jealously +keeps them apart. They may meet only under the veil of darkness. Even +then their joy is embittered by the thought that the blissful night +will soon be succeeded by day. With them, therefore, the day stands +for all that is inimical, night for all that is friendly. This simile +is elaborated with considerable metaphysical subtlety, the lovers even +reproaching the day with _Tristan's_ willingness to lead _Isolde_ to +_King Marke_, _Tristan_ charging that in the broad light of the +jealous day his duty to win _Isolde_ for his king stood forth so +clearly as to overpower the passion for her which he had nurtured +during the silent watches of the night. The phrase, therefore, which +begins the act as with an agonized cry is the =Day Motive=. + +[Music] + +The Day Motive is followed by a phrase whose eager, restless measures +graphically reflect the impatience with which _Isolde_ awaits the +coming of _Tristan_--the =Motive of Impatience=. + +[Music] + +Over this there hovers a dulcet, seductive strain, the =Motive of the +Love Call=, which is developed into the rapturous measures of the +=Motive of Ecstasy=. + +[Music] + +When the curtain rises, the scene it discloses is the palace garden, +into which _Isolde's_ apartments open. It is a summer night, balmy +and with a moon. The _King_ and his suite have departed on a hunt. +With them is _Melot_, a knight who professes devotion to _Tristan_, +but whom _Brangäne_ suspects. + +_Brangäne_ stands upon the steps leading to _Isolde's_ apartment. She +is looking down a bosky _allée_ in the direction taken by the hunt. +This silently gliding, uncanny creature, the servitor of sin in +others, is uneasy. She fears the hunt is but a trap; and that its +quarry is not the wild deer, but her mistress and the knight, who +conveyed her for bride to _King Marke_. + +Meanwhile against the open door of _Isolde's_ apartment is a burning +torch. Its flare through the night is to be the signal to _Tristan_ +that all is well, and that _Isolde_ waits. + +The first episode of the act is one of those exquisite tone paintings +in the creation of which Wagner is supreme. The notes of the +hunting-horns become more distant. _Isolde_ enters from her apartment +into the garden. She asks _Brangäne_ if she cannot now signal for +_Tristan_. _Brangäne_ answers that the hunt is still within hearing. +_Isolde_ chides her--is it not some lovely, prattling rill she hears? +The music is deliciously idyllic--conjuring up a dream-picture of a +sylvan spring night bathed in liquescent moonlight. _Brangäne_ warns +_Isolde_ against _Melot_; but _Isolde_ laughs at her fears. In vain +_Brangäne_ entreats her mistress not to signal for _Tristan_. The +seductive measures of the Love Call and of the Motive of Ecstasy tell +throughout this scene of the yearning in _Isolde's_ breast. When +_Brangäne_ informs _Isolde_ that she substituted the love-potion for +the death-draught, _Isolde_ scorns the suggestion that her guilty love +for _Tristan_ is the result of her quaffing the potion. This simply +intensified the passion already in her breast. She proclaims this in +the rapturous phrases of the Isolde Motive; and then, when she +declares her fate to be in the hands of the goddess of love, there +are heard the tender accents of the =Love Motive=. + +[Music] + +In vain _Brangäne_ warns once more against possible treachery from +_Melot_. The Love Motive rises with ever increasing passion until +_Isolde's_ emotional exaltation finds expression in the Motive of +Ecstasy as she bids _Brangäne_ hie to the lookout, and proclaims that +she will give _Tristan_ the signal by extinguishing the torch, though +in doing so she were to extinguish the light of her life. The Motive +of the Love Call ringing out triumphantly accompanies her action, and +dies away into the Motive of Impatience as she gazes down a bosky +avenue through which she seems to expect _Tristan_ to come to her. +Then the Motive of Ecstasy and _Isolde's_ rapturous gesture tell that +she has discerned her lover; and, as this Motive reaches a fiercely +impassioned climax, _Tristan_ and _Isolde_ rush into each other's +arms. + +The music fairly seethes with passion as the lovers greet one another, +the Love Motive and the Motive of Ecstasy vying in the excitement of +this rapturous meeting. Then begins the exchange of phrases in which +the lovers pour forth their love for one another. This is the scene +dominated by the Motive of the Day, which, however, as the day sinks +into the soft night, is softened into the =Night Motive=, which soothes +the senses with its ravishing caress. + +[Music] + +This motive throbs through the rapturous harmonies of the duet: "Oh, +sink upon us, Night of Love," and there is nothing in the realms of +music or poetry to compare in suggestiveness with these caressing, +pulsating phrases. + +The duet is broken in upon by _Brangäne's_ voice warning the lovers +that night will soon be over. The _arpeggios_ accompanying her warning +are like the first grey streaks of dawn. But the lovers heed her not. +In a smooth, soft melody--the =Motive of Love's Peace=--whose sensuous +grace is simply entrancing, they whisper their love. + +[Music] + +It is at such a moment, enveloped by night and love, that death should +have come to them; and, indeed, it is for such a love-death they +yearn. Hence we have here, over a quivering accompaniment, the =Motive +of the Love-Death=, + +[Music] + +Once more _Brangäne_ calls. Once more _Tristan_ and _Isolde_ heed her +not. + + Night will shield us for aye! + +Thus exclaims _Isolde_ in defiance of the approach of dawn, while the +Motive of Ecstasy, introduced by a rapturous mordent, soars ever +higher. + +[Music] + +A cry from _Brangäne_, _Kurwenal_ rushing upon the scene calling to +_Tristan_ to save himself--and the lovers' ravishing dream is ended. +Surrounded by the _King_ and his suite, with the treacherous _Melot_, +they gradually awaken to the terror of the situation. Almost +automatically _Isolde_ hides her head among the flowers, and _Tristan_ +spreads out his cloak to conceal her from view while phrases +reminiscent of the love scene rise like mournful memories. + +Now follows a soliloquy for the _King_, whose sword instead should +have leapt from its scabbard and buried itself in _Tristan's_ breast. +For it seems inexplicable that the monarch, who should have slain the +betrayer of his honour, indulges instead in a philosophical discourse, +ending: + + The unexplained, + Unpenetrated + Cause of all these woes, + Who will to us disclose? + +_Tristan_ turns to _Isolde_. Will she follow him to the bleak land of +his birth? Her reply is that his home shall be hers. Then _Melot_ +draws his sword. _Tristan_ rushes upon him, but as _Melot_ thrusts, +allows his guard to fall and receives the blade. _Isolde_ throws +herself on her wounded lover's breast. + +Act III. The introduction to this act opens with a variation of the +Isolde Motive, sadly prophetic of the desolation which broods over the +scene to be disclosed when the curtain rises. On its third repetition +it is continued in a long-drawn-out ascending phrase, which seems to +represent musically the broad waste of ocean upon which _Tristan's_ +castle looks down from its craggy height. + +The whole passage appears to represent _Tristan_ hopelessly yearning +for _Isolde_, letting his fancy travel back over the watery waste to +the last night of love, and then giving himself up wholly to his +grief. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Gadski as Isolde] + +[Illustration: N.Y. Photographic Co. + +Ternina as Isolde] + +The curtain rises upon the desolate grounds of Kareol, between the +outer walls of _Tristan's_ castle and the main structure, which stands +upon a rocky eminence overlooking the sea. _Tristan_ is stretched, +apparently lifeless, under a huge linden-tree. Over him, in deep +sorrow, bends the faithful _Kurwenal_. A _Shepherd_ is heard piping a +strain, whose plaintive notes harmonize most beautifully with the +despairing desolation and sadness of the scene. It is the =Lay of +Sorrow=, and by it, the _Shepherd_, who scans the sea, conveys to +_Kurwenal_ information that the ship he has dispatched to Cornwall to +bear _Isolde_ to Kareol has not yet hove in sight. + +The Lay of Sorrow is a strain of mournful beauty, with the simplicity +and indescribable charm of a folk-song. Its plaintive notes cling like +ivy to the grey and crumbling ruins of love and joy. + +[Music] + +The _Shepherd_ peers over the wall and asks if _Tristan_ has shown any +signs of life. _Kurwenal_ gloomily replies in the negative. The +_Shepherd_ departs to continue his lookout, piping the sad refrain. +_Tristan_ slowly opens his eyes. "The old refrain; why wakes it me? +Where am I?" he murmurs. _Kurwenal_ is beside himself with joy at +these signs of returning life. His replies to _Tristan's_ feeble and +wandering questions are mostly couched in a motive which beautifully +expresses the sterling nature of this faithful retainer, one of the +noblest characters Wagner has drawn. + +[Music] + +When _Tristan_ loses himself in sad memories of _Isolde_, _Kurwenal_ +seeks to comfort him with the news that he has sent a trusty man to +Cornwall to bear _Isolde_ to him that she may heal the wound inflicted +by _Melot_ as she once healed that dealt _Tristan_ by Morold. In +_Tristan's_ jubilant reply, during which he draws _Kurwenal_ to his +breast, the Isolde Motive assumes a form in which it becomes a theme +of joy. + +But it is soon succeeded by the =Motive of Anguish=, + +[Music] + +when _Tristan_ raves of his yearning for _Isolde_. "The ship! the +ship!" he exclaims. "Kurwenal, can you not see it?" The Lay of Sorrow, +piped by the _Shepherd_, gives the sad answer. It pervades his sad +reverie until, when his mind wanders back to _Isolde's_ tender nursing +of his wound in Ireland, the theme of Isolde's Narrative is heard +again. Finally his excitement grows upon him, and in a paroxysm of +anguish bordering on insanity he even curses love. + +_Tristan_ sinks back apparently lifeless. But no--as _Kurwenal_ bends +over him and the Isolde Motive is breathed by the orchestra, he again +whispers of _Isolde_. In ravishing beauty the Motive of Love's Peace +caressingly follows his vision as he seems to see _Isolde_ gliding +toward him o'er the waves. With ever-growing excitement he orders +_Kurwenal_ to the lookout to watch the ship's coming. What he sees so +clearly cannot _Kurwenal_ also see? Suddenly the music changes in +character. The ship is in sight, for the _Shepherd_ is heard piping a +joyous lay. + +[Music] + +It pervades the music of _Tristan's_ excited questions and +_Kurwenal's_ answers as to the vessel's movements. The faithful +retainer rushes down toward the shore to meet _Isolde_ and lead her to +_Tristan_. The latter, his strength sapped by his wound, his mind +inflamed to insanity by his passionate yearning, struggles to rise. He +raises himself a little. The Motive of Love's Peace, no longer +tranquil, but with frenzied rapidity, accompanies his actions as, in +his delirium, he tears the bandage from his wounds and rises from his +couch. + +_Isolde's_ voice! Into her arms, outstretched to receive him, staggers +_Tristan_. Gently she lets him down upon his couch, where he has lain +in the anguish of expectancy. + +"Tristan!" + +"Isolde!" he answers in broken accents. This last look resting +rapturously upon her, while in mournful beauty the Love Glance Motive +rises from the orchestra, he expires. + +In all music there is no scene more deeply shaken with sorrow. + +Tumultuous sounds are heard. A second ship has arrived. _Marke_ and +his suite have landed. _Tristan's_ men, thinking the _King_ has come +in pursuit of _Isolde_, attack the new-comers, _Kurwenal_ and his men +are overpowered, and _Kurwenal_, having avenged _Tristan_ by slaying +_Melot_, sinks, himself mortally wounded, dying by _Tristan's_ side. +He reaches out for his dead master's hand, and his last words are: +"Tristan, chide me not that faithfully I follow you." + +When _Brangäne_ rushes in and hurriedly announces that she has +informed the _King_ of the love-potion, and that he comes bringing +forgiveness, _Isolde_ heeds her not. As the Love-Death Motive rises +softly over the orchestra and slowly swells into the impassioned +Motive of Ecstasy, to reach its climax with a stupendous crash of +instrumental forces, she gazes with growing transport upon her dead +lover, until, with rapture in her last glance, she sinks upon his +corpse and expires. + +In the Wagnerian version of the legend this love-death, for which +_Tristan_ and _Isolde_ prayed and in which they are united, is more +than a mere farewell together to life. It is tinged with Oriental +philosophy, and symbolizes the taking up into and the absorption of by +nature of all that is spiritual, and hence immortal, in lives rendered +beautiful by love. + + +DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG + +THE MASTERSINGERS OF NUREMBURG + + Opera in three acts, words and music by Richard Wagner. + Produced, Munich, June 21, 1868, under direction of Hans von + Bülow. London, Drury Lane, May 30, 1882, under Hans Richter; + Covent Garden, July 13, 1889, in Italian; Manchester, in + English, by the Carl Rosa Company, April 16, 1896. New York, + Metropolitan Opera House, January 4, 1886, with Fischer + (_Hans Sachs_), Seidl-Kraus (_Eva_), Marianne Brandt + (_Magdalena_), Stritt (_Walther_), Kemlitz (_Beckmesser_); + Conductor, Seidl. _Sachs_ has also been sung by Édouard de + Reszke, Van Rooy, and Whitehill; _Walther_ by Jean de + Reszke; _Eva_ by Eames, Gadski, and Hempel; _Beckmesser_ by + Goritz; _Magdalena_ by Schumann-Heink and Homer. + + CHARACTERS + + HANS SACHS, Cobbler } _Bass_ + VEIT POGNER, Goldsmith } _Bass_ + KUNZ VOGELGESANG, Furrier } _Tenor_ + CONRAD NACHTIGALL, Buckle-Maker } _Bass_ + SIXTUS BECKMESSER, Town Clerk } _Bass_ + FRITZ KOTHNER, Baker } Mastersingers _Bass_ + BALTHAZAR ZORN, Pewterer } _Tenor_ + ULRICH EISLINGER, Grocer } _Tenor_ + AUGUST MOSER, Tailor } _Tenor_ + HERMANN ORTEL, Soap-boiler } _Bass_ + HANS SCHWARZ, Stocking-Weaver } _Bass_ + HANS FOLZ, Coppersmith } _Bass_ + WALTHER VON STOLZING, a young Franconian knight _Tenor_ + DAVID, apprentice to HANS SACHS _Tenor_ + A NIGHT WATCHMAN _Bass_ + EVA, daughter of POGNER _Soprano_ + MAGDALENA, EVA'S nurse _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + Burghers of the Guilds, Journeymen, 'Prentices, Girls, and + Populace. + + _Time_--Middle of the Sixteenth Century. + + _Place_--Nuremburg. + +Wagner's music-dramas are all unmistakably Wagner, yet they are +wonderfully varied. The style of the music in each adapts itself +plastically to the character of the story. Can one, for instance, +imagine the music of "Tristan" wedded to the story of "The +Mastersingers," or _vice versa_? A tragic passion, inflamed by the +arts of sorcery inspired the former. The latter is a thoroughly human +tale set to thoroughly human music. Indeed, while "Tristan" and "The +Ring of the Nibelung" are tragic, and "Parsifal" is deeply religious, +"The Mastersingers" is a comic work, even bordering in one scene on +farce. Like Shakespeare, Wagner was equally at home in tragedy and +comedy. + +_Walther von Stolzing_ is in love with _Eva_. Her father having +promised her to the singer to whom at the coming midsummer festival +the _Mastersingers_ shall adjudge the prize, it becomes necessary for +_Walther_ to seek admission to their art union. He is, however, +rejected, his song violating the rules to which the Mastersingers +slavishly adhere. _Beckmesser_ is also instrumental in securing +_Walther's_ rejection. The town clerk is the "marker" of the union. +His duty is to mark all violations of the rules against a candidate. +_Beckmesser_, being a suitor for _Eva's_ hand, naturally makes the +most of every chance to put down a mark against _Walther_. + +_Sachs_ alone among the _Mastersingers_ has recognized the beauty of +_Walther's_ song. Its very freedom from rule and rote charms him, and +he discovers in the young knight's untrammelled genius the power +which, if properly directed, will lead art from the beaten path of +tradition toward a new and loftier ideal. + +After _Walther's_ failure before the Mastersingers the impetuous young +knight persuades _Eva_ to elope with him. But at night as they are +preparing to escape, _Beckmesser_ comes upon the scene to serenade +_Eva_. _Sachs_, whose house is opposite _Pogner's_, has meanwhile +brought his work bench out into the street and insists on "marking" +what he considers _Beckmesser's_ mistakes by bringing his hammer down +upon his last with a resounding whack. The louder _Beckmesser_ sings +the louder _Sachs_ whacks. Finally the neighbours are aroused. +_David_, who is in love with _Magdalena_ and thinks _Beckmesser_ is +serenading her, falls upon him with a cudgel. The whole neighbourhood +turns out and a general _mêlée_ ensues, during which _Sachs_ separates +_Eva_ and _Walther_ and draws the latter into his home. + +The following morning _Walther_ sings to _Sachs_ a song which has come +to him in a dream, _Sachs_ transcribing the words and passing friendly +criticism upon them and the music. The midsummer festival is to take +place that afternoon, and through a ruse _Sachs_ manages to get +_Walther's_ poem into _Beckmesser's_ possession, who, thinking the +words are by the popular cobbler-poet, feels sure he will be the +chosen master. _Eva_, coming into the workshop to have her shoes +fitted, finds _Walther_, and the lovers depart with _Sachs_, _David_, +and _Magdalena_ for the festival. Here _Beckmesser_, as _Sachs_ had +anticipated, makes a wretched failure, as he has utterly missed the +spirit of the poem, and _Walther_, being called upon by _Sachs_ to +reveal its beauty in music, sings his prize song, winning at once the +approbation of the _Mastersingers_ and the populace. He is received +into their art union and at the same time wins _Eva_ as his bride. + +[Illustration: Photo by Falk + +Emil Fischer as Hans Sachs in "Die Meistersinger"] + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Weil and Goritz as Hans Sachs and Beckmesser in "Die Meistersinger"] + +The Mastersingers were of burgher extraction. They flourished in +Germany, chiefly in the imperial cities, during the fourteenth, +fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. They did much to generate and +preserve a love of art among the middle classes. Their musical +competitions were judged according to a code of rules which +distinguished by particular names thirty-two faults to be avoided. +Scriptural or devotional subjects were usually selected and the judges +or Merker (Markers) were, in Nuremburg, four in number, the first +comparing the words with the Biblical text, the second criticizing the +prosody, the third the rhymes, and the fourth the tune. He who had the +fewest marks against him received the prize. + +Hans Sachs, the most famous of the Mastersingers, born November 5, +1494, died January, 1576, in Nuremburg, is said to have been the +author of some six thousand poems. He was a cobbler by trade-- + + Hans Sachs was a shoe- + Maker and poet too. + +A monument was erected to him in the city of his birth in 1874. + +"The Mastersingers" is a simple, human love story, simply told, with +many touches of humour to enliven it, and its interest enhanced by +highly picturesque, historical surroundings. As a drama it conveys +also a perfect picture of the life and customs of Nuremburg of the +time in which the story plays. Wagner must have made careful +historical researches, but his book lore is not thrust upon us. The +work is so spontaneous that the method and manner of its art are lost +sight of in admiration of the result. Hans Sachs himself could not +have left a more faithful portrait of life in Nuremburg in the middle +of the sixteenth century. + +"The Mastersingers" has a peculiarly Wagnerian interest. It is +Wagner's protest against the narrow-minded critics and the prejudiced +public who so long refused him recognition. Edward Hanslick, the +bitterest of Wagner's critics, regarded the libretto as a personal +insult to himself. Being present by invitation at a private reading of +the libretto, which Wagner gave in Vienna, Hanslick rose abruptly and +left after the first act. _Walther von Stolzing_ is the incarnation of +new aspirations in art; the champion of a new art ideal, and +continually chafing under the restraints imposed by traditional rules +and methods. _Hans Sachs_ is a conservative. But, while preserving +what is best in art traditions, he is able to recognize the beautiful +in what is new. He represents enlightened public opinion. _Beckmesser_ +and the other _Mastersingers_ are the embodiment of rank +prejudice--the critics. _Walther's_ triumph is also Wagner's. Few of +Wagner's dramatic creations equal in lifelike interest the character +of _Sachs_. It is drawn with a strong, firm hand, and filled in with +many delicate touches. + +The _Vorspiel_ gives a complete musical epitome of the story. It is +full of life and action--pompous, impassioned, and jocose in turn, and +without a suggestion of the overwrought or morbid. Its sentiment and +its fun are purely human. In its technical construction it has long +been recognized as a masterpiece. + +In the sense that it precedes the rise of the curtain, this orchestral +composition is a _Vorspiel_, or prelude. As a work, however, it is a +full-fledged overture, rich in thematic material. These themes are +Leading Motives heard many times, and in wonderful variety in the +three acts of "The Mastersingers." To a great extent an analysis of +this overture forecasts the work itself. Accordingly, again through +the courtesy of G. Schirmer Inc., I avail myself of my _Wagner's +Music-Dramas Analysed_, in the account of the _Vorspiel_ and of the +action and music that follow it. + +The pompous =Motive of the Mastersingers= opens the _Vorspiel_. This +theme gives capital musical expression to the characteristics of these +dignitaries; eminently worthy but self-sufficient citizens who are +slow to receive new impressions and do not take kindly to +innovations. Our term of old fogy describes them imperfectly, as it +does not allow for their many excellent qualities. They are slow to +act, but if they are once aroused their ponderous influence bears down +all opposition. At first an obstacle to genuine reform, they are in +the end the force which pushes it to success. Thus there is in the +Motive of the Mastersingers a certain ponderous dignity which well +emphasizes the idea of conservative power. + +[Music] + +In great contrast to this is the =Lyric Motive=, which seems to express +the striving after a poetic ideal untrammelled by old-fashioned +restrictions, such as the rules of the _Mastersingers_ impose. + +[Music] + +But, the sturdy conservative forces are still unwilling to be +persuaded of the worth of this new ideal. Hence the Lyric Motive is +suddenly checked by the sonorous measures of the =Mastersingers' March=. + +[Music] + +In this the majesty of law and order finds expression. It is followed +by a phrase of noble breadth and beauty, obviously developed from +portions of the Motive of the Mastersingers, and so typical of the +goodwill which should exist among the members of a fraternity that it +may be called the =Motive of the Art Brotherhood=. + +[Music] + +It reaches an eloquent climax in the =Motive of the Ideal=. + +[Music] + +Opposed, however, to this guild of conservative masters is the +restless spirit of progress. Hence, though stately the strains of the +Mastersingers' March and of the Guild Motive, soon yield to a theme +full of emotional energy and much like the Lyric Motive. _Walther_ is +the champion of this new ideal--not, however, from a purely artistic +impulse, but rather through his love for _Eva_. Being ignorant of the +rules and rote of the _Mastersingers_ he sings, when he presents +himself for admission to the fraternity, measures which soar +untrammelled into realms of beauty beyond the imagination of the +masters. But it was his love for _Eva_ which impelled him to seek +admission to the brotherhood, and love inspired his song. He is +therefore a reformer only by accident; it is not his love of art, but +his passion for _Eva_, which really brings about through his prize +song a great musical reform. This is one of Wagner's finest dramatic +touches--the love story is the mainspring of the action, the moral is +pointed only incidentally. Hence all the motives in which the restless +striving after a new ideal, or the struggles of a new art form to +break through the barriers of conservative prejudice, find expression, +are so many love motives, _Eva_ being the incarnation of _Walther's_ +ideal. Therefore the motive which breaks in upon the Mastersingers' +March and Guild Motive with such emotional energy expresses +_Walther's_ desire to possess _Eva_, more than his yearning for a new +ideal in art. So I call it the =Motive of Longing=. + +[Music] + +A portion of "Walther's Prize Song," like a swiftly whispered +declaration of love, leads to a variation of one of the most beautiful +themes of the work--the =Motive of Spring=. + +[Music] + +[Music] + +And now Wagner has a fling at the old fogyism which was so long an +obstacle to his success. He holds the masters up to ridicule in a +delightfully humorous passage which parodies the Mastersingers' and +Art Brotherhood motives, while the Spring Motive vainly strives to +assert itself. In the bass, the following quotation is the =Motive of +Ridicule=, the treble being a variant of the Art Brotherhood Motive. + +[Music] + +When it is considered that the opposition Wagner encountered from +prejudiced critics, not to mention a prejudiced public, was the bane +of his career, it seems wonderful that he should have been content to +protest against it with this pleasant raillery instead of with bitter +invective. The passage is followed by the Motive of the Mastersingers, +which in turn leads to an imposing combination of phrases. We hear the +portion of the Prize Song already quoted--the Motive of the +Mastersingers as bass--and in the middle voices portions of the +Mastersingers' March; a little later the Motive of the Art Brotherhood +and the Motive of Ridicule are added, this grand massing of orchestral +forces reaching a powerful climax, with the Motive of the Ideal, while +the Motive of the Mastersingers brings the _Vorspiel_ to a fitting +close. In this noble passage, in which the "Prize Song" soars above +the various themes typical of the masters, the new ideal seems to be +borne to its triumph upon the shoulders of the conservative forces +which, won over at last, have espoused its cause with all their sturdy +energy. + +This concluding passage in the _Vorspiel_ thus brings out with great +eloquence the inner significance of "Die Meistersinger." In whatever +the great author and composer of this work wrote for the stage, there +always was an ethical meaning back of the words and music. Thus we +draw our conclusion of the meaning of "Die Meistersinger" story from +the wonderful combination of leading motives in the peroration of its +_Vorspiel_. + +In his fine book, _The Orchestra and Orchestral Music_, W.J. Henderson +relates this anecdote: + +"A professional musician was engaged in a discussion of Wagner in the +corridor of the Metropolitan Opera House, while inside the orchestra +was playing the 'Meistersinger' overture. + +"'It is a pity,' said this wise man, in a condescending manner, 'but +Wagner knows absolutely nothing about counterpoint.' + +"At that instant the orchestra was singing five different melodies at +once; and, as Anton Seidl was the conductor, they were all audible." + +In a rare book by J.C. Wagenseil, printed in Nuremburg in 1697, are +given four "Prize Master Tones." Two of these Wagner has reproduced in +modern garb, the former in the Mastersingers' March, the latter in the +Motive of the Art Brotherhood. + +[Music] [Music] + +Act I. The scene of this act is laid in the Church of St. Catherine, +Nuremburg. The congregation is singing the final chorale of the +service. Among the worshippers are _Eva_ and her maid, _Magdalena_. +_Walther_ stands aside, and, by means of nods and gestures, +communicates with _Eva_. This mimic conversation is expressively +accompanied by interludes between the verses of the chorale, +interludes expressively based on the Lyric, Spring, and Prize Song +motives, and contrasting charmingly with the strains of the chorale. + +The service over, the Motive of Spring, with an impetuous upward rush, +seems to express the lovers' joy that the restraint is removed, and +the Lyric Motive resounds exultingly as the congregation departs, +leaving _Eva_, _Magdalena_, and _Walther_ behind. + +_Eva_, in order to gain a few words with _Walther_, sends _Magdalena_ +back to the pew to look for a kerchief and hymn-book, she has +purposely left there. _Magdalena_ urges _Eva_ to return home, but just +then _David_ appears in the background and begins putting things to +rights for the meeting of the _Mastersingers_. _Magdalena_ is +therefore only too glad to linger. The Mastersinger and Guild +motives, which naturally accompany _David's_ activity, contrast +soberly with the ardent phrases of the lovers. _Magdalena_ explains to +_Walther_ that _Eva_ is already affianced, though she herself does not +know to whom. Her father wishes her to marry the singer to whom at the +coming contest the _Mastersingers_ shall award the prize; and, while +she shall be at liberty to decline him, she may marry none but a +master. _Eva_ exclaims: "I will choose no one but my knight!" Very +pretty and gay is the theme heard when _David_ joins the group--the +=Apprentice Motive=. + +[Music] + +How capitally this motive expresses the light-heartedness of gay young +people, in this case the youthful apprentices, among whom _David_ was +as gay and buoyant as any. Every melodious phrase--every +motive--employed by Wagner appears to express exactly the character, +circumstance, thing, or feeling, to which he applies it. The opening +episodes of "Die Meistersinger" have a charm all their own. + +The scene closes with a beautiful little terzet, after _Magdalena_ has +ordered _David_, under penalty of her displeasure, to instruct the +knight in the art rules of the _Mastersingers_. + +When the 'prentices enter, they proceed to erect the marker's +platform, but stop at times to annoy the somewhat self-sufficient +_David_, while he is endeavouring to instruct _Walther_ in the rules +of the _Mastersingers_. The merry Apprentice Motive runs through the +scene and brings it to a close as the 'prentices sing and dance around +the marker's box, suddenly, however, breaking off, for the +_Mastersingers_ appear. + +There is a roll-call and then the fine passage for bass voice, in +which _Pogner_ offers _Eva's_ hand in marriage to the winner of the +coming song contest--with the proviso that _Eva_ adds her consent. The +passage is known on concert programmes as "Pogner's Address." + +_Walther_ is introduced by _Pogner_. The =Knight Motive=: + +[Music] + +_Beckmesser_, jealous, and determined that _Walther_ shall fail, +enters the marker's box. + +_Kothner_ now begins reading off the rules of singing established by +the masters, which is a capital take-off on old-fashioned forms of +composition and never fails to raise a hearty laugh if delivered with +considerable pomposity and unction. Unwillingly enough _Walther_ takes +his seat in the candidate's chair. _Beckmesser_ shouts from the +marker's box: "Now begin!" After a brilliant chord, followed by a +superb ascending run on the violins, _Walther_, in ringing tones, +enforced by a broad and noble chord, repeats _Beckmesser's_ words. But +such a change has come over the music that it seems as if that upward +rushing run had swept away all restraint of ancient rule and rote, +just as the spring wind whirling through the forest tears up the +spread of dry, dead leaves, thus giving air and sun to the yearning +mosses and flowers. In _Walther's_ song the Spring Motive forms an +ever-surging, swelling accompaniment, finally joining in the vocal +melody and bearing it higher and higher to an impassioned climax. In +his song, however, _Walther_ is interrupted by the scratching made by +_Beckmesser_ as he chalks the singer's violations of the rules on the +slate, and _Walther_, who is singing of love and spring, changes his +theme to winter, which, lingering behind a thorny hedge, is plotting +how it can mar the joy of the vernal season. The knight then rises +from the chair and sings a second stanza with defiant enthusiasm. As +he concludes it _Beckmesser_ tears open the curtains which concealed +him in the marker's box, and exhibits his board completely covered +with chalk marks. _Walther_ protests, but the masters, with the +exception of _Sachs_ and _Pogner_, refuse to listen further, and +deride his singing. We have here the =Motive of Derision=. + +[Music] + +_Sachs_ protests that, while he found the knight's art method new, he +did not find it formless. The =Sachs Motive= is here introduced. + +[Music] + +The Sachs Motive betokens the genial nature of this sturdy, yet gentle +man--the master spirit of the drama. He combines the force of a +conservative character with the tolerance of a progressive one, and +is thus the incarnation of the idea which Wagner is working out in +this drama, in which the union of a proper degree of conservative +caution with progressive energy produces a new ideal in art. To +_Sachs's_ innuendo that _Beckmessers'_ marking hardly could be +considered just, as he is a candidate for _Eva's_ hand, _Beckmesser_, +by way of reply, chides _Sachs_ for having delayed so long in +finishing a pair of shoes for him, and as _Sachs_ makes a humorously +apologetic answer, the Cobbler Motive is heard. + +The sturdy burgher calls to _Walther_ to finish his song in spite of +the masters. And now a finale of masterful construction begins. In +short, excited phrases the masters chaff and deride _Walther_. His +song, however, soars above all the hubbub. The 'prentices see their +opportunity in the confusion, and joining hands they dance around the +marker's box, singing as they do so. We now have combined with +astounding skill _Walther's_ song, the 'prentices' chorus, and the +exclamations of the masters. The latter finally shout their verdict: +"Rejected and outsung!" The knight, with a proud gesture of contempt, +leaves the church. The 'prentices put the seats and benches back in +their proper places, and in doing so greatly obstruct the masters as +they crowd toward the doors. _Sachs_, who has lingered behind, gazes +thoughtfully at the singer's empty chair, then, with a humorous +gesture of discouragement, turns away. + +Act II. The scene of this act represents a street in Nuremburg +crossing the stage and intersected in the middle by a narrow, winding +alley. There are thus two corner houses--on the right corner of the +alley _Pogner's_, on the left _Sachs's_. Before the former is a +linden-tree, before the latter an elder. It is a lovely summer +evening. + +The opening scene is a merry one. _David_ and the 'prentices are +closing shop. After a brisk introduction based on the Midsummer +Festival Motive the 'prentices quiz _David_ on his love affair with +_Magdalena_. The latter appears with a basket of dainties for her +lover, but on learning that the knight has been rejected, she snatches +the basket away from _David_ and hurries back to the house. The +'prentices now mockingly congratulate _David_ on his successful +wooing. _David_ loses his temper and shows fight, but _Sachs_, coming +upon the scene, sends the 'prentices on their way and then enters his +workshop with _David_. The music of this episode, especially the +'prentices' chorus, is bright and graceful. + +_Pogner_ and _Eva_, returning from an evening stroll, now come down +the alley. Before retiring into the house the father questions the +daughter as to her feelings concerning the duty she is to perform at +the Mastersinging on the morrow. Her replies are discreetly evasive. +The music beautifully reflects the affectionate relations between +_Pogner_ and _Eva_. When _Pogner_, his daughter seated beside him +under the linden-tree, speaks of the morrow's festival and _Eva's_ +part in it in awarding the prize to the master of her choice before +the assembled burghers of Nuremburg, the stately =Nuremburg Motive= is +ushered in. + +[Music] + +_Magdalena_ appears at the door and signals to _Eva_. The latter +persuades her father that it is too cool to remain outdoors and, as +they enter the house, _Eva_ learns from _Magdalena_ of _Walther's_ +failure before the masters. Magdalena advises her to seek counsel with +_Sachs_ after supper. + +The Cobbler Motive shows us _Sachs_ and _David_ in the former's +workshop. When the master has dismissed his 'prentice till morning, he +yields to his poetic love of the balmy midsummer night and, laying +down his work, leans over the half-door of his shop as if lost in +reverie. The Cobbler Motive dies away to _pp_, and then there is +wafted from over the orchestra like the sweet scent of the blooming +elder the Spring Motive, while tender notes on the horn blossom +beneath a nebulous veil of tremolo violins into memories of +_Walther's_ song. Its measures run through _Sachs's_ head until, +angered at the stupid conservatism of his associates, he resumes his +work to the brusque measures of the Cobbler's Motive. As his ill +humour yields again to the beauties of the night, this motive yields +once more to that of spring, which, with reminiscences of _Walther's_ +first song before the masters, imbues this masterful monologue with +poetic beauty of the highest order. The last words in praise of +_Walther_ ("The bird who sang today," etc.) are sung to a broad and +expressive melody. + +_Eva_ now comes out into the street and, shyly approaching the shop, +stands at the door unnoticed by _Sachs_ until she speaks to him. The +theme which pervades this scene seems to breathe forth the very spirit +of lovely maidenhood which springs from the union of romantic +aspirations, feminine reserve, and rare physical graces. It is the =Eva +Motive=, which, with the delicate touch of a master, Wagner so varies +that it follows the many subtle dramatic suggestions of the scene. The +Eva Motive, in its original form, is as follows: + +[Music] + +When at _Eva's_ first words _Sachs_ looks up, there is this elegant +variation of the Eva Motive: + +[Music] + +Then the scene being now fully ushered in, we have the Eva Motive +itself. _Eva_ leads the talk up to the morrow's festival, and when +_Sachs_ mentions _Beckmesser_ as her chief wooer, roguishly hints, +with evident reference to _Sachs_ himself, that she might prefer a +hearty widower to a bachelor of such disagreeable characteristics as +the marker. There are sufficient indications that the sturdy master is +not indifferent to _Eva's_ charms, but, whole-souled, genuine friend +that he is, his one idea is to further the love affair between his +fair neighbour and _Walther_. The music of this passage is very +suggestive. The melodic leading of the upper voice in the +accompaniment, when _Eva_ asks: "Could not a widower hope to win me?" +is identical with a variation of the Isolde Motive in "Tristan and +Isolde," while the Eva Motive, shyly _pp_, seems to indicate the +artfulness of _Eva's_ question. The reminiscence from "Tristan" can +hardly be regarded as accidental, for _Sachs_ afterwards boasts that +he does not care to share the fate of poor King Marke. _Eva_ now +endeavours to glean particulars of _Walther's_ experience in the +morning, and we have the Motive of Envy, the Knight Motive, and the +Motive of Ridicule. _Eva_ does not appreciate the fine satire in +_Sachs's_ severe strictures on _Walther's_ singing--he re-echoes not +his own views, but those of the other masters, for whom, not for the +knight, his strictures are really intended--and she leaves him in +anger. This shows _Sachs_ which way the wind blows, and he forthwith +resolves to do all in his power to bring _Eva's_ and _Walther's_ love +affair to a successful conclusion. While _Eva_ is engaged with +_Magdalena_, who has come out to call her, he busies himself in +closing the upper half of his shop door so far that only a gleam of +light is visible, he himself being completely hidden. _Eva_ learns +from _Magdalena_ of _Beckmesser's_ intended serenade, and it is agreed +that the maid shall personate _Eva_ at the window. + +Steps are heard coming down the alley. _Eva_ recognizes _Walther_ and +flies to his arms, _Magdalena_ discreetly hurrying into the house. The +ensuing ardent scene between _Eva_ and _Walther_ brings familiar +motives. The knight's excitement is comically broken in upon by the +_Night Watchman's_ cow-horn, and, as _Eva_ lays her hand soothingly +upon his arm and counsels that they retreat within the shadow of the +linden-tree, there steals over the orchestra, like the fragrance of +the summer night, a delicate variant of the Eva Motive--=The Summer +Night Motive=. + +[Music] + +_Eva_ vanishes into the house to prepare to elope with _Walther_. The +_Night Watchman_ now goes up the stage intoning a mediæval chant. +Coming in the midst of the beautiful modern music of "The +Mastersingers," its effect is most quaint. + +As _Eva_ reappears and she and the knight are about to make their +escape, _Sachs_, to prevent this precipitate and foolish step, throws +open his shutters and allows his lamp to shed a streak of brilliant +light across the street. + +The lovers hesitate; and now _Beckmesser_ sneaks in after the _Night +Watchman_ and, leaning against _Sachs's_ house, begins to tune his +lute, the peculiar twang of which, contrasted with the rich +orchestration, sounds irresistibly ridiculous. + +Meanwhile, _Eva_ and _Walther_ have once more retreated into the shade +of the linden-tree, and _Sachs_, who has placed his work bench in +front of his door, begins hammering at the last and intones a song +which is one of the rough diamonds of musical invention, for it is +purposely brusque and rough, just such a song as a hearty, happy +artisan might sing over his work. It is aptly introduced by the +Cobbler Motive. _Beckmesser_, greatly disturbed lest his serenade be +ruined, entreats _Sachs_ to cease singing. The latter agrees, but with +the proviso that he shall "mark" each of _Beckmesser's_ mistakes with +a hammer stroke. As if to bring out as sharply as possible the +ridiculous character of the serenade, the orchestra breathes forth +once more the summer night's music before _Beckmesser_ begins his +song, and this is set to a parody of the Lyric Motive. Wagner, with +keen satire, seems to want to show how a beautiful melody may become +absurd through old-fogy methods. _Beckmesser_ has hardly begun before +_Sachs's_ hammer comes down on the last with a resounding whack, which +makes the town clerk fairly jump with anger. He resumes, but soon is +rudely interrupted again by a blow of _Sachs's_ hammer. The whacks +come faster and faster. _Beckmesser_, in order to make himself heard +above them, sings louder and louder. Some of the neighbours are +awakened by the noise and coming to their windows bid _Beckmesser_ +hold his peace. _David_, stung by jealousy as he sees _Magdalena_ +listening to the serenade, leaps from his room and falls upon the town +clerk with a cudgel. The neighbours, male and female, run out into the +street and a general _mêlée_ ensues, the masters, who hurry upon the +scene, seeking to restore quiet, while the 'prentices vent their high +spirits by doing all in their power to add to the hubbub. All is now +noise and disorder, pandemonium seeming to have been let loose upon +the dignified old town. + +Musically this tumult finds expression in a fugue whose chief theme is +the =Cudgel Motive=. + +[Music] + +From beneath the hubbub of voices--those of the 'prentices and +journeymen, delighted to take part in the shindy, of the women who are +terrified at it, and of the masters who strive to stop it, is heard +the theme of _Beckmesser's_ song, the real cause of the row. This is +another of those many instances in which Wagner vividly expresses in +his music the significance of what transpires on the stage. + +_Sachs_ finally succeeds in shoving the 'prentices and journeymen out +of the way. The street is cleared, but not before the cobbler-poet has +pushed _Eva_, who was about to elope with _Walther_, into her father's +arms and drawn _Walther_ after him into his shop. + +The street is quiet. And now, the rumpus subsided and all concerned in +it gone, the _Night Watchman_ appears, rubs his eyes and chants his +mediæval call. The street is flooded with moonlight. The _Watchman_ +with his clumsy halberd lunges at his own shadow, then goes up the +alley. + +We have had hubbub, we have had humour, and now we have a musical +ending elvish, roguish, and yet exquisite in sentiment. The effect is +produced by the Cudgel Motive played with the utmost delicacy on the +flute, while the theme of _Beckmesser's_ serenade merrily runs after +itself on clarinet and bassoon, and the muted violins softly breathe +the Midsummer Festival Motive. + +Act III. During this act the tender strain in _Sachs's_ sturdy +character is brought out in bold relief. Hence the prelude develops +what may be called three Sachs themes, two of them expressive of his +twofold nature as poet and cobbler, the third standing for the love +which his fellow-burghers bear him. + +The prelude opens with the Wahn Motive or Motive of Poetic Illusion. +This reflects the deep thought and poetic aspirations of _Sachs_ the +poet. It is followed by the theme of the beautiful chorus, sung later +in the act, in praise of _Sachs_: "Awake! draws nigh the break of +day." This theme, among the three heard in the prelude, points to +_Sachs's_ popularity. The third consists of portions of the cobbler's +song in the second act. This prelude has long been considered one of +Wagner's masterpieces. The themes are treated with the utmost +delicacy, so that we recognize through them both the tender, poetic +side of _Sachs's_ nature and his good-humoured brusqueness. =The Motive +of Poetic illusion= is deeply reflective, and it might be preferable to +name it the Motive of Poetic Thought, were it not that it is better to +preserve the significance of the term Wahn Motive, which there is +ample reason to believe originated with Wagner himself. The prelude +is, in fact, a subtle analysis of character expressed in music. + +[Music] + +How peaceful the scene on which the curtain rises. _Sachs_ is sitting +in an armchair in his sunny workshop, reading in a large folio. The +Illusion Motive has not yet died away in the prelude, so that it seems +to reflect the thoughts awakened in _Sachs_ by what he is reading. +_David_, dressed for the festival, enters just as the prelude ends. +There is a scene full of charming _bonhomie_ between _Sachs_ and his +'prentice, which is followed, when the latter has withdrawn, by +_Sachs's_ monologue: "Wahn! Wahn! Ueberall Wahn!" (Illusion, +everywhere illusion.) + +While the Illusion Motive seems to weave a poetic atmosphere about +him, _Sachs_, buried in thought, rests his head upon his arm over the +folio. The Illusion Motive is followed by the Spring Motive, which in +turn yields to the Nuremburg Motive as _Sachs_ sings the praises of +the stately old town. At his reference to the tumult of the night +before there are in the score corresponding allusions to the music of +that episode. "A glowworm could not find its mate," he sings, +referring to _Walther_ and _Eva_. The Midsummer Festival, Lyric, and +Nuremburg motives in union foreshadow the triumph of true art through +love on Nuremburg soil, and thus bring the monologue to a stately +conclusion. + +_Walther_ now enters from the chamber, which opens upon a gallery, +and, descending into the workshop, is heartily greeted by _Sachs_ with +the Sachs Motive, which dominates the immediately ensuing scene. Very +beautiful is the theme in which _Sachs_ protests against _Walther's_ +derision of the masters; for they are, in spite of their many +old-fogyish notions, the conservators of much that is true and +beautiful in art. + +_Walther_ tells _Sachs_ of a song which came to him in a dream during +the night, and sings two stanzas of this "Prize Song," _Sachs_ making +friendly critical comments as he writes down the words. The Nuremburg +Motive in sonorous and festive instrumentation closes this melodious +episode. + +When _Sachs_ and _Walther_ have retired _Beckmesser_ is seen peeping +into the shop. Observing that it is empty he enters hastily. He is +ridiculously overdressed for the approaching festival, limps, and +occasionally rubs his muscles as if he were still stiff and sore from +his drubbing. By chance his glance falls on the manuscript of the +"Prize Song" in _Sachs's_ handwriting on the table, when he breaks +forth in wrathful exclamations, thinking now that he has in the +popular master a rival for _Eva's_ hand. Hearing the chamber door +opening he hastily grabs the manuscript and thrusts it into his +pocket. _Sachs_ enters. Observing that the manuscript is no longer on +the table, he realizes that _Beckmesser_ has stolen it, and conceives +the idea of allowing him to keep it, knowing that the marker will fail +most wretchedly in attempting to give musical expression to +_Walther's_ inspiration. + +The scene places _Sachs_ in a new light. A fascinating trait of his +character is the dash of scapegrace with which it is seasoned. Hence, +when he thinks of allowing _Beckmesser_ to use the poem the Sachs +Motive takes on a somewhat facetious, roguish grace. There now ensues +a charming dialogue between _Sachs_ and _Eva_, who enters when +_Beckmesser_ has departed. This is accompanied by a transformation of +the Eva Motive, which now reflects her shyness and hesitancy in taking +_Sachs_ into her confidence. + +With it is joined the Cobbler Motive when _Eva_ places her foot upon +the stool while _Sachs_ tries on the shoes she is to wear at the +festival. When, with a cry of joy, she recognizes her lover as he +appears upon the gallery, and remains motionless, gazing upon him as +if spellbound, the lovely Summer Night Motive enhances the beauty of +the tableau. While _Sachs_ cobbles and chats away, pretending not to +observe the lovers, the Motive of Maidenly Reserve passes through many +modulations until there is heard a phrase from "Tristan and Isolde" +(the Isolde Motive), an allusion which is explained below. The Lyric +Motive introduces the third stanza of _Walther's_ "Prize Song," with +which he now greets _Eva_, while she, overcome with joy at seeing her +lover, sinks upon _Sachs's_ breast. The Illusion Motive rhapsodizes +the praises of the generous cobbler-poet, who seeks relief from his +emotions in bantering remarks, until _Eva_ glorifies him in a noble +burst of love and gratitude in a melody derived from the Isolde +Motive. + +It is after this that _Sachs_, alluding to his own love of _Eva_, +exclaims that he will have none of King Marke's triste experience; and +the use of the King Marke Motive at this point shows that the previous +echoes of the Isolde Motive were premeditated rather than accidental. + +_Magdalena_ and _David_ now enter, and _Sachs_ gives to _Walther's_ +"Prize Song" its musical baptism, utilizing chiefly the first and +second lines of the chorale which opens the first act. _David_ then +kneels down and, according to the custom of the day, receives from +_Sachs_ a box on the ear in token that he is advanced from 'prentice +to journeyman. Then follows the beautiful quintet, in which the "Prize +Song," as a thematic germ, puts forth its loveliest blossoms. This is +but one of many instances in which Wagner proved that when the +dramatic situation called for it he could conceive and develop a +melody of most exquisite fibre. + +After the quintet the orchestra resumes the Nuremburg Motive and all +depart for the festival. The stage is now shut off by a curtain behind +which the scene is changed from _Sachs's_ workshop to the meadow on +the banks of the Pegnitz, near Nuremburg. After a tumultuous +orchestral interlude, which portrays by means of motives already +familiar, with the addition of the fanfare of the town musicians, the +noise and bustle incidental to preparations for a great festival, the +curtain rises upon a lively scene. Boats decked out in flags and +bunting and full of festively clad members of the various guilds and +their wives and children are constantly arriving. To the right is a +platform decorated with the flags of the guilds which have already +gathered. People are making merry under tents and awnings where +refreshments are served. The 'prentices are having a jolly time of it +heralding and marshalling the guilds who disperse and mingle with the +merrymakers after the standard bearers have planted their banners near +the platform. + +Soon after the curtain rises the cobblers arrive, and as they march +down the meadow, conducted by the 'prentices, they sing in honour of +St. Crispin, their patron saint, a chorus, based on the Cobbler +Motive, to which a melody in popular style is added. The town +watchmen, with trumpets and drums, the town pipers, lute makers, etc., +and then the journeymen, with comical sounding toy instruments, march +past, and are succeeded by the tailors, who sing a humorous chorus, +telling how Nuremburg was saved from its ancient enemies by a tailor, +who sewed a goatskin around him and pranced around on the town walls, +to the terror of the hostile army, which took him for the devil. The +bleating of a goat is capitally imitated in this chorus. + +With the last chord of the tailors' chorus the bakers strike up their +song and are greeted in turn by cobblers and tailors with their +respective refrains. A boatful of young peasant girls in gay costumes +now arrives, and the 'prentices make a rush for the bank. A charming +dance in waltz time is struck up. The 'prentices with the girls dance +down toward the journeymen, but as soon as these try to get hold of +the girls, the 'prentices veer off with them in another direction. +This veering should be timed to fall at the beginning of those periods +of the dance to which Wagner has given, instead of eight measures, +seven and nine, in order by this irregularity to emphasize the ruse of +the 'prentices. + +The dance is interrupted by the arrival of the masters, the 'prentices +falling in to receive, the others making room for the procession. The +_Mastersingers_ advance to the stately strains of the Mastersinger +Motive, which, when _Kothner_ appears bearing their standard with the +figure of King David playing on his harp, goes over into the sturdy +measures of the Mastersingers' March. _Sachs_ rises and advances. At +sight of him the populace intone the noblest of all choruses: "Awake! +draws nigh the break of day," the words of which are a poem by the +real Hans Sachs. + +At its conclusion the populace break into shouts in praise of _Sachs_, +who modestly yet most feelingly gives them thanks. When _Beckmesser_ +is led to the little mound of turf upon which the singer is obliged to +stand, we have the humorous variation of the Mastersinger Motive from +the Prelude. _Beckmesser's_ attempt to sing _Walther's_ poem ends, as +_Sachs_ had anticipated, in utter failure. The town clerk's effort is +received with jeers. Before he rushes away, infuriated but utterly +discomfited, he proclaims that _Sachs_ is the author of the song they +have derided. The cobbler-poet declares to the people that it is not +by him; that it is a beautiful poem if sung to the proper melody and +that he will show them the author of the poem, who will in song +disclose its beauties. He then introduces _Walther_. The knight easily +succeeds in winning over people and masters, who repeat the closing +melody of his "Prize Song" in token of their joyous appreciation of +his new and wondrous art. _Pogner_ advances to decorate _Walther_ with +the insignia of the Mastersingers' Guild. + +[Music] + +In more ways than one the "Prize Song" is a mainstay of "Die +Meistersinger." It has been heard in the previous scene of the third +act, not only when _Walther_ rehearses it for _Sachs_, but also in +the quintet. Moreover, versions of it occur in the overture and +indeed, throughout the work, adding greatly to the romantic sentiment +of the score. For "Die Meistersinger" is a comedy of romance. + +In measures easily recognized from the Prelude, to which the Nuremburg +Motive is added, _Sachs_ now praises the masters and explains their +noble purpose as conservators of art. _Eva_ takes the wreath with +which _Walther_ has been crowned, and with it crowns _Sachs_, who has +meanwhile decorated the knight with the insignia. _Pogner_ kneels, as +if in homage, before _Sachs_, the masters point to the cobbler as to +their chief, and _Walther_ and _Eva_ remain on either side of him, +leaning gratefully upon his shoulders. The chorus repeats _Sachs's_ +final admonition to the closing measures of the Prelude. + + +PARSIFAL + + Stage Dedication Festival Play (Bühnenweihfestspiel) in + three acts, words and music by Richard Wagner. Produced + Bayreuth, July 26, 1882. Save in concert form, the work was + not given elsewhere until December 24, 1903, when it was + produced at the Metropolitan Opera House at that time under + the direction of Heinrich Conried. + + At the Bayreuth performances there were alternating casts. + Winckelmann was the _Parsifal_ of the _première_, Gudehus of + the second performance, Jäger of the third. The alternating + _Kundrys_ were Materna, Marianne Brandt, and Malten; + _Gurnemanz_ Scaria and Siehr; _Amfortas_ Reichmann; + _Klingsor_, Hill and Fuchs. Hermann Levi conducted. + + In the New York cast Ternina was _Kundry_, Burgstaller + _Parsifal_, Van Rooy _Amfortas_, Blass _Gurnemanz_, Goritz + _Klingsor_, Journet _Titurel_, Miss Moran and Miss Braendle + the first and second, Harden and Bayer the third and fourth + _Esquires_, Bayer and Mühlmann two _Knights_ of the Grail, + Homer a _Voice_. + + CHARACTERS + + AMFORTAS, son of TITUREL, ruler of the + Kingdom of the Grail _Baritone-Bass_ + TITUREL, former ruler _Bass_ + GURNEMANZ, a veteran Knight of the Grail _Bass_ + KLINGSOR, a magician _Bass_ + PARSIFAL _Tenor_ + KUNDRY _Soprano_ + FIRST AND SECOND KNIGHTS _Tenor and Bass_ + FOUR ESQUIRES _Sopranos and Tenors_ + SIX OF KLINGSOR'S FLOWER MAIDENS _Sopranos_ + + Brotherhood of the Knights of the Grail; Youths and Boys; + Flower Maidens (two choruses of sopranos and altos). + + _Time_--The Middle Ages. + + _Place_--Spain, near and in the Castle of the Holy Grail; in + Klingsor's enchanted castle and in the garden of his castle. + +[Illustration: Photographs of the First Performance of "Parsifal," +Bayreuth, 1882 + +The Grail-Bearer] + +[Illustration: Photographs of the First Performance of "Parsifal," +Bayreuth, 1882 + +Winckelmann and Materna as Parsifal and Kundry + +Scaria as Gurnemanz] + +"Parsifal" is a familiar name to those who have heard "Lohengrin." +Lohengrin, it will be remembered, tells Elsa that he is Parsifal's son +and one of the knights of the Holy Grail. The name is written Percival +in "Lohengrin," as well as in Tennyson's "Idyls of the King." Now, +however, Wagner returns to the quainter and more "Teutonic" form of +spelling. "Parsifal" deals with an earlier period in the history of +the Grail knighthood than "Lohengrin." But there is a resemblance +between the Grail music in "Parsifal" and the "Lohengrin" music--a +resemblance not in melody, nor even in outline, but merely in the +purity and spirituality that breathes through both. + +Three legends supplied Wagner with the principal characters in this +music-drama. They were "Percival le Galois; or Contes de Grail," by +Chrétien de Troyes (1190); "Parsifal," by Wolfram von Eschenbach, and +a manuscript of the fourteenth century called by scholars the +"Mabinogion." As usual, Wagner has not held himself strictly to any +one of these, but has combined them all, and revivified them through +the alchemy of his own genius. + +Into the keeping of _Titurel_ and his band of Christian knights has +been given the Holy Grail, the vessel from which the Saviour drank +when He instituted the Last Supper. Into their hands, too, has been +placed, as a weapon of defence against the ungodly, the Sacred Spear, +the arm with which the Roman soldier wounded the Saviour's side. The +better to guard these sanctified relics _Titurel_, as King of the +Grail knighthood, has reared a castle, Montsalvat, which, from its +forest-clad height, facing Arabian Spain, forms a bulwark of +Christendom against the pagan world and especially against _Klingsor_, +a sorcerer and an enemy of the good. Yet time and again this +_Klingsor_, whose stronghold is nearby, has succeeded in enticing +champions of the Grail into his magic garden, with its lure of +flower-maidens and its arch-enchantress _Kundry_, a rarely beautiful +woman, and in making them his servitors against their one-time +brothers-in-arms. + +Even _Amfortas_, _Titurel's_ son, to whom _Titurel_, grown old in +service and honour, has confided his reign and wardship, has not +escaped the thrall of _Klingsor's_ sorcery. Eager to begin his reign +by destroying _Klingsor's_ power at one stroke, he penetrated into the +garden to attack and slay him. But he failed to reckon with human +frailty. Yielding to the snare so skilfully laid by the sorcerer and +forgetting, at the feet of the enchantress, _Kundry_, the mission upon +which he had sallied forth, he allowed the Sacred Spear to drop from +his hand. It was seized by the evil-doer he had come to destroy, and +he himself was grievously wounded with it before the knights who +rushed to his rescue could bear him off. + +This wound no skill has sufficed to heal. It is sapping _Amfortas's_ +strength. Indecision, gloom, have come over the once valiant +brotherhood. Only the touch of the Sacred Spear that made the wound +will avail to close it, but there is only one who can regain it from +_Klingsor_. For to _Amfortas_, prostrate in supplication for a sign, a +mystic voice from the sanctuary of the Grail replied: + + By pity guided, + The guileless fool; + Wait for him, + My chosen tool. + +This prophecy the knights construe to signify that their king's +salvation can be wrought only by youth so "guileless," so wholly +ignorant of sin, that, instead of succumbing to the temptations of +_Klingsor's_ magic garden, he will become, through resisting them, +cognizant of _Amfortas's_ guilt, and, stirred by pity for him, make +his redemption the mission of his life, regain the Spear and heal him +with it. And so the Grail warders are waiting, waiting for the coming +of the "guileless fool." + +The working out of this prophecy forms the absorbing subject of the +story of "Parsifal." The plot is allegorical. _Parsifal_ is the +personification of Christianity, _Klingsor_ of Paganism, and the +triumph of _Parsifal_ over _Klingsor_ is the triumph of Christianity +over Paganism. + +The character of _Kundry_ is one of Wagner's most striking creations. +She is a sort of female Ahasuerus--a wandering Jewess. In the +Mabinogion manuscript she is no other than Herodias, condemned to +wander for ever because she laughed at the head of John the Baptist. +Here Wagner makes another change. According to him she is condemned +for laughing in the face of the Saviour as he was bearing the cross. +She seeks forgiveness by serving the Grail knights as messenger on her +swift horse, but ever and anon she is driven by the curse hanging over +her back to _Klingsor_, who changes her to a beautiful woman and +places her in his garden to lure the Knights of the Grail. She can be +freed only by one who resists her temptations. Finally she is freed by +_Parsifal_ and is baptized. In her character of Grail messenger she +has much in common with the wild messengers of Walhalla, the Valkyrs. +Indeed, in the Edda Saga, her name appears in the first part of the +compound Gundryggja, which denotes the office of the Valkyrs. + +THE VORSPIEL + +The _Vorspiel_ to "Parsifal" is based on three of the most deeply +religious motives in the entire work. It opens with the =Motive of the +Sacrament=, over which, when it is repeated, _arpeggios_ hover, as in +the religious paintings of old masters angel forms float above the +figure of virgin or saint. + +[Music] + +Through this motive we gain insight into the office of the Knights of +the Grail, who from time to time strengthen themselves for their +spiritual duties by partaking of the communion, on which occasions the +Grail itself is uncovered. This motive leads to the =Grail Motive=, +effectively swelling to forte and then dying away in ethereal +harmonies, like the soft light with which the Grail illumines the hall +in which the knights gather to worship. + +[Music] + +The trumpets then announce the =Motive of Faith=, severe but +sturdy--portraying superbly the immutability of faith. + +[Music] + +The Grail Motive is heard again and then the Motive of Faith is +repeated, its severity exquisitely softened, so that it conveys a +sense of peace which "passeth all understanding." + +[Music] + +The rest of the _Vorspiel_ is agitated. That portion of the Motive of +the Sacrament which appears later as the Spear Motive here assumes +through a slight change a deeply sad character, and becomes typical +throughout the work of the sorrow wrought by _Amfortas's_ crime. I +call it the =Elegiac Motive=. + +[Music] + +Thus the _Vorspiel_ depicts both the religious duties which play so +prominent a part in the drama, and unhappiness which _Amfortas's_ +sinful forgetfulness of these duties has brought upon himself and his +knights. + +Act I. One of the sturdiest of the knights, the aged _Gurnemanz_, grey +of head and beard, watches near the outskirts of the forest. One dawn +finds him seated under a majestic tree. Two young _Esquires_ lie in +slumber at his feet. Far off, from the direction of the castle, sounds +a solemn reveille. + +"Hey! Ho!" _Gurnemanz_ calls with brusque humour to the _Esquires_. +"Not forest, but sleep warders I deem you!" The youths leap to their +feet; then, hearing the solemn reveille, kneel in prayer. The Motive +of Peace echoes their devotional thoughts. A wondrous peace seems to +rest upon the scene. But the transgression of the _King_ ever breaks +the tranquil spell. For soon two _Knights_ come in the van of the +train that thus early bears the _King_ from a bed of suffering to the +forest lake nearby, in whose waters he would bathe his wound. They +pause to parley with _Gurnemanz_, but are interrupted by outcries from +the youths and sounds of rushing through air. + +"Mark the wild horsewoman!"--"The mane of the devil's mare flies +madly!"--"Aye, 'tis Kundry!"--"She has swung herself off," cry the +_Esquires_ as they watch the approach of the strange creature that +now rushes in--a woman clad in coarse, wild garb girdled high with a +snake-skin, her thick black hair tumbling about her shoulders, her +features swarthy, her dark eyes now flashing, now fixed and glassy. +Precipitately she thrusts a small crystal flask into _Gurnemanz's_ +hand. + +"Balsam--for the king!" There is a savagery in her manner that seems +designed to ward off thanks, when _Gurnemanz_ asks her whence she has +brought the flask, and she replies: "From farther away than your +thought can travel. If it fail, Arabia bears naught else that can ease +his pain. Ask no further. I am weary." + +Throwing herself upon the ground and resting her face on her hands, +she watches the _King_ borne in, replies to his thanks for the balsam +with a wild, mocking laugh, and follows him with her eyes as they bear +him on his litter toward the lake, while _Gurnemanz_ and four +_Esquires_ remain behind. + +_Kundry's_ rapid approach on her wild horse is accompanied by a +furious gallop in the orchestra. + +[Music] + +Then, as she rushes upon the stage, the =Kundry Motive=--a headlong +descent of the string instruments through four octaves--is heard. + +[Music] + +_Kundry's_ action in seeking balsam for the _King's_ wound gives us +insight into the two contradictory natures represented by her +character. For here is the woman who has brought all his suffering +upon _Amfortas_ striving to ease it when she is free from the evil +sway of _Klingsor_. She is at times the faithful messenger of the +Grail; at times the evil genius of its defenders. + +When _Amfortas_ is borne in upon a litter there is heard the =Motive of +Amfortas's Suffering=, expressive of his physical and mental agony. It +has a peculiar heavy, dragging rhythm, as if his wound slowly were +sapping his life. + +[Music] + +A beautiful idyl is played by the orchestra when the knights bear +_Amfortas_ to the forest lake. + +[Music] + +One of the youths, who has remained with _Gurnemanz_, noting that +_Kundry_ still lies where she had flung herself upon the ground, calls +out scornfully, "Why do you lie there like a savage beast?" + +"Are not even the beasts here sacred?" she retorts, but harshly, and +not as if pleading for sufferance. The other _Esquires_ would have +joined in harassing her had not _Gurnemanz_ stayed them. + +"Never has she done you harm. She serves the Grail, and only when she +remains long away, none knows in what distant lands, does harm come to +us." Then, turning to where she lies, he asks: "Where were you +wandering when our leader lost the Sacred Spear? Why were you not here +to help us then?" + +"I never help!" is her sullen retort, although a tremor, as if caused +by a pang of bitter reproach, passes over her frame. + +"If she wants to serve the Grail, why not send her to recover the +Sacred Spear!" exclaims one of the _Esquires_ sarcastically; and the +youths doubtless would have resumed their nagging of _Kundry_, had not +mention of the holy weapon caused _Gurnemanz_ to give voice to +memories of the events that have led to its capture by _Klingsor_. +Then, yielding to the pressing of the youths who gather at his feet +beneath the tree, he tells them of _Klingsor_--how the sorcerer has +sued for admission to the Grail brotherhood, which was denied him by +_Titurel_, how in revenge he has sought its destruction and now, +through possession of the Sacred Spear, hopes to compass it. + +Prominent with other motives already heard, is a new one, the =Klingsor +Motive=: + +[Music] + +During this recital _Kundry_ still lies upon the ground, a sullen, +forbidding looking creature. At the point when _Gurnemanz_ tells of +the sorcerer's magic garden and of the enchantress who has lured +_Amfortas_ to his downfall, she turns in quick, angry unrest, as if +she would away, but is held to the spot by some dark and compelling +power. There is indeed something strange and contradictory in this +wild creature, who serves the Grail by ranging distant lands in +search of balsam for the _King's_ wound, yet abruptly, vindictively +almost, repels proffered thanks, and is a sullen and unwilling +listener to _Gurnemanz's_ narrative. Furthermore, as _Gurnemanz_ +queried, where does she linger during those long absences, when harm +has come to the warders of the Grail and now to their _King_? The +Knights of the Grail do not know it, but it is none other than she +who, changed by _Klingsor_ into an enchantress, lures them into his +magic garden. + +_Gurnemanz_ concludes by telling the _Esquire_ that while _Amfortas_ +was praying for a sign as to who could heal him, phantom lips +pronounced these words: + + By pity lightened + The guileless fool; + Wait for him, + My chosen tool. + +This introduces an important motive, that of the =Prophecy=, a phrase of +simple beauty, as befits the significance of the words to which it is +sung. _Gurnemanz_ sings the entire motive and then the _Esquires_ take +it up. + +[Music] + +They have sung only the first two lines when suddenly their prayerful +voices are interrupted by shouts of dismay from the direction of the +lake. A moment later a wounded swan, one of the sacred birds of the +Grail brotherhood, flutters over the stage and falls dead near +_Gurnemanz_. The knights follow in consternation. Two of them bring +_Parsifal_, whom they have seized and accuse of murdering the sacred +bird. As he appears the magnificent =Parsifal Motive= rings out on the +horns: + +[Music] + +It is a buoyant and joyous motive, full of the wild spirit and freedom +of this child of nature, who knows nothing of the Grail and its +brotherhood or the sacredness of the swan, and freely boasts of his +skilful marksmanship. During this episode the Swan Motive from +"Lohengrin" is effectively introduced. Then follows _Gurnemanz's_ +noble reproof, sung to a broad and expressive melody. Even the animals +are sacred in the region of the Grail and are protected from harm. +_Parsifal's_ gradual awakening to a sense of wrong is one of the most +touching scenes of the music-drama. His childlike grief when he +becomes conscious of the pain he has caused is so simple and pathetic +that one cannot but be deeply affected. + +After _Gurnemanz_ has ascertained that _Parsifal_ knows nothing of the +wrong he committed in killing the swan he plies him with questions +concerning his parentage. _Parsifal_ is now gentle and tranquil. He +tells of growing up in the woods, of running away from his mother to +follow a cavalcade of knights who passed along the edge of the forest +and of never having seen her since. In vain he endeavours to recall +the many pet names she gave him. These memories of his early days +introduce the sad motive of his mother, =Herzeleid= (Heart's Sorrow) who +has died in grief. + +[Music] + +The old knight then proceeds to ply _Parsifal_ with questions +regarding his parentage, name, and native land. "I do not know," is +the youth's invariable answer. His ignorance, coupled, however, with +his naïve nobility of bearing and the fact that he has made his way to +the Grail domain, engender in _Gurnemanz_ the hope that here at last +is the "guileless fool" for whom prayerfully they have been waiting, +and the _King_, having been borne from the lake toward the castle +where the holy rite of unveiling the Grail is to be celebrated that +day, thither _Gurnemanz_ in kindly accents bids the youth follow him. + +Then occurs a dramatically effective change of scene. The scenery +becomes a panorama drawn off toward the right, and as _Parsifal_ and +_Gurnemanz_ face toward the left they appear to be walking in that +direction. The forest disappears; a cave opens in rocky cliffs and +conceals the two; they are then seen again in sloping passages which +they appear to ascend. Long sustained trombone notes softly swell; +approaching peals of bells are heard. At last they arrive at a mighty +hall which loses itself overhead in a high vaulted dome, down from +which alone the light streams in. + +The change of scene is ushered in by the solemn =Bell Motive=, which is +the basis of the powerful orchestral interlude accompanying the +panorama, and also of the scene in the hall of the Grail Castle. + +[Music] + +As the communion, which is soon to be celebrated, is broken in upon by +the violent grief and contrition of _Amfortas_, so the majestic sweep +of this symphony is interrupted by the agonized =Motive of Contrition=, +which graphically portrays the spiritual suffering of the _King_. + +This subtly suggests the Elegiac Motive and the Motive of Amfortas's +Suffering, but in greatly intensified degrees. For it is like an +outcry of torture that affects both body and soul. + +With the Motive of the Sacrament resounding solemnly upon the +trombones, followed by the Bell Motive, sonorous and powerful, +_Gurnemanz_ and _Parsifal_ enter the hall, the old knight giving the +youth a position from which he can observe the proceedings. From the +deep colonnades on either side in the rear the knights issue, march +with stately tread, and arrange themselves at the horseshoe-shaped +table, which incloses a raised couch. Then, while the orchestra plays +a solemn processional based on the Bell Motive, they intone the +chorus: "To the last love feast." After the first verse a line of +pages crosses the stage and ascend into the dome. The graceful +interlude here is based on the Bell Motive. + +[Music] + +The chorus of knights closes with a glorious outburst of the Grail +Motive as _Amfortas_ is borne in, preceded by pages who bear the +covered Grail. The _King_ is lifted upon the couch and the holy vessel +is placed upon the stone table in front of it. When the Grail Motive +has died away amid the pealing of the bells, the youths in the gallery +below the dome sing a chorus of penitence based upon the Motive of +Contrition. Then the Motive of Faith floats down from the dome as an +unaccompanied chorus for boys' voices--a passage of ethereal +beauty--the orchestra whispering a brief postludium like a faint echo. +This is, when sung as it was at Bayreuth, where I heard the first +performance of "Parsifal" in 1882, the most exquisite effect of the +whole score. For spirituality it is unsurpassed. It is an absolutely +perfect example of religious music--a beautiful melody without the +slightest worldly taint. + +_Titurel_ now summons _Amfortas_ to perform his sacred office--to +uncover the Grail. At first, tortured by contrition for his sin, of +which the agony from his wound is a constant reminder, he refuses to +obey his aged father's summons. In anguish he cries out that he is +unworthy of the sacred office. But again ethereal voices float down +from the dome. They now chant the prophecy of the "guileless fool" +and, as if comforted by the hope of ultimate redemption, _Amfortas_ +uncovers the Grail. Dusk seems to spread over the hall. Then a ray of +brilliant light darts down upon the sacred vessel, which shines with a +soft purple radiance that diffuses itself through the hall. All are on +their knees save the youth, who has stood motionless and obtuse to the +significance of all he has heard and seen save that during +_Amfortas's_ anguish he has clutched his heart as if he too felt the +pang. But when the rite is over--when the knights have partaken of +communion--and the glow has faded, and the _King_, followed by his +knights, has been borne out, the youth remains behind, vigorous, +handsome, but to all appearances a dolt. + +"Do you know what you have witnessed?" _Gurnemanz_ asks harshly, for +he is grievously disappointed. + +For answer the youth shakes his head. + +"Just a fool, after all," exclaims the old knight, as he opens a side +door to the hall. "Begone, but take my advice. In future leave our +swans alone, and seek yourself, gander, a goose!" And with these harsh +words he pushes the youth out and angrily slams the door behind him. + +This jarring break upon the religious feeling awakened by the scene +would be a rude ending for the act, but Wagner, with exquisite tact, +allows the voices in the dome to be heard once more, and so the +curtains close, amid the spiritual harmonies of the Prophecy of the +Guileless Fool and of the Grail Motive. + +Act II. This act plays in _Klingsor's_ magic castle and garden. The +_Vorspiel_ opens with the threatful Klingsor motive, which is followed +by the Magic and Contrition Motives, the wild Kundry Motive leading +over to the first scene. + +In the inner keep of his tower, stone steps leading up to the +battlemented parapet and down into a deep pit at the back, stands +_Klingsor_, looking into a metal mirror, whose surface, through his +necromancy, reflects all that transpires within the environs of the +fastness from which he ever threatens the warders of the Grail. Of all +that just has happened in the Grail's domain it has made him aware; +and he knows that of which _Gurnemanz_ is ignorant--that the youth, +whose approach the mirror divulges, once in his power, vain will be +the prophecy of the "guileless fool" and his own triumph assured. For +it is that same "guileless fool" the old knight impatiently has thrust +out. + +_Klingsor_ turns toward the pit and imperiously waves his hand. A +bluish vapour rises from the abyss and in it floats the form of a +beauteous woman--_Kundry_, not the _Kundry_ of a few hours before, +dishevelled and in coarse garb girdled with snake-skin; but a houri, +her dark hair smooth and lustrous, her robe soft, rich Oriental +draperies. Yet even as she floats she strives as though she would +descend to where she has come from, while the sorcerer's harsh laugh +greets her vain efforts. This then is the secret of her strange +actions and her long disappearances from the Grail domain, during +which so many of its warders have fallen into _Klingsor's_ power! She +is the snare he sets, she the arch-enchantress of his magic garden. +Striving as he hints while he mocks her impotence, to expiate some sin +committed by her during a previous existence in the dim past, by +serving the brotherhood of the Grail knights, the sorcerer's power +over her is such that at any moment he can summon her to aid him in +their destruction. + +Well she knows what the present summons means. Approaching the tower +at this very moment is the youth whom she has seen in the Grail +forest, and in whom she, like _Klingsor_, has recognized the only +possible redeemer of _Amfortas_ and of--herself. And now she must lure +him to his doom and with it lose her last hope of salvation, now, aye, +now--for even as he mocks her, _Klingsor_ once more waves his hand, +castle and keep vanish as if swallowed up by the earth, and in its +place a garden heavy with the scent of gorgeous flowers fills the +landscape. + +The orchestra, with the Parsifal Motive, gives a spirited description +of the brief combat between _Parsifal_ and _Klingsor's_ knights. It is +amid the dark harmonies of the Klingsor Motive that the keep sinks out +of sight and the magic garden, spreading out in all directions, with +_Parsifal_ standing on the wall and gazing with astonishment upon the +brilliant scene, is disclosed. + +The _Flower Maidens_ in great trepidation for the fate of their lover +knights rush in from all sides with cries of sorrow, their confused +exclamations and the orchestral accompaniment admirably enforcing +their tumultuous actions. + +The Parsifal Motive again introduces the next episode, as _Parsifal_, +attracted by the grace and beauty of the girls, leaps down into the +garden and seeks to mingle with them. It is repeated several times in +the course of the scene. The girls, seeing that he does not seek to +harm them, bedeck themselves with flowers and crowd about him with +alluring gestures, finally circling around him as they sing this +caressing melody: + +[Music] + +The effect is enchanting, the music of this episode being a marvel of +sensuous grace. _Parsifal_ regards them with childlike, innocent joy. +Then they seek to impress him more deeply with their charms, at the +same time quarrelling among themselves over him. When their rivalry +has reached its height, _Kundry's_ voice--"Parsifal, tarry!"--is +wafted from a flowery nook nearby. + +[Music] + +"Parsifal!" In all the years of his wandering none has called him by +his name; and now it floats toward him as if borne on the scent of +roses. A beautiful woman, her arms stretched out to him, welcomes him +from her couch of brilliant, redolent flowers. Irresistibly drawn +toward her, he approaches and kneels by her side; and she, whispering +to him in tender accents, leans over him and presses a long kiss upon +his lips. It is the lure that has sealed the fate of many a knight of +the Grail. But in the youth it inspires a sudden change. The perilous +subtlety of it, that is intended to destroy, transforms the "guileless +fool" into a conscious man, and that man conscious of a mission. The +scenes he has witnessed in the Grail castle, the stricken _King_ whose +wound ever bled afresh, the part he is to play, the peril of the +temptation that has been placed in his path--all these things become +revealed to him in the rapture of that unhallowed kiss. In vain the +enchantress seeks to draw him toward her. He thrusts her from him. +Maddened by the repulse, compelled through _Klingsor's_ arts to see in +the handsome youth before her lawful prey, she calls upon the sorcerer +to aid her. At her outcry _Klingsor_ appears on the castle wall, in +his hand the Spear taken from _Amfortas_, and, as _Parsifal_ faces +him, hurls it full at him. But lo, it rises in its flight and remains +suspended in the air over the head of him it was aimed to slay. + +Reaching out and seizing it, _Parsifal_ makes with it the sign of the +cross. Castle and garden wall crumble into ruins, the garden shrivels +away, leaving in its place a sere wilderness, through which +_Parsifal_, leaving _Kundry_ as one dead upon the ground, sets forth +in search of the castle of the Grail, there to fulfil the mission with +which now he knows himself charged. + +Act III. Not until after long wanderings through the wilderness, +however, is it that _Parsifal_ once more finds himself on the +outskirts of the Grail forest. Clad from head to foot in black armour, +his visor closed, the Holy Spear in his hand, he approaches the spot +where _Gurnemanz_, now grown very old, still holds watch, while +_Kundry_, again in coarse garb, but grown strangely pale and gentle, +humbly serves the brotherhood. It is Good Friday morn, and peace +rests upon the forest. + +_Kundry_ is the first to discern the approach of the black knight. +From the tender exaltation of her mien, as she draws _Gurnemanz's_ +look toward the silent figure, it is apparent that she divines who it +is and why he comes. To _Gurnemanz_, however, he is but an armed +intruder on sanctified ground and upon a holy day, and, as the black +knight seats himself on a little knoll near a spring and remains +silent, the old warder chides him for his offence. Tranquilly the +knight rises, thrusts the Spear he bears into the ground before him, +lays down his sword and shield before it, opens his helmet, and, +removing it from his head, places it with the other arms, and then +himself kneels in silent prayer before the Spear. Surprise, +recognition of man and weapon, and deep emotion succeed each other on +_Gurnemanz's_ face. Gently he raises _Parsifal_ from his kneeling +posture, once more seats him on the knoll by the spring, loosens his +greaves and corselet, and then places upon him the coat of mail and +mantle of the knights of the Grail, while _Kundry_, drawing a golden +flask from her bosom anoints his feet and dries them with her loosened +hair. Then _Gurnemanz_ takes from her the flask, and, pouring its +contents upon _Parsifal's_ head, anoints him king of the knights of +the Grail. The new king performs his first office by taking up water +from the spring in the hollow of his hand and baptizing _Kundry_, +whose eyes, suffused with tears, are raised to him in gentle rapture. + +Here is heard the stately =Motive of Baptism=: + +[Music] + +The "Good Friday Spell," one of Wagner's most beautiful mood paintings +in tone color, is the most prominent episode in these scenes. + +[Music] + +Once more _Gurnemanz_, _Kundry_ now following, leads the way toward +the castle of the Grail. _Amfortas's_ aged father, _Titurel_, +uncomforted by the vision of the Grail, which _Amfortas_, in his +passionate contrition, deems himself too sullied to unveil, has died, +and the knights having gathered in the great hall, _Titurel's_ bier is +borne in solemn procession and placed upon a catafalque before +_Amfortas's_ couch. + +"Uncover the shrine!" shout the knights, pressing upon _Amfortas_. For +answer, and in a paroxysm of despair, he springs up, tears his +garments asunder and shows his open wound. "Slay me!" he cries. "Take +up your weapons! Bury your sword-blades deep--deep in me, to the +hilts! Kill me, and so kill the pain that tortures me!" + +As _Amfortas_ stands there in an ecstasy of pain, _Parsifal_ enters, +and, quietly advancing, touches the wound with the point of the Spear. + +"One weapon only serves to staunch your wounded side--the one that +struck it." + +_Amfortas's_ torture changes to highest rapture. The shrine is opened +and _Parsifal_, taking the Grail, which again radiates with light, +waves it gently to and fro, as _Amfortas_ and all the knights kneel in +homage to him, while _Kundry_, gazing up to him in gratitude, sinks +gently into the sleep of death and forgiveness for which she has +longed. + +The music of this entire scene floats upon ethereal _arpeggios_. The +Motive of Faith especially is exquisitely accompanied, its spiritual +harmonies finally appearing in this form. + +[Music] + +There are also heard the Motives of Prophecy and of the Sacrament, as +the knights on the stage and the youths and boys in the dome chant. +The Grail Motive, which is prominent throughout the scene, rises as if +in a spirit of gentle religious triumph and brings, with the Sacrament +Motive, the work to a close. + + + + +Gioachino Antonio Rossini + +(1792-1868) + + +It would be difficult to persuade any one today that Rossini was a +reformer of opera. But his instrumentation, excessively simple as it +seems to us, was regarded, by his contemporaries, as distracting too +much attention from the voices. This was one of the reasons his +_Semiramide_ was coolly received at its production in Venice, 1823. + +But however simple, not to say primitive, the instrumentation of his +Italian operas now strikes us, he made one great innovation in opera +for which we readily can grant him recognition as a reformer. He +dispensed with _secco_ recitative, the so-called "dry" recitative, +which I have mentioned as a drawback to the operatic scores of Mozart. +For this Rossini substituted a more dramatic recital of the text +leading up to the vocal numbers, and accompanied it with such +instruments, or combinations of instruments even to full orchestra, as +he considered necessary. We accept a well accompanied recitative in +opera as a matter of course. But in its day it was a bold step +forward, and Rossini should receive full credit for it. Indeed it will +be found that nearly all composers, whose works survive in the +repertoire, instead of tamely accepting the routine of workmanship in +opera, as inherited from their predecessors, had ideas of their own, +which they put into effect, sometimes at the temporary sacrifice of +popularity. Gluck and Wagner, especially the latter, were extreme +types of the musical reformer. Compared with them Rossini was mild. +But his merits should be conceded, and gratefully. + +Rossini often is spoken of as the "Swan of Pesaro," where he was born. +His mother sang _buffa_ rôles in a travelling opera troupe, in the +orchestra of which his father was a horn player. After previous +musical instruction in Bologna, he was turned over to Angelo Tesei, +sang in church and afterwards travelled with his parents both as +singer and accompanist, thus gaining at first hand valuable experience +in matters operatic. In 1807 he entered the Liceo (conservatory) at +Bologna, studying 'cello under Cavedagni and composition with Padre +Mattei. By 1810 already he was able to bring out in Venice, and with +applause, a one act comedy opera, "La Cambiale di Matrimonio." During +1812 he received commissions for no less than five light operas, +scoring, in 1813, with his "Tancredi" his first success in the grand +manner. There was scarcely a year now that did not see a work from his +pen, sometimes two, until his "Guillaume Tell" was produced in Paris, +1829. This was an entire change of style from his earlier works, +possibly, however, foreshadowed by his "Comte Ory," a revision of a +previous score, and produced, as was his "Tell," at the Grand Opéra. + +"Guillaume Tell" not only is written to a French libretto; it is in +the French style of grand opera, in which the vocal melody is less +ornate and the instrumental portion of the score more carefully +considered than in the Italian. + +During the remaining thirty-nine years of his life not another opera +did Rossini compose. He appears deliberately to have formed this +resolution in 1836, after hearing "Les Huguenots" by Meyerbeer, as if +he considered it useless for him to attempt to rival that composer. He +resided in Bologna and Florence until 1855, then in Paris, or near +there, dying at Ruelle. + +He presents the strange spectacle of a successful composer of opera, +who lived to be seventy-six, abruptly closing his dramatic career at +thirty-seven. + + +IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA + +THE BARBER OF SEVILLE + + Opera in two acts, by Rossini; text by Cesare Sterbini, + founded on Beaumarchais. Produced, Argentina Theatre, Rome, + February 5, 1816; London, King's Theatre, March 10, 1818. + Paris, in Italian, 1819; in French, 1824. New York, in + English, at the Park Theatre, May 3, 1819, with Thomas + Phillipps and Miss Leesugg, as _Almaviva_ and _Rosina_; in + Italian, at the Park Theatre, November 29, 1825, with Manuel + Garcia, the elder, as _Almaviva_; Manuel Garcia, the + younger, _Figaro_; Signorina Garcia (afterwards the famous + Malibran), _Rosina_; Signor Rosick, _Dr. Bartolo_; Signor + Angrisani, _Don Basilio_; Signor Crivelli, the younger, + _Fiorello_, and Signora Garcia, _mère_, _Berta_. (See + concluding paragraphs of this article.) Adelina Patti, + Melba, Sembrich, Tetrazzini are among the prima donnas who + have been familiar to opera lovers in this country as + _Rosina_. Galli-Curci appeared in this rôle in Chicago, + January 1, 1917. + + CHARACTERS + + COUNT ALMAVIVA _Tenor_ + DOCTOR BARTOLO _Bass_ + BASILIO, a Singing Teacher _Bass_ + FIGARO, a Barber _Baritone_ + FIORELLO, servant to the Count _Bass_ + AMBROSIO, servant to the Doctor _Bass_ + ROSINA, the Doctor's ward _Soprano_ + BERTA (or MARCELLINA), Rosina's Governess _Soprano_ + + Notary, Constable, Musicians and Soldiers. + + _Time_--Seventeenth Century. + + _Place_--Seville, Spain. + +Upon episodes in Beaumarchais's trilogy of "Figaro" comedies two +composers, Mozart and Rossini, based operas that have long maintained +their hold upon the repertoire. The three Beaumarchais comedies are +"Le Barbier de Séville," "Le Mariage de Figaro," and "La Mère +Coupable." Mozart selected the second of these, Rossini the first; so +that although in point of composition Mozart's "Figaro" (May, 1786) +antedates Rossini's "Barbiere" (February, 1816) by nearly thirty +years, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" precedes "Le Nozze di Figaro" in +point of action. In both operas _Figaro_ is a prominent character, +and, while the composers were of wholly different nationality and +race, their music is genuinely and equally sparkling and witty. To +attempt to decide between them by the flip of a coin would be "heads I +win, tails you lose." + +There is much to say about the first performance of "Il Barbiere di +Siviglia"; also about the overture, the origin of _Almaviva's_ +graceful solo, "Ecco ridente in cielo," and the music selected by +prima donnas to sing in the "lesson scene" in the second act. But +these details are better preceded by some information regarding the +story and the music. + + * * * * * + +Act I, Scene 1. A street by _Dr. Bartolo's_ house. _Count Almaviva_, a +Grandee of Spain, is desperately in love with _Rosina_, the ward of +_Doctor Bartolo_. Accompanied by his servant Fiorello and a band of +lutists, he serenades her with the smooth, flowing measures of "Ecco +ridente in cielo," (Lo, smiling in the Eastern sky). + +[Music: Ecco ridente in cielo,] + +Just then _Figaro_, the barber, the general factotum and busybody of +the town, dances in, singing the famous patter air, "Largo al factotum +della città" (Room for the city's factotum). + +[Music: Largo al factotum della città largo,] + +He is _Dr. Bartolo's_ barber, and, learning from the _Count_ of his +heart's desire, immediately plots with him to bring about his +introduction to _Rosina_. There are two clever duets between _Figaro_ +and the _Count_--one in which _Almaviva_ promises money to the +_Barber_; the other in praise of love and pleasure. + +_Rosina_ is strictly watched by her guardian, _Doctor Bartolo_, who +himself plans to marry his ward, since she has both beauty and money. +In this he is assisted by _Basilio_, a music-master. _Rosina_, +however, returns the affection of the _Count_, and, in spite of the +watchfulness of her guardian, she contrives to drop a letter from the +balcony to _Almaviva_, who is still with _Figaro_ below, declaring her +passion, and at the same time requesting to know her lover's name. + +Scene 2. Room in _Dr. Bartolo's_ house. _Rosina_ enters. She sings the +brilliant "Una voce poco fa" (A little voice I heard just now), + +[Music: Una voce poco fa qui nel cor mi risuonò] + +followed by "Io sono docile" (With mild and docile air). + +[Music: Io sono docile, son rispettosa,] + +_Figaro_, who has left _Almaviva_ and come in from the street, tells +her that the _Count_ is Signor Lindor, claims him as a cousin, and +adds that the young man is deeply in love with her. _Rosina_ is +delighted. She gives him a note to convey to the supposed Signor +Lindor. (Duet, _Rosina_ and _Figaro_: "Dunque io son, tu non +m'inganni?"--Am I his love, or dost thou mock me?) + +Meanwhile _Bartolo_ has made known to _Basilio_ his suspicions that +_Count Almaviva_ is in love with _Rosina_. _Basilio_ advises to start +a scandal about the _Count_ and, in an aria ("La calunnia") remarkable +for its descriptive crescendo, depicts how calumny may spread from the +first breath to a tempest of scandal. + +[Music: La calunnia è un venticello] + +To obtain an interview with _Rosina_, the _Count_ disguises himself as +a drunken soldier, and forces his way into _Bartolo's_ house. The +disguise of _Almaviva_ is penetrated by the guardian, and the +pretended soldier is placed under arrest, but is at once released upon +secretly showing the officer his order as a Grandee of Spain. Chorus, +preceded by the trio, for _Rosina_, _Almaviva_ and _Bartolo_--"Fredda +ed immobile" (Awestruck and immovable). + +Act II. The _Count_ again enters _Bartolo's_ house. He is now +disguised as a music teacher, and pretends that he has been sent by +_Basilio_ to give a lesson in music, on account of the illness of the +latter. He obtains the confidence of _Bartolo_ by producing _Rosina's_ +letter to himself, and offering to persuade _Rosina_ that the letter +has been given him by a mistress of the _Count_. In this manner he +obtains the desired opportunity, under the guise of a music +lesson--the "music lesson" scene, which is discussed below--to hold a +whispered conversation with _Rosina_. _Figaro_ also manages to obtain +the keys of the balcony, an escape is determined on at midnight, and a +private marriage arranged. Now, however, _Basilio_ makes his +appearance. The lovers are disconcerted, but manage, by persuading the +music-master that he really is ill--an illness accelerated by a full +purse slipped into his hand by _Almaviva_--to get rid of him. Duet for +_Rosina_ and _Almaviva_, "Buona sera, mio Signore" (Fare you well +then, good Signore). + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Sammarco as Figaro in "The Barber of Seville"] + +[Music: + +(Count) Buona sera, mio Signore + +(Rosina) Buona sera, buona sera;] + +When the _Count_ and _Figaro_ have gone, _Bartolo_, who possesses the +letter _Rosina_ wrote to _Almaviva_, succeeds, by producing it, and +telling her he secured it from another lady-love of the _Count_, in +exciting the jealousy of his ward. In her anger she discloses the plan +of escape and agrees to marry her guardian. At the appointed time, +however, _Figaro_ and the _Count_ make their appearance--the lovers +are reconciled, and a notary, procured by _Bartolo_ for his own +marriage to _Rosina_, celebrates the marriage of the loving pair. When +the guardian enters, with officers of justice, into whose hands he is +about to consign _Figaro_ and the _Count_, he is too late, but is +reconciled by a promise that he shall receive the equivalent of his +ward's dower. + + * * * * * + +Besides the music that has been mentioned, there should be reference +to "the big quintet" of the arrival and departure of _Basilio_. Just +before _Almaviva_ and _Figaro_ enter for the elopement there is a +storm. The delicate trio for _Almaviva_, _Rosina_ and _Figaro_, +"Zitti, zitti, piano" (Softly, softly and in silence), bears, probably +without intention, a resemblance to a passage in Haydn's "Seasons." + +[Music: Zitti, zitti, piano, piano,] + +The first performance of "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," an opera that has +held its own for over a century, was a scandalous failure, which, +however, was not without its amusing incidents. Castil-Blaze, Giuseppe +Carpani in his "Rossiniane," and Stendhal in "Vie de Rossini" (a lot +of it "cribbed" from Carpani) have told the story. Moreover the +_Rosina_ of the evening, Mme. Giorgi-Righetti, who was both pretty and +popular, has communicated her reminiscences. + +December 26, 1815, Duke Cesarini, manager of the Argentine Theatre, +Rome, for whom Rossini had contracted to write two operas, brought out +the first of these, "Torvaldo e Dorliska," which was poorly received. +Thereupon Cesarini handed to the composer the libretto of "Il Barbiere +di Siviglia," which Paisiello, who was still living, had set to music +more than half a century before. A pleasant memory of the old master's +work still lingered with the Roman public. The honorarium was 400 +Roman crowns (about $400) and Rossini also was called upon to preside +over the orchestra at the pianoforte at the first three performances. +It is said that Rossini composed his score in a fortnight. Even if not +strictly true, from December 26th to the February 5th following is but +little more than a month. The young composer had too much sense not to +honour Paisiello; or, at least, to appear to. He hastened to write to +the old composer. The latter, although reported to have been intensely +jealous of the young maestro (Rossini was only twenty-five) since the +sensational success of the latter's "Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra" +(Elizabeth, Queen of England), Naples, 1815, replied that he had no +objection to another musician dealing with the subject of his opera. +In reality, it is said, he counted on Rossini's making a glaring +failure of the attempt. The libretto was rearranged by Sterbini, and +Rossini wrote a preface, modest in tone, yet not without a hint that +he considered the older score out of date. But he took the precaution +to show Paisiello's letter to all the music lovers of Rome, and +insisted on changing the title of the opera to "Almaviva, ossia +l'Inutile Precauzione" (Almaviva, or the Useless Precaution). + +Nevertheless, as soon as the rumour spread that Rossini was making +over Paisiello's work, the young composer's enemies hastened to talk +in the cafés about what they called his "underhand action." Paisiello +himself, it is believed, was not foreign to these intrigues. A letter +in his handwriting was shown to Rossini. In this he is said to have +written from Naples to one of his friends in Rome urging him to +neglect nothing that would make certain the failure of Rossini's +opera. + +Mme. Giorgi-Righetti reports that "hot-headed enemies" assembled at +their posts as soon as the theatre opened, while Rossini's friends, +disappointed by the recent ill luck of "Torvaldo e Dorliska" were +timid in their support of the new work. Furthermore, according to Mme. +Giorgi-Righetti, Rossini weakly yielded to a suggestion from Garcia, +and permitted that artist, the _Almaviva_ of the première, to +substitute for the air which is sung under _Rosina's_ balcony, a +Spanish melody with guitar accompaniment. The scene being laid in +Spain, this would aid in giving local colour to the work--such was the +idea. But it went wrong. By an unfortunate oversight no one had tuned +the guitar with which _Almaviva_ was to accompany himself, and Garcia +was obliged to do this on the stage. A string broke. The singer had to +replace it, to an accompaniment of laughter and whistling. This was +followed by _Figaro's_ entrance air. The audience had settled down for +this. But when they saw Zamboni, as _Figaro_, come on the stage with +another guitar, another fit of laughing and whistling seized them, and +the racket rendered the solo completely inaudible. _Rosina_ appeared +on the balcony. The public greatly admired Mme. Giorgi-Righetti and +was disposed to applaud her. But, as if to cap the climax of +absurdity, she sang: "Segui, o caro, deh segui così" (Continue my +dear, do always so). Naturally the audience immediately thought of the +two guitars, and went on laughing, whistling, and hissing during the +entire duet between _Almaviva_ and _Figaro_. The work seemed doomed. +Finally _Rosina_ came on the stage and sang the "Una voce poco fa" (A +little voice I heard just now) which had been awaited with impatience +(and which today is still considered an operatic _tour de force_ for +soprano). The youthful charm of Mme. Giorgi-Righetti, the beauty of +her voice, and the favour with which the public regarded her, "won her +a sort of ovation" in this number. A triple round of prolonged +applause raised hopes for the fate of the work. Rossini rose from his +seat at the pianoforte, and bowed. But realizing that the applause was +chiefly meant for the singer, he called to her in a whisper, "Oh, +natura!" (Oh, human nature!) + +"Give her thanks," replied the artiste, "since without her you would +not have had occasion to rise from your seat." + +What seemed a favourable turn of affairs did not, however, last long. +The whistling was resumed louder than ever at the duet between +_Figaro_ and _Rosina_. "All the whistlers of Italy," says +Castil-Blaze, "seemed to have given themselves a rendezvous for this +performance." Finally, a stentorian voice shouted: "This is the +funeral of Don Pollione," words which doubtless had much spice for +Roman ears, since the cries, the hisses, the stamping, continued with +increased vehemence. When the curtain fell on the first act Rossini +turned toward the audience, slightly shrugged his shoulders, and +clapped his hands. The audience, though greatly offended by this show +of contemptuous disregard for its opinion, reserved its revenge for +the second act, not a note of which it allowed to be heard. + +At the conclusion of the outrage, for such it was, Rossini left the +theatre with as much nonchalance as if the row had concerned the work +of another. After they had gotten into their street clothes the +singers hurried to his lodgings to condole with him. He was sound +asleep! + +[Illustration: Photo copyright, 1916, by Victor Georg + +Galli-Curci as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Sembrich as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville"] + +There have been three historic failures of opera. One was the +"Tannhäuser" fiasco, Paris, 1861; another, the failure of "Carmen," +Paris, 1875. The earliest I have just described. + +For the second performance of "Il Barbiere" Rossini replaced the +unlucky air introduced by Garcia with the "Ecco ridente in cielo," as +it now stands. This cavatina he borrowed from an earlier opera of his +own, "Aureliano in Palmira" (Aurelian in Palmyra). It also had figured +in a cantata (not an opera) by Rossini, "Ciro in Babilonia" (Cyrus in +Babylon)--so that measures first sung by a Persian king in the ancient +capital of Nebuchadnezzar, and then by a Roman emperor and his +followers in the city which flourished in an oasis in the Syrian +desert, were found suitable to be intoned by a lovesick Spanish count +of the seventeenth century as a serenade to his lady of Seville. It +surely is amusing to discover in tracing this air to its original +source, that "Ecco ridente in cielo" (Lo, smiles the morning in the +sky) figured in "Aureliano in Palmira" as an address to Isis--"Sposa +del grande Osiride" (Spouse of the great Osiris). + +Equally amusing is the relation of the overture to the opera. The +original is said to have been lost. The present one has nothing to do +with the ever-ready _Figaro_, the coquettish _Rosina_, or the +sentimental _Almaviva_, although there have been writers who have +dilated upon it as reflecting the spirit of the opera and its +characters. It came from the same source as "Lo, smiles the morning in +the sky"--from "Aureliano," and in between had figured as the overture +to "Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra." It is thus found to express in +"Elisabetta" the conflict of love and pride in one of the most haughty +souls of whom history records the memory, and in "Il Barbiere" the +frolics of _Figaro_. But the Italians, prior to Verdi's later period, +showed little concern over such unfitness of things, for it is +recorded that this overture, when played to "Il Barbiere," was much +applauded. + +"Ecco ridente in cielo," it is gravely pointed out by early writers on +Rossini, is the "first example of modulation into the minor key later +so frequently used by this master and his crowd of imitators." Also +that "this ingenious way of avoiding the beaten path was not really a +discovery of Rossini's, but belongs to Majo (an Italian who composed +thirteen operas) and was used by several musicians before Rossini." +What a delightful pother over a modulation that the veriest tyro would +now consider hackneyed! However, "Ecco ridente," adapted in such haste +to "Il Barbiere" after the failure of Garcia's Spanish ditty, was sung +by that artist the evening of the second performance, and loudly +applauded. Moreover, Rossini had eliminated from his score everything +that seemed to him to have been reasonably disapproved of. Then, +pretending to be indisposed, he went to bed in order to avoid +appearing at the pianoforte. The public, while not over-enthusiastic, +received the work well on this second evening; and before long Rossini +was accompanied to his rooms in triumph several evenings in +succession, by the light of a thousand torches in the hands of the +same Romans who had hissed his opera but a little while before. The +work was first given under the title Rossini had insisted on, but soon +changed back to that of the original libretto, "Il Barbiere di +Siviglia." + +It is a singular fact that the reception of "Il Barbiere" in Paris was +much the same as in Rome. The first performance in the Salle Louvois +was coldly received. Newspapers compared Rossini's "Barber" +unfavourably with that of Paisiello. Fortunately the opposition +demanded a revival of Paisiello's work. Paër, musical director at the +Théâtre Italien, not unwilling to spike Rossini's guns, pretended to +yield to a public demand, and brought out the earlier opera. But the +opposite of what had been expected happened. The work was found to be +superannuated. It was voted a bore. It scored a fiasco. Rossini +triumphed. The elder Garcia, the _Almaviva_ of the production in Rome, +played the same rôle in Paris, as he also did in London, and at the +first Italian performance of the work in New York. + +Rossini had the reputation of being indolent in the extreme--when he +had nothing to do. We have seen that when the overture to "Il Barbiere +di Siviglia" was lost (if he really ever composed one), he did not +take the trouble to compose another, but replaced it with an earlier +one. In the music lesson scene in the second act the original score is +said to have contained a trio, presumably for _Rosina_, _Almaviva_, +and _Bartolo_. This is said to have been lost with the overture. As +with the overture, Rossini did not attempt to recompose this number +either. He simply let his prima donna sing anything she wanted to. +"_Rosina_ sings an air, ad libitum, for the occasion," reads the +direction in the libretto. Perhaps it was Giorgi-Righetti who first +selected "La Biondina in gondoletta," which was frequently sung in the +lesson scene by Italian prima donnas. Later there was substituted the +air "Di tanti palpiti" from the opera "Tancredi," which is known as +the "aria dei rizzi," or "rice aria," because Rossini, who was a great +gourmet, composed it while cooking his rice. Pauline Viardot-Garcia +(Garcia's daughter), like her father in the unhappy première of the +opera, sang a Spanish song. This may have been "La Calesera," which +Adelina Patti also sang in Paris about 1867. Patti's other selections +at this time included the laughing song, the so-called "L'Éclat de +Rire" (Burst of Laughter) from Auber's "Manon Lescaut," as highly +esteemed in Paris in years gone by as Massenet's "Manon" now is. In +New York I have heard Patti sing, in this scene, the Arditi waltz, "Il +Bacio" (The Kiss); the bolero of Hélène, from "Les Vêpres Siciliennes" +(The Sicilian Vespers), by Verdi; the "Shadow Dance" from Meyerbeer's +"Dinorah"; and, in concluding the scene, "Home, Sweet Home," which +never failed to bring down the house, although the naïveté with which +she sang it was more affected than affecting. + +Among prima donnas much earlier than Patti there were at least two, +Grisi and Alboni (after whom boxes were named at the Academy of Music) +who adapted a brilliant violin piece, Rode's "Air and Variations," to +their powers of vocalization and sang it in the lesson scene. I +mention this because the habit of singing an air with variations +persisted until Mme. Sembrich's time. She sang those by Proch, a +teacher of many prima donnas, among them Tietjens and Peschka-Leutner, +who sang at the Peace Jubilee in Boston (1872) and was the first to +make famous her teacher's coloratura variations, with "flauto +concertante." Besides these variations, Mme. Sembrich sang Strauss's +"Voce di Primavera" waltz, "Ah! non giunge," from "La Sonnambula," the +bolero from "The Sicilian Vespers" and "O luce di quest'anima," from +"Linda di Chamounix." The scene was charmingly brought to an end by +her seating herself at the pianoforte and singing, to her own +accompaniment, Chopin's "Maiden's Wish." Mme. Melba sang Arditi's +waltz, "Se Saran Rose," Massenet's "Sevillana," and the mad scene from +"Lucia," ending, like Mme. Sembrich, with a song to which she played +her own accompaniment, her choice being Tosti's "Mattinata." Mme. +Galli-Curci is apt to begin with the brilliant vengeance air from "The +Magic Flute," her encores being "L'Éclat de Rire" by Auber and +"Charmante Oiseau" (Pretty Bird) from David's "La Perle du Brésil" +(The Pearl of Brazil). "Home, Sweet Home" and "The Last Rose of +Summer," both sung by her to her own accompaniment, conclude this +interesting "lesson," in which every _Rosina_, although supposedly a +pupil receiving a lesson, must be a most brilliant and accomplished +prima donna. + +The artifices of opera are remarkable. The most incongruous things +happen. Yet because they do not occur in a drawing-room in real life, +but on a stage separated from us by footlights, we lose all sense of +their incongruity. The lesson scene occurs, for example, in an opera +composed by Rossini in 1816. But the compositions now introduced into +that scene not only are not by Rossini but, for the most, are modern +waltz songs and compositions entirely different from the class that a +voice pupil, at the time the opera was composed, could possibly have +sung. But so convincing is the fiction of the stage, so delightfully +lawless its artifices, that these things do not trouble us at all. +Mme. Galli-Curci, however, by her choice of the "Magic Flute" aria +shows that it is entirely possible to select a work that already was a +classic at the time "Il Barbiere" was composed, yet satisfies the +demand of a modern audience for brilliant vocalization in this scene. + +There is evidence that in the early history of "Il Barbiere," +Rossini's "Di tanti palpiti" (Ah! these heartbeats) from his opera +"Tancredi" (Tancred), not only was invariably sung by prima donnas in +the lesson scene, but that it almost became a tradition to use it in +this scene. In September, 1821, but little more than five years after +the work had its première, it was brought out in France (Grand +Théâtre, Lyons) with French text by Castil-Blaze, who also +superintended the publication of the score. + +"I give this score," he says, "as Rossini wrote it. But as several +pieces have been transposed to favour certain Italian opera singers, I +do not consider it useless to point out these transpositions here.... +Air No. 10, written in G, is sung in A." Air No. 10, published by +Castil-Blaze as an integral part of the score of "Il Barbiere," occurs +in the lesson scene. It is "Di tanti palpiti" from "Tancredi." + +[Music: Di tanti palpiti e tante pene] + +Readers familiar with the history of opera, therefore aware that +Alboni was a contralto, will wonder at her having appeared as +_Rosina_, when that rôle is associated with prima donnas whose voices +are extremely high and flexible. But the rôle was written for low +voice. Giorgi-Righetti, the first _Rosina_, was a contralto. As it now +is sung by high sopranos, the music of the rôle is transposed from the +original to higher keys in order to give full scope for brilliant +vocalization on high notes. + +Many liberties have been taken by prima donnas in the way of vocal +flourishes and a general decking out of the score of "Il Barbiere" +with embellishments. The story goes that Patti once sang "Una voce +poco fa," with her own frills added, to Rossini, in Paris. + +"A very pretty song! Whose is it?" is said to have been the composer's +cutting comment. + +There is another anecdote about "Il Barbiere" which brings in +Donizetti, who was asked if he believed that Rossini really had +composed the opera in thirteen days. + +"Why not? He's so lazy," is the reported reply. + +If the story is true, Donizetti was a very forward young man. He was +only nineteen when "Il Barbiere" was produced, and had not yet brought +out his first opera. + +The first performance in America of "The Barber of Seville" was in +English at the Park Theatre, New York, May 3, 1819. (May 17th, cited +by some authorities, was the date of the third performance, and is so +announced in the advertisements.) Thomas Phillips was _Almaviva_ and +Miss Leesugg _Rosina_. "Report speaks in loud terms of the new opera +called 'The Barber of Seville' which is announced for this evening. +The music is said to be very splendid and is expected to be most +effective." This primitive bit of "publicity," remarkable for its day, +appeared in _The Evening Post_, New York, Monday, May 3, 1819. The +second performance took place May 7th. Much music was interpolated. +Phillips, as _Almaviva_, introduced "The Soldier's Bride," "Robin +Adair," "Pomposo, or a Receipt for an Italian Song," and "the +favourite duet with Miss Leesugg, of 'I love thee.'" (One wonders what +was left of Rossini's score.) In 1821 he appeared again with Miss +Holman as _Rosina_. + +That Phillips should have sung _Figaro_, a baritone rôle in "Le Nozze +di Figaro," and _Almaviva_, a tenor part, in "Il Barbiere," may seem +odd. But in the Mozart opera he appeared in Bishop's adaptation, in +which the _Figaro_ rôle is neither too high for a baritone, nor too +low for a tenor. In fact the liberties Bishop took with Mozart's score +are so great (and so outrageous) that Phillips need have hesitated at +nothing. + +On Tuesday, November 22, 1825, Manuel Garcia, the elder, issued the +preliminary announcement of his season of Italian opera at the Park +Theatre, New York. The printers appear to have had a struggle with the +Italian titles of operas and names of Italian composers. For _The +Evening Post_ announces that "The Opera of 'H. Barbiora di Seviglia,' +by Rosina, is now in rehearsal and will be given as soon as possible." +That "soon as possible" was the evening of November 29th, and is +regarded as the date of the first performance in this country of opera +in Italian. + + +SEMIRAMIDE + + Opera in two acts by Rossini, words by Gaetana Rossi, + founded on Voltaire's tragedy, "Sémiramis." Produced, + February 3, 1823, Fenice Theatre, Venice; London, King's + Theatre, July 15, 1824; Paris, July 9, 1860, as Sémiramis; + New York, April 25, 1826; 1855 (with Grisi and Vestivalli); + 1890 (with Patti and Scalchi). + + CHARACTERS + + SEMIRAMIDE, Queen of Babylon _Soprano_ + ARSACES, Commander of the Assyrian Army _Contralto_ + GHOST OF NINUS _Bass_ + OROE, Chief of the Magi _Bass_ + ASSUR, a Prince _Baritone_ + AZEMA, a Princess _Soprano_ + IDRENUS } { _Tenor_ + MITRANUS } of the royal house household { _Baritone_ + + Magi, Guards, Satraps, Slaves. + + _Time_--Antiquity. + + _Place_--Babylon. + +"Semiramide" seems to have had its day. Yet, were a soprano and a +contralto, capable of doing justice to the rôles of _Semiramide_ and +_Arsaces_, to appear in conjunction in the operatic firmament the +opera might be successfully revived, as it was for Patti and Scalchi. +The latter, in her prime when she first appeared here, was one of the +greatest of contraltos. I think that all, who, like myself, had the +good fortune to hear that revival of "Semiramide," still consider the +singing by Patti and Scalchi of the duet, "Giorno d'orrore" (Day of +horror) the finest example of _bel canto_ it has been their privilege +to listen to. For beauty and purity of tone, smoothness of phrasing, +elegance, and synchronization of embellishment it has not been +equalled here since. + +In the first act of the opera is a brilliant aria for _Semiramide_, +"Bel raggio lusinghier" (Bright ray of hope),--the one piece that has +kept the opera in the phonograph repertoire. + +[Music: Bel raggio lusinghier] + +A priests' march and chorus, which leads up to the finale of the first +act, is accompanied not only by orchestra, but also by full military +band on the stage, the first instance of the employment of the latter +in Italian opera. The duet, "Giorno d'orrore," is in the second act. + +[Music] + +For many years the overture to "Semiramide" was a favourite at popular +concerts. It was admired for the broad, hymnlike air in the +introduction, which in the opera becomes an effective chorus, + +[Music] + +and for the graceful, lively melody, which is first announced on the +clarinet. I call it "graceful" and "lively," and so it would be +considered today. But in the opera it accompanies + +[Music] + +the cautious entrance of priests into a darkened temple where a deep +mystery is impending, and, at the time the opera was produced, this +music, which now we would describe as above, was supposed to be +"shivery" and gruesome. In fact the scene was objected to by audiences +of that now seemingly remote period, on the ground that the orchestra +was too prominent and that, in the treatment of the instrumental score +to his operas, Rossini was leaning too heavily toward German models! +But this, remember, was in 1824. + +The story of "Semiramide" can be briefly told. _Semiramide_, Queen of +Babylon, has murdered her husband, _Ninus_, the King. In this deed she +was assisted by _Prince Assur_, who expects to win her hand and the +succession to the throne. + +_Semiramide_, however, is enamoured of a comely youth, _Arsaces_, +victorious commander of her army, and supposedly a Scythian, but in +reality her own son, of which relationship only _Oroe_, the chief +priest of the temple, is aware. _Arsaces_ himself is in love with the +royal Princess _Azema_. + +At a gathering in the temple, the gates of the tomb of _Ninus_ are +opened as if by invisible hands. The shade of _Ninus_ announces that +_Arsaces_ shall be his successor; and summons him to come to the tomb +at midnight there to learn the secret of his assassination. + +Enraged at the prophecy of the succession of _Arsaces_ and knowing of +his coming visit to the tomb of _Ninus_, _Assur_ contrives to enter +it; while _Semiramide_, who now knows that the young warrior is her +son, comes to the tomb to warn him against _Assur_. The three +principal personages in the drama are thus brought together at its +climax. _Assur_ makes what would be a fatal thrust at _Arsaces_. +_Semiramide_ interposes herself between the two men and receives the +death wound. _Arsaces_ then fights and kills _Assur_, ascends the +throne and weds _Azema_. + +According to legend, Semiramis, when a babe, was fed by doves; and, +after reigning for forty-two years, disappeared or was changed into a +dove and flew away. For the first New York performance Garcia +announced the work as "La Figlia dell'Aria, or Semiramide" (The +Daughter of the Air, etc.). + + +GUILLAUME TELL + +WILLIAM TELL + + Opera by Rossini, originally in five acts, cut down to three + by omitting the third act and condensing the fourth and + fifth into one, then rearranged in four; words by "Jouy" + (V.J. Étienne), rearranged by Hippolyte and Armand Marast. + Produced, Grand Opéra, Paris, August 3, 1829, Nourrit being + the original _Arnold_; revived with Duprez, 1837. Italy, + "Guglielmo Tell," at Lucca, September 17, 1831. London, + Drury Lane, 1830, in English; Her Majesty's Theatre, 1839, + in Italian. In New York the title rôle has been sung by Karl + Formes, who made his first American tour in 1857. The + interpreters of _Arnold_ have included the Polish tenor + Mierzwinski at the Academy of Music, and Tamagno. + + CHARACTERS + + WILLIAM TELL _Baritone_ + HEDWIGA, Tell's wife _Soprano_ + JEMMY, Tell's son _Soprano_ + ARNOLD, suitor of Matilda _Tenor_ + MELCTHAL, Arnold's father _Bass_ + GESSLER, governor of Schwitz and Uri _Bass_ + MATILDA, Gessler's daughter _Soprano_ + RUDOLPH, captain in Gessler's guard _Tenor_ + WALTER FURST _Bass_ + LEUTHOLD, a shepherd _Bass_ + RUEDI, a fisherman _Tenor_ + + Peasants, Knights, Pages, Ladies, Hunters, Soldiers, Guards, + and three Bridal Couples. + + _Time_--Thirteenth Century. + + _Place_--Switzerland. + +_Arnold_, a Swiss patriot and son of the venerable Swiss leader, +_Melcthal_, has saved from drowning _Matilda_, daughter of the +Austrian tyrant _Gessler_, whom the Swiss abhor. _Arnold_ and +_Matilda_ have fallen in love with each other. + +Act I. A beautiful May morning has dawned over the Lake of Lucerne, on +which _Tell's_ house is situated. It is the day of the Shepherd +Festival. According to ancient custom the grey-haired _Melcthal_ +blesses the loving couples among them. But his own son, _Arnold_, does +not ask a blessing of the old man. Yet, although he loves _Matilda_, +his heart also belongs to his native land. The festival is interrupted +by the sound of horns. It is the train of _Gessler_, the hated tyrant. +_Leuthold_ rushes in, breathless. In order to protect his daughter +from dishonour, he has been obliged to kill one of _Gessler's_ +soldiers. He is pursued. To cross the lake is his only means of +escape. But who will take him in the face of the storm that is coming +up? _Tell_ wastes no time in thinking. He acts. It is the last +possible moment. _Gessler's_ guards already are seen, _Rudolph_ at +their head. With _Tell's_ aid the fugitive escapes them, but they turn +to the country folk, and seize and carry off old _Melcthal_. + +Act II. In a valley by a lake _Arnold_ and _Matilda_ meet and again +pledge their love. _Arnold_ learns from _Tell_ and _Walter_ that his +father has been slain by _Gessler's_ order. His thoughts turn to +vengeance. The three men bind themselves by oath to free Switzerland. +The cantons gather and swear to throw off the Austrian yoke. + +Act III. The market-place in Altdorf. It is the hundredth anniversary +of Austrian rule in Switzerland. Fittingly to celebrate the day +_Gessler_ has ordered his hat to be placed on top of a pole. The Swiss +are commanded to make obeisance to the hat. _Tell_ comes along holding +his son _Jemmy_ by the hand. He refuses to pay homage to the hat. As +in him is also recognized the man who saved _Leuthold_, he must be +punished. _Gessler_ cynically orders him to shoot an apple from +_Jemmy's_ head. The shot succeeds. Fearless, as before, _Tell_ informs +_Gessler_ that the second arrow was intended for him, had the first +missed its mark. _Tell's_ arrest is ordered, but the armed Swiss, who +have risen against Austria, approach. _Gessler_ falls by _Tell's_ +shot; the fight ends with the complete victory for the Swiss. +_Matilda_ who still loves _Arnold_ finds refuge in his arms. + +"Guillaume Tell" is the only opera by an Italian of which it can be +said that the overture has gained world-wide fame, and justly so, +while the opera itself is so rarely heard that it may almost be said +to have passed out of the repertoire. Occasionally it is revived for +the benefit of a high tenor like Tamagno. In point of fact, however, +it is too good a work to be made the vehicle of a single operatic +star. It is a question if, with a fine ensemble, "Guillaume Tell" +could not be restored to the list of operas regularly given. Or, is it +one of those works more famous than effective; and is that why, at +this point I am reminded of a passage in Whistler's "Ten O'clock"? The +painter is writing of art and of how little its spirit is affected by +the personality of the artist, or even by the character of a whole +people. + +"A whimsical goddess," he writes, "and a capricious, her strong sense +of joy tolerates no dullness, and, live we never so spotlessly, still +may she turn her back upon us. + +"As, from time immemorial, has she done upon the Swiss in their +mountains. + +"What more worthy people! Whose every Alpine gap yawns with tradition, +and is stocked with noble story; yet, the perverse and scornful one +will none of it, and the sons of patriots are left with the clock that +turns the mill, and the sudden cuckoo, with difficulty restrained in +its box!" + +Because we associate Switzerland with tourists, personally conducted +and otherwise, with hotels, guides, and a personnel trained to +welcome, entertain, and speed the departing guest, is it difficult for +us to grasp the heroic strain in "Guillaume Tell"? Surely it is a +picturesque opera; and Switzerland has a heroic past. Probably the +real reasons for the lack of public interest in the opera are the +clumsy libretto and the fact that Rossini, an Italian, was not wholly +in his element in composing a grand opera in the French style, which +"Guillaume Tell" is. It would be difficult to point out just how and +where the style hampered the composer, but there constantly is an +undefined feeling that it did--that the score is not as spontaneous +as, for example, "The Barber of Seville"; and that, although +"Guillaume Tell" is heroic, the "sudden cuckoo, with difficulty +restrained in its box," may at any time pop out and join in the +proceedings. + +The care which Rossini bestowed on this work is seen in the layout and +composition of the overture, which as an instrumental number is as +fine a _tour de force_ as his "Una voce poco fa," "Bel raggio," or +"Giorno d'orrore" are for voice. The slow introduction denotes Alpine +calm. There is a beautiful passage for violoncellos, which has been +quoted in books on instrumentation. In it Rossini may well have harked +back to his student years, when he was a pupil in violoncello playing +at the conservatory in Bologna. The calm is followed by a storm and +this, in turn, by a "Ranz des Vaches." The final section consists of a +trumpet call, followed by a fast movement, which can be played so as +to leave the hearer quite breathless. It is supposed to represent the +call to arms and the uprising of the Swiss against their Austrian +oppressors, whose yoke they threw off. + +The most striking musical number in the first act of the opera, is +_Arnold's_ "Ah, Matilda." + +[Music: Ah! Matilda, io t'amo, t'adoro [Transcriber's Note: original +ends with incorrect 'e amoe']] + +A tenor with powerful high tones in his voice always can render this +with great effect. In fact it is so effective that its coming so early +in the work is a fault of construction which in my opinion has been a +factor in the non-success of the opera as a whole. Even a tenor like +Mierzwinski, "a natural singer of short-lived celebrity," with +remarkable high notes, in this number could rouse to a high pitch of +enthusiasm an audience that remained comparatively calm the rest of +the evening. + +The climax of the second act is the trio between _Arnold_, _Tell_, and +_Walter_, followed by the assembly of the cantons and the taking of +the oath to conquer or die ("La gloria infiammi--i nostri petti"--May +glory our hearts with courage exalt). + +Its most effective passage begins as follows: + +[Music] + +Another striking musical number is _Arnold's_ solo in the last act, at +sight of his ruined home, "O muto asil" (O, silent abode). + +The opera ends with a hymn to liberty, "I boschi, i monti" (Through +forests wild, o'er mountain peaks). + +At the initial performance of "Guillaume Tell" in Paris, there was no +indication that the opera was not destined to remain for many years in +the repertoire. It was given fifty-six times. Then, because of the +great length of the opera, only the second act was performed in +connection with some other work, until the sensational success of +Duprez, in 1837, led to a revival. + +"Guillaume Tell," given in full, would last nearly five hours. The +poor quality of the original libretto by "Jouy" led to the revision by +Bis, but even after that there had to be cuts. + +"Ah, Maestro," exclaimed an enthusiastic admirer of Rossini to that +master, "I heard your 'William Tell' at the Opera last night!" + +"What?" asked Rossini. "The whole of it?" + +Clever; but by his question Rossini unconsciously put his finger on +the weak spot of the opera he intended to be his masterpiece. Be it +never so well given, it is long-winded. + + + + +Vincenzo Bellini + +(1802-1835) + + +Bellini, born in Catania, Sicily, November 3, 1802, is the composer of +"La Sonnambula," one of the most popular works of the old type of +Italian opera still found in the repertoire. "I Puritani," another +work by him, was given for the opening of two New York opera houses, +Palmo's in 1844, and Hammerstein's Manhattan, in 1903. But it +maintains itself only precariously. "Norma" is given still more +rarely, although it contains "Casta diva," one of the most famous +solos for soprano in the entire Italian repertory. + +This composer died at the village of Puteaux, France, September 23, +1835, soon after the highly successful production of "I Puritani" in +Paris, and while he was working on a commission to compose two operas +for the San Carlo Theatre, Naples, which had come to him through the +success of "Puritani." He was only thirty-two. + +It is not unlikely that had this composer, with his facile and +graceful gift for melody, lived longer he would have developed, as +Verdi did, a maturer and broader style, and especially have paid more +attention to the instrumentation of his operas, a detail which he +sadly neglected. + + +LA SONNAMBULA + +THE SLEEPWALKER + + Opera in three acts by Bellini, words by Felice Romani. + Produced, Carcano Theatre, Milan, March 6, 1831. London, + King's Theatre, July 28, 1831; in English, Drury Lane, May + 1, 1833. New York, Park Theatre, November 13, 1835, in + English, with Brough, Richings, and Mr. and Mrs. Wood; in + Italian, Palmo's Opera House, May 11, 1844; frequently sung + by Gerster and by Adelina Patti at the Academy of Music, and + at the Metropolitan Opera House by Sembrich; at the + Manhattan Opera House by Tetrazzini. + + CHARACTERS + + COUNT RODOLPHO, Lord of the castle _Bass_ + TERESA, proprietress of the mill _Soprano_ + AMINA, her foster daughter _Soprano_ + LISA, proprietress of the village inn _Soprano_ + ELVINO, a young farmer _Tenor_ + ALESSIO, a villager _Bass_ + + Notary, Villagers, etc. + + _Time_--Early Nineteenth Century. + + _Place_--A Village in Switzerland. + +Act I. The village green. On one side an inn. In the background a +water mill. In the distance mountains. As the curtain rises the +villagers are making merry, for they are about to celebrate a nuptial +contract between _Amina_, an orphan brought up as the foster-child of +_Teresa_, the mistress of the village mill, and _Elvino_, a young +landowner of the neighbourhood. These preparations, however, fill with +jealousy the heart of _Lisa_, the proprietress of the inn. For she is +in love with _Elvino_. Nor do _Alessio's_ ill-timed attentions please +her. _Amina_ enters under the care of _Teresa_, and returns her thanks +to her neighbours for their good wishes. She has two attractive solos. +These are "Come per me sereno" (How, for me brightly shining) + +[Music: Come per me sereno] + +and "Sovra il sen la man mi posa" (With this heart its joy +revealing). + +[Music: Sovra il sen la man mi posa,] + +Both are replete with grace and charm. + +When the village _Notary_ and _Elvino_ appear the contract is signed +and attested, and _Elvino_ places a ring on _Amina's_ finger. Duet: +"Prendi, l'anel ti dono" (Take now the ring I give you), a composition +in long-flowing expressive measures. + +Then the village is startled by the crack of whips and the rumble of +wheels. A handsome stranger in officer's fatigue uniform appears. He +desires to have his horses watered and fed, before he proceeds to the +castle. The road is bad, night is approaching. Counselled by the +villagers, and urged by _Lisa_, the officer consents to remain the +night at the inn. + +The villagers know it not at this time, but the officer is _Rodolpho_, +the lord of the castle. He looks about him and recalls the scenes of +his youth: "Vi ravviso" (As I view). + +[Music: Vi ravviso a luoghi ameni,] + +He then gallantly addresses himself to _Amina_ in the charming air, +"Tu non sai con quei begli occhi" (You know not, maid, the light your +eyes within). + +[Music: Tu non sai con quei begli occhi,] + +_Elvino_ is piqued at the stranger's attentions to his bride, but +_Teresa_ warns all present to retire, for the village is said to be +haunted by a phantom. The stranger treats the superstition lightly, +and, ushered in by _Lisa_, retires to the village inn. All then wend +their several ways homeward. _Elvino_, however, finds time to upbraid +_Amina_ for seemingly having found much pleasure in the stranger's +gallant speeches, but before they part there are mutual concessions +and forgiveness. + +Act II. _Rodolpho's_ sleeping apartment at the inn. He enters, +conducted by _Lisa_. She is coquettish, he quite willing to meet her +halfway in taking liberties with her. He learns from her that his +identity as the lord of the castle has now been discovered by the +villagers, and that they will shortly come to the inn to offer their +congratulations. + +He is annoyed, but quite willing that _Lisa's_ attractions shall atone +therefor. At that moment, however, there is a noise without, and +_Lisa_ escapes into an adjoining room. In her haste she drops her +handkerchief, which _Rodolpho_ picks up and hangs over the bedpost. A +few moments later he is amazed to see _Amina_, all in white, raise his +window and enter his room. He realizes almost immediately that she is +walking in her sleep, and that it is her somnambulism which has given +rise to the superstition of the village phantom. In her sleep _Amina_ +speaks of her approaching marriage, of _Elvino's_ jealousy, of their +quarrel and reconciliation. _Rodolpho_, not wishing to embarrass her +by his presence should she suddenly awaken, extinguishes the candles, +steps out of the window and closes it lightly after him. Still asleep +_Amina_ sinks down upon the bed. + +The villagers enter to greet _Rodolpho_. As the room is darkened, and, +to their amusement, they see the figure of a woman on the bed, they +are about to withdraw discreetly, when _Lisa_, who knows what has +happened, enters with a light, brings in _Elvino_, and points out +_Amina_ to him. The light, the sounds, awaken her. Her natural +confusion at the situation in which she finds herself is mistaken by +_Elvino_ for evidence of guilt. He casts her off. The others, save +_Teresa_, share his suspicions. _Teresa_, in a simple, natural way, +takes the handkerchief hanging over the bedpost and places it around +_Amina's_ neck, and when the poor, grief-stricken girl swoons, as +_Elvino_ turns away from her, her foster-mother catches her in her +arms. + +In this scene, indeed in this act, the most striking musical number is +the duet near the end. It is feelingly composed, and, as befits the +situation of a girl mistakenly, yet none the less cruelly, accused by +her lover, is almost wholly devoid of vocal embellishment. It begins +with _Amina's_ protestations of innocence: "D'un pensiero, e d'un +accento" (Not in thought's remotest region). + +When _Elvino's_ voice joins hers there is no comfort for her in his +words. He is still haunted by dark suspicions. + +[Music] + +An unusual and beautiful effect is the closing of the duet with an +expressive phrase for tenor alone: "Questo pianto del mio cor" (With +what grief my heart is torn). + +[Music] + +Act III, Scene 1. A shady valley between the village and the castle. +The villagers are proceeding to the castle to beg _Rodolpho_ to +intercede with _Elvino_ for _Amina_. _Elvino_ meets _Amina_. Still +enraged at what he considers her perfidy, he snatches from her finger +the ring he gave her. _Amina_ still loves him. She expresses her +feelings in the air: "Ah! perchè non posso odiarti" (Ah! Why is it I +cannot hate him [Transcriber's Note: should be 'hate you']). + +Scene 2. The village, near _Teresa's_ mill. Water runs through the +race and the wheel turns rapidly. A slender wooden bridge, spanning +the wheel, gives access from some dormer lights in the millroof to an +old stone flight of steps leading down to the foreground. + +_Lisa_ has been making hay while the sun shines. She has induced +_Elvino_ to promise to marry her. Preparations for the wedding are on +foot. The villagers have assembled. _Rodolpho_ endeavours to dissuade +_Elvino_ from the step he is about to take. He explains that _Amina_ +is a somnambulist. But _Elvino_ has never heard of somnambulism. He +remains utterly incredulous. + +_Teresa_ begs the villagers to make less disturbance, as poor _Amina_ +is asleep in the mill. The girl's foster-mother learns of _Elvino's_ +intention of marrying _Lisa_. Straightway she takes from her bosom +_Lisa's_ handkerchief, which she found hanging over _Rodolpho's_ +bedpost. _Lisa_ is confused. _Elvino_ feels that she, too, has +betrayed him. _Rodolpho_ again urges upon _Elvino_ that _Amina_ never +was false to him--that she is the innocent victim of sleepwalking. + +"Who can prove it?" _Elvino_ asks in agonized tones. + +"Who? She herself!--See there!" exclaims _Rodolpho_. + +For at that very moment _Amina_, in her nightdress, lamp in hand, +emerges from a window in the mill roof. She passes along, still +asleep, to the lightly built bridge spanning the mill wheel, which is +still turning round quickly. Now she sets foot on the narrow, insecure +bridge. The villagers fall on their knees in prayer that she may cross +safely. _Rodolpho_ stands among them, head uncovered. As _Amina_ +crosses the bridge a rotting plank breaks under her footsteps. The +lamp falls from her hand into the torrent beneath. She, however, +reaches the other side, and gains the stone steps, which she descends. +Still walking in her sleep, she advances to where stand the villagers +and _Rodolpho_. She kneels and prays for _Elvino_. Then rising, she +speaks of the ring he has taken from her, and draws from her bosom the +flowers given to her by him on the previous day. "Ah! non credea +mirarti sì presto estinto, o fiore" (Scarcely could I believe it that +so soon thou would'st wither, O blossoms). + +[Music: Ah! non credea mirarti sì presto estinto, o fiore,] + +Gently _Elvino_ replaces the ring upon her finger, and kneels before +her. "Viva Amina!" cry the villagers. She awakens. Instead of sorrow, +she sees joy all around her, and _Elvino_, with arms outstretched, +waiting to beg her forgiveness and lead her to the altar. + + "Ah! non giunge uman pensiero + Al contento ond'io son piena" + (Mingle not an earthly sorrow + With the rapture now o'er me stealing). + +[Music: + + Ah! non giunge uman pensiero + Al contento ond'io son piena] + +It ends with this brilliant passage: + +[Music] + +The "Ah! non giunge" is one of the show-pieces of Italian opera. Nor +is its brilliance hard and glittering. It is the brightness of a +tender soul rejoicing at being enabled to cast off sorrow. Indeed, +there is about the entire opera a sweetness and a gentle charm, that +go far to account for its having endured so long in the repertoire, +out of which so many works far more ambitious have been dropped. + +Opera-goers of the old Academy of Music days will recall the bell-like +tones of Etelka Gerster's voice in "Ah! non giunge"; nor will they +ever forget the bird-like, spontaneous singing in this rôle of Adelina +Patti, gifted with a voice and an art such as those who had the +privilege of hearing her in her prime have not heard since, nor are +likely to hear again. Admirers of Mme. Sembrich's art also are justly +numerous, and it is fortunate for habitués of the Metropolitan that +she was so long in the company singing at that house. She was a +charming _Amina_. Tetrazzini was brilliant in "La Sonnambula." +_Elvino_ is a stick of a rôle for tenor. _Rodolpho_ has the redeeming +grace of chivalry. _Amina_ is gentle, charming, appealing. + +The story of "Sonnambula" is simple and thoroughly intelligible, which +cannot be said for all opera plots. The mainspring of the action is +the interesting psycho-physical manifestation of somnambulism. This is +effectively worked out. The crossing of the bridge in the last scene +is a tense moment in the simple story. It calls for an interesting +stage "property"--the plank that breaks without precipitating _Amina_, +who sometimes may have more embonpoint than voice, into the mill-race. +All these elements contribute to the success of "La Sonnambula," +which, produced in 1831, still is a good evening's entertainment. + +_Amina_ was one of Jenny Lind's favourite rôles. There is a beautiful +portrait of her in the character by Eichens. It shows her, in the last +act, kneeling and singing "Ah! non credea," and is somewhat of a +rarity. A copy of it is in the print department of the New York Public +Library. It is far more interesting than her better known portraits. + + +NORMA + + Opera in two acts, by Bellini; words by Felice Romani, based + on an old French story. Produced, December 26, 1831, Milan. + King's Theatre, June 20, 1833, in Italian; Drury Lane, June + 24, 1837, in English. Paris, Théâtre des Italiens, 1833. + New York, February 25, 1841, at the Park Theatre; October 2, + 1854, for the opening of the Academy of Music, with Grisi, + Mario, and Susini; December 19, 1891, Metropolitan Opera + House, with Lilli Lehmann as _Norma_. + + CHARACTERS + + POLLIONE, Roman Pro-consul in Gaul _Tenor_ + OROVESO, Archdruid, father of Norma _Bass_ + NORMA, High-priestess of the druidical + temple of Esus _Soprano_ + ADALGISA, a virgin of the temple _Contralto_ + CLOTILDA, Norma's confidante _Soprano_ + FLAVIUS, a centurion _Tenor_ + + Priests, Officers of the Temple, Gallic Warriors, + Priestesses and Virgins of the Temple, and Two Children of + Norma and Pollione. + + _Time_--Roman Occupation, about 50 B.C. + + _Place_--Gaul. + +Act I. Sacred grove of the Druids. The high priest _Oroveso_ comes +with the Druids to the sacred grove to beg of the gods to rouse the +people to war and aid them to accomplish the destruction of the +Romans. Scarcely have they gone than the Roman Pro-consul _Pollione_ +appears and confides to his Centurion, _Flavius_, that he no longer +loves _Norma_, although she has broken her vows of chastity for him +and has borne him two sons. He has seen _Adalgisa_ and loves her. + +At the sound of the sacred instrument of bronze that calls the Druids +to the temple, the Romans disappear. The priests and priestesses +approach the altar. _Norma_, the high-priestess, daughter of +_Oroveso_, ascends the steps of the altar. No one suspects her +intimacy with the Roman enemy. But she loves the faithless man and +therefore seeks to avert the danger that threatens him, should Gaul +rise against the Romans, by prophesying that Rome will fall through +its own weakness, and declaring that it is not yet the will of the +gods that Gaul shall go to war. She also prays to the "chaste goddess" +for the return of the Roman leader, who has left her. Another +priestess is kneeling in deep prayer. This is _Adalgisa_, who also +loves _Pollione_. + +The scene changes and shows _Norma's_ dwelling. The priestess is +steeped in deep sadness, for she knows that _Pollione_ plans to desert +her and their offspring, although she is not yet aware of her rival's +identity. _Adalgisa_ comes to her to unburden her heart to her +superior. She confesses that to her faith she has become untrue +through love--and love for a Roman. _Norma_, thinking of her own +unfaithfulness to her vows, is about to free _Adalgisa_ from hers, +when _Pollione_ appears. Now she learns who the beloved Roman of +_Adalgisa_ is. But the latter turns from _Pollione_. She loves _Norma_ +too well to go away with the betrayer of the high-priestess. + +Act II. _Norma_, filled with despair, is beside the cradle of her +little ones. An impulse to kill them comes over her. But motherhood +triumphs over unrequited love. She will renounce her lover. _Adalgisa_ +shall become the happy spouse of _Pollione_, but shall promise to take +the place of mother to her children. _Adalgisa_, however, will not +hear of treachery to _Norma_. She goes to _Pollione_, but only to +remind him of his duty. + +The scene changes again to a wooded region of the temple in which the +warriors of Gaul have gathered. _Norma_ awaits the result of +_Adalgisa's_ plea to _Pollione_; then learns that she has failed and +has come back to the grove to pass her life as a priestess. _Norma's_ +wrath is now beyond control. Three times she strikes the brazen +shield; and, when the warriors have gathered, they joyfully hear her +message: War against the Romans! But with their deep war song now +mingles the sound of tumult from the temple. A Roman has broken into +the sacred edifice. He has been captured. It is _Pollione_, who she +knows has sought to carry off _Adalgisa_. The penalty for his +intrusion is death. But _Norma_, moved by love to pity, and still +hoping to save her recreant lover, submits a new victim to the +enraged Gauls--a perjured virgin of the priesthood. + +"Speak, then, and name her!" they cry. + +To their amazement she utters her own name, then confesses all to her +father, and to his care confides her children. + +A pyre has been erected. She mounts it, but not alone. _Pollione_, his +love rekindled at the spectacle of her greatness of soul, joins her. +In the flames he, too, will atone for their offences before God. + + * * * * * + +The ambition of every dramatic soprano of old was to don the robes of +a priestess, bind her brow with the mystic vervain, take in her hand a +golden sickle, and appear in the sacred grove of the Druids, there to +invoke the chaste goddess of the moon in the famous "Casta diva." +Prima donnas of a later period found further inspiration thereto in +the beautiful portrait of Grisi as _Norma_. Perhaps the last to yield +to the temptation was Lilli Lehmann, who, not content with having +demonstrated her greatness as _Brünnhilde_ and _Isolde_, desired in +1891, to demonstrate that she was also a great _Norma_, a +demonstration which did not cause her audience to become unduly +demonstrative. The fact is, it would be difficult to revive +successfully "Norma" as a whole, although there is not the slightest +doubt that "Casta diva, che in argenti" (Chaste goddess, may thy +silver beam), is one of the most exquisite gems of Italian song. + +[Music: Casta Diva,] + +It is followed immediately by "Ah! bello a me ritorna" (Beloved, +return unto me), which, being an allegro, contrasts effectively with +the long, flowing measures of "Casta diva." + +Before this in the opera there has occurred another familiar number, +the opening march and chorus of the Druids, "Dell'aura tua profetica" +(With thy prophetic oracle). + +[Music] + +There is a fine trio for _Norma_, _Adalgisa_, and _Pollione_, at the +end of the first act, "Oh! di qual sei tu vittima" (O, how his art +deceived you). + +[Music: Oh! di qual sei tu vittima] + +In the scene between _Norma_ and _Adalgisa_, in the second act, is the +duet, "Mira, O, Norma!" (Hear me, Norma). + +[Music: Mira, o, Norma! a' tuoi ginocchi,] + +Among the melodious passages in the opera, this is second in beauty +only to "Casta diva." + + +I PURITANI + +THE PURITANS + + Opera in three acts, by Bellini; words by Count Pepoli. + Produced, Paris, Théâtre des Italiens, January 25, 1835, + with Grisi as _Elvira_, Rubini as _Arturo_, Tamburini as + _Riccardo_ and Lablache as _Giorgio_. London, King's + Theatre, May 21, 1835, in Italian (I Puritani ed i + Cavalieri). New York, February 3, 1844; Academy of Music, + 1883, with Gerster; Manhattan Opera House, December 3, 1906, + with Bonci as _Arturo_, and Pinkert as _Elvira_; and in 1909 + with Tetrazzini as _Elvira_. + + CHARACTERS + + LORD GAUTIER WALTON of the Puritans _Bass_ + SIR GEORGE WALTON, his brother, + of the Puritans _Bass_ + LORD ARTHUR TALBOT, of the Cavaliers _Tenor_ + SIR RICHARD FORTH, of the Puritans _Baritone_ + SIR BENNO ROBERTSON, of the Puritans _Tenor_ + HENRIETTA, of France, widow of Charles I. _Soprano_ + ELVIRA, daughter of Lord Walton _Soprano_ + + Puritans, Soldiers of the Commonwealth, Men-at-Arms, Women, + Pages, etc. + + _Time_--During the Wars between Cromwell and the Stuarts. + + _Place_--Near Plymouth, England. + +Act I is laid in a fortress near Plymouth, held by _Lord Walton_ for +Cromwell. _Lord Walton's_ daughter, _Elvira_, is in love with _Lord +Arthur Talbot_, a cavalier and adherent of the Stuarts, but her father +has promised her hand to _Sir Richard Forth_, like himself a follower +of Cromwell. He relents, however, and _Elvira_ is bidden by her uncle, +_Sir George Walton_, to prepare for her nuptials with _Arthur_, for +whom a safe-conduct to the fortress has been provided. + +_Queen Henrietta_, widow of Charles I., is a prisoner in the fortress. +On discovering that she is under sentence of death, _Arthur_, loyal to +the Stuarts, enables her to escape by draping her in _Elvira's_ bridal +veil and conducting her past the guards, as if she were the bride. +There is one critical moment. They are met by _Sir Richard_, who had +hoped to marry _Elvira_. The men draw their swords, but a +disarrangement of the veil shows _Sir Richard_ that the woman he +supposes to be _Lord Arthur's_ bride is not _Elvira_. He permits them +to pass. When the escape is discovered, _Elvira_, believing herself +deserted, loses her reason. Those who had gathered for the nuptials, +now, in a stirring chorus, invoke maledictions upon _Arthur's_ head. + +Act II plays in another part of the fortress. It concerns itself +chiefly with the exhibition of _Elvira's_ madness. But it has also the +famous martial duet, "Suoni la tromba" (Sound the trumpet), in which +_Sir George_ and _Sir Richard_ announce their readiness to meet +_Arthur_ in battle and strive to avenge _Elvira's_ sad plight. + +Act III is laid in a grove near the fortress. _Arthur_, although +proscribed, seeks out _Elvira_. Her joy at seeing him again +temporarily lifts the clouds from her mind, but renewed evidence of +her disturbed mental state alarms her lover. He hears men, whom he +knows to be in pursuit of him, approaching, and is aware that capture +means death, but he will not leave _Elvira_. He is apprehended and is +about to be executed when a messenger arrives with news of the defeat +of the Stuarts and a pardon for all prisoners. _Arthur_ is freed. The +sudden shock of joy restores _Elvira's_ reason. The lovers are united. + + * * * * * + +As an opera "I Puritani" lacks the naïveté of "La Sonnambula," nor has +it any one number of the serene beauty of the "Casta diva" in "Norma." +Occasionally, however, it is revived for a tenor like Bonci, whose +elegance of phrasing finds exceptional opportunity in the rôle of +_Arthur_; or for some renowned prima donna of the brilliant coloratura +type, for whom _Elvira_ is a grateful part. + +The principal musical numbers are, in act first, _Sir Richard Forth's_ +cavatina, "Ah! per sempre io ti perdei" (Ah! forever have I lost +thee); _Arthur's_ romance, "A te o cara" (To thee, beloved); + +[Music: A te o cara, amor talora,] + +and _Elvira's_ sparkling polacca, "Son vergin vezzosa" (I am a +blithesome maiden). + +[Music: Son vergin vezzosa, in vesto di sposa,] + +In the second act we have _Elvira's_ mad scene, "Qui la voce sua +soave" (It was here in sweetest accents). + +[Music: Qui la voce sua soave] + +For _Elvira_ there also is in this act the beautiful air, "Vien, +diletto" (Come, dearest love). + +The act closes with the duet for baritone and bass, between _Sir +Richard_ and _Sir George_, "Suoni la tromba," a fine proclamation of +martial ardour, which "in sonorousness, majesty and dramatic +intensity," as Mr. Upton writes, "hardly has an equal in Italian +opera." + +[Music: + + Suoni la tromba, e intrepido + Io pugnerò da forte;] + +"A una fonte afflitto e solo" (Sad and lonely by a fountain), a +beautiful number for _Elvira_ occurs in the third act. + +There also is in this act the impassioned "Star teco ognor" (Still to +abide), for _Arthur_, with _Elvira's_ reply, "Caro, non ho parola" +(All words, dear love are wanting). + +It was in the duet at the end of Act II, on the occasion of the +opera's revival for Gerster, that I heard break and go to pieces the +voice of Antonio Galassi, the great baritone of the heyday of Italian +opera at the Academy of Music. "Suoni la tromba!"--He could sound it +no more. The career of a great artist was at an end. + +"I Puritani" usually is given in Italian, several of the characters +having Italian equivalents for English names--_Arturo_, _Riccardo_, +_Giorgio_, _Enrichetta_, etc. + +The first performance in New York of "I Puritani," which opened +Palmo's Opera House, was preceded by a "public rehearsal," which was +attended by "a large audience composed of the Boards of Aldermen, +editors, police officers, and musical people," etc. Signora Borghese +and Signor Antognini "received vehement plaudits." Antognini, however, +does not appear in the advertised cast of the opera. Signora Borghese +was _Elvira_, Signor Perozzi _Arturo_, and Signor Valtellino +_Giorgio_. The performance took place Friday, February 2, 1844. + + + + +Gaetano Donizetti + +(1797-1848) + + +The composer of "Lucia di Lammermoor," an opera produced in 1835, but +seemingly with a long lease of life yet ahead of it, was born at +Bergamo, November 29, 1797. He composed nearly seventy operas. + +His first real success, "Anna Bolena," was brought out in Rome, in +1830. Even before that, however, thirty-one operas by him had been +performed. Of his many works, the comparatively few still heard +nowadays are, in the order of their production, "L'Elisire d'Amore," +"Lucrezia Borgia," "Lucia di Lammermoor," "La Figlia del Reggimento," +"La Favorita," "Linda di Chamounix," and "Don Pasquale." A clever +little one-act comedy opera, "Il Campanello di Notte" (The Night Bell) +was revived in New York in the spring of 1917. + +With a gift for melody as facile as Bellini's, Donizetti is more +dramatic, his harmonization less monotonous, and his orchestration +more careful. This is shown by his choice of instruments for special +effects, like the harp solo preceding the appearance of _Lucia_, the +flute obligato in the mad scene in the opera of which she is the +heroine, and the bassoons introducing "Una furtiva lagrima," in +"L'Elisire d'Amore." He is a distinct factor in the evolution of +Italian opera from Rossini to and including Verdi, from whom, in turn, +the living Italian opera composers of note derive. + +Donizetti's father was a weaver, who wished his son to become a +lawyer. But he finally was permitted to enter the conservatory at +Bergamo, where, among other teachers, he had J.H. Mayr in harmony. He +studied further, on Mayr's recommendation, with Padre Martini. + +As his father wanted him to teach so that he would be self-supporting, +he enlisted in the army, and was ordered to Venice. There in his +leisure moments he composed his first opera, "Enrico di Borgogna," +produced, Venice, 1818. In 1845 he was stricken with paralysis. He +died at Bergamo, April 8, 1848. + + +L'ELISIRE D'AMORE + +THE ELIXIR OF LOVE + + Opera, in two acts. Music by Donizetti; words by Felice + Romani. Produced, Milan, May 12, 1832; London, December 10, + 1836; New Orleans, March 30, 1842; New York, Academy of + Music, 1883-84, with Gerster; Metropolitan Opera House, + 1904, with Sembrich, Caruso, Scotti, and Rossi. + + CHARACTERS + + NEMORINO, a young peasant _Tenor_ + ADINA, wealthy, and owner of a farm _Soprano_ + BELCORE, a sergeant _Baritone_ + DULCAMARA, a quack doctor _Bass_ + GIANNETTA, a peasant girl _Soprano_ + + _Time_--Nineteenth Century. + + _Place_--A small Italian village. + +Act I. Beauty and riches have made the young peasant woman, _Adina_, +exacting. She laughs at the embarrassed courting of the true-hearted +peasant lad, _Nemorino_; she laughs at the story of "Tristan and +Isolde," and rejoices that there are now no more elixirs to bring the +merry heart of woman into slavish dependence on love. Yet she does not +seem so much indifferent to _Nemorino_ as piqued over his lack of +courage to come to the point. + +_Sergeant Belcore_ arrives in the village at the head of a troop of +soldiers. He seeks to win _Adina's_ heart by storm. The villagers +tease _Nemorino_ about his soldier rival. The young peasant is almost +driven to despair by their raillery. Enter the peripatetic quack, _Dr. +Dulcamara_. For a ducat _Nemorino_ eagerly buys of him a flask of +cheap Bordeaux, which the quack assures him is an elixir of love, and +that, within twenty-four hours, it will enable him to win _Adina_. +_Nemorino_ empties the flask at a draught. A certain effect shows +itself at once. Under the influence of the Bordeaux he falls into +extravagant mirth, sings, dances--and grieves no more about _Adina_, +who becomes piqued and, to vex _Nemorino_, engages herself to marry +_Sergeant Belcore_. An order comes to the troops to move. The +_Sergeant_ presses for an immediate marriage. To this _Adina_, still +under the influence of pique, consents. _Nemorino_ seeks to console +himself by louder singing and livelier dancing. + +Act II. The village is assembled on _Adina's_ farm to celebrate her +marriage with the _Sergeant_. But it is noticeable that she keeps +putting off signing the marriage contract. _Nemorino_ awaits the +effect of the elixir. To make sure of it, he buys from _Dulcamara_ a +second bottle. Not having the money to pay for it, and _Belcore_ being +on the lookout for recruits, _Nemorino_ enlists and, with the money he +receives, pays _Dulcamara_. The fresh dose of the supposed elixir +makes _Nemorino_ livelier than ever. He pictures to himself the glory +of a soldier's career. He also finds himself greatly admired by the +village girls, for enlisting. _Adina_ also realizes that he has joined +the army out of devotion to her, and indicates that she favours him +rather than _Belcore_. But he now has the exalted pleasure of treating +her with indifference, so that she goes away very sad. He attributes +his luck to the elixir. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Hempel (Adina) and Caruso (Nemorino) in "L'Elisir d'Amore"] + +The villagers have learned that his rich uncle is dead and has left a +will making him his heir. But because this news has not yet been +communicated to him, he thinks their attentions due to the +love-philtre, and believes the more firmly in its efficacy. In any +event, _Adina_ has perceived, upon the _Sergeant's_ pressing her to +sign the marriage contract, that she really prefers _Nemorino_. Like a +shrewd little woman, she takes matters into her own hands, and buys +back from _Sergeant Belcore_ her lover's enlistment paper. Having thus +set him free, she behaves so coyly that _Nemorino_ threatens to seek +death in battle, whereupon she faints right into his arms. The +_Sergeant_ bears this unlucky turn of affairs with the bravery of a +soldier, while _Dulcamara's_ fame becomes such that he can sell to the +villagers his entire stock of Bordeaux for love elixir at a price that +makes him rich. + +The elixir of life of this "Elixir of Love" is the romance for tenor +in the second act, "Una furtiva lagrima" (A furtive tear), which +_Nemorino_ sings as _Adina_ sadly leaves him, when she thinks that he +has become indifferent to her. It was because of Caruso's admirable +rendition of this beautiful romance that the opera was revived at the +Metropolitan Opera House, New York, in 1904. Even the instrumental +introduction to it, in which the bassoons carry the air, is +captivating. + +[Music: + + Una furtiva lagrima + Negl'occhi suoi spuntò;] + +Act I is laid on _Adina's_ farm. _Adina_ has a florid air, "Chiedi +all'aura lusinghiera" (Go, demand of yon light zephyr), with which she +turns aside from _Nemorino's_ attentions. + +[Music: Chiedi all'aura lusinghiera,] + +The scene then changes to a square in the village. Here _Dr. +Dulcamara_ makes his entry, singing his buffo air, "Udite, udite, o +rustici" (Give ear, now, ye rustic ones). There are two attractive +duets in this scene. One is for _Nemorino_ and _Dr. Dulcamara_, +"Obbligato! obbligato!" (Thank you kindly! thank you kindly!). + +[Music] + +The other, for _Adina_ and _Nemorino_, is "Esulti pur la barbara per +poco alle mie pene" (Tho' now th' exulting cruel one can thus deride +my bitter pain). + +Act II, which shows a room in _Adina's_ farmhouse, opens with a bright +chorus of rejoicing at her approaching wedding. _Dulcamara_ brings out +a piece of music, which he says is the latest thing from Venice, a +barcarole for two voices. He and _Adina_ sing it; a dainty duet, "Io +son ricco, e tu sei bella" (I have riches, thou hast beauty) which +figures in all the old potpourris of the opera. + +[Music: + + Io son ricco, e tu sei bella; + Io ducati, e vezzi hai tu] + +There is a scene for _Nemorino_, _Giannetta_, and the peasants, in +which _Nemorino_ praises the elixir, "Dell'elisir mirabile" (Of this +most potent elixir). Later comes another duet for _Adina_ and +_Dulcamara_, "Quanto amore!" (What affection!) in which _Adina_ +expresses her realization of the death of _Nemorino's_ affection for +her. + +"The score of 'Elisire d'Amore,'" says the _Dictionnaire des Opéras_, +"is one of the most pleasing that the Bergamo composer has written in +the comic vein. It abounds in charming motifs and graceful melodies. +In the first act the duet for tenor and bass between the young +villager and _Dr. Dulcamara_ is a little masterpiece of animation, the +accompaniment of which is as interesting as the vocal parts. The most +striking passages of the second act are the chorus, 'Cantiamo, facciam +brindisi'; the barcarole for two voices, 'Io son ricco, e tu sei +bella'; the quartet, 'Dell'elisir mirabile'; the duet between _Adina_ +and _Dulcamara_, 'Quanto amore'; and finally the lovely and +smoothly-flowing romance of Nemorino, 'Una furtiva lagrima,' which is +one of the most remarkable inspirations of Donizetti." + + +LUCREZIA BORGIA + + Opera, in a prologue and two acts, by Donizetti; words by + Felice Romani, after Victor Hugo. Produced, La Scala, Milan, + 1834; Théâtre des Italiens, Paris, 1840; London, 1839; in + English, 1843; New York, Astor Place Opera House, 1847; with + Grisi, September 5, 1854; with Tietjens and Brignoli, 1876; + Academy of Music, October 30, 1882; Metropolitan Opera + House, with Caruso, 1902. + + CHARACTERS + + ALFONSO D'ESTE, Duke of Ferrara _Baritone_ + LUCREZIA BORGIA _Soprano_ + MAFFIO ORSINI _Contralto_ + GENNARO } Young noblemen in { _Tenor_ + LIVEROTTO } the service of the { _Tenor_ + VITELLOZZO } Venetian Republic { _Bass_ + GAZELLO _Bass_ + RUSTIGHELLO, in the service of DON ALFONSO _Tenor_ + GUBETTA } { _Bass_ + ASTOLFO } in the service of Lucrezia { _Tenor_ + + Gentlemen-at-arms, officers, and nobles of the Venetian + Republic; same, attached to court of Alfonso; + ladies-in-waiting, Capuchin monks, etc. + + _Time_--Early sixteenth century. + + _Place_--Venice and Ferrara. + +When an opera, without actually maintaining itself in the repertory, +nevertheless is an object of occasional revival, it is sure to contain +striking passages that seem to justify the experiment of bringing it +forward again. "Lucrezia Borgia" has a male character, _Maffio +Orsini_, sung by a contralto. _Orsini's_ _ballata_, "Il segreto per +esser felici" (O the secret of bliss in perfection), is a famous +contralto air which Ernestine Schumann-Heink, with her voice of +extraordinary range, has made well known all over the United States. + +I quote the lines from the Ditson libretto: + + O the secret of bliss in perfection, + Is never to raise an objection, + Whether winter hang tears on the bushes, + Or the summer-kiss deck them with blushes. + Drink, and pity the fool who on sorrow, + Ever wastes the pale shade of a thought. + Never hope for one jot from the morrow, + Save a new day of joy by it brought! + +The music has all the dash and abandon that the words suggest. +_Orsini_ sings it at a banquet in Ferrara. Suddenly from a +neighbouring room comes the sound of monks' voices chanting a dirge. A +door opens. The penitents, still chanting, enter. The lights grow dim +and one by one go out. The central doors swing back. _Lucrezia Borgia_ +appears in the entrance. The banqueters are her enemies. She has +poisoned the wine they have just quaffed to _Orsini's_ song. They are +doomed. The dirge is for them. But--what she did not know--among them +is _Gennaro_, her illegitimate son, whom she dearly loves. She offers +him an antidote, but in vain. He will not save himself, while his +friends die. She then discloses the fact that she is his mother. But, +even then, instead of accepting her proffered aid to save his life, he +repulses her. _Lucrezia_ herself then drains the poisoned cup from +which he has quaffed, and sinks, dying, upon his prostrate form. Such +is the sombre setting for the _Brindisi_--the drinking song--"the +secret of bliss in perfection"--when heard in the opera. + +[Music: + + Il segreto per esser felici + Sò per prova e l'insegno agli amici] + +The tenor rôle of _Gennaro_ also has tempted to occasional revivals of +the work. Mario introduced for this character as a substitute for a +scene in the second act, a recitative and air by Lillo, "Com'è soave +quest'ora di silenzio" (Oh! how delightful this pleasing hour of +silence), a change which is sometimes followed. + +Prologue. Terrace of the Grimani palace, Venice. Festival by night. +_Gennaro_, weary, separates from his friends and falls asleep on a +stone bench of the terrace. Here he is discovered by _Lucrezia_, who +is masked. She regards him with deep affection. "Com'è bello quale +incanto" (Holy beauty, child of nature) she sings. + +[Music: Com'è bello quale incanto] + +_Gennaro_ awakens. In answer to her questions he tells her that he has +been brought up by a poor fisherman, "Di pescatore ignobile" (Deem'd +of a fisher's lowly race). + +[Music: Di pescatore ignobile] + +The youth's friends come upon the scene. _Maffio Orsini_ tears the +mask from _Lucrezia's_ face, and in a dramatic concerted number he and +his friends remind _Lucrezia_, for the benefit of _Gennaro_, who had +been struck by her beauty and was unaware that she was the hated +_Borgia_, how each has lost a brother or other relative through her. +"Maffio Orsini, signora, son'io cui svenaste il dormente fratello" +(Madam, I am Orsini. My brother you did poison, the while he was +sleeping). And so each one in order. + +[Music: Maffio Orsini, signora, son'io] + +_Gennaro_ turns from her in loathing. She faints. + +Act I. A public place in Ferrara. On one side a palace. _Alfonso_, +who, incidentally, is _Lucrezia's_ fourth husband, she having done +away with his predecessors by poison, or other murderous means, is +jealous of _Gennaro_. Like the youth himself, he is ignorant that +_Lucrezia_ is his mother, and is persuaded that he is her paramour. He +has two solos. The first is "Vieni, la mia vendetta" (Haste then to +glut a vengeance); the second, "Qualunque sia l'evento" (On this I +stake my fortune). + +[Music: Qualunque sia l'evento che può recar fortuna,] + +_Gennaro_ and his friends come into the Plaza. They see the letters +BORGIA under the escutcheon of the palace. _Gennaro_, to show his +detestation of _Lucrezia's_ crimes, rushes up the steps and with his +sword hacks away the first letter of the name, leaving only ORGIA. At +the command of the _Duke_, he is arrested. + +_Lucrezia_, not knowing who has committed the outrage, demands of her +husband that its perpetrator be put to death. _Alfonso_, with cynical +readiness, consents. _Gennaro_ is led in. _Lucrezia_ now pleads for +his life. The _Duke_ is firm, even though _Lucrezia_ quite casually +reminds him that he is her fourth husband and may share the fate of +the other three. ("Aye, though the fourth of my husbands, you lord +it.") His comment is the command that _Gennaro_ shall meet death by +quaffing a goblet of poisoned wine handed to him by _Lucrezia_ +herself. There is here a strong trio for _Lucrezia_, _Gennaro_, and +_Alfonso_, as _Alfonso_ pours wine for himself and _Lucrezia_ from a +silver flagon, while he empties the poisoned contents of a gold +vessel, "the Borgia wine," into _Gennaro's_ cup. But _Lucrezia_ has +the antidote; and, the _Duke_ having left her with _Gennaro_, in order +that she shall have the pleasure of watching the death of the man of +whom he suspects her to be enamored, she gives it to _Gennaro_, and +bids him flee from _Ferrara_. + +Act II is laid in the Negroni palace, and is the scene of the banquet, +which has already been described. + +When "Lucrezia Borgia" was produced in Paris, in 1840, Victor Hugo, +author of the drama upon which the libretto is based, objected. The +French have long gone much further than we do in protecting the +property rights of authors and artists in their creations. The +producers of the opera were obliged to have the libretto rewritten. +The title was changed to "La Rinegata" and the scene was transferred +to Turkey. + + +LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR + + Opera in three acts, by Donizetti; words by Salvatore + Cammarano, after Scott's novel, "The Bride of Lammermoor." + Produced, San Carlo Theatre, Naples, September 26, 1835, + with Persiani as _Lucia_, and Duprez as _Edgardo_, the rôles + having been especially composed for these artists. London, + Her Majesty's Theatre, April 5, 1838, and, in English, at + the Princess Theatre, January 19, 1848. Paris, 1839. New + York in English, at the Park Theatre, November 17, 1845; + and, in Italian, November 14, 1849. Among celebrated + _Lucias_ heard in this country, are Patti, Gerster, Melba, + Sembrich, Tetrazzini and Galli-Curci (Chicago, November 21, + 1916); among _Edgardos_, Italo Campanini and Caruso. + + CHARACTERS + + LORD HENRY ASHTON, of Lammermoor _Baritone_ + LUCY, his sister _Soprano_ + EDGAR, Master of Ravenswood _Tenor_ + LORD ARTHUR BUCKLAW _Tenor_ + RAYMOND, chaplain at Lammermoor _Bass_ + ALICE, companion to Lucy _Mezzo-Soprano_ + NORMAN, follower of Lord Ashton _Tenor_ + + Relatives, Retainers, and Friends of the House of + Lammermoor. + + _Time_--About 1700. + + _Place_--Scotland. + + (Note. The characters in Italian are Enrico, Lucia, Edgardo, + Arturo, Raimondo, Alisa, and Normanno.) + +"Lucia di Lammermoor" is generally held to be Donizetti's finest work. +"In it the vein of melody--now sparkling, now sentimental, now +tragic--which embodies Donizetti's best claim on originality and +immortality, finds, perhaps, freest and broadest development." These +words are quoted from Baker's _Biographical Dictionary of Musicians_, +a volume that rarely pauses to comment on an individual work. "Lucia" +is indeed its composer's masterpiece; and a masterpiece of Italian +opera in the older definition of that term. Its melodies are many and +beautiful, and even when ornate in passages, are basically expressive +of the part of the tragic story to which they relate. Moreover, the +sextet at the end of the second act when _Edgar of Ravenswood_ appears +upon the scene just as Lucy with trembling hand has affixed her +signature to the contract of marriage between _Lord Bucklaw_ and +herself, ranks as one of the finest pieces of dramatic music in all +opera, and as a concerted number is rivalled, in Italian opera, by +only one other composition, the quartet in "Rigoletto." + +The sextet in "Lucia" rises to the full height of the dramatic +situation that has been created. It does so because the music +reflects the part each character plays in the action. It has +"physiognomy"--individual aspect and phraseology for each participant +in the drama; but, withal, an interdependence, which blends the +voices, as they are swept along, into one grand, powerful, and +dramatic climax. + +Another number, the mad scene in the third act, gives coloratura +sopranos an opportunity for technical display equal to that afforded +by the lesson scene in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia"; and, unlike the +latter, the music does not consist of interpolated selections, but of +a complete _scena_ with effective recitatives and brilliant solos, +that belong to the score. + +In the story of "Lucia," the heroine's brother, _Lord Henry Ashton_ of +Lammermoor, in order to retrieve his fallen fortunes, and extricate +himself from a perilous situation in which his participation in +political movements directed against the King has placed him, arranges +a marriage between his sister and _Lord Arthur Bucklaw_. _Lucy_ +herself knows nothing of this arrangement. _Henry_, on the other hand, +is equally ignorant of an attachment which exists between _Lucy_ and +_Edgar of Ravenswood_, between whose family and his own there long has +been a deadly feud. When he discovers it, he uses the most underhand +methods to break it off. + +_Edgar of Ravenswood_ is the last of his race. While he is absent on a +mission to France in the interests of Scotland, he despatches many +letters to _Lucy_. These letters are intercepted by _Henry_ who also +arranges that a forged paper, tending to prove the infidelity of +_Edgar_, is shown to _Lucy_. Urged by the necessities of her brother, +and believing herself deserted by her lover, _Lucy_ unwillingly +consents to become the bride of _Lord Arthur Bucklaw_. But, just as +she has signed the marriage contract, _Edgar of Ravenswood_ suddenly +appears. He has returned from France, and now comes to claim the hand +of _Lucy_--but too late. Convinced that _Lucy_ has betrayed his love, +he casts the ring she gave him at her feet and invokes imprecations +upon her and his ancient enemies, the House of Lammermoor. + +At night he is sought out in his gloomy castle by _Henry_. They agree +upon a duel to be fought near the tombs of the Ravenswoods, on the +ensuing morning, when _Edgar_, weary of life, and the last of a doomed +race, intends to throw himself on his adversary's weapon. But the +burden of woe has proved too much for _Lucy_ to bear. At night, after +retiring, she goes out of her mind, slays her husband, and dies of her +sorrows. + +_Edgar_ awaits his enemy in the churchyard of Ravenswood. But _Ashton_ +has fled. Instead, _Edgar's_ solitude is interrupted by a train of +mourners coming from the Castle of Lammermoor. Upon hearing of +_Lucy's_ death he plunges his dagger into his breast, and sinks down +lifeless in the churchyard where repose the remains of his ancestors. + +On the stage this story is developed so that shortly after the curtain +rises on Act I, showing a grove near the Castle of Lammermoor, _Henry_ +learns from _Norman_ the latter's suspicions that _Lucy_ and _Edgar_ +have been meeting secretly in the park of Lammermoor. _Norman_ has +despatched his huntsmen to discover, if they can, whether or not his +suspicions are correct. "Cruda funesta smania" (each nerve with fury +trembleth) sings _Henry_. + +Returning, the hunters relate, in a brisk chorus, that + + Long they wander'd o'er the mountain, + Search'd each cleft around the fountain, + +finally to learn by questioning a falconer that the intruder upon the +domain of Lammermoor was none other than _Edgar of Ravenswood_. Rage +and the spirit of revenge are expressed in _Henry's_ vigorous aria, +"La pietade in suo favore" (From my breast I mercy banish). + +[Music: La pietade in suo favore] + +The scene changes to the park near a fountain. What now occurs is +usually as follows. The curtain rises, and shows the scene--evening +and moonlight. There is played a beautiful harp solo, an unusual and +charming effect in opera. Having prepared the mood for the scene which +is to follow, it is promptly encored and played all over again. Then +_Lucy_ appears with her companion, _Alice_. To her she relates the +legend of the fountain, "Regnava nel silenzio" (Silence o'er all was +reigning). + +[Music: Regnava nel silenzio] + +This number gives an idea of the characteristics of _Lucy's_ principal +solos. It is brilliant in passages, yet its melody is dreamy and +reflective. Largely due to this combination of traits is the +popularity of "Lucia di Lammermoor," in which, although there is +comparatively little downright cheerful music, it is relieved of gloom +by the technical brilliancy for which it often calls;--just as, in +fact, _Lucy's_ solo following the legend of the fountain, dispels the +dark forebodings it inspired. This second solo for _Lucy_, one of the +best-known operatic numbers for soprano, is the "Quando rapito" (Then +swift as thought). + +[Music: Quando rapito in estasi del più cocente ardore] + +Another beautiful and familiar number is the duet between _Lucy_ and +_Edgar_, who has come to tell her of his impending departure for +France and to bid her farewell: "Verranno a te [Transcriber's Note: +original has incorrect "lá"] sull'aure" (My sighs shall on the balmy +breeze). + +[Music: Verranno a te sull'aure i miei sospiri ardenti] + +Act II. Apartment in the Castle of Lammermoor. "Il pallor funesto, +orrendo" (See these cheeks so pale and haggard). + +[Music: Il pallor funesto, orrendo] + +In this sad air _Lucy_ protests to her brother against the marriage +which he has arranged for her with _Bucklaw_. _Henry_ then shows her +the forged letter, which leads her to believe that she has been +betrayed by her lover. "Soffriva nel pianto, languia nel dolore" (My +sufferings and sorrow I've borne without repining) begins the duet +between _Lucy_ and _Henry_ with an especially effective cadenza--a +dramatic number. + +Though believing herself deserted by _Edgar_, _Lucy_ still holds back +from the thought of marriage with another, and yields only to save her +brother from a traitor's death, and even then not until she has sought +counsel from _Raymond_, the chaplain of Lammermoor, who adds his +persuasions to _Henry's_. + +The scene of the signing of the dower opens with a quick, bright +chorus of guests who have assembled for the ceremony. + +[Music] + +There is an interchange of courtesies between _Henry_ and _Arthur_; +and then _Lucy_ enters. The sadness of her mien is explained by her +brother to _Arthur_ on the ground that she is still mourning the death +of her mother. Desperate, yet reluctant, _Lucy_ signs the contracts of +dower; and at that moment, one of the most dramatic in opera, _Edgar_, +a sombre figure, but labouring under evident though suppressed +tension, appears at the head of the broad flight of steps in the +background, and slowly comes forward. + +The orchestra preludes briefly: + +[Music] + +[Illustration: Photo by Mishkin + +Caruso as Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor"] + +[Illustration: Photo copyright, 1916, by Victor Georg + +Galli-Curci as Lucia in "Lucia di Lammermoor"] + +The greatest ensemble number in Italian opera, the sextet, has begun. +_Edgardo_: "Chi mi frena in tal momento? Chi troncò dell'ire il +corso?" (What restrains me at this moment? Why my sword do I not +straightway draw?): + +[Music: Chi mi frena in tal momento?] + +Because he sees _Lucy_ "as a rose 'mid tempest bending": + +[Music] + +Even _Henry_ is moved to exclaim, "To my own blood I am a traitor": + +[Music] + +The chorus swells the volume of sound, but _Lucy's_ voice soars +despairingly above all: + +[Music] + +_Lucy_ and _Edgar_--they are the victims of _Henry's_ treachery, as +will soon transpire. + +Act III. The first scene is laid in _Edgar's_ gloomy castle, whither +at night comes _Henry_ to challenge him to a duel at morn. + +The scene then changes back to Lammermoor, where the wedding guests +still are feasting. Their revels are halted by _Raymond_, who, +horror-stricken, announces to them that _Lucy_ has gone mad and slain +her husband; and soon the unhappy bride herself appears. Then follows +the mad scene, one of the greatest "show numbers" for soprano, with +the further merit that it fits perfectly into the scheme of the work. + +This is an elaborate _scena_. In an earlier part of the opera +Donizetti made effective use of a harp. In the mad scene he introduces +a flute obligato, which plays around the voice, joins with it, touches +it with sharp, brilliant accentuations, and glides with it up and down +the scale in mellifluous companionship. + +In a brief article in _The Musician_, Thomas Tapper writes that "to +perform the mad scene has been an inspiration and incentive to +attainment for many singers. Its demands are severe. There must be the +'mood,' that is, the characterization of the mental state of _Lucy_ +must be evidenced both in vocal tone and physical movement. The aria +requires an unusual degree of facility. Its transparency demands +adherence to pitch that must not vary a shade from the truth (note the +passage where voice and flute are in unison). The coloratura soprano +is here afforded unusual opportunity to display fluency and +flexibility of voice, to portray the character that is 'as Ophelia +was'; the dramatic intensity is paramount and must be sustained at a +lofty eminence. In brief, the aria is truly a _tour de force_." + +One of the best things in the above is its insistence on the "mood," +the emotional situation that underlies the music. However brilliant +the singing of the prima donna, something in her performance must yet +convey to her hearers a sense of the sad fortunes of _Lucy of +Lammermoor_. + +To the accomplishment of this Donizetti lends a helping hand by +introducing, as a mournful reminiscence, the theme of the first act +love duet for _Lucy_ and _Edgar_ ("My sighs shall on the balmy +breeze"); also by the dreaminess of the two melodies, "Alfin son tua" +(Thine am I ever); + +[Music] + +and "Spargi d'amaro pianto" (Shed thou a tear of sorrow). + +[Music] + +Preceding the first of these, and also between the two, are dramatic +recitatives, in which the flute, possibly introduced merely for +musical effect, yet, with its clear, limpid notes, by no means +untypical of _Lucy's_ pure and spiritual personality, is prominent in +the instrumental part of the score. Upon a brilliant phrase of +vocalization, like "Yet shall we meet, dear Edgar, before the altar," + +[Music: Qui ricovriamo, Edgardo, a piè dell'ara] + +it follows with this phrase: + +[Music] + +which simple, even commonplace, as it seems, nevertheless, in place, +has the desired effect of ingenuousness and charm; while the passage +beginning, + +[Music] + +has decided dramatic significance. + +I also give an example of a passage in which flute and voice combine +in a manner that requires impeccable intonation on the singer's part. + +[Music: a noi sarà, la vita etc.] + +The _scena_ ends with a _stretto_, a concluding passage taken in more +rapid tempo in order to enhance the effect. + +It is always interesting to me to hear this scene, when well rendered, +and to note the simple means employed by the composer to produce the +impression it makes. + +The flute is an instrument that long has been the butt of humorists. +"What is worse than one flute?"--"Two flutes." This is a standard +musical joke. The kind suggestion also has been volunteered that _Lucy +of Lammermoor_ went out of her head, not because she was deserted by +_Edgar_, but because she was accompanied by a flute. + +Nevertheless the flute is precisely the instrument required as an +_obligato_ to this scene. Italian composers, as a rule, pay little +attention to instrumentation. Yet it is a fact that, when they make a +special choice of an instrument in order to produce a desired effect, +their selection usually proves a happy inspiration. The flute and the +harp in "Lucia" are instances; the bassoons in the introduction to +"Una furtiva lagrima" (A furtive tear) in "L'Elisire d'Amore" furnish +another; and the wood-wind in the "Semiramide" duet, "Giorno d'orrore" +(Dark day of horror) may also be mentioned. + +There is a point in the mad scene where it is easy to modulate into +the key of G major. Donizetti has written in that key the aria "Perchè +non ho del vento" (Oh, for an eagle's pinions) which sopranos +sometimes introduce during the scene, since it was composed for that +purpose. + +Probably the air is unfamiliar to opera-goers in this country. Lionel +Mapleson, the librarian of the Metropolitan Opera House, never has +heard it sung there, and was interested to know where I had found it. +As it is a florid, brilliant piece of music, and well suited to the +scene, I quote a line of it, as a possible hint to some prima donna. + +[Music: Perchè non ho del vento l'infaticabil vole] + +During the finale of the opera, laid near the churchyard where lie the +bones of _Edgar's_ ancestors, _Lucy's_ lover holds the stage. His +final aria, "Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali" (Tho' from earth thou'st +flown before me), is a passage of mournful beauty, which has few +equals in Italian opera. + +[Music: Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali, o bell'alma innamorata] + +Of the singers of former days who have been heard here as _Lucia_, +Adelina Patti interpreted the rôle with the least effort and the +greatest brilliancy. Hers was a pure flexible soprano, which seemed to +flow forth spontaneously from an inexhaustible reservoir of song. +Unfortunately she was heard here by many long after her day had +passed. She had too many "farewells." But those who heard her at her +best, always will remember her as the possessor of a naturally +beautiful voice, exquisitely trained. + +Italo Campanini, a tenor who was in his prime when Mapleson was +impresario at the Academy of Music, was one of the great _Edgardos_. +He was an elder brother of Cleofante Campanini, orchestral conductor +and director of the Chicago Opera Company. + +As for Caruso, rarely have I witnessed such excitement as followed the +singing of the sextet the evening of his first appearance as _Edgardo_ +at the Metropolitan Opera House. It is a fact that the policeman in +the lobby, thinking a riot of some sort had broken loose in the +auditorium, grabbed his night stick and pushed through the swinging +doors--only to find an audience vociferously demanding an encore. Even +granted that some of the excitement was "worked up," it was, +nevertheless, a remarkable demonstration. + +The rôle of _Enrico_, though, of course, of less importance than +_Edgardo_, can be made very effective by a baritone of the first rank. +Such, for example, was Antonio Galassi, who, like Campanini, was one +of Mapleson's singers. He was a tall, well-put-up man; and when, in +the sextet, at the words "È mio rosa inaridita" [Transcriber's Note: +should be 'È mio sangue, l'ho tradita'] (Of thine own blood thou'rt +the betrayer), he came forward in one stride, and projected his voice +into the proceedings, it seemed as if, no matter what happened to the +others, he could take the entire affair on his broad shoulders and +carry it through to success. + + +LA FIGLIA DEL REGGIMENTO + +LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT--THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT. + + Opera in two acts, by Donizetti; words by Bayard and Jules + H. Vernoy (Marquis St. Georges). Produced, Opéra Comique, + Paris, as "La Fille du Régiment," February 11, 1840; Milan, + October 30, 1840; London, in English, at the Surrey Theatre, + December 21, 1847; the same season in Italian, with Jenny + Lind. First American performance, New Orleans, March 7, + 1843. _Marie_ was a favorite rôle with Jenny Lind, Sontag, + Lucca, and Patti, all of whom appeared in it in New York; + also Sembrich, with Charles Gilibert as _Sulpice_, + Metropolitan Opera House, 1902-03; and Hempel, with Scotti + as _Sulpice_, same house, December 17, 1917. Tetrazzini, + McCormack, and Gilibert, Manhattan Opera House, 1909. An + opera with a slight hold on the repertoire, but liable to + occasional revival for coloratura sopranos. + + CHARACTERS + + MARIE, the "Daughter of the Regiment," + but really the daughter of the Marquise + de Birkenfeld _Soprano_ + SULPICE, Sergeant of French Grenadiers _Bass_ + TONIO, a Tyrolese peasant in love with Marie; + afterwards an officer of Grenadiers _Tenor_ + MARQUISE DE BIRKENFELD _Soprano_ + HORTENSIO, steward to the Marquise _Bass_ + CORPORAL _Bass_ + + Soldiers, peasants, friends of the Marquise, etc. + + _Time_--1815. + + _Place_--Mountains of the Swiss Tyrol. + +Act I. A passage in the Tyrolese mountains. On the right is a cottage, +on the left the first houses of a village. Heights in the background. +Tyrolese peasants are grouped on rising ground, as if on the lookout. +Their wives and daughters kneel before a shrine to the Virgin. The +_Marquise de Birkenfeld_ is seated on a rustic bench. Beside her +stands _Hortensio_, her steward. They have been caught in the eddy of +the war. An engagement is in progress not far away. The Tyrolese +chorus sings valiantly, the women pray; the French are victorious. And +why not? Is not the unbeaten Twenty-first Regiment of Grenadiers among +them? + +One of them is coming now, _Sergeant Sulpice_, an old grumbler. After +him comes a pretty girl in uniform, a vivandière--_Marie_, the +daughter of the regiment, found on the field of battle when she was a +mere child, and brought up by a whole regiment of fathers, the spoiled +darling of the grenadiers. She sings "Apparvi alla luce, sul campo +guerrier" + +[Music: + + Apparvi alla luce, + Sul campo guerrier,] + +(I first saw the light in the camp of my brave grenadiers), which ends +in a brilliant cadenza. + +[Music] + +This indicates why the revival of this opera attends the appearance +upon the horizon of a coloratura star. It is typical of the +requirements of the character. + +The _Sergeant_ puts her through a drill. Then they have a "Rataplan" +duet, which may be called a repetition of _Marie's_ solo with an +accompaniment of rataplans. The drum is the music that is sweetest to +her; and, indeed, _Marie's_ manipulation of the drumsticks is a +feature of the rôle. + +But for a few days _Marie_ has not been as cheerful as formerly. She +has been seen with a young man. _Sulpice_ asks her about him. She +tells the _Sergeant_ that this young man saved her life by preventing +her from falling over a precipice. That, however, establishes no claim +upon her. The regiment has decreed that only a grenadier shall have +her for wife. + +There is a commotion. Some soldiers drag in _Tonio_, whom they charge +as a spy. They have discovered him sneaking about the camp. His would +have been short shrift had not _Marie_ pleaded for him, for he is none +other than her rescuer. As he wants to remain near _Marie_, he decides +to become a soldier. The grenadiers celebrate his decision by drinking +to his health and calling upon _Marie_ to sing the "Song of the +Regiment," a dapper tune, which is about the best-known number of the +score: "Ciascun lo dice, ciascun lo sà! È il Reggimento, ch'egual non +ha." + + (All men confess it, + Go where we will! + Our gallant Regiment + Is welcome still.) + +[Music: + + Ciascun lo dice, + Ciascun lo sà! + È il Reggimento + Ch'egual non ha.] + +There is then a love scene for _Marie_ and _Tonio_, followed by a duet +for them, "A voti così ardente" [Transcriber's Note: should be 'A +confession sì ardente'] (No longer can I doubt it). + +Afterwards the grenadiers sing a "Rataplan" chorus. + +[Music: Rataplan, rataplan, rataplan,] + +But, alas, the _Sergeant_ has been informed that the _Marquise de +Birkenfeld_ desires safe conduct. Birkenfeld! That is the very name to +which were addressed certain papers found on _Marie_ when she was +discovered as a baby on the battlefield. The _Marquise_ examines the +papers, declares that _Marie_ is her niece and henceforth must live +with her in the castle. Poor _Tonio_ has become a grenadier in vain. +The regiment cannot help him. It can only lament with him that their +daughter is lost to them. She herself is none too happy. She sings a +sad farewell, "Convien partir! o miei compagni d'arme" (Farewell, a +long farewell, my dear companions). + +Act II. In the castle of the _Marquise_. _Marie_ is learning to dance +the minuet and to sing classical airs. But in the midst of her singing +she and _Sulpice_, whom the _Marquise_ also has brought to the castle, +break out into the "Song of the Regiment" and stirring "rataplans." +Their liveliness, however, is only temporary, for poor _Marie_ is to +wed, at her aunt's command, a scion of the ducal house of Krakenthorp. +The march of the grenadiers is heard. They come in, led by _Tonio_, +who has been made a captain for valour. _Sulpice_ can now see no +reason why _Marie_ should not marry him instead of the nobleman +selected by her aunt. And, indeed, _Marie_ and _Tonio_ decide to +elope. But the _Marquise_ confesses to the _Sergeant_, in order to win +his aid in influencing _Marie_, that the girl really is her daughter, +born out of wedlock. _Sulpice_ informs _Marie_, who now feels that she +cannot go against her mother's wishes. + +In the end, however, it is _Marie_ herself who saves the situation. +The guests have assembled for the signing of the wedding contract, +when _Marie_, before them all, sings fondly of her childhood with the +regiment, and of her life as a vivandière, "Quando il destino, in +mezzo a strage ria" (When I was left, by all abandoned). + +The society people are scandalized. But the _Marquise_ is so touched +that she leads _Tonio_ to _Marie_ and places the girl's hand in that +of her lover. The opera ends with an ensemble, "Salute to France!" + + +LA FAVORITA + +THE FAVORITE + + Opera in four acts, by Donizetti; words by Alphonse Royer + and Gustave Waez [Transcriber's Note: more commonly 'Vaëz'], + adapted from the drama "Le Comte de Comminges," of + Baculard-Darnaud. Produced at the Grand Opéra, Paris, + December 2, 1840. London, in English, 1843; in Italian, + 1847. New York, Park Theatre, October 4, 1848. + + CHARACTERS + + ALFONSO XI., King of Castile _Baritone_ + FERDINAND, a young novice of the Monastery + of St. James of Compostella; afterwards + an officer _Tenor_ + DON GASPAR, the King's Minister _Tenor_ + BALTHAZAR, Superior of the Monastery + of St. James _Bass_ + LEONORA DI GUSMANN _Soprano_ + INEZ, her confidante _Soprano_ + + Courtiers, guards, monks, ladies of the court, attendants. + + _Time_--About 1340. + + _Place_--Castile, Spain. + +_Leonora_, with Campanini as _Fernando_, was, for a number of seasons, +one of the principal rôles of Annie Louise Cary at the Academy of +Music. Mantelli as _Leonora_, Cremonini as _Fernando_, Ancona as _King +Alfonso_, and Plançon as _Balthazar_, appeared, 1895-96, at the +Metropolitan, where "La Favorita" [Transcriber's Note: this is the +Italian title] was heard again in 1905; but the work never became a +fixture, as it had been at the Academy of Music. The fact is that +since then American audiences, the most spoiled in the world, have +established an operatic convention as irrevocable as the laws of the +Medes and Persians. In opera the hero must be a tenor, the heroine a +true soprano. "La Favorita" fulfils the first requisite, but not the +second. The heroine is a rôle for contralto, or mezzo-soprano. Yet the +opera contains some of Donizetti's finest music, both solo and +ensemble. Pity 'tis not heard more frequently. + +There is in "La Favorita" a strong, dramatic scene at the end of the +third act. As if to work up to this as gradually as possible, the +opera opens quietly. + +_Ferdinand_, a novice in the Monastery of St. James of Compostella, +has chanced to see and has fallen in love with _Leonora_, the mistress +of _Alfonso_, King of Castile. He neither knows her name, nor is he +aware of her equivocal position. So deeply conceived is his passion, +it causes him to renounce his novitiate and seek out its object. + +Act I. The interior of the monastery. _Ferdinand_ makes known to +_Balthazar_, the Superior, that he desires to renounce his novitiate, +because he has fallen in love, and cannot banish the woman of his +affections from his thoughts. He describes her to the priest as "Una +vergine, un angel di Dio" (A virgin, an angel of God). + +[Music: Una vergine, un angel di Dio] + +Although this air bears no resemblance to "Celeste Aïda" its flowing +measures and melodious beauty, combined with its position so early in +the opera, recall the Verdi aria--and prepare for it the same +fate--which is to be marred by the disturbance caused by late-comers +and to remain unheard by those who come still later. + +_Balthazar's_ questions elicit from _Ferdinand_ that his only +knowledge of the woman, whose praises he has sung, is of her youth and +beauty. Name and station are unknown to him, although he believes her +to be of high rank. _Balthazar_, who had hoped that in time +_Ferdinand_ would become his successor as superior of the monastery, +releases him reluctantly from his obligations, and prophesies, as the +novice turns away from the peaceful shades of the cloister, that he +will retrace his steps, disappointed and heart-broken, to seek refuge +once more within the monastery's walls. + +The scene changes to an idyllic prospect on the island of St. Leon, +where _Leonora_ lives in splendour. She, in her turn, is deeply +enamoured of _Ferdinand_, yet is convinced that, because of her +relations with _King Alfonso_, he will despise her should he discover +who she is. But so great is her love for him, that, without letting +him learn her name or station, she has arranged that he shall be +brought, blindfolded, to the island. + +"Bei raggi lucenti" (Bright sunbeams, lightly dancing), a graceful +solo and chorus for _Inez_, _Leonora's_ confidante, and her woman +companions, opens the scene. + +It is followed by "Dolce zeffiro, il seconda" (Gentle zephyr, lightly +wafted), which is sung by the chorus of women, as the boat conveying +_Ferdinand_ touches the island and he, after disembarking, has the +bandage withdrawn from over his eyes, and looks in amazement upon the +charming surroundings amid which he stands. He questions _Inez_ +regarding the name and station of her who holds gentle sway over the +island, but in vain. _Inez_ and her companions retire, as _Leonora_ +enters. She interrupts _Ferdinand's_ delight at seeing her by telling +him--but without giving her reasons--that their love can lead only to +sorrow; that they must part. He protests vehemently. She, however, +cannot be moved from her determination that he shall not be sacrificed +to their love, and hands him a parchment, which she tells him will +lead him to a career of honour. + +He still protests. But at that moment _Inez_, entering hurriedly, +announces the approach of the _King_. _Leonora_ bids _Ferdinand_ +farewell and goes hastily to meet _Alfonso_. _Ferdinand_ now believes +that the woman with whom he has fallen in love is of rank so high that +she cannot stoop to wed him, yet expresses her love for him by seeking +to advance him. This is confirmed when, on reading the scroll she has +given him, he discovers that it gratifies his highest ambition and +confers upon him a commission in the army. The act closes with his +martial air, "Sì, che un tuo solo accento" (Oh, fame, thy voice +inspiring). + +He sees the path to glory open up before him, and with it the hope +that some great deed may yet make him worthy to claim the hand of the +woman he loves. + +Act II. Gardens of the Palace of the Alcazar. _Ferdinand's_ dream of +glory has come true. We learn, through a brief colloquy between +_Alfonso_ and _Don Gaspar_, his minister, that the young officer has +led the Spanish army to victory against the Moors. Indeed, this very +palace of the Alcazar has been wrested from the enemy by the young +hero. + +_Gaspar_ having retired, the _King_, who has no knowledge of the love +between _Ferdinand_ and _Leonora_, sings of his own passion for her in +the expressive air, "Vien, Leonora, a' piedi tuoi" (Come, Leonora, +before the kneeling). + +The object of his love enters, accompanied by her confidante. The +_King_ has prepared a fête in celebration of _Ferdinand's_ victory, +but _Leonora_, while rejoicing in the honours destined to be his, is +filled with foreboding because of the illicit relations between +herself and the _King_, when she truly loves another. Moreover, these +fears find justification in the return of _Gaspar_ with a letter in +_Ferdinand's_ handwriting, and intended for _Leonora_, but which the +minister has intercepted in the hand of _Inez_. The _King's_ angry +questions regarding the identity of the writer are interrupted by +confused sounds from without. There enters _Balthazar_, preceded by a +priest bearing a scroll with the Papal seal. He faces the _King_ and +_Leonora_ while the lords and ladies, who have gathered for the fête, +look on in apprehension, though not wholly without knowledge of what +is impending. + +For there is at the court of _Alfonso_ a strong party that condemns +the _King's_ illicit passion for _Leonora_, so openly shown. This +party has appealed to the Papal throne against the _King_. The Pope +has sent a Bull to _Balthazar_, in which the Superior of the Monastery +of St. James is authorized to pronounce the interdict on the _King_ if +the latter refuses to dismiss his favourite from the Court and restore +his legitimate wife to her rights. It is with this commission +_Balthazar_ has now appeared before the _King_, who at first is +inclined to refuse obedience to the Papal summons. He wavers. +_Balthazar_ gives him time till the morrow, and until then withholds +his anathema. + +_Balthazar's_ vigorous yet dignified denunciation of the _King_, "Ah +paventa il furor d'un Dio vendicatore" (Do not call down the wrath of +God, the avenger, upon thee), forms a broadly sonorous foundation for +the finale of the act. + +[Music: Ah paventa il furor d'un Dio vendicatore,] + +Act III. A salon in the Palace of the Alcazar. In a brief scene the +_King_ informs his minister that he has decided to heed the behest of +the church and refrain from braving the Papal malediction. He bids +_Gaspar_ send _Leonora_ to him, but, at the first opportunity, to +arrest _Inez_, her accomplice. + +It is at this juncture, as _Gaspar_ departs, that _Ferdinand_ appears +at court, returning from the war, in which he has not only +distinguished himself by his valour, but actually has saved the +kingdom. _Alfonso_ asks him to name the prize which he desires as +recompense for his services. _Leonora_ enters. _Ferdinand_, seeing +her, at once asks for the bestowal of her hand upon him in marriage. +The _King_, who loves her deeply, and has nearly risked the wrath of +the Pope for her sake, nevertheless, because immediately aware of the +passion between the two, gives his assent, but with reluctance, as +indeed appears from the irony that pervades his solo, "A tanto amor" +(Thou flow'r belov'd). + +He then retires with _Ferdinand_. + +_Leonora_, touched by the _King's_ magnanimity, inspired by her love +for _Ferdinand_, yet shaken by doubts and fears, because aware that he +knows nothing of her past, now expresses these conflicting feelings in +her principal air, "O, mio Fernando," one of the great Italian airs +for mezzo-soprano. + +[Music: O, mio Fernando, della terra il trono] + +She considers that their future happiness depends upon _Ferdinand's_ +being truthfully informed of what her relations have been with the +_King_, thus giving him full opportunity to decide whether, with this +knowledge of her guilt, he will marry her, or not. Accordingly she +despatches _Inez_ with a letter to him. _Inez_, as she is on her way +to deliver this letter, is intercepted by _Gaspar_, who carries out +the _King's_ command and orders her arrest. She is therefore unable to +place in _Ferdinand's_ hands the letter of _Leonora_. + +Into the presence of the assembled nobles the _King_ now brings +_Ferdinand_, decorates him with a rich chain, and announces that he +has created him Count of Zamora. The jealous lords whisper among +themselves about the scandal of _Ferdinand's_ coming marriage with the +mistress of the _King_; but _Leonora_, who enters in bridal attire, +finds _Ferdinand_ eagerly awaiting her, and ready to wed her, +notwithstanding, as she believes, his receipt of her communication and +complete knowledge of her past. + +While the ceremony is being performed in another apartment, the nobles +discuss further the disgrace to _Ferdinand_ in this marriage. That +_Leonora_ was the mistress of the _King_ is, of course, a familiar +fact at court, and the nobles regard _Ferdinand's_ elevation to the +rank of nobility as a reward, not only for his defeat of the Moors, +but also for accommodatingly taking _Leonora_ off the hands of the +_King_, when the latter is threatened with the malediction of Rome. +They cannot imagine that the young officer is ignorant of the +relations that existed between his bride and the _King_. + +_Ferdinand_ re-enters. In high spirits he approaches the courtiers, +offers them his hand, which they refuse. _Balthazar_ now comes to +learn the decision of the _King_. _Ferdinand_, confused by the +taunting words and actions of the courtiers, hastens to greet +_Balthazar_, who, not having seen him since he has returned victorious +and loaded with honours, embraces him, until he hears _Gaspar's_ +ironical exclamation, "Leonora's bridegroom!" _Balthazar_ starts back, +and it is then _Ferdinand_ learns that he has just been wedded "alla +bella del Re"--to the mistress of the _King_. + +At this moment, when _Ferdinand_ has but just been informed of what he +can only interpret as his betrayal by the _King_ and the royal +favourite, _Alfonso_ enters, leading _Leonora_, followed by her +attendants. In a stirring scene, the dramatic climax of the opera, +_Ferdinand_ tears from his neck the chain _Alfonso_ has bestowed upon +him, and throws it contemptuously upon the floor, breaks his sword and +casts it at the _King's_ feet, then departs with _Balthazar_, the +nobles now making a passage for them, and saluting, while they sing + + "Ferdinand, the truly brave, + We salute, and pardon crave!" + +Act IV. The cloisters of the Monastery of St. James. Ceremony of +_Ferdinand's_ entry into the order. "Splendon più belle in ciel le +stelle" (Behold the stars in splendour celestial), a distinguished +solo and chorus for _Balthazar_ and the monks. + +Left alone, _Ferdinand_ gives vent to his sorrow, which still +persists, in the romance, "Spirto gentil" (Spirit of Light), one of +the most exquisite tenor solos in the Italian repertory. + +[Music: Spirto gentil, ne' sogni miei brillasti un dì, ma ti perdei] + +In 1882, thirty-four years after Donizetti's death, there was produced +in Rome an opera by him entitled "Il Duca d'Alba" (The Duke of Alba). +Scribe wrote the libretto for Rossini, who does not appear to have +used it. So it was passed on to Donizetti, who composed, but never +produced it. "Spirto gentil" was in this opera, from which Donizetti +simply transferred it. + +_Balthazar_ and the monks return. With them _Ferdinand_ enters the +chapel. _Leonora_, disguised as a novice, comes upon the scene. She +hears the chanting of the monks, _Ferdinand's_ voice enunciating his +vows. He comes out from the chapel, recognizes _Leonora_, bids her be +gone. "Ah! va, t'invola! e questa terra" (These cloisters fly, etc.). + +She, however, tells him of her unsuccessful effort to let him know of +her past, and craves his forgiveness for the seeming wrong she has +wrought upon him. "Clemente al par di Dio" [Transcriber's Note: some +scores render this as 'Pietoso al par del Nume'] (Forgiveness through +God I crave of thee). + +All of _Ferdinand's_ former love returns for her. "Vieni, ah! vieni," +etc. (Joy once more fills my breast). + +He would bear her away to other climes and there happily pass his days +with her. But it is too late. _Leonora_ dies in his arms. "By tomorrow +my soul, too, will want your prayers," are _Ferdinand's_ words to +_Balthazar_, who, approaching, has drawn _Leonora's_ cowl over her +dishevelled hair. He calls upon the monks to pray for a departed +soul. + + +LINDA DI CHAMOUNIX + +LINDA OF CHAMOUNIX + + Opera, in three acts, by Donizetti; words by Rossi. + Produced, May 19, 1842, Theatre near the Carinthian Gate + (Kärnthnerthor), Vienna. London, June, 1843. New York, + Palma's Opera House, January 4, 1847, with Clothilda Barili; + Academy of Music, March 9, 1861, with Clara Louise Kellogg, + later with Patti as _Linda_ and Galassi as _Antonio_; + Metropolitan Opera House, April 23, 1890, with Patti. + + CHARACTERS + + MARQUIS DE BOISFLEURY _Bass_ + CHARLES, Vicomte de Sirval _Tenor_ + PREFECT _Bass_ + PIERROT _Contralto_ + LINDA _Soprano_ + ANTONIO _Baritone_ + MADELINE _Soprano_ + INTENDANT _Tenor_ + + Peasant men and women, Savoyards, etc. + + _Time_--1760, during the reign of Louis XV. + + _Place_--Chamounix and Paris. + +"Linda di Chamounix" contains an air for soprano without which no +collection of opera arias is complete. This is _Linda's_ aria in the +first act, "O luce di quest'anima" (Oh! star that guid'st my fervent +love). When Donizetti was composing "Linda di Chamounix" for Vienna, +with this air and its fluent embellishments, he also was writing for +the Imperial chapel a "Miserere" and an "Ave Maria" which were highly +praised for a style as severe and restrained as "O luce di +quest'anima" is light and graceful. + +"Linda di Chamounix" is in three acts, entitled "The Departure," +"Paris," "The Return." The story is somewhat naïve, as its exposition +will show. + +Act I. The village of Chamounix. On one side a farmhouse. On an +eminence a church. _Antonio_ and _Madeline_ are poor villagers. +_Linda_ is their daughter. She has fallen in love with an artist, +_Charles_, who really is the _Viscount de Sirval_, but has not yet +disclosed his identity to her. When the opera opens _Linda's_ parents +are in fear of being dispossessed by the _Marquis de Boisfleury_, who +is _Charles's_ uncle, but knows nothing of his nephew's presence in +Chamounix, or of his love for _Linda_. She, it may be remarked, is one +of those pure, sweet, unsophisticated creatures, who exist only on the +stage, and possibly only in opera. + +When the opera opens, _Antonio_ returns from a visit to the +_Marquis's_ agent, the _Intendant_. Hopes have been held out to him +that the _Marquis_ will relent. _Antonio_ communicates these hopes to +his wife in the beautiful solo, "Ambo nati in questa valle" (We were +both in this valley nurtured). + +[Music: Ambo nati in questa valle,] + +There are shouts of "Viva!" without. The _Marquis_ has arrived. He +seems kindness itself to the old couple. He asks for _Linda_, but she +has gone to prayers in the chapel. We learn from an aside between the +_Marquis_ and his _Intendant_, that the _Marquis's_ apparent +benevolence is merely part of a libidinous scheme which involves +_Linda_, whose beauty has attracted the titled roué. + +After this scene, _Linda_ comes on alone and sings "O luce di +quest'anima." + +[Music: + + O luce di quest'anima, + Delizia, amore e vita;] + +I also quote the concluding phrase: + +[Music: + + Unita nostra sorte, + In ciel, in ciel sarà.] + +Savoyards are preparing to depart for Paris to go to work there. Among +them is _Pierrot_, with his hurdy-gurdy. He sings a charming ballad, +"Per sua madre andò una figlia" (Once a better fortune seeking). + +There is then a love scene between _Linda_ and _Charles_, with the +effective duet, "A consolarmi affrettisi" (Oh! that the blessed day +were come, when standing by my side), a phrase which is heard again +with significant effect in the third act. + +[Music: + + A consolarmi affrettisi, + Tal giorno sospirato,] + +_Antonio_ then learns from the good _Prefect_ of the village that the +latter suspects the _Marquis_ of sinister intentions toward _Linda_. +Indeed at that moment _Linda_ comes in with a paper from the +_Marquis_, which assures to her parents their home; but, she adds, +naïvely, that she has been invited by the _Marquis_ to the castle. +Parents and _Prefect_ are alarmed for her safety. The _Prefect_ has a +brother in Paris. To his protection it is decided that _Linda_ shall +go with her Savoyard friends, who even now are preparing to depart. + +Act II. Room in a handsome, well-furnished apartment in Paris. This +apartment is _Linda's_. In it she has been installed by _Charles_. The +natural supposition, that it has been paid for by her virtue, is in +this instance a mistake, but one, I am sure, made by nine people out +of ten of those who see the opera, since the explanation of how she +got there consists merely of a few incidental lines in recitative. + +_Linda_ herself, but for her incredible naïveté would realize the +impossibility of the situation. + +A voice singing in the street she recognizes as _Pierrot's_, calls him +up to her, and assists him with money, of which she appears to have +plenty. She tells him that the _Prefect's_ brother, in whose house +she was to have found protection, had died. She was obliged to support +herself by singing in the street. Fortunately she had by chance met +_Charles_, who disclosed to her his identity as the _Viscount de +Sirval_. He is not ready to marry her yet on account of certain family +complications, but meanwhile has placed her in this apartment, where +he provides for her. There is a duet, in which _Linda_ and _Pierrot_ +sing of her happiness. + +_Pierrot_ having left, the _Marquis_, who has discovered her retreat, +but does not know that it is provided by his nephew _Charles_, calls +to force his unwelcome attentions upon her. He laughs, as is not +unnatural, at her protestations that she is supported here in +innocence; but when she threatens him with possible violence from her +intended, he has a neat little solo of precaution, ending "Guardati, +pensaci, marchese mio" (Be cautious--ponder well, Marquis most +valiant). + +The _Marquis_, having prudently taken his departure, _Linda_ having +gone to another room, and _Charles_ having come in, we learn from his +recitative and air that his mother, the Marquise de Sirval, has +selected a wife for him, whom she insists he shall marry. He hopes to +escape from this marriage, but, as his mother has heard of _Linda_ and +also insists that he shall give her up, he has come to explain matters +to her and temporarily to part from her. But when he sees her, her +beauty so moves him that his courage fails him, although, as he goes, +there is a sadness in his manner that fills her with sad forebodings. + +For three months _Linda_ has heard nothing from her parents. Letters, +with money, which she has sent them, have remained unanswered--another +of the situations in which this most artless heroine of opera +discovers herself, without seeking the simple and obvious way of +relieving the suspense. + +In any event, her parents have become impoverished through the +_Marquis de Boisfleury's_ disfavour, for at this moment her father, in +the condition of a mendicant, comes in to beg the intercession in his +behalf of the _Viscount de Sirval_ (Charles). Not recognizing _Linda_, +he mistakes her for _Charles's_ wife. She bestows bounteous alms upon +him, but hesitates to make herself known, until, when he bends over to +kiss her hand she cannot refrain from disclosing herself. Her +surroundings arouse his suspicions, which are confirmed by _Pierrot_, +who comes running in with the news that he has learned of preparations +for the marriage of _Charles_ to a lady of his mother's choice. In a +scene (which a fine singer like Galassi was able to invest with real +power) _Antonio_ hurls the alms _Linda_ has given him at her feet, +denounces her, and departs. _Pierrot_ seeks to comfort her. But alas! +her father's denunciation of her, and, above all, what she believes to +be _Charles's_ desertion, have unseated her reason. + +Act III. The village of Chamounix. The Savoyards are returning and are +joyfully greeted. _Charles_, who has been able to persuade his mother +to permit him to wed _Linda_, has come in search of her. Incidentally +he has brought solace for _Antonio_ and _Madeline_. The De Sirvals are +the real owners of the farm, the _Marquis_, _Charles's_ uncle, being +only their representative. _Linda's_ parents are to remain in +undisturbed possession of the farm;--but where is she? + +_Pierrot_ is heard singing. Whenever he sings he is able to persuade +_Linda_ to follow him. Thus her faithful friend gradually has led her +back to Chamounix. And when _Charles_ chants for her a phrase of their +first act duet, "O consolarmi affrettisi," her reason returns, and it +is "Ah! di tue pene sparve il sogno" (Ah! the vision of my sorrow +fades). + +In this drama of naïveté, an artlessness which I mention again because +I think it is not so much the music as the libretto that has become +old-fashioned, even the _Marquis_ comes in for a good word. For when +he too offers his congratulations, what does _Linda_ do but refer to +the old libertine, who has sought her ruin, as "him who will be my +uncle dear." + + +DON PASQUALE + + Opera, in three acts, by Donizetti; words by Salvatore + Cammarano, adapted from his earlier libretto, "Ser + Marc'Antonio," which Stefano Pavesi had set to music in + 1813. Produced, Paris, January 4, 1843, Théâtre des + Italiens. London, June 30, 1843. New York, March 9, 1846, in + English; 1849, in Italian; revived for Bonci (with di + Pasquali, Scotti, and Pini-Corsi) at the New Theatre, + December 23, 1909; given also at the Metropolitan Opera + House with Sembrich as _Norina_. + + CHARACTERS + + DON PASQUALE, an old bachelor _Bass_ + DR. MALATESTA, his friend _Baritone_ + ERNESTO, nephew of Don Pasquale _Tenor_ + NORINA, a young widow, affianced to Ernesto _Soprano_ + A NOTARY _Baritone_ + + Valets, chambermaids, majordomo, dress-makers, hairdresser. + + _Time_--Early nineteenth century. + + _Place_--Rome. + +"Don Pasquale" concerns an old man about to marry. He also is wealthy. +Though determined himself to have a wife, on the other hand he is very +angry with his nephew, _Ernesto_, for wishing to marry, and threatens +to disinherit him. _Ernesto_ is greatly disturbed by these threats. So +is his lady-love, the sprightly young widow, _Norina_, when he reports +them to her. + +_Pasquale's_ friend, _Dr. Malatesta_, not being able to dissuade him +from marriage, pretends to acquiesce in it. He proposes that his +sister shall be the bride, and describes her as a timid, naïve, +ingenuous girl, brought up, he says, in a convent. She is, however, +none other than _Norina_, the clever young widow, who is in no degree +related to _Malatesta_. She quickly enters into the plot, which +involves a mock marriage with _Don Pasquale_. An interview takes +place. The modest graces of the supposed convent girl charm the old +man. The marriage--a mock ceremony, of course--is hurriedly +celebrated, so hurriedly that there is no time to inform the +distracted _Ernesto_ that the proceedings are bogus. + +_Norina_ now displays toward _Don Pasquale_ an ungovernable temper. +Moreover she spends money like water, and devotes all her energies to +nearly driving the old man crazy. When he protests, she boxes his +ears. He is on the point of suicide. Then at last _Malatesta_ lets him +know that he has been duped. _Notary_ and contract are fictitious. He +is free. With joy he transfers to _Ernesto_ his conjugal burden--and +an income. + +Act I plays in a room in _Don Pasquale's_ house and later in a room in +_Norina's_, where she is reading a romance. She is singing "Quel +guardo" (Glances so soft) and "So anch'io la virtù magica" (I, too, +thy magic virtues know) in which she appears to be echoing in thought +what she has been reading about in the book. + +[Music: + + So anch'io la virtù magica + D'un guardo a tempo e loco] + +The duet, in which she and _Malatesta_ agree upon the plot--the "duet +of the rehearsal"--is one of the sprightly numbers of the score. + +Act II is in a richly furnished salon of _Don Pasquale's_ house. This +is the scene of the mock marriage, of _Norina's_ assumed display of +temper and extravagance, _Don Pasquale's_ distraction, _Ernesto's_ +amazement and enlightenment, and _Malatesta's_ amused co-operation. In +this act occur the duet of the box on the ears, and the quartet, which +begins with _Pasquale's_ "Son ardito" [Transcriber's Note: should be +'Son tradito'] (I am betrayed). It is the finale of the act and +considered a masterpiece. + +Act III is in two scenes, the first in _Don Pasquale's_ house, where +everything is in confusion; the second in his garden, where _Ernesto_ +sings to _Norina_ the beautiful serenade, "Com'è gentil" (Soft beams +the light). + +[Music: Com'è gentil, la notte a mezzo April,] + +_Don Pasquale_, who has suspected _Norina_ of having a rendezvous in +the garden, rushes out of concealment with _Malatesta_. But _Ernesto_ +is quick to hide, and _Norina_ pretends no one has been with her. This +is too much for _Don Pasquale_, and _Malatesta_ now makes it the +occasion for bringing about the dénouement, and secures the old man's +most willing consent to the marriage between _Ernesto_ and _Norina_. + +When the opera had its original production in Paris, Lablache was _Don +Pasquale_, Mario _Ernesto_, Tamburini _Malatesta_, and Grisi _Norina_. +Notwithstanding this brilliant cast, the work did not seem to be going +well at the rehearsals. After one of these, Donizetti asked the music +publisher, Dormoy, to go with him to his lodgings. There he rummaged +among a lot of manuscripts until, finding what he was looking for, he +handed it to Dormoy. + +"There," he said, "give this to Mario and tell him to sing it in the +last scene in the garden as a serenade to _Norina_." + +When the opera was performed Mario sang it, while Lablache, behind the +scenes, played an accompaniment on the lute. It was the serenade. Thus +was there introduced into the opera that air to which, more than any +other feature of the work, it owes its occasional resuscitation. + +A one-act comedy opera by Donizetti, "Il Campanello di Notte" (The +Night Bell) was produced in Naples in 1836. It would hardly be worth +referring to but for the fact that it is in the repertoire of the +Society of American Singers, who gave it, in an English version by +Sydney Rosenfeld, at the Lyceum Theatre, New York, May 7, 1917. This +little work turns on the attempts of a lover, who has been thrown +over, to prevent his successful rival, an apothecary, from going to +bed on the night of his marriage. He succeeds by adopting various +disguises, ringing the night bell, and asking for medicine. In the +American first performance David Bispham was the apothecary, called in +the adaptation, _Don Hannibal Pistacchio_. Miss Gates, the _Serafina_, +interpolated "O luce di quest'anima," from "Linda di Chamounix." Mr. +Reiss was _Enrico_, the lover. + + + + +Giuseppe Verdi + +(1813-1901) + + +Verdi ranks as the greatest Italian composer of opera. There is a +marked distinction between his career and those of Bellini and +Donizetti. The two earlier composers, after reaching a certain point +of development, failed to advance. No later opera by Bellini equals +"La Sonnambula"; none other by Donizetti ranks with "Lucia di +Lammermoor." + +But Verdi, despite the great success of "Ernani," showed seven years +later, with "Rigoletto," an amazing progress in dramatic expression +and skill in ensemble work. "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata" were +other works of the period ushered in by "Rigoletto." Eighteen years +later the composer, then fifty-eight years old, gave evidence of +another and even more notable advance by producing "Aïda," a work +which marks the beginning of a new period in Italian opera. Still not +satisfied, Verdi brought forward "Otello" (1887) and "Falstaff" +(1893), scores which more nearly resemble music-drama than opera. + +Thus the steady forging ahead of Verdi, the unhalting development of +his genius, is the really great feature of his career. In fact no +Italian composer since Verdi has caught up with "Falstaff," which may +be as profitably studied as "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Il Barbiere di +Siviglia," "Die Meistersinger," and "Der Rosenkavalier." Insert +"Falstaff" in this list, in its proper place between "Meistersinger" +and "Rosenkavalier," and you have the succession of great operas +conceived in the divine spirit of comedy, from 1786 to 1911. + +In the article on "Un Ballo in Maschera," the political use made of +the letters of Verdi's name is pointed out. See p. 428. + +Verdi was born at Roncole, near Busseto, October 9, 1813. He died at +Rome, January 27, 1901. There remains to be said that, at eighteen, he +was refused admission to the Milan Conservatory "on the score of lack +of musical talent." + +What fools these mortals be! + + +ERNANI + + Opera, in four acts, by Verdi; words by Francesco Maria + Piave, after Victor Hugo's drama, "Hernani." Produced, + Fenice Theatre, Venice, March 9, 1844; London, Her Majesty's + Theatre, March 8, 1845; New York, 1846, at the Astor Place + Theatre. Patti, at the Academy of Music, Sembrich at the + Metropolitan Opera House, have been notable interpreters of + the rôle of _Elvira_. + + CHARACTERS + + DON CARLOS, King of Castile _Baritone_ + DON RUY GOMEZ DI SILVA, Grandee of Spain _Bass_ + ERNANI, or JOHN OF ARAGON, a bandit chief _Tenor_ + DON RICCARDO, esquire to the King _Tenor_ + JAGO, esquire to SILVA _Bass_ + ELVIRA, kinswoman to SILVA _Soprano_ + GIOVANNA, in ELVIRA'S service _Soprano_ + + Mountaineers and bandits, followers of _Silva_, ladies of + _Elvira_, followers of _Don Carlos_, electors and pages. + + _Time_--Early sixteenth century. + + _Place_--Spain. + +_John of Aragon_ has become a bandit. His father, the Duke of Segovia, +had been slain by order of _Don Carlos's_ father. _John_, proscribed +and pursued by the emissaries of the King, has taken refuge in the +fastnesses of the mountains of Aragon, where, under the name of +_Ernani_, he has become leader of a large band of rebel mountaineers. +_Ernani_ is in love with _Donna Elvira_, who, although she is about +to be united to her relative, the aged _Ruy Gomez di Silva_, a grandee +of Spain, is deeply enamoured of the handsome, chivalrous bandit +chief. + +_Don Carlos_, afterwards Emperor Charles V., also has fallen violently +in love with _Elvira_. By watching her windows he has discovered that +at dead of night a young cavalier (_Ernani_) gains admission to her +apartments. He imitates her lover's signal, gains admission to her +chamber, and declares his passion. Being repulsed, he is about to drag +her off by force, when a secret panel opens, and he finds himself +confronted by _Ernani_. In the midst of a violent scene _Silva_ +enters. To allay his jealousy and anger, naturally aroused by finding +two men, apparently rival suitors, in the apartment of his affianced, +the _King_, whom _Silva_ has not recognized, reveals himself, and +pretends to have come in disguise to consult him about his approaching +election to the empire, and a conspiracy that is on foot against his +life. Then the _King_, pointing to _Ernani_, says to _Silva_, "It doth +please us that this, our follower, depart," thus insuring _Ernani's_ +temporary safety--for a Spaniard does not hand an enemy over to the +vengeance of another. + +Believing a rumour that _Ernani_ has been run down and killed by the +_King's_ soldiers, _Elvira_ at last consents to give her hand in +marriage to _Silva_. On the eve of the wedding, however, _Ernani_, +pursued by the _King_ with a detachment of troops, seeks refuge in +_Silva's_ castle, in the disguise of a pilgrim. Although not known to +_Silva_, he is, under Spanish tradition, his guest, and from that +moment entitled to his protection. + +_Elvira_ enters in her bridal attire. _Ernani_ is thus made aware that +her nuptials with _Don Silva_ are to be celebrated on the morrow. +Tearing off his disguise, he reveals himself to _Silva_, and demands +to be delivered up to the _King_, preferring death to life without +_Elvira_. But true to his honour as a Spanish host, _Silva_ refuses. +Even his enemy, _Ernani_, is safe in his castle. Indeed he goes so far +as to order his guards to man the towers and prepare to defend the +castle, should the _King_ seek forcible entry. He leaves the apartment +to make sure his orders are being carried out. The lovers find +themselves alone. When _Silva_ returns they are in each other's arms. +But as the _King_ is at the castle gates, he has no time to give vent +to his wrath. He gives orders to admit the _King_ and his men, bids +_Elvira_ retire, and hides _Ernani_ in a secret cabinet. The _King_ +demands that _Silva_ give up the bandit. The grandee proudly refuses. +_Ernani_ is his guest. The _King's_ wrath then turns against _Silva_. +He demands the surrender of his sword and threatens him with death, +when _Elvira_ interposes. The _King_ pardons _Silva_, but bears away +_Elvira_ as hostage for the loyalty of her kinsman. + +The _King_ has gone. From the wall _Silva_ takes down two swords, +releases his guest from his hiding place, and bids him cross swords +with him to the death. _Ernani_ refuses. His host has just protected +his life at the danger of his own. But, if _Silva_ insists upon +vengeance, let grandee and bandit first unite against the _King_, with +whom the honour of _Elvira_ is unsafe. _Elvira_ rescued, _Ernani_ will +give himself up to _Silva_, to whom, handing him his hunting horn, he +avows himself ready to die, whenever a blast upon it shall be sounded +from the lip of the implacable grandee. _Silva_, who has been in +entire ignorance of the _King's_ passion for _Elvira_, grants the +reprieve, and summons his men to horse. + +He sets on foot a conspiracy against the _King_. A meeting of the +conspirators is held in the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, in the +vault, within which stands the tomb of Charlemagne. Here it is +resolved to murder the _King_. A ballot decides who shall do the deed. +_Ernani's_ name is drawn. + +The _King_, however, has received information of the time and place +of this meeting. From the tomb he has been an unobserved witness of +the meeting and purpose of the conspirators. Booming of cannon outside +tells him of his choice as head of the Holy Roman Empire. Emerging +from the tomb, he shows himself to the awed conspirators, who imagine +they see Charlemagne issuing forth to combat them. At the same moment +the doors open. The electors of the Empire enter to pay homage to +Charles V. + +"The herd to the dungeon, the nobles to the headsman," he commands. + +_Ernani_ advances, discovers himself as John of Aragon, and claims the +right to die with the nobles--"to fall, covered, before the _King_." +But upon _Elvira's_ fervent plea, the _King_, now also Emperor, +commences his reign with an act of grace. He pardons the conspirators, +restores to _Ernani_ his titles and estates, and unites him with +_Elvira_. + +_Silva_, thwarted in his desire to marry _Elvira_, waits until +_Ernani_ and _Elvira_, after their nuptials, are upon the terrace of +_Ernani's_ castle in Aragon. At their most blissful moment he sounds +the fatal horn. _Ernani_, too chivalrous to evade his promise, stabs +himself in the presence of the grim avenger and of _Elvira_ who falls +prostrate upon his lifeless body. + +In the opera, this plot develops as follows: Act I opens in the camp +of the bandits in the mountains of Aragon. In the distance is seen the +Moorish castle of _Silva_. The time is near sunset. Of _Ernani's_ +followers, some are eating and drinking, or are at play, while others +are arranging their weapons. They sing, "Allegri, beviamo" (Haste! +Clink we our glasses). + +_Ernani_ sings _Elvira's_ praise in the air, "Come rugiada al cespite" +(Balmier than dew to drooping bud). + +[Music: Come rugiada al cespite] + +This expressive number is followed by one in faster time, "O tu, che +l'alma adora" (O thou toward whom, adoring soul). + +[Music: + + O tu, che l'alma adora, + Vien, vien, la mia vita infiora,] + +Enthusiastically volunteering to share any danger _Ernani_ may incur +in seeking to carry off _Elvira_, the bandits, with their chief at +their head, go off in the direction of _Silva's_ castle. + +The scene changes to _Elvira's_ apartment in the castle. It is night. +She is meditating upon _Ernani_. When she thinks of _Silva_, "the +frozen, withered spectre," and contrasts with him _Ernani_, who "in +her heart ever reigneth," she voices her thoughts in that famous air +for sopranos, one of Verdi's loveliest inspirations, "Ernani! +involami" (Ernani! fly with me). + +[Music: + + Ernani! Ernani! involami + All'abborrito amplesso.] + +It ends with a brilliant cadenza, "Un Eden quegli antri a me" (An Eden +that opens to me). + +[Music: un Eden quegli antri a me.] + +Young maidens bearing wedding gifts enter. They sing a chorus of +congratulation. To this _Elvira_ responds with a graceful air, the +sentiment of which, however, is expressed as an aside, since it refers +to her longing for her young, handsome and chivalrous lover. "Tutto +sprezzo che d'Ernani" (Words that breathe thy name Ernani). + +[Music: Tutto sprezzo che d'Ernani] + +The young women go. Enter _Don Carlos_, the _King_. There is a +colloquy, in which _Elvira_ protests against his presence; and then a +duet, which the _King_ begins, "Da quel dì che t'ho veduta" (From the +day, when first thy beauty). + +A secret panel opens. The _King_ is confronted by _Ernani_, and by +_Elvira_, who has snatched a dagger from his belt. She interposes +between the two men. _Silva_ enters. What he beholds draws from him +the melancholy reflections--"Infelice! e tu credevi" (Unhappy me! and +I believed thee), + +[Music: Infelice! e tu credevi] + +an exceptionally fine bass solo. He follows it with the vindictive +"Infin, che un brando vindice" (In fine a swift, unerring blade). + +Men and women of the castle and the _King's_ suite have come on. The +monarch is recognized by _Silva_, who does him obeisance, and, at the +_King's_ command, is obliged to let _Ernani_ depart. An ensemble +brings the act to a close. + +Act II. Grand hall in _Silva's_ castle. Doors lead to various +apartments. Portraits of the Silva family, surmounted by ducal +coronets and coats-of-arms, are hung on the walls. Near each portrait +is a complete suit of equestrian armour, corresponding in period to +that in which lived the ancestor represented in the portrait. A large +table and a ducal chair of carved oak. + +The persistent chorus of ladies, though doubtless aware that _Elvira_ +is not thrilled at the prospect of marriage with her "frosty" kinsman, +and has consented to marry him only because she believes _Ernani_ +dead, enters and sings "Esultiamo!" (Exultation!), then pays tribute +to the many virtues and graces of the bride. + +To _Silva_, in the full costume of a Grandee of Spain, and seated in +the ducal chair, is brought in _Ernani_, disguised as a monk. He is +welcomed as a guest; but, upon the appearance of _Elvira_ in bridal +array, throws off his disguise and offers his life, a sacrifice to +_Silva's_ vengeance, as the first gift for the wedding. _Silva_, +however, learning that he is pursued by the _King_, offers him the +protection due a guest under the roof of a Spaniard. + +"Ah, morir potessi adesso" (Ah, to die would be a blessing) is the +impassioned duet sung by _Elvira_ and _Ernani_, when _Silva_ leaves +them together. + +[Music: + + Ah, morir potessi adesso + O mio Ernani sul tuo petto] + +_Silva_, even when he returns and discovers _Elvira_ in _Ernani's_ +arms, will not break the law of Spanish hospitality, preferring to +wreak vengeance in his own way. He therefore hides _Ernani_ so +securely that the _King's_ followers, after searching the castle, are +obliged to report their complete failure to discover a trace of him. +Chorus: "Fu esplorato del castello" (We have now explored the castle). + +Then come the important episodes described--the _King's_ demand for +the surrender of _Silva's_ sword and threat to execute him; _Elvira's_ +interposition; and the _King's_ sinister action in carrying her off as +a hostage, after he has sung the significant air, "Vieni meco, sol di +rose" (Come with me, a brighter dawning waits for thee). + +[Music: Vieni meco, sol di rose] + +_Ernani's_ handing of his hunting horn to _Silva_, and his arousal of +the grandee to an understanding of the danger that threatens _Elvira_ +from the _King_, is followed by the finale, a spirited call to arms by +_Silva_, _Ernani_, and chorus, "In arcione, in arcione, cavalieri!" +(To horse, to horse, cavaliers!). + +_Silva_ and _Ernani_ distribute weapons among the men, which they +brandish as they rush from the hall. + +Act III. The scene is a sepulchral vault, enclosing the tomb of +Charlemagne in the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. The tomb is entered +by a heavy door of bronze, upon which is carved in large characters +the word "Charlemagne." Steps lead to the great door of the vault. +Other and smaller tombs are seen and other doors that give on other +passageways. Two lamps, suspended from the roof, shed a faint light. + +It is into this sombre but grandiose place the _King_ has come in +order to overhear, from within the tomb of his greatest ancestor, the +plotting of the conspirators. His soliloquy, "Oh, de' verd'anni miei" +(Oh, for my youthful years once more), derives impressiveness both +from the solemnity of the situation and the music's flowing measure. + +[Music: Oh de' verd'anni miei] + +The principal detail in the meeting of the conspirators is their +chorus, "Si ridesti il Leon di Castiglia" (Let the lion awake in +Castilia). Dramatically effective, too, in the midst of the plotting, +is the sudden booming of distant cannon. It startles the conspirators. +Cannon boom again. The bronze door of the tomb swings open. + +Then the _King_ presents himself at the entrance of the tomb. Three +times he strikes the door of bronze with the hilt of his dagger. The +principal entrance to the vault opens. To the sound of trumpets six +Electors enter, dressed in cloth of gold. They are followed by pages +carrying, upon velvet cushions, the sceptre, crown, and other imperial +insignia. Courtiers surround the Emperor. _Elvira_ approaches. The +banners of the Empire are displayed. Many torches borne by soldiers +illuminate the scene. The act closes with the pardon granted by the +_King_, and the stirring finale, "Oh, sommo Carlo!" (Charlemagne!) + +Act IV, on the terrace of _Ernani's_ castle, is brief, and there is +nothing to add to what has been said of its action. _Ernani_ asks +_Silva_ to spare him till his lips have tasted the chalice filled by +love. He recounts his sad life: "Solingo, errante, misero" (To linger +in exiled misery). + +_Silva's_ grim reply is to offer him his choice between a cup of +poison and a dagger. He takes the latter. "Ferma, crudele, estinguere" +(Stay thee, my lord, for me at least) cries _Elvira_, wishing to share +his fate. In the end there is left only the implacable avenger, to +gloat over _Ernani_, dead, and _Elvira_ prostrate upon his form. + + * * * * * + +"Ernani," brought out in 1844, is the earliest work by Verdi that +maintains a foothold in the modern repertoire, though by no means a +very firm one. And yet "Ernani" is in many respects a fine opera. One +wonders why it has not lasted better. Hanslick, the Viennese critic, +made a discriminating criticism upon it. He pointed out that whereas +in Victor Hugo's drama the mournful blast upon the hunting horn, when +heard in the last act, thrills the listener with tragic forebodings, +in the opera, after listening to solos, choruses, and a full orchestra +all the evening, the audience is but little impressed by the sounding +of a note upon a single instrument. That comment, however, presupposes +considerable subtlety, so far undiscovered, on the part of operatic +audiences. + +The fact is, that since 1844 the whirligig of time has made +one--two--three--perhaps even four revolutions, and with each +revolution the public taste that prevailed, when the first audience +that heard the work in the Teatro Fenice, went wild over "Ernani +Involami" and "Sommo Carlo," has become more remote and undergone more +and more changes. To turn back operatic time in its flight requires +in the case of "Ernani," a soprano of unusual voice and personality +for _Elvira_, a tenor of the same qualities for the picturesque rôle +of _Ernani_, a fine baritone for _Don Carlos_, and a sonorous basso, +who doesn't look too much like a meal bag, for _Don Ruy Gomez di +Silva_, Grandee of Spain. + +Early in its career the opera experienced various vicissitudes. The +conspiracy scene had to be toned down for political reasons before the +production of the work was permitted. Even then the chorus, "Let the +lion awake in Castilia," caused a political demonstration. In Paris, +Victor Hugo, as author of the drama on which the libretto is based, +raised objections to its representation, and it was produced in the +French capital as "Il Proscritto" (The Proscribed) with the characters +changed to Italians. Victor Hugo's "Hernani" was a famous play in +Sarah Bernhardt's repertoire during her early engagements in this +country. Her _Doña Sol_ (_Elvira_ in the opera) was one of her finest +achievements. On seeing the play, with her in it, I put to test +Hanslick's theory. The horn was thrilling in the play. It certainly is +less so in the opera. + + +RIGOLETTO + + Opera in three acts, by Verdi; words by Francesco Maria + Piave, founded on Victor Hugo's play, "Le Roi s'Amuse." + Produced, Fenice Theatre, Venice, March 11, 1851; London, + Covent Garden, May 14, 1853; Paris, Théâtre des Italiens, + January 19, 1857; New York, Academy of Music, November 4, + 1857, with Bignardi and Frezzolini. Caruso made his début in + America at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, as the + _Duke_ in "Rigoletto," November 23, 1903; Galli-Curci hers, + as _Gilda_, Chicago, November 18, 1916. + + CHARACTERS + + THE DUKE OF MANTUA _Tenor_ + RIGOLETTO, his jester, a hunchback _Baritone_ + COUNT CEPRANO } { _Bass_ + COUNT MONTERONE } Nobles { _Baritone_ + SPARAFUCILE, a bravo _Bass_ + BORSA, in the Duke's service _Tenor_ + MARULLO _Bass_ + COUNTESS CEPRANO _Soprano_ + GILDA, daughter of Rigoletto _Soprano_ + GIOVANNI, her duenna _Soprano_ + MADDALENA, sister to Sparafucile _Contralto_ + + Courtiers, nobles, pages, servants. + + _Time_--Sixteenth century. + + _Place_--Mantua. + +"Rigoletto" is a distinguished opera. Composed in forty days in 1851, +nearing three-quarters of a century of life before the footlights, it +still retains its vitality. Twenty years, with all they imply in +experience and artistic growth, lie between "Rigoletto" and "Aïda." +Yet the earlier opera, composed so rapidly as to constitute a _tour de +force_ of musical creation, seems destined to remain a close second in +popularity to the more mature work of its great composer. + +There are several reasons for the public's abiding interest in +"Rigoletto." It is based upon a most effective play by Victor Hugo, +"Le Roi s'Amuse," known to English playgoers in Tom Taylor's +adaptation as "The Fool's Revenge." The jester was one of Edwin +Booth's great rôles. This rôle of the deformed court jester, +_Rigoletto_, the hunchback, not only figures in the opera, but has +been vividly characterized by Verdi in his music. It is a vital, +centralizing force in the opera, concentrating and holding attention, +a character creation that appeals strongly both to the singer who +enacts it and to the audience who sees and hears it. The rôle has +appealed to famous artists. Ronconi (who taught singing in New York +for a few years, beginning in 1867) was a notable _Rigoletto_; so was +Galassi, whose intensely dramatic performance still is vividly +recalled by the older opera-goers; Renaud at the Manhattan Opera +House, Titta Ruffo at the Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, both +made their American débuts as _Rigoletto_. + +But the opera offers other rôles of distinction. Mario was a famous +_Duke_ in other days. Caruso made his sensational début at the +Metropolitan in the character of the volatile _Duca di Mantua_, +November 23, 1903. We have had as _Gilda_ Adelina Patti, Melba, and +Tetrazzini, to mention but a few; and the heroine of the opera is one +of the rôles of Galli-Curci, who appeared in it in Chicago, November +18, 1916. No coloratura soprano can, so to speak, afford to be without +it. + +Thus the opera has plot, a central character of vital dramatic +importance, and at least two other characters of strong interest. But +there is even more to be said in its behalf. For, next to the sextet +in "Lucia," the quartet in the last act of "Rigoletto" is the finest +piece of concerted music in Italian opera--and many people will object +to my placing it only "next" to that other famous ensemble, instead of +on complete equality with, or even ahead of it. + +The "argument" of "Rigoletto" deals with the amatory escapades of the +_Duke of Mantua_. In these he is aided by _Rigoletto_, his jester, a +hunchback. _Rigoletto_, both by his caustic wit and unscrupulous +conduct, has made many enemies at court. _Count Monterone_, who comes +to the court to demand the restoration of his daughter, who has been +dishonoured by the _Duke_, is met by the jester with laughter and +derision. The _Count_ curses _Rigoletto_, who is stricken with +superstitious terror. + +For _Rigoletto_ has a daughter, _Gilda_, whom he keeps in strict +seclusion. But the _Duke_, without being aware who she is, has seen +her, unknown to her father, and fallen in love with her. _Count +Ceprano_, who many times has suffered under _Rigoletto's_ biting +tongue, knowing that she is in some way connected with the jester, in +fact believing her to be his mistress, and glad of any opportunity of +doing him an injury, forms a plan to carry off the young girl, and so +arranges it that _Rigoletto_ unwittingly assists in her abduction. +When he finds that it is his own daughter whom he has aided to place +in the power of the _Duke_, he determines to murder his master, and +engages _Sparafucile_, a bravo, to do so. This man has a sister, +_Maddalena_, who entices the _Duke_ to a lonely inn. She becomes +fascinated with him, however, and begs her brother to spare his life. +This he consents to do if before midnight any one shall arrive at the +inn whom he can kill and pass off as the murdered _Duke_. _Rigoletto_, +who has recovered his daughter, brings her to the inn so that, by +being a witness of the _Duke's_ inconstancy, she may be cured of her +unhappy love. She overhears the plot to murder her lover, and +_Sparafucile's_ promise to his sister. Determined to save the _Duke_, +she knocks for admittance, and is stabbed on entering. _Rigoletto_ +comes at the appointed time for the body. _Sparafucile_ brings it out +in a sack. The jester is about to throw it into the water, sack and +all, when he hears the _Duke_ singing. He tears open the sack, only to +find his own daughter, at the point of death. + +Act I opens in a salon in the _Duke's_ palace. A suite of other +apartments is seen extending into the background. All are brilliantly +lighted for the fête that is in progress. Courtiers and ladies are +moving about in all directions. Pages are passing to and fro. From an +adjoining salon music is heard and bursts of merriment. + +[Music] + +There is effervescent gayety in the orchestral accompaniment to the +scene. A minuet played by an orchestra on the stage is curiously +reminiscent of the minuet in Mozart's "Don Giovanni." The _Duke_ and +_Borsa_ enter from the back. They are conversing about an "unknown +charmer"--none other than _Gilda_--whom the _Duke_ has seen at church. +He says that he will pursue the adventure to the end, although a +mysterious man visits her nightly. + +Among a group of his guests the _Duke_ sees the _Countess Ceprano_, +whom he has been wooing quite openly, in spite of the _Count's_ +visible annoyance. The dashing gallant cares nothing about what anyone +may think of his escapades, least of all the husbands or other +relatives of the ladies. "Questa o quella per me pari sono" (This one, +or that one, to me 'tis the same). + +[Music] + +This music floats on air. It gives at once the cue to the _Duke's_ +character. Like _Don Giovanni_ he is indifferent to fate, flits from +one affair to another, and is found as fascinating as he is dangerous +by all women, of whatever degree, upon whom he confers his doubtful +favours. + +_Rigoletto_, hunchbacked but agile, sidles in. He is in cap and bells, +and carries the jester's bauble. The immediate object of his satire is +_Count Ceprano_, who is watching his wife, as she is being led off on +the _Duke's_ arm. _Rigoletto_ then goes out looking for other victims. +_Marullo_ joins the nobles. He tells them that _Rigoletto_, despite +his hump, has an inamorata. The statement makes a visible impression +upon _Count Ceprano_, and when the nobles, after another sally from +the jester, who has returned with the _Duke_, inveigh against his +bitter tongue, the _Count_ bids them meet him at night on the morrow +and he will guarantee them revenge upon the hunchback for the gibes +they have been obliged to endure from him. + +The gay music, which forms a restless background to the recitatives of +which I have given the gist, + +[Music] + +trips buoyantly along, to be suddenly broken in upon by the voice of +one struggling without, and who, having freed himself from those +evidently striving to hold him back, bursts in upon the scene. It is +the aged _Count Monterone_. His daughter has been dishonoured by the +_Duke_, and he denounces the ruler of Mantua before the whole +assembly. His arrest is ordered. _Rigoletto_ mocks him until, drawing +himself up to his full height, the old noble not only denounces him, +but calls down upon him a father's curse. + +_Rigoletto_ is strangely affrighted. He cowers before _Monterone's_ +malediction. It is the first time since he has appeared at the +gathering that he is not gibing at someone. Not only is he subdued; he +is terror-stricken. + +_Monterone_ is led off between halberdiers. The gay music again breaks +in. The crowd follows the _Duke_. But _Rigoletto_? + +The scene changes to the street outside of his house. It is secluded +in a courtyard, from which a door leads into the street. In the +courtyard are a tall tree and a marble seat. There is also seen at the +end of the street, which has no thoroughfare, the gable end of _Count +Ceprano's_ palace. It is night. + +As _Rigoletto_ enters, he speaks of _Monterone's_ curse. His entrance +to the house is interrupted by the appearance of _Sparafucile_, an +assassin for hire. In a colloquy, to which the orchestra supplies an +accompaniment, interesting because in keeping with the scene, he +offers to _Rigoletto_ his services, should they be needed, in putting +enemies out of the way--and his charges are reasonable. + +[Music] + +_Rigoletto_ has no immediate need of him, but ascertains where he can +be found. + +_Sparafucile_ goes. _Rigoletto_ has a soliloquy, beginning, "How like +are we!--the tongue, my weapon, the dagger his! to make others laugh +is my vocation,--his to make them weep!... Tears, the common solace of +humanity, are to me denied.... 'Amuse me buffoon'--and I must obey." +His mind still dwells on the curse--a father's curse, pronounced upon +him, a father to whom his daughter is a jewel. He refers to it, even +as he unlocks the door that leads to his house, and also to his +daughter, who, as he enters, throws herself into his arms. + +He cautions her about going out. She says she never ventures beyond +the courtyard save to go to church. He grieves over the death of his +wife--_Gilda's_ mother--that left her to his care while she was still +an infant. "Deh non parlare al misero" (Speak not of one whose loss to +me). + +[Music: Deh non parlare al misero] + +He charges her attendant, _Giovanna_, carefully to guard her. _Gilda_ +endeavours to dispel his fears. The result is the duet for _Rigoletto_ +and _Gilda_, beginning with his words to _Giovanna_, "Veglia, o donna, +questo fiore" (Safely guard this tender blossom). + +[Illustration: Photo copyright, 1916, by Victor Georg + +Galli-Curci as Gilda in "Rigoletto"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Caruso as the Duke in "Rigoletto"] + +_Rigoletto_ hears footsteps in the street and goes out through the +door of the courtyard to see who may be there. As the door swings out, +the _Duke_, for it is he, in the guise of a student, whose stealthy +footsteps have been heard by the jester, conceals himself behind it, +then slips into the courtyard, tosses a purse to _Giovanna_, and hides +in the shadow of the tree. _Rigoletto_ reappears for a brief moment to +say good-bye to _Gilda_ and once more to warn _Giovanna_ to guard her +carefully. + +When he has gone _Gilda_ worries because fear drove her to refrain +from revealing to her father that a handsome youth has several times +followed her from church. This youth's image is installed in her +heart. "I long to say to him 'I lo--'" + +The _Duke_ steps out of the tree's shadow, motions to _Giovanna_ to +retire and, throwing himself at _Gilda's_ feet, takes the words out of +her mouth by exclaiming, "I love thee!" + +No doubt taken by surprise, yet also thrilled with joy, she hearkens +to him rapturously as he declares, "È il sol dell'anima, la vita è +amore" (Love is the sun by which passion is kindled). + +[Music: È il sol dell'anima, la vita è amore,] + +The meeting is brief, for again there are footsteps outside. But their +farewell is an impassioned duet, "Addio speranza ed anima" (Farewell, +my hope, my soul, farewell). + +He has told her that he is a student, by name Walter Maldè. When he +has gone, she muses upon the name, and, when she has lighted a candle +and is ascending the steps to her room, she sings the enchanting +coloratura air, "Caro nome che il mio cor" (Dear name, my heart +enshrines). + +[Music: + + Caro nome che il mio cor + Festi primo palpitar,] + +If the _Gilda_ be reasonably slender and pretty, the scene, with the +courtyard, the steps leading up to the room, and the young maiden +gracefully and tenderly expressing her heart's first romance, is +charming, and in itself sufficient to account for the attraction which +the rôle holds for prima donnas. + +Tiptoeing through the darkness outside come _Marullo_, _Ceprano_, +_Borsa_, and other nobles and courtiers, intent upon seeking revenge +for the gibes _Rigoletto_ at various times has aimed at them, by +carrying off the damsel, whom they assume to be his inamorata. At that +moment, however, the jester himself appears. They tell him they have +come to abduct the _Countess Ceprano_ and bear her to the Ducal +palace. To substantiate this statement _Marullo_ quickly has the keys +to _Ceprano's_ house passed to him by the _Count_, and in the darkness +holds them out to _Rigoletto_, who, his suspicions allayed because he +can feel the Ceprano crest in basso-relievo on the keys, volunteers to +aid in the escapade. _Marullo_ gives him a mask and, as if to fasten +it securely, ties it with a handkerchief, which he passes over the +piercings for the eyes. _Rigoletto_, confused, holds a ladder against +what he believes to be the wall of _Ceprano's_ house. By it, the +abductors climb his own wall, enter his house, gag, seize, and carry +away _Gilda_, making their exit from the courtyard, but in their hurry +failing to observe a scarf that has fluttered from their precious +burden. + +_Rigoletto_ is left alone in the darkness and silence. He tears off +his mask. The door to his courtyard is open. Before him lies _Gilda's_ +scarf. He rushes into the house, into her room; reappears, staggering +under the weight of the disaster, which, through his own unwitting +connivance, has befallen him. + +"Ah! La maledizione!" he cries out. It is _Monterone's_ curse. + +Act II has its scene laid in the ducal palace. This salon has large +folding doors in the background and smaller ones on each side, above +which are portraits of the _Duke_ and of the Duchess, a lady who, +whether from a sense of delicacy or merely to serve the convenience of +the stage, does not otherwise appear in the opera. + +The _Duke_ is disconsolate. He has returned to _Rigoletto's_ house, +found it empty. The bird had flown. The scamp mourns his loss--in +affecting language and music, "Parmi veder le lagrime" (Fair maid, +each tear of mine that flows). + +In a capital chorus he is told by _Marullo_ and the others that they +have abducted _Rigoletto's_ inamorata. + +[Music: Scorrendo uniti remota via] + +The _Duke_ well knows that she is the very one whose charms are the +latest that have enraptured him. "Possente amor mi chiama" (To her I +love with rapture). + +He learns from the courtiers that they have brought her to the palace. +He hastens to her, "to console her," in his own way. It is at this +moment _Rigoletto_ enters. He knows his daughter is in the palace. He +has come to search for her. Aware that he is in the presence of those +who took advantage of him and thus secured his aid in the abduction of +the night before, he yet, in order to accomplish his purpose, must +appear light-hearted, question craftily, and be diplomatic, although +at times he cannot prevent his real feelings breaking through. It is +the ability of Verdi to give expression to such varied emotions which +make this scene one of the most significant in his operas. It is +dominated by an orchestral motive, that of the clown who jests while +his heart is breaking. + +[Music: La rà, la rà, la la, la rà, la rà, la rà, la rà etc.] + +Finally he turns upon the crowd that taunts him, hurls invective upon +them; and, when a door opens and _Gilda_, whose story can be read in +her aspect of despair, rushes into his arms, he orders the courtiers +out of sight with a sense of outrage so justified that, in spite of +the flippant words with which they comment upon his command, they obey +it. + +Father and daughter are alone. She tells him her story--of the +handsome youth, who followed her from church--"Tutte le feste al +tempio" (One very festal morning). + +Then follows her account of their meeting, his pretence that he was a +poor student, when, in reality, he was the _Duke_--to whose chamber +she was borne after her abduction. It is from there she has just come. +Her father strives to comfort her--"Piangi, fanciulla" (Weep, my +child). + +At this moment he is again reminded of the curse pronounced upon him +by the father whose grief with him had been but the subject of ribald +jest. _Count Monterone_, between guards, is conducted through the +apartment to the prison where he is to be executed for denouncing the +_Duke_. Then _Rigoletto_ vows vengeance upon the betrayer of _Gilda_. + +But such is the fascination which the _Duke_ exerts over women that +_Gilda_, fearing for the life of her despoiler, pleads with her father +to "pardon him, as we ourselves the pardon of heaven hope to gain," +adding, in an aside, "I dare not say how much I love him." + +It was a corrupt, carefree age. Victor Hugo created a debonair +character--a libertine who took life lightly and flitted from pleasure +to pleasure. And so Verdi lets him flit from tune to tune--gay, +melodious, sentimental. There still are plenty of men like the _Duke_, +and plenty of women like _Gilda_ to love them; and other women, be it +recalled, as discreet as the Duchess, who does not appear in this +opera save as a portrait on the wall, from which she calmly looks down +upon a jester invoking vengeance upon her husband, because of the +wrong he has done the girl, who weeps on the breast of her hunchback +father. + +To Act III might be given as a sub-title, "The Fool's Revenge," the +title of Tom Taylor's adaptation into English of Victor Hugo's play. +The scene shows a desolate spot on the banks of the Mincio. On the +right, with its front to the audience, is a house two stories high, in +a very dilapidated state, but still used as an inn. The doors and +walls are so full of crevices that whatever is going on within can be +seen from without. In front are the road and the river; in the +distance is the city of Mantua. It is night. + +The house is that of _Sparafucile_. With him lives his sister, +_Maddalena_, a handsome young gypsy woman, who lures men to the inn, +there to be robbed--or killed, if there is more money to be had for +murder than for robbery. _Sparafucile_ is seen within, cleaning his +belt and sharpening his sword. + +Outside are _Rigoletto_ and _Gilda_. She cannot banish the image of +her despoiler from her heart. Hither the hunchback has brought her to +prove to her the faithlessness of the _Duke_. She sees him in the garb +of a soldier coming along the city wall. He descends, enters the inn, +and calls for wine and a room for the night. Shuffling a pack of +cards, which he finds on the table, and pouring out the wine, he sings +of woman. This is the famous "La donna è mobile" (Fickle is woman +fair). + +[Music: + + La donna è mobile + Qual piuma al vento,] + +It has been highly praised and violently criticized; and usually gets +as many encores as the singer cares to give. As for the criticisms, +the cadenzas so ostentatiously introduced by singers for the sake of +catching applause, are no more Verdi's than is the high C in "Il +Trovatore." The song is perfectly in keeping with the _Duke's_ +character. It has grace, verve, and buoyancy; and, what is an +essential point in the development of the action from this point on, +it is easily remembered. In any event I am glad that among my operatic +experiences I can count having heard "La donna è mobile" sung by such +great artists as Campanini, Caruso, and Bonci, the last two upon their +first appearances in the rôle in this country. + +At a signal from _Sparafucile_, _Maddalena_ joins the _Duke_. He +presses his love upon her. With professional coyness she pretends to +repulse him. This leads to the quartet, with its dramatic +interpretation of the different emotions of the four participants. The +_Duke_ is gallantly urgent and pleading: "Bella figlia dell'amore" +(Fairest daughter of the graces). + +[Music] + +_Maddalena_ laughingly resists his advances: "I am proof, my gentle +wooer, 'gainst your vain and empty nothings." + +[Music] + +_Gilda_ is moved to despair: "Ah, thus to me of love he spoke." + +[Music] + +_Rigoletto_ mutters of vengeance. + +It is the _Duke_ who begins the quartet; _Maddalena_ who first joins +in by coyly mocking him; _Gilda_ whose voice next falls upon the night +with despairing accents; _Rigoletto_ whose threats of vengeance then +are heard. With the return of the theme, after the first cadence, the +varied elements are combined. + +They continue so to the end. _Gilda's_ voice, in brief cries of grief, +rising twice to effective climaxes, then becoming even more poignant +through the syncopation of the rhythm. + +Rising to a beautiful and highly dramatic climax, the quartet ends +pianissimo. + +This quartet usually is sung as the pièce de résistance of the opera, +and is supposed to be the great event of the performance. I cannot +recall a representation of the work with Nilsson and Campanini in +which this was not the case, and it was so at the Manhattan when +"Rigoletto" was sung there by Melba and Bonci. But at the +Metropolitan, since Caruso's advent, "Rigoletto" has become a "Caruso +opera," and the stress is laid on "La donna è mobile," for which +numerous encores are demanded, while with the quartet, the encore is +deliberately side-stepped--a most interesting process for the +initiated to watch. + +[Illustration: Photo by Hall + +The Quartet in "Rigoletto" + +The Duke (Sheehan), Maddalena (Albright), Gilda (Easton), Rigoletto +(Goff)] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Riccardo Martin as Manrico in "Il Trovatore"] + +After the quartet, _Sparafucile_ comes out and receives from +_Rigoletto_ half of his fee to murder the _Duke_, the balance to be +paid when the body, in a sack, is delivered to the hunchback. +_Sparafucile_ offers to throw the sack into the river, but that does +not suit the fool's desire for revenge. He wants the grim +satisfaction of doing so himself. Satisfied that _Gilda_ has seen +enough of the _Duke's_ perfidy, he sends her home, where, for safety, +she is to don male attire and start on the way to Verona, where he +will join her. He himself also goes out. + +A storm now gathers. There are flashes of lightning; distant rumblings +of thunder. The wind moans. (Indicated by the chorus, _à bouche +fermée_, behind the scenes.) The _Duke_ has gone to his room, after +whispering a few words to _Maddalena_. He lays down his hat and sword, +throws himself on the bed, sings a few snatches of "La donna è +mobile," and in a short time falls asleep. _Maddalena_, below, stands +by the table. _Sparafucile_ finishes the contents of the bottle left +by the _Duke_. Both remain silent for awhile. + +_Maddalena_, fascinated by the _Duke_, begins to plead for his life. +The storm is now at its height. Lightning plays vividly across the +sky, thunder crashes, wind howls, rain falls in torrents. Through this +uproar of the elements, to which night adds its terrors, comes +_Gilda_, drawn as by a magnet to the spot where she knows her false +lover to be. Through the crevices in the wall of the house she can +hear _Maddalena_ pleading with _Sparafucile_ to spare the _Duke's_ +life. "Kill the hunchback," she counsels, "when he comes with the +balance of the money." But there is honour even among assassins as +among thieves. The bravo will not betray a customer. + +_Maddalena_ pleads yet more urgently. Well--_Sparafucile_ will give +the handsome youth one desperate chance for life: Should any other man +arrive at the inn before midnight, that man will he kill and put in +the sack to be thrown into the river, in place of _Maddalena's_ +temporary favourite. A clock strikes the half-hour. _Gilda_ is in male +attire. She determines to save the _Duke's_ life--to sacrifice hers +for his. She knocks. There is a moment of surprised suspense within. +Then everything is made ready. _Maddalena_ opens the door, and runs +forward to close the outer one. _Gilda_ enters. For a moment one +senses her form in the darkness. A half-stifled outcry. Then all is +buried in silence and gloom. + +The storm is abating. The rain has ceased; the lightning become +fitful, the thunder distant and intermittent. _Rigoletto_ returns. "At +last the hour of my vengeance is nigh." A bell tolls midnight. He +knocks at the door. _Sparafucile_ brings out the sack, receives the +balance of his money, and retires into the house. "This sack his +winding sheet!" exclaims the hunchback, as he gloats over it. The +night has cleared. He must hurry and throw it into the river. + +Out of the second story of the house and on to the wall steps the +figure of a man and proceeds along the wall toward the city. +_Rigoletto_ starts to drag the sack with the body toward the stream. +Lightly upon the night fall the notes of a familiar voice singing: + + La donna è mobile + Qual piuma al vento; + Muta d'accento, + E di pensiero. + + (Fickle is woman fair, + Like feather wafted; + Changeable ever, + Constant, ah, never.) + +It is the _Duke_. Furiously the hunchback tears open the sack. In it +he beholds his daughter. Not yet quite dead, she is able to whisper, +"Too much I loved him--now I die for him." There is a duet: _Gilda_, +"Lassù in cielo" (From yonder sky); _Rigoletto_, "Non morir" (Ah, +perish not). + +"Maledizione!"--The music of _Monterone's_ curse upon the ribald +jester, now bending over the corpse of his own despoiled daughter, +resounds on the orchestra. The fool has had his revenge. + +For political reasons the performance of Victor Hugo's "Le Roi +s'Amuse" was forbidden in France after the first representation. In +Hugo's play the principal character is Triboulet, the jester of +François I. The King, of course, also is a leading character; and +there is a pen-portrait of Saint-Vallier. It was considered unsafe, +after the revolutionary uprisings in Europe in 1848, to present on the +stage so licentious a story involving a monarch. Therefore, to avoid +political complications, and copyright ones possibly later, the +Italian librettist laid the scene in Mantua. _Triboulet_ became +_Rigoletto_; _François I._ the _Duke_, and _Saint-Vallier_ the _Count +Monterone_. Early in its career the opera also was given under the +title of "Viscardello." + + +IL TROVATORE + +THE TROUBADOUR + + Opera in four acts, by Verdi; words by Salvatore Cammarano, + based on the Spanish drama of the same title by Antonio + Garcia Gutierrez. Produced, Apollo Theatre, Rome, January + 19, 1853. Paris, Théâtre des Italiens, December 23, 1854; + Grand Opéra, in French as "Le Trouvère," January 12, 1857. + London, Covent Garden, May 17, 1855; in English, as "The + Gypsy's Vengeance," Drury Lane, March 24, 1856. America: New + York, April 30, 1855, with Brignoli (_Manrico_), Steffanone + (_Leonora_), Amodio (_Count di Luna_), and Vestvali + (_Azucena_); Philadelphia, Walnut Street Theatre, January + 14, 1856, and Academy of Music, February 25, 1857; New + Orleans, April 13, 1857. Metropolitan Opera House, New York, + in German, 1889; 1908, Caruso, Eames, and Homer. Frequently + performed at the Academy of Music, New York, with Campanini + (_Manrico_), Nilsson (_Leonora_), and Annie Louise Cary + (_Azucena_); and Del Puente or Galassi as _Count di Luna_. + + CHARACTERS + + COUNT DI LUNA, a young noble of Aragon _Baritone_ + FERRANDO, DI LUNA'S captain of the guard _Bass_ + MANRICO, a chieftain under the Prince + of Biscay, and reputed son of AZUCENA _Tenor_ + RUIZ, a soldier in MANRICO'S service _Tenor_ + AN OLD GYPSY _Baritone_ + DUCHESS LEONORA, lady-in-waiting to a + Princess of Aragon _Soprano_ + INEZ, confidante of LEONORA _Soprano_ + AZUCENA, a Biscayan gypsy woman _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + Followers of COUNT DI LUNA and of MANRICO; messenger, + gaoler, soldiers, nuns, gypsies. + + _Time_--Fifteenth century. + + _Place_--Biscay and Aragon. + +For many years "Il Trovatore" has been an opera of world-wide +popularity, and for a long time could be accounted the most popular +work in the operatic repertoire of practically every land. While it +cannot be said to retain its former vogue in this country, it is still +a good drawing card, and, with special excellences of cast, an +exceptional one. + +The libretto of "Il Trovatore" is considered the acme of absurdity; +and the popularity of the opera, notwithstanding, is believed to be +entirely due to the almost unbroken melodiousness of Verdi's score. + +While it is true, however, that the story of this opera seems to be a +good deal of a mix-up, it is also a fact that, under the spur of +Verdi's music, even a person who has not a clear grasp of the plot can +sense the dramatic power of many of the scenes. It is an opera of +immense verve, of temperament almost unbridled, of genius for the +melodramatic so unerring that its composer has taken dance rhythms, +like those of mazurka and waltz, and on them developed melodies most +passionate in expression and dramatic in effect. Swift, spontaneous, +and stirring is the music of "Il Trovatore." Absurdities, +complexities, unintelligibilities of story are swept away in its +unrelenting progress. "Il Trovatore" is the Verdi of forty working at +white heat. + +One reason why the plot of "Il Trovatore" seems such a jumbled-up +affair is that a considerable part of the story is supposed to have +transpired before the curtain goes up. These events are narrated by +_Ferrando_, the _Count di Luna's_ captain of the guard, soon after +the opera begins. But as even spoken narrative on the stage makes +little impression, narrative when sung may be said to make none at +all. Could the audience know what _Ferrando_ is singing about, the +subsequent proceedings would not appear so hopelessly involved, or +appeal so strongly to humorous rhymesters, who usually begin their +parodies on the opera with, + + This is the story + of "Il Trovatore." + +What is supposed to have happened before the curtain goes up on the +opera is as follows: The old Count di Luna, sometime deceased, had two +sons nearly of the same age. One night, when they still were infants, +and asleep, in a nurse's charge in an apartment in the old Count's +castle, a gypsy hag, having gained stealthy entrance into the chamber, +was discovered leaning over the cradle of the younger child, Garzia. +Though she was instantly driven away, the child's health began to fail +and she was believed to have bewitched it. She was pursued, +apprehended and burned alive at the stake. + +Her daughter, _Azucena_, at that time a young gypsy woman with a child +of her own in her arms, was a witness to the death of her mother, +which she swore to avenge. During the following night she stole into +the castle, snatched the younger child of the Count di Luna from its +cradle, and hurried back to the scene of execution, intending to throw +the baby boy into the flames that still raged over the spot where they +had consumed her mother. Almost bereft of her senses, however, by her +memory of the horrible scene she had witnessed, she seized and hurled +into the flames her own child, instead of the young Count (thus +preserving, with an almost supernatural instinct for opera, the baby +that was destined to grow up into a tenor with a voice high enough to +sing "Di quella pira"). + +Thwarted for the moment in her vengeance, _Azucena_ was not to be +completely baffled. With the infant Count in her arms she fled and +rejoined her tribe, entrusting her secret to no one, but bringing him +up--_Manrico, the Troubadour_--as her own son; and always with the +thought that through him she might wreak vengeance upon his own +kindred. + +When the opera opens, _Manrico_ has grown up; she has become old and +wrinkled, but is still unrelenting in her quest of vengeance. The old +Count has died, leaving the elder son, _Count di Luna_ of the opera, +sole heir to his title and possessions, but always doubting the death +of the younger, despite the heap of infant's bones found among the +ashes about the stake. + +"After this preliminary knowledge," quaintly says the English +libretto, "we now come to the actual business of the piece." Each of +the four acts of this "piece" has a title: Act I, "Il Duello" (The +Duel); Act II, "La Gitana" (The Gypsy); Act III, "Il Figlio della +Zingara" (The Gypsy's Son); Act IV, "Il Supplizio" (The Penalty). + +Act I. Atrium of the palace of Aliaferia, with a door leading to the +apartments of the _Count di Luna_. _Ferrando_, the captain of the +guard, and retainers, are reclining near the door. Armed men are +standing guard in the background. It is night. The men are on guard +because _Count di Luna_ desires to apprehend a minstrel knight, a +troubadour, who has been heard on several occasions to be serenading +from the palace garden, the _Duchess Leonora_, for whom a deep, but +unrequited passion sways the _Count_. + +Weary of the watch, the retainers beg _Ferrando_ to tell them the +story of the _Count's_ brother, the stolen child. This _Ferrando_ +proceeds to do in the ballad, "Abbietta zingara" (Sat there a gypsy +hag). + +_Ferrando's_ gruesome ballad and the comments of the horror-stricken +chorus dominate the opening of the opera. The scene is an unusually +effective one for a subordinate character like _Ferrando_. But in "Il +Trovatore" Verdi is lavish with his melodies--more so, perhaps, than +in any of his other operas. + +The scene changes to the gardens of the palace. On one side a flight +of marble steps leads to _Leonora's_ apartment. Heavy clouds obscure +the moon. _Leonora_ and _Inez_ are in the garden. From the +confidante's questions and _Leonora's_ answers it is gathered that +_Leonora_ is enamoured of an unknown but valiant knight who, lately +entering a tourney, won all contests and was crowned victor by her +hand. She knows her love is requited, for at night she has heard her +_Troubadour_ singing below her window. In the course of this narrative +_Leonora_ has two solos. The first of these is the romantic "Tacea la +notte placida" (The night calmly and peacefully in beauty seemed +reposing). + +[Music: + + Tacea la notte placida, + E bella in ciel sereno;] + +It is followed by the graceful and engaging "Di tale amor che dirsi" +(Of such a love how vainly), + +[Music: Di tale amor che dirsi] + +with its brilliant cadenza. + +_Leonora_ and _Inez_ then ascend the steps and retire into the palace. +The _Count di Luna_ now comes into the garden. He has hardly entered +before the voice of the _Troubadour_, accompanied on a lute, is heard +from a nearby thicket singing the familiar romanza, "Deserto sulla +terra" (Lonely on earth abiding). + +[Music: Deserto sulla terra] + +From the palace comes _Leonora_. Mistaking the Count in the shadow of +the trees for her _Troubadour_, she hastens toward him. The moon +emerging from a cloud, she sees the figure of a masked cavalier, +recognizes it as that of her lover, and turns from the _Count_ toward +the _Troubadour_. Unmasking, the _Troubadour_ now discloses his +identity as _Manrico_, one who, as a follower of the Prince of Biscay, +is proscribed in Aragon. The men draw their swords. There is a trio +that fairly seethes with passion--"Di geloso amor sprezzato" (Fires of +jealous, despised affection). + +[Music] + +These are the words, in which the _Count_ begins the trio. It +continues with "Un istante almen dia loco" (One brief moment thy fury +restraining). + +[Music: Un istante almen dia loco] + +The men rush off to fight their duel. _Leonora_ faints. + +Act II. An encampment of gypsies. There is a ruined house at the foot +of a mountain in Biscay; the interior partly exposed to view; within a +great fire is lighted. Day begins to dawn. + +_Azucena_ is seated near the fire. _Manrico_, enveloped in his mantle, +is lying upon a mattress; his helmet is at his feet; in his hand he +holds a sword, which he regards fixedly. A band of gypsies are sitting +in scattered groups around them. + +Since an almost unbroken sequence of melodies is a characteristic of +"Il Trovatore," it is not surprising to find at the opening of this +act two famous numbers in quick succession;--the famous "Anvil +Chorus," + +[Music] + +in which the gypsies, working at the forges, swing their hammers and +bring them down on clanking metal in rhythm with the music; the chorus +being followed immediately by _Azucena's_ equally famous "Stride la +vampa" (Upward the flames roll). + +[Music: Stride la vampa!] + +In this air, which the old gypsy woman sings as a weird, but +impassioned upwelling of memories and hatreds, while the tribe gathers +about her, she relates the story of her mother's death. "Avenge thou +me!" she murmurs to _Manrico_, when she has concluded. + +The corps de ballet which, in the absence of a regular ballet in "Il +Trovatore," utilizes this scene and the music of the "Anvil Chorus" +for its picturesque saltations, dances off. The gypsies now depart, +singing their chorus. With a pretty effect it dies away in the +distance. + +[Music] + +Swept along by the emotional stress under which she labours, _Azucena_ +concludes her narrative of the tragic events at the pyre, voice and +orchestral accompaniment uniting in a vivid musical setting of her +memories. Naturally, her words arouse doubts in _Manrico's_ mind as to +whether he really is her son. She hastens to dispel these; they were +but wandering thoughts she uttered. Moreover, after the recent battle +of Petilla, between the forces of Biscay and Aragon, when he was +reported slain, did she not search for and find him, and has she not +been tenderly nursing him back to strength? + +The forces of Aragon were led by _Count di Luna_, who but a short time +before had been overcome by _Manrico_ in a duel in the palace +garden;--why, on that occasion, asks the gypsy, did he spare the +_Count's_ life? + +_Manrico's_ reply is couched in a bold, martial air, "Mal reggendo +all'aspro assalto" (Ill sustaining the furious encounter). + +But at the end it dies away to _pp_, when he tells how, when the +_Count's_ life was his for a thrust, a voice, as if from heaven, bade +him spare it--a suggestion, of course, that although neither _Manrico_ +nor the _Count_ know that they are brothers, _Manrico_ unconsciously +was swayed by the relationship, a touch of psychology rare in Italian +opera librettos, most unexpected in this, and, of course, completely +lost upon those who have not familiarized themselves with the plot of +"Il Trovatore." Incidentally, however, it accounts for a musical +effect--the _pp_, the sudden softening of the expression, at the end +of the martial description of the duel. + +Enter now _Ruiz_, a messenger from the Prince of Biscay, who orders +_Manrico_ to take command of the forces defending the stronghold of +Castellor, and at the same time informs him that _Leonora_, believing +reports of his death at Petilla, is about to take the veil in a +convent near the castle. + +The scene changes to the cloister of this convent. It is night. The +_Count_ and his followers, led by _Ferrando_, and heavily cloaked, +advance cautiously. It is the _Count's_ plan to carry off _Leonora_ +before she becomes a nun. He sings of his love for her in the air, "Il +Balen" (The Smile)--"Il balen del suo sorriso" (Of her smile, the +radiant gleaming)--which is justly regarded as one of the most chaste +and beautiful baritone solos in Italian opera. + +[Music: Il balen del suo sorriso] + +It is followed by an air _alla marcia_, also for the _Count_, "Per me +ora fatale" (Oh, fatal hour impending). + +[Music: Per me ora fatale,] + +A chorus of nuns is heard from within the convent. _Leonora_, with +_Inez_, and her ladies, come upon the scene. They are about to proceed +from the cloister into the convent when the _Count_ interposes. But +before he can seize _Leonora_, another figure stands between them. It +is _Manrico_. With him are _Ruiz_ and his followers. The _Count_ is +foiled. + +"E deggio!--e posso crederlo?" (And can I still my eyes believe!) +exclaims _Leonora_, as she beholds before her _Manrico_, whom she had +thought dead. It is here that begins the impassioned finale, an +ensemble consisting of a trio for _Leonora_, _Manrico_, and the _Count +di Luna_, with chorus. + +Act III. The camp of _Count di Luna_, who is laying siege to +Castellor, whither _Manrico_ has safely borne _Leonora_. There is a +stirring chorus for _Ferrando_ and the soldiers. + +[Music] + +The _Count_ comes from his tent. He casts a lowering gaze at the +stronghold from where his rival defies him. There is a commotion. +Soldiers have captured a gypsy woman found prowling about the camp. +They drag her in. She is _Azucena_. Questioned, she sings that she is +a poor wanderer, who means no harm. "Giorni poveri vivea" (I was poor, +yet uncomplaining). + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Schumann-Heink as Azucena in "Il Trovatore"] + +But _Ferrando_, though she thought herself masked by the grey hairs +and wrinkles of age, recognizes her as the gypsy who, to avenge her +mother, gave over the infant brother of the _Count_ to the flames. In +the vehemence of her denials, she cries out to _Manrico_, whom she +names as her son, to come to her rescue. This still further enrages +the _Count_. He orders that she be cast into prison and then burned at +the stake. She is dragged away. + +The scene changes to a hall adjoining the chapel in the stronghold of +Castellor. _Leonora_ is about to become the bride of _Manrico_, who +sings the beautiful lyric, "Amor--sublime amore" ('Tis love, sublime +emotion). + +Its serenity makes all the more effective the tumultuous scene that +follows. It assists in giving to that episode, one of the most famous +in Italian opera, its true significance as a dramatic climax. + +Just as _Manrico_ takes _Leonora's_ hand to lead her to the altar of +the chapel, _Ruiz_ rushes in with word that _Azucena_ has been +captured by the besiegers and is about to be burned to death. Already +through the windows of Castellor the glow of flames can be seen. Her +peril would render delay fatal. Dropping the hand of his bride, +_Manrico_, draws his sword, and, as his men gather, sings "Di quella +pira l'orrendo foco" (See the pyre blazing, oh, sight of horror), and +rushes forth at the head of his soldiers to attempt to save _Azucena_. + +[Music] + +The line, "O teco almeno, corro a morir" (Or, all else failing, to die +with thee), contains the famous high C. + +[Music: O teco almeno corro a morir] + +This is a _tour de force_, which has been condemned as vulgar and +ostentatious, but which undoubtedly adds to the effectiveness of the +number. There is, it should be remarked, no high C in the score of "Di +quella pira." In no way is Verdi responsible for it. It was introduced +by a tenor, who saw a chance to make an effect with it, and succeeded +so well that it became a fixture. A tenor now content to sing "O teco +almeno" as Verdi wrote it + +[Music] + +would never be asked to sing it. + +Dr. Frank E. Miller, author of _The Voice_ and _Vocal Art Science_, +the latter the most complete exposition of the psycho-physical +functions involved in voice-production, informs me that a series of +photographs have been made (by an apparatus too complicated to +describe) of the vibrations of Caruso's voice as he takes and holds +the high C in "Di quella pira." The record measures fifty-eight feet. +While it might not be correct to say that Caruso's high C is +fifty-eight feet long, the record is evidence of its being superbly +taken and held. + +Not infrequently the high C in "Di quella pira" is faked for tenors +who cannot reach it, yet have to sing the rôle of _Manrico_, or who, +having been able to reach it in their younger days and at the height +of their prime, still wish to maintain their fame as robust tenors. +For such the number is transposed. The tenor, instead of singing high +C, sings B-flat, a tone and a half lower, and much easier to take. By +flourishing his sword and looking very fierce he usually manages to +get away with it. Transpositions of operatic airs, requiring unusually +high voices, are not infrequently made for singers, both male and +female, no longer in their prime, but still good for two or three more +"farewell" tours. All they have to do is to step up to the footlights +with an air of perfect confidence, which indicates that the great +moment in the performance has arrived, deliver, with a certain +assumption of effort--the semblance of a real _tour de force_--the +note which has conveniently been transposed, and receive the +enthusiastic plaudits of their devoted admirers. But the assumption of +effort must not be omitted. The tenor who sings the high C in "Di +quella pira" without getting red in the face will hardly be credited +with having sung it at all. + +Act IV. _Manrico's_ sortie to rescue his supposed mother failed. His +men were repulsed, and he himself was captured and thrown into the +dungeon tower of Aliaferia, where _Azucena_ was already enchained. The +scene shows a wing of the palace of Aliaferia. In the angle is a tower +with window secured by iron bars. It is night, dark and clouded. + +_Leonora_ enters with _Ruiz_, who points out to her the place of +_Manrico's_ confinement, and retires. That she has conceived a +desperate plan to save her lover appears from the fact that she wears +a poison ring, a ring with a swift poison concealed under the jewel, +so that she can take her own life, if driven thereto. + +Unknown to _Manrico_, she is near him. Her thoughts wander to +him;--"D'amor sull'ali rosee" (On rosy wings of love depart). + +[Music: D'amor sull'ali rosee] + +It is followed by the "Miserere," which was for many years and perhaps +still is the world over the most popular of all melodies from opera, +although at the present time it appears to have been superseded by +the "Intermezzo" from "Cavalleria Rusticana." + +The "Miserere" is chanted by a chorus within. + +[Music] + +Against this as a sombre background are projected the heart-broken +ejaculations of _Leonora_. + +[Music] + +Then _Manrico's_ voice in the tower intones "Ah! che la morte ognora" +(Ah! how death still delayeth). + +[Music] + +One of the most characteristic phrases, suggestions of which occur +also in "La Traviata" and even in "Aïda," is the following: + +[Music: a chi desia, a chi desia morir!] + +Familiarity may breed contempt, and nothing could well be more +familiar than the "Miserere" from "Il Trovatore." Yet, well sung, it +never fails of effect; and the gaoler always has to let _Manrico_ come +out of the tower and acknowledge the applause of an excited house, +while _Leonora_ stands by and pretends not to see him, one of those +little fictions and absurdities of old-fashioned opera that really +add to its charm. + +The _Count_ enters, to be confronted by _Leonora_. She promises to +become his wife if he will free _Manrico_. _Di Luna's_ passion for her +is so intense that he agrees. There is a solo for _Leonora_, "Mira, di +acerbe lagrime" (Witness the tears of agony), followed by a duet +between her and the _Count_, who little suspects that, _Manrico_ once +freed, she will escape a hated union with himself by taking the poison +in her ring. + +The scene changes to the interior of the tower. _Manrico_ and +_Azucena_ sing a duet of mournful beauty, "Ai nostri monti" (Back to +our mountains). + +[Music: Ai nostri monti] [Music: Riposa o madre, io prono e muto] + +_Leonora_ enters and bids him escape. But he suspects the price she +has paid; and his suspicions are confirmed by herself, when the poison +she has drained from beneath the jewel in her ring begins to take +effect and she feels herself sinking in death, while _Azucena_, in her +sleep, croons dreamily, "Back to our mountains." + +The _Count di Luna_, coming upon the scene, finds _Leonora_ dead in +her lover's arms. He orders _Manrico_ to be led to the block at once +and drags _Azucena_ to the window to witness the death of her supposed +son. + +"It is over!" exclaims _Di Luna_, when the executioner has done his +work. + +"The victim was thy brother!" shrieks the gypsy hag. "Thou art +avenged, O mother!" + +She falls near the window. + +"And I still live!" exclaims the _Count_. + +With that exclamation the cumulative horrors, set to the most tuneful +score in Italian opera, are over. + + +LA TRAVIATA + +THE FRAIL ONE + + Opera in three acts by Verdi; words by Francesco Maria + Piave, after the play "La Dame aux Camélias," by Alexandre + Dumas, _fils_. Produced Fenice Theatre, Venice, March 6, + 1853. London, May 24, 1856, with Piccolomini. Paris, in + French, December 6, 1856; in Italian, October 27, 1864, with + Christine Nilsson. New York, Academy of Music, December 3, + 1856, with La Grange (_Violetta_), Brignoli (_Alfredo_), and + Amodio (_Germont, père_). Nilsson, Patti, Melba, Sembrich + and Tetrazzini have been among famous interpreters of the + rôle of _Violetta_ in America. Galli-Curci first sang + _Violetta_ in this country in Chicago, December 1, 1916. + + CHARACTERS + + ALFREDO GERMONT, lover of VIOLETTA _Tenor_ + GIORGIO GERMONT, his father _Baritone_ + GASTONE DE LETORIÈRES _Tenor_ + BARON DOUPHOL, a rival of ALFREDO _Bass_ + MARQUIS D'OBIGNY _Bass_ + DOCTOR GRENVIL _Bass_ + GIUSEPPE, servant to VIOLETTA _Tenor_ + VIOLETTA VALÉRY, a courtesan _Soprano_ + FLORA BERVOIX, her friend _Mezzo-Soprano_ + ANNINA, confidante of VIOLETTA _Soprano_ + + Ladies and gentlemen who are friends and guests in the + houses of Violetta and Flora; servants and masks; dancers + and guests as matadors, picadors, and gypsies. + + _Time_--Louis XIV. [Transcriber's Note: The correct time is + about 1850. See author's discussion below.] + + _Place_--Paris and vicinity. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Galli-Curci as Violetta in "La Traviata"] + +At its production in Venice in 1853 "La Traviata" was a failure, for +which various reasons can be advanced. The younger Dumas's play, "La +Dame aux Camélias," familiar to English playgoers under the incorrect +title of "Camille," is a study of modern life and played in modern +costume. When Piave reduced his "Traviata" libretto from the play, he +retained the modern period. This is said to have nonplussed an +audience accustomed to operas laid in the past and given in "costume." +But the chief blame for the fiasco appears to have rested with the +singers. Graziani, the _Alfredo_, was hoarse. Salvini-Donatelli, the +_Violetta_, was inordinately stout. The result was that the scene of +her death as a consumptive was received with derision. Varesi, the +baritone, who sang _Giorgio Germont_, who does not appear until the +second act, and is of no importance save in that part of the opera, +considered the rôle beneath his reputation--notwithstanding +_Germont's_ beautiful solo, "Di Provenza"--and was none too cheerful +over it. There is evidence in Verdi's correspondence that the composer +had complete confidence in the merits of his score, and attributed its +failure to its interpreters. + +When the opera was brought forward again a year later, the same city +which had decried it as a failure acclaimed it a success. On this +occasion, however, the period of the action differed from that of the +play. It was set back to the time of Louis XIV., and costumed +accordingly. There is, however, no other opera today in which this +matter of costume is so much a go-as-you-please affair for the +principals, as it is in "La Traviata." I do not recall if Christine +Nilsson dressed _Violetta_ according to the Louis XIV. period, or not; +but certainly Adelina Patti and Marcella Sembrich, both of whom I +heard many times in the rôle (and each of them the first time they +sang it here) wore the conventional evening gown of modern times. To +do this has become entirely permissible for prima donnas in this +character. Meanwhile the _Alfredo_ may dress according to the Louis +XIV. period, or wear the swallow-tail costume of today, or compromise, +as some do, and wear the swallow-tail coat and modern waistcoat with +knee-breeches and black silk stockings. As if even this diversity were +not yet quite enough, the most notable _Germont_ of recent years, +Renaud, who, at the Manhattan Opera House, sang the rôle with the most +exquisite refinement, giving a portrayal as finished as a genre +painting by Meissonnier, wore the costume of a gentleman of Provence +of, perhaps, the middle of the last century. But, as I have hinted +before, in old-fashioned opera, these incongruities, which would be +severely condemned in a modern work, don't amount to a row of pins. +Given plenty of melody, beautifully sung, and everything else can go +hang. + +Act I. A salon in the house of _Violetta_. In the back scene is a +door, which opens into another salon. There are also side doors. On +the left is a fireplace, over which is a mirror. In the centre of the +apartment is a dining-table, elegantly laid. _Violetta_, seated on a +couch, is conversing with _Dr. Grenvil_ and some friends. Others are +receiving the guests who arrive, among whom are _Baron Douphol_ and +_Flora_ on the arm of the _Marquis_. + +The opera opens with a brisk ensemble. _Violetta_ is a courtesan +(_traviata_). Her house is the scene of a revel. Early in the +festivities _Gaston_, who has come in with _Alfred_, informs +_Violetta_ that his friend is seriously in love with her. She treats +the matter with outward levity, but it is apparent that she is touched +by _Alfred's_ devotion. Already, too, in this scene, there are slight +indications, more emphasized as the opera progresses, that consumption +has undermined _Violetta's_ health. + +First in the order of solos in this act is a spirited drinking song +for _Alfred_, which is repeated by _Violetta_. After each measure the +chorus joins in. This is the "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (Let us quaff +from the wine cup o'erflowing). + +[Music: Libiamo, libiamo ne' lieti calici] + +Music is heard from an adjoining salon, toward which the guests +proceed. _Violetta_ is about to follow, but is seized with a +coughing-spell and sinks upon a lounge to recover. _Alfred_ has +remained behind. She asks him why he has not joined the others. He +protests his love for her. At first taking his words in banter, she +becomes more serious, as she begins to realize the depth of his +affection for her. How long has he loved her? A year, he answers. "Un +dì felice, eterea" (One day a rapture ethereal), he sings. + +In this the words, "Di quell'amor ch'è palpito" (Ah, 'tis with love +that palpitates) are set to a phrase which _Violetta_ repeats in the +famous "Ah, fors'è lui," just as she has previously repeated the +drinking song. + +Verdi thus seems to intend to indicate in his score the effect upon +her of _Alfred's_ genuine affection. She repeated his drinking song. +Now she repeats, like an echo of heartbeats, his tribute to a love of +which she is the object. + +It is when _Alfred_ and the other guests have retired that _Violetta_, +lost in contemplation, her heart touched for the first time, sings "Ah +fors'è lui che l'anima" (For him, perchance, my longing soul). + +[Music: Ah, fors'è lui che l'anima solinga ne' tumulti, solinga ne' +tumulti] + +Then she repeats, in the nature of a refrain, the measures already +sung by _Alfred_. Suddenly she changes, as if there were no hope of +lasting love for woman of her character, and dashes into the brilliant +"Sempre libera degg'io folleggiare di gioja in gioja" (Ever free shall +I still hasten madly on from pleasure to pleasure). + +[Music: Sempre libera degg'io folleggiare] + +With this solo the act closes. + +Act II. Salon on the ground floor of a country house near Paris, +occupied by _Alfred_ and _Violetta_, who for him has deserted the +allurements of her former life. _Alfred_ enters in sporting costume. +He sings of his joy in possessing _Violetta_: "Di miei bollenti +spiriti" (Wild my dream of ecstasy). + +From _Annina_, the maid of _Violetta_, he learns that the expenses of +keeping up the country house are much greater than _Violetta_ has told +him, and that, in order to meet the cost, which is beyond his own +means, she has been selling her jewels. He immediately leaves for +Paris, his intention being to try to raise money there so that he may +be able to reimburse her. + +After he has gone, _Violetta_ comes in. She has a note from _Flora_ +inviting her to some festivities at her house that night. She smiles +at the absurdity of the idea that she should return, even for an +evening, to the scenes of her former life. Just then a visitor is +announced. She supposes he is a business agent, whom she is expecting. +But, instead, the man who enters announces that he is _Alfred's_ +father. His dignity, his courteous yet restrained manner, at once fill +her with apprehension. She has foreseen separation from the man she +loves. She now senses that the dread moment is impending. + +The elder _Germont's_ plea that she leave _Alfred_ is based both upon +the blight threatened his career by his liaison with her, and upon +another misfortune that will result to the family. There is not only +the son; there is a daughter. "Pura siccome un angelo" (Pure as an +angel) sings _Germont_, in the familiar air: + +[Music: Pura siccome un angelo] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Farrar as Violetta in "La Traviata"] + +[Illustration: Photo by Mishkin + +Scotti as Germont in "La Traviata"] + +Should the scandal of _Alfred's_ liaison with _Violetta_ continue, the +family of a youth, whom the daughter is to marry, threaten to break +off the alliance. Therefore it is not only on behalf of his son, it is +also for the future of his daughter, that the elder _Germont_ pleads. +As in the play, so in the opera, the reason why the rôle of the +heroine so strongly appeals to us is that she makes the sacrifice +demanded of her--though she is aware that among other unhappy +consequences to her, it will aggravate the disease of which she is a +victim and hasten her death, wherein, indeed, she even sees a solace. +She cannot yield at once. She prays, as it were, for mercy: "Non +sapete" (Ah, you know not). + +Finally she yields: "Dite alla giovine" (Say to thy daughter); then +"Imponete" (Now command me); and, after that, "Morrò--la mia memoria" +(I shall die--but may my memory). + +_Germont_ retires. _Violetta_ writes a note, rings for _Annina_, and +hands it to her. From the maid's surprise as she reads the address, it +can be judged to be for _Flora_, and, presumably, an acceptance of her +invitation. When _Annina_ has gone, she writes to _Alfred_ informing +him that she is returning to her old life, and that she will look to +_Baron Douphol_ to maintain her. _Alfred_ enters. She conceals the +letter about her person. He tells her that he has received word from +his father that the latter is coming to see him in an attempt to +separate him from her. Pretending that she leaves, so as not to be +present during the interview, she takes of him a tearful farewell. + +_Alfred_ is left alone. He picks up a book and reads listlessly. A +messenger enters and hands him a note. The address is in _Violetta's_ +handwriting. He breaks the seal, begins to read, staggers as he +realizes the import, and would collapse, but that his father, who has +quietly entered from the garden, holds out his arms, in which the +youth, believing himself betrayed by the woman he loves, finds refuge. + +"Di Provenza il mar, il suol chi dal cor ti cancellò" (From fair +Provence's sea and soil, who hath won thy heart away), sings the +elder _Germont_, in an effort to soften the blow that has fallen upon +his son. + +[Music: Di Provenza il mar, il suol] + +_Alfred_ rouses himself. Looking about vaguely, he sees _Flora's_ +letter, glances at the contents, and at once concludes that +_Violetta's_ first plunge into the vortex of gayety, to return to +which she has, as he supposes, abandoned him, will be at _Flora's_ +fête. + +"Thither will I hasten, and avenge myself!" he exclaims, and departs +precipitately, followed by his father. + +The scene changes to a richly furnished and brilliantly lighted salon +in _Flora's_ palace. The fête is in full swing. There is a ballet of +women gypsies, who sing as they dance "Noi siamo zingarelle" (We're +gypsies gay and youthful). + +_Gaston_ and his friends appear as matadors and others as picadors. +_Gaston_ sings, while the others dance, "È Piquillo, un bel gagliardo" +('Twas Piquillo, so young and so daring). + +It is a lively scene, upon which there enters _Alfred_, to be followed +soon by _Baron Douphol_ with _Violetta_ on his arm. _Alfred_ is seated +at a card table. He is steadily winning. "Unlucky in love, lucky in +gambling!" he exclaims. _Violetta_ winces. The _Baron_ shows evidence +of anger at _Alfred's_ words and is with difficulty restrained by +_Violetta_. The _Baron_, with assumed nonchalance, goes to the gaming +table and stakes against _Alfred_. Again the latter's winnings are +large. A servant's announcement that the banquet is ready is an +evident relief to the _Baron_. All retire to an adjoining salon. For a +brief moment the stage is empty. + +_Violetta_ enters. She has asked for an interview with _Alfred_. He +joins her. She begs him to leave. She fears the _Baron's_ anger will +lead him to challenge _Alfred_ to a duel. The latter sneers at her +apprehensions; intimates that it is the _Baron_ she fears for. Is it +not the _Baron Douphol_ for whom he, _Alfred_, has been cast off by +her? _Violetta's_ emotions almost betray her, but she remembers her +promise to the elder _Germont_, and exclaims that she loves the +_Baron_. + +_Alfred_ tears open the doors to the salon where the banquet is in +progress. "Come hither, all!" he shouts. + +They crowd upon the scene. _Violetta_, almost fainting, leans against +the table for support. Facing her, _Alfred_ hurls at her invective +after invective. Finally, in payment of what she has spent to help him +maintain the house near Paris in which they have lived together, he +furiously casts at her feet all his winnings at the gaming table. She +faints in the arms of _Flora_ and _Dr. Grenvil_. + +The elder _Germont_ enters in search of his son. He alone knows the +real significance of the scene, but for the sake of his son and +daughter cannot disclose it. A dramatic ensemble, in which _Violetta_ +sings, "Alfredo, Alfredo, di questo core non puoi comprendere tutto +l'amore" (Alfred, Alfred, little canst thou fathom the love within my +heart for thee) brings the act to a close. + +Act III. _Violetta's_ bedroom. At the back is a bed with the curtains +partly drawn. A window is shut in by inside shutters. Near the bed +stands a tabouret with a bottle of water, a crystal cup, and different +kinds of medicine on it. In the middle of the room is a toilet-table +and settee. A little apart from this is another piece of furniture +upon which a night-lamp is burning. On the left is a fireplace with a +fire in it. + +_Violetta_ awakens. In a weak voice she calls _Annina_, who, waking up +confusedly, opens the shutters and looks down into the street, which +is gay with carnival preparations. _Dr. Grenvil_ is at the door. +_Violetta_ endeavours to rise, but falls back again. Then, supported +by _Annina_, she walks slowly toward the settee. The doctor enters in +time to assist her. _Annina_ places cushions about her. To _Violetta_ +the physician cheerfully holds out hope of recovery, but to _Annina_ +he whispers, as he is leaving, that her mistress has but few hours +more to live. + +_Violetta_ has received a letter from the elder _Germont_ telling her +that _Alfred_ has been apprised by him of her sacrifice and has been +sent for to come to her bedside as quickly as possible. But she has +little hope that he will arrive in time. She senses the near approach +of death. "Addio del passato" (Farewell to bright visions) she sighs. +For this solo, + +[Music: Addio del passato bei sogni ridenti,] + +when sung in the correct interpretive mood, should be like a sigh from +the depths of a once frail, but now purified soul. + +A bacchanalian chorus of carnival revellers floats up from the street. +_Annina_, who had gone out with some money which _Violetta_ had given +her to distribute as alms, returns. Her manner is excited. _Violetta_ +is quick to perceive it and divine its significance. _Annina_ has seen +_Alfred_. He is waiting to be announced. The dying woman bids _Annina_ +hasten to admit him. A moment later he holds _Violetta_ in his arms. +Approaching death is forgotten. Nothing again shall part them. They +will leave Paris for some quiet retreat. "Parigi, o cara, noi +lasceremo" (We shall fly from Paris, beloved), they sing. + +[Music: Parigi, o cara, noi lasceremo] + +But it is too late. The hand of death is upon the woman's brow. "Gran +Dio! morir sì giovine" (O, God! to die so young). + +The elder _Germont_ and _Dr. Grenvil_ have come in. There is nothing +to be done. The cough that racked the poor frail body has ceased. _La +traviata_ is dead. + +Not only were "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata" produced in the same +year, but "La Traviata" was written between the date of "Trovatore's" +première at Rome (January 19th) and March 6th. Only four weeks in all +are said to have been devoted to it, and part of the time Verdi was +working on "Trovatore" as well. Nothing could better illustrate the +fecundity of his genius, the facility with which he composed. But it +was not the fatal facility that sacrifices real merit for temporary +success. There are a few echoes of "Trovatore" in "Traviata"; but the +remarkable achievement of Verdi is not in having written so beautiful +an opera as "La Traviata" in so short a time, but in having produced +in it a work in a style wholly different from "Il Trovatore." The +latter palpitates with the passions of love, hatred, and vengeance. +The setting of the action encourages these. It consists of palace +gardens, castles, dungeons. But "La Traviata" plays in drawing-rooms. +The music corresponds with these surroundings. It is vivacious, +graceful, gentle. When it palpitates, it is with sorrow. The opera +also contains a notably beautiful instrumental number--the +introduction to the third act. This was a favourite piece with +Theodore Thomas. Several times--years ago--I heard it conducted by him +at his Popular Concerts. + +Oddly enough, although "Il Trovatore" is by far the more robust and at +one time was, as I have stated, the most popular opera in the world, I +believe that today the advantage lies with "La Traviata," and that, as +between the two, there belongs to that opera the ultimate chance of +survival. I explain this on the ground that, in "Il Trovatore" the +hero and heroine are purely musical creations, the real character +drawing, dramatically and musically, being in the rôle of _Azucena_, +which, while a principal rôle, has not the prominence of _Leonora_ or +_Manrico_. In "La Traviata," on the other hand, we have in the +original of _Violetta_--the _Marguerite Gauthier_ of Alexandre Dumas, +_fils_--one of the great creations of modern drama, the frail woman +redeemed by the touch of an artist. Piave, in his libretto, preserves +the character. In the opera, as in the play, one comprehends the +injunction, "Let him who is not guilty throw the first stone." For +Verdi has clothed _Violetta_ in music that brings out the character so +vividly and so beautifully that whenever I see "Traviata" I recall the +first performance in America of the Dumas play by Bernhardt, then in +her slender and supple prime, and the first American appearance in it +of Duse, with her exquisite intonation and restraint of gesture. + +In fact, operas survive because the librettist has known how to create +a character and the composer how to match it with his musical genius. +Recall the dashing _Don Giovanni_; the resourceful _Figaro_, both in +the Mozart and the Rossini opera; the real interpretive quality of a +mild and gracious order in the heroine of "La Sonnambula"--innocence +personified; the gloomy figure of _Edgardo_ stalking through "Lucia di +Lammermoor"; the hunchback and the titled gallant in "Rigoletto," and +you can understand why these very old operas have lived so long. They +are not make-believe; they are real. + + +UN BALLO IN MASCHERA + +THE MASKED BALL + + Opera in three acts, by Verdi; words by Somma, based on + Scribe's libretto for Auber's opera, "Gustave III., ou Le + Bal Masqué" (Gustavus III., or the Masked Ball). Produced, + Apollo Theatre, Rome, February 17, 1859. Paris, Théâtre des + Italiens, January 13, 1861. London, June 15, 1861. New York, + February 11, 1861. Revivals, Metropolitan Opera House, N.Y., + with Jean de Reszke, 1903; with Caruso, Eames, Homer, + Scotti, Plançon, and Journet, February 6, 1905; with Caruso, + Destinn, Matzenauer, Hempel, and Amato, November 22, 1913. + + CHARACTERS + + RICHARD, Count of Warwick and Governor of + Boston (or Riccardo, Duke of Olivares and + Governor of Naples) _Tenor_ + AMELIA (Adelia) _Soprano_ + REINHART (Renato), secretary to the Governor + and husband of Amelia _Baritone_ + SAMUEL } enemies of the Governor _Bass_ + TOM (Tommaso) } + SILVAN, a sailor _Soprano_ + OSCAR (Edgardo), a page _Soprano_ + ULRICA, a negress astrologer _Contralto_ + + A judge, a servant of Amelia, populace, guards, etc., + conspirators, maskers, and dancing couples. + + _Place_--Boston, or Naples. + + _Time_--Late seventeenth or middle eighteenth century. + +The English libretto of "Un Ballo in Maschera," literally "A Masked +Ball," but always called by us "The Masked Ball," has the following +note: + +"The scene of Verdi's 'Ballo in Maschera' was, by the author of the +libretto, originally laid in one of the European cities. But the +government censors objected to this, probably, because the plot +contained the record of a successful conspiracy against an established +prince or governor. By a change of scene to the distant, and, to the +author, little-known, city of Boston, in America, this difficulty +seems to have been obviated. The fact should be borne in mind by +Bostonians and others, who may be somewhat astonished at the events +which are supposed to have taken place in the old Puritan city." + +Certainly the events in "The Masked Ball" are amazing for the Boston +of Puritan or any other time, and it was only through necessity that +the scene of the opera was laid there. Now that political reasons for +this no longer exist, it is usually played with the scene laid in +Naples. + +Auber produced, in 1833, an opera on a libretto by Scribe, entitled +"Gustave III., ou Le Bal Masqué." Upon this Scribe libretto the book +of "Un Ballo in Maschera" is based. Verdi's opera was originally +called "Gustavo III.," and, like the Scribe-Auber work, was written +around the assassination of Gustavus III., of Sweden, who, March 16, +1792, was shot in the back during a masked ball at Stockholm. + +Verdi composed the work for the San Carlo Theatre, Naples, where it +was to have been produced for the carnival of 1858. But January 14th +of that year, and while the rehearsals were in progress, Felice +Orsini, an Italian revolutionist, made his attempt on the life of +Napoleon III. In consequence the authorities forbade the performance +of a work dealing with the assassination of a king. The suggestion +that Verdi adapt his music to an entirely different libretto was put +aside by the composer, and the work was withdrawn, with the result +that a revolution nearly broke out in Naples. People paraded the +street, and by shouting "Viva Verdi!" proclaimed, under guise of the +initials of the popular composer's name, that they favoured the cause +of a united Italy, with Victor Emanuel as King; viz.: Vittorio +Emmanuele Re D'Italia (Victor Emanuel, King of Italy). Finally the +censor in Rome suggested, as a way out of the difficulty, that the +title of the opera be changed to "Un Ballo in Maschera" and the scene +transferred to Boston. For however nervous the authorities were about +having a king murdered on the stage, they regarded the assassination +of an English governor in far-off America as a quite harmless +diversion. So, indeed, it proved to be, the only excitement evinced by +the audience of the Apollo Theatre, Rome, on the evening of February +18, 1859, being the result of its enthusiasm over the various musical +numbers of the work, this enthusiasm not being at all dampened by the +fact that, with the transfer to Boston, two of the conspirators, +_Samuel_ and _Tommaso_, became negroes, and the astrologer who figures +in the opera, a negress. + +The sensible change of scene from Boston to Naples is said to have +been initiated in Paris upon the instance of Mario, who "would never +have consented to sing his ballad in the second act in short +pantaloons, silk stockings, red dress, and big epaulettes of gold +lace. He would never have been satisfied with the title of Earl of +Warwick and the office of governor. He preferred to be a grandee of +Spain, to call himself the Duke of Olivares, and to disguise himself +as a Neapolitan fisherman, besides paying little attention to the +strict accuracy of the rôle, but rather adapting it to his own gifts +as an artist." The ballad referred to in this quotation undoubtedly is +_Richard's_ barcarolle, "Di' tu se fedele il flutto m'aspetta" +(Declare if the waves will faithfully bear me). + +Act I. Reception hall in the Governor's house. _Richard, Earl of +Warwick_, is giving an audience. _Oscar_, a page, brings him the list +of guests invited to a masked ball. _Richard_ is especially delighted +at seeing on it the name of _Amelia_, the wife of his secretary, +_Reinhart_, although his conscience bitterly reproaches him for loving +_Amelia_, for _Reinhart_ is his most faithful friend, ever ready to +defend him. The secretary also has discovered a conspiracy against his +master; but as yet has been unable to learn the names of the +conspirators. + +At the audience a judge is announced, who brings for signature the +sentence of banishment against an old fortune teller, the negress +_Ulrica_. _Oscar_, however, intercedes for the old woman. _Richard_ +decides to visit her in disguise and test her powers of divination. + +The scene changes to _Ulrica's_ hut, which _Richard_ enters disguised +as a fisherman. Without his knowledge, _Amelia_ also comes to consult +the negress. Concealed by a curtain he hears her ask for a magic herb +to cure her of the love which she, a married woman, bears to +_Richard_. The old woman tells her of such an herb, but _Amelia_ must +gather it herself at midnight in the place where stands the gibbet. +_Richard_ thus learns that she loves him, and of her purpose to be at +the place of the gibbet at midnight. When she has gone he comes out of +his concealment and has his fortune told. _Ulrica_ predicts that he +will die by the hand of a friend. The conspirators, who are in his +retinue, whisper among themselves that they are discovered. "Who will +be the slayer?" asks Richard. The answer is, "Whoever first shall +shake your hand." At this moment _Reinhart_ enters, greets his friend +with a vigorous shake of the hand, and _Richard_ laughs at the evil +prophecy. His retinue and the populace rejoice with him. + +Act II. Midnight, beside the gallows. _Amelia_, deeply veiled, comes +to pluck the magic herb. _Richard_ arrives to protect her. _Amelia_ is +unable to conceal her love for him. But who comes there? It is +_Reinhart_. Concern for his master has called him to the spot. The +conspirators are lying in wait for him nearby. _Richard_ exacts from +_Reinhart_ a promise to escort back to the city the deeply veiled +woman, without making an attempt to learn who she is, while he himself +returns by an unfrequented path. _Reinhart_ and his companion fall +into the hands of the conspirators. The latter do not harm the +secretary, but want at least to learn who the _Governor's_ sweetheart +is. They lift the veil. _Reinhart_ sees his own wife. Rage grips his +soul. He bids the leaders of the conspiracy to meet with him at his +house in the morning. + +Act III. A study in _Reinhart's_ dwelling. For the disgrace he has +suffered he intends to kill _Amelia_. Upon her plea she is allowed to +embrace her son once more. He reflects that, after all, _Richard_ is +much the more guilty of the two. He refrains from killing her, but +when he and the conspirators draw lots to determine who shall kill +_Richard_, he calls her in, and, at his command, she draws a piece of +paper from an urn. It bears her husband's name, drawn unwittingly by +her to indicate the person who is to slay the man she loves. Partly to +remove _Amelia's_ suspicions, _Reinhart_ accepts the invitation to the +masked ball which _Oscar_ brings him, _Richard_, of course, knowing +nothing of what has transpired. + +In the brilliant crowd of maskers, the scene having changed to that of +the masked ball, _Reinhart_ learns from _Oscar_ what disguise is worn +by _Richard_. _Amelia_, who, with the eyes of apprehensive love, also +has recognized _Richard_, implores him to flee the danger that +threatens him. But _Richard_ knows no fear. In order that the honour +of his friend shall remain secure, he has determined to send him as an +envoy to England, accompanied by his wife. Her, he tells _Amelia_, he +will never see again. "Once more I bid thee farewell, for the last +time, farewell." + +"And thus receive thou my farewell!" exclaims _Reinhart_, stabbing him +in the side. + +With his last words _Richard_ assures _Reinhart_ of the guiltlessness +of _Amelia_, and admonishes all to seek to avenge his death on no one. + +It is hardly necessary to point out how astonishing these proceedings +are when supposed to take place in Colonial Boston. Even the one +episode of _Richard, Earl of Warwick_, singing a barcarolle in the hut +of a negress who tells fortunes is so impossible that it affects the +whole story with incredibility. But Naples--well, anything will go +there. In fact, as truth is stranger than fiction, we even can regard +the events of "The Masked Ball" as occurring more naturally in an +Italian city than in Stockholm, where the assassination of Gustavus +III. at a masquerade actually occurred. + +Although the opera is a subject of only occasional revival, it +contains a considerable amount of good music and a quintet of +exceptional quality. + +Early in the first act comes _Richard's_ solo, "La rivedrà +nell'estasi" (I shall again her face behold). + +[Music: La rivedrà nell'estasi] + +This is followed by the faithful _Reinhart's_ "Alla vita che t'arride" +(To thy life with joy abounding), with horn solo. + +Strikingly effective is _Oscar's_ song, in which the page vouches for +the fortune-teller. "Volta la terrea fronte alle stelle" (Lift up +thine earthly gaze to where the stars are shining). + +[Music: Volta la terrea fronte alle stelle] + +In the scene in the fortune-teller's hut are a trio for _Amelia_, +_Ulrica_, and _Richard_, while the latter overhears _Amelia's_ welcome +confession of love for himself, and _Richard's_ charming barcarolle +addressed to the sorceress, a Neapolitan melody, "Di' tu se fedele il +flutto m'aspetta" (Declare if the waves will faithfully bear me). + +[Music: Di' tu se fedele il flutto m'aspetta,] + +The quintet begins with _Richard's_ laughing disbelief in _Ulrica's_ +prophecy regarding himself, "È scherzo od è follia" ('Tis an idle +folly). + +Concluding the scene is the chorus, in which, after the people have +recognized _Richard_, they sing what has been called, "a kind of 'God +Save the King' tribute to his worth"--"O figlio d'Inghilterra" (O son +of mighty England). + +The second act opens with a beautiful air for _Amelia_, "Ma dall'arido +stelo divulsa" (From the stem, dry and withered, dissevered). + +An impassioned duet occurs during the meeting at the place of the +gibbet between _Richard_ and _Amelia_: "O qual soave brivido" (Oh, +what delightful ecstasies). + +The act ends with a quartet for _Amelia_, _Reinhart_, _Samuel_, and +_Tom_. + +In the last act is _Amelia's_ touching supplication to her husband, in +which "The weeping of the violoncello and the veiled key of E-flat +minor stretch to the last limits of grief this prayer of the wife and +mother,"--"Morrò, ma prima in grazia" (I die, but first in mercy). + +"O dolcezze perdute!" (O delights now lost for ever) sings her +husband, in a musical inspiration prefaced by harp and flute. + +During the masked ball there is a quintet for _Amelia_, _Oscar_, +_Reinhart_, _Samuel_, and _Tom_, from which the sprightly butterfly +allegro of _Oscar_, "Di che fulgor, che musiche" (What brilliant +lights, what music gay) detaches itself, while later on the _Page_ has +a buoyant "tra-la-la" solo, beginning, in reply to _Reinhart's_ +question concerning _Richard's_ disguise, "Saper vorreste di che si +veste" (You'd fain be hearing what mask he's wearing). + +There is a colloquy between _Richard_ and _Amelia_. Then the +catastrophe. + + +BEFORE AND AFTER "UN BALLO" + +Prior to proceeding to a consideration of "Aïda," I will refer briefly +to certain works by Verdi, which, although not requiring a complete +account of story and music, should not be omitted from a book on +opera. + +At the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, December 8, 1849, Verdi brought out +the three-act opera "Luisa Miller," based on a play by Schiller, +"Kabale und Liebe" (Love and Intrigue). It appears to have been +Verdi's first real success since "Ernani" and to have led up to that +achieved by "Rigoletto" a year later, and to the successes of "Il +Trovatore" and "La Traviata." "Luisa Miller" was given at the Academy +of Music, New York, October 20, 1886, by Angelo's Italian Opera +Company. Giulia Valda was _Luisa_ and Vicini _Rodolfo_. + +The story is a gloomy one. The first act is entitled "Love," the +second "Intrigue," the third "Poison." + + CHARACTERS + + COUNT WALTER _Bass_ + RODOLFO, his son _Tenor_ + MILLER, an old soldier _Bass_ + LUISA, his daughter _Soprano_ + FREDERICA, DUCHESS OF OSTHEIM, + Walter's niece _Contralto_ + LAURA, a peasant girl _Contralto_ + + Ladies attending the Duchess, pages, servants, archers, and + villagers. + +_Luisa_ is the daughter of _Miller_, an old soldier. There is ardent +love between her and _Rodolfo_, the son of _Count Walter_, who has +concealed his real name and rank from her and her father and is known +to them as a peasant named Carlo. Old _Miller_, however, has a +presentiment that evil will result from their attachment. This is +confirmed on his being informed by _Wurm_ that Carlo is _Rodolfo_, his +master's son. _Wurm_ is himself in love with _Luisa_. + +The _Duchess Frederica_, _Count Walter's_ niece, arrives at the +castle. She had been brought up there with _Rodolfo_, and has from +childhood cherished a deep affection for him; but, compelled by her +father to marry the Duke d'Ostheim, has not seen _Rodolfo_ for some +years. The Duke, however, having died, she is now a widow, and, on the +invitation of _Count Walter_, who has, unknown to _Rodolfo_, made +proposals of marriage to her on his son's behalf, she arrives at the +castle, expecting to marry at once the love of her childhood. The +_Count_ having been informed by _Wurm_ of his son's love for _Luisa_, +resolves to break off their intimacy. _Rodolfo_ reveals to the +_Duchess_ that he loves another. He also discloses his real name and +position to _Luisa_ and her father. The _Count_ interrupts this +interview between the lovers. Enraged at his son's persistence in +preferring a union with _Luisa_, he calls in the guard and is about to +consign her and her father to prison, when he is, for the moment, +deterred and appalled by _Rodolfo's_ threat to reveal that the +_Count_, aided by _Wurm_, assassinated his predecessor, in order to +obtain possession of the title and estates. + +_Luisa's_ father has been seized and imprisoned by the _Count's_ +order. She, to save his life, consents, at the instigation of _Wurm_, +to write a letter in which she states that she had never really loved +_Rodolfo_, but only encouraged him on account of his rank and fortune, +of which she was always aware; and finally offering to fly with +_Wurm._ This letter, as the _Count_ and his steward have arranged, +falls into the hands of _Rodolfo_, who, enraged by the supposed +treachery of the woman he loves, consents to marry the _Duchess_, but +ultimately resolves to kill _Luisa_ and himself. + +_Luisa_ also has determined to put an end to her existence. _Rodolfo_ +enters her home in the absence of _Miller_, and, after extracting from +_Luisa's_ own lips the avowal that she did write the letter, he pours +poison into a cup. She unwittingly offers it to him to quench his +thirst. Afterwards, at his request, she tastes it herself. She had +sworn to _Wurm_ that she would never reveal the fact of the compulsion +under which she had written the letter, but feeling herself released +from her oath by fast approaching death, she confesses the truth to +_Rodolfo_. The lovers die in the presence of their horror-stricken +parents. + +The principal musical numbers include _Luisa's_ graceful and +brilliant solo in the first act--"Lo vidi, e'l primo palpito" (I saw +him and my beating heart). Besides there is _Old Miller's_ air, "Sacra +la scelta è d'un consorte" (Firm are the links that are forged at the +altar), a broad and beautiful melody, which, were the opera better +known, would be included in most of the operatic anthologies for bass. + +There also should be mentioned _Luisa's_ air in the last act, "La +tomba è un letto sparso di fiori" (The tomb a couch is, covered with +roses). + + * * * * * + +"I Vespri Siciliani" (The Sicilian Vespers) had its first performance +at the Grand Opéra, Paris, under the French title, "Les Vêpres +Siciliennes," June 13, 1855. It was given at La Scala, Milan, 1856; +London, Drury Lane, 1859; New York, Academy of Music, November 7, +1859; and revived there November, 1868. The work also has been +presented under the title of "Giovanna di Guzman." The libretto is by +Scribe and deals with the massacre of the French invaders of Sicily, +at vespers, on Easter Monday, 1282. The principal characters are _Guy +de Montford_, French Viceroy, _baritone_; _Arrigo_, a Sicilian +officer, _tenor_; _Duchess Hélène_, a prisoner, _soprano_; _Giovanni +di Procida_, a native conspirator, _bass_. _Arrigo_, who afterwards is +discovered to be the brutal _Guy de Montford's_ son, is in love with +_Hélène_. The plot turns upon his efforts to rescue her. + +There is one famous number in the "The Sicilian Vespers." This is the +"Bolero," sung by _Hélène_--"Mercé, dilette amiche" (My thanks, +beloved companions). + + * * * * * + +At Petrograd, November 10, 1862, there was brought out Verdi's opera +in four acts, "La Forza del Destino" (The Force of Destiny). London +heard it in June, 1867; New York, February 2, 1865, and, with the last +act revised by the composer, at the Academy of Music in 1880, with +Annie Louise Cary, Campanini, Galassi, and Del Puente. The principal +characters are _Marquis di Calatrava_, _bass_; _Donna Leonora_ and +_Don Carlo_, his children, _soprano_ and _baritone_; _Don Alvaro_, +_tenor_; _Abbot of the Franciscan Friars_, _bass_. There are +muleteers, peasants, soldiers, friars, etc. The scenes are laid in +Spain and Italy; the period is the middle of the eighteenth century. +The libretto is based on the play, "Don Alvaro o La Fuerza de Sino" by +the Duke of Rivas. + +_Don Alvaro_ is about to elope with _Donna Leonora_, daughter of the +_Marquis_, when the latter comes upon them and is accidentally killed +by _Don Alvaro_. The _Marquis_ curses his daughter with his dying +breath and invokes the vengeance of his son, _Don Carlo_, upon her and +her lover. She escapes in male attire to a monastery, confesses to the +_Abbot_, and is conducted by him to a cave, where he assures her of +absolute safety. + +_Don Alvaro_ and _Don Carlo_ meet before the cave. They fight a duel +in which _Don Alvaro_ mortally wounds _Don Carlo_. _Donna Leonora_, +coming out of the cave and finding her brother dying, goes to him. +With a last effort he stabs her in the heart. _Don Alvaro_ throws +himself over a nearby precipice. + +"Madre, pietosa Vergine" (Oh, holy Virgin) is one of the principal +numbers of the opera. It is sung by _Donna Leonora_, kneeling in the +moonlight near the convent, while from within is heard the chant of +the priests. + +The "Madre pietosa" also is utilized as a theme in the overture. + + * * * * * + +"Don Carlos," produced at the Grand Opéra, Paris, March 11, 1867, +during the Universal Exposition, was the last opera composed by Verdi +before he took the musical world by storm with "Aïda." The work is in +four acts, the libretto, by Méry and du Locle, having been reduced +from Schiller's tragedy of the same title as the opera. + +The characters are _Philip II._, of Spain, _bass_; _Don Carlos_, his +son, _tenor_; _Rodrigo, Marquis de Posa_, _baritone_; _Grand +Inquisitor_, _bass_; _Elizabeth de Valois_, Queen of _Philip II._, and +stepmother of _Don Carlos_, _soprano_; _Princess Eboli_, _soprano_. In +the original production the fine rôle of _Rodrigo_ was taken by Faure. + +_Don Carlos_ and _Elizabeth de Valois_ have been in love with each +other, but for reasons of state _Elizabeth_ has been obliged to marry +_Philip II._, _Don Carlos's_ father. The son is counselled by +_Rodrigo_ to absent himself from Spain by obtaining from his father a +commission to go to the Netherlands, there to mitigate the cruelties +practised by the Spaniards upon the Flemings. _Don Carlos_ seeks an +audience with _Elizabeth_, in order to gain her intercession with +_Philip_. The result, however, of the meeting, is that their passion +for each other returns with even greater intensity than before. +_Princess Eboli_, who is in love with _Don Carlos_, becomes cognizant +of the _Queen's_ affection for her stepson, and informs the _King_. +_Don Carlos_ is thrown into prison. _Rodrigo_, who visits him there, +is shot by order of _Philip_, who suspects him of aiding Spain's +enemies in the Low Countries. _Don Carlos_, having been freed, makes a +tryst with the _Queen_. Discovered by the _King_, he is handed over by +him to the Inquisition to be put to death. + + * * * * * + +"La Forza del Destino" and "Don Carlos" lie between Verdi's middle +period, ranging from "Luisa Miller" to "Un Ballo in Maschera" and +including "Rigoletto," "Il Trovatore," and "La Traviata," and his +final period, which began with "Aïda." It can be said that in "La +Forza" and "Don Carlos" Verdi had absorbed considerable of Meyerbeer +and Gounod, while in "Aïda," in addition to these, he had assimilated +as much of Wagner as is good for an Italian. The enrichment of the +orchestration in the two immediate predecessors of "Aïda" is apparent, +but not so much so as in that masterpiece of operatic composition. He +produced in "Aïda" a far more finished score than in "La Forza" or +"Don Carlos," sought and obtained many exquisite instrumental effects, +but always remained true to the Italian principle of the supremacy of +melody in the voice. + + +AÏDA + + Grand opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. Plot by Mariette + Bey. Written in French prose by Camille du Locle. Translated + into Italian verse by Antonio Ghislanzoni. + + Produced in Cairo, Egypt, December 24, 1871; La Scala, + Milan, under the composer's direction, February 8, 1872; + Théâtre Italien, Paris, April 22, 1876; Covent Garden, + London, June 22, 1876; Academy of Music, New York, November + 26, 1873; Grand Opéra, Paris, March 22, 1880; Metropolitan + Opera House, with Caruso, 1904. + + CHARACTERS + + AÏDA, an Ethiopian slave _Soprano_ + AMNERIS, daughter of the King of Egypt _Contralto_ + AMONASRO, King of Ethiopia, father of Aïda _Baritone_ + RHADAMES, captain of the Guard _Tenor_ + RAMPHIS, High Priest _Bass_ + KING OF EGYPT _Bass_ + MESSENGER _Tenor_ + + Priests, soldiers, Ethiopian slaves, prisoners, Egyptians, + etc. + + _Time_--Epoch of the Pharaohs. + + _Place_--Memphis and Thebes. + +"Aïda" was commissioned by Ismail Pacha, Khedive of Egypt, for the +Italian Theatre in Cairo, which opened in November, 1869. The opera +was produced there December 24, 1871; not at the opening of the house, +as sometimes is erroneously stated. Its success was sensational. + +Equally enthusiastic was its reception when brought out at La Scala, +Milan, February 7, 1872, under the direction of Verdi himself, who was +recalled thirty-two times and presented with an ivory baton and +diamond star with the name of Aïda in rubies and his own in other +precious stones. + +It is an interesting fact that "Aïda" reached New York before it did +any of the great European opera houses save La Scala. It was produced +at the Academy of Music under the direction of Max Strakosch, November +26, 1873. I am glad to have heard that performance and several other +performances of it that season. For the artists who appeared in it +gave a representation that for brilliancy has not been surpassed if, +indeed, it has been equalled. In support of this statement it is only +necessary to say that Italo Campanini was _Rhadames_, Victor Maurel +_Amonasro_, and Annie Louise Cary _Amneris_. No greater artists have +appeared in these rôles in this country. Mlle. Torriani, the _Aïda_, +while not so distinguished, was entirely adequate. Nannetti as +_Ramphis_, the high priest, Scolara as the _King_, and Boy as the +_Messenger_, completed the cast. + +I recall some of the early comment on the opera. It was said to be +Wagnerian. In point of fact "Aïda" is Wagnerian only as compared with +Verdi's earlier operas. Compared with Wagner himself, it is +Verdian--purely Italian. It was said that the fine melody for the +trumpets on the stage in the pageant scene was plagiarized from a +theme in the Coronation March of Meyerbeer's "Prophète." Slightly +reminiscent the passage is, and, of course, stylistically the entire +scene is on Meyerbeerian lines; but these resemblances no longer are +of importance. + +Paris failed to hear "Aïda" until April, 1876, and then at the Théâtre +Italien, instead of at the Grand Opéra, where it was not heard until +March, 1880, when Maurel was the _Amonasro_ and Édouard de Reszke, +later a favourite basso at the Metropolitan Opera House, the _King_. +In 1855 Verdi's opera, "Les Vêpres Siciliennes" (The Sicilian Vespers) +had been produced at the Grand Opéra and occurrences at the rehearsals +had greatly angered the composer. The orchestra clearly showed a +disinclination to follow the composer's minute directions regarding +the manner in which he wished his work interpreted. When, after a +conversation with the chef d'orchestre, the only result was plainly an +attempt to annoy him, he put on his hat, left the theatre, and did not +return. In 1867 his "Don Carlos" met only with a _succès d'estime_ at +the Opéra. He had not forgotten these circumstances, when the Opéra +wanted to give "Aïda." He withheld permission until 1880. But when at +last this was given, he assisted at the production, and the public +authorities vied in atoning for the slights put upon him so many years +before. The President of France gave a banquet in his honour and he +was created a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Legion of +Honour. + +When the Khedive asked Verdi to compose a new opera especially for the +new opera house at Cairo, and inquired what the composer's terms would +be, Verdi demanded $20,000. This was agreed upon and he was then given +the subject he was to treat, "Aïda," which had been suggested to the +Khedive by Mariette Bey, the great French Egyptologist. The composer +received the rough draft of the story. From this Camille du Locle, a +former director of the Opéra Comique, who happened to be visiting +Verdi at Busseto, wrote a libretto in French prose, "scene by scene, +sentence by sentence," as he has said, adding that the composer showed +the liveliest interest in the work and himself suggested the double +scene in the finale of the opera. The French prose libretto was +translated into Italian verse by Antonio Ghislanzoni, who wrote more +than sixty opera librettos, "Aïda" being the most famous. Mariette Bey +brought his archeological knowledge to bear upon the production. "He +revived Egyptian life of the time of the Pharaohs; he rebuilt ancient +Thebes, Memphis, the Temple of Phtah; he designed the costumes and +arranged the scenery. And under these exceptional circumstances, +Verdi's new opera was produced." + +Verdi's score was ready a year before the work had its première. The +production was delayed by force of circumstances. Scenery and costumes +were made by French artists. Before these accessories could be shipped +to Cairo, the Franco-Prussian war broke out. They could not be gotten +out of Paris. Their delivery was delayed accordingly. + +Does the score of "Aïda" owe any of its charm, passion, and dramatic +stress to the opportunity thus afforded Verdi of going over it and +carefully revising it, after he had considered it finished? Quite +possibly. For we know that he made changes, eliminating, for instance, +a chorus in the style of Palestrina, which he did not consider +suitable to the priesthood of Isis. Even this one change resulted in +condensation, a valuable quality, and in leaving the exotic music of +the temple scene entirely free to exert to the full its fascination of +local colour and atmosphere. + +The story is unfolded in four acts and seven scenes. + +Act I. Scene 1. After a very brief prelude, the curtain rises on a +hall in the _King's_ palace in Memphis. Through a high gateway at the +back are seen the temples and palaces of Memphis and the pyramids. + +It had been supposed that, after the invasion of Ethiopia by the +Egyptians, the Ethiopians would be a long time in recovering from +their defeat. But _Amonasro_, their king, has swiftly rallied the +remnants of his defeated army, gathered new levies to his standard, +and crossed the frontier--all this with such extraordinary rapidity +that the first news of it has reached the Egyptian court in Memphis +through a messenger hot-foot from Thebes with the startling word that +the sacred city itself is threatened. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Emma Eames as Aïda] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Saléza as Rhadames in "Aïda"] + +While the priests are sacrificing to Isis in order to learn from the +goddess whom she advises them to choose as leader of the Egyptian +forces, _Rhadames_, a young warrior, indulges in the hope that he may +be the choice. To this hope he joins the further one that, +returning victorious, he may ask the hand in marriage of _Aïda_, an +Ethiopian slave of the Egyptian King's daughter, _Amneris_. To these +aspirations he gives expression in the romance, "Celeste Aïda" +(Radiant Aïda). + +[Music: Celeste Aïda] + +It ends effectively with the following phrase: + +[Music: un trono vicino al sol, un trono vicino al sol] + +He little knows that _Aïda_ is of royal birth or that _Amneris_ +herself, the Princess Royal, is in love with him and, having noted the +glances he has cast upon _Aïda_, is fiercely jealous of her--a +jealousy that forms the mainspring of the story and leads to its +tragic dénouement. + +A premonition of the emotional forces at work in the plot is given in +the "Vieni, O diletta" (Come dearest friend), beginning as a duet +between _Amneris_ and _Aïda_ and later becoming a trio for them and +_Rhadames_. In this the _Princess_ feigns friendship for _Aïda_, but, +in asides, discloses her jealous hatred of her. + +Meanwhile the Egyptian hosts have gathered before the temple. There +the _King_ announces that the priests of Isis have learned from the +lips of that goddess the name of the warrior who is to lead the +army--_Rhadames_! It is the _Princess_ herself who, at this great +moment in his career, places the royal standard in his hands. But amid +the acclaims that follow, as _Rhadames_, to the strains of march and +chorus, is conducted by the priests to the temple of Phtah to be +invested with the consecrated armour, _Amneris_ notes the fiery look +he casts upon _Aïda_. Is this the reason _Rhadames_, young, handsome, +brave, has failed to respond to her own guarded advances? Is she, a +princess, to find a successful rival in her own slave? + +Meanwhile _Aïda_ herself is torn by conflicting emotions. She loves +_Rhadames_. When the multitude shouts "Return victorious!" she joins +in the acclamation. Yet it is against her own people he is going to +give battle, and the Ethiopians are led by their king, _Amonasro_, her +father. For she, too, is a princess, as proud a princess in her own +land as _Amneris_, and it is because she is a captive and a slave that +her father has so swiftly rallied his army and invaded Egypt in a +desperate effort to rescue her, facts which for obvious reasons she +carefully has concealed from her captors. + +It is easy to imagine _Aïda's_ agonized feelings since _Rhadames_ has +been chosen head of the Egyptian army. If she prays to her gods for +the triumph of the Ethiopian arms, she is betraying her lover. If she +asks the gods of victory to smile upon _Rhadames_, she is a traitress +to her father, who has taken up arms to free her, and to her own +people. Small wonder if she exclaims, as she contemplates her own +wretched state: + +"Never on earth was heart torn by more cruel agonies. The sacred names +of father, lover, I can neither utter nor remember. For the one--for +the other--I would weep, I would pray!" + +This scene for _Aïda_, beginning "Ritorna vincitor" (Return +victorious), in which she echoes the acclamation of the martial chorus +immediately preceding, is one of the very fine passages of the score. +The lines to which it is set also have been highly praised. They +furnished the composer with opportunity, of which he made full use, to +express conflicting emotions in music of dramatic force and, in its +concluding passage, "Numi pietà" (Pity, kind heaven), of great +beauty. + +[Music: + + Numi pietà + Del mio soffrir! + Speme non v'ha + pel mio dolor.] + +Scene 2. _Ramphis_, the high priest, at the foot of the altar; priests +and priestesses; and afterwards _Rhadames_ are shown in the Temple of +Vulcan at Memphis. A mysterious light descends from above. A long row +of columns, one behind the other, is lost in the darkness; statues of +various deities are visible; in the middle of the scene, above a +platform rises the altar, surmounted by sacred emblems. From golden +tripods comes the smoke of incense. + +A chant of the priestesses, accompanied by harps, is heard from the +interior. _Rhadames_ enters unarmed. While he approaches the altar, +the priestesses execute a sacred dance. On the head of _Rhadames_ is +placed a silver veil. He is invested with consecrated armor, while the +priests and priestesses resume the religious chant and dance. + +The entire scene is saturated with local colour. Piquant, exotic, it +is as Egyptian to the ear as to the eye. You see the temple, you hear +the music of its devotees, and that music sounds as distinctively +Egyptian as if Mariette Bey had unearthed two examples of ancient +Egyptian temple music and placed them at the composer's disposal. It +is more likely, however, that the themes are original with Verdi and +that the Oriental tone colour, which makes the music of the scene so +fascinating, is due to his employment of certain intervals peculiar to +the music of Eastern people. The interval, which, falling upon Western +ears, gives an Oriental clang to the scale, consists of three +semi-tones. In the very Eastern sounding themes in the temple scenes +in "Aïda," these intervals are G to F-flat, and D to C-flat. + +The sacred chant, + +[Music] + +twice employs the interval between D and C-flat, the first time +descending, the second time ascending, in which latter it sounds more +characteristic to us, because we regard the scale as having an upward +tendency, whereas in Oriental systems the scale seems to have been +regarded as tending downward. + +In the sacred dance, + +[Music] + +the interval is from G to F-flat. The intervals, where employed in the +two music examples just cited, are bracketed. The interval of three +semi-tones--the characteristic of the Oriental scale--could not be +more clearly shown than it is under the second bracket of the sacred +dance. + +Act II. Scene 1. In this scene, which takes place in a hall in the +apartments of _Amneris_, the Princess adopts strategy to discover if +_Aïda_ returns the passion which she suspects in _Rhadames_. +Messengers have arrived from the front with news that _Rhadames_ has +put the Ethiopians to utter rout and is returning with many trophies +and captives. Naturally _Aïda_ is distraught. Is her lover safe? Was +her father slain? It is while _Aïda's_ mind and heart are agitated by +these questions that _Amneris_ chooses the moment to test her feelings +and wrest from her the secret she longs yet dreads to fathom. The +Princess is reclining on a couch in her apartment in the palace at +Thebes, whither the court has repaired to welcome the triumphant +Egyptian army. Slaves are adorning her for the festival or agitating +the air with large feather fans. Moorish slave boys dance for her +delectation and her attendants sing: + + While on thy tresses rain + Laurels and flowers interwoven, + Let songs of glory mingle + With strains of tender love. + +In the midst of these festive preparations _Aïda_ enters, and +_Amneris_, craftily feigning sympathy for her lest she be grieving +over the defeat of her people and the possible loss in battle of +someone dear to her, affects to console her by telling her that +_Rhadames_, the leader of the Egyptians, has been slain. + +It is not necessary for the Princess to watch the girl intently in +order to note the effect upon her of the sudden and cruelly contrived +announcement. Almost as suddenly, having feasted her eyes on the slave +girl's grief, the Princess exclaims: "I have deceived you; _Rhadames_ +lives!" + +"He lives!" Tears of gratitude instead of despair now moisten _Aïda's_ +eyes as she raises them to Heaven. + +"You love him; you cannot deny it!" cries _Amneris_, forgetting in her +furious jealousy her dignity as a Princess. "But know, you have a +rival. Yes--in me. You, my slave, have a rival in your mistress, a +daughter of the Pharaohs!" + +Having fathomed her slave's secret, she vents the refined cruelty of +her jealous nature upon the unfortunate girl by commanding her to be +present at the approaching triumphant entry of _Rhadames_ and the +Egyptian army: + +"Come, follow me, and you shall learn if you can contend with me--you, +prostrate in the dust, I on the throne beside the king!" + +What has just been described is formulated by Verdi in a duet for +_Amneris_ and _Aïda_, "Amore! gaudio tormento" (Oh, love! Oh, joy and +sorrow!), which expresses the craftiness and subtlety of the Egyptian +Princess, the conflicting emotions of _Aïda_, and the dramatic stress +of the whole episode. + +This phrase especially seems to express the combined haughtiness and +jealousy in the attitude of _Amneris_ toward _Aïda_: + +[Music] + +Scene 2. Brilliant indeed is the spectacle to which _Aïda_ is +compelled to proceed with the Princess. It is near a group of palms at +the entrance to the city of Thebes that the _King_ has elected to give +_Rhadames_ his triumph. Here stands the temple of Ammon. Beyond it a +triumphal gate has been erected. When the _King_ enters to the cheers +of the multitude and followed by his gaudily clad court, he takes his +seat on the throne surmounted by a purple canopy. To his left sits +_Amneris_, singling out for her disdainful glances the most unhappy of +her slaves. + +A blast of trumpets, and the victorious army begins its defile past +the throne. After the foot soldiers come the chariots of war; then the +bearers of the sacred vases and statues of the gods, and a troupe of +dancing girls carrying the loot of victory. A great flourish of +trumpets, an outburst of acclaim, and _Rhadames_, proudly standing +under a canopy borne high on the shoulders of twelve of his officers, +is carried through the triumphal gate and into the presence of his +_King_. As the young hero descends from the canopy, the monarch, too, +comes down from the throne and embracing him exclaims: + +"Savior of your country, I salute you. My daughter with her own hand +shall place the crown of laurels upon your brow." And when +_Amneris_, suiting her action to her father's words, crowns +_Rhadames_, the _King_ continues: "Now ask of me whatever you most +desire. I swear by my crown and by the sacred gods that nothing shall +be denied to you this day!" + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Louise Homer as Amneris in "Aïda"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Rosina Galli in the Ballet of "Aïda"] + +But although no wish is nearer the heart of _Rhadames_ than to obtain +freedom for _Aïda_, he does not consider the moment as yet opportune. +Therefore he requests that first the prisoners of war be brought +before the _King_. When they enter, one of them, by his proud mien and +spirited carriage, easily stands forth from the rest. Hardly has +_Aïda_ set eyes upon him than she utters the startled exclamation, "My +father!" + +It is indeed none other than _Amonasro_, the Ethiopian king, who, his +identity unknown to the Egyptians, has been made captive by them. +Swiftly gliding over to where _Aïda_ stands, he whispers to her not to +betray his rank to his captors. Then, turning to the Egyptian monarch, +he craftily describes how he has seen the king of Ethiopia dead at his +feet from many wounds, and concludes by entreating clemency for the +conquered. Not only do the other captives and _Aïda_ join in his +prayer, but the people, moved by his words and by his noble aspect, +beg their king to spare the prisoners. The priests, however, protest. +The gods have delivered these enemies into the hands of Egypt; let +them be put to death lest, emboldened by a pardon so easily obtained, +they should rush to arms again. + +Meanwhile _Rhadames_ has had eyes only for _Aïda_, while _Amneris_ +notes with rising jealousy the glances he turns upon her hated slave. +At last _Rhadames_, carried away by his feelings, himself joins in the +appeal for clemency. "Oh, _King_," he exclaims, "by the sacred gods +and by the splendour of your crown, you swore to grant my wish this +day! Let it be life and liberty for the Ethiopian prisoners." But the +high priest urges that even if freedom is granted to the others, +_Aïda_ and her father be detained as hostages and this is agreed upon. +Then the _King_, as a crowning act of glory for _Rhadames_, leads +_Amneris_ forth, and addressing the young warrior, says: + +"_Rhadames_, the country owes everything to you. Your reward shall be +the hand of _Amneris_. With her one day you shall reign over Egypt." + +A great shout goes up from the multitude. Unexpectedly _Amneris_ sees +herself triumphant over her rival, the dream of her heart fulfilled, +and _Aïda_ bereft of hope, since for _Rhadames_ to refuse the hand of +his king's daughter would mean treason and death. And so while all +seemingly are rejoicing, two hearts are sad and bewildered. For +_Aïda_, the man she adores appears lost to her forever and all that is +left to her, the tears of hopeless love; while to _Rhadames_ the heart +of _Aïda_ is worth more than the throne of Egypt, and its gift, with +the hand of _Amneris_, is like the unjust vengeance of the gods +descending upon his head. + +This is the finale of the second act. It has been well said that not +only is it the greatest effort of the composer, but also one of the +grandest conceptions of modern musical and specifically operatic art. +The importance of the staging, the magnificence of the spectacle, the +diversity of characterization, and the strength of action of the drama +all conspire to keep at an unusually high level the inspiration of the +composer. The triumphal chorus, "Gloria all'Egitto" (Glory to Egypt), +is sonorous and can be rendered with splendid effect. + +It is preceded by a march. + +[Music] + +Then comes the chorus of triumph. + +[Music] + +Voices of women join in the acclaim. + +[Music] + +The trumpets of the Egyptian troops execute a most brilliant +modulation from A-flat to B-natural. + +The reference here is to the long, straight trumpets with three valves +(only one of which, however, is used). These trumpets, in groups of +three, precede the divisions of the Egyptian troops. The trumpets of +the first group are tuned in A-flat. + +[Music] + +When the second group enters and intones the same stirring march theme +in B-natural, the enharmonic modulation to a tone higher gives an +immediate and vastly effective "lift" to the music and the scene. + +[Music] + +The entrance of _Rhadames_, borne on high under a canopy by twelve +officers, is a dramatic climax to the spectacle. But a more emotional +one is to follow. + +The recognition of _King Amonasro_ by his daughter; the supplication +of the captives; the plea of _Rhadames_ and the people in their +favour; the vehement protests of the priests who, in the name of the +gods of Egypt, demand their death; the diverse passions which agitate +_Rhadames_, _Aïda_, and _Amneris_; the hope of vengeance that +_Amonasro_ cherishes--all these conflicting feelings are musically +expressed with complete success. The structure is reared upon +_Amonasro's_ plea to the _King_ for mercy for the Ethiopian captives, +"Ma tu, re, tu signore possente" (But thou, O king, thou puissant +lord). + +[Music] + +When the singer who takes the rôle of _Amonasro_ also is a good actor, +he will know how to convey, between the lines of this supplication, +his secret thoughts and unavowed hope for the reconquest of his +freedom and his country. After the Egyptian _King_ has bestowed upon +_Rhadames_ the hand of _Amneris_, the chorus, "Gloria all'Egitto," is +heard again, and, above its sonorous measures, _Aïda's_ cry: + + What hope now remains to me? + To him, glory and the throne; + To me, oblivion--the tears + Of hopeless love. + +It is largely due to Verdi's management of the score to this elaborate +scene that "Aïda" not only has superseded all spectacular operas that +came before it, but has held its own against and survived practically +all those that have come since. The others were merely spectacular. In +"Aïda" the surface radiates and glows because beneath it seethe the +fires of conflicting human passion. In other operas spectacle is +merely spectacle. In "Aïda" it clothes in brilliant habiliments the +forces of impending and on-rushing tragedy. + +Act III. That tragedy further advances toward its consummation in the +present act. + +It is a beautiful moonlight night on the banks of the Nile--moonlight +whose silvery rays are no more exquisite than the music that seems +steeped in them. + +[Music] + +Half concealed in the foliage is the temple of Isis, from which issues +the sound of women's voices, softly chanting. A boat approaches the +shore and out of it steps _Amneris_ and the high priest, with a train +of closely veiled women and several guards. The _Princess_ is about to +enter upon a vigil in the temple to implore the favour of the goddess +before her nuptials with _Rhadames_. + +For a while after they have entered the temple, the shore seems +deserted. But from the shadow of a grove of palms _Aïda_ cautiously +emerges into the moonlight. In song she breathes forth memories of her +native land: _Oh, patria mia!--O cieli azzurri!_ (Oh, native +land!--Oh, skies of tender blue!). + +[Music: O cieli azzurri, o dolci aure native,] + +The phrase, _O patria mia! mai più ti rivedrò_ (Oh, native land! I +ne'er shall see thee more)--a little further on--recalls the famous +"Non ti scordar" from the "Miserere" in "Trovatore." Here _Rhadames_ +has bid _Aïda_ meet him. Is it for a last farewell? If so, the Nile +shall be her grave. She hears a swift footfall, and turning, in +expectation of seeing _Rhadames_, beholds her father. He has fathomed +her secret and divined that she is here to meet _Rhadames_--the +betrothed of _Amneris_! Cunningly _Amonasro_ works upon her feelings. +Would she triumph over her rival? The Ethiopians again are in arms. +Again _Rhadames_ is to lead the Egyptians against them. Let her draw +from him the path which he intends to take with his army and that path +shall be converted into a fatal ambuscade. + +At first the thought is abhorrent to _Aïda_; but her father by +craftily inciting her love of country and no less her jealousy and +despair, at last is able to wrest consent from her; then draws back +into the shadow as he hears _Rhadames_ approaching. + +This duet of _Aïda_ and _Amonasro_ is and will remain one of the +beautiful dramatic efforts of the Italian repertory. The situation is +one of those in which Verdi delights; he is in his element. + +It is difficult to bring _Aïda_ to make the designs of her father +agree with her love for the young Egyptian chief. But the subtlety of +the score, its warmth, its varied and ably managed expression, almost +make plausible the submission of the young girl to the adjurations of +_Amonasro_, and excusable a decision of which she does not foresee the +consequences. To restore the crown to her father, to view again her +own country, to escape an ignominious servitude, to prevent her lover +becoming the husband of _Amneris_, her rival,--such are the thoughts +which assail her during this duet, and they are quite capable of +disturbing for a moment her better reason. _Amonasro_ sings these +phrases, so charming in the Italian: + + Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate, + Le fresche valli, i nostri templi d'or! + Sposa felice a lui che amasti tanto, + Tripudii immensi ivi potrai gioir!... + + (Thou shalt see again the balmy forests, + The green valleys, and our golden temples. + Happy bride of him thou lovest so much, + Great rejoicing thenceforth shall be thine.) + +As she still is reluctant to lure from her lover the secret of the +route by which, in the newly planned invasion of her country, the +Egyptians expect to enter Ethiopia, _Amonasro_ changes his tactics and +conjures up for her in music a vision of the carnage among her people, +and finally invokes her mother's ghost, until, in pianissimo, +dramatically contrasting with the force of her father's savage +imprecation, she whispers, _O patria! quanto mi costi!_ (Oh, native +land! how much thou demandest of me!). + +_Amonasro_ leaves. _Aïda_ awaits her lover. When she somewhat coldly +meets _Rhadames's_ renewed declaration of love with the bitter protest +that the rites of another love are awaiting him, he unfolds his plan +to her. He will lead the Egyptians to victory and on returning with +these fresh laurels, he will prostrate himself before the _King_, lay +bare his heart to him, and ask for the hand of _Aïda_ as a reward for +his services to his country. But _Aïda_ is well aware of the power of +_Amneris_ and that her vengeance would swiftly fall upon them both. +She can see but one course to safety--that _Rhadames_ join her in +flight to her native land, where, amid forest groves and the scent of +flowers, and all forgetful of the world, they will dream away their +lives in love. This is the beginning of the dreamy yet impassioned +love duet--"Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti" (Ah, fly with me). She +implores him in passionate accents to escape with her. Enthralled by +the rapture in her voice, thrilled by the vision of happiness she +conjures up before him, he forgets for the moment country, duty, all +else save love; and exclaiming, "Love shall be our guide!" turns to +fly with her. + +This duet, charged with exotic rapture, opens with recitativo phrases +for _Aïda_. I have selected three passages for quotation: "Là tra +foreste vergini" (There 'mid the virgin forest groves); "Di fiori +profumate" (And 'mid the scent of flowers); and "In estasi la terra +scorderem" (In ecstasy the world forgotten). + +[Music: Là tra foreste vergini,] + +[Music: In estasi beate la terra scorderem,] + +[Music: in estasi la terra scorderem,] + +But Aïda, feigning alarm, asks: + +"By what road shall we avoid the Egyptian host?" + +"The path by which our troops plan to fall upon the enemy will be +deserted until tomorrow." + +"And that path?" + +"The pass of Napata." + +A voice echoes his words, "The pass of Napata." + +"Who hears us?" exclaims _Rhadames_. + +"The father of _Aïda_ and king of the Ethiopians," and _Amonasro_ +issues forth from his hiding place. He has uncovered the plan of the +Egyptian invasion, but the delay has been fatal. For at the same +moment there is a cry of "Traitor!" from the temple. + +It is the voice of _Amneris_, who with the high priest has overheard +all. _Amonasro_, baring a dagger, would throw himself upon his +daughter's rival, but _Rhadames_ places himself between them and bids +the Ethiopian fly with _Aïda_. _Amonasro_, drawing his daughter away +with him, disappears in the darkness; while _Rhadames_, with the +words, "Priest, I remain with you," delivers himself a prisoner into +his hands. + +Act IV. Scene 1. In a hall of the Royal Palace _Amneris_ awaits the +passage, under guard, of _Rhadames_ to the dungeon where the priests +are to sit in judgment upon him. There is a duet between _Rhadames_ +and this woman, who now bitterly repents the doom her jealousy is +about to bring upon the man she loves. She implores him to exculpate +himself. But _Rhadames_ refuses. Not being able to possess _Aïda_ he +will die. + +He is conducted to the dungeon, from where, as from the bowels of the +earth, she hears the sombre voices of the priests. + + Ramfis. (Nel sotterraneo.) + Radames--Radames: tu rivelasti + Della patria i segreti allo straniero.... + + Sacer. Discolpati! + + Ramfis. Egli tace. + + Tutti. Traditor! + + + Ramphis. (In the subterranean hall.) + Rhadames, Rhadames, thou didst reveal + The country's secrets to the foreigner.... + + Priests. Defend thyself! + + Ramphis. He is silent. + + All. Traitor! + +The dramatically condemnatory "Traditor!" is a death knell for her +lover in the ears of _Amneris_. And after each accusation, silence by +_Rhadames_, and cry by the priests of "Traitor!" _Amneris_ realizes +only too well that his approaching doom is to be entombed alive! Her +revulsions of feeling from hatred to love and despair find vent in +highly dramatic musical phrases. In fact _Amneris_ dominates this +scene, which is one of the most powerful passages for mezzo-soprano in +all opera. + +Scene 2. This is the famous double scene. The stage setting is divided +into two floors. The upper floor represents the interior of the Temple +of Vulcan, resplendent with light and gold; the lower floor a +subterranean hall and long rows of arcades which are lost in the +darkness. A colossal statue of Osiris, with the hands crossed, +sustains the pilasters of the vault. + +In the temple _Amneris_ and the priestesses kneel in prayer. And +_Rhadames_? Immured in the dungeon and, as he thought, to perish +alone, a form slowly takes shape in the darkness, and his own name, +uttered by the tender accents of a familiar voice, falls upon his ear. +It is _Aïda_. Anticipating the death to which he will be sentenced, +she has secretly made her way into the dungeon before his trial and +there hidden herself to find reunion with him in death. And so, while +in the temple above them the unhappy _Amneris_ kneels and implores the +gods to vouchsafe Heaven to him whose death she has compassed, +_Rhadames_ and _Aïda_, blissful in their mutual sacrifice, await the +end. + +From "Celeste Aïda," _Rhadames's_ apostrophe to his beloved, with +which the opera opens, to "O, terra, addio; addio, valle di pianti!" +(Oh, earth, farewell! Farewell, vale of tears!), + +[Music: O terra addio; addio valle di pianti] + +which is the swan-song of _Rhadames_ and _Aïda_, united in death in +the stone-sealed vault,--such is the tragic fate of love, as set forth +in this beautiful and eloquent score by Giuseppe Verdi. + + +OTELLO + +OTHELLO + + Opera in four acts, by Verdi. Words by Arrigo Boïto, after + Shakespeare. Produced, La Scala, Milan, February 5, 1887, + with Tamagno (_Otello_), and Maurel (_Iago_). London, Lyceum + Theatre, July 5, 1889. New York, Academy of Music, under + management of Italo Campanini, April 16, 1888, with Marconi, + Tetrazzini, Galassi, and Scalchi. (Later in the engagement + Marconi was succeeded by Campanini.); Metropolitan Opera + House, 1894, with Tamagno, Albani, Maurel; 1902, Alvarez, + Eames, and Scotti; later with Slezak, Alda, and Scotti; + Manhattan Opera House, with Zenatello, Melba, and Sammarco. + + CHARACTERS + + OTHELLO, a Moor, general in the army + of Venice _Tenor_ + IAGO, ancient to Othello _Baritone_ + CASSIO, lieutenant to Othello _Tenor_ + RODERIGO, a Venetian _Tenor_ + LODOVICO, Venetian ambassador _Bass_ + MONTANO, Othello's predecessor in the + government of Cyprus _Bass_ + A HERALD _Bass_ + DESDEMONA, wife of Othello _Soprano_ + EMILIA, wife of Iago _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + Soldiers and sailors of the Republic of Venice; men, women, + and children of Venice and of Cyprus; heralds; soldiers of + Greece, Dalmatia, and Albania; innkeeper and servants. + + _Time_--End of fifteenth century. + + _Place_--A port of the island of Cyprus. + +Three years after the success of "Aïda," Verdi produced at Milan his +"Manzoni Requiem"; but nearly sixteen years were to elapse between +"Aïda" and his next work for the lyric stage. "Aïda," with its far +richer instrumentation than that of any earlier work by Verdi, yet is +in form an opera. "Otello" more nearly approaches a music-drama, but +still is far from being one. It is only when Verdi is compared with +his earlier self that he appears Wagnerian. Compared with Wagner, he +remains characteristically Italian--true to himself, in fact, as +genius should be. + +Nowhere, perhaps, is this matter summed up as happily as in Baker's +_Biographical Dictionary of Musicians_: "Undoubtedly influenced by his +contemporaries Meyerbeer, Gounod, and Wagner in his treatment of the +orchestra, Verdi's dramatic style nevertheless shows a natural and +individual development, and has remained essentially Italian as an +orchestral accompaniment of vocal melody; but his later +instrumentation is far more careful in detail and luxuriant than that +of the earlier Italian school, and his melody more passionate and +poignant in expression." + +"Otello" is a well-balanced score, composed to a libretto by a +distinguished poet and musician--the composer of "Mefistofele." It has +vocal melodies, which are rounded off and constitute separate +"numbers" (to employ an expression commonly applied to operatic airs), +and its recitatives are set to a well thought out instrumental +accompaniment. + +It is difficult to explain the comparative lack of success with the +public of Verdi's last two scores for the lyric stage, "Otello" and +"Falstaff." Musicians fully appreciate them. Indeed "Falstaff," which +followed "Otello," is considered one of the greatest achievements in +the history of opera. Yet it is rarely given, and even "Otello" has +already reached the "revival" stage, while "Aïda," "Rigoletto," "La +Traviata," and "Il Trovatore" are fixtures, although "Rigoletto" was +composed thirty-six years before "Otello" and forty-two before +"Falstaff." Can it be that critics (including myself) and professional +musicians have been admiring the finished workmanship of Verdi's last +two scores, while the public has discovered in them a halting +inspiration, a too frequent substitution of miraculous skill for the +old-time _flair_, and a lack of that careless but attractive +occasional _laissez faire aller_ of genius, which no technical +perfection can replace? Time alone can answer. + +When "Otello" opens, _Desdemona_ has preceded her husband to Cyprus +and is living in the castle overlooking the port. There are a few bars +of introduction. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Alda as Desdemona in "Otello"] + +Act I. In the background a quay and the sea; a tavern with an arbour; +it is evening. + +Through a heavy storm _Othello's_ ship is seen to be making port. +Among the crowd of watchers, who exclaim upon the danger to the +vessel, are _Iago_ and _Roderigo_. _Othello_ ascends the steps to the +quay, is acclaimed by the crowd, and proceeds to the castle followed +by _Cassio_, _Montano_, and soldiers. The people start a wood fire +and gather about it dancing and singing. + +It transpires in talk between _Iago_ and _Roderigo_ that _Iago_ hates +_Othello_ because he has advanced _Cassio_ over him, and that +_Roderigo_ is in love with _Desdemona_. + +The fire dies out, the storm has ceased. _Cassio_ has returned from +the castle. Now comes the scene in which _Iago_ purposely makes him +drunk, in order to cause his undoing. They, with others, are grouped +around the table outside the tavern. _Iago_ sings his drinking song, +"Inaffia l'ugola! trinca tracanna" (Then let me quaff the noble wine, +from the can I'll drink it). + +[Music: Inaffia l'ugola! trinca, tracanna,] + +Under the influence of the liquor _Cassio_ resents the taunts of +_Roderigo_, instigated by _Iago_. _Montano_ tries to quiet him. +_Cassio_ draws. There follows the fight in which _Montano_ is wounded. +The tumult, swelled by alarums and the ringing of bells, brings +_Othello_ with _Desdemona_ to the scene. _Cassio_ is dismissed from +the Moor's service. _Iago_ has scored his first triumph. + +The people disperse. Quiet settles upon the scene. _Othello_ and +_Desdemona_ are alone. The act closes with their love duet, which +_Desdemona_ begins with "Quando narravi" (When thou dids't speak). + +[Music] + +Act II. A hall on the ground floor of the castle. _Iago_, planning to +make _Othello_ jealous of _Desdemona_, counsels _Cassio_ to induce +the Moor's wife to plead for his reinstatement. _Cassio_ goes into a +large garden at the back. _Iago_ sings his famous "Credo in un Dio +crudel che m'ha creato" [Transcriber's Note: should be 'un Dio +crudel,' but 'crudel' was possibly omitted deliberately, as 'cruel' is +also missing from the translation] (I believe in a God, who has +created me in his image). This is justly regarded as a masterpiece of +invective. It does not appear in Shakespeare, so that the lines are as +original with Boïto as the music is with Verdi. Trumpets, employed in +what may be termed a declamatory manner, are conspicuous in the +accompaniment. + +_Iago_, seeing _Othello_ approach, leans against a column and looks +fixedly in the direction of _Desdemona_ and _Cassio_, exclaiming, as +_Othello_ enters, "I like not that!" As in the corresponding scene in +the play, this leads up to the questioning of him by _Othello_ and to +_Iago's_ crafty answers, which not only apply the match to, but also +fan the flame of _Othello's_ jealousy, as he watches his wife with +_Cassio_. + +Children, women, and Cypriot and Albanian sailors now are seen with +_Desdemona_. They bring her flowers and other gifts. Accompanying +themselves on the cornemuse, and small harps, they sing a mandolinata, +"Dove guardi splendono" (Wheresoe'er thy glances fall). This is +followed by a graceful chorus for the sailors, who bring shells and +corals. + +The scene and _Desdemona's_ beauty deeply move the _Moor_. He cannot +believe her other than innocent. But, unwittingly, she plays into +_Iago's_ hand. For her first words on joining _Othello_ are a plea for +_Cassio_. All the _Moor's_ jealousy is re-aroused. When she would +apply her handkerchief to his heated brow, he tears it from her hand, +and throws it to the ground. _Emilia_ picks it up, but _Iago_ takes it +from her. The scene is brought to a close by a quartet for +_Desdemona_, _Othello_, _Iago_, and _Emilia_. + +_Othello_ and _Iago_ are left together again. _Othello_ voices the +grief that shakes his whole being, in what Mr. Upton happily describes +as "a pathetic but stirring melody." In it he bids farewell, not only +to love and trust, but to the glories of war and battle. The trumpet +is effectively employed in the accompaniment to this outburst of +grief, which begins, "Addio sante memorie" (Farewell, O sacred +memories). + +[Music: Addio sante memorie, addio sublimi incanti del pensier] + +To such a fury is the _Moor_ aroused that he seizes _Iago_, hurls him +to the ground, and threatens to kill him should his accusations +against _Desdemona_ prove false. There is a dramatic duet in which +_Iago_ pledges his aid to _Othello_ in proving beyond doubt the +falseness of _Desdemona_. + +Act III. The great hall of the castle. At the back a terrace. After a +brief scene in which the approach of a galley with the Venetian +ambassadors is announced, _Desdemona_ enters. Wholly unaware of the +cause of _Othello's_ strange actions toward her, she again begins to +plead for _Cassio's_ restoration to favour. _Iago_ has pretended to +_Othello_ that _Desdemona's_ handkerchief (of which he surreptitiously +possessed himself) had been given by her to _Cassio_, and this has +still further fanned the flame of the _Moor's_ jealousy. The scene, +for _Othello_, is one of mingled wrath and irony. Upon her knees +_Desdemona_ vows her constancy: "Esterrefatta fisso lo sguardo tuo +tremendo" (Upon my knees before thee, beneath thy glance I tremble). I +quote the phrase, "Io prego il cielo per te con questo pianto" (I pray +my sighs rise to heaven with prayer). + +[Music: Io prego il cielo per te con questo pianto] + +_Othello_ pushes her out of the room. He soliloquizes: "Dio! mi potevi +scagliar tutti i mali della miseria" (Heav'n had it pleased thee to +try me with affliction). + +_Iago_, entering, bids _Othello_ conceal himself; then brings in +_Cassio_, who mentions _Desdemona_ to _Iago_, and also is led by +_Iago_ into light comments on other matters, all of which _Othello_, +but half hearing them from his place of concealment, construes as +referring to his wife. _Iago_ also plays the trick with the +handkerchief, which, having been conveyed by him to _Cassio_, he now +induces the latter (within sight of _Othello_) to draw from his +doublet. There is a trio for _Othello_ (still in concealment), _Iago_, +and _Cassio_. + +The last-named having gone, and the _Moor_ having asked for poison +with which to kill _Desdemona_, _Iago_ counsels that _Othello_ +strangle her in bed that night, while he goes forth and slays +_Cassio_. For this counsel _Othello_ makes _Iago_ his lieutenant. + +The Venetian ambassadors arrive. There follows the scene in which the +recall of _Othello_ to Venice and the appointment of _Cassio_ as +Governor of Cyprus are announced. This is the scene in which, also, +the _Moor_ strikes down _Desdemona_ in the presence of the +ambassadors, and she begs for mercy--"A terra--sì--nel livido fango" +(Yea, prostrate here, I lie in the dust); and "Quel sol sereno e +vivido che allieta il cielo e il mare" (The sun who from his cloudless +sky illumes the heavens and sea). + +[Music: Quel Sol sereno e vivido che allieta il cielo e il mare] + +After this there is a dramatic sextet. + +All leave, save the _Moor_ and his newly created lieutenant. Overcome +by rage, _Othello_ falls in a swoon. The people, believing that the +_Moor_, upon his return to Venice, is to receive new honours from the +republic, shout from outside, "Hail, Othello! Hail to the lion of +Venice!" + +"There lies the lion!" is _Iago's_ comment of malignant triumph and +contempt, as the curtain falls. + +Act IV. The scene is _Desdemona's_ bedchamber. There is an orchestral +introduction of much beauty. Then, as in the play, with which I am +supposing the reader to be at least fairly familiar, comes the brief +dialogue between _Desdemona_ and _Emilia_. _Desdemona_ sings the +pathetic little willow song, said to be a genuine Italian folk tune +handed down through many centuries. + +[Music: Piangea cantando nell'erma landa, piangea la mesta.... O Salce!] + +_Emilia_ goes, and _Desdemona_ at her prie-Dieu, before the image of +the Virgin, intones an exquisite "Ave Maria," beginning and ending in +pathetic monotone, with an appealing melody between. + +[Music: Prega per chi adorando a te si prostra, Ave! Amen!] + +_Othello's_ entrance is accompanied by a powerful passage on the +double basses. + +Then follows the scene of the strangling, through which are heard +mournfully reminiscent strains of the love duet that ended the first +act. _Emilia_ discloses _Iago's_ perfidy. _Othello_ kills himself. + + +FALSTAFF + + Opera in three acts, by Verdi; words by Arrigo Boïto, after + Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor" and "King Henry IV." + Produced, La Scala, Milan, March 12, 1893. Paris, Opéra + Comique, April 18, 1894. London, May 19, 1894. New York, + Metropolitan Opera House, February 4, 1895. This was the + first performance of "Falstaff" in North America. It had + been heard in Buenos Aires, July 19, 1893. The Metropolitan + cast included Maurel as _Falstaff_, Eames as _Mistress + Ford_, Zélie de Lussan as _Nannetta_ (_Anne_), Scalchi as + _Dame Quickly_, Campanini as _Ford_, Russitano as _Fenton_. + Scotti, Destinn, Alda, and Gay also have appeared at the + Metropolitan in "Falstaff." The London production was at + Covent Garden. + + CHARACTERS + + SIR JOHN FALSTAFF _Baritone_ + FENTON, a young gentleman _Tenor_ + FORD, a wealthy burgher _Baritone_ + DR. CAJUS _Tenor_ + BARDOLPH } followers of Falstaff { _Tenor_ + PISTOL } { _Bass_ + ROBIN, a page in Ford's household + MISTRESS FORD _Soprano_ + ANNE, her daughter _Soprano_ + MISTRESS PAGE _Mezzo-Soprano_ + DAME QUICKLY _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + Burghers and street-folk, Ford's servants, maskers, as + elves, fairies, witches, etc. + + _Time_--Reign of Henry IV. + + _Scene_--Windsor. + + Note. In the Shakespeare comedy _Anne Ford_ is _Anne Page_. + +Shakespeare's comedy, "The Merry Wives of Windsor," did not have its +first lyric adaptation when the composer of "Rigoletto" and "Aïda," +influenced probably by his distinguished librettist, penned the score +of his last work for the stage. "Falstaff," by Salieri, was produced +in Vienna in 1798; another "Falstaff," by Balfe, came out in London +in 1838. Otto Nicolai's opera "The Merry Wives of Windsor" is +mentioned on p. 80 of this book. The character of _Falstaff_ also +appears in "Le Songe d'une Nuit d'Été" (The Midsummer Night's Dream) +by Ambroise Thomas, Paris, 1850, "where the type is treated with an +adept's hand, especially in the first act, which is a masterpiece of +pure comedy in music." "Le Songe d'une Nuit d'Été" was, in fact, +Thomas's first significant success. A one-act piece, "Falstaff," by +Adolphe Adam, was produced at the Théâtre Lyrique in 1856. + +The comedy of the "Merry Wives," however, was not the only Shakespeare +play put under contribution by Boïto. At the head of the "Falstaff" +score is this note: "The present comedy is taken from 'The Merry Wives +of Windsor' and from several passages in 'Henry IV.' by Shakespeare." + +Falstaff, it should be noted, is a historic figure; he was a brave +soldier; served in France; was governor of Honfleur; took an important +part in the battle of Agincourt, and was in all the engagements before +the walls of Orleans, where the English finally were obliged to +retreat before Joan of Arc. Sir John Falstaff died at the age of +eighty-two years in county Norfolk, his native shire, after numerous +valiant exploits, and having occupied his old age in caring for the +interests of the two universities of Oxford and Cambridge, to the +foundation of which he had largely contributed. To us, however, he is +known almost wholly as an enormously stout comic character. + +The first scene in the first act of the work by Boïto and Verdi shows +_Falstaff_ in a room of the Garter Inn. He is accompanied by those two +good-for-nothings in his service, _Bardolph_ and _Pistol_, ragged +blackguards, whom he treats with a disdain measured by their own low +standards. _Dr. Cajus_ enters. He comes to complain that _Falstaff_ +has beaten his servants; also that _Bardolph_ and _Pistol_ made him +drunk and then robbed him. _Falstaff_ laughs and browbeats him out of +countenance. He departs in anger. + +_Falstaff_ has written two love letters and despatched them to two +married belles of Windsor--_Mistress Alice Ford_ and _Mistress Meg +Page_, asking each one for a rendezvous. + +The scene changes to the garden of _Ford's_ house, and we are in +presence of the "merry wives"--_Alice Ford_, _Meg Page_, and _Mistress +Quickly_. With them is _Anne Ford_, _Mistress Ford's_ daughter. +Besides the garden there is seen part of the Ford house and the public +road. In company with _Dame Quickly_, _Meg_ has come to pay a visit to +_Alice Ford_, to show her a letter which she has just received from +_Falstaff_. _Alice_ matches her with one she also has received from +him. The four merry women then read the two letters, which, save for +the change of address, are exactly alike. The women are half amused, +half annoyed, at the pretensions of the fat knight. They plan to +avenge themselves upon him. Meanwhile _Ford_ goes walking before his +house in company with _Cajus_, young _Fenton_ (who is in love with +_Anne_), _Bardolph_, and _Pistol_. The last two worthies have betrayed +their master. From them _Ford_ has learned that _Falstaff_ is after +his wife. He too meditates revenge, and goes off with the others, +except _Fenton_, who lingers, kisses _Anne_ through the rail fence of +the garden, and sings a love duet with her. The men return. _Fenton_ +rejoins them. _Anne_ runs back to her mother, and the four women are +seen up-stage, concocting their conspiracy of revenge. + +The second act reverts to the Garter Inn, where _Falstaff_ is still at +table. _Dame Quickly_ comes with a message from _Alice_ to agree to +the rendezvous he has asked for. It is at the Ford house between two +and three o'clock, it being Ford's custom to absent himself at that +time. _Falstaff_ is pompously delighted. He promises to be prompt. + +Hardly has _Dame Quickly_ left, when _Ford_ arrives. He introduces +himself to _Falstaff_ under an assumed name, presents the knight with +a purse of silver as a bait, then tells him that he is in love with +_Mistress Ford_, whose chastity he cannot conquer, and begs _Falstaff_ +to lay siege to her and so make the way easier for him. _Falstaff_ +gleefully tells him that he has a rendezvous with her that very +afternoon. This is just what _Ford_ wanted to know. + +The next scene takes place in _Ford's_ house, where the four women get +ready to give _Falstaff_ the reception he merits. One learns here, +quite casually from talk between _Mistress Ford_ and _Anne_, that +_Ford_ wants to marry off the girl to the aged pedant _Cajus_, while +she, of course, will marry none but _Fenton_, with whom she is in +love. Her mother promises to aid her plans. + +_Falstaff's_ arrival is announced. _Dame Quickly_, _Meg_, and _Anne_ +leave _Mistress Ford_ with him, but conceal themselves in readiness to +come in response to the first signal. They are needed sooner than +expected. _Ford_ is heard approaching. Quick! The fat lover must be +concealed. This is accomplished by getting him behind a screen. _Ford_ +enters with his followers, hoping to surprise the rake. With them he +begins a search of the rooms. While they are off exploring another +part of the house the women hurry _Falstaff_ into a big wash basket, +pile the soiled clothes over him, and fasten it down. Scarcely has +this been done when _Ford_ comes back, thinking of the screen. Just +then he hears the sound of kissing behind this piece of furniture. No +longer any doubt! _Falstaff_ is hidden there with his wife. He knocks +down the screen--and finds behind it _Anne_ and _Fenton_, who have +used to their own purpose the diversion of attention from them by the +hunt for _Falstaff_. _Ford_, more furious than ever, rushes out. His +wife and her friends call in the servants, who lift the basket and +empty it out of the window into the Thames, which flows below. When +_Ford_ comes back, his wife leads him to the window and shows him +_Falstaff_ striking out clumsily for the shore, a butt of ridicule +for all who see him. + +In the third act _Dame Quickly_ is once more seen approaching +_Falstaff_, who is seated on a bench outside the Garter Inn. In behalf +of _Mistress Ford_, she offers him another rendezvous. _Falstaff_ +wants to hear no more, but _Dame Quickly_ makes so many good excuses +for her friend that he decides to meet _Mistress Ford_ at the time and +place asked for by her--midnight, at Herne's oak in Windsor forest, +_Falstaff_ to appear in the disguise of the black huntsman, who, +according to legend, hung himself from the oak, with the result that +the spot is haunted by witches and sprites. + +_Falstaff_, in the forest at midnight, is surrounded by the merry +women, the whole _Ford_ entourage, and about a hundred others, all +disguised and masked. They unite in mystifying, taunting, and +belabouring him, until at last he realizes whom he has to deal with. +And as it is necessary for everything to end in a wedding, it is then +that _Mistress Ford_ persuades her husband to abandon his plan to take +the pedantic _Dr. Cajus_ for son-in-law and give his daughter _Anne_ +to _Fenton_. + +Even taking into account "Otello," the general form of the music in +"Falstaff" is an innovation for Verdi. All the scenes are connected +without break in continuity, as in the Wagnerian music-drama, but +applied to an entirely different style of music from Wagner's. "It +required all the genius and dramatic experience of a Verdi, who had +drama in his blood, to succeed in a lyrical adventure like 'Falstaff,' +the whole score of which displays amazing youthfulness, dash, and +spirit, coupled with extraordinary grace." On the other hand, as +regards inspiration pure and simple, it has been said that there is +not found in "Falstaff" the freshness of imagination or the abundance +of ideas of the earlier Verdi, and that one looks in vain for one of +those motifs _di prima intenzione_, like the romance of _Germont_ in +"La Traviata," the song of the _Duke_ in "Rigoletto," or the +"Miserere" in "Il Trovatore," and so many others that might be named. +The same writer, however, credits the score with remarkable purity of +form and with a _sveltesse_ and lightness that are astonishing in the +always lively attraction of the musical discourse, to say nothing of a +"charming orchestration, well put together, likeable and full of +coquetry, in which are found all the brilliancy and facility of the +Rossini method." + +Notwithstanding the above writer's appreciative words regarding the +instrumentation of "Falstaff," he has fallen foul of the work, because +he listened to it purely in the spirit of an opera-goer, and judged it +as an opera instead of as a music-drama. If I may be pardoned the +solecism, a music-drama "listens" different from an opera. A person +accustomed only to opera has his ears cocked for song soaring above an +accompaniment that counts for nothing save as a support for the voice. +The music-lover, who knows what a music-drama consists of, is aware +that it presents a well-balanced score, in which the orchestra +frequently changes place with the voice in interpreting the action. It +is because in "Falstaff" Verdi makes the orchestra act and sing--which +to an opera-goer, his ears alert for vocal melody, means nothing--that +the average audience, expecting something like unto what Verdi has +given them before, is disappointed. Extremists, one way or another, +are one-sided. Whoever is able to appreciate both opera and +music-drama, a catholicity of taste I consider myself fortunate in +possessing, can admire "Rigoletto," "Il Trovatore," and "La Traviata" +as much as the most confirmed devotee of opera; but can also go +further, and follow Verdi into regions where the intake is that of the +pure spirit of comedy at times exhaled by the voice, at times by the +orchestra. + +While not divided into distinct "numbers," there are passages in +"Falstaff" in which Verdi has concentrated his attention on certain +characteristic episodes. In the first scene of the first act occurs +_Falstaff's_ lyric in praise of _Mistress Ford_, "O amor! Sguardo di +stella!" (O Love, with star-like eyes). I quote the beautiful passage +at "Alice è il nome" (And Alice is her name). + +[Music: (Copyright, 1893, by G. Ricordi & Co.)] + +The same scene has the honour monologue from "King Henry IV.," which +is purely declamatory, but with a remarkably vivid and characteristic +accompaniment, in which especially the bassoons and clarinets comment +merrily on the sarcastic sentences addressed to _Bardolph_ and +_Pistol_. + +In the second scene of Act I, besides the episodes in which _Mistress +Ford_ reads _Falstaff's_ letter, the unaccompanied quartet for the +women ("Though shaped like a barrel, he fain would come courting"), +the quartet for the men, and the close of the act in which both +quartets take part, there is the piquant duet for _Anne_ and _Fenton_, +in which the lovers kiss each other between the palings of the fence. +From this duet I quote the amatory exchange of phrases, "Labbra di +foco" (Lips all afire) and "Labbra di fiore" (Lips of a flower) +between _Anne_ and _Fenton_. + +[Music: (Copyright, 1893, by G. Ricordi & Co.)] + +As the curtain falls _Mistress Ford_ roguishly quotes a line from +_Falstaff's_ verses, the four women together add another quotation, +"Come una stella sull'immensità" (Like some sweet star that sparkles +all the night), and go out laughing. In fact the music for the women +takes many a piquant turn. + +[Music: (Copyright, 1893, by G. Ricordi & Co.)] + +In Act II, the whole scene between _Falstaff_ and _Dame Quickly_ is +full of witty commentary by the orchestra. The scene between +_Falstaff_ and _Ford_ also derives its significance from the +instrumentation. _Ford's_ monologue, when he is persuaded by +_Falstaff's_ boastful talk that his wife is fickle, is highly +dramatic. The little scene of _Ford's_ and _Falstaff's_ +departure--_Ford_ to expose his betrayal by his wife, _Falstaff_ for +his rendezvous with her--"is underscored by a graceful and very +elegant orchestral dialogue." + +The second scene of this act has _Dame Quickly's_ madcap narrative of +her interview with _Falstaff_; and _Falstaff's_ ditty sung to +_Mistress Ford_, "Quand'ero paggio del Duca di Norfolk" (When I was +page to the Duke of Norfolk). From the popular point of view, this is +the outstanding musical number of the work. It is amusing, pathetic, +graceful, and sad; irresistible, in fact, in its mingled sentiments of +comedy and regret. Very brief, it rarely fails of encores from one to +four in number. I quote the following: + +[Music: Quand'ero paggio del Duca di Norfolk ero sottile, sottile, +sottile, + +(Copyright, 1893, by G. Ricordi & Co.)] + +The search for _Falstaff_ by _Ford_ and his followers is most +humorously treated in the score. + +In Act III, in the opening scene, in which _Falstaff_ soliloquizes +over his misadventures, the humour, so far as the music is concerned, +is conveyed by the orchestra. + +From _Fenton's_ song of love, which opens the scene at Herne's oak in +Windsor forest, I quote this expressive passage: + +[Music: (Copyright, 1893, by G. Ricordi & Co.)] + +Another delightful solo in this scene is _Anne's_ "Erriam sotto la +luna" (We'll dance in the moonlight). + +[Music: (Copyright, 1893, by G. Ricordi & Co.)] + +There are mysterious choruses--sibilant and articulately +vocalized--and a final fugue. + + + + +Arrigo Boïto, 1842- + + +MEFISTOFELE + +(MEPHISTOPHELES) + + Opera in four acts; words and music by Arrigo Boïto, the + book based on Goethe's _Faust_. Produced, without success, + La Scala, Milan, March 5, 1868; revised and revived, with + success, Bologna, October 4, 1875. London, Her Majesty's + Theatre, July 1, 1880. New York, Academy of Music, November + 24, 1880, with Campanini, Valleria, Cary, and Novara; and + Metropolitan Opera House, December 5, 1883, Campanini, + Nilsson, Trebelli, and Mirabella. Revivals: Metropolitan + Opera House, 1889 (Lehmann); 1896 (Calvé); 1901 (Margaret + McIntyre, Homer, and Plançon); 1904 (Caruso and Eames); 1907 + (Chaliapine); later with Caruso, Hempel, Destinn, and Amato. + Manhattan Opera House, 1906, with Renaud. Chicago Opera + Company, with Ruffo. The singer of _Margaret_ usually takes + the part of _Elena_ (Helen), and the _Martha_ also is the + _Pantalis_. + + CHARACTERS + + MEFISTOFELE _Bass_ + FAUST _Tenor_ + MARGHERITA _Soprano_ + MARTHA _Contralto_ + WAGNER _Tenor_ + ELENA _Soprano_ + PANTALIS _Contralto_ + NERENO _Tenor_ + + Mystic choir, celestial phalanxes, cherubs, penitents, + wayfarers, men-at-arms, huntsmen, students, citizens, + populace, townsmen, witches, wizards, Greek chorus, sirens, + nayads, dancers, warriors. + + _Time_--Middle Ages. + + _Place_--Heaven; Frankfurt, Germany; Vale of Tempe, Ancient + Greece. + +"Mefistofele" is in a prologue, four acts, and epilogue. In Gounod's +"Faust," the librettists were circumspect, and limited the book of the +opera to the first part of Goethe's _Faust_, the story of _Faust_ and +_Marguerite_--succinct, dramatic, and absorbing. Only for the ballet +did they reach into the second part of Goethe's play and appropriate +the scene on the Brocken, which, however, is frequently omitted. + +Boïto, himself a poet, based his libretto on both parts of Goethe's +work, and endeavoured to give it the substratum of philosophy upon +which the German master reared his dramatic structure. This, however, +resulted in making "Mefistofele" two operas in one. Wherever the work +touches on the familiar story of _Faust_ and _Marguerite_, it is +absorbingly interesting, and this in spite of the similarity between +some of its scenes and those of Gounod's "Faust." When it strays into +Part II of Goethe's drama, the main thread of the action suddenly +seems broken. The skein ravels. That is why one of the most profound +works for the lyric stage, one of the most beautiful scores that has +come out of Italy, is heard so rarely. + +Theodore T. Barker prefaces his translation of the libretto, published +by Oliver Ditson Company, with a recital of the story. + +The Prologue opens in the nebulous regions of space, in which float +the invisible legions of angels, cherubs, and seraphs. These lift +their voices in a hymn of praise to the Supreme Ruler of the universe. +_Mefistofele_ enters on the scene at the close of the anthem, and, +standing erect amid the clouds, with his feet upon the border of his +cloak, mockingly addresses the Deity. In answer to the question from +the mystic choir, "Knowest thou Faust?" he answers contemptuously, and +offers to wager that he will be able to entice _Faust_ to evil, and +thus gain a victory over the powers of good. The wager is accepted, +and the spirits resume their chorus of praise. + +Musically the Prologue is full of interest. There are five distinct +periods of music, varied in character, so that it gives necessary +movement to a scene in which there is but little stage action. There +are the prelude with mystic choir; the sardonic scherzo foreshadowing +the entry of _Mefistofele_; his scornful address, in which finally he +engages to bring about the destruction of _Faust's_ soul; a vivacious +chorus of cherubs (impersonated by twenty-four boys); a psalmody of +penitents and spirits. + +Act I. The drama opens on Easter Sunday, at Frankfort-on-the-Main. +Crowds of people of all conditions move in and out of the city gates. +Among them appears a grey friar, an object of both reverence and +dread to those near him. The aged _Dr. Faust_ and his pupil _Wagner_ +descend from a height and enter upon the scene, shadowed by the friar, +whose actions they discuss. _Faust_ returns to his laboratory, still +at his heels the friar, who, unheeded, enters with him, and conceals +himself in an alcove. _Faust_ gives himself to meditation, and upon +opening the sacred volume, is startled by a shriek from the friar as +he rushes from his place of concealment. _Faust_ makes the all-potent +"sign of Solomon," which compels _Mefistofele_ to throw off his +friar's disguise and to appear in his own person in the garb of a +cavalier, with a black cloak upon his arm. In reply to _Faust's_ +questionings, he declares himself the spirit that denieth all things, +desiring only the complete ruin of the world, and a return to chaos +and night. He offers to make _Faust_ the companion of his wanderings, +upon certain conditions, to which the latter agrees, saying: "If thou +wilt bring me one hour of peace, in which my soul may rest--if thou +wilt unveil the world and myself before me--if I may find cause to say +to some flying moment, 'Stay, for thou art blissful,' then let me die, +and let hell's depths engulf me." The contract completed, +_Mefistofele_ spreads his cloak, and both disappear through the air. + +The first scene of this act gains its interest from the reflection in +the music of the bustle and animation of the Easter festival. The +score plastically follows the many changing incidents of the scene +upon the stage. Conspicuous in the episodes in _Faust's_ laboratory +are _Faust's_ beautiful air, "Dai campi, dai prati" (From the fields +and from the meadows); and _Mefistofele's_ proclamation of his +identity, "Son lo spirito che nega" (I am the spirit that denieth). + +Act II opens with the garden scene. _Faust_, rejuvenated, and under +the name of _Henry_; _Margaret_, _Mefistofele_, and _Martha_ stroll +here and there in couples, chatting and love-making. Thence +_Mefistofele_ takes _Faust_ to the heights of the Brocken, where he +witnesses the orgies of the Witches' Sabbath. The fiend is welcomed +and saluted as their king. _Faust_, benumbed and stupefied, gazes into +the murky sky, and experiences there a vision of _Margaret_, pale, +sad, and fettered with chains. + +In this act the garden scene is of entrancing grace. It contains +_Faust's_ "Colma il tuo cor d'un palpito" (Flood thou thy heart with +all the bliss), and the quartet of farewell, with which the scene +ends, _Margaret_, with the gay and reckless laugh of ineffable bliss, +exclaiming to _Faust_ that she loves him. The scene in the Brocken, +besides the whirl of the witches' orgy, has a solo for _Mefistofele_, +when the weird sisters present to him a glass globe, reflected in +which he sees the earth. "Ecco il mondo" (Behold the earth). + +Act III. The scene is a prison. _Margaret_ lies extended upon a heap +of straw, mentally wandering, and singing to herself. _Mefistofele_ +and _Faust_ appear outside the grating. They converse hurriedly, and +_Faust_ begs for the life of _Margaret_. _Mefistofele_ promises to do +what he can, and bids him haste, for the infernal steeds are ready for +flight. He opens the cell, and _Faust_ enters it. _Margaret_ thinks +the jailors have come to release her, but at length recognizes her +lover. She describes what followed his desertion of her, and begs him +to lay her in death beside her loved ones;--her babe, whom she +drowned, her mother whom she is accused of having poisoned. _Faust_ +entreats her to fly with him, and she finally consents, saying that in +some far distant isle they may yet be happy. But the voice of +_Mefistofele_ in the background recalls her to the reality of the +situation. She shrinks away from _Faust_, prays to Heaven for mercy, +and dies. Voices of the celestial choir are singing softly "She's +saved!" _Faust_ and _Mefistofele_ escape, as the executioner and his +escort appear in the background. + +The act opens with _Margaret's_ lament, "L'altra notte in fonda al +mare" (To the sea, one night in sadness), in which she tells of the +drowning of her babe. There is an exquisite duet, for _Margaret_ and +_Faust_, "Lontano, sui flutti d'un ampio oceano" (Far away, o'er the +waves of a far-spreading ocean). + +Act IV. _Mefistofele_ takes _Faust_ to the shores of the Vale of +Tempe. _Faust_ is ravished with the beauty of the scene while +_Mefistofele_ finds that the orgies of the _Brocken_ were more to his +taste. + +'Tis the night of the classic Sabbath. A band of young maidens appear, +singing and dancing. _Mefistofele_, annoyed and confused, retires. +_Helen_ enters with chorus, and, absorbed by a terrible vision, +rehearses the story of Troy's destruction. _Faust_ enters, richly clad +in the costume of a knight of the fifteenth century, followed by +_Mefistofele_, _Nereno_, _Pantalis_, and others, with little fauns and +sirens. Kneeling before _Helen_, he addresses her as his ideal of +beauty and purity. Thus pledging to each other their love and +devotion, they wander through the bowers and are lost to sight. + +_Helen's_ ode, "La luna immobile innonda l'etere" (Motionless +floating, the moon floods the dome of night); her dream of the +destruction of Troy; the love duet for _Helen_ and _Faust_, "Ah! +Amore! mistero celeste" ('Tis love, a mystery celestial); and the +dexterous weaving of a musical background by orchestra and chorus, are +the chief features in the score to this act. + +In the Epilogue, we find _Faust_ in his laboratory once more--an old +man, with death fast approaching, mourning over his past life, with +the holy volume open before him. Fearing that _Faust_ may yet escape +him, _Mefistofele_ spreads his cloak, and urges _Faust_ to fly with +him through the air. Appealing to Heaven, _Faust_ is strengthened by +the sound of angelic songs, and resists. Foiled in his efforts, +_Mefistofele_ conjures up a vision of beautiful sirens. _Faust_ +hesitates a moment, flies to the sacred volume, and cries, "Here at +last I find salvation"; then falling on his knees in prayer, +effectually overcomes the temptations of the evil one. He then dies +amid a shower of rosy petals, and to the triumphant song of a +celestial choir. _Mefistofele_ has lost his wager, and holy influences +have prevailed. + +We have here _Faust's_ lament, "Giunto sul passo estremo" (Nearing the +utmost limit); his prayer, and the choiring of salvation. + + * * * * * + +Arrigo Boïto was, it will be recalled, the author of the books to +Ponchielli's opera "La Gioconda," and Verdi's "Otello" and "Falstaff." +He was born in Padua, February 24, 1842. From 1853 to 1862 he was a +pupil of the Milan Conservatory. During a long sojourn in Germany and +Poland he became an ardent admirer of Wagner's music. Since +"Mefistofele" Boïto has written and composed another opera, "Nerone" +(Nero), but has withheld it from production. + + + + +Amilcare Ponchielli + +(1834-1886) + + +Amilcare Ponchielli, the composer of "La Gioconda," was born at +Paderno Fasolaro, Cremona, August 31, 1834. He studied music, 1843-54, +at the Milan Conservatory. In 1856 he brought out at Cremona an opera, +"I Promessi Sposi" (The Betrothed), which, in a revised version, +Milan, 1872, was his first striking success. The same care Ponchielli +bestowed upon his studies, which lasted nearly ten years, he gave to +his works. Like "I Promessi Sposi," his opera, "I Lituani" (The +Lithuanians), brought out in 1874, was revived ten years later, as +"Alguna"; and, while "La Gioconda" (1876) did not wait so long for +success, it too was revised and brought out in a new version before it +received popular acclaim. Among his other operas are, 1880, "Il +Figliuol Prodigo" (The Prodigal Son), and, 1885, "Marion Delorme." "La +Gioconda," however, is the only one of his operas that has made its +way abroad. + +Ponchielli died at Milan, January 16, 1886. He was among the very +first Italian composers to yield to modern influences and enrich his +score with instrumental effects intended to enhance its beauty and +give the support of an eloquent and expressive accompaniment to the +voice without, however, challenging its supremacy. His influence upon +his Italian contemporaries was considerable. He, rather than Verdi, is +regarded by students of music as the founder of the modern school of +Italian opera. What really happened is that there was going on in +Italy, influenced by a growing appreciation of Wagner's works among +musicians, a movement for a more advanced style of lyric drama. +Ponchielli and Boïto were leaders in this movement. Verdi, a far +greater genius than either of these, was caught up in it, and, because +of his genius, accomplished more in it than the actual leaders. +Ponchielli's influence still is potent. For he was the teacher of the +most famous living Italian composer of opera, Giacomo Puccini. + + +LA GIOCONDA + +THE BALLAD SINGER + + Opera in four acts by Ponchielli, libretto by Arrigo Boïto, + after Victor Hugo's play, "Angelo, Tyrant of Padua." Boïto + signed the book with his anagram, "Tobia Gorrio." Produced + in its original version, La Scala, Milan, April 8, 1876; and + with a new version of the libretto in Genoa, December, 1876. + London, Covent Garden, May 31, 1883. New York, December 20, + 1883 (for details, see below); revived, Metropolitan Opera + House, November 28, 1904, with Nordica, Homer, Edyth Walker, + Caruso, Giraldoni, and Plançon; later with Destinn, Ober, + and Amato. + + CHARACTERS + + LA GIOCONDA, a ballad singer _Soprano_ + LA CIECA, her blind mother _Contralto_ + ALVISE, one of the heads of the + State Inquisition _Bass_ + LAURA, his wife _Mezzo-Soprano_ + ENZO GRIMALDO, a Genoese noble _Tenor_ + BARNABA, a spy of the Inquisition _Baritone_ + ZUÀNE, a boatman _Bass_ + ISÈPO, a public letter-writer _Tenor_ + A PILOT _Bass_ + + Monks, senators, sailors, shipwrights, ladies, gentlemen, + populace, maskers, guards, etc. + + _Time_--17th Century. + + _Place_--Venice. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Amato as Barnaba in "La Gioconda"] + +Twenty-one years elapsed between the production of "La Gioconda" at +the Metropolitan Opera House and its revival. Since its reawakening it +has taken a good hold on the repertoire, which makes it difficult to +explain why it should have been allowed to sleep so long. It may be +that possibilities of casting it did not suggest themselves. Not +always does "Cielo e mar" flow as suavely from lips as it does from +those of Caruso. Then, too, managers are superstitious, and may have +hesitated to make re-trial of anything that had been attempted at that +first season of opera at the Metropolitan, one of the most disastrous +on record. Even Praxede Marcelline Kochanska (in other words Marcella +Sembrich), who was a member of Henry E. Abbey's troupe, was not +re-engaged for this country, and did not reappear at the Metropolitan +until fourteen years later. + +"La Gioconda" was produced at that house December 20, 1883, with +Christine Nilsson in the title rôle; Scalchi as _La Cieca_; +Fursch-Madi as _Laura_; Stagno as _Enzo_; Del Puente as _Barnaba_; and +Novara as _Alvise_. Cavalazzi, one of the leading dancers of her day, +appeared in the "Danza delle Ore" (Dance of the Hours). It was a good +performance, but Del Puente hardly was sinister enough for _Barnaba_, +or Stagno distinguished enough in voice and personality for _Enzo_. + +There was in the course of the performance an unusual occurrence and +one that is interesting to hark back to. Nilsson had a voice of great +beauty--pure, limpid, flexible--but not one conditioned to a severe +dramatic strain. Fursch-Madi, on the other hand, had a large, powerful +voice and a singularly dramatic temperament. When _La Gioconda_ and +_Laura_ appeared in the great duet in the second act, "L'amo come il +fulgor del creato" (I love him as the light of creation), Fursch-Madi, +without great effort, "took away" this number from Mme. Nilsson, and +completely eclipsed her. When the two singers came out in answer to +the recalls, Mme. Nilsson, as etiquette demanded, was slightly in +advance of the mezzo-soprano, for whom, however, most of the applause +was intended. Mme. Fursch-Madi was a fine singer, but lacked the +pleasing personality and appealing temperament that we spoiled +Americans demand of our singers. She died, in extreme poverty and +after a long illness, in a little hut on one of the Orange mountains +in New Jersey, where an old chorus singer had given her shelter. She +had appeared in many tragedies of the stage, but none more tragic than +her own last hours. + +Each act of "La Gioconda" has its separate title: Act I, "The Lion's +Mouth"; Act II, "The Rosary"; Act III, "The House of Gold"; Act IV, +"The Orfano Canal." The title of the opera can be translated as "The +Ballad Singer," but the Italian title appears invariably to be used. + +Act I. "The Lion's Mouth." Grand courtyard of the Ducal palace, +decorated for festivities. At back, the Giant's Stairway, and the +Portico della Carta, with doorway leading to the interior of the +Church of St. Mark. On the left, the writing-table of a public +letter-writer. On one side of the courtyard one of the historic Lion's +Mouths, with the following inscription cut in black letters into the +wall: + + FOR SECRET DENUNCIATIONS + TO THE INQUISITION + AGAINST ANY PERSON, + WITH IMPUNITY, SECRECY, AND + BENEFIT TO THE STATE. + +It is a splendid afternoon in spring. The stage is filled with +holiday-makers, monks, sailors, shipwrights, masquers, etc., and +amidst the busy crowd are seen some Dalmatians and Moors. + +_Barnaba_, leaning his back against a column, is watching the people. +He has a small guitar, slung around his neck. + +The populace gaily sings, "Feste e pane" (Sports and feasting). They +dash away to watch the regatta, when _Barnaba_, coming forward, +announces that it is about to begin. He watches them disdainfully. +"Above their graves they are dancing!" he exclaims. _Gioconda_ leads +in _La Cieca_, her blind mother. There is a duet of much tenderness +between them: "Figlia, che reggi il tremulo" (Daughter in thee my +faltering steps). + +_Barnaba_ is in love with the ballad singer, who has several times +repulsed him. For she is in love with _Enzo_, a nobleman, who has been +proscribed by the Venetian authorities, but is in the city in the +disguise of a sea captain. His ship lies in the Fusina Lagoon. + +_Barnaba_ again presses his love upon the girl. She escapes from his +grasp and runs away, leaving her mother seated by the church door. +_Barnaba_ is eager to get _La Cieca_ into his power in order to compel +_Gioconda_ to yield to his sinister desires. Opportunity soon offers. +For, now the regatta is over, the crowd returns bearing in triumph the +victor in the contest. With them enter _Zuàne_, the defeated +contestant, _Gioconda_, and _Enzo_. _Barnaba_ subtly insinuates to +_Zuàne_ that _La Cieca_ is a witch, who has caused his defeat by +sorcery. The report quickly spreads among the defeated boatman's +friends. The populace becomes excited. _La Cieca_ is seized and +dragged from the church steps. _Enzo_ calls upon his sailors, who are +in the crowd, to aid him in saving her. + +At the moment of greatest commotion the palace doors swing open. From +the head of the stairway where stand _Alvise_ and his wife, _Laura_, +who is masked, _Alvise_ sternly commands an end to the rioting, then +descends with _Laura_. + +_Barnaba_, with the keenness that is his as chief spy of the +Inquisition, is quick to observe that, through her mask, _Laura_ is +gazing intently at _Enzo_, and that _Enzo_, in spite of _Laura's_ +mask, appears to have recognized her and to be deeply affected by her +presence. _Gioconda_ kneels before _Alvise_ and prays for mercy for +her mother. When _Laura_ also intercedes for _La Cieca_, _Alvise_ +immediately orders her freed. In one of the most expressive airs of +the opera, "Voce di donna, o d'angelo" (Voice thine of woman, or angel +fair), _La Cieca_ thanks _Laura_ and gives to her a rosary, at the +same time extending her hands over her in blessing. + +She also asks her name. _Alvise's_ wife, still masked, and looking +significantly in the direction of _Enzo_, answers, "Laura!" + +"'Tis she!" exclaims _Enzo_. + +The episode has been observed by _Barnaba_, who, when all the others +save _Enzo_ have entered the church, goes up to him and, despite his +disguise as a sea captain, addresses him by his name and title, "Enzo +Grimaldo, Prince of Santa Fior." + +The spy knows the whole story. _Enzo_ and _Laura_ were betrothed. +Although they were separated and she obliged to wed _Alvise_, and +neither had seen the other since then, until the meeting a few moments +before, their passion still is as strong as ever. _Barnaba_, cynically +explaining that, in order to obtain _Gioconda_ for himself, he wishes +to show her how false _Enzo_ is, promises him that he will arrange for +_Laura_, on that night, to be aboard _Enzo's_ vessel, ready to escape +with him to sea. + +_Enzo_ departs. _Barnaba_ summons one of his tools, _Isèpo_, the +public letter-writer, whose stand is near the Lion's Mouth. At that +moment _Gioconda_ and _La Cieca_ emerge from the church, and +_Gioconda_, seeing _Barnaba_, swiftly draws her mother behind a +column, where they are hidden from view. The girl hears the spy +dictate to _Isèpo_ a letter, for whom intended she does not know, +informing someone that his wife plans to elope that evening with +_Enzo_. Having thus learned that _Enzo_ no longer loves her, she +vanishes with her mother into the church. _Barnaba_ drops the letter +into the Lion's Mouth. _Isèpo_ goes. The spy, as keen in intellect as +he is cruel and unrelenting in action, addresses in soliloquy the +Doge's palace. "O monumento! Regia e bolgia dogale!" (O mighty +monument, palace and den of the Doges). + +The masquers and populace return. They are singing. They dance "La +Furlana." In the church a monk and then the chorus chant. _Gioconda_ +and her mother come out. _Gioconda_ laments that _Enzo_ should have +forsaken her. _La Cieca_ seeks to comfort her. In the church the +chanting continues. + +Act II. "The Rosary." Night. A brigantine, showing its starboard side. +In front, the deserted bank of an uninhabited island in the Fusina +Lagoon. In the farthest distance, the sky and the lagoon. A few stars +visible. On the right, a cloud, above which the moon is rising. In +front, a small altar of the Virgin, lighted by a red lamp. The name of +the brigantine--"Hecate"--painted on the prow. Lanterns on the deck. + +At the rising of the curtain sailors are discovered; some seated on +the deck, others standing in groups, each with a speaking trumpet. +Several cabin boys are seen, some clinging to the shrouds, some +seated. Remaining thus grouped, they sing a _Marinaresca_, in part a +sailors' "chanty," in part a regular melody. + +In a boat _Barnaba_ appears with _Isèpo_. They are disguised as +fishermen. _Barnaba_ sings a fisherman's ballad, "Ah! Pescator, +affonda l'esca" (Fisher-boy, thy net now lower). + +[Music] + +He has set his net for _Enzo_ and _Laura_, as well as for _Gioconda_, +as his words, "Some sweet siren, while you're drifting, in your net +will coyly hide," imply. The song falls weirdly upon the night. The +scene is full of "atmosphere." + +_Enzo_ comes up on deck, gives a few orders; the crew go below. He +then sings the famous "Cielo e mar!" (O sky, and sea)--an impassioned +voicing of his love for her whom he awaits. The scene, the moon having +emerged from behind a bank of clouds, is of great beauty. + +[Music] + +A boat approaches. In it _Barnaba_ brings _Laura_ to _Enzo_. There is +a rapturous greeting. They are to sail away as soon as the setting of +the moon will enable the ship to depart undetected. There is distant +singing. _Enzo_ goes below. _Laura_ kneels before the shrine and +prays, "Stella del marinar! Vergine santa!" (Star of the mariner! +Virgin most holy). + +_Gioconda_ steals on board and confronts her rival. The duet between +the two women, who love _Enzo_, and in which each defies the other, +"L'amo come il fulgor del creato" (I adore him as the light of +creation), is the most dramatic number in the score. + +[Music] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Caruso as Enzo in "La Gioconda"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Louise Homer as Laura in "La Gioconda"] + +_Gioconda_ is about to stab _Laura_, but stops suddenly and, seizing +her with one hand, points with the other out over the lagoon, where a +boat bearing _Alvise_ and his armed followers is seen approaching. +_Laura_ implores the Virgin for aid. In doing so she lifts up the +rosary given to her by _La Cieca_. Through it _Gioconda_ recognizes in +_Laura_ the masked lady who saved her mother from the vengeance of +the mob. Swiftly the girl summons the boat of two friendly boatmen who +have brought her thither, and bids _Laura_ make good her escape. When +_Barnaba_ enters, his prey has evaded him. _Gioconda_ has saved her. +_Barnaba_ hurries back to _Alvise's_ galley, and, pointing to the +fugitive boat in the distance, bids the galley start in pursuit. + +_Enzo_ comes on deck. Instead of _Laura_ he finds _Gioconda_. There is +a dramatic scene between them. Venetian galleys are seen approaching. +Rather than that his vessel shall be captured by them, _Enzo_ sets +fire to it. + +Act III. "The House of Gold." A room in _Alvise's_ house. _Alvise_ +sings of the vengeance he will wreak upon _Laura_ for her betrayal of +his honour. "Sì! morir ella de'" (Yes, to die is her doom). + +He summons _Laura_. Nocturnal serenaders are heard singing without, as +they wend their way in gondolas along the canal. _Alvise_ draws the +curtains from before a doorway and points to a funeral bier erected in +the chamber beyond. To _Laura_ he hands a vial of swift poison. She +must drain it before the last note of the serenade they now hear has +died away. He will leave her. The chorus ended, he will return to find +her dead. + +When he has gone, _Gioconda_, who, anticipating the fate that might +befall the woman who has saved her mother, has been in hiding in the +palace, hastens to _Laura_, and hands her a flask containing a +narcotic that will create the semblance of death. _Laura_ drinks it, +and disappears through the curtains into the funeral chamber. +_Gioconda_ pours the poison from the vial into her own flask, and +leaves the empty vial on the table. + +The serenade ceases. _Alvise_ re-entering, sees the empty vial on the +table. He enters the funeral apartment for a brief moment. _Laura_ is +lying as one dead upon the bier. He believes that he has been obeyed +and that _Laura_ has drained the vial of poison. + +The scene changes to a great hall in _Alvise's_ house, where he is +receiving his guests. Here occurs the "Dance of the Hours," a ballet +suite which, in costume changes, light effects and choreography +represents the hours of dawn, day, evening, and night. It is also +intended to symbolize, in its mimic action, the eternal struggle +between the powers of darkness and light. + +_Barnaba_ enters, dragging in with him _La Cieca_, whom he has found +concealed in the house. _Enzo_ also has managed to gain admittance. +_La Cieca_, questioned as to her purpose in the House of Gold, +answers, "For her, just dead, I prayed." A hush falls upon the fête. +The passing bell for the dead is heard slowly tolling. "For whom?" +asks _Enzo_ of _Barnaba_. "For Laura," is the reply. The guests +shudder. "D'un vampiro fatal l'ala fredda passò" (As if over our brows +a vampire's wing had passed), chants the chorus. "Già ti vedo immota e +smorta" (I behold thee motionless and pallid), sings _Enzo_. +_Barnaba_, _Gioconda_, _La Cieca_, and _Alvise_ add their voices to an +ensemble of great power. _Alvise_ draws back the curtains of the +funeral chamber, which also gives upon the festival hall. He points to +_Laura_ extended upon the bier. _Enzo_, brandishing a poniard, rushes +upon _Alvise_, but is seized by guards. + +Act IV. "The Orfano Canal." The vestibule of a ruined palace on the +island of Giudecca. In the right-hand corner an opened screen, behind +which is a bed. Large porch at back, through which are seen the +lagoon, and, in the distance, the square of Saint Mark, brilliantly +illuminated. A picture of the Virgin and a crucifix hang against the +wall. Table and couch; on the table a lamp and a lighted lantern; the +flask of poison and a dagger. On a couch are various articles of mock +jewelry belonging to _Gioconda_. + +On the right of the scene a long, dimly lighted street. From the end +two men advance, carrying in their arms _Laura_, who is enveloped in a +black cloak. The two _cantori_ (street singers) knock at the door. It +is opened by _Gioconda_, who motions them to place their burden upon +the couch behind the screen. As they go, she pleads with them to +search for her mother, whom she has not been able to find since the +scene in the House of Gold. + +She is alone. Her love for _Enzo_, greater than her jealousy of +_Laura_, has prompted her to promise _Barnaba_ that she will give +herself to him, if he will aid _Enzo_ to escape from prison and guide +him to the Orfano Canal. Now, however, despair seizes her. In a +dramatic soliloquy--a "terrible song," it has been called--she invokes +suicide. "Suicidio! ... in questi fieri momenti tu sol mi resti" (Aye, +suicide, the sole resource now left me). For a moment she even thinks +of carrying out _Alvise's_ vengeance by stabbing _Laura_ and throwing +her body into the water--"for deep is yon lagoon." + +Through the night a gondolier's voice calls in the distance over the +water: "Ho! gondolier! hast thou any fresh tidings?" Another voice, +also distant: "In the Orfano Canal there are corpses." + +In despair _Gioconda_ throws herself down weeping near the table. +_Enzo_ enters. In a tense scene _Gioconda_ excites his rage by telling +him that she has had _Laura's_ body removed from the burial vault and +that he will not find it there. He seizes her. His poniard already is +poised for the thrust. Hers--so she hopes--is to be the ecstacy of +dying by his hand! + +At that moment, however, the voice of _Laura_, who is coming out of +the narcotic, calls, "Enzo!" He rushes to her, and embraces her. In +the distance is heard a chorus singing a serenade. It is the same +song, before the end of which _Alvise_ had bidden _Laura_ drain the +poison. Both _Laura_ and _Enzo_ now pour out words of gratitude to +_Gioconda_. The girl has provided everything for flight. A boat, +propelled by two of her friends, is ready to convey them to a barque, +which awaits them. What a blessing, after all, the rosary, bestowed +upon the queenly _Laura_ by an old blind woman has proved to be. "Che +vedo là! Il rosario!" (What see I there! 'Tis the rosary!) Thus sings +_Gioconda_, while _Enzo_ and _Laura_ voice their thanks: "Sulle tue +mani l'anima tutta stempriamo in pianto" (Upon thy hands thy generous +tears of sympathy are falling). The scene works up to a powerful +climax. + +Once more _Gioconda_ is alone. The thought of her compact with +_Barnaba_ comes over her. She starts to flee the spot, when the spy +himself appears in the doorway. Pretending that she wishes to adorn +herself for him, she begins putting on the mock jewelry, and, +utilizing the opportunity that brings her near the table, seizes the +dagger that is lying on it. + +"Gioconda is thine!" she cries, facing _Barnaba_, then stabs herself +to the heart. + +Bending over the prostrate form, the spy furiously shouts into her +ear, "Last night thy mother did offend me. I have strangled her!" But +no one hears him. _La Gioconda_ is dead. With a cry of rage, he rushes +down the street. + + + + +French Opera + + +Gluck, Wagner, and Verdi each closed an epoch. In Gluck there +culminated the pre-Mozartean school. In Mozart two streams of opera +found their source. "Don Giovanni" and "Le Nozze di Figaro" were +inspirations to Rossini, to whom, in due course of development, varied +by individual characteristics, there succeeded Bellini, Donizetti, and +Verdi. + +The second stream of opera which found its source in Mozart was +German. The score of "Die Zauberflöte" showed how successfully the +rich vein of popular melody, or folk music, could be worked for the +lyric stage. The hint was taken by Weber, from whom, in the course of +gradual development, there derived Richard Wagner. + +Meanwhile, however, there was another development which came direct +from Gluck. His "Iphigénie en Aulide," "Orphée et Eurydice," +"Alceste," and "Armide" were produced at the Académie Royale de +Musique, founded by Lully in 1672, and now the Grand Opéra, Paris. +They contributed materially to the development of French grand opera, +which derives from Gluck, as well as from Lully (pp. 1, 4, and 6), and +Rameau (p. 1). French opera also was sensibly influenced, and its +development in the serious manner furthered, by one of the most +learned of composers, Luigi Cherubini, for six years professor of +composition and for twenty years thereafter (1821-1841) director of +the Paris Conservatoire and at one time widely known as the composer +of the operas "Les Deux Journées" (Paris, 1800; London, as "The +Water-carrier," 1801); and "Faniska," Vienna, 1806. + +To the brief statement regarding French grand opera on p. 2, I may +add, also briefly, that manner as well as matter is a characteristic +of all French art. The Frenchman is not satisfied with what he says, +unless he says it in the best possible manner or style. Thus, while +Italian composers long were contented with an instrumental +accompaniment that simply did not interfere with the voice, the French +always have sought to enrich and beautify what is sung, by the +instrumental accompaniment with which they have supported and +environed it. In its seriousness of purpose, and in the care with +which it strives to preserve the proper balance between the vocal and +orchestral portions of the score, French opera shows most clearly its +indebtedness to Gluck, and, after him, to Cherubini. It is a beautiful +form of operatic art. + +In the restricted sense of the repertoire in this country, French +grand opera means Meyerbeer, Gounod, Bizet, and Massenet. In fact it +is a question if, popularly speaking, we draw the line at all between +French and Italian grand opera, since, both being Latin, they are +sister arts, and quite distinct from the German school. + +Having traced opera in Germany from Gluck to Wagner, and in Italy from +Rossini to Verdi, I now turn to opera in France from Meyerbeer and a +few predecessors to Bizet. + + + + +Méhul to Meyerbeer + + +Certain early French operas still are in the Continental repertoire, +although they may be said to have completely disappeared here. They +are of sufficient significance to be referred to in this book. + +The pianoforte pupils abroad are few who, in the course of their first +years of instruction, fail to receive a potpourri of the three-act +opera "Joseph" (Joseph in Egypt), by Étienne Nicholas Méhul +(1763-1817). The score is chaste and restrained. The principal air for +_Joseph_ (tenor), "À peine au sortir de l'enfance" (Whilst yet in +tender childhood), and the prayer for male voice, "Dieu d'Israel" (Oh, +God of Israel), are the best-known portions of the score. In +constructing the libretto Alexander Duval followed the Biblical story. +When the work opens, not only has the sale of _Joseph_ by his brethren +taken place, but the young Jew has risen to high office. Rôles, +besides _Joseph_, are _Jacob_ (bass), _Siméon_ (baritone) +[Transcriber's Note: should be 'tenor'], _Benjamin_ (soprano), +_Utobal_, _Joseph's_ confidant (bass). "Joseph en Egypte" was produced +at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris, February 17, 1808. + +"Le Calife de Bagdad," "Jean de Paris," and "La Dame Blanche" (The +White Lady), by François Adrien Boieldieu (1775-1834), are still known +by their graceful overtures. In "La Dame Blanche" the composer has +used the song of "Robin Adair," the scene of the opera being laid in +Scotland, and drawn by Scribe from Scott's novels, "The Monastery" and +"Guy Mannering." _George Brown_ was a favorite rôle with Wachtel. He +sang it in this country. The graceful invocation to the white lady was +especially well suited to his voice. "La Dame Blanche" was produced at +the Opéra Comique, Paris, December 10, 1825. + +Boieldieu's music is light and graceful, in perfect French taste, and +full of charm. It has the spirit of comedy and no doubt helped develop +the comic vein in the lighter scores of Daniel François Esprit Auber +(1782-1871). But in his greatest work, "Masaniello," the French title +of which is "La Muette de Portici" (The Dumb Girl of Portici), Auber +is, musically, a descendant of Méhul. The libretto is by Scribe and +Delavigne. The work was produced in Paris, February 29, 1828. It is +one of the foundation stones of French grand opera. Eschewing vocal +ornament merely as such, and introducing it only when called for by +the portrayal of character, the emotion to be expressed, or the +situation devised by the librettist, it is largely due to its +development from this work of Auber's that French opera has occupied +for so long a time the middle ground between Italian opera with its +frank supremacy of voice on the one hand, and German opera with its +solicitude for instrumental effects on the other. + +The story of "Masaniello" is laid in 1647, in and near Naples. It +deals with an uprising of the populace led by _Masaniello_. He is +inspired thereto both by the wrongs the people have suffered and by +his sister _Fenella's_ betrayal by _Alfonso_, Spanish viceroy of +Naples. The revolution fails, its leader loses his mind and is killed, +and, during an eruption of Vesuvius, _Fenella_ casts herself into the +sea. _Fenella_ is dumb. Her rôle is taken by a pantomimist, usually +the _prima ballerina_. + +Greatly admired by musicians though the score be, "Masaniello's" hold +upon the repertory long has been precarious. I doubt if it has been +given in this country upon any scale of significance since the +earliest days of opera in German at the Metropolitan, when Dr. +Leopold Damrosch revived it with Anton Schott in the title rôle. Even +then it was difficult to imagine that, when "Masaniello" was played in +Brussels, in 1830, the scene of the uprising so excited the people +that they drove the Dutch out of Belgium, which had been joined to +Holland by the Congress of Vienna. The best-known musical number in +the opera is the "Air du Sommeil" (Slumber-song) sung by _Masaniello_ +to _Fenella_ in the fourth act. + +Auber composed many successful operas in the vein of comedy. His "Fra +Diavolo" long was popular. Its libretto by Scribe is amusing, the +score sparkling. _Fra Diavolo's_ death can be made a sensational piece +of acting, if the tenor knows how to take a fall down the wooden +runway among the canvas rocks, over which the dashing bandit--the +villain of the piece--is attempting to escape, when shot. + +"Fra Diavolo" was given here with considerable frequency at one time. +But in a country where opéra comique (in the French sense of the term) +has ceased to exist, it has no place. We swing from one extreme to the +other--from grand opera, with brilliant accessories, to musical +comedy, with all its slap-dash. The sunlit middle road of opéra +comique we have ceased to tread. + +Two other works, once of considerable popularity, also have +disappeared from our stage. The overture to "Zampa," by Louis J.F. +Hérold (1791-1833) still is played; the opera no more. It was produced +in Paris May 3, 1831. The libretto, by Mélésville, is based on the old +tale of "The Statue Bride." + +The high tenor rôle of _Chappelou_ in "Le Postillon de Longjumeau," by +Adolphe Charles Adam (1802-1856), with its postillion song, "Ho! +ho!--Ho! ho!--Postillion of Longjumeau!" was made famous by Theodore +Wachtel, who himself was a postillion before his voice was discovered +by patrons of his father's stable, with whom he chanced to join in +singing quartet. It was he who introduced the rhythmic cracking of the +whip in the postillion's song. Wachtel sang the rôle in this country +in the season of 1871-72, at the Stadt Theatre, and in 1875-76 at the +Academy of Music. Then, having accumulated a fortune, chiefly out of +the "Postillon," in which he sang more than 1200 times, he practically +retired, accepting no fixed engagements. + +During the Metropolitan Opera House season of 1884-85, Dr. Leopold +Damrosch revived, in German, "La Juive," a five-act opera by Jacques +François Fromental Élie Halévy (1799-1862), the libretto by Scribe. +Materna was the Jewess, _Rachel_ (in German _Recha_). I cannot recall +any production of the work here since then, and a considerable period +had elapsed since its previous performance here. It had its _première_ +in Paris, February 23, 1835. Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable" had been +produced in 1831. Nevertheless "La Juive" scored a triumph. But with +the production of Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots," that composer became +the operatic idol of the public, and Halévy's star paled, although +musicians continued for many years to consider "La Juive" one of the +finest opera scores composed in France; and there are many who would +be glad to see an occasional revival of this work, as well as of +Auber's "Masaniello." The libretto of "La Juive," originally written +for Rossini, was rejected by that composer for "William Tell" (see p. +312). + + + + +Giacomo Meyerbeer + +(1791-1864) + + +Although he was born in Berlin (September 5, 1791), studied pianoforte +and theory in Germany, and attained in that country a reputation as a +brilliant pianist, besides producing several operas there, Meyerbeer +is regarded as the founder of what generally is understood as modern +French grand opera. It has been said of him that "he joined to the +flowing melody of the Italians the solid harmony of the Germans, the +poignant declamation and varied, piquant rhythm of the French"; which +is a good description of the opera that flourishes on the stage of the +Académie or Grand Opéra, Paris. The models for elaborate spectacular +scenes and finales furnished by Meyerbeer's operas have been followed +ever since by French composers; nor have they been ignored by +Italians. He understood how to write effectively for the voice, and he +was the first composer of opera who made a point of striving for tone +colour in the instrumental accompaniment. Sometimes the effect may be +too calculated, too cunningly contrived, too obviously sought for. But +what he accomplished had decided influence on the enrichment of the +instrumental score in operatic composition. + +Much criticism has been directed at Meyerbeer, and much of his music +has disappeared from the stage. But such also has been the fate of +much of the music of other composers earlier than, contemporary with, +and later than he. Meyerbeer had the pick of the great artists of his +day. His works were written for and produced with brilliant casts, and +had better not be sung at all than indifferently. His greatest work, +"Les Huguenots," is still capable of leaving a deep impression, when +adequately performed. + +Meyerbeer, like many other composers for the lyric stage, has suffered +much from writers who have failed to approach opera as opera, but have +written about it from the standpoint of the symphony, with which it +has nothing in common, or have looked down upon it from the lofty +heights of the music-drama, from which, save for the fact that both +are intended to be sung and acted with scenery on a stage, it differs +greatly. Opera is a highly artificial theatrical product, and those +who have employed convincingly its sophisticated processes are not +lightly to be thrust aside. + +Meyerbeer came of a Jewish family. His real name was Jacob Liebmann +Beer. He prefixed "Meyer" to his patronymic at the request of a +wealthy relative who made him his heir. He was a pupil in pianoforte +of Clementi; also studied under Abbé Vogler, being a fellow pupil of +C.M. von Weber. His first operas were German. In 1815 he went to Italy +and composed a series of operas in the style of Rossini. Going to +Paris in 1826, he became "immersed in the study of French opera, from +Lully onward." The first result was "Robert le Diable" (Robert the +Devil), Grand Opéra, Paris, 1831. This was followed by "Les +Huguenots," 1836; "Le Prophète," 1849; "L'Étoile du Nord," Opéra +Comique, 1854; "Dinorah, ou le Pardon de Ploërmel" (Dinorah, or the +Pardon of Ploërmel), Opéra Comique, 1859. Much of the music of +"L'Étoile du Nord" came from an earlier score, "Das Feldlager in +Schlesien" (The Camp in Silesia), Berlin, 1843. Meyerbeer died May 2, +1864, in Paris, where his "L'Africaine" was produced at the Grand +Opéra in 1865. + + +ROBERT LE DIABLE + +ROBERT THE DEVIL + + Opera in five acts, by Meyerbeer; words by Scribe and + Delavigne. Produced, Grand Opéra, Paris, November 22, 1831. + Drury Lane, London, February 20, 1832, in English, as "The + Demon, or the Mystic Branch"; Covent Garden, February 21, + 1832, in English, as "The Fiend Father, or Robert of + Normandy"; King's Theatre, June 11, 1832, in French; Her + Majesty's Theatre, May 4, 1847, in Italian. Park Theatre, + New York, April 7, 1834, in English, with Mrs. Wood as + _Isabel_ and Wood as _Robert_, the opera being followed by a + _pas seul_ by Miss Wheatley, and a farce, "My Uncle John"; + Astor Place Opera House, November 3, 1851, with Bettini + (_Robert_), Marini (_Bertram_), Bosio (_Isabella_), + Steffanone (_Alice_); Academy of Music, November 30, 1857, + with Formes as _Bertram_. + + CHARACTERS + + ALICE, foster-sister of Robert _Soprano_ + ISABELLA, Princess of Sicily _Soprano_ + THE ABBESS _Dancer_ + ROBERT, Duke of Normandy _Tenor_ + BERTRAM, the Unknown _Bass_ + RAIMBAUT, a minstrel _Tenor_ + + _Time_--13th Century. + + _Place_--Sicily. + +The production of "Robert le Diable" in Paris was such a sensational +success that it made the fortune of the Grand Opéra. Nourrit was +_Robert_, Levasseur, _Bertram_ (the prototype of _Mephistopheles_); +the women of the cast were Mlle. Dorus as _Alice_, Mme. Cinti-Damoreau +as _Isabella_, and Taglioni, the famous danseuse, as the _Abbess_. +Jenny Lind made her début in London as _Alice_, in the Italian +production of the work. In New York Carl Formes was heard as _Bertram_ +at the Astor Place Theatre, November 30, 1857. + +Whatever criticism may now be directed against "Robert le Diable," it +was a remarkable creation for its day. Meyerbeer's score not only +saved the libretto, in which the grotesque is carried to the point of +absurdity, but actually made a brilliant success of the production as +a whole. + +The story is legendary. _Robert_ is the son of the arch-fiend by a +human woman. _Robert's_ father, known as _Bertram_, but really the +devil, ever follows him about, and seeks to lure him to destruction. +The strain of purity in the drama is supplied by _Robert's_ +foster-sister, _Alice_, who, if _Bertram_ is the prototype of +_Mephistopheles_ in "Faust," may be regarded as the original of +_Michaela_ in "Carmen." + +_Robert_, because of his evil deeds (inspired by _Bertram_), has been +banished from Normandy, and has come to Sicily. He has fallen in love +with _Isabella_, she with him. He is to attend a tournament at which +she is to award the prizes. Tempted by _Bertram_, he gambles and loses +all his possessions, including even his armour. These facts are +disclosed in the first act. This contains a song by _Raimbaut_, the +minstrel, in which he tells of Robert's misdeeds, but is saved from +the latter's fury by _Alice_, who is betrothed to _Raimbaut_, and who, +in an expressive air, pleads vainly with _Robert_ to mend his ways and +especially to avoid _Bertram_, from whom she instinctively shrinks. In +the second act _Robert_ and _Isabella_ meet in the palace. She bestows +upon him a suit of armour to wear in the tournament. But, misled by +_Bertram_, he seeks his rival elsewhere than in the lists, and, by his +failure to appear there, loses his honour as a knight. In the next +act, laid in the cavern of St. Irene, occurs an orgy of evil spirits, +to whose number _Bertram_ promises to add _Robert_. Next comes a scene +that verges upon the grotesque, but which is converted by Meyerbeer's +genius into something highly fantastic. This is in the ruined convent +of St. Rosalie. _Bertram_ summons from their graves the nuns who, in +life, were unfaithful to their vows. The fiend has promised _Robert_ +that if he will but seize a mystic cypress branch from over the grave +of St. Rosalie, and bear it away, whatever he wishes for will become +his. The ghostly nuns, led by their _Abbess_, dance about him. They +seek to inveigle him with gambling, drink, and love, until, dazed by +their enticements, he seizes the branch. Besides the ballet of the +nuns, there are two duets for _Robert_ and _Bertram_--"Du rendezvous" +(Our meeting place), and "Le bonheur est dans l'inconstance" (Our +pleasure lies in constant change). + +The first use _Robert_ makes of the branch is to effect entrance into +_Isabella's_ chamber. He threatens to seize her and bear her away, but +yields to her entreaties, breaks the branch, and destroys the spell. +In this act--the fourth--occurs the famous air for _Isabella_, +"Robert, toi que j'aime" (Robert, whom I love). + +Once more _Bertram_ seeks to make with _Robert_ a compact, the price +for which shall be paid with his soul. But _Alice_, by repeating to +him the last warning words of his mother, delays the signing of the +compact until the clock strikes twelve. The spell is broken. _Bertram_ +disappears. The cathedral doors swing open disclosing _Isabella_, who, +in her bridal robes, awaits _Robert_. The finale contains a trio for +_Alice_, _Robert_, and _Bertram_, which is considered one of +Meyerbeer's finest inspirations. + + +LES HUGUENOTS + +THE HUGUENOTS + + Opera in five acts; music by Meyerbeer, words by Scribe and + Deschamps. Produced, Grand Opéra, Paris, February 29, 1836. + New York, Astor Place Opera House, June 24, 1850, with Salvi + (_Raoul_), Coletti (_de Nevers_), Setti (_St. Bris_), Marini + (_Marcel_), Signorina Bosio (_Marguerite_), Steffanone + (_Valentine_), Vietti (Urbain); Academy of Music, March 8, + 1858, with La Grange and Formes; April 30, 1872, + Parepa-Rosa, Wachtel, and Santley (_St. Bris_): Academy of + Music, 1873, with Nilsson, Cary, Del Puente, and Campanini; + Metropolitan Opera House, beginning 1901, with Melba or + Sembrich as _Marguerite de Valois_, Nordica (_Valentine_), + Jean de Reszke (_Raoul_), Édouard de Reszke (_Marcel_), + Plançon (_St. Bris_), Maurel (_de Nevers_), and Mantelli + (_Urbain_) (performances known as "the nights of the seven + stars"); Metropolitan Opera House, 1914, with Caruso, + Destinn, Hempel, Matzenauer, Braun, and Scotti. The first + performance in America occurred April 29, 1839, in New + Orleans. + + CHARACTERS + + VALENTINE, daughter of St. Bris _Soprano_ + MARGUERITE DE VALOIS, betrothed to + Henry IV., of Navarre _Soprano_ + URBAIN, page to Marguerite _Mezzo-Soprano_ + COUNT DE ST. BRIS } Catholic noblemen { _Baritone_ + COUNT DE NEVERS } { _Baritone_ + COSSE _Tenor_ + MÉRU } { _Baritone_ + THORE } Catholic gentlemen { _Baritone_ + TAVANNES } { _Tenor_ + DE RETZ _Baritone_ + RAOUL DE NANGIS, a Huguenot nobleman _Tenor_ + MARCEL, a Huguenot soldier, servant to Raoul _Bass_ + + Catholic and Huguenot ladies, and gentlemen of the court; + soldiers, pages, citizens, and populace; night watch, monks, + and students. + + _Place_--Touraine and Paris. + + _Time_--August, 1572. + +It has been said that, because Meyerbeer was a Jew, he chose for two +of his operas, "Les Huguenots" and "Le Prophète," subjects dealing +with bloody uprisings due to religious differences among Christians. +"Les Huguenots" is written around the massacre of the Huguenots by the +Catholics, on the night of St. Bartholomew's, Paris, August 24, 1572; +"Le Prophète" around the seizure and occupation of Münster, in 1555, +by the Anabaptists, led by John of Leyden. Even the ballet of the +spectral nuns, in "Robert le Diable," has been suggested as due to +Meyerbeer's racial origin and a tendency covertly to attack the +Christian religion. Far-fetched, I think. Most likely his famous +librettist was chiefly responsible for choice of subjects and +Meyerbeer accepted them because of the effective manner in which they +were worked out. Even so, he was not wholly satisfied with Scribe's +libretto of "Les Huguenots." He had the scene of the benediction of +the swords enlarged, and it was upon his insistence that Deschamps +wrote in the love duet in Act IV. As it stands, the story has been +handled with keen appreciation of its dramatic possibilities. + +Act I. Touraine. _Count de Nevers_, one of the leaders of the Catholic +party, has invited friends to a banquet at his château. Among these is +_Raoul de Nangis_, a Huguenot. He is accompanied by an old retainer, +the Huguenot soldier, _Marcel_. In the course of the fête it is +proposed that everyone shall toast his love in a song. _Raoul_ is the +first to be called upon. The name of the beauty whom he pledges in his +toast is unknown to him. He had come to her assistance while she was +being molested by a party of students. She thanked him most +graciously. He lives in the hope of meeting her again. + +_Marcel_ is a fanatic Huguenot. Having followed his master to the +banquet, he finds him surrounded by leaders of the party belonging to +the opposite faith. He fears for the consequences. In strange contrast +to the glamour and gaiety of the festive proceedings, he intones +Luther's hymn, "A Stronghold Sure." The noblemen of the Catholic party +instead of becoming angry are amused. _Marcel_ repays their levity by +singing a fierce Huguenot battle song. That also amuses them. + +At this point the _Count de Nevers_ is informed that a lady is in the +garden and wishes to speak with him. He leaves his guests who, through +an open window, watch the meeting. _Raoul_, to his surprise and +consternation, recognizes in the lady none other than the fair +creature whom he saved from the molestations of the students and with +whom he has fallen in love. Naturally, however, from the circumstances +of her meeting with _de Nevers_ he cannot but conclude that a liaison +exists between them. + +_De Nevers_ returns, rejoins his guests. _Urbain_, the page of _Queen +Marguerite de Valois_, enters. He is in search of _Raoul_, having come +to conduct him to a meeting with a gracious and noble lady whose name, +however, is not disclosed. _Raoul's_ eyes having been bandaged, he is +conducted to a carriage and departs with _Urbain_, wondering what his +next adventure will be. + +Act II. In the Garden of Chenonçeaux, _Queen Marguerite de Valois_ +receives _Valentine_, daughter of the _Count de St. Bris_. The _Queen_ +knows of her rescue from the students by _Raoul_. Desiring to put an +end to the differences between Huguenots and Catholics, which have +already led to bloodshed, she has conceived the idea of uniting +_Valentine_, daughter of one of the great Catholic leaders, to +_Raoul_. _Valentine_, however, was already pledged to _de Nevers_. It +was at the _Queen's_ suggestion that she visited _de Nevers_ and had +him summoned from the banquet in order to ask him to release her from +her engagement to him--a request which, however reluctantly, he +granted. + +Here, in the Gardens of Chenonçeaux, _Valentine_ and _Raoul_ are, +according to the Queen's plan, to meet again, but she intends first to +receive him alone. He is brought in, the bandage is removed from his +eyes, he does homage to the _Queen_, and when, in the presence of the +leaders of the Catholic party, _Marguerite de Valois_ explains her +purpose and her plan through this union of two great houses to end the +religious differences which have disturbed her reign, all consent. + +_Valentine_ is led in. _Raoul_ at once recognizes her as the woman of +his adventure but also, alas, as the woman whom _de Nevers_ met in the +garden during the banquet. Believing her to be unchaste, he refuses +her hand. General consternation. _St. Bris_, his followers, all draw +their swords. _Raoul's_ flashes from its sheath. Only the _Queen's_ +intervention prevents bloodshed. + +Act III. The scene is an open place in Paris before a chapel, where +_de Nevers_, who has renewed his engagement with _Valentine_, is to +take her in marriage. The nuptial cortège enters the building. The +populace is restless, excited. Religious differences still are the +cause of enmity. The presence of Royalist and Huguenot soldiers adds +to the restlessness of the people. _De Nevers_, _St. Bris_, and +another Catholic nobleman, _Maurevert_, come out from the chapel, +where _Valentine_ has desired to linger in prayer. The men are still +incensed over what appears to them the shameful conduct of _Raoul_ +toward _Valentine_. _Marcel_ at that moment delivers to _St. Bris_ a +challenge from _Raoul_ to fight a duel. When the old Huguenot soldier +has retired, the noblemen conspire together to lead _Raoul_ into an +ambush. During the duel, followers of _St. Bris_, who have been placed +in hiding, are suddenly to issue forth and murder the young Huguenot +nobleman. + +From a position in the vestibule of the chapel, _Valentine_ has +overheard the plot. She still loves _Raoul_ and him alone. How shall +she warn him of the certain death in store for him? She sees _Marcel_ +and counsels him that his master must not come here to fight the duel +unless he is accompanied by a strong guard. As a result, when _Raoul_ +and his antagonist meet, and _St. Bris's_ soldiers are about to attack +the Huguenot, _Marcel_ summons the latter's followers from a nearby +inn. A street fight between the two bodies of soldiers is imminent, +when the _Queen_ and her suite enter. A gaily bedecked barge comes up +the river and lays to at the bank. It bears _de Nevers_ and his +friends. He has come to convey his bride from the chapel to his home. +And now _Raoul_ learns, from the Queen, and to his great grief, that +he has refused the hand of the woman who loved him and who had gone to +_de Nevers_ in order to ask him to release her from her engagement +with him. + +Act IV. _Raoul_ seeks _Valentine_, who has become the wife of _de +Nevers_, in her home. He wishes to be assured of the truth of what he +has heard from the _Queen_. During their meeting footsteps are heard +approaching and _Valentine_ barely has time to hide _Raoul_ in an +adjoining room when _de Nevers_, _St. Bris_, and other noblemen of the +Catholic party enter, and form a plan to be carried out that very +night--the night of St. Bartholomew--to massacre the Huguenots. Only +_de Nevers_ refuses to take part in the conspiracy. Rather than do so, +he yields his sword to _St. Bris_ and is led away a prisoner. The +priests bless the swords, _St. Bris_ and his followers swear loyalty +to the bloody cause in which they are enlisted, and depart to await +the order to put it into effect, the tolling of the great bell from +St. Germain. + +_Raoul_ comes out from his place of concealment. His one thought is to +hurry away and notify his brethren of their peril. _Valentine_ seeks +to detain him, entreats him not to go, since it will be to certain +death. As the greatest and final argument to him to remain, she +proclaims that she loves him. But already the deep-voiced bell tolls +the signal. Flames, blood-red, flare through the windows. Nothing can +restrain _Raoul_ from doing his duty. _Valentine_ stands before the +closed door to block his egress. Rushing to a casement, he throws back +the window and leaps to the street. + +Act V. Covered with blood, _Raoul_ rushes into the ballroom of the +Hôtel de Nesle, where the Huguenot leaders, ignorant of the massacre +that has begun, are assembled, and summons them to battle. Already +Coligny, their great commander, has fallen. Their followers are being +massacred. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by A. Dupont + +Plançon as Saint Bris in "The Huguenots"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Jean de Reszke as Raoul in "The Huguenots"] + +The scene changes to a Huguenot churchyard, where _Raoul_ and _Marcel_ +have found temporary refuge. _Valentine_ hurries in. She wishes to +save _Raoul_. She adjures him to adopt her faith. _De Nevers_ has met +a noble death and she is free--free to marry _Raoul_. But he +refuses to marry her at the sacrifice of his religion. Now she decides +that she will die with him and that they will both die as Huguenots +and united. _Marcel_ blesses them. The enemy has stormed the +churchyard and begins the massacre of those who have sought safety +there and in the edifice itself. Again the scene changes, this time to +a square in Paris. _Raoul_, who has been severely wounded, is +supported by _Marcel_ and _Valentine_. _St. Bris_ and his followers +approach. In answer to _St. Bris's_ summons, "Who goes there?" +_Raoul_, calling to his aid all the strength he has left, cries out, +"Huguenots." There is a volley. _Raoul_, _Valentine_, _Marcel_ lie +dead on the ground. Too late _St. Bris_ discovers that he has been the +murderer of his own daughter. + +Originally in five acts, the version of "Les Huguenots" usually +performed contains but three. The first two acts are drawn into one by +converting the second act into a scene and adding it to the first. The +fifth act (or in the usual version the fourth) is nearly always +omitted. This is due to the length of the opera. The audience takes it +for granted that, when _Raoul_ leaves _Valentine_, he goes to his +death. I have seen a performance of "Les Huguenots" with the last act. +So far as an understanding of the work is concerned, it is +unnecessary. It also involves as much noise and smell of gunpowder as +Massenet's opera, "La Navarraise"--and that is saying a good deal. + +The performances of "Les Huguenots," during the most brilliant +revivals of that work at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, under +Maurice Grau, were known as "les nuits de sept étoiles" (the nights of +the seven stars). The cast to which the performances owed this +designation is given in the summary above. A manager, in order to put +"Les Huguenots" satisfactorily upon the stage, should be able to give +it with seven first-rate principals, trained as nearly as possible in +the same school of opera. The work should be sung preferably in +French and by singers who know something of the traditions of the +Grand Opéra, Paris. Mixed casts of Latin and Teutonic singers mar a +performance of this work. If "Les Huguenots" appears to have fallen +off in popularity since "the nights of the seven stars," I am inclined +to attribute this to inability or failure to give the opera with a +cast either as fine or as homogeneous as that which flourished at the +Metropolitan during the era of "les nuits de sept étoiles," when there +not only were seven stars on the stage, but also seven dollars in the +box office for every orchestra stall that was occupied--and they all +were. + +Auber's "Masaniello," Rossini's "William Tell," Halévy's "La Juive," +and Meyerbeer's own "Robert le Diable" practically having dropped out +of the repertoire in this country, "Les Huguenots," composed in 1836, +is the earliest opera in the French grand manner that maintains itself +on the lyric stage of America--the first example of a school of music +which, through the "Faust" of Gounod, the "Carmen" of Bizet, and the +works of Massenet, has continued to claim our attention. + +After a brief overture, in which Luther's hymn is prominent, the first +act opens with a sonorous chorus for the banqueters in the salon of +_de Nevers's_ castle. _Raoul_, called upon to propose in song a toast +to a lady, pledges the unknown beauty, whom he rescued from the +insolence of a band of students. He does this in the romance, "Plus +blanche que la plus blanche hermine" (Whiter than the whitest ermine). +The accompaniment to the melodious measures, with which the romance +opens, is supplied by a viola solo, the effective employment of which +in this passage shows Meyerbeer's knowledge of the instrument and its +possibilities. This romance is a perfect example of a certain phase of +Meyerbeer's art--a suave and elegant melody for voice, accompanied in +a highly original manner, part of the time, in this instance, by a +single instrument in the orchestra, which, however, in spite of its +effectiveness, leaves an impression of simplicity not wholly +uncalculated. + +_Raoul's_ romance is followed by the entrance of _Marcel_, and the +scene for that bluff, sturdy old Huguenot campaigner and loyal servant +of _Raoul_, a splendidly drawn character, dramatically and musically. +_Marcel_ tries to drown the festive sounds by intoning the stern +phrases of Luther's hymn. This he follows with the Huguenot battle +song, with its "Piff, piff, piff," which has been rendered famous by +the great bassos who have sung it, including, in this country, Formes +and Édouard de Reszke. + +_De Nevers_ then is called away to his interview with the lady, whom +_Raoul_ recognizes as the unknown beauty rescued by him from the +students, and whom, from the circumstances of her visit to _de +Nevers_, he cannot but believe to be engaged in a liaison with the +latter. Almost immediately upon _de Nevers's_ rejoining his guests +there enters _Urbain_, the page of _Marguerite de Valois_. He greets +the assembly with the brilliant recitative, "Nobles Seigneurs salut!" +This is followed by a charming cavatina, "Une dame noble et sage" (A +wise and noble lady). Originally this was a soprano number, _Urbain_ +having been composed as a soprano rôle, which it remained for twelve +years. Then, in 1844, when "Les Huguenots" was produced in London, +with Alboni as _Urbain_, Meyerbeer transposed it, and a contralto, or +mezzo-soprano, part it has remained ever since, its interpreters in +this country having included Annie Louise Cary, Trebelli, Scalchi, and +Homer. The theme of "Une dame noble et sage" is as follows: + +[Transcriber's Note: Music apparently missing from original.] + +The letter brought by _Urbain_ is recognized by the Catholic noblemen +as being in the handwriting of _Marguerite de Valois_. As it is +addressed to _Raoul_, they show by their obsequious demeanour toward +him the importance they attach to the invitation. In accordance with +its terms _Raoul_ allows himself to be blindfolded and led away by +_Urbain_. + +Following the original score and regarding what is now the second +scene of Act I as the second act, this opens with _Marguerite de +Valois's_ apostrophe to the fair land of Touraine (Ô beau pays de la +Touraine), which, with the air immediately following, "À ce mot tout +s'anime et renaît la nature" (At this word everything revives and +Nature renews itself), + +[Music] + +constitutes an animated and brilliant scene for coloratura soprano. + +There is a brief colloquy between _Marguerite_ and _Valentine_, then +the graceful female chorus, sung on the bank of the Seine and known as +the "bathers' chorus," this being followed by the entrance of _Urbain_ +and his engaging song--the rondeau composed for Alboni--"Non!--non, +non, non, non, non! Vous n'avez jamais, je gage" (No!--no, no, no, no, +no! You have never heard, I wager). + +_Raoul_ enters, the bandage is removed from his eyes, and there +follows a duet, "Beauté divine, enchanteresse" (Beauty brightly +divine, enchantress), between him and _Marguerite_, all graciousness +on her side and courtly admiration on his. The nobles and their +followers come upon the scene. _Marguerite de Valois's_ plan to end +the religious strife that has distracted the realm meets with their +approbation. The finale of the act begins with the swelling chorus in +which they take oath to abide by it. There is the brief episode in +which _Valentine_ is led in by _St. Bris_, presented to _Raoul_, and +indignantly spurned by him. The act closes with a turbulent ensemble. +Strife and bloodshed, then and there, are averted only by the +interposition of _Marguerite_. + +Act III opens with the famous chorus of the Huguenot soldiers in +which, while they imitate with their hands the beating of drums, they +sing their spirited "Rataplan." By contrast, the Catholic maidens, who +accompany the bridal cortège of _Valentine_ and _de Nevers_ to the +chapel, intone a litany, while Catholic citizens, students, and women +protest against the song of the Huguenot soldiers. These several +choral elements are skilfully worked out in the score. _Marcel_, +coming upon the scene, manages to have _St. Bris_ summoned from the +chapel, and presents _Raoul's_ challenge to a duel. The Catholics form +their plot to assassinate _Raoul_, of which _Valentine_ finds +opportunity to notify _Marcel_, in what is one of the striking scenes +of the opera. The duel scene is preceded by a stirring septette, a +really great passage, "En mon bon droit j'ai confiance" (On my good +cause relying). The music, when the ambuscade is uncovered and +_Marcel_ summons the Huguenots to _Raoul's_ aid, and a street combat +is threatened, reaches an effective climax in a double chorus. The +excitement subsides with the arrival of _Marguerite de Valois_, and of +the barge containing _de Nevers_ and his retinue. A brilliant chorus, +supported by the orchestra and by a military band on the stage, with +ballet to add to the spectacle forms the finale, as _de Nevers_ +conducts _Valentine_ to the barge, and is followed on board by _St. +Bris_ and the nuptial cortège. + +The fourth act, in the home of _de Nevers_, opens with a romance for +_Valentine_, "Parmi les pleurs mon rêve se ranime" (Amid my tears, by +dreams once more o'ertaken), which is followed by a brief scene +between her and _Raoul_, whom the approach of the conspirators quickly +obliges her to hide in an adjoining apartment. The scene of the +consecration of the swords is one of the greatest in opera; but that +it shall have its full effect _St. Bris_ must be an artist like +Plançon, who, besides being endowed with a powerful and beautifully +managed voice, was superb in appearance and as _St. Bris_ had the +bearing of the dignified, commanding yet fanatic nobleman of old +France. Musically and dramatically the scene rests on _St. Bris's_ +shoulders, and broad they must be, since his is the most conspicuous +part in song and action, from the intonation of his solo, "Pour cette +cause sainte, obéisses sans crainte" (With sacred zeal and ardor let +now your soul be burning), + +[Music] + +to the end of the savage _stretta_, when, the conspirators, having +tiptoed almost to the door, in order to disperse for their mission, +suddenly turn, once more uplift sword hilts, poignards, and +crucifixes, and, after a frenzied adjuration of loyalty to a cause +that demands the massacre of an unsuspecting foe, steal forth into the +shades of fateful night. + +Powerful as this scene is, Meyerbeer has made the love duet which +follows even more gripping. For now he interprets the conflicting +emotions of love and loyalty in two hearts. It begins with _Raoul's_ +exclamation, "Le danger presse et le temps vole, laisse-moi partir" +(Danger presses and time flies. Let me depart), and reaches its climax +in a _cantilena_ of supreme beauty, "Tu l'as dit, oui tu m'aimes" +(Thou hast said it; aye, thou lov'st me), + +[Music] + +which is broken in upon by the sinister tolling of a distant bell--the +signal for the massacre to begin. An air for _Valentine_, an +impassioned _stretta_ for the lovers, _Raoul's_ leap from the window, +followed by a discharge of musketry, from which, in the curtailed +version, he is supposed to meet his death, and this act, still an +amazing achievement in opera, is at an end. + +In the fifth act, there is the fine scene of the blessing by _Marcel_ +of _Raoul_ and _Valentine_, during which strains of Luther's hymn are +heard, intoned by Huguenots, who have crowded into their church for a +last refuge. + +"Les Huguenots" has been the subject of violent attacks, beginning +with Robert Schumann's essay indited as far back as 1837, and starting +off with the assertion, "I feel today like the young warrior who draws +his sword for the first time in a holy cause." Schumann's most +particular "holy cause" was, in this instance, to praise Mendelssohn's +oratorio, "St. Paul," at the expense of Meyerbeer's opera "Les +Huguenots," notwithstanding the utter dissimilarity of purpose in the +two works. On the other hand Hanslick remarks that a person who cannot +appreciate the dramatic power of this Meyerbeer opera, must be lacking +in certain elements of the critical faculty. Even Wagner, one of +Meyerbeer's bitterest detractors, found words of the highest praise +for the passage from the love duet, which is quoted immediately above. +The composer of "The Ring of the Nibelung" had a much broader outlook +upon the world than Schumann, in whose genius there was, after all, a +good deal of the _bourgeois_. + +Pro or con, when "Les Huguenots" is sung with a fully adequate cast, +it cannot fail of making a deep impression--as witness "les nuits de +sept étoiles." + +A typical night of the seven stars at the Metropolitan Opera House, +New York, was that of December 26, 1894. The _sept étoiles_ were +Nordica (_Valentine_), Scalchi (_Urbain_), Melba (_Marguerite de +Valois_), Jean de Reszke (_Raoul_), Plançon (_St. Bris_), Maurel (_de +Nevers_), and Édouard de Reszke (_Marcel_). Two Academy of Music casts +are worth referring to. April 30, 1872, Parepa-Rosa, for her last +appearance in America, sang _Valentine_. Wachtel was _Raoul_ and +Santley _St. Bris_. The other Academy cast was a "Night of six stars," +and is noteworthy as including Maurel twenty years, almost to the +night, before he appeared in the Metropolitan cast. The date was +December 24, 1874. Nilsson was _Valentine_, Cary _Urbain_, Maresi +_Marguerite de Valois_, Campanini _Raoul_, Del Puente _St. Bris_, +Maurel _de Nevers_, and Nannetti _Marcel_. With a more distinguished +_Marguerite de Valois_, this performance would have anticipated the +"nuits de sept étoiles." + + +LE PROPHÈTE + +THE PROPHET + + Opera in five acts, by Meyerbeer; words by Scribe. Produced, + Grand Opéra, Paris, April 6, 1849. London, Covent Garden, + July 24, 1849, with Mario, Viardot-Garcia, Miss Hayes, and + Tagliafico. New Orleans, April 2, 1850. New York, Niblo's + Garden, November 25, 1853, with Salvi (_John of Leyden_), + Steffanone and Mme. Maretzek. Revived in German, + Metropolitan Opera House, by Dr. Leopold Damrosch, December + 17, 1884, with Anton Schott as _John of Leyden_, Marianne + Brandt as _Fides_ and Schroeder-Hanfstaengl as _Bertha_. It + was given ten times during the season, in which it was + equalled only by "Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin." Also, + Metropolitan Opera House, 1898-99, with Jean de Reszke, + Brema (_Fides_), Lehmann (_Bertha_); January 22, 1900, + Alvarez, Schumann-Heink, Suzanne Adams, Plançon and Édouard + de Reszke; by Gatti-Casazza, February 7, 1918, with Caruso, + Matzenauer, Muzio, Didur, and Mardones. + + CHARACTERS + + JOHN OF LEYDEN _Tenor_ + FIDES, his mother _Mezzo-Soprano_ + BERTHA, his bride _Soprano_ + JONAS } { _Tenor_ + MATTHISEN } Anabaptists { _Bass_ + ZACHARIAS } { _Bass_ + COUNT OBERTHAL _Baritone_ + + Nobles, citizens, Anabaptists, peasants, soldiers, + prisoners, children. + + _Time_--1534-35. + + _Place_--Dordrecht, Holland, and Münster. + +Act I. At the foot of _Count Oberthal's_ castle, near Dordrecht, +Holland, peasants and mill hands are assembled. _Bertha_ and _Fides_ +draw near. The latter is bringing to _Bertha_ a betrothal ring from +her son _John_, who is to marry her on the morrow. But permission must +first be obtained from _Count Oberthal_ as lord of the domain. The +women are here to seek it. + +There arrive three sombre looking men, who strive to rouse the people +to revolt against tyranny. They are the Anabaptists, _Jonas_, +_Matthisen_, and _Zacharias_. The _Count_, however, who chances to +come out of the castle with his followers, recognizes in _Jonas_ a +steward who was discharged from his employ. He orders his soldiers to +beat the three men with the flat of their swords. _John's_ mother and +_Bertha_ make their plea to _Oberthal_. _John_ and _Bertha_ have loved +ever since he rescued her from drowning in the Meuse. Admiring +_Bertha's_ beauty, _Oberthal_ refuses to give permission for her to +marry _John_, but, instead, orders her seized and borne to the castle +for his own diversion. The people are greatly agitated and, when the +three Anabaptists reappear, throw themselves at their feet, and on +rising make threatening gestures toward the castle. + +Act II. In _John's_ inn at Leyden are the three Anabaptists and a +throng of merry-making peasants. Full of longing for _Bertha_, _John_ +is thinking of the morrow. The Anabaptists discover that he bears a +remarkable resemblance to the picture of King David in the Cathedral +of Münster. They believe this resemblance can be made of service to +their plans. _John_ tells them of a strange dream he has had, and in +which he found himself standing under the dome of a temple with people +prostrate before him. They interpret it for him as evidence that he +will mount a throne, and urge him to follow them. But for him there is +but one throne--that of the kingdom of love with _Bertha_. + +At that moment, however, she rushes in and begs him quickly to hide +her. She has escaped from _Oberthal_, who is in pursuit. _Oberthal_ +and his soldiers enter. The _Count_ threatens that if _John_ does not +deliver over _Bertha_ to him, his mother, whom the soldiers have +captured on the way to the inn, shall die. She is brought in and +forced to her knees. A soldier with a battle-axe stands over her. +After a brief struggle _John's_ love for his mother conquers. He hands +over _Bertha_ to _Oberthal_. She is led away. _Fides_ is released. + +The three Anabaptists return. Now _John_ is ready to join them, if +only to wreak vengeance on _Oberthal_. They insist that he come at +once, without even saying farewell to his mother, who must be kept in +ignorance of their plans. John consents and hurries off with them. + +Act III. In the winter camp of the Anabaptists in a forest of +Westphalia, before Münster. On a frozen lake people are skating. The +people have risen against their oppressors. _John_ has been proclaimed +a prophet of God. At the head of the Anabaptists he is besieging +Münster. + +The act develops in three scenes. The first reveals the psychological +medley of fanaticism and sensuality of the Anabaptists and their +followers. In the second _John_ enters. _Oberthal_ is delivered into +his hands. From him _John_ learns that _Bertha_ again has escaped from +the castle and is in Münster. The three Anabaptist leaders wish to put +the _Count_ to death. But _John_, saying that _Bertha_ shall be his +judge, puts off the execution, much to the disgust of the three +fanatics, who find _John_ assuming more authority than is agreeable to +them. This scene, the second of the act, takes place in _Zachariah's_ +tent. The third scene shows again the camp of the Anabaptists. The +leaders, fearing _John's_ usurpation of power, have themselves headed +an attack by their followers on Münster and met with defeat. The +rabble they have led is furious and ready to turn even against _John_. +He, however, by sheer force of personality coupled with his assumption +of superhuman inspiration, rallies the crowd to his standard, and +leads it to victory. + +Act IV. A public place in Münster. The city is in possession of the +Anabaptists. _John_, once a plain innkeeper of Leyden, has been swept +along on the high tide of success and decides to have himself +proclaimed Emperor. Meanwhile _Fides_ has been reduced to beggary. The +Anabaptists, in order to make her believe that _John_ is dead--so as +to reduce to a minimum the chance of her suspecting that the new +_Prophet_ and her son are one and the same--left in the inn a bundle +of _John's_ clothes stained with blood, together with a script stating +that he had been murdered by the _Prophet_ and his followers. + +The poor woman has come to Münster to beg. There she meets _Bertha_, +who, when _Fides_ tells her that _John_ has been murdered, vows +vengeance upon the _Prophet_. + +_Fides_ follows the crowd into the cathedral, to which the scene +changes. When, during the coronation scene, _John_ speaks, and +announces that he is the elect of God, the poor beggar woman starts at +the sound of his voice. She cries out, "My son!" _John's_ cause is +thus threatened and his life at stake. He has claimed divine origin. +If the woman is his mother, the people, whom he rules with an iron +hand, will denounce and kill him. With quick wit he meets the +emergency, and even makes use of it to enhance his authority by +improvising an affirmation scene. He bids his followers draw their +swords and thrust them into his breast, if the beggar woman again +affirms that he is her son. Seeing the swords held ready to pierce +him, _Fides_, in order to save him, now declares that he is not her +son--that her eyes, dimmed by age, have deceived her. + +Act V. The three Anabaptists, _Jonas_, _Matthisen_, and _Zacharias_, +had intended to use _John_ only as an instrument to attain power for +themselves. The German Emperor, who is moving on Münster with a large +force, has promised them pardon if they will betray the _Prophet_ and +usurper into his hands. To this they have agreed, and are ready on his +coronation day to betray him. + +At _John's_ secret command _Fides_ has been brought to the palace. +Here her son meets her. He, whom she has seen in the hour of his +triumph and who still is all-powerful, implores her pardon, but in +vain, until she, in the belief that he has been impelled to his +usurpation of power and bloody deeds only by thirst for vengeance for +_Bertha's_ wrongs, forgives him, on condition that he return to +Leyden. This he promises in full repentance. + +They are joined by _Bertha_. She has sworn to kill the _Prophet_ whom +she blames for the supposed murder of her lover. To accomplish her +purpose, she has set a slow fire to the palace. It will blaze up near +the powder magazine, when the _Prophet_ and his henchmen are at +banquet in the great hall of the palace, and blow up the edifice. + +She recognizes her lover. Her joy, however, is short-lived, for at the +moment a captain comes to _John_ with the announcement that he has +been betrayed and that the Emperor's forces are at the palace gates. +Thus _Bertha_ learns that her lover and the bloodstained _Prophet_ are +one. Horrified, she plunges a dagger into her heart. + +_John_ determines to die, a victim to the catastrophe which _Bertha_ +has planned, and which is impending. He joins the banqueters at their +orgy. At the moment when all his open and secret enemies are at the +table and pledge him in a riotous bacchanale, smoke rises from the +floor. Tongues of fire shoot up. _Fides_, in the general uproar and +confusion, calmly joins her son, to die with him, as the powder +magazine blows up, and, with a fearful crash the edifice collapses in +smoke and flame. + +_John of Leyden's_ name was Jan Beuckelszoon. He was born in 1509. In +business he was successively a tailor, a small merchant, and an +innkeeper. After he had had himself crowned in Münster, that city +became a scene of orgy and cruelty. It was captured by the imperial +forces June 24, 1535. The following January the "prophet" was put to +death by torture. The same fate was meted out to Knipperdölling, his +henchman, who had conveniently rid him of one of his wives by cutting +off her head. + + * * * * * + +The music of the first act of "Le Prophète" contains a cheerful chorus +for peasants, a cavatina for _Bertha_, "Mon coeur s'élance" (My +heart throbs wildly), in which she voices her joy over her expected +union with _John_; the Latin chant of the three Anabaptists, gloomy +yet stirring; the music of the brief revolt of the peasantry against +_Oberthal_; the plea of _Fides_ and _Bertha_ to _Oberthal_ for his +sanction of _Bertha's_ marriage to _John_, "Un jour, dans les flots de +la Meuse" (One day in the waves of the Meuse); _Oberthal's_ refusal, +and his abduction of _Bertha_; the reappearance of the three +Anabaptists and the renewal of their efforts to impress the people +with a sense of the tyranny by which they are oppressed. + +Opening the second act, in _John's_ tavern, in the suburbs of Leyden, +are the chorus and dance of _John's_ friends, who are rejoicing over +his prospective wedding. When the three Anabaptists have recognized +his resemblance to the picture of David in the cathedral at Münster, +_John_, observing their sombre yet impressive bearing, tells them of +his dream, and asks them to interpret it: "Sous les vastes arceaux +d'un temple magnifique" (Under the great dome of a splendid temple). +They promise him a throne. But he knows a sweeter empire than the one +they promise, that which will be created by his coming union with +_Bertha_. Her arrival in flight from _Oberthal_ and _John's_ sacrifice +of her in order to save his mother from death, lead to _Fides's_ solo, +"Ah, mon fils" (Ah, my son), one of the great airs for mezzo-soprano. + +[Music] + +Most attractive in the next act is the ballet of the skaters on the +frozen lake near the camp of the Anabaptists. The scene is brilliant +in conception, the music delightfully rhythmic and graceful. There is +a stirring battle song for _Zacharias_, in which he sings of the enemy +"as numerous as the stars," yet defeated. Another striking number is +the fantastic trio for _Jonas_, _Zacharias_, and _Oberthal_, +especially in the descriptive passage in which in rhythm with the +music, _Jonas_ strikes flint and steel, ignites a lantern and by its +light recognizes _Oberthal_. When _John_ rallies the Anabaptists, who +have been driven back from under the walls of Münster and promises to +lead them to victory, the act reaches a superb climax in a "Hymne +Triomphal" for _John_ and chorus, "Roi du Ciel et des Anges" (Ruler of +Heaven and the Angels). At the most stirring moment of this finale, as +_John_ is being acclaimed by his followers, mists that have been +hanging over the lake are dispelled. The sun bursts forth in glory. + +[Music] + +In the next act there is a scene for _Fides_ in the streets of +Münster, in which, reduced to penury, she begs for alms. There also is +the scene at the meeting of _Fides_ and _Bertha_. The latter +believing, like _Fides_, that _John_ has been slain by the +Anabaptists, vows vengeance upon the _Prophet_. + +The great procession in the cathedral with its march and chorus has +been, since the production of "Le Prophète" in 1849, a model of +construction for striking spectacular scenes in opera. The march is +famous. Highly dramatic is the scene in which _Fides_ first proclaims +and then denies that John is her son. The climax of the fifth act is +the drinking song, "Versez, que tout respire l'ivresse et le délire" +(Quaff, quaff, in joyous measure; breathe, breathe delirious +pleasure), in the midst of which the building is blown up, and _John_ +perishes with those who would betray him. + + * * * * * + +During the season of opera which Dr. Leopold Damrosch conducted at the +Metropolitan Opera House, 1884-85, when this work of Meyerbeer's led +the repertoire in number of performances, the stage management +produced a fine effect in the scene at the end of Act III, when the +_Prophet_ rallies his followers. Instead of soldiers tamely marching +past, as _John_ chanted his battle hymn, he was acclaimed by a rabble, +wrought up to a high pitch of excitement, and brandishing cudgels, +scythes, pitchforks, and other implements that would serve as weapons. +The following season, another stage manager, wishing to outdo his +predecessor, brought with him an electric sun from Germany, a horrid +thing that almost blinded the audience when it was turned on. + + +L'AFRICAINE + +THE AFRICAN + + Opera in five acts, by Meyerbeer; words by Scribe. Produced + Grand Opéra, Paris, April 28, 1865. London, in Italian, + Covent Garden, July 22, 1865; in English, Covent Garden, + October 21, 1865. New York, Academy of Music, December 1, + 1865, with Mazzoleni as _Vasco_, and Zucchi as _Selika_; + September 30, 1872, with Lucca as _Selika_; Metropolitan + Opera House, January 15, 1892, Nordica (_Selika_), + Pettigiani (_Inez_), Jean de Reszke (_Vasco_), Édouard de + Reszke (_Don Pedro_), Lasalle (_Nelusko_). + + CHARACTERS + + SELIKA, a slave _Soprano_ + INEZ, daughter of Don Diego _Soprano_ + ANNA, her attendant _Contralto_ + VASCO DA GAMA, an officer in the + Portuguese Navy _Tenor_ + NELUSKO, a slave _Baritone_ + DON PEDRO, President of the Royal Council _Bass_ + DON DIEGO } Members of the Council { _Bass_ + DON ALVAR } { _Tenor_ + GRAND INQUISITOR _Bass_ + + Priests, inquisitors, councillors, sailors, Indians, + attendants, ladies, soldiers. + + _Time_--Early sixteenth century. + + _Place_--Lisbon; on a ship at sea; and India. + +In 1838 Scribe submitted to Meyerbeer two librettos: that of "Le +Prophète" and that of "L'Africaine." For the purposes of immediate +composition he gave "Le Prophète" the preference, but worked +simultaneously on the scores of both. As a result, in 1849, soon after +the production of "Le Prophète," a score of "L'Africaine" was +finished. + +The libretto, however, never had been entirely satisfactory to the +composer. Scribe was asked to retouch it. In 1852 he delivered an +amended version to Meyerbeer who, so far as his score had gone, +adapted it to the revised book, and finished the entire work in 1860. +"Thus," says the _Dictionnaire des Opéras_, "the process of creating +'L'Africaine' lasted some twenty years and its birth appears to have +cost the life of its composer, for he died, in the midst of +preparations for its production, on Monday, May 2, 1864, the day after +a copy of his score was finished in his own house in the Rue Montaigne +and under his eyes." + + * * * * * + +Act I. Lisbon. The Royal Council Chamber of Portugal. Nothing has been +heard of the ship of Bartholomew Diaz, the explorer. Among his +officers was _Vasco da Gama_, the affianced of _Inez_, daughter of the +powerful nobleman, _Don Diego_. _Vasco_ is supposed to have been lost +with the ship and her father now wishes _Inez_ to pledge her hand to +_Don Pedro_, head of the Royal Council of Portugal. + +During a session of the Council, it is announced that the King wishes +to send an expedition to search for Diaz, but one of the councillors, +_Don Alvar_, informs the meeting that an officer and two captives, the +only survivors from the wreck of Diaz's vessel have arrived. The +officer is brought in. He is _Vasco da Gama_, whom all have believed +to be dead. Nothing daunted by the perils he has been through, he has +formed a new plan to discover the new land that, he believes, lies +beyond Africa. In proof of his conviction that such a land exists, he +brings in the captives, _Selika_ and _Nelusko_, natives, apparently, +of a country still unknown to Europe. _Vasco_ then retires to give the +Council opportunity to discuss his enterprise. + +In his absence _Don Pedro_, who desires to win _Inez_ for himself, and +to head a voyage of discovery, surreptitiously gains possession of an +important chart from among _Vasco's_ papers. He then persuades the +_Grand Inquisitor_ and the Council that the young navigator's plans +are futile. Through his persuasion they are rejected. _Vasco_, who has +again come before the meeting, when informed that his proposal has +been set aside, insults the Council by charging it with ignorance and +bias. _Don Pedro_, utilizing the opportunity to get him out of the +way, has him seized and thrown into prison. + +Act II. _Vasco_ has fallen asleep in his cell. Beside him watches +_Selika_. In her native land she is a queen. Now she is a captive and +a slave, her rank, of course, unknown to her captor, since she and +_Nelusko_ carefully have kept it from the knowledge of all. _Selika_ +is deeply in love with _Vasco_ and is broken-hearted over his passion +for _Inez_, of which she has become aware. But the love of this +supposedly savage slave is greater than her jealousy. She protects the +slumbering _Vasco_ from the thrust of _Nelusko's_ dagger. For her +companion in captivity is deeply in love with her and desperately +jealous of the Portuguese navigator for whom she has conceived so +ardent a desire. Not only does she save _Vasco's_ life, but on a map +hanging on the prison wall she points out to him a route known only to +herself and _Nelusko_, by which he can reach the land of which he has +been in search. + +_Inez_, _Don Pedro_, and their suite enter the prison. _Vasco_ is +free. _Inez_ has purchased his freedom through her own sacrifice in +marrying _Don Pedro_. _Vasco_, through the information received from +_Selika_, now hopes to undertake another voyage of discovery and thus +seek to make up in glory what he has lost in love. But he learns that +_Don Pedro_ has been appointed commander of an expedition and has +chosen _Nelusko_ as pilot. _Vasco_ sees his hopes shattered. + +Act III. The scene is on _Don Pedro's_ ship at sea. _Don Alvar_, a +member of the Royal Council, who is with the expedition, has become +suspicious of _Nelusko_. Two ships of the squadron have already been +lost. _Don Alvar_ fears for the safety of the flagship. At that moment +a Portuguese vessel is seen approaching. It is in command of _Vasco da +Gama_, who has fitted it out at his own expense. Although _Don Pedro_ +is his enemy, he comes aboard the admiral's ship to warn him that the +vessel is on a wrong course and likely to meet with disaster. _Don +Pedro_, however, accuses him of desiring only to see _Inez_, who is on +the vessel, and charges that his attempted warning is nothing more +than a ruse, with that purpose in view. At his command, _Vasco_ is +seized and bound. A few moments later, however, a violent storm breaks +over the ship. It is driven upon a reef. Savages, for whom _Nelusko_ +has signalled, clamber up the sides of the vessel and massacre all +save a few whom they take captive. + +Act IV. On the left, the entrance to a Hindu temple; on the right a +palace. Tropical landscape. Among those saved from the massacre is +_Vasco_. He finds himself in the land which he has sought to +discover--a tropical paradise. He is threatened with death by the +natives, but _Selika_, in order to save him, protests to her subjects +that he is her husband. The marriage is now celebrated according to +East Indian rites. _Vasco_, deeply touched by _Selika's_ fidelity, is +almost determined to abide by his nuptial vow and remain here as +_Selika's_ spouse, when suddenly he hears the voice of _Inez_. His +passion for her revives. + +Act V. The gardens of _Selika's_ palace. Again _Selika_ makes a +sacrifice of love. How easily she could compass the death of _Vasco_ +and _Inez_! But she forgives. She persuades _Nelusko_ to provide the +lovers with a ship and bids him meet her, after the ship has sailed, +on a high promontory overlooking the sea. + +To this the scene changes. On the promontory stands a large manchineel +tree. The perfume of its blossoms is deadly to anyone who breathes it +in from under the deep shadow of its branches. From here _Selika_ +watches the ship set sail. It bears from her the man she loves. +Breathing in the poison-laden odour from the tree from under which she +has watched the ship depart, she dies. _Nelusko_ seeks her, finds her +dead, and himself seeks death beside her under the fatal branches of +the manchineel. + + * * * * * + +Meyerbeer considered "L'Africaine" his masterpiece, and believed that +through it he was bequeathing to posterity an immortal monument to his +fame. But although he had worked over the music for many years, and +produced a wonderfully well-contrived score, his labour upon it was +more careful and self-exacting than inspired; and this despite moments +of intense interest in the opera. Not "L'Africaine," but "Les +Huguenots," is considered his greatest work. + +"L'Africaine" calls for one of the most elaborate stage-settings in +opera. This is the ship scene, which gives a lengthwise section of a +vessel, so that its between-decks and cabin interiors are seen--like +the compartments of a huge but neatly partitioned box laid on its +oblong side; in fact an amazing piece of marine architecture. + +Scribe's libretto has been criticized, and not unjustly, on account of +the vacillating character which he gives _Vasco da Gama_. In the first +act this operatic hero is in love with _Inez_. In the prison scene, in +the second act, when _Selika_ points out on the map the true course to +India, he is so impressed with her as a teacher of geography, that he +clasps the supposed slave-girl to his breast and addresses her in +impassioned song. _Selika_, being enamoured of her pupil, naturally is +elated over his progress. Unfortunately _Inez_ enters the prison at +this critical moment to announce to _Vasco_ that she has secured his +freedom. To prove to _Inez_ that he still loves her _Vasco_ glibly +makes her a present of _Selika_ and _Nelusko_. _Selika_, so to speak, +no longer is on the map, so far as _Vasco_ is concerned, until, in the +fourth act, she saves his life by pretending he is her husband. +Rapturously he pledges his love to her. Then _Inez's_ voice is heard +singing a ballad to the Tagus River--and _Selika_ again finds herself +deserted. There is nothing for her to do but to die under the +manchineel tree. + +"Is the shadow of this tree so fatal?" asks a French authority. +"Monsieur Scribe says yes, the naturalists say no." With this question +and answer "L'Africaine" may be left to its future fate upon the +stage, save that it seems proper to remark that, although the opera is +called "The African," _Selika_ appears to have been an East Indian. + +Early in the first act of the opera occurs _Inez's_ ballad, "Adieu, +mon beau rivage" (Farewell, beloved shores). It is gracefully +accompanied by flute and oboe. This is the ballad to the river Tagus, +which _Vasco_ hears her sing in the fourth act. The finale of the +first act--the scene in which _Vasco_ defies the Royal Council--is a +powerful ensemble. The slumber song for _Selika_ in the second act, as +she watches over _Vasco_, "Sur mes genoux, fils du soleil" (On my +knees, offspring of the sun) is charming, and entirely original, with +many exotic and fascinating touches. _Nelusko's_ air of homage, "Fille +des rois, à toi l'hommage" (Daughter of Kings, my homage thine), +expresses a sombre loyalty characteristic of the savage whose passion +for his queen amounts to fanaticism. The finale of the act is an +unaccompanied septette for _Inez_, _Selika_, _Anna_, _Vasco_, +_d'Alvar_, _Nelusko_, and _Don Pedro_. + +In the act which plays aboardship, are the graceful chorus of women, +"Le rapide et léger navire" (The swiftly gliding ship), the prayer of +the sailors, "Ô grand Saint Dominique," and Nelusko's song, +"Adamastor, roi des vagues profondes" (Adamastor, monarch of the +trackless deep), a savage invocation of sea and storm, chanted to the +rising of a hurricane, by the most dramatic figure among the +characters in the opera. For like _Marcel_ in "Les Huguenots" and +_Fides_ in "Le Prophète," _Nelusko_ is a genuine dramatic creation. + +The Indian march and the ballet, which accompanies the ceremony of the +crowning of _Selika_, open the fourth act. The music is exotic, +piquant, and in every way effective. The scene is a masterpiece of its +kind. There follow the lovely measures of the principal tenor solo of +the opera, _Vasco's_ "Paradis sorti du sein de l'onde" (Paradise, +lulled by the lisping sea). Then comes the love duet between _Vasco_ +and _Selika_, "Ô transport, ô douce extase" (Oh transport, oh sweet +ecstacy). One authority says of it that "rarely have the tender +passion, the ecstacy of love been expressed with such force." Now it +would be set down simply as a tiptop love duet of the old-fashioned +operatic kind. + +The scene of _Selika's_ death under the manchineel tree is preceded by +a famous prelude for strings in unison supported by clarinets and +bassoons, a brief instrumental recital of grief that makes a powerful +appeal. The opera ends dramatically with a soliloquy for +_Selika_--"D'ici je vois la mer immense" (From here I gaze upon the +boundless deep). + + +L'ÉTOILE DU NORD AND DINORAH + +Two other operas by Meyerbeer remain for mention. One of them has +completely disappeared from the repertoire of the lyric stage. The +other suffers an occasional revival for the benefit of some prima +donna extraordinarily gifted in lightness and flexibility of vocal +phrasing. These operas are "L'Étoile du Nord" (The Star of the North), +and "Dinorah, ou Le Pardon de Ploërmel" (Dinorah, or The Pardon of +Ploërmel). + +Each of these contains a famous air. "L'Étoile du Nord" has the high +soprano solo with _obbligato_ for two flutes, which was one of Jenny +Lind's greatest show-pieces, but has not sufficed to keep the opera +alive. In "Dinorah" there is the "Shadow Song," in which _Dinorah_ +dances and sings to her own shadow in the moonlight--a number which, +at long intervals of time, galvanizes the rest of the score into some +semblance of life. + +The score of "L'Étoile du Nord," produced at the Opéra Comique, Paris, +February 16, 1854, was assembled from an earlier work, "Das Feldlager +in Schlesien" (The Camp in Silesia), produced for the opening of the +Berlin Opera House, February 17, 1847; but the plots differ. The story +of "L'Étoile du Nord" relates to the love of _Peter the Great_ for +_Catherine_, a cantinière. Their union finally takes place, but not +until _Catherine_ has disguised herself as a soldier and served in the +Russian camp. After surreptitiously watching _Peter_ and a companion +drink and roister in the former's tent with a couple of girls, she +loses her reason. When it is happily restored by Peter playing +familiar airs to her on his flute, she voices her joy in the +show-piece, "La, la, la, air chéri" (La, la, la, beloved song), to +which reference already has been made. In the first act _Catherine_ +has a "Ronde bohémienne" (Gypsy rondo), the theme of which Meyerbeer +took from his opera "Emma de Rohsburg." + +"L'Étoile du Nord" is in three acts. There is much military music in +the second act--a cavalry chorus, "Beau cavalier au coeur d'acier" +(Brave cavalier with heart of steel); a grenadier song with chorus, +"Grenadiers, fiers Moscovites" (grenadiers, proud Muscovites), in +which the chorus articulates the beat of the drums ("tr-r-r-um"); the +"Dessauer" march, a cavalry fanfare "Ah! voyez nos Tartares du Don" +(Ah, behold our Cossacks of the Don); and a grenadiers' march: +stirring numbers, all of them. + +The libretto is by Scribe. The first act scene is laid in Wyborg, on +the Gulf of Finland; the second in a Russian camp; the third in +Peter's palace in Petrograd. Time, about 1700. + + * * * * * + +Barbier and Carré wrote the words of "Dinorah," founding their +libretto on a Breton tale. Under the title, "Le Pardon de Ploërmel" +(the scene of the opera being laid near the Breton village of +Ploërmel) the work was produced at the Opéra Comique, Paris, April 4, +1859. It has three principal characters--a peasant girl, _Dinorah_, +_soprano_; _Hoël_, a goat-herd, _baritone_; _Corentino_, a bagpiper, +_tenor_. The famous baritone, Faure, was the _Hoël_ of the Paris +production. Cordier (_Dinorah_), Amodio (_Hoël_), Brignoli +(_Corentino_) were heard in the first American production, Academy of +Music, New York, November 24, 1864. As _Dinorah_ there also have been +heard here Ilma di Murska (Booth's Theatre, 1867), Marimon (with +Campanini as _Corentino_), December 12, 1879; Adelina Patti (1882); +Tetrazzini (Manhattan Opera House, 1907); and Galli-Curci (Lexington +Theatre, January 28, 1918), with the Chicago Opera Company. + +_Dinorah_ is betrothed to _Hoël_. Her cottage has been destroyed in a +storm. _Hoël_, in order to rebuild it, goes into a region haunted by +evil spirits, in search of hidden treasure. _Dinorah_, believing +herself deserted, loses her reason and, with her goat, whose tinkling +bell is heard, wanders through the mountains in search of _Hoël_. + +The opera is in three acts. It is preceded by an overture during which +there is sung by the villagers behind the curtain the hymn to Our Lady +of the Pardon. The scene of the first act is a rough mountain passage +near _Corentino's_ hut. _Dinorah_ finds her goat asleep and sings to +it a graceful lullaby, "Dors, petite, dors tranquille" (Little one, +sleep; calmly rest). _Corentino_, in his cottage, sings of the fear +that comes over him in this lonely region. To dispel it, he plays on +his cornemuse. _Dinorah_ enters the hut, and makes him dance with her, +while she sings. + +When someone is heard approaching, she jumps out of the window. It is +_Hoël_. Both he and _Corentino_ think she is a sprite. _Hoël_ sings of +the gold he expects to find, and offers _Corentino_ a share in the +treasure if he will aid him lift it. According to the legend, however, +the first one to touch the treasure must die, and _Hoël's_ seeming +generosity is a ruse to make _Corentino_ the victim of the discovery. +The tinkle of the goat's bell is heard. _Hoël_ advises that they +follow the sound as it may lead to the treasure. The act closes with a +trio, "Ce tintement que l'on entend" (The tinkling tones that greet +the ear). _Dinorah_ stands among the high rocks, while _Hoël_ and +_Corentino_, the latter reluctantly, make ready to follow the tinkle +of the bell. + +A wood of birches by moonlight is the opening scene of the second act. +It is here _Dinorah_ sings of "Le vieux sorcier de la montagne" (The +ancient wizard of the mountain), following it with the "Shadow Song," +"Ombre légère qui suis mes pas" (Fleet shadow that pursues my +steps)--"Ombra leggiera" in the more familiar Italian version. + +[Music] + +This is a passage so graceful and, when sung and acted by an Adelina +Patti, was so appealing, that I am frank to confess it suggested to me +the chapter entitled "Shadows of the Stage," in my novel of opera +behind the scenes, _All-of-a-Sudden Carmen_. + +The scene changes to a wild landscape. A ravine bridged by an uprooted +tree. A pond, with a sluiceway which, when opened, gives on the +ravine. The moon has set. A storm is rising. + +_Hoël_ and _Corentino_ enter; later _Dinorah_. Through the night, that +is growing wilder, she sings the legend of the treasure, "Sombre +destinée, âme condamnée" (O'ershadowing fate, soul lost for aye). + +Her words recall the tragic story of the treasure to _Corentino_, who +now sees through _Hoël's_ ruse, and seeks to persuade the girl to go +after the treasure. She sings gaily, in strange contrast to the +gathering storm. Lightning flashes show her her goat crossing the +ravine by the fallen tree. She runs after her pet. As she is crossing +the tree, a thunderbolt crashes. The sluice bursts, the tree is +carried away by the flood, which seizes _Dinorah_ in its swirl. _Hoël_ +plunges into the wild waters to save her. + +Not enough of the actual story remains to make a third act. But as +there has to be one, the opening of the act is filled in with a song +for a _Hunter_ (_bass_), another for a _Reaper_ (_tenor_), and a duet +for _Goat-herds_ (_soprano and contralto_). _Hoël_ enters bearing +_Dinorah_, who is in a swoon. _Hoël_ here has his principal air, "Ah! +mon remords te venge" (Ah, my remorse avenges you). _Dinorah_ comes +to. Her reason is restored when she finds herself in her lover's +arms. The villagers chant the "Hymn of the Pardon." A procession forms +for the wedding, which is to make happy _Dinorah_ and _Hoël_, every +one, in fact, including the goat. + +Except for the scene of the "Shadow Dance," the libretto is incredibly +inane--far more so than the demented heroine. But Meyerbeer evidently +wanted to write a pastoral opera. He did so; with the result that now, +instead of pastoral, it sounds pasteurized. + + + + +Hector Berlioz + +(1803-1869) + + +This composer, born Côte-Saint-André, near Grenoble, December 11, +1803; died Paris, March 9, 1869, has had comparatively little +influence upon opera considered simply as such. But, as a musician +whose skill in instrumentation, and knowledge of the individual tone +quality of every instrument in the orchestra amounted to positive +genius, his influence on music in general was great. In his +symphonies--"Episode de la Vie d'un Artiste" (characterized by him as +a _symphonie phantastique_), its sequel, "Lelio, ou la Retour à la +Vie," "Harold en Italie," in which Harold is impersonated by the +viola, and the _symphonie dramatique_, "Roméo et Juliette," he proved +the feasibility of producing, by means of orchestral music, the effect +of narrative, personal characterization and the visualization of +dramatic action, as well as of scenery and material objects. He thus +became the founder of "program music." + +Of Berlioz's operas not one is known on the stage of English-speaking +countries. For "La Damnation de Faust," in its original form, is not +an opera but a dramatic cantata. First performed in 1846, it was not +made over into an opera until 1893, twenty-four years after the +composer's death. + + +BENVENUTO CELLINI + + Opera in three acts, by Berlioz. Words by du Wailly and + Barbier. Produced, and failed completely, Grand Opéra, + Paris, September 3, 1838, and London a fortnight later. + Revived London, Covent Garden, 1853, under Berlioz's own + direction; by Liszt, at Weimar, 1855; by von Bülow, Hanover, + 1879. + + CHARACTERS + + CARDINAL SALVIATI _Bass_ + BALDUCCI, Papal Treasurer _Bass_ + TERESA, his daughter _Soprano_ + BENVENUTO CELLINI, a goldsmith _Tenor_ + ASCANIO, his apprentice _Mezzo-Soprano_ + FRANCESCO } Artisans in { _Tenor_ + BERNARDINO } Cellini's workshop { _Bass_ + FIERAMOSCA, sculptor to the Pope _Baritone_ + POMPEO, a bravo _Baritone_ + + _Time_--1532. + + _Place_--Rome. + +Act I. The carnival of 1532. We are in the house of the Papal +treasurer, _Balducci_, who has scolded his daughter _Teresa_ for +having looked out of the window. The old man is quite vexed, because +the Pope has summoned the goldsmith _Cellini_ to Rome. + +_Balducci's_ daughter _Teresa_, however, thinks quite otherwise and is +happy. For she has found a note from _Cellini_ in a bouquet that was +thrown in to her from the street by a mask--_Cellini_, of course. A +few moments later he appears at her side and proposes a plan of +elopement. In the morning, during the carnival mask, he will wear a +white monk's hood. His apprentice _Ascanio_ will wear a brown one. +They will join her and they will flee together. But a listener has +sneaked in--_Fieramosca_, the Pope's sculptor, and no less _Cellini's_ +rival in love than in art. He overhears the plot. Unexpectedly, too, +_Teresa's_ father, _Balducci_, comes back. His daughter still up? In +her anxiety to find an excuse, she says she heard a man sneak in. +During the search _Cellini_ disappears, and _Fieramosca_ is +apprehended. Before he can explain his presence, women neighbours, who +have hurried in, drag him off to the public bath house and treat him +to a ducking. + +Act II. In the courtyard of a tavern _Cellini_ is seated, with his +assistants. He is happy in his love, for he places it even higher than +fame, which alone heretofore he has courted. He must pledge his love +in wine. Unfortunately the host will no longer give him credit. Just +then _Ascanio_ brings some money from the Papal treasurer, but in +return _Cellini_ must promise to complete his "Perseus" by morning. He +promises, although the avaricious _Balducci_ has profited by his +necessity and has sent too little money. _Ascanio_ is informed by +_Cellini_ of the disguises they are to wear at the carnival, and of +his plan that _Teresa_ shall flee with him. + +Again _Fieramosca_ has been spying, and overhears the plot. +Accordingly he hires the bravo _Pompeo_ to assist him in carrying off +_Teresa_. + +A change of scene shows the crowd of maskers on the Piazza di Colonna. +_Balducci_ comes along with _Teresa_. Both from the right and left +through the crowd come two monks in the disguise she and her lover +agreed upon. Which is the right couple? Soon, however, the two couples +fall upon each other. A scream, and one of the brown-hooded monks +(_Pompeo_) falls mortally wounded to the ground. A white-hooded monk +(_Cellini_) has stabbed him. The crowd hurls itself upon _Cellini_. +But at that moment the boom of a cannon gives notice that the carnival +celebration is over. It is Ash Wednesday. In the first shock of +surprise _Cellini_ escapes, and in his place the other white-hooded +monk, _Fieramosca_, is seized. + +Act III. Before _Cellini's_ house, in the background of which, through +a curtain, is seen the bronze foundry, the anxious _Teresa_ is assured +by _Ascanio_ that her lover is safe. Soon he comes along himself, with +a band of monks, to whom he describes his escape. Then _Balducci_ and +_Fieramosca_ rush in. _Balducci_ wants to force his daughter to become +_Fieramosca's_ bride. The scene is interrupted by the arrival of +_Cardinal Salviati_ to see the completed "Perseus." Poor _Cellini_! +Accused of murder and the attempted kidnapping of a girl, the +"Perseus" unfinished, the money received for it spent! Heavy +punishment awaits him, and another shall receive the commission to +finish the "Perseus." + +The artist flies into a passion. Another finish his masterpiece! +Never! The casting shall be done on the spot! Not metal enough? He +seizes his completed works and throws them into the molten mass. The +casting begins. The master shatters the mould. The "Perseus," a noble +work of art, appears before the eyes of the astonished onlookers--a +potent plea for the inspired master. Once more have Art and her +faithful servant triumphed over all rivals. + +The statue of Perseus, by Benvenuto Cellini, one of the most famous +creations of mediæval Italy, is one of the art treasures of Florence. + + +BEATRICE AND BENEDICT + + Opera in two acts, by Berlioz. Words by the composer, after + Shakespeare's comedy, "Much Ado about Nothing." Produced at + Baden Baden, 1862. + + CHARACTERS + + DON PEDRO, a general _Bass_ + LEONATO, governor of Messina _Bass_ + HERO, his daughter _Soprano_ + BEATRICE, his niece _Soprano_ + CLAUDIO, an officer _Baritone_ + BENEDICT, an officer _Tenor_ + URSULA, Hero's companion _Contralto_ + SOMARONE, orchestral conductor _Bass_ + +The story is an adaptation of the short version of Shakespeare's play, +which preserves the spirit of the comedy, but omits the saturnine +intrigue of _Don John_ against _Claudio_ and _Hero_. The gist of the +comedy is the gradual reaction of the brilliant but captious +_Beatrice_ from pique and partially feigned indifference toward the +witty and gallant _Benedict_, to love. Both have tempers. In fact they +reach an agreement to marry as a result of a spirited quarrel. + + +LES TROYENS + +THE TROJANS + +PART I. "LA PRISE DE TROIE" + +THE CAPTURE OF TROY + + Opera in three acts, by Berlioz. Words by the composer, + based upon a scenario furnished by Liszt's friend, the + Princess Caroline Sayn-Wittgenstein. Produced, November 6, + 1890, in Karlsruhe, under the direction of Felix Mottl. + + CHARACTERS + + PRIAM _Bass_ + HECUBA _Contralto_ + CASSANDRA _Mezzo-Soprano_ + POLYXENA _Soprano_ + HECTOR'S ghost _Bass_ + ANDROMACHE } _Mutes_ + ASTYONAX } + ÆNEAS _Tenor_ + ASCANIUS _Soprano_ + PANTHEUS _Bass_ + CHOROEBUS _Baritone_ + + _Time_--1183 B.C. + + _Place_--The Trojan Plain. + +Act I. The Greek camp before Troy. It has been deserted by the Greeks. +The people of Troy, rejoicing at what they believe to be the raising +of the siege, are bustling about the camp. Many of them, however, are +standing amazed about a gigantic wooden horse. There is only one +person who does not rejoice, _Cassandra_, _Priam's_ daughter, whose +clairvoyant spirit foresees misfortune. But no one believes her dire +prophecies, not even her betrothed, _Choroebus_, whom she implores +in vain to flee. + +Act II. In a grove near the walls of the city the Trojan people, with +their princes at their head, are celebrating the return of peace. +_Andromache_, however, sees no happiness for herself, since _Hector_ +has fallen. Suddenly _Æneas_ hurries in with the news that the priest +_Laocoon_, who had persisted in seeing in the wooden horse only a +stratagem of the Greeks, has been strangled by a serpent. Athena must +be propitiated; the horse must be taken into the city, to the sacred +Palladium, and there set up for veneration. Of no avail is +_Cassandra's_ wailing, when the goddess has so plainly indicated her +displeasure. + +Act III. _Æneas_ is sleeping in his tent. A distant sound of strife +awakens him. _Hector's Ghost_ appears to him. Troy is lost; far away, +to Italy, must _Æneas_ go, there to found a new kingdom. The _Ghost_ +disappears. The priest, _Pantheus_, rushes in, bleeding from wounds. +He announces that Greeks have come out of the belly of the horse and +have opened the gates of the city to the Greek army. Troy is in +flames. _Æneas_ goes forth to place himself at the head of his men. + +The scene changes to the vestal sanctuary in _Priam's_ palace. To the +women gathered in prayer _Cassandra_ announces that _Æneas_ has +succeeded in saving the treasure and covering a retreat to Mount Ida. +But her _Choroebus_ has fallen and she desires to live no longer. +Shall she become the slave of a Greek? She paints the fate of the +captive woman in such lurid colours that they decide to go to death +with her. Just as the Greeks rush in, the women stab themselves, and +grief overcomes even the hardened warriors. + + +PART II. "LES TROYENS À CARTHAGE" + +THE TROJANS IN CARTHAGE + + Opera in five acts. Music by Berlioz. Words by the composer. + Produced, Paris, November 4, 1863, when it failed + completely. Revived, 1890, in Karlsruhe, under the direction + of Felix Mottl. Mottl's performances in Karlsruhe, in 1890, + of "La Prise de Troie" and "Les Troyens à Carthage" + constituted the first complete production of "Les Troyens." + + CHARACTERS + + DIDO _Soprano_ + ANNA _Contralto_ + ÆNEAS _Tenor_ + ASCANIUS _Soprano_ + PANTHEUS _Bass_ + NARBAL _Bass_ + JOPAS _Tenor_ + HYLAS _Tenor_ + + _Time_--1183 B.C. + + _Place_--Carthage. + +Act I. In the summer-house of her palace _Dido_ tells her retainers +that the savage Numidian King, Jarbas, has asked for her hand, but she +has decided to live only for the memory of her dead husband. Today, +however, shall be devoted to festive games. The lyric poet _Jopas_ +enters and announces the approach of strangers, who have escaped from +the dangers of the sea. They arrive and _Ascanius_, son of _Æneas_, +begs entertainment for a few days for himself and his companions. This +_Dido_ gladly grants them. Her Minister, _Narbal_, rushes in. The +Numidian king has invaded the country. Who will march against him? +_Æneas_, who had concealed himself in disguise among his sailors, +steps forth and offers to defend the country against the enemy. + +Act II. A splendid festival is in progress in Dido's garden in honour +of the victor, _Æneas_. _Dido_ loves _Æneas_, who tells her of +Andromache, and how, in spite of her grief over _Hector_, she has laid +aside her mourning and given her hand to another. Why should _Dido_ +not do likewise? Night closes in, and under its cover both pledge +their love and faith. + +Has _Æneas_ forgotten his task? To remind him, Mercury appears and +strikes resoundingly on the weapons that have been laid aside, while +invisible voices call out to _Æneas_: "Italie!" + +Act III. Public festivities follow the betrothal of _Dido_ and +_Æneas_. But _Dido's_ faithful Minister knows that, although _Æneas_ +is a kingly lover, it is the will of the gods that the Trojan proceed +to Italy; and that to defy the gods is fatal. + +Meanwhile the destiny of the lovers is fulfilled. During a hunt they +seek shelter from a thunderstorm in a cave. There they seal their love +compact. (This scene is in pantomime.) + +Act IV. The Trojans are incensed that _Æneas_ places love ahead of +duty. They have determined to seek the land of their destiny without +him. Finally _Æneas_ awakes from his infatuation and, when the voices +of his illustrious dead remind him of his duty, he resolves, in spite +of _Dido's_ supplications, to depart at once. + +Act V. Early morning brings to _Dido_ in her palace the knowledge that +she has lost _Æneas_ forever. She decides not to survive her loss. On +the sea beach she orders a huge pyre erected. All the love tokens of +the faithless one are fed to the flames. She herself ascends the pyre. +Her vision takes in the great future of Carthage and the greater one +of Rome. Then she throws herself on her lover's sword. + + +LA DAMNATION DE FAUST + +THE DAMNATION OF FAUST + + In its original form a "dramatic legend" in four parts for + the concert stage. Music by Hector Berlioz. Words, after + Gerald de Nerval's version of Goethe's play, by Berlioz, + Gérard, and Gandonnière. Produced in its original form as a + concert piece at the Opéra Comique, Paris, December 6, 1846; + London, two parts of the work, under Berlioz's direction, + Drury Lane, February 7, 1848; first complete performance in + England, Free Trade Hall, Manchester, February 5, 1880. New + York, February 12, 1880, by Dr. Leopold Damrosch. Adapted + for the operatic stage by Raoul Gunsberg, and produced by + him at Monte Carlo, February 18, 1893, with Jean de Reszke + as _Faust_; revived there March, 1902, with Melba, Jean de + Reszke, and Maurice Renaud. Given in Paris with Calvé, + Alvarez, and Renaud, to celebrate the centennial of + Berlioz's birth, December 11, 1903. New York, Metropolitan + Opera House, December 7, 1906; Manhattan Opera House, + November 6, 1907, with Dalmorès as _Faust_ and Renaud as + _Méphistophélès_. + + CHARACTERS + + MARGUERITE _Soprano_ + FAUST _Tenor_ + MÉPHISTOPHÉLÈS _Bass_ + BRANDER _Bass_ + + Students, soldiers, citizens, men and women, fairies, etc. + + _Time_--Eighteenth Century. + + _Place_--A town in Germany. + +In the first part of Berlioz's dramatic legend _Faust_ is supposed to +be on the Plains of Hungary. Introspectively he sings of nature and +solitude. There are a chorus and dance of peasants and a recitative. +Soldiers march past to the stirring measures of the "Rákóczy March," +the national air of Hungary. + +This march Berlioz orchestrated in Vienna, during his tour of 1845, +and conducted it at a concert in Pesth, when it created the greatest +enthusiasm. It was in order to justify the interpolation of this march +that he laid the first scene of his dramatic legend on the plains of +Hungary. Liszt claimed that his pianoforte transcription of the march +had freely been made use of by Berlioz, "especially in the harmony." + +In the operatic version Gunsbourg shows _Faust_ in a mediæval chamber, +with a view, through a window, of the sally-port of a castle, out of +which the soldiers march. At one point in the march, which Berlioz has +treated contrapuntally, and where it would be difficult for marchers +to keep step, the soldiers halt and have their standards solemnly +blessed. + +The next part of the dramatic legend only required a stage setting to +make it operatic. _Faust_ is in his study. He is about to quaff +poison, when the walls part and disclose a church interior. The +congregation, kneeling, sings the Easter canticle, "Christ is Risen." +Change of scene to Auerbach's cellar, Leipsic. Revel of students and +soldiers. _Brander_ sings the "Song of the Rat," whose death is +mockingly grieved over by a "Requiescat in pace" and a fugue on the +word "Amen," sung by the roistering crowd. _Méphistophélès_ then +"obliges" with the song of the flea, in which the skipping about of +the elusive insect is depicted in the accompaniment. + +In the next scene in the dramatic legend, _Faust_ is supposed to be +asleep on the banks of the Elbe. Here is the most exquisite effect of +the score, the "Dance of the Sylphs," a masterpiece of delicate and +airy illustration. Violoncellos, _con sordini_, hold a single note as +a pedal point, over which is woven a gossamer fabric of melody and +harmony, ending with the faintest possible pianissimo from drum and +harps. Gunsbourg employed here, with admirable results, the aërial +ballet, and has given a rich and beautiful setting to the scene, +including a vision of _Marguerite_. The ballet is followed by a chorus +of soldiers and a students' song in Latin. + +The scenic directions of Gounod's "Faust" call _Marguerite's_ +house--so much of it as is projected into the garden scene--a +pavilion. Gunsbourg makes it more like an arbour, into which the +audience can see through the elimination of a supposedly existing +wall, the same as in _Sparafucile's_ house, in the last act of +"Rigoletto." Soldiers and students are strolling and singing in the +street. _Marguerite_ sings the ballad of the King of Thule. Berlioz's +setting of the song is primitive. He aptly characterizes the number as +a "Chanson Gothique." The "Invocation" of _Méphistophélès_ is followed +by the "Dance of Will-o'-the-Wisps." Then comes _Méphistophélès's_ +barocque serenade. _Faust_ enters _Marguerite's_ pavilion. There is a +love duet, which becomes a trio when _Méphistophélès_ joins the +lovers and urges _Faust's_ departure. + +_Marguerite_ is alone. Berlioz, instead of using Goethe's song, "Meine +Ruh ist hin" (My peace is gone), the setting of which by Schubert is +famous, substitutes a poem of his own. The unhappy _Marguerite_ sings, +"D'Amour, l'ardente flamme" (Love, devouring fire). + +The singing of the students and the soldiers grows fainter. The +"retreat"--the call to which the flag is lowered at sunset--is sounded +by the drums and trumpets. _Marguerite_, overcome by remorse, swoons +at the window. + +A mountain gorge. _Faust's_ soliloquy, "Nature, immense, impénétrable +et fière" (Nature, vast, unfathomable and proud). The "Ride to Hell"; +moving panorama; pandemonium; redemption of _Marguerite_, whom angels +are seen welcoming in the softly illumined heavens far above the town, +in which the action is supposed to have transpired. + +The production by Dr. Leopold Damrosch of "La Damnation de Faust" in +its original concert form in New York, was one of the sensational +events of the concert history of America. As an opera, however, the +work has failed so far to make the impression that might have been +expected from its effect on concert audiences; "... the experiment, +though tried in various theatres," says Grove's _Dictionary of Music +and Musicians_, "has happily not been permanently successful." Why +"happily"? It would be an advantage to operatic art if a work by so +distinguished a composer as Berlioz could find a permanent place in +the repertoire. + +Gounod's "Faust," Boïto's "Mefistofele," and Berlioz's "La Damnation +de Faust" are the only settings of the Faust legend, or, more properly +speaking, of Goethe's "Faust," with which a book on opera need concern +itself. Gounod's "Faust," with its melodious score, and full of a +sentiment that more than occasionally verges on sentimentality, has +genuine popular appeal, and is likely long to maintain itself in the +repertoire. "Mefistofele," nevertheless, is the profounder work. +Boïto, in his setting, sounds Goethe's drama to greater depths than +Gounod. It always will be preferred by those who do not have to be +written down to. "La Damnation de Faust," notwithstanding its +brilliant and still modern orchestration, is the most truly mediæval +of the three scores. Berlioz himself characterizes the ballad of the +King of Thule as "Gothic." The same spirit of the Middle Ages runs +through much of the work. In several important details the operatic +adaptation has been clumsily made. Were it improved in these details, +this "Faust" of Berlioz would have a chance of more than one revival. + + + + +F. von Flotow + + +MARTHA + + Opera in four acts, by Friedrich von Flotow; words by + Wilhelm Friedrich Riese, the plot based on a French ballet + pantomime by Jules H. Vernoy and Marquis St. Georges (see p. + 559). Produced at the Imperial Opera House, Vienna, November + 25, 1847. Covent Garden, London, July 1, 1858, in Italian; + in English at Drury Lane, October 11, 1858. Paris, Théâtre + Lyrique, December 16, 1865, when was interpolated the famous + air "M'apparì," from Flotow's two-act opera, "L'Âme en + Peine," produced at the Grand Opéra, Paris, June, 1846. New + York, Niblo's Garden, November 1, 1852, with Mme. Anna + Bishop; in French, at New Orleans, January 27, 1860. An + opera of world-wide popularity, in which, in this country, + the title rôle has been sung by Nilsson, Patti, Gerster, + Kellogg, Parepa-Rosa, and Sembrich, and _Lionel_ by + Campanini and Caruso. + + CHARACTERS + + LADY HARRIET DURHAM, Maid of Honor to + Queen Anne _Soprano_ + LORD TRISTAN DE MIKLEFORD, her cousin _Bass_ + PLUNKETT, a young farmer _Bass_ + LIONEL, his foster-brother. Afterwards + Earl of Derby _Tenor_ + NANCY, waiting-maid to Lady Harriet _Contralto_ + SHERIFF _Bass_ + THREE MAN SERVANTS _Tenor_ and two _Basses_ + THREE MAID SERVANTS _Soprano_ and two _Mezzo-Sopranos_ + + Courtiers, pages, ladies, hunters and huntresses, farmers, + servants, etc. + + _Time_--About 1710. + + _Place_--In and near Richmond. + +The first act opens in _Lady Harriet's_ boudoir. The second scene of +this act is the fair at Richmond. The scene of the second act is laid +in _Plunkett's_ farmhouse; that of the third in a forest near +Richmond. The fourth act opens in the farmhouse and changes to _Lady +Harriet's_ park. + +Act I. Scene 1. The _Lady Harriet_ yawned. It was dull even at the +court of Queen Anne. + +"Your Ladyship," said _Nancy_, her sprightly maid, "here are flowers +from _Sir Tristan_." + +"Their odour sickens me," was her ladyship's weary comment. + +"And these diamonds!" urged _Nancy_, holding up a necklace for her +mistress to view. + +"They hurt my eyes," said her ladyship petulantly. + +The simple fact is the _Lady Harriet_, like many others whose +pleasures come so easily that they lack zest, was bored. Even the +resourceful _Nancy_, a prize among maids, was at last driven to +exclaim: + +"If your ladyship only would fall in love!" + +But herein, too, _Lady Harriet_ had the surfeit that creates +indifference. She had bewitched every man at court only to remain +unmoved by their protestations of passion. Even as _Nancy_ spoke, a +footman announced the most persistent of her ladyship's suitors, _Sir +Tristan of Mikleford_, an elderly cousin who presumed upon his +relationship to ignore the rebuffs with which she met his suit. _Sir +Tristan_ was a creature of court etiquette. His walk, his gesture, +almost his speech itself were reduced to rule and method. The +stiffness that came with age made his exaggerated manner the more +ridiculous. In fact he was the incarnation of everything that the +_Lady Harriet_ was beginning to find intolerably tedious. + +"Most respected cousin, Lady in Waiting to Her Most Gracious Majesty," +he began sententiously, and would have added all her titles had she +not cut him short with an impatient gesture, "will your ladyship seek +diversion by viewing the donkey races with me today?" + +"I wonder," _Nancy_ whispered so that none but her mistress could +hear, "if he is going to run in the races himself?" which evoked from +the _Lady Harriet_ the first smile that had played around her lips +that day. Seeing this and attributing it to her pleasure at his +invitation _Sir Tristan_ sighed like a wheezy bellows and cast +sentimental glances at her with his watery eyes. To stop this +ridiculous exhibition of vanity her ladyship straightway sent him +trotting about the room on various petty pretexts. "Fetch my fan, +Sir!--Now my smelling salts--I feel a draught. Would you close the +window, cousin? Ah, I stifle for want of air! Open it again!" + +To these commands _Sir Tristan_ responded with as much alacrity as his +stiff joints would permit, until _Nancy_ again whispered to her +mistress, "See! He is running for the prize!" + +Likely enough _Sir Tristan's_ fair cousin soon would have sent him on +some errand that would have taken him out of her presence. But when he +opened the window again, in came the strains of a merry chorus sung by +fresh, happy voices of young women who, evidently, were walking along +the highway. The _Lady Harriet's_ curiosity was piqued. Who were these +women over whose lives ennui never seemed to have hung like a pall? +_Nancy_ knew all about them. They were servants on the way to the +Richmond fair to hire themselves out to the farmers, according to +time-honoured custom. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Ober and De Luca; Caruso and Hempel in "Martha"] + +The Richmond fair! To her ladyship's jaded senses it conveyed a +suggestion of something new and frolicsome. "Nancy," she cried, +carried away with the novelty of the idea, "let us go to the fair +dressed as peasant girls and mingle with the crowd! Who knows, someone +might want to hire us! I will call myself Martha, you can be Julia, +and you, cousin, can drop your title for the nonce and go along with +us as plain Bob!" And when _Sir Tristan_, shocked at the thought that +a titled lady should be willing so to lower herself, to say nothing of +the part he himself was asked to play, protested, she appealed to him +with a feigned tenderness that soon won his consent to join them in +their lark. Then to give him a foretaste of what was expected of him, +they took him, each by an arm, and danced him about the room, shouting +with mock admiration as he half slid, half stumbled, "Bravo! What +grace! What agility!" + +The _Lady Harriet_ actually was enjoying herself. + +Scene 2. Meanwhile the Richmond fair was at its height. From a large +parchment the pompous _Sheriff_ had read the law by which all +contracts for service made at the fair were binding for at least one +year as soon as money had passed. Among those who had come to bid were +a sturdy young farmer, _Plunkett_, and his foster-brother _Lionel_. +The latter evidently was of a gentler birth, but his parentage was +shrouded in mystery. As a child he had been left with _Plunkett's_ +mother by a fugitive, an aged man who, dying from exposure and +exhaustion, had confided the boy to her care, first, however, handing +her a ring with the injunction that if misfortune ever threatened the +boy, to show the ring to the queen. + +One after another the girls proclaimed their deftness at cooking, +sewing, gardening, poultry tending, and other domestic and rural +accomplishments, the _Sheriff_ crying out, "Four guineas! Who'll have +her?--Five guineas! Who'll try her?" Many of them cast eyes at the +two handsome young farmers, hoping to be engaged by them. But they +seemed more critical than the rest. + +Just then they heard a young woman's voice behind them call out, "No, +I won't go with you!" and, turning, they saw two sprightly young women +arguing with a testy looking old man who seemed to have a ridiculous +idea of his own importance. _Lionel_ and _Plunkett_ nudged each other. +Never had they seen such attractive looking girls. And when they heard +one of them call out again to the old man, "No, we won't go with +you!"--for _Sir Tristan_ was urging the _Lady Harriet_ and _Nancy_ to +leave the fair--the young men hurried over to the group. + +"Can't you hear her say she won't go with you?" asked _Lionel_, while +_Plunkett_ called out to the girls near the _Sheriff's_ stand, "Here, +girls, is a bidder with lots of money!" A moment later the absurd old +man was the centre of a rioting, shouting crowd of girls, who followed +him when he tried to retreat, so that finally "Martha" and "Julia" +were left quite alone with the two men. The young women were in high +spirits. They had sallied forth in quest of adventure and here it was. +_Lionel_ and _Plunkett_, on the other hand, suddenly had become very +shy. There was in the demeanour of these girls something quite +different from what they had been accustomed to in other serving +maids. Somehow they had an "air," and it made the young men bashful. +_Plunkett_ tried to push _Lionel_ forward, but the latter hung back. + +"Watch me then," said _Plunkett_. He advanced as if to speak to the +young women, but came to a halt and stood there covered with +confusion. It chanced that _Lady Harriet_ and _Nancy_ had been +watching these men with quite as much interest as they had been +watched by them. _Lionel_, who bore himself with innate grace and +refinement under his peasant garb, had immediately attracted "Martha," +while the sturdier _Plunkett_ had caught "Julia's" eye, and they were +glad when, after a few slyly reassuring glances from them, _Plunkett_ +overcame his hesitancy and spoke up: + +"You're our choice, girls! We'll pay fifty crowns a year for wages, +with half a pint of ale on Sundays and plum pudding on New Year's +thrown in for extras." + +"Done!" cried the girls, who thought it all a great lark, and a moment +later the _Lady Harriet_ had placed her hand in _Lionel's_ and _Nancy_ +hers in _Plunkett's_ and money had passed to bind the bargain. + +And now, thinking the adventure had gone far enough and that it was +time for them to be returning to court, they cast about them for _Sir +Tristan_. He, seeing them talking on apparently intimate terms with +two farmers, was scandalized and, having succeeded in standing off the +crowd by scattering money about him, he called out brusquely, "Come +away!" + +"Come away?" repeated _Plunkett_ after him. "_Come away?_ Didn't these +girls let you know plainly enough a short time ago that they wouldn't +hire out to you?" + +"But I rather think," interposed "Martha," who was becoming slightly +alarmed, "that it is time for 'Julia' and myself to go." + +"What's that!" exclaimed _Plunkett_. "_Go?_ No, indeed," he added with +emphasis. "You may repent of your bargain, though I don't see why. But +it is binding for a year." + +"If only you knew who," began _Sir Tristan_, and he was about to tell +who the young women were. But "Martha" quickly whispered to him not to +disclose their identity, as the escapade, if it became known, would +make them the sport of the court. Moreover _Plunkett_ and _Lionel_ +were growing impatient at the delay and, when the crowd again gathered +about _Sir Tristan_, they hurried off the girls,--who did not seem to +protest as much as might have been expected,--lifted them into a farm +wagon, and drove off, while the crowd blocked the blustering knight +and jeered as he vainly tried to break away in pursuit. + +Act II. The adventure of the _Lady Harriet_ and her maid _Nancy_, so +lightly entered upon, was carrying them further than they had +expected. To find themselves set down in a humble farmhouse, as they +did soon after they left the fair, and to be told to go into the +kitchen and prepare supper, was more than they had bargained for. + +"Kitchen work!" exclaimed the _Lady Harriet_ contemptuously. + +"Kitchen work!" echoed _Nancy_ in the same tone of voice. + +_Plunkett_ was for having his orders carried out. But _Lionel_ +interceded. A certain innate gallantry that already had appealed to +her ladyship, made him feel that although these young women were +servants, they were, somehow, to be treated differently. He suggested +as a substitute for the kitchen that they be allowed to try their +hands at the spinning wheels. But they were so awkward at these that +the men sat down to show them how to spin, until _Nancy_ brought the +lesson to an abrupt close by saucily overturning _Plunkett's_ wheel +and dashing away with the young farmer in pursuit, leaving _Lionel_ +and "Martha" alone. + +It was an awkward moment for her ladyship, since she could hardly fail +to be aware that _Lionel_ was regarding her with undisguised +admiration. To relieve the situation she began to hum and, finally, to +sing, choosing her favorite air, "The Last Rose of Summer." But it had +the very opposite effect of what she had planned. For she sang the +charming melody so sweetly and with such tender expression that +Lionel, completely carried away, exclaimed: "Ah, Martha, if you were +to marry me, you no longer would be a servant, for I would raise you +to my own station!" + +As _Lionel_ stood there she could not help noting that he was handsome +and graceful. Yet that a farmer should suggest to her, the spoiled +darling of the court, that he would raise her to _his_ station, struck +her as so ridiculous that she burst out laughing. Just then, +fortunately, _Plunkett_ dragged in _Nancy_, whom he had pursued into +the kitchen, where she had upset things generally before he had been +able to seize her; and a distant tower clock striking midnight, the +young farmers allowed their servants, whose accomplishments as such, +if they had any, so far remained undiscovered, to retire to their +room, while they sought theirs, but not before _Lionel_ had whispered: + +"Perchance by the morrow, Martha, you will think differently of what I +have said and not treat it so lightly." + +Act III. But when morning came the birds had flown the cage. There was +neither a Martha nor a Julia in the little farmhouse, while at the +court of Queen Anne a certain _Lady Harriet_ and her maid _Nancy_ were +congratulating themselves that, after all, an old fop named _Sir +Tristan of Mikleford_ had had sense enough to be in waiting with a +carriage near the farmhouse at midnight and helped them escape through +the window. It even is not unlikely that within a week the _Lady +Harriet_, who was so anxious not to have her escapade become known, +might have been relating it at court as a merry adventure and that +_Nancy_ might have been doing the same in the servants' hall. But +unbeknown to the others, there had been a fifth person in the little +farmhouse, none other than Dan Cupid, who had hidden himself, perhaps +behind the clock, and from this vantage place of concealment had +discharged arrows, not at random, but straight at the hearts of two +young women and two young men. And they had not recovered from their +wounds. The _Lady Harriet_ no longer was bored; she was sad; and even +_Nancy_ had lost her sprightliness. The two men, one of them so +courteous despite his peasant garb, the other sturdy and commanding, +with whom their adventure had begun at the Richmond fair and ended +after midnight at the farmhouse, had brought some zest into their +lives; they were so different from the smooth, insincere courtiers by +whom the _Lady Harriet_ had been surrounded and from the men servants +who aped their masters and with whom _Nancy_ had been thrown when she +was not with her ladyship. The simple fact is that the _Lady Harriet_ +and _Nancy_, without being certain of it themselves, were in love, her +ladyship with _Lionel_ and _Nancy_ with _Plunkett_. Of course, there +was the difference in station between _Lady Harriet_ and _Lionel_. But +he had the touch of innate breeding that made her at times forget that +he was a peasant while she was a lady of title. As for _Nancy_ and +_Plunkett_, that lively young woman felt that she needed just such a +strong hand as his to keep her out of mischief. And so it happened +that the diversions of the court again palled upon them and that, when +a great hunt was organized in which the court ladies were asked to +join, the _Lady Harriet_, although she looked most dapper in her +hunting costume, found the sport without zest and soon wandered off +into the forest solitudes. + +Here, too, it chanced that _Lionel_, in much the same state of mind +and heart as her ladyship, was wandering, when, suddenly looking up, +he saw a young huntress in whom, in spite of her different costume, he +recognized the "Martha" over whose disappearance he had been grieving. +But she was torn by conflicting feelings. However her heart might go +out toward _Lionel_, her pride of birth still rebelled against +permitting a peasant to address words of love to her. "You are +mistaken. I do not know you!" she exclaimed. And when he first +appealed to her in passionate accents and then in anger began to +upbraid her for denying her identity to him who was by law her master, +she cried out for help, bringing not only _Sir Tristan_ but the entire +hunting train to her side. Noting the deference with which she was +treated and hearing her called "My Lady," _Lionel_ now perceived the +trick that had been played upon himself and _Plunkett_ at the fair. +Infuriated at the heartless deceit of which he was a victim, he +protested: "But if she accepted earnest money from me, if she bound +herself to serve me for a year----" + +He was interrupted by a shout of laughter from the bystanders, and the +_Lady Harriet_, quickly profiting by the incredulity with which his +words were received, exclaimed: + +"I never have laid eyes on him before. He is a madman and should be +apprehended!" + +Immediately _Lionel_ was surrounded and might have been roughly +handled, had not my lady herself, moved partly by pity, partly by a +deeper feeling that kept asserting itself in spite of all, begged that +he be kindly treated. + +Act IV. Before very long, however, there was a material change in the +situation. In his extremity, _Lionel_ remembered about his ring and he +asked _Plunkett_ to show it to the queen and plead his cause. The ring +proved to have been the property of the Earl of Derby. It was that +nobleman who, after the failure of a plot to recall James II. from +France and restore him to the throne, had died a fugitive and confided +his son to the care of _Plunkett's_ mother, and that son was none +other than _Lionel_, now discovered to be the rightful heir to the +title and estates. Naturally he was received with high favor at the +court of Anne, the daughter of the king to whom the old earl had +rendered such faithful service. + +Despite his new honours, however, _Lionel_ was miserably unhappy. He +was deeply in love with the _Lady Harriet_. Yet he hardly could bring +himself to speak to her, let alone appear so much as even to notice +the advances which she, in her contrition, so plainly made toward him. +So, while she too suffered, he went about lonely and desolate, eating +out his heart with love and the feeling of injured pride that +prevented him from acknowledging it. + +This sad state of affairs might have continued indefinitely had not +_Nancy's_ nimble wit come to the rescue. She and _Plunkett_, after +meeting again, had been quick in coming to an understanding, and now +the first thing they did was to plan how to bring together _Lionel_ +and the _Lady Harriet_, who were so plainly in love with each other. +One afternoon _Plunkett_ joined _Lionel_ in his lonely walk and, +unknown to him, gradually guided him into her ladyship's garden. A +sudden turn in the path brought them in view of a bustling scene. +There were booths as at the Richmond fair, a crowd of servants and +farmers and a sheriff calling out the accomplishments of the girls. As +the crowd saw the two men, there was a hush. Then above it _Lionel_ +heard a sweet, familiar voice singing: + + 'Tis the last rose of summer, + Left blooming alone; + All her lovely companions + Are faded and gone; + No flower of her kindred, + No rosebud is nigh + To reflect back her blushes, + Or give sigh for sigh. + + I'll not leave thee, thou lone one, + To pine on the stem; + Since the lonely are sleeping, + Go sleep thou with them, + Thus kindly I scatter + Thy leaves o'er the bed-- + Where thy mates of the garden + Lie scentless and dead. + +The others quickly vanished. "Martha!" cried _Lionel_. "Martha! Is it +really you?" She stood before him in her servant's garb, no longer, +however, smiling and coquettish as at Richmond, but with eyes cast +down and sad. + +And then as if answering to a would-be master's question of "What can +you do?" she said: "I can forget all my dreams of wealth and gold. I +can despise all the dross in which artifice and ignoble ambition mask +themselves. I can put all these aside and remember only those accents +of love and tenderness that I would have fall upon my hearing once +more." She raised her eyes pleadingly to _Lionel_. All that had +intervened was swept away. _Lionel_ saw only the girl he loved. And, a +moment later, he held his "Martha" in his arms. + + * * * * * + +"Martha" teems with melody. The best-known airs are "The Last Rose of +Summer" and _Lionel's_ "M'apparì" (Like a dream). The best ensemble +piece, a quintet with chorus, occurs near the close of Act III.--"Ah! +che a voi perdoni Iddio" (Ah! May Heaven to you grant pardon). The +spinning-wheel quartet in Act II is most sprightly. But, as indicated, +there is a steady flow of light and graceful melody in this opera. +Almost at the very opening of Act I, _Lady Harriet_ and _Nancy_ have a +duet, "Questo duol che si v'affana" (Of the knights so brave and +charming). Bright, clever music abounds in the Richmond fair scene, +and _Lionel_ and _Plunkett_ express their devotion to each other in +"Solo, profugo, reietto" (Lost, proscribed, a friendless wanderer), +and "Ne giammai saper potemmo" (Never have we learned his station). +Then there is the gay quartet when the two girls leave the fair with +their masters, while the crowd surrounds _Sir Tristan_ and prevents +him from breaking through and interfering. It was in this scene that +the bass singer Castelmary, the _Sir Tristan_ of a performance of +"Martha" at the Metropolitan Opera House, February 10, 1897, was +stricken with heart failure and dropped dead upon the stage. + +A capital quartet opens Act II, in the farmhouse, and leads to the +spinning-wheel quartet, "Di vederlo" (What a charming occupation). +There is a duet between _Lady Harriet_ and _Lionel_, in which their +growing attraction for each other finds expression, "Il suo sguardo è +dolce tanto" (To his eye, mine gently meeting). Then follows "Qui +sola, vergin rosa" ('Tis the last rose of summer), the words a poem by +Tom Moore, the music an old Irish air, "The Groves of Blarney," to +which Moore adapted "The Last Rose of Summer." A new and effective +touch is given to the old song by Flotow in having the tenor join with +the soprano at the close. Moreover, the words and music fit so +perfectly into the situation on the stage that for Flotow to have +"lifted" and interpolated them into his opera was a master-stroke. To +it "Martha" owes much of its popularity. + +[Music: 'Tis the last rose of summer, left blooming alone,] + +There is a duet for _Lady Harriet_ and _Lionel_, "Ah! ride del mio +pianto" (She is laughing at my sorrow). The scene ends with another +quartet, one of the most beautiful numbers of the score, and known as +the "Good Night Quartet," "Dormi pur, ma il mio riposo" (Cruel one, +may dreams transport thee). + +Act III, played in a hunting park in Richmond forest, on the left a +small inn, opens with a song in praise of porter, the "Canzone del +Porter" by _Plunkett_, "Chi mi dirà?" (Will you tell me). The pièces +de résistance of this act are the "M'apparì"; a solo for _Nancy_, "Il +tuo stral nel lanciar" + +[Music] + +(Huntress fair, hastens where); _Martha's_ song, "Qui tranquilla almen +poss'io" (Here in deepest forest shadows); and the stirring quintet +with chorus. + +[Music] + +In Act IV there are a solo for _Plunkett_, "Il mio Lionel perirà" +(Soon my Lionel will perish), and a repetition of some of the +sprightly music of the fair scene. + + * * * * * + +It is not without considerable hesitation that I have classed "Martha" +as a French opera. For Flotow was born in Teutendorf, April 27, 1812, +and died in Darmstadt January 24, 1883. Moreover, "Martha," was +produced in Vienna, and his next best-known work, "Alessandro +Stradella," in Hamburg (1844). + +The music of "Martha," however, has an elegance that not only is quite +unlike any music that has come out of Germany, but is typically +French. Flotow, in fact, was French in his musical training, and both +the plot and score of "Martha" were French in origin. The composer +studied composition in Paris under Reicha, 1827-30, leaving Paris +solely on account of the July revolution, and returning in 1835, to +remain until the revolution in March, 1848, once more drove him away. +After living in Paris again, 1863-8, he settled near Vienna, making, +however, frequent visits to that city, the French capital, and Italy. + +During his second stay in Paris he composed for the Grand Opéra the +first act of a ballet, "Harriette, ou la Servante de Greenwiche." This +ballet, the text by Vernoy and St. George, was for Adèle Dumilâtre. +The reason Flotow was entrusted with only one of the three acts was +the short time in which it was necessary to complete the score. The +other acts were assigned, one each, to Robert Bergmüller and Édouard +Deldevez. Of this ballet, written and composed for a French dancer and +a French audience, "Martha" is an adaptation. This accounts for its +being so typically French and not in the slightest degree German. +Flotow's opera "Alessandro Stradella" also is French in origin. It is +adapted from a one-act _pièce lyrique_, brought out by him in Paris, +in 1837. Few works produced so long ago as "Martha" have its +freshness, vivacity, and charm. Pre-eminently graceful, it yet carries +in a large auditorium like the Metropolitan, where so many operas of +the lighter variety have been lost in space. + + + + +Charles François Gounod + +(1818-1893) + + +The composer of "Faust" was born in Paris, June 17, 1818. His father +had, in 1783, won the second prix de Rome for painting at the École +des Beaux Arts. In 1837, the son won the second prix de Rome for +music, and two years later captured the grand prix de Rome, by +twenty-five votes out of twenty-seven, at the Paris Conservatoire. His +instructors there had been Reicha in harmony, Halévy in counterpoint +and fugue, and Leseur in composition. + +Gounod's first works, in Rome and after his return from there, were +religious. At one time he even thought of becoming an abbé, and on the +title-page of one of his published works he is called Abbé Charles +Gounod. A performance of his "Messe Solenelle" in London evoked so +much praise from both English and French critics that the Grand Opéra +commissioned him to write an opera. The result was "Sapho," performed +April 16, 1851, without success. It was his "Faust" which gave him +European fame. "Faust" and his "Roméo et Juliette" (both of which see) +suffice for the purposes of this book, none of his other operas having +made a decided success. + +"La Rédemption," and "Mors et Vita," Birmingham, England, 1882 and +1885, are his best-known religious compositions. They are "sacred +trilogies." Gounod died, Paris, October 17, 1893. + +In Dr. Theodore Baker's _Biographical Dictionary of Musicians_ +Gounod's merits as a composer are summed up as follows: "Gounod's +compositions are of highly poetic order, more spiritualistic than +realistic; in his finest lyrico-dramatic moments he is akin to Weber, +and his modulation even reminds of Wagner; his instrumentation and +orchestration are frequently original and masterly." These words are +as true today as when they were written, seventeen years ago. + + +FAUST + + Opera, in five acts, by Gounod; words by Barbier and Carré. + Produced, Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, March 19, 1859, with + Miolan-Carvalho as _Marguerite_; Grand Opéra, Paris, March + 3, 1869, with Christine Nilsson as _Marguerite_, Colin as + _Faust_, and Faure as _Méphistophélès_. London, Her + Majesty's Theatre, June 11, 1863; Royal Italian Opera, + Covent Garden, July 2, 1863, in Italian, as "Faust e + Margherita"; Her Majesty's Theatre, January 23, 1864, in an + English version by Chorley, for which, Santley being the + _Valentine_, Gounod composed what was destined to become one + of the most popular numbers of the opera, "Even bravest + heart may swell" ("_Dio possente_"). New York, Academy of + Music, November 26, 1863, in Italian, with Clara Louise + Kellogg (_Margherita_), Henrietta Sulzer (_Siebel_), Fanny + Stockton (_Martha_), Francesco Mazzoleni (_Faust_), Hannibal + Biachi (_Méphistophélès_), G. Yppolito (_Valentine_), D. + Coletti (_Wagner_). Metropolitan Opera House, opening night, + October 22, 1883, with Nilsson, Scalchi, Lablache, + Campanini, Novara, Del Puente. + + CHARACTERS + + FAUST, a learned doctor _Tenor_ + MÉPHISTOPHÉLÈS, Satan _Bass_ + MARGUERITE _Soprano_ + VALENTINE, a soldier, brother + to Marguerite _Baritone_ + SIEBEL, a village youth, in love + with Marguerite _Mezzo-Soprano_ + WAGNER, a student _Baritone_ + MARTHA SCHWERLEIN, neighbour + to Marguerite _Mezzo-Soprano_ + + Students, soldiers, villagers, angels, demons, Cleopatra, + Laïs, Helen of Troy, and others. + + _Time_--16th Century. + + _Place_--Germany. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Plançon as Méphistophélès in "Faust"] + +Popular in this country from the night of its American production, +Gounod's "Faust" nevertheless did not fully come into its own here +until during the Maurice Grau régime at the Metropolitan Opera House. +Sung in French by great artists, every one of whom was familiar with +the traditions of the Grand Opéra, Paris, the work was given so often +that William J. Henderson cleverly suggested "Faustspielhaus" as an +appropriate substitute for the name of New York's yellow brick temple +of opera; a _mot_ which led Krehbiel, in a delightful vein of banter, +to exclaim, "Henderson, your German jokes are better than your serious +German!" + +Several distinguished singers have been heard in this country in the +rôle of _Faust_. It is doubtful if that beautiful lyric number, +_Faust's_ romance, "Salut! demeure chaste et pure" (Hail to the +dwelling chaste and pure), ever has been delivered here with more +exquisite vocal phrasing than by Campanini, who sang the Italian +version, in which the romance becomes "Salve! dimora casta e pura." +That was in the old Academy of Music days, with Christine Nilsson as +_Marguerite_, which she had sung at the revival of the work by the +Paris Grand Opéra. The more impassioned outbursts of the _Faust_ rôle +also were sung with fervid expression by Campanini, so great an +artist, in the best Italian manner, that he had no Italian successor +until Caruso appeared upon the scene. + +Yet, in spite of the _Faust_ of these two Italian artists, Jean de +Reszke remains the ideal _Faust_ of memory. With a personal appearance +distinguished beyond that of any other operatic artist who has been +heard here, an inborn chivalry of deportment that made him a lover +after the heart of every woman, and a refinement of musical expression +that clarified every rôle he undertook, his _Faust_ was the most +finished portrayal of that character in opera that has been heard +here. Jean de Reszke's great distinction was that everything he did +was in perfect taste. Haven't you seen _Faust_ after _Faust_ keep his +hat on while making love to _Marguerite_? Jean de Reszke, a gentleman, +removed his before ever he breathed of romance. Muratore is an +admirable _Faust_, with all the refinements of phrasing and acting +that characterize the best traditions of the Grand Opéra, Paris. + +Great tenors do not, as a rule, arrive in quick succession. In this +country we have had two distinct tenor eras and now are in a third. We +had the era of Italo Campanini, from 1873 until his voice became +impaired, about 1880. Not until eleven years later, 1891, did opera in +America become so closely associated with another tenor, that there +may be said to have begun the era of Jean de Reszke. It lasted until +that artist's voluntary retirement. We are now in the era of Enrico +Caruso, whose repertoire includes _Faust_ in French. + +Christine Nilsson, Adelina Patti, Melba, Eames, Calvé, have been among +the famous _Marguerites_ heard here. Nilsson and Eames may have seemed +possessed of too much natural reserve for the rôle; but Gounod's +librettists made _Marguerite_ more refined than Goethe's _Gretchen_. +Patti acted the part with great simplicity and sang it flawlessly. In +fact her singing of the ballad "Il était un roi de Thulé" (There once +was a king of Thule) was a perfect example of the artistically artless +in song. It seemed to come from her lips merely because it chanced to +be running through her head. Melba's type of beauty was somewhat +mature for the impersonation of the character, but her voice lent +itself beautifully to it. Calvé's _Marguerite_ is recalled as a +logically developed character from first note to last, and as one of +the most original and interesting of _Marguerites_. But Americans +insisted on Calvé's doing nothing but _Carmen_. When she sang in +"Faust" she appeared to them a _Carmen_ masquerading as _Marguerite_. +So back to _Carmen_ she had to go. Sembrich and Farrar are other +_Marguerites_ identified with the Metropolitan Opera House. + +Plançon unquestionably was the finest _Méphistophélès_ in the history +of the opera in America up to the present time--vivid, sonorous, and +satanically polished or fantastical, as the rôle demanded. + +Gounod's librettists, Michel Carré and Jules Barbier, with a true +Gallic gift for practicable stage effect, did not seek to utilize the +whole of Goethe's "Faust" for their book, but contented themselves +with the love story of _Faust_ and _Marguerite_, which also happens to +have been entirely original with the author of the play, since it does +not occur in the legends. But because the opera does not deal with the +whole of "Faust," Germany, where Gounod's work enjoys great +popularity, refuses to accept it under the same title as the play, and +calls it "Margarethe" after the heroine. + +As reconstructed for the Grand Opéra, where it was brought out ten +years after its production at the Théâtre Lyrique, "Faust" develops as +follows: + +There is a brief prelude. A _ff_ on a single note, then mysterious, +chromatic chords, and then the melody which Gounod composed for +Santley. + +Act I. _Faust's_ study. The philosopher is discovered alone, seated at +a table on which an open tome lies before him. His lamp flickers in +its socket. Night is about turning to dawn. + +_Faust_ despairs of solving the riddle of the universe. Aged, his +pursuit of science vain, he seizes a flask of poison, pours it into a +crystal goblet, and is about to drain it, when, day having dawned, the +cheerful song of young women on their way to work arrests him. The +song dies away. Again he raises the goblet, only to pause once more, +as he hears a chorus of labourers, with whose voices those of the +women unite. _Faust_, beside himself at these sounds of joy and youth, +curses life and advancing age, and calls upon Satan to aid him. + +There is a flash of red light and out of it, up through the floor, +rises _Méphistophélès_, garbed as a cavalier, and in vivid red. +Alternately suave, satirical, and demoniacal in bearing, he offers to +_Faust_ wealth and power. The philosopher, however, wants neither, +unless with the gift also is granted youth. "Je veux la jeunesse" +(What I long for is youth). That is easy for his tempter, if the aged +philosopher, with pen dipped in his blood, will but sign away his +soul. _Faust_ hesitates. At a gesture from _Méphistophélès_ the scene +at the back opens and discloses _Marguerite_ seated at her +spinning-wheel, her long blond braid falling down her back. "Ô +Merveille!" (A miracle!) exclaims _Faust_, at once signs the +parchment, and drains to the vision of _Marguerite_ a goblet proffered +him by _Méphistophélès_. The scene fades away, the philosopher's garb +drops off _Faust_. The grey beard and all other marks of old age +vanish. He stands revealed a youthful gallant, eager for adventure, +instead of the disappointed scholar weary of life. There is an +impetuous duet for _Faust_ and _Méphistophélès_: "À moi les plaisirs" +('Tis pleasure I covet). They dash out of the cell-like study in which +_Faust_ vainly has devoted himself to science. + +Act II. Outside of one of the city gates. To the left is an inn, +bearing as a sign a carved image of Bacchus astride a keg. It is +kermis time. There are students, among them _Wagner_, burghers old and +young, soldiers, maidens, and matrons. + +The act opens with a chorus. "Faust" has been given so often that this +chorus probably is accepted by most people as a commonplace. In point +of fact it is an admirable piece of characterization. The groups of +people are effectively differentiated in the score. The toothless +chatter of the old men (in high falsetto) is an especially amusing +detail. In the end the choral groups are deftly united. + +_Valentine_ and _Siebel_ join the kermis throng. The former is +examining a medallion which his sister, _Marguerite_, has given him as +a charm against harm in battle. He sings a cavatina. It is this number +which Gounod composed for Santley. As most if not all the performances +of "Faust" in America, up to the time Grau introduced the custom of +giving opera in the language of the original score, were in Italian, +this cavatina is familiarly known as the "Dio possente" (To thee, O +Father!). In French it is "À toi, Seigneur et Roi des Cieux" (To Thee, +O God, and King of Heaven). Both in the Italian and French, +_Valentine_ prays to Heaven to protect his sister during his absence. +In English, "Even bravest heart may swell," the number relates chiefly +to _Valentine's_ ambitions as a soldier. + +_Wagner_ mounts a table and starts the "Song of the Rat." After a few +lines he is interrupted by the sudden appearance of _Méphistophélès_, +who, after a brief parley, sings "Le veau d'or" (The golden calf), a +cynical dissertation on man's worship of mammon. He reads the hands of +those about him. To _Siebel_ he prophesies that every flower he +touches shall wither. Rejecting the wine proffered him by _Wagner_, he +strikes with his sword the sign of the inn, the keg, astride of which +sits Bacchus. Like a stream of wine fire flows from the keg into the +goblet held under the spout by _Méphistophélès_, who raising the +vessel, pledges the health of _Marguerite_. + +This angers _Valentine_ and leads to the "Scène des épées" (The scene +of the swords). _Valentine_ unsheathes his blade. _Méphistophélès_, +with his sword describes a circle about himself. _Valentine_ makes a +pass at his foe. As the thrust carries his sword into the magic +circle, the blade breaks. He stands in impotent rage, while +_Méphistophélès_ mocks him. At last, realizing who his opponent is, +_Valentine_ grasps his sword by its broken end, and extends the +cruciform hilt toward the red cavalier. The other soldiers follow +their leader's example. _Méphistophélès_, no longer mocking, cowers +before the cross-shaped sword hilts held toward him, and slinks away. +A sonorous chorus, "Puisque tu brises le fer" (Since you have broken +the blade) for _Valentine_ and his followers distinguishes this scene. + +The crowd gathers for the kermis dance--"the waltz from Faust," +familiar the world round, and undulating through the score to the end +of the gay scene, which also concludes the act. While the crowd is +dancing and singing, _Méphistophélès_ enters with _Faust_. +_Marguerite_ approaches. She is on her way from church, prayerbook in +hand. _Siebel_ seeks to join her. But every time the youth steps +toward her he confronts the grinning yet sinister visage of +_Méphistophélès_, who dexterously manages to get in his way. Meanwhile +_Faust_ has joined her. There is a brief colloquy. He offers his arm +and conduct through the crowd. She modestly declines. The episode, +though short, is charmingly melodious. The phrases for _Marguerite_ +can be made to express coyness, yet also show that she is not wholly +displeased with the attention paid her by the handsome stranger. She +goes her way. The dance continues. "Valsons toujours" (Waltz alway!). + +Act III. _Marguerite's_ garden. At the back a wall with a wicket door. +To the left a bower. On the right _Marguerite's_ house, with a bow +window facing the audience. Trees, shrubs, flower beds, etc. + +_Siebel_ enters by the wicket. Stopping at one of the flower beds and +about to pluck a nosegay, he sings the graceful "Faites-lui mes aveux" +(Bear my avowal to her). But when he culls a flower, it shrivels in +his hand, as _Méphistophélès_ had predicted. The boy is much +perturbed. Seeing, however, a little font with holy water suspended by +the wall of the house, he dips his fingers in it. Now the flowers no +longer shrivel as he culls them. He arranges them in a bouquet, which +he lays on the house step, where he hopes _Marguerite_ will see it. He +then leaves. + +_Faust_ enters with _Méphistophélès_, but bids the latter withdraw, as +if he sensed the incongruity of his presence near the home of a maiden +so pure as _Marguerite_. The tempter having gone, _Faust_ proceeds to +apostrophize _Marguerite's_ dwelling in the exquisite romance, "Salut! +demeure chaste et pure." + +[Music] + +_Méphistophélès_ returns. With him he brings a casket of jewels and a +handsome bouquet. With these he replaces _Siebel's_ flowers. The two +men then withdraw into a shadowy recess of the garden to await +_Marguerite's_ return. + +She enters by the wicket. Her thoughts are with the handsome +stranger--above her in station, therefore the more flattering and +fascinating in her eyes--who addressed her at the kermis. Pensively +she seats herself at her spinning-wheel and, while turning it, without +much concentration of mind on her work, sings "Le Roi de Thulé," the +ballad of the King of Thule, her thoughts, however, returning to +_Faust_ before she resumes and finishes the number, which is set in +the simple fashion of a folk-song. + +Approaching the house, and about to enter, she sees the flowers, stops +to admire them, and to bestow a thought of compassion upon _Siebel_ +for his unrequited devotion, then sees and hesitatingly opens the +casket of jewels. Their appeal to her feminine vanity is too great to +permit her to return them at once to the casket. Decking herself out +in them, she regards herself and the sparkling gems in the handglass +that came with them, then bursts into the brilliant "Air des Bijoux" +(Jewel Song): + +[Music] + + Ah! je ris de me voir + Si belle en ce miroir!... + Est-ce toi, Marguerite? + + (Ah! I laugh just to view-- + Marguerite! Is it you?-- + Such a belle in the glass!...) + +one of the most brilliant airs for coloratura soprano, affording the +greatest contrast to the folklike ballad which preceded it, and making +with it one of the most effective scenes in opera for a soprano who +can rise to its demands: the chaste simplicity required for the +ballad, the joyous abandon and faultless execution of elaborate +embellishments involved in the "Air des Bijoux." When well done, the +scene is brilliantly successful; for, added to its own conspicuous +merit, is the fact that, save for the very brief episode in Act II, +this is the first time in two and a half acts that the limpid and +grateful tones of a solo high soprano have fallen upon the ear. + +_Martha_, the neighbour and companion of _Marguerite_, joins her. In +the manner of the average duenna, whose chief duty in opera is to +encourage love affairs, however fraught with peril to her charge, she +is not at all disturbed by the gift of the jewels or by the entrance +upon the scene of _Faust_ and _Méphistophélès_. Nor, when the latter +tells her that her husband has been killed in the wars, does she +hesitate, after a few exclamations of rather forced grief, to seek +consolation on the arm of the flatterer in red, who leads her off into +the garden, leaving _Faust_ with _Marguerite_. During the scene +immediately ensuing the two couples are sometimes in view, sometimes +lost to sight in the garden. The music is a quartet, beginning with +_Faust's_ "Prenez mon bras un moment" (Pray lean upon mine arm). It is +artistically individualized. The couples and each member thereof are +deftly characterized in Gounod's score. + +For a moment _Méphistophélès_ holds the stage alone. Standing by a bed +of flowers in an attitude of benediction, he invokes their subtle +perfume to lull _Marguerite_ into a false sense of security. "Il était +temps!" (It was the hour), begins the soliloquy. For a moment, as it +ends, the flowers glow. _Méphistophélès_ withdraws into the shadows. +_Faust_ and _Marguerite_ appear. _Marguerite_ plucks the petals of a +flower: "He loves me--he loves me not--he loves!" There are two +ravishing duets for the lovers, "Laisse-moi contempler ton visage" +(Let me gaze upon thy beauty), and "Ô nuit d'amour ... ciel radieux!" + +[Music] + +(Oh, night of love! oh, starlit sky!). The music fairly enmeshes the +listener in its enchanting measures. + +[Music] + +_Faust_ and _Marguerite_ part, agreeing to meet on the morrow--"Oui, +demain! des l'aurore!" (Yes, tomorrow! at dawn!). She enters the +house. _Faust_ turns to leave the garden. He is confronted by +_Méphistophélès_, who points to the window. The casement is opened by +_Marguerite_, who believes she is alone. Kneeling in the window, she +gazes out upon the night flooded with moonlight. "Il m'aime; ... Ah! +presse ton retour, cher bien-aimé! Viens!" (He loves me; ah! haste +your return, dearly beloved! Come!). + +With a cry, _Faust_ rushes to the open casement, sinks upon his +knees. _Marguerite_, with an ecstatic exclamation, leans out of the +embrasure and allows him to take her into his arms. Her head rests +upon his shoulder. + +At the wicket is _Méphistophélès_, shaking with laughter. + +Act IV. The first scene in this act takes place in _Marguerite's_ +room. No wonder _Méphistophélès_ laughed when he saw her in _Faust's_ +arms. She has been betrayed and deserted. The faithful _Siebel_, +however, still offers her his love--"Si la bonheur à sourire t'invite" +(When all was young and pleasant, May was blooming)--but _Marguerite_ +still loves the man who betrayed her, and hopes against hope that he +will return. + +This episode is followed by the cathedral scene. _Marguerite_ has +entered the edifice and knelt to pray. But, invisible to her, +_Méphistophélès_ stands beside her and reminds her of her guilt. A +chorus of invisible demons calls to her accusingly. _Méphistophélès_ +foretells her doom. The "Dies iræ," accompanied on the organ, is +heard. _Marguerite's_ voice joins with those of the worshippers. But +_Méphistophélès_, when the chant is ended, calls out that for her, a +lost one, there yawns the abyss. She flees in terror. This is one of +the most significant episodes of the work. + +Now comes a scene in the street, in front of _Marguerite's_ house. The +soldiers return from war and sing their familiar chorus, "Gloire +immortelle" (Glory immortal). _Valentine_, forewarned by _Siebel's_ +troubled mien that all is not well with _Marguerite_, goes into the +house. _Faust_ and _Méphistophélès_ come upon the scene. Facing the +house, and accompanying himself on his guitar, the red gallant sings +an offensive serenade. _Valentine_, aroused by the insult, which he +correctly interprets as aimed at his sister, rushes out. There is a +spirited trio, "Redouble, ô Dieu puissant" (Give double strength, +great God on high). _Valentine_ smashes the guitar with his sword, +then attacks _Faust_, whose sword-thrust, guided by _Méphistophélès_, +mortally wounds _Marguerite's_ brother. _Marguerite_ comes into the +street, throws herself over _Valentine's_ body. With his dying breath +her brother curses her. + +Sometimes the order of the scenes in this act is changed. It may open +with the street scene, where the girls at the fountain hold themselves +aloof from _Marguerite_. Here the brief meeting between the girl and +_Siebel_ takes place. _Marguerite_ then goes into the house; the +soldiers return, etc. The act then ends with the cathedral scene. + +Act V. When Gounod revised "Faust" for the Grand Opéra, Paris, the +traditions of that house demanded a more elaborate ballet than the +dance in the kermis scene afforded. Consequently the authors reached +beyond the love story of _Faust_ and _Marguerite_ into the second part +of Goethe's drama and utilized the legendary revels of Walpurgis Night +(eve of May 1st) on the Brocken, the highest point of the Hartz +mountains. Here _Faust_ meets the courtesans of antiquity--Laïs, +Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Phryne. "Les Nubiennes," "Cléopatra et la +Coupe d'Or" (Cleopatra and the Goblet of Gold), "Les Troyennes" (The +Troyan Women), "Variation," and "Dance de Phryne" are the dances in +this ballet. More frequently than not the scene is omitted. To connect +it with the main story, there comes to _Faust_, in the midst of the +revels, a vision of _Marguerite_. Around her neck he beholds a red +line, "like the cut of an axe." He commands _Méphistophélès_ to take +him to her. + +They find her in prison, condemned to death for killing her child. +There is an impassioned duet for _Faust_ and _Marguerite_. He begs her +to make her escape with him. But her mind is wandering. In snatches of +melody from preceding scenes, she recalls the episode at the kermis, +the night in the garden. She sees _Méphistophélès_, senses his +identity with the arch-fiend. There is a superb trio, in which +_Marguerite_ ecstatically calls upon angels to intervene and save +her--"Anges purs! Anges radieux!" (Angels pure, radiant, bright). + +[Music] + +The voices mount higher and higher, _Marguerite's_ soaring to a +splendid climax. She dies. + +"Condemned!" cries _Méphistophélès_. + +"Saved," chant ethereal voices. + +The rear wall of the prison opens. Angels are seen bearing +_Marguerite_ heavenward. _Faust_ falls on his knees in prayer. +_Méphistophélès_ turns away, "barred by the shining sword of an +archangel." + +During the ten years that elapsed between the productions at the +Théâtre Lyrique and the Grand Opéra, "Faust" had only thirty-seven +performances. Within eight years (1887) after it was introduced to the +Grand Opéra, it had 1000 performances there. From 1901-1910 it was +given nearly 3000 times in Germany. After the score had been declined +by several publishers, it was brought out by Choudens, who paid Gounod +10,000 francs ($2000) for it, and made a fortune out of the venture. +For the English rights the composer is said to have received only £40 +($200) and then only upon the insistence of Chorley, the author of the +English version. + + +ROMÉO ET JULIETTE + +ROMEO AND JULIET + + Opera in five acts, by Gounod; words by Barbier and Carré, + after the tragedy by Shakespeare. Produced Paris, Théâtre + Lyrique, April 27, 1867; January, 1873, taken over by the + Opéra Comique; Grand Opéra, November 28, 1888. London, + Covent Garden, in Italian, July 11, 1867. New York, Academy + of Music, November 15, 1867, with Minnie Hauck as _Juliet_; + Metropolitan Opera House, December 14, 1891, with Eames + (_Juliet_), Jean de Reszke (_Romeo_), Édouard de Reszke + (_Friar Lawrence_). Chicago, December 15, 1916, with + Muratore as _Romeo_ and Galli-Curci as _Juliet_. + + CHARACTERS + + THE DUKE OF VERONA _Bass_ + COUNT PARIS _Baritone_ + COUNT CAPULET _Bass_ + JULIET, his daughter _Soprano_ + GERTRUDE, her nurse _Mezzo-Soprano_ + TYBALT, Capulet's nephew _Tenor_ + ROMEO, a Montague _Tenor_ + MERCUTIO _Baritone_ + BENVOLIO, Romeo's page _Soprano_ + GREGORY, a Capulet retainer _Baritone_ + FRIAR LAWRENCE _Bass_ + + Nobles and ladies of Verona, citizens, soldiers, monks, and + pages. + + _Time_--14th Century. + + _Place_--Verona. + +Having gone to Goethe for "Faust," Gounod's librettists, Barbier and +Carré, went to Shakespeare for "Roméo et Juliette," which, like +"Faust," reached the Paris Grand Opéra by way of the Théâtre Lyrique. +Mme. Miolan-Carvalho, the original _Marguerite_, also created +_Juliette_. + +"Roméo et Juliette" has been esteemed more highly in France than +elsewhere. In America, save for performances in New Orleans, it was +only during the Grau régime at the Metropolitan Opera House, when it +was given in French with casts familiar with the traditions of the +Grand Opéra, that it can be said regularly to have held a place in the +repertoire. Eames is remembered as a singularly beautiful _Juliette_, +vocally and personally; Capoul, Jean de Reszke, and Saléza, as +_Roméos_; Édouard de Reszke as _Frère Laurent_. + +Nicolini, who became Adelina Patti's second husband, sang _Roméo_ at +the Grand Opéra to her _Juliette_. She was then the Marquise de Caux, +her marriage to the Marquis having been brought about by the Empress +Eugénie. But that this marriage was not to last long, and that the +_Romeo_ and _Juliet_ were as much in love with each other in actual +life as on the stage, was revealed one night to a Grand Opéra +audience, when, during the balcony scene, prima donna and tenor--so +the record says--imprinted twenty-nine real kisses on each other's +lips. + +The libretto is in five acts and follows closely, often even to the +text, Shakespeare's tragedy. There is a prologue in which the +characters and chorus briefly rehearse the story that is to unfold +itself. + +Act I. The grand hall in the palace of the Capulets. A fête is in +progress. The chorus sings gay measures. _Tybalt_ speaks to _Paris_ of +_Juliet_, who at that moment appears with her father. _Capulet_ bids +the guests welcome and to be of good cheer--"Soyez les bienvenus, +amis" (Be ye welcome, friends), and "Allons! jeunes gens! Allons! +belles dames!" (Bestir ye, young nobles! And ye, too, fair ladies!). + +_Romeo_, _Mercutio_, _Benvolio_, and half-a-dozen followers come +masked. Despite the deadly feud between the two houses, they, +Montagues, have ventured to come as maskers to the fête of the +Capulets. _Mercutio_ sings of Queen Mab, a number as gossamerlike in +the opera as the monologue is in the play; hardly ever sung as it +should be, because the rôle of _Mercutio_ rarely is assigned to a +baritone capable of doing justice to the airy measures of "Mab, la +reine des mensonges" (Mab, Queen Mab, the fairies' midwife). + +The Montagues withdraw to another part of the palace. _Juliet_ returns +with _Gertrude_, her nurse. Full of high spirits, she sings the +graceful and animated waltz, "Dans ce rêve, qui m'enivre" +[Transcriber's Note: correct title is 'Je veux vivre dans le rêve'] +(Fair is the tender dream of youth). + +[Music] + +The nurse is called away. _Romeo_, wandering in, meets _Juliet_. +Their love, as in the play, is instantaneous. _Romeo_ addresses her in +passionate accents, "Ange adorable" (Angel! adored one). His +addresses, _Juliet's_ replies, make a charming duo. + +Upon the re-entry of _Tybalt_, _Romeo_, who had removed his mask, +again adjusts it. But _Tybalt_ suspects who he is, and from the +utterance of his suspicions, _Juliet_ learns that the handsome youth, +to whom her heart has gone out, is none other than _Romeo_, scion of +the Montagues, the sworn enemies of her house. The fiery _Tybalt_ is +for attacking _Romeo_ and his followers then and there. But old +_Capulet_, respecting the laws of hospitality, orders that the fête +proceed. + +Act II. The garden of the Capulets. The window of _Juliet's_ +apartment, and the balcony, upon which it gives. _Romeo's_ page, +_Stephano_, a character introduced by the librettists, holds a ladder +by which _Romeo_ ascends to the balcony. _Stephano_ leaves, bearing +the ladder with him. + +_Romeo_ sings, "Ah! lève-toi, soleil" (Ah! fairest dawn arise). The +window opens, _Juliet_ comes out upon the balcony. _Romeo_ conceals +himself. From her soliloquy he learns that, although he is a Montague, +she loves him. He discloses his presence. The interchange of pledges +is exquisite. Lest the sweetness of so much love music become too +cloying, the librettists interrupt it with an episode. The Capulet +retainer, _Gregory_, and servants of the house, suspecting that an +intruder is in the garden, for they have seen _Stephano_ speeding +away, search unsuccessfully and depart. + +The nurse calls. _Juliet_ re-enters her apartment. _Romeo_ sings, "Ô +nuit divine" (Oh, night divine). _Juliet_ again steals out upon the +balcony. "Ah! je te l'ai dit, je t'adore!" (Ah, I have told you that I +adore you), sings _Romeo_. There is a beautiful duet, "Ah! ne fuis +pas encore!" (Ah, do not flee again). A brief farewell. The curtain +falls upon the "balcony scene." + +Act III, Part I. _Friar Lawrence's_ cell. Here takes place the wedding +of _Romeo_ and _Juliet_, the good friar hoping that their union may +lead to peace between the two great Veronese houses of Montague and +Capulet. There are in this part of the act _Friar Lawrence's_ prayer, +"Dieu, qui fis l'homme à ton image" (God, who made man in Thine +image); a trio, in which the friar chants the rubric, and the pair +respond; and an effective final quartet for _Juliet_, _Gertrude_, +_Romeo_, and _Friar Lawrence_. + +Part II. A street near _Capulet's_ house. _Stephano_, having vainly +sought _Romeo_, and thinking he still may be in concealment in +_Capulet's_ garden, sings a ditty likely to rouse the temper of the +Capulet household, and bring its retainers into the street, thus +affording _Romeo_ a chance to get away. The ditty is "Que fais-tu, +blanche tourterelle" (Gentle dove, why art thou clinging?). _Gregory_ +and _Stephano_ draw and fight. The scene develops, as in the play. +Friends of the two rival houses appear. _Mercutio_ fights _Tybalt_ and +is slain, and is avenged by _Romeo_, who kills _Tybalt_, _Juliet's_ +kinsman, and, in consequence, is banished from Verona by the _Duke_. + +[Illustration: Photo copyright, 1916, by Victor Georg + +Galli-Curci as Juliette in "Roméo et Juliette"] + +Act IV. It is the room of _Juliet_, to which _Romeo_ has found access, +in order to bid her farewell, before he goes into exile. The lingering +_adieux_, the impassioned accents in which the despair of parting is +expressed--these find eloquent utterance in the music. There is the +duet, "Nuit d'hyménée, Ô douce nuit d'amour" (Night hymeneal, sweetest +night of love). _Romeo_ hears the lark, sure sign of approaching day, +but _Juliet_ protests. "Non, non, ce n'est pas le jour" (No, no! 'Tis +not yet the day). Yet the parting time cannot be put off longer. +_Romeo:_ "Ah! reste! reste encore dans mes bras enlacés" (Ah! rest! +rest once more within mine entwining arms); then both, "Il faut +partir, hélas" (Now we must part, alas). + +Hardly has _Romeo_ gone when _Gertrude_ runs in to warn _Juliet_ that +her father is approaching with _Friar Lawrence_. _Tybalt's_ dying +wish, whispered into old _Capulet's_ ear, was that the marriage +between _Juliet_ and the noble whom _Capulet_ has chosen for her +husband, _Count Paris_, be speeded. _Juliet's_ father comes to bid her +prepare for the marriage. Neither she, the friar, nor the nurse dare +tell _Capulet_ of her secret nuptials with _Romeo_. This gives +significance to the quartet, "Ne crains rien" (I fear no more). +_Capulet_ withdraws, leaving, as he supposes, _Friar Lawrence_ to +explain to _Juliet_ the details of the ceremony. It is then the friar, +in the dramatic, "Buvez donc ce breuvage" (Drink then of this +philtre), gives her the potion, upon drinking which she shall appear +as dead. + +The scene changes to the grand hall of the palace. Guests arrive for +the nuptials. There is occasion for the ballet, so essential for a +production at the Grand Opéra. _Juliet_ drains the vial, falls as if +dead. + +Act V. The tomb of the Capulets. _Romeo_, having heard in his exile +that his beloved is no more, breaks into the tomb. She, recovering +from the effects of the philtre, finds him dying, plunges a dagger +into her breast, and expires with him. + +In the music there is an effective prelude. _Romeo_, on entering the +tomb, sings, "Ô ma femme! ô ma bien aimée" (O wife, dearly beloved). +_Juliet_, not yet aware that _Romeo_ has taken poison, and _Romeo_ +forgetting for the moment that death's cold hand already is reaching +out for him, they sing, "Viens fuyons au bout du monde" (Come, let us +fly to the ends of the earth). Then _Romeo_ begins to feel the effect +of the poison, and tells _Juliet_ what he has done. "Console-toi, +pauvre âme" (Console thyself, sad heart). But _Juliet_ will not live +without him, and while he, in his wandering mind, hears the lark, as +at their last parting, she stabs herself. + + * * * * * + +As "Roméo et Juliette" contains much beautiful music, people may +wonder why it lags so far behind "Faust" in popularity. One reason is +that, in the layout of the libretto the authors deliberately sought to +furnish Gounod with another "Faust," and so challenged comparison. +Even _Stephano_, a character of their creation, was intended to give +the same balance to the cast that _Siebel_ does to that of "Faust." In +a performance of Shakespeare's play it is possible to act the scene of +parting without making it too much the duplication of the balcony +scene, which it appears to be in the opera. The "balcony scene" is an +obvious attempt to create another "garden scene." But in "Faust," what +would be the too long-drawn-out sweetness of too much love music is +overcome, in the most natural manner, by the brilliant "Jewel Song," +and by _Méphistophélès's_ sinister invocation of the flowers. In +"Roméo et Juliette," on the other hand, the interruption afforded by +_Gregory_ and the chorus is too artificial not to be merely +disturbing. + +It should be said again, however, that French audiences regard the +work with far more favour than we do. "In France," says Storck, in his +_Opernbuch_, "the work, perhaps not unjustly, is regarded as Gounod's +best achievement, and has correspondingly numerous performances." + + + + +Ambroise Thomas + + +MIGNON + + Opera in three acts by Ambroise Thomas, words, based on + Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister," by Barbier and Carré. Produced, + Opéra Comique, Paris, November 17, 1866. London, Drury Lane, + July 5, 1870. New York, Academy of Music, November 22, 1871, + with Nilsson, Duval (_Filina_), Mlle. Ronconi (_Frederick_) + and Capoul; Metropolitan Opera House, October 21, 1883, with + Nilsson, Capoul, and Scalchi (_Frederick_). + + CHARACTERS + + MIGNON, stolen in childhood from + an Italian castle _Mezzo-Soprano_ + PHILINE, an actress _Soprano_ + FRÉDÉRIC, a young nobleman _Buffo Tenor or Contralto_ + WILHELM, a student on his travels _Tenor_ + LAERTES, an actor _Tenor_ + LOTHARIO _Bass_ + GIARNO, a gypsy _Bass_ + ANTONIO, a servant _Bass_ + + Townspeople, gypsies, actors and actresses, servants, etc. + + _Time_--Late 18th Century. + + _Place_--Acts I and II, Germany. Act III, Italy. + +Notwithstanding the popularity of two airs in "Mignon"--"Connais-tu le +pays?" and the "Polonaise"--the opera is given here but infrequently. +It is a work of delicate texture; of charm rather than passion; with a +story that is, perhaps, too ingenuous to appeal to the sophisticated +audience of the modern opera house. Moreover the "Connais-tu le pays" +was at one time done to death here, both by concert singers and +amateurs. Italian composers are fortunate in having written music so +difficult technically that none but the most accomplished singers can +risk it. + +The early performances of "Mignon" in this country were in Italian, +and were more successful than the later revivals in French, by which +time the opera had become somewhat passé. From these early impressions +we are accustomed to call _Philine_ by her Italian equivalent of +_Filina_. _Frédéric_, since Trebelli appeared in the rôle in London, +has become a contralto instead of a buffo tenor part. The "Rondo +Gavotte" in Act II, composed for her by Thomas, has since then been a +fixture in the score. She appeared in the rôle at the Metropolitan +Opera House, December 5, 1883, with Nilsson and Capoul. + +Act I. Courtyard of a German inn. Chorus of townspeople and +travellers. _Lothario_, a wandering minstrel, sings, accompanying +himself on his harp, "Fugitif et tremblant" (A lonely wanderer). +_Filina_ and _Laertes_, on the way with their troupe to give a +theatrical performance in a neighbouring castle, appear on a balcony. +_Mignon_ is sleeping on straw in the back of a gypsy cart. _Giarno_, +chief of the gypsy band, rouses her. She refuses to dance. He +threatens her with a stick. _Lothario_ and _Wilhelm_ protect her. +_Mignon_ divides a bouquet of wild flowers between them. + +_Laertes_, who has come down from the balcony, engages _Wilhelm_ in +conversation. _Filina_ joins them. _Wilhelm_ is greatly impressed with +her blonde beauty. He does not protest when _Laertes_ takes from him +the wild flowers he has received from _Mignon_ and hands them to +_Filina_. + +When _Filina_ and _Laertes_ have gone, there is a scene between +_Wilhelm_ and _Mignon_. The girl tells him of dim memories of her +childhood--the land from which she was abducted. It is at this point +she sings "Connais-tu le pays" (Knowest thou the land). _Wilhelm_ +decides to purchase her freedom, and enters the inn with _Giarno_ to +conclude the negotiations. _Lothario_, who is about to wander on, has +been attracted to her, and, before leaving, bids her farewell. They +have the charming duet, "Légères hirondelles" (O swallows, lightly +gliding). There is a scene for _Filina_ and _Frédéric_, a booby, who +is in love with her. _Filina_ is after better game. She is setting her +cap for _Wilhelm_. _Lothario_ wishes to take _Mignon_ with him. But +_Wilhelm_ fears for her safety with the old man, whose mind sometimes +appears to wander. Moreover _Mignon_ ardently desires to remain in the +service of _Wilhelm_ who has freed her from bondage to the gypsies, +and, when _Wilhelm_ declines to let her go with _Lothario_, is +enraptured, until she sees her wild flowers in _Filina's_ hand. For +already she is passionately in love with _Wilhelm_, and jealous when +_Filina_ invites him to attend the theatricals at the castle. +_Wilhelm_ waves adieu to _Filina_, as she drives away. _Lothario_, +pensive, remains seated. _Mignon's_ gaze is directed toward _Wilhelm_. + +Act II. _Filina's_ boudoir at the castle. The actress sings of her +pleasure in these elegant surroundings and of _Wilhelm_. _Laertes_ is +heard without, singing a madrigal to _Filina_, "Belle, ayez pitié de +nous" (Fair one, pity take on us). + +He ushers in _Wilhelm_ and _Mignon_, then withdraws. _Mignon_, +pretending to fall asleep, watches _Wilhelm_ and _Filina_. While +_Wilhelm_ hands to the actress various toilet accessories, they sing a +graceful duet, "Je crois entendre les doux compliments" (Pray, let me +hear now the sweetest of phrases). Meanwhile _Mignon's_ heart is +tormented with jealousy. When _Wilhelm_ and _Filina_ leave the boudoir +the girl dons one of _Filina's_ costumes, seats herself at the mirror +and puts on rouge and other cosmetics, as she has seen _Filina_ do. In +a spirit of abandon she sings a "Styrienne," "Je connais un pauvre +enfant" (A gypsy lad I well do know). She then withdraws into an +adjoining room. _Frédéric_ enters the boudoir in search of _Filina_. +He sings the gavotte, "Me voici dans son boudoir" (Here am I in her +boudoir). _Wilhelm_ comes in, in search of _Mignon_. The men meet. +There is an exchange of jealous accusations. They are about to fight, +when _Mignon_ rushes between them. _Frédéric_ recognizes _Filina's_ +costume on her, and goes off laughing. _Wilhelm_, realizing the +awkward situation that may arise from the girl's following him about, +tells her they must part. "Adieu, Mignon, courage" (Farewell, Mignon, +have courage). She bids him a sad farewell. _Filina_ re-enters. Her +sarcastic references to _Mignon's_ attire wound the girl to the quick. +When _Wilhelm_ leads out the actress on his arm, _Mignon_ exclaims: +"That woman! I loathe her!" + +The second scene of this act is laid in the castle park. _Mignon_, +driven to distraction, is about to throw herself into the lake, when +she hears the strains of a harp. _Lothario_, who has wandered into the +park, is playing. There is an exchange of affection, almost paternal +on his part, almost filial on hers, in their duet, "As-tu souffert? +As-tu pleureé?" (Hast thou known sorrow? Hast thou wept?). _Mignon_ +hears applause and acclaim from the conservatory for _Filina's_ +acting. In jealous rage she cries out that she wishes the building +might be struck by lightning and destroyed by fire; then runs off and +disappears among the trees. _Lothario_ vaguely repeats her words. +"'Fire,' she said! Ah, 'fire! fire!'" Through the trees he wanders off +in the direction of the conservatory, just as its doors are thrown +open and the guests and actors issue forth. + +They have been playing "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and _Filina_, +flushed with success, sings the brilliant "Polonaise," "Je suis +Titania" (Behold Titania, fair and gay). _Mignon_ appears. _Wilhelm_, +who has sadly missed her, greets her with so much joy that _Filina_ +sends her into the conservatory in search of the wild flowers given to +_Wilhelm_ the day before. Soon after _Mignon_ has entered the +conservatory it is seen to be in flames. _Lothario_, obedient to her +jealous wish, has set it on fire. At the risk of his life _Wilhelm_ +rushes into the burning building and reappears with _Mignon's_ +fainting form in his arms. He places her on a grassy bank. Her hand +still holds a bunch of withered flowers. + +Act III. Gallery in an Italian castle, to which _Wilhelm_ has brought +_Mignon_ and _Lothario_. _Mignon_ has been dangerously ill. A boating +chorus is heard from the direction of a lake below. _Lothario_, +standing by the door of _Mignon's_ sick-room, sings a lullaby, "De son +coeur j'ai calmé la fièvre" (I've soothed the throbbing of her +aching heart). _Wilhelm_ tells _Lothario_ that they are in the +Cipriani castle, which he intends to buy for _Mignon_. At the name of +the castle _Lothario_ is strangely agitated. + +_Wilhelm_ has heard _Mignon_ utter his own name in her aberrations +during her illness. He sings, "Elle ne croyait pas" (She does not +know). When she enters the gallery from her sick-room and looks out on +the landscape, she is haunted by memories. There is a duet for +_Mignon_ and _Wilhelm_, "Je suis heureuse, l'air m'enivre" (Now I +rejoice, life reawakens). _Filina's_ voice is heard outside. The girl +is violently agitated. But _Wilhelm_ reassures her. + +In the scenes that follow, _Lothario_, his reason restored by being +again in familiar surroundings, recognizes in the place his own castle +and in _Mignon_ his daughter, whose loss had unsettled his mind and +sent him, in minstrel's disguise, wandering in search of her. The +opera closes with a trio for _Mignon_, _Wilhelm_, and _Lothario_. In +it is heard the refrain of "Connais-tu le pays." + + * * * * * + +"Hamlet," the words by Barbier and Carré, based on Shakespeare's +tragedy, is another opera by Ambroise Thomas. It ranks high in France, +where it was produced at the Grand Opéra, March 9, 1868, with Nilsson +as _Ophelia_ and Faure in the title rôle; but outside of France it +never secured any approach to the popularity that "Mignon" at one time +enjoyed. It was produced in London, in Italian, as "Amleto," Covent +Garden, June 19, 1869, with Nilsson and Santley. In America, where it +was produced in the Academy of Music, March 22, 1872, with Nilsson, +Cary, Brignoli, Barré, and Jamet, it has met the fate of practically +all operas in which the principal character is a baritone--esteem from +musicians, but indifference on the part of the public. It was revived +in 1892 for Lasalle, and by the Chicago Opera Company for Ruffo. + +The opera contains in Act I, a love duet for _Hamlet_ and _Ophelia_, +and the scene between _Hamlet_ and his father's _Ghost_; in Act II, +the scene with the players, with a drinking song for _Hamlet_; in Act +III, the soliloquy, "To be or not to be," and the scene between +_Hamlet_ and the _Queen_; in Act IV, _Ophelia's_ mad scene and suicide +by drowning; in Act V, the scene in the graveyard, with a totally +different ending to the opera from that to the play. _Hamlet_ voices a +touching song to _Ophelia's_ memory; then, stung by the _Ghost's_ +reproachful look, stabs the _King_, as whose successor he is +proclaimed by the people. + +Following is the distribution of voices: _Hamlet_, baritone; +_Claudius_, King of Denmark, bass; _Laertes_, Polonius's son, tenor; +_Ghost_ of the dead King, bass; _Polonius_, bass; _Gertrude_, Queen of +Denmark, Hamlet's mother, mezzo-soprano; and _Ophelia_, Polonius's +daughter, soprano. + + * * * * * + +Ambroise Thomas was born at Metz, August 5, 1811; died at Paris, +February 12, 1896. He studied at the Paris Conservatory, where, in +1832, he won the grand prix de Rome. In 1871 he became director of the +Conservatory, being considered Auber's immediate successor, although +the post was held for a few days by the communist Salvador Daniel, who +was killed in battle, May 23d. + + + + +Georges Bizet + + +CARMEN + + Opera in four acts by Georges Bizet; words by Henri Meilhac + and Ludovic Halévy, founded on the novel by Prosper Mérimée. + Produced, Opéra Comique, Paris, March 3, 1875, the title + rôle being created by Galli-Marié. Her Majesty's Theatre, + London, in Italian, June 22, 1878; same theatre, February 5, + 1879, in English; same theatre, November 8, 1886, in French, + with Galli-Marié. Minnie Hauck, who created _Carmen_, in + London, also created the rôle in America, October 23, 1879, + at the Academy of Music, New York, with Campanini (_Don + José_), Del Puente (_Escamillo_), and Mme. Sinico + (_Micaela_). The first New Orleans _Carmen_, January 14, + 1881, was Mme. Ambré. Calvé made her New York début as + _Carmen_ at the Metropolitan Opera House, December 20, 1893, + with Jean de Reszke (_Don José_), and Eames (_Micaela_). + Bressler-Gianoli, and afterwards Calvé, sang the rôle at the + Manhattan Opera House. Farrar made her first appearance as + _Carmen_ at the Metropolitan Opera House, November 19, + 1914. Campanini, Jean de Reszke, and Caruso are the most + famous _Don Josés_ who have appeared in this country; but + the rôle also has been admirably interpreted by Saléza and + Dalmorès. No singer has approached Emma Eames as _Micaela_; + nor has any interpreter of _Escamillo_ equalled Del Puente, + who had the range and quality of voice and buoyancy of + action which the rôle requires. Galassi, Campanari, Plançon, + and Amato should be mentioned as other interpreters of the + rôle. + + February 13, 1912, Mary Garden appeared as _Carmen_ at the + Metropolitan Opera House, with the Chicago Opera Company. + + "Carmen" is an opera of world-wide popularity, and as highly + esteemed by musicians as by the public. + + CHARACTERS + + DON JOSÉ, a corporal of dragoons _Tenor_ + ESCAMILLO, a toreador _Baritone_ + EL DANCAIRO } smugglers { _Baritone_ + EL REMENDADO } { _Tenor_ + ZUNIGA, a captain _Bass_ + MORALES, an officer _Bass_ + MICAELA, a peasant girl _Soprano_ + FRASQUITA } gypsies, { _Mezzo-Soprano_ + MERCEDES } friends of Carmen { _Mezzo-Soprano_ + CARMEN, a cigarette girl and gypsy _Soprano_ + + Innkeeper, guide, officers, dragoons, boys, cigarette girls, + gypsies, smugglers, etc. + + _Time_--About 1820. + + _Place_--Seville, Spain. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Calvé as Carmen with Sparkes as Frasquita and Braslau as Mercedes] + +Act I. A square in Seville. On the right the gate of a cigarette +factory. At the back, facing the audience, is a practicable bridge +from one side of the stage to the other, and reached from the stage by +a winding staircase on the right beyond the factory gate. The bridge +also is practicable underneath. People from a higher level of the city +can cross it and descend by the stairway to the square. Others can +pass under it. In front, on the left, is a guard-house. Above it three +steps lead to a covered passage. In a rack, close to the door, are the +lances of the dragoons of Almanza, with their little red and yellow +flags. + +_Morales_ and soldiers are near the guard-house. People are coming and +going. There is a brisk chorus, "Sur la place" (O'er this square). +_Micaela_ comes forward, as if looking for someone. + +"And for whom are you looking?" _Morales_ asks of the pretty girl, who +shyly has approached the soldiers lounging outside the guard-house. + +"I am looking for a corporal," she answers. + +"I am one," _Morales_ says, gallantly. + +"But not _the_ one. His name is José." + +The soldiers, scenting amusement in trying to flirt with a pretty +creature, whose innocence is as apparent as her charm, urge her to +remain until _Don José_ comes at change of guard. But, saying she will +return then, she runs away like a frightened deer, past the cigarette +factory, across the square, and down one of the side streets. + +A fascinating little march for fifes and trumpets is heard, at first +in the distance, then gradually nearer. + +The change of guard arrives, preceded by a band of street lads, +imitating the step of the dragoons. After the lads come _Captain +Zuniga_ and _Corporal José_; then dragoons, armed with lances. The +ceremony of changing guard is gone through with, to the accompaniment +of a chorus of gamins and grown-up spectators. It is a lively scene. + +"It must have been Micaela," says _Don José_, when they tell him of +the girl with tresses of fair hair and dress of blue, who was looking +for him. "Nor do I mind saying," he adds, "that I love her." And +indeed, although there are some sprightly girls in the crowd that have +gathered in the square to see the guard changed, he has no eyes for +them, but, straddling a chair out in the open, busies himself trying +to join the links of a small chain that has come apart. + +The bell of the cigarette factory strikes the work hour, and the +cigarette girls push their way through the crowd, stopping to make +eyes at the soldiers and young men, or lingering to laugh and chat, +before passing through the factory gates. + +A shout goes up: + +"Carmen!" + +A girl, dark as a gypsy and lithe as a panther, darts across the +bridge and down the steps into the square, the crowd parting and +making way for her. + +"Love you?" she cries insolently to the men who press around her and +ply her with their attentions. "Perhaps tomorrow. Anyhow not today." +Then, a dangerous fire kindling in her eyes, she sways slowly to and +fro to the rhythm of a "Habanera," singing the while, "L'amour est un +oiseau rebelle," etc. + + "Love is a gypsy boy, 'tis true, + He ever was and ever will be free; + Love you not me, then I love you, + Yet, if I love you, beware of me!" + +[Music] + +Often she glances toward _José_, often dances so close to him that she +almost touches him, and by subtle inflections in her voice seeks to +attract his attention. But he seems unaware of her presence. Indeed +if, thinking of _Micaela_, he has steeled himself against the gypsy, +in whose every glance, step, and song lurks peril, the handsome +dragoon could not be busying himself more obstinately with the broken +chain in his hand. + +"Yet, if I love you, beware of me!" + +Tearing from her bodice a blood-red cassia flower, she flings it at +him point blank. He springs to his feet, as if he would rush at her. +But he meets her look, and stops where he stands. Then, with a toss of +the head and a mocking laugh, she runs into the factory, followed by +the other girls, while the crowd, having had its sport, disperses. + +The librettists have constructed an admirable scene. The composer has +taken full advantage of it. The "Habanera" establishes _Carmen_ in the +minds of the audience--the gypsy girl, passionate yet fickle, quick to +love and quick to tire. Hers the dash of fatalism that flirts with +death. + +At _José's_ feet lies the cassia flower thrown by _Carmen_, the glance +of whose dark eyes had checked him. Hesitatingly, yet as if in spite +of himself, he stoops and picks it up, presses it to his nostrils and +draws in its subtle perfume in a long breath. Then, still as if +involuntarily, or as if a magic spell lies in its odour, he thrusts +the flower under his blouse and over his heart. + +He no more than has concealed it there, when _Micaela_ again enters +the square and hurries to him with joyful exclamations. She brings him +tidings from home, and some money from his mother's savings, with +which to eke out his small pay. They have a charming duet, "Ma mère, +je la vois, je revois mon village" (My home in yonder valley, my +mother, lov'd, again I'll see). + +It is evident that _Micaela's_ coming gives him a welcome change of +thought, and that, although she cannot remain long, her sweet, pure +presence has for the time being lifted the spell the gypsy has cast +over him. For, when _Micaela_ has gone, _José_ grasps the flower under +his blouse, evidently intending to draw it out and cast it away. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by A. Dupont + +Caruso as Don José in "Carmen"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Caruso as Don José in "Carmen"] + +Just then, however, there are cries of terror from the cigarette +factory and, in a moment, the square is filled with screaming girls, +soldiers, and others. From the excited utterances of the cigarette +girls it is learned that there has been a quarrel between _Carmen_ and +another girl, and that _Carmen_ has wounded the latter with a +knife. _Zuniga_ promptly orders _José_ to take two dragoons with him +into the factory and arrest her. None abashed, and smirking, she comes +out with them. When the captain begins questioning her, she answers +with a gay "Tra la la, tra la la," pitching her voice on a higher note +after each question with an indescribable effect of mockery, that +makes her dark beauty the more fascinating. + +Losing patience, the officer orders her hands tied behind her back, +while he makes out the warrant for her imprisonment. The soldiers +having driven away the crowd, _Don José_ is left to guard _Carmen_. + +Pacing up and down the square, he appears to be avoiding her. But she, +as if speaking to herself, or thinking aloud, and casting furtive +glances at him, tells of a handsome young dragoon with whom she has +fallen in love. + +"He is not a captain, nor even a lieutenant--only a corporal. But he +will do what I ask--because he is in love with me!" + +"I?--I love you?" _José_ pauses beside her. + +With a coquettish toss of the head and a significant glance she asks, +"Where is the flower I threw at you? What have you done with it?" +Then, softly, she sings another, alluring melody in typical Spanish +dance measure, a "Seguidilla," "Près des remparts de Séville." + + "Near by the ramparts of Seville, + Is the inn of my friend, Lillas Pastia, + There I'll dance the gay Seguidilla-- + And the dance with my lover I'll share." + +[Music] + +"Carmen!" cries _José_, "you have bewitched me...." + +"Near by the ramparts of Seville.... And the dance with my lover I'll +share!" she murmurs insinuatingly, and at the same time she holds back +her bound wrists toward him. Quickly he undoes the knot, but leaves +the rope about her wrists so that she still appears to be a captive, +when the captain comes from the guard-house with the warrant. He is +followed by the soldiers, and the crowd, drawn by curiosity to see +_Carmen_ led off to prison, again fills the square. + +_José_ places her between two dragoons, and the party starts for the +bridge. When they reach the steps, _Carmen_ quickly draws her hands +free of the rope, shoves the soldiers aside, and, before they know +what has happened, dashes up to the bridge and across it, tossing the +rope down into the square as she disappears from sight, while the +crowd, hindering pursuit by blocking the steps, jeers at the +discomfited soldiers. + +Act II. The tavern of Lillas Pastia. Benches right and left. Towards +the end of a dinner. The table is in confusion. + +_Frasquita_, _Mercedes_, and _Morales_ are with _Carmen_; also other +officers, gypsies, etc. The officers are smoking. Two gypsies in a +corner play the guitar and two others dance. _Carmen_ looks at them. +_Morales_ speaks to her; she does not listen to him, but suddenly +rises and sings, "Les tringles des sistres tintaient" (Ah, when of gay +guitars the sound). + +_Frasquita_ and _Mercedes_ join in the "Tra la la la" of the refrain. +While Carmen clicks the castanets, the dance, in which she and others +have joined the two gypsies, becomes more rapid and violent. With the +last notes _Carmen_ drops on a seat. + +The refrain, "Tra la la la," with its rising inflection, is a most +characteristic and effective bit. + +[Music] + +There are shouts outside, "Long live the torero! Long live Escamillo!" +The famous bullfighter, the victor of the bull ring at Granada, is +approaching. He sings the famous "Couplets du Toréador," a rousing +song with refrain and chorus. "Votre toast je peux vous le rendre" (To +your toast I drink with pleasure) begins the number. The refrain, with +chorus, is "Toréador, en garde" (Toreador, e'er watchful be). + +[Music] + +_Escamillo's_ debonair manner, his glittering uniform, his reputation +for prowess, make him a brilliant and striking figure. He is much +struck with _Carmen_. She is impressed by him. But her fancy still is +for the handsome dragoon, who has been under arrest since he allowed +her to escape, and only that day has been freed. The _Toreador_, +followed by the crowd, which includes _Morales_, departs. + +It is late. The tavern keeper closes the shutters and leaves the room. +_Carmen_, _Frasquita_, and _Mercedes_ are quickly joined by the +smugglers, _El Dancairo_ and _El Remendado_. The men need the aid of +the three girls in wheedling the coast-guard, and possibly others, +into neglect of duty. Their sentiments, "En matière de tromperie," +etc. [Transcriber's Note: Correct lyrics are 'Quand il s'agit de +tromperie'] (When it comes to a matter of cheating ... let women in on +the deal), are expressed in a quintet that is full of spontaneous +merriment--in fact, nowhere in "Carmen," not even in the most dramatic +passages, is the music forced. + +The men want the girls to depart with them at once. _Carmen_ wishes to +await _José_. The men suggest that she win him over to become one of +their band. Not a bad idea, she thinks. They leave it to her to carry +out the plan. + +Even now _José_ is heard singing, as he approaches the tavern, "Halte +là! Qui va là? Dragon d'Alcala!" (Halt there! Who goes there? Dragoon +of Alcala!). He comes in. Soon she has made him jealous by telling him +that she was obliged to dance for _Morales_ and the officers. But now +she will dance for him. + +She begins to dance. His eyes are fastened on her. From the distant +barracks a bugle call is heard. It is the "retreat," the summons to +quarters. The dance, the bugle call, which comes nearer, passes by and +into the distance, the lithe, swaying figure, the wholly obsessed look +of _José_--these are details of a remarkably effective scene. _José_ +starts to obey the summons to quarters. _Carmen_ taunts him with +placing duty above his love for her. He draws from his breast the +flower she gave him, and, showing it to her in proof of his passion, +sings the pathetic air, "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" (The flower +that once to me you gave). + +[Music] + +Despite her lure, he hesitates to become a deserter and follow her to +the mountains. But at that moment _Morales_, thinking to find _Carmen_ +alone, bursts open the tavern door. There is an angry scene between +_Morales_ and _José_. They draw their sabres. The whole band of +smugglers comes in at _Carmen's_ call. _El Dancairo_ and _El +Remandado_ cover _Morales_ with their pistols, and lead him off. + +"And you? Will you now come with us?" asks _Carmen_ of _Don José_. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Calvé as Carmen] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Amato as Escamillo in "Carmen"] + +He, a corporal who has drawn his sabre against an officer, an act of +insubordination for which severe punishment awaits him, is ready now +to follow his temptress to the mountains. + +Act III. A rocky and picturesque spot among rocks on a mountain. At +the rising of the curtain there is complete solitude. After a few +moments a smuggler appears on the summit of a rock, then two, then the +whole band, descending and scrambling down the mass of rocks. Among +them are _Carmen_, _Don José_, _El Dancairo_, _El Remendado_, +_Frasquita_, and _Mercedes_. + +The opening chorus has a peculiarly attractive lilt. + +_Don José_ is unhappy. _Carmen's_ absorbing passion for him has been +of brief duration. A creature of impulse, she is fickle and wayward. +_Don José_, a soldier bred, but now a deserter, is ill at ease among +the smugglers, and finds cause to reproach himself for sacrificing +everything to a fierce and capricious beauty, in whose veins courses +the blood of a lawless race. Yet he still loves her to distraction, +and is insanely jealous of her. She gives him ample cause for +jealousy. It is quite apparent that the impression made upon her by +_Escamillo_, the dashing toreador and victor in many bullfights, is +deepening. _Escamillo_ has been caught in the lure of her dangerous +beauty, but he doesn't annoy her by sulking in her presence, like _Don +José_, but goes on adding to his laurels by winning fresh victories in +the bull ring. + +Now that _Don José_ is more than usually morose, she says, with a +sarcastic inflection in her voice: + +"If you don't like our mode of life here, why don't you leave?" + +"And go far from you! Carmen! If you say that again, it will be your +death!" He half draws his knife from his belt. + +With a shrug of her shoulders _Carmen_ replies: "What matter--I shall +die as fate wills." And, indeed, she plays with fate as with men's +hearts. For whatever else this gypsy may be, she is fearless. + +While _Don José_ wanders moodily about the camp, she joins _Frasquita_ +and _Mercedes_, who are telling their fortunes by cards. The +superstitious creatures are merry because the cards favour them. +_Carmen_ takes the pack and draws. + +"Spades!--A grave!" she mutters darkly, and for a moment it seems as +if she is drawing back from a shadow that has crossed her path. But +the bravado of the fatalist does not long desert her. + +"What matters it?" she calls to the two girls. "If you are to die, try +the cards a hundred times, they will fall the same--spades, a grave!" +Then, glancing in the direction where _Don José_ stood, she adds, in a +low voice, "First I, then he!" + +The "Card Trio," "Mêlons! Coupons!" (Shuffle! Throw!) is a brilliant +passage of the score, broken in upon by _Carmen's_ fatalistic +soliloquy. + +A moment later, when the leader of the smugglers announces that it is +an opportune time to attempt to convey their contraband through the +mountain pass, she is all on the alert and aids in making ready for +the departure. _Don José_ is posted behind a screen of rocks above the +camp, to guard against a surprise from the rear, while the smugglers +make their way through the pass. + +Unseen by him, a guide comes out on the rocks, and, making a gesture +in the direction of the camp, hastily withdraws. Into this wild +passage of nature, where desperate characters but a few moments before +were encamped, and where _Carmen_ had darkly hinted at fate, as +foretold by the stars, there descends _Micaela_, the emblem of +sweetness and purity in this tragedy of the passions. She is seeking +_Don José_, in hopes of reclaiming him. Her romance, "Je dis que rien +ne m'épouvante" (I try not to own that I tremble), is characterized +by Mr. Upton as "the most effective and beautiful number in the whole +work." The introduction for horns is an exquisite passage, and the +expectations it awakens are fully met by the melodious measures of the +romance. + +[Music] + +Having looked about her, and failing to find _Don José_, she +withdraws. Meanwhile _Don José_, from the place where he stands guard, +has caught sight of a man approaching the camp. A shot rings out. It +is _Don José_ who has fired at the man coming up the defile. He is +about to fire again, but the nonchalant manner in which the stranger +comes on, and, waving his hat, calls out, "An inch lower and it would +have been all over with me!" causes him to lower his gun and advance +to meet him. + +"I am Escamillo and I am here to see Carmen," he says gaily. "She had +a lover here, a dragoon, who deserted from his troop for her. She +adored him, but that, I understand, is all over with now. The loves of +Carmen never last long." + +"Slowly, my friend," replies _Don José_. "Before any one can take our +gypsy girls away, he must pay the price." + +"So, so. And what is it?" + +"It is paid with the knife," grimly answers _José_, as he draws his +blade. + +"Ah," laughs the _Toreador_, "then you are the dragoon of whom Carmen +has wearied. I am in luck to have met you so soon." + +He, too, draws. The knives clash, as the men, the one a soldier, the +other a bullfighter, skilfully thrust and parry. But _Don José's_ is +the better weapon, for, as he catches one of _Escamillo's_ thrusts on +his blade, the _Toreador's_ knife snaps short. It would be a fatal +mishap for _Escamillo_, did not at that moment the gypsies and +smugglers, recalled by the shot, hurry in and separate the combatants. +Unruffled by his misadventure, especially as his ardent glances meet +an answering gleam in _Carmen's_ eyes, the _Toreador_ invites the +entire band to the coming bullfight in Seville, in which he is to +figure. With a glad shout they assent. + +"Don't be angry, dragoon," he adds tauntingly. "We may meet again." + +For answer _Don José_ seeks to rush at him, but some of the smugglers +hold him back, while the _Toreador_ leisurely goes his way. + +The smugglers make ready to depart again. One of them, however, spies +_Micaela_. She is led down. _Don José_ is reluctant to comply with her +pleas to go away with her. The fact that _Carmen_ urges him to do what +the girl says only arouses his jealousy. But when at last _Micaela_ +tells him that his mother is dying of a broken heart for him, he makes +ready to go. + +In the distance _Escamillo_ is heard singing: + + "Toreador, on guard e'er be! + Thou shalt read, in her dark eyes, + Hopes of victory. + Her love is the prize!" + +_Carmen_ listens, as if enraptured, and starts to run after him. _Don +José_ with bared knife bars the way; then leaves with _Micaela_. + +Act IV. A square in Seville. At the back the entrance to the arena. It +is the day of the bullfight. The square is animated. Watersellers, +others with oranges, fans, and other articles. Chorus. Ballet. + +Gay the crowd that fills the square outside the arena where the +bullfights are held. It cheers the first strains of music heard as +the festival procession approaches, and it shouts and applauds as the +various divisions go by and pass into the arena: "The Aguacil on +horseback!"--"The chulos with their pretty little flags!"--"Look! The +bandilleros, all clad in green and spangles, and waving the crimson +cloths!"--"The picadors with the pointed lances!"--"The cuadrilla of +toreros!"--"Now! Vivo, vivo! Escamillo!" And a great shout goes up, as +the _Toreador_ enters, with _Carmen_ on his arm. + +There is a brief but beautiful duet for _Escamillo_ and _Carmen_, "Si +tu m'aimes, Carmen" (If you love me, Carmen), before he goes into the +building to make ready for the bullfight, while she waits to be joined +by some of the smugglers and gypsies, whom _Escamillo_ has invited to +be witnesses, with her, of his prowess. + +As the Alcalde crosses the square and enters the arena, and the crowd +pours in after him, one of the gypsy girls from the smugglers' band +whispers to _Carmen_: + +"If you value your life, Carmen, don't stay here. He is lurking in the +crowd and watching you." + +"He?--José?--I am no coward.--I fear no one.--If he is here, we will +have it over with now," she answers, defiantly, motioning to the girl +to pass on into the arena into which the square is rapidly emptying +itself. _Carmen_ lingers until she is the only one left, then, with a +shrug of contempt, turns to enter--but finds herself facing _Don +José_, who has slunk out from one of the side streets to intercept +her. + +"I was told you were here. I was even warned to leave here, because my +life was in danger. If the hour has come, well, so be it. But, live or +die, yours I shall never be again." + +Her speech is abrupt, rapid, but there is no tremor of fear in her +voice. + +_Don José_ is pale and haggard. His eyes are hollow, but they glow +with a dangerous light. His plight has passed from the pitiable to the +desperate stage. + +"Carmen," he says hoarsely, "leave with me. Begin life over again with +me under another sky. I will adore you so, it will make you love me." + +"You never can make me love you again. No one can _make_ me do +anything. Free I was born, free I die." + +The band in the arena strikes up a fanfare. There are loud vivos for +_Escamillo_. _Carmen_ starts to rush for the entrance. Driven to the +fury of despair, his knife drawn, as it had been when he barred her +way in the smugglers' camp, _Don José_ confronts her. He laughs +grimly. + +"The man for whom they are shouting--he is the one for whom you have +deserted me!" + +"Let me pass!" is her defiant answer. + +"That you may tell him how you have spurned me, and laugh with him +over my misery!" + +Again the crowd in the arena shouts: "Victory! Victory! Vivo, vivo, +Escamillo, the toreador of Granada!" + +A cry of triumph escapes _Carmen_. + +"You love him!" hisses _Don José_. + +"Yes, I love him! If I must die for it, I love him! Victory for +Escamillo, victory! I go to the victor of the arena!" + +She makes a dash for the entrance. Somehow she manages to get past the +desperate man who has stood between her and the gates. She reaches the +steps, her foot already touches the landing above them, when he +overtakes her, and madly plunges his knife into her back. With a +shriek heard above the shouts of the crowd within, she staggers, +falls, and rolls lifeless down the steps into the square. + +The doors of the arena swing open. Acclaiming the prowess of +_Escamillo_, out pours the crowd, suddenly to halt, hushed and +horror-stricken, at the body of a woman dead at the foot of the +steps. + +"I am your prisoner," says _Don José_ to an officer. "I killed her." +Then, throwing himself over the body, he cries: + +"Carmen!--Carmen! I love you!--Speak to me!--I adore you!" + + * * * * * + +At its production at the Opéra Comique, "Carmen" was a failure. In +view of the world-wide popularity the work was to achieve, that +failure has become historic. It had, however, one lamentable result. +Bizet, utterly depressed and discouraged, died exactly three months +after the production, and before he could have had so much as an +inkling of the success "Carmen" was to obtain. It was not until four +months after his death that the opera, produced in Vienna, celebrated +its first triumph. Then came Brussels, London, New York. At last, in +1883, "Carmen" was brought back to Paris for what Pierre Berton calls +"the brilliant reparation." But Bizet, mortally wounded in his pride +as an artist, had died disconsolate. The "reparation" was to the +public, not to him. + +Whoever will take the trouble to read extracts from the reviews in the +Paris press of the first performance of "Carmen" will find that the +score of this opera, so full of well-rounded, individual, and +distinctive melodies--ensemble, concerted, and solo--was considered +too Wagnerian. More than one trace of this curious attitude toward an +opera, in which the melodies, or tunes, if you choose so to call them, +crowd upon each other almost as closely as in "Il Trovatore," and +certainly are as numerous as in "Aïda," still can be found in the +article on "Carmen" in the _Dictionnaire des Opéras_, one of the most +unsatisfactory essays in that work. Nor, speaking with the authority +of Berton, who saw the second performance, was the failure due to +defects in the cast. He speaks of Galli-Marié (_Carmen_), Chapuis +(_Micaela_), Lherie (_Don José_), and Bouhy (_Escamillo_), as "equal +to their tasks ... an admirable quartet." + +America has had its _Carmen_ periods. Minnie Hauck established an +individuality in the rôle, which remained potent until the appearance +in this country of Calvé. When Grau wanted to fill the house, all he +had to do was to announce Calvé as _Carmen_. She so dominated the +character with her beauty, charm, _diablerie_, and vocal art that, +after she left the Metropolitan Opera House, it became impossible to +revive the opera there with success, until Farrar made her appearance +in it, November 19, 1914, with Alda as _Micaela_, Caruso as _Don +José_, and Amato as _Escamillo_. + +A season or two before Oscar Hammerstein gave "Carmen" at the +Manhattan Opera House, a French company, which was on its last legs +when it struck New York, appeared in a performance of "Carmen" at the +Casino, and the next day went into bankruptcy. The _Carmen_ was +Bressler-Gianoli. Her interpretation brought out the coarse fibre in +the character, and was so much the opposite of Calvé's, that it was +interesting by contrast. It seemed that had the company been able to +survive, "Carmen" could have been featured in its repertoire, by +reason of Bressler-Gianoli's grasp of the character as Mérimée had +drawn it in his novel, where _Carmen_ is of a much coarser personality +than in the opera. The day after the performance I went to see +Heinrich Conried, then director of the Metropolitan Opera House, and +told him of the impression she had made, but he did not engage her. +The _Carmen_ of Bressler-Gianoli (with Dalmorès, Trentini, Ancona, and +Gilibert) was one of the principal successes of the Manhattan Opera +House. It was first given December 14, 1906, and scored the record for +the season with nineteen performances, "Aïda" coming next with twelve, +and "Rigoletto" with eleven. + +Mary Garden's _Carmen_ is distinctive and highly individualized on the +acting side. It lacks however the lusciousness of voice, the vocal +lure, that a singer must lavish upon the rôle to make it a complete +success. + +One of the curiosities of opera in America was the appearance at the +Metropolitan Opera House, November 25, 1885, of Lilli Lehmann as +_Carmen_. + +A word is due Bizet's authors for the admirable libretto they have +made from Mérimée's novel. The character of _Carmen_ is, of course, +the creation of the novelist. But in his book the _Toreador_ is not +introduced until almost the very end, and is but one of a succession +of lovers whom _Carmen_ has had since she ensnared _Don José_. In the +opera the _Toreador_ is made a principal character, and figures +prominently from the second act on. _Micaela_, so essential for +contrast in the opera, both as regards plot and music, is a creation +of the librettists. But their master-stroke is the placing of the +scene of the murder just outside the arena where the bullfight is in +progress, and in having _Carmen_ killed by _Don José_ at the moment +_Escamillo_ is acclaimed victor by the crowd within. In the book he +slays her on a lonely road outside the city of Cordova the day after +the bullfight. + + +LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES + +THE PEARL FISHERS + +Besides "Carmen," Bizet was the composer of "Les Pêcheurs de Perles" +(The Pearl Fishers) and "Djamileh." + +"Les Pêcheurs de Perles," the words by Carré and Cormon, is in three +acts. It was produced at the Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, September 29, +1863. London saw it under the title of "Leila," April 22, 1887, at +Covent Garden; as "Pescatori di Perle," May 18, 1899. The New York +production was at the Metropolitan Opera House, January 11, 1896, +with Calvé; and November 13, 1916, with Caruso. The scene is Ceylon, +the period barbaric. + +The first act shows a company of pearl fishers on the coast. They +choose _Zurga_ as chief. He and his friend _Nadir_, in the duet, "Au +fond du temple saint" (In the depths of the temple), recall their +former rivalry for the hand of the beautiful priestess, _Leila_, and +how they swore never to see her again. + +Now approaches a veiled priestess who comes annually to pray for the +success of the pearl fishers. She prays to Brahma. _Nadir_ recognizes +_Leila_. His love for her at once revives. She goes into the temple. +He sings "Je crois entendre encore" (I hear as in a dream). When she +returns and again invokes the aid of Brahma, she manages to convey to +_Nadir_ the knowledge that she has recognized and still loves him. + +In the second act, in a ruined temple, the high priest, _Nourabad_, +warns her, on pain of death, to be faithful to her religious vows. +_Leila_ tells him he need have no fear. She never breaks a promise. +The necklace she wears was given her by a fugitive, whose hiding place +she refused to reveal, although the daggers of his pursuers were +pointed at her heart. She had promised not to betray him. Her solo, +"Comme autrefois," etc. (A fugitive one day), is followed by the +retirement of the priest, and the entrance of _Nadir_. There is an +impassioned love duet, the effect of which is heightened by a raging +storm without: "Ton coeur n'a pas compris" (You have not +understood). _Nourabad_, returning unexpectedly, overhears the lovers, +and summons the people. _Zurga_, as chief and judge, desires to be +merciful for the sake of his friend. But _Nourabad_ tears the veil +from _Leila_. It is the woman _Nadir_ has sworn never to see--the +woman _Zurga_ also loves. Enraged, he passes sentence of death upon +them. + +In the third act, the camp of _Zurga_, _Leila_ expresses her +willingness to die, but pleads for _Nadir_, "Pour moi je ne crains +rien" (I have no fear). _Zurga_ is implacable, until he recognizes the +necklace she wears as one he had given many years before to the girl +who refused when he was a fugitive to deliver him up to his enemies. +The scene changes to the place of execution, where has been erected a +funeral pyre. Just as the guilty lovers are to be led to their death, +a distant glow is seen. _Zurga_ cries out that the camp is on fire. +The people rush away to fight the flames. _Zurga_ tells _Leila_ and +_Nadir_ that he set fire to the camp. He then unfastens their chains +and bids them flee. Terzet: "Ô lumière sainte" (O sacred light). + +From a hiding place _Nourabad_ has witnessed the scene. When the +people return, he denounces _Zurga's_ act in setting fire to the camp +and permitting _Leila_ and _Nadir_ to escape. _Zurga_ is compelled to +mount the pyre. A deep glow indicates that the forest is ablaze. The +people prostrate themselves to Brahma, whose wrath they fear. + +_Leila_ is for soprano, _Nadir_ tenor, _Zurga_ baritone, _Nourabad_ +bass. + +In the performance with Calvé only two acts were given. The rest of +the program consisted of "La Navarraise," by Massenet. + + +DJAMILEH + +"Djamileh," produced at the Opéra Comique, is in one act, words by +Louis Gallet, based on Alfred de Musset's poem, "Namouna." The scene +is Cairo, the time mediæval. + +_Djamileh_, a beautiful slave, is in love with her master, _Prince +Haroun_, a Turkish nobleman, who is tired of her and is about to sell +her. She persuades his secretary, _Splendiano_, who is in love with +her, to aid her in regaining her master's affections. She will marry +_Splendiano_ if she fails. + +Accordingly, with the secretary's aid, when the slave dealer arrives, +she is, in disguise, among the slaves offered to _Haroun_. She dances. +_Haroun_ is entranced, and immediately buys her. When she discloses +her identity, and pleads that her ruse was prompted by her love for +him, he receives her back into his affections. + +_Djamileh_ is for mezzo-soprano, the men's rôles for tenor. Besides +the dance, there are a duet for the men, "Que l'esclave soit brune ou +blonde" (Let the slave be dark or fair); a trio, "Je voyais au loin la +mer s'étendre" (The distant sea have I beheld extending); and the +chorus, "Quelle est cette belle" (Who is the charmer). + + + + +Italian Opera Since Verdi + + +Chief among Italian opera composers of the present day are Puccini, +Mascagni, and Leoncavallo. Others are Giordano, Wolf-Ferrari, +Zandonai, Montemezzi, and Leoni. + +Modern Italian opera differs from Italian opera, old style, largely +through the devotion of the moderns to effects of realism--the Italian +_verismo_, of which we hear so much. These effects of realism are +produced largely by an orchestral accompaniment that constantly adapts +itself descriptively to what is said and done on the stage. At not +infrequent intervals, however, when a strongly emotional situation +demands sustained expression, the restless play of orchestral +depiction and the brief exchange of vocal phrases merge into eloquent +melody for voice with significant instrumental accompaniment. Thus +beautiful vocal melody, fluently sung, remains, in spite of all +tendency toward the much vaunted effect of _verismo_, the heart and +soul, as ever, of Italian opera. + +Much difference, however, exists between the character of the melody +in the modern and the old Italian opera. Speaking, of course, in +general terms, the old style Italian operatic melody is sharply +defined in outline and rhythm, whereas the melody of modern Italian +opera, resting upon a more complicated accompaniment, is subject in a +much greater degree to rhythmic and harmonic changes. Since, however, +that is little more than saying that the later style of Italian opera +is more modern than the older, I will add, what seems to me the most +characteristic difference in their idioms. Italian melody, old style, +derives much of its character from the dotted note, with the +necessarily marked acceleration of the next note, as, for example, in +"Ah! non giunge" ("La Sonnambula"), an air which is typical of the +melodious measures of Italian opera of the first sixty or seventy +years of the last century; and that, too, whether the emotion to be +expressed is ecstasy, as in "Ah! non giunge," above; grief, as in +_Edgardo's_ last aria in "Lucia di Lammermoor,"--"Tu che a Dio +spiegasti l'ali" (Thou has [Transcriber's Note: should be 'hast'] +spread thy wings to Heaven), the spirit of festive greeting as in the +chorus from the previous act of the same opera, or passionate love as +in _Elvira's_ and _Ernani's_ duet; "Ah morir potessi adesso." + +It does not occur as frequently in Rossini as in Bellini and +Donizetti, while Verdi, as he approaches his ripest period, discards +it with growing frequency. I am also aware that the dotted note is +found in abundance in the music of all civilized countries. +Nevertheless it is from its prominence in the melodic phrase, the +impetus imparted by it, and the sharp reiterated rhythmic beat which +it usually calls for, that Italian melody of the last century, up to +about 1870, derives much of its energy, swing, and passion. It is, in +fact, idiomatic. + +Wholly different is the idiom of modern Italian music. It consists of +the sudden stressing of the melody at a vital point by means of the +triolet--the triplet, as we call it. An excellent example is the love +motif for _Nedda_ in "I Pagliacci," by Leoncavallo. + +[Music] + +If the dotted note is peculiarly adapted to the careless rapture with +which the earlier Italian composers lavished melody after melody upon +their scores, the triolet suits the more laboured efforts of the +modern Italian muse. + +Another effect typical of modern Italian opera is the use of the +foreign note--that is, the sudden employment of a note strange to the +key of the composition. This probably is done for the sake of giving +piquancy to a melody that otherwise might be considered commonplace. +_Turiddu's_ drinking song in "Cavalleria Rusticana" is a good example. + +[Music] + +In orderly harmonic progression the first tone in the bass of the +second bar would be F-sharp, instead of F-natural, which is a note +foreign to the key. This example is quoted in Ferdinand Pfohl's +_Modern Opera_, in which he says of the triolet and its use in the +opera of modern Italy, that its peculiarly energetic sweep, powerful +suspense, and quickening, fiery heart-beat lend themselves amazingly +to the art of _verismo_. + + + + +Pietro Mascagni + +(1863- ) + + +Pietro Mascagni was born in Leghorn, Italy, December 7, 1863. His +father was a baker. The elder Mascagni, ambitious for his boy, wanted +him to study law. The son himself preferred music, and studied +surreptitiously. An uncle, who sympathized with his aims, helped him +financially. After the uncle's death a nobleman, Count Florestan, sent +him to the Milan Conservatory. There he came under the instruction and +influence of Ponchielli. + +After two years' study at the conservatory he began a wandering life, +officiating for the next five years as conductor of opera companies, +most of which disbanded unexpectedly and impecuniously. He eked out a +meagre income, being compelled at one time to subsist on a plate of +macaroni a day. His finances were not greatly improved when he settled +in Cerignola, where he directed a school for orchestra players and +taught pianoforte and theory. + +He was married and in most straitened circumstances when he composed +"Cavalleria Rusticana" and sent it off to the publisher Sonzogno, who +had offered a prize for a one-act opera. It received the award. + +May 17, 1890, at the Constanzi Theatre, Rome, it had its first +performance. Before the representation had progressed very far, the +half-filled house was in a state of excitement and enthusiasm +bordering on hysteria. The production of "Cavalleria Rusticana" +remains one of the sensational events in the history of opera. It made +Mascagni famous in a night. Everywhere it was given--and it was given +everywhere--it made the same sensational success. Its vogue was so +great, it "took" so rapidly, that it was said to have infected the +public with "Mascagnitis." + +In "'Cavalleria Rusticana' music and text work in wonderful harmony in +the swift and gloomy tragedy." Nothing Mascagni has composed since has +come within hailing distance of it. The list of his operas is a fairly +long one. Most of them have been complete failures. In America, "Iris" +has, since its production, been the subject of occasional revival. +"Lodoletta," brought out by Gatti-Casazza at the Metropolitan Opera +House in 1918, had the advantage of a cast that included Caruso and +Farrar. "Isabeau" had its first performance in the United States of +America, in Chicago by the Chicago Opera Company under the direction +of Cleofante Campanini in 1917, and was given by the same organization +in New York in 1918. (See p. 625.) + +With Mascagni's opera, "Le Maschere" (The Maskers), which was produced +in 1901, the curious experiment was made of having the first night +occur simultaneously in six Italian cities. It was a failure in all, +save Rome, where it survived for a short time. + +Of the unfortunate results of Mascagni's American visit in 1902 not +much need be said. A "scratch" company was gotten together for him. +With this he gave poor performances at the Metropolitan Opera House, +of "Cavalleria Rusticana," "Zanetto," and "Iris." The tour ended in +lawsuits and failure. "Zanetto," which is orchestrated only for string +band and a harp, was brought out with "Cavalleria Rusticana" in a +double bill, October 8, 1902; "Iris," October 16th. + + +CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA + +RUSTIC CHIVALRY + + Opera, in one act, by Mascagni; words by Giovanni + Targioni-Toggetti and G. Menasci, the libretto being founded + on a story by Giovanni Verga. Produced, Constanzi Theatre, + Rome, May 17, 1890. London, Shaftesbury Theatre, October 19, + 1891. Covent Garden, May 16, 1892. America: Philadelphia, + Grand Opera House, September 9, 1891, under the direction of + Gustav Hinrichs, with Selma Kronold (_Santuzza_), Miss + Campbell (_Lola_), Jeannie Teal (_Lucia_), Guille + (_Turiddu_), Del Puente (_Alfio_). Chicago, September 30, + 1891, with Minnie Hauck as _Santuzza_. New York, October 1, + 1891, at an afternoon "dress rehearsal" at the Casino, under + the direction of Rudolph Aronson, with Laura Bellini + (_Santuzza_), Grace Golden (_Lola_), Helen von Doenhof + (_Lucia_), Charles Bassett (_Turiddu_), William Pruette + (_Alfio_), Gustav Kerker, conductor, Heinrich Conried, stage + manager. Evening of same day, at the Lenox Lyceum, under the + direction of Oscar Hammerstein, with Mme. Janouschoffsky + (_Santuzza_), Mrs. Pemberton Hincks (_Lola_), Mrs. Jennie + Bohner (_Lucia_), Payne Clarke (_Turiddu_), Herman Gerold + (_Alfio_), Adolph Neuendorff, conductor. Metropolitan Opera + House, December 30, 1891, with Eames as _Santuzza_; November + 29, 1893, with Calvé (début) as _Santuzza_. + + CHARACTERS + + TURIDDU, a young soldier _Tenor_ + ALFIO, the village teamster _Baritone_ + LOLA, his wife _Mezzo-Soprano_ + MAMMA LUCIA, Turiddu's mother _Contralto_ + SANTUZZA, a village girl _Soprano_ + + Villagers, peasants, boys. + + _Time_--The present, on Easter day. + + _Place_--A village in Sicily. + +"Cavalleria Rusticana" in its original form is a short story, compact +and tense, by Giovanni Verga. From it was made the stage tragedy, in +which Eleonora Duse displayed her great powers as an actress. It is a +drama of swift action and intense emotion; of passion, betrayal, and +retribution. Much has been made of the rôle played by the "book" in +contributing to the success of the opera. It is a first-rate +libretto--one of the best ever put forth. It inspired the composer to +what so far has remained his only significant achievement. But only in +that respect is it responsible for the success of "Cavalleria +Rusticana" as an opera. The hot blood of the story courses through the +music of Mascagni, who in his score also has quieter passages, that +make the cries of passion the more poignant. Like practically every +enduring success, that of "Cavalleria Rusticana" rests upon merit. +From beginning to end it is an inspiration. In it, in 1890, Mascagni, +at the age of twenty-one, "found himself," and ever since has been +trying, unsuccessfully, to find himself again. + +The prelude contains three passages of significance in the development +of the story. The first of these is the phrase of the despairing +_Santuzza_, in which she cries out to _Turiddu_ that, despite his +betrayal and desertion of her, she still loves and pardons him. The +second is the melody of the duet between _Santuzza_ and _Turiddu_, in +which she implores him to remain with her and not to follow _Lola_ +into the church. The third is the air in Sicilian style, the +"Siciliana," which, as part of the prelude, _Turiddu_ sings behind the +curtain, in the manner of a serenade to _Lola_, "O Lola, bianca come +fior di spino" (O Lola, fair as a smiling flower). + +With the end of the "Siciliana" the curtain rises. It discloses a +public square in a Sicilian village. On one side, in the background, +is a church, on the other _Mamma Lucia's_ wineshop and dwelling. It is +Easter morning. Peasants, men, women, and children cross or move about +the stage. The church bells ring, the church doors swing open, people +enter. A chorus, in which, mingled with gladness over the mild beauty +of the day, there also is the lilt of religious ecstasy, follows. Like +a refrain the women voice and repeat "Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi +margini" (Sweet is the air with the blossoms of oranges). They intone +"La Vergine serena allietasi del Salvator" (The Holy Mother mild, in +ecstasy fondles the child), and sing of "Tempo è si mormori," etc. +(Murmurs of tender song tell of a joyful world). The men, meanwhile, +pay a tribute to the industry and charm of woman. Those who have not +entered the church, go off singing. Their voices die away in the +distance. + +_Santuzza_, sad of mien, approaches _Mamma Lucia's_ house, just as her +false lover's mother comes out. There is a brief colloquy between the +two women. _Santuzza_ asks for _Turiddu_. His mother answers that he +has gone to Francofonte to fetch some wine. _Santuzza_ tells her that +he was seen during the night in the village. The girl's evident +distress touches _Mamma Lucia_. She bids her enter the house. + +"I may not step across your threshold," exclaims _Santuzza_. "I cannot +pass it, I, most unhappy outcast! Excommunicated!" + +_Mamma Lucia_ may have her suspicions of _Santuzza's_ plight. "What of +my son?" she asks. "What have you to tell me?" + +But at that moment the cracking of a whip and the jingling of bells +are heard from off stage. _Alfio_, the teamster, comes upon the scene. +He is accompanied by the villagers. Cheerfully he sings the praises of +a teamster's life, also of _Lola's_, his wife's, beauty. The villagers +join him in chorus, "Il cavallo scalpita" (Gayly moves the tramping +horse). + +_Alfio_ asks _Mamma Lucia_ if she still has on hand some of her fine +old wine. She tells him it has given out. _Turiddu_ has gone away to +buy a fresh supply of it. + +"No," says _Alfio_. "He is here. I saw him this morning standing not +far from my cottage." + +_Mamma Lucia_ is about to express great surprise. _Santuzza_ is quick +to check her. + +[Illustration: Gadski as Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana"] + +_Alfio_ goes his way. A choir in the church intones the "Regina +Coeli." The people in the square join in the "Allelujas." Then they +kneel and, led by _Santuzza's_ voice, sing the Resurrection hymn, +"Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" (Let us sing of the Lord now +victorious). The "Allelujas" resound in the church, which all, save +_Mamma Lucia_ and _Santuzza_, enter. + +_Mamma Lucia_ asks the girl why she signalled her to remain silent +when _Alfio_ spoke of _Turiddu's_ presence in the village. "Voi lo +sapete" (Now you shall know), exclaims _Santuzza_, and in one of the +most impassioned numbers of the score, pours into the ears of her +lover's mother the story of her betrayal. Before _Turiddu_ left to +serve his time in the army, he and _Lola_ were in love with each +other. But, tiring of awaiting his return, the fickle _Lola_ married +_Alfio_. _Turiddu_, after he had come back, made love to _Santuzza_ +and betrayed her; now, lured by _Lola_, he has taken advantage of +_Alfio's_ frequent absences, and has gone back to his first love. +_Mamma Lucia_ pities the girl, who begs that she go into church and +pray for her. + +_Turiddu_ comes, a handsome fellow. _Santuzza_ upbraids him for +pretending to have gone away, when instead he has surreptitiously been +visiting _Lola_. It is a scene of vehemence. But when _Turiddu_ +intimates that his life would be in danger were _Alfio_ to know of his +visits to _Lola_, the girl is terrified. "Battimi, insultami, t'amo e +perdono" (Beat me, insult me, I still love and forgive you). + +Such is her mood--despairing, yet relenting. But _Lola's_ voice is +heard off stage. Her song is carefree, a key to her character, which +is fickle and selfish, with a touch of the cruel. "Fior di giaggiolo" +(Bright flower, so glowing) runs her song. Heard off stage, it yet +conveys in its melody, its pauses, and inflections, a quick sketch in +music of the heartless coquette, who, to gratify a whim, has stolen +_Turiddu_ from _Santuzza_. She mocks the girl, then enters the +church. Only a few minutes has she been on the stage, but Mascagni has +let us know all about her. + +A highly dramatic scene, one of the most impassioned outbursts of the +score, occurs at this point. _Turiddu_ turns to follow _Lola_ into the +church. _Santuzza_ begs him to stay. "No, no, Turiddu, rimani, rimani, +ancora--Abbandonarmi dunque tu vuoi?" (No, no, Turiddu! Remain with me +now and forever! Love me again! How can you forsake me?). + +[Music] + +A highly dramatic phrase, already heard in the prelude, occurs at "La +tua Santuzza piange e t'implora" (Lo! here thy Santuzza, weeping, +implores thee). + +_Turiddu_ repulses her. She clings to him. He loosens her hold and +casts her from him to the ground. When she rises, he has followed +_Lola_ into the church. + +But the avenger is nigh. Before _Santuzza_ has time to think, _Alfio_ +comes upon the scene. He is looking for _Lola_. To him in the fewest +possible words, and in the white voice of suppressed passion, +_Santuzza_ tells him that his wife has been unfaithful with _Turiddu_. +In the brevity of its recitatives, the tense summing up in melody of +each dramatic situation as it develops in the inexorably swift +unfolding of the tragic story, lies the strength of "Cavalleria +Rusticana." + +_Santuzza_ and _Alfio_ leave. The square is empty. But the action goes +on in the orchestra. For the intermezzo--the famous intermezzo--which +follows, recapitulates, in its forty-eight bars, what has gone before, +and foreshadows the tragedy that is impending. There is no restating +here of leading motives. The effect is accomplished by means of terse, +vibrant melodic progression. It is melody and yet it is drama. Therein +lies its merit. For no piece of serious music can achieve the +world-wide popularity of this intermezzo and not possess merit. + +[Music] + +Mr. Krehbiel, in _A Second Book of Operas_, gives an instance of its +unexampled appeal to the multitude. A burlesque on this opera was +staged in Vienna. The author of the burlesque thought it would be a +great joke to have the intermezzo played on a hand-organ. Up to that +point the audience had been hilarious. But with the first wheezy tone +of the grinder the people settled down to silent attention, and, when +the end came, burst into applause. Even the hand-organ could not rob +the intermezzo of its charm for the public! + +What is to follow in the opera is quickly accomplished. The people +come out of church. _Turiddu_, in high spirits, because he is with +_Lola_ and because _Santuzza_ no longer is hanging around to reproach +him, invites his friends over to his mother's wineshop. Their glasses +are filled. _Turiddu_ dashes off a drinking song, "Viva, il vino +spumeggiante" (Hail! the ruby wine now flowing). + +The theme of this song will be found quoted on p. 609. + +_Alfio_ joins them. _Turiddu_ offers him wine. He refuses it. The +women leave, taking _Lola_ with them. In a brief exchange of words +_Alfio_ gives the challenge. In Sicilian fashion the two men embrace, +and _Turiddu_, in token of acceptance, bites _Alfio's_ ear. _Alfio_ +goes off in the direction of the place where they are to test their +skill with the stiletto. + +_Turiddu_ calls for _Mamma Lucia_. He is going away, he tells her. At +home the wine cup passes too freely. He must leave. If he should not +come back she must be like a kindly mother to _Santuzza_--"_Santa_, +whom I have promised to lead to the altar." + +"Un bacio, mamma! Un altro bacio!--Addio!" (One kiss, one kiss, my +mother. And yet another. Farewell!) + +He goes. _Mamma Lucia_ wanders aimlessly to the back of the stage. She +is weeping. _Santuzza_ comes on, throws her arms around the poor +woman's neck. People crowd upon the scene. All is suppressed +excitement. There is a murmur of distant voices. A woman is heard +calling from afar: "They have murdered neighbour Turiddu!" + +Several women enter hastily. One of them, the one whose voice was +heard in the distance, repeats, but now in a shriek, "Hanno ammazzato +compare Turiddu!"--(They have murdered neighbour Turiddu!) + +_Santuzza_ falls in a swoon. The fainting form of _Mamma Lucia_ is +supported by some of the women. + +"Cala rapidamente la tela" (The curtain falls rapidly). + +A tragedy of Sicily, hot in the blood, is over. + +When "Cavalleria Rusticana" was produced, no Italian opera had +achieved such a triumph since "Aïda"--a period of nearly twenty years. +It was hoped that Mascagni would prove to be Verdi's successor, a hope +which, needless to say, has not been fulfilled. + +To "Cavalleria Rusticana," however, we owe the succession of short +operas, usually founded on debased and sordid material, in which other +composers have paid Mascagni the doubtful compliment of imitation in +hopes of achieving similar success. Of all these, "Pagliacci," by +Leoncavallo, is the only one that has shared the vogue of the Mascagni +opera. The two make a remarkably effective double bill. + + +L'AMICO FRITZ + +FRIEND FRITZ + + Opera in three acts, by Pietro Mascagni; text by Suaratoni + [Transcriber's Note: later editions have P. Suardon (N. + Daspuro)], from the story by Erckmann-Chatrian. Produced, + Rome, 1891. Philadelphia, by Gustav Hinrichs, June 8, 1892. + New York, Metropolitan Opera House, with Calvé as _Suzel_, + January 10, 1894. + + CHARACTERS + + FRITZ KOBUS, a rich bachelor _Tenor_ + DAVID, a Rabbi _Baritone_ + FREDERICO } friends of Fritz { _Tenor_ + HANEGO } { _Tenor_ + SUZEL, a farmer's daughter _Soprano_ + BEPPE, a gypsy _Soprano_ + CATERINA, a housekeeper _Contralto_ + + _Time_--The present. + + _Place_--Alsace. + +Act I. _Fritz Kobus_, a well-to-do landowner and confirmed bachelor, +receives felicitations on his fortieth birthday. He invites his +friends to dine with him. Among the guests is _Suzel_, his tenant's +daughter, who presents him with a nosegay, and sits beside him. Never +before has he realized her charm. _Rabbi David_, a confirmed +matchmaker, wagers with the protesting _Fritz_ that he will soon be +married. + +Act II. _Friend Fritz_ is visiting _Suzel's_ father. The charming girl +mounts a ladder in the garden, picks cherries, and throws them down to +_Fritz_, who is charmed. When _Rabbi David_ appears and tells him that +he has found a suitable husband for _Suzel_, _Fritz_ cannot help +revealing his own feelings. + +Act III. At home again _Fritz_ finds no peace. _David_ tells him +_Suzel's_ marriage has been decided on. _Fritz_ loses his temper; says +he will forbid the bans. _Suzel_, pale and sad, comes in with a basket +of fruit. When her wedding is mentioned she bursts into tears. That +gives _Fritz_ his chance which he improves. _David_ wins his wager, +one of _Fritz's_ vineyards, which he promptly bestows upon _Suzel_ as +a dowry. + +The duet of the cherries in the second act is the principal musical +number in the opera. + + +IRIS + + Opera in three acts, by Mascagni. Words by Luigi Illica. + Produced, Constanzi Theatre, Rome, November 22, 1898; + revised version, La Scala, Milan, 1899. Philadelphia, + October 14, 1902, and Metropolitan Opera House, New York, + October 16, 1902, under the composer's direction (Marie + Farneti, as _Iris_); Metropolitan Opera House, 1908, with + Eames (_Iris_), Caruso (_Osaka_), Scotti, and Journet; April + 3, 1915, Bori, Botta, and Scotti. + + CHARACTERS + + IL CIECO, the blind man _Bass_ + IRIS, his daughter _Soprano_ + OSAKA _Tenor_ + KYOTO, a _takiomati_ _Baritone_ + + Ragpickers, shopkeepers, geishas, _mousmés_ (laundry girls), + _samurai_, citizens, strolling players, three women + representing Beauty, Death, and the Vampire; a young girl. + + _Time_--Nineteenth century. + + _Place_--Japan. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by White + +Bori as Iris] + +Act I. The home of _Iris_ near the city. The hour is before dawn. The +music depicts the passage from night into day. It rises to a crashing +climax--the instrumentation including tamtams, cymbals, drums, and +bells--while voices reiterate, "Calore! Luce! Amor!" (Warmth! Light! +Love!). In warmth and light there are love and life. A naturalistic +philosophy, to which this opening gives the key, runs through "Iris." + +Fujiyama glows in the early morning light, as _Iris_, who loves only +her blind father, comes to the door of her cottage. She has dreamed +that monsters sought to injure her doll, asleep under a rosebush. With +the coming of the sun the monsters have fled. _Mousmés_ come to the +bank of the stream and sing prettily over their work. + +_Iris_ is young and beautiful. She is desired by _Osaka_, a wealthy +rake. _Kyoto_, keeper of a questionable resort, plots to obtain her +for him. He comes to her cottage with a marionette show. While _Iris_ +is intent upon the performance, three geisha girls, representing +Beauty, Death, and the Vampire, dance about her. They conceal her from +view by spreading their skirts. She is seized and carried off. +_Osaka_, by leaving money for the blind old father, makes the +abduction legal. When _Il Cieco_ returns, he is led to believe that +his daughter has gone voluntarily to the Yoshiwara. In a rage he +starts out to find her. + +Act II. Interior of the "Green House" in the Yoshiwara. _Iris_ +awakens. At first she thinks it is an awakening after death. But death +brings paradise, while she is unhappy. _Osaka_, who has placed jewels +beside her, comes to woo, but vainly seeks to arouse her passions. In +her purity she remains unconscious of the significance of his words +and caresses. His brilliant attire leads her to mistake him for Tor, +the sun god, but he tells her he is Pleasure. That frightens her. For, +as she narrates to him, one day, in the temple, a priest told her that +pleasure and death were one. + +_Osaka_ wearies of her innocence and leaves her. But _Kyoto_, wishing +to lure him back, attires her in transparent garments and places her +upon a balcony. The crowd in the street cries out in amazement over +her beauty. Again _Osaka_ wishes to buy her. She hears her father's +voice. Joyously she makes her presence known to him. He, ignorant of +her abduction and believing her a voluntary inmate of the "Green +House," takes a handful of mud from the street, flings it at her, and +curses her. In terror, she leaps from a window into the sewer below. + +Act III. Ragpickers and scavengers are dragging the sewer before +daylight. In song they mock the moon. A flash of light from the mystic +mountain awakens what is like an answering gleam in the muck. They +discover and drag out the body of _Iris_. They begin to strip her of +her jewels. She shows signs of life. The sordid men and women flee. +The rosy light from Fujiyama spreads over the sky. Warmth and light +come once more. _Iris_ regains consciousness. Spirit voices whisper of +earthly existence and its selfish aspirations typified by the knavery +of _Kyoto_, the lust of _Osaka_, the desire of _Iris's_ father, _Il +Cieco_, for the comforts of life through her ministrations. + +Enough strength comes back to her for her to acclaim the sanctity of +the sun. In its warmth and light--the expression of Nature's love--she +sinks, as if to be absorbed by Nature, into the blossoming field that +spreads about her. Again, as in the beginning, there is the choired +tribute to warmth, light, love--the sun! + +Partly sordid, partly ethereal in its exposition, the significance of +this story has escaped Mascagni, save in the climax of the opening +allegory of the work. Elsewhere he employs instruments associated by +us with Oriental music, but the spirit of the Orient is lacking. In a +score requiring subtlety of invention, skill in instrumentation, and, +in general, the gift for poetic expression in music, these qualities +are not. The scene of the _mousmés_ in the first act with _Iris's_ +song to the flowers of her garden, "In pure stille" ([Transcriber's +Note: translation left blank in original; should probably be 'In pure +droplets']); the vague, yet unmistakable hum of Japanese melody in the +opening of Act II; and her narrative in the scene with _Osaka_ in the +same act, "Un dì al tempio" (One day at the temple)--these, with the +hymn to the sun, are about the only passages that require mention. + + +LODOLETTA + + Opera in three acts, by Mascagni. Words by Gioacchino + Forzano, after Ouida's novel, _Two Little Wooden Shoes_. + Produced, Rome, April 30, 1917. Metropolitan Opera House, + New York, January 12, 1918, with Farrar (later in the + season, Florence Easton) as _Lodoletta_, Caruso (_Flammen_), + Amato (_Giannotto_), and Didur (_Antonio_). + + CHARACTERS + + LODOLETTA _Soprano_ + FLAMMEN _Tenor_ + FRANZ _Bass_ + GIANNOTTO _Baritone_ + ANTONIO _Bass_ + A MAD WOMAN _Mezzo-Soprano_ + VANNARD _Mezzo-Soprano_ + MAUD _Soprano_ + A VOICE _Tenor_ + + A letter carrier, an old violinist. + + _Time_--Second empire. + + _Place_--A Dutch village. + +_Lodoletta_, a young girl, who lives in a little Dutch village, is a +foundling, who has been brought up by old _Antonio_. He discovered her +as an infant in a basket of flowers at the lakeside. When she has +grown up to be sixteen, she is eager for a pair of red wooden shoes, +but _Antonio_ cannot afford to buy them. _Flammen_, a painter from +Paris, offers him a gold piece for a roadside Madonna he owns. +_Antonio_ takes it, and with it buys the shoes for _Lodoletta_. Soon +afterwards the old man is killed by a fall from a tree. _Lodoletta_ is +left alone in the world. + +_Flammen_, who has conceived a deep affection for her, persuades her +to be his model. This makes the villagers regard her with suspicion. +She begs him to go. He returns to Paris, only to find that absence +makes him fonder of the girl than ever. He returns to the village. +_Lodoletta_ has disappeared. His efforts to find her fail. On New +Year's his friends gather at his villa to celebrate, and make him +forget his love affair in gayety. The celebration is at its height, +when _Lodoletta_, who, in her turn, has been searching for _Flammen_, +reaches the garden. She has wandered far and is almost exhausted, but +has found _Flammen's_ house at last. She thinks he is expecting her, +because the villa is so brilliantly illuminated. But, when she looks +through the window upon the gay scene, she falls, cold, exhausted, and +disillusioned, in the snow just as midnight sounds. _Flammen's_ party +of friends depart, singing merrily. As he turns back toward the house +he discovers a pair of little red wooden shoes. They are sadly worn. +But he recognizes them. He looks for _Lodoletta_, only to find her +frozen to death in the snow. + +It may be that "Lodoletta's" success at its production in Rome was +genuine. Whatever acclaim it has received at the Metropolitan Opera +House is due to the fine cast with which it has been presented. There +is little spontaneity in the score. A spirit of youthfulness is +supposed to pervade the first act, but the composer's efforts are so +apparent that the result is childish rather than youthful. Moreover, +as Henry T. Finck writes in the N.Y. _Evening Post_, "Lodoletta" seems +to have revived some of the dramatic inconsistencies of the +old-fashioned kind of Italian opera. For instance, in the last act, +the scene is laid outside _Flammen's_ villa in Paris on New Year's +eve--it is zero weather to all appearances, although there is an +intermittent snowstorm--but _Flammen_ and _Franz_, and later all his +guests, come out without wraps, and stay for quite awhile. Later +_Lodoletta_, well wrapped (though in rags), appears, and is quickly +frozen to death. + +The scene of the first act is laid in the village in April. +_Lodoletta's_ cottage is seen and the shrine with the picture of the +Madonna. It is in order to copy or obtain this that _Flammen_ comes +from Paris. In the background is the tree which _Antonio_ climbs and +from which, while he is plucking blossom-laden branches for the spring +festival, he falls and is killed--a great relief, the character is so +dull. There is much running in and out, and singing by boys and girls +in this act. The music allotted to them is pretty without being +extraordinarily fetching. An interchange of phrases between _Flammen_ +and _Lodoletta_ offers opportunity for high notes to the tenor, but +there is small dramatic significance in the music. + +In the second act the stage setting is the same, except that the +season is autumn. There is a song for _Lodoletta_, and, as in Act I, +episodes for her and the children, who exclaim delightedly when they +see the picture _Flammen_ has been painting, "È Lodoletta viva, com'è +bella" (See! Lodoletta, and so pretty!). But there is little progress +made in this act. Much of it has the effect of repetition. + +In the third act one sees the exterior of _Flammen's_ villa, and +through the open gates of the courtyard Paris in the midst of New +Year's gayety. The merriment within the villa is suggested by music +and silhouetted figures against the windows. Some of the guests dash +out, throw confetti, and indulge in other pranks, which, intended to +be bright and lively, only seem silly. As in the previous acts, the +sustained measures for _Lodoletta_ and for _Flammen_, while intended +to be dramatic, lack that quality--one which cannot be dispensed with +in opera. "The spectacle of _Flammen_, in full evening dress and +without a hat, singing on his doorstep in a snowstorm, would tickle +the funny bone of any but an operatic audience," writes Grenville +Vernon in the N.Y. _Tribune_. + + +ISABEAU + +With Rosa Raisa in the title rôle, the Chicago Opera Company produced +Mascagni's "Isabeau" at the Auditorium, Chicago, November 12, 1918. +The company repeated it at the Lexington Theatre, New York, February +13, 1918, also with Rosa Raisa as _Isabeau_. The opera had its first +performances on any stage at Buenos Aires, June 2, 1911. The libretto, +based upon the story of Lady Godiva, is in three acts, and is the work +of Luigi Illica. The opera has made so little impression that I +restrict myself to giving the story. + +In Illica's version of the Godiva story, the heroine, _Isabeau_, is as +renowned for her aversion to marriage as for her beauty. Her father, +_King Raimondo_, eager to find for her a husband, arranges a +tournament of love, at which she is to award her hand as prize to the +knight who wins her favour. She rejects them all. For this obstinacy +and because she intercedes in a quarrel, _Raimondo_ dooms her to ride +unclad through the town at high noon of the same day. At the urging of +the populace he modifies his sentence, but only so far as to announce +that, while she rides, no one shall remain in the streets or look out +of the windows. The order is disobeyed only by a simpleton, a country +lout named _Folco_. Dazed by _Isabeau's_ beauty, he strews flowers for +her as she comes riding along. For this the people demand that he +suffer the full penalty for violation of the order, which is the loss +of eyesight and life. _Isabeau_, horrified by _Folco's_ act, visits +him in prison. Her revulsion turns to love. She decides to inform her +father that she is ready to marry. But the _Chancellor_ incites the +populace to carry out the death sentence. _Isabeau_ commits suicide. + +When "Isabeau" had its American production in Chicago, more than +twenty-seven years had elapsed since the first performance of +"Cavalleria Rusticana." A long list of operas by Mascagni lies +between. But he still remains a one-opera man, that opera, however, a +masterpiece. + + + + +Ruggiero Leoncavallo + +(1858- ) + + +Leoncavallo, born March 8, 1858, at Naples, is a dramatic composer, a +pianist, and a man of letters. He is the composer of the successful +opera "Pagliacci," has made concert tours as a pianoforte virtuoso, is +his own librettist, and has received the degree of Doctor of Letters +from the University of Bologna. + +He studied at the Naples Conservatory. His first opera, "Tommaso +Chatterton," was a failure, but was successfully revived in 1896, in +Rome. An admirer of Wagner and personally encouraged by him, he wrote +and set to music a trilogy, "Crepusculum" (Twilight): I. "I Medici"; +II. "Gerolamo Savonarola"; III. "Cesare Borgia." The performing rights +to Part I were acquired by the Ricordi publishing house, but, no +preparations being made for its production, he set off again on his +travels as a pianist; officiating also as a répétiteur for opera +singers, among them Maurel, in Paris, where he remained several years. +His friendship with that singer bore unexpected fruit. Despairing of +ever seeing "I Medici" performed, and inspired by the success of +"Cavalleria Rusticana," Leoncavallo wrote and composed "Pagliacci," +and sent it to Ricordi's rival, the music publisher Sonzogno. The +latter accepted "Pagliacci" immediately after reading the libretto. +Maurel then not only threw his influence in favour of the work, but +even offered to create the rôle of _Tonio_; and in that character he +was in the original cast (1892). "I Medici" was now produced (La +Scala, Milan, 1893), but failed of success. Later operas by +Leoncavallo, "La Bohème" (La Fenice Theatre, Venice, 1897) and "Zaza" +(Milan, 1900), fared somewhat better, and the latter is played both in +Italy and Germany. But "Roland of Berlin," commissioned by the German +Emperor and performed December 13, 1904, was a complete failure. In +fact Leoncavallo's name is so identified with "Pagliacci" that, like +Mascagni, he may be called a one-opera composer. + + +PAGLIACCI + +CLOWNS + + Opera in two acts, words and music by Ruggiero Leoncavallo. + Produced, Teatro dal Verme, Milan, May 17, 1892. Grand Opera + House, New York, June 15, 1893, under the direction of + Gustav Hinrichs, with Selma Kronold (_Nedda_), Montegriffo + (_Canio_), and Campanari (_Tonio_). Metropolitan Opera + House, December 11, 1893, with Melba as _Nedda_, De Lucia as + _Canio_, and Ancona as _Tonio_. + + CHARACTERS + + CANIO (in the play _Pagliaccio_), head of a + troupe of strolling players _Tenor_ + NEDDA (in the play _Columbine_), + wife of _Canio_ _Soprano_ + TONIO (in the play _Taddeo_, a clown) _Baritone_ + BEPPE (in the play _Harlequin_) _Tenor_ + SILVIO, a villager _Baritone_ + + Villagers. + + _Time_--The Feast of the Assumption, about 1865-70. + + _Place_--Montalto, in Calabria. + +"Pagliacci" opens with a prologue. There is an instrumental +introduction. Then _Tonio_ pokes his head through the curtains,--"Si +può? Signore, Signori" (By your leave, Ladies and Gentlemen),--comes +out, and sings. The prologue rehearses, or at least hints at, the +story of the opera, and does so in musical phrases, which we shall +hear again as the work progresses--the bustle of the players as they +make ready for the performance; _Canio's_ lament that he must be merry +before his audiences, though his heart be breaking; part of the +love-making music between _Nedda_ and _Silvio_; and the theme of the +intermezzo, to the broad measures of which _Tonio_ sings, "E voi, +piuttosto che le nostre povere gabbane" (Ah, think then, sweet people, +when you behold us clad in our motley). + +[Music] + +The prologue, in spite of ancient prototypes, was a bold stroke on the +part of Leoncavallo, and, as the result proved, a successful one. +Besides its effectiveness in the opera, it has made a good concert +number. Moreover, it is quite unlikely that without it Maurel would +have offered to play _Tonio_ at the production of the work in Milan. + +Act I. The edge of the village of Montalto, Calabria. People are +celebrating the Feast of the Assumption. In the background is the tent +of the strolling players. These players, _Canio_, _Nedda_, _Tonio_, +and _Beppe_, in the costume of their characters in the play they are +to enact, are parading through the village. + +The opening chorus, "Son qua" (They're here), proclaims the innocent +joy with which the village hails the arrival of the players. The +beating of a drum, the blare of a trumpet are heard. The players, +having finished their parade through the village, are returning to +their tent. _Beppe_, in his _Harlequin_ costume, enters leading a +donkey drawing a gaudily painted cart, in which _Nedda_ is reclining. +Behind her, in his _Pagliaccio_ costume, is _Canio_, beating the big +drum and blowing the trumpet. _Tonio_, dressed as _Taddeo_, the clown, +brings up the rear. The scene is full of life and gayety. + +Men, women, and boys, singing sometimes in separate groups, sometimes +together, form the chorus. The rising inflection in their oft-repeated +greeting to _Canio_ as "il principe sei dei Pagliacci" (the prince of +Pagliaccios), adds materially to the lilt of joy in their greeting to +the players whose coming performance they evidently regard as the +climax to the festival. + +_Canio_ addresses the crowd. At seven o'clock the play will begin. +They will witness the troubles of poor _Pagliaccio_, and the vengeance +he wreaked on the _Clown_, a treacherous fellow. 'Twill be a strange +combination of love and of hate. + +Again the crowd acclaims its joy at the prospect of seeing the players +on the stage behind the flaps of the tent. + +_Tonio_ comes forward to help _Nedda_ out of the cart. _Canio_ boxes +his ears, and lifts _Nedda_ down himself. _Tonio_, jeered at by the +women and boys, angrily shakes his fists at the youngsters, and goes +off muttering that _Canio_ will have to pay high for what he has done. +_Beppe_ leads off the donkey with the cart, comes back, and throws +down his whip in front of the tent. A villager asks _Canio_ to drink +at the tavern. _Beppe_ joins them. _Canio_ calls to _Tonio_. Is he +coming with them? _Tonio_ replies that he must stay behind to groom +the donkey. A villager suggests that _Tonio_ is remaining in order to +make love to _Nedda_. _Canio_ takes the intended humour of this sally +rather grimly. He says that in the play, when he interferes with +_Tonio's_ love-making, he lays himself open to a beating. But in real +life--let any one, who would try to rob him of _Nedda's_ love, beware. +The emphasis with which he speaks causes comment. + +"What can he mean?" asks _Nedda_ in an aside. + +"Surely you don't suspect her?" question the villagers of _Canio_. + +Of course not, protests _Canio_, and kisses _Nedda_ on the forehead. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Caruso as Canio in "I Pagliacci"] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Farrar as Nedda in "I Pagliacci"] + +Just then the bagpipers from a neighbouring village are heard +approaching. The musicians, followed by the people of their village, +arrive to join in the festival. All are made welcome, and the +villagers, save a few who are waiting for _Canio_ and _Beppe_, go off +down the road toward the village. The church bells ring. The villagers +sing the pretty chorus, "Din, don--suona vespero" (Ding, dong--the +vespers bell). _Canio_ nods good-bye to _Nedda_. He and _Beppe_ go +toward the village. + +_Nedda_ is alone. _Canio's_ words and manner worry her. "How fierce he +looked and watched me!--Heavens, if he should suspect me!" But the +birds are singing, the birds, whose voices her mother understood. Her +thoughts go back to her childhood. She sings, "Oh! che volo d'augelli" +(Ah, ye beautiful song-birds), which leads up to her vivacious +_ballatella_, "Stridono lassù, liberamente" (Forever flying through +the boundless sky). + +_Tonio_ comes on from behind the theatre. He makes violent love to +_Nedda_. The more passionately the clown pleads, the more she mocks +him, and the more angry he grows. He seeks forcibly to grasp and kiss +her. She backs away from him. Spying the whip where _Beppe_ threw it +down, she seizes it, and with it strikes _Tonio_ across the face. +Infuriated, he threatens, as he leaves her, that he will yet be +avenged on her. + +A man leans over the wall. He calls in a low voice, "Nedda!" + +"Silvio!" she cries. "At this hour ... what madness!" + +He assures her that it is safe for them to meet. He has just left +_Canio_ drinking at the tavern. She cautions him that, if he had been +a few moments earlier, his presence would have been discovered by +_Tonio_. He laughs at the suggestion of danger from a clown. + +_Silvio_ has come to secure the promise of the woman he loves, and who +has pledged her love to him, that she will run away with him from her +husband after the performance that night. She does not consent at +once, not because of any moral scruples, but because she is afraid. +After a little persuasion, however, she yields. The scene reaches its +climax in an impassioned love duet, "E allor perchè, di', tu m'hai +stregato" (Why hast thou taught me Love's magic story). The lovers +prepare to separate, but agree not to do so until after the play, when +they are to meet and elope. + +The jealous and vengeful _Tonio_ has overheard them, and has run to +the tavern to bring back _Canio_. He comes just in time to hear +_Nedda_ call after _Silvio_, who has climbed the wall, "Tonight, love, +and forever I am thine." + +_Canio_, with drawn dagger, makes a rush to overtake and slay the man, +who was with his wife. _Nedda_ places herself between him and the +wall, but he thrusts her violently aside, leaps the wall, and starts +in pursuit. "May Heaven protect him now," prays _Nedda_ for her lover, +while _Tonio_ chuckles. + +The fugitive has been too swift for _Canio_. The latter returns. + +"His name!" he demands of _Nedda_, for he does not know who her lover +is. _Nedda_ refuses to give it. _Silvio_ is safe! What matter what +happens to her. _Canio_ rushes at her to kill her. _Tonio_ and _Beppe_ +restrain him. _Tonio_ whispers to him to wait. _Nedda's_ lover surely +will be at the play. A look, or gesture from her will betray him. Then +_Canio_ can wreak vengeance. _Canio_ thinks well of _Tonio's_ ruse. +_Nedda_ escapes into the theatre. + +It is time to prepare for the performance. _Beppe_ and _Tonio_ retire +to do so. + +_Canio's_ grief over his betrayal by _Nedda_ finds expression in one +of the most famous numbers in modern Italian opera, "Vesti la giubba" +(Now don the motley), with its tragic "Ridi, Pagliaccio" (Laugh thou, +Pagliaccio), as _Canio_ goes toward the tent, and enters it. It is +the old and ever effective story of the buffoon who must laugh, and +make others laugh, while his heart is breaking. + +[Music] + +Act II. The scene is the same as that of the preceding act. _Tonio_ +with the big drum takes his position at the left angle of the theatre. +_Beppe_ places benches for the spectators, who begin to assemble, +while _Tonio_ beats the drum. _Silvio_ arrives and nods to friends. +_Nedda_, dressed as _Columbine_, goes about with a plate and collects +money. As she approaches _Silvio_, she pauses to speak a few words of +warning to him, then goes on, and re-enters the theatre with _Beppe_. +The brisk chorus becomes more insistent that the play begin. Most of +the women are seated. Others stand with the men on slightly rising +ground. + +A bell rings loudly. The curtain of the tent theatre on the stage +rises. The mimic scene represents a small room with two side doors and +a practicable window at the back. _Nedda_, as _Columbine_, is walking +about expectantly and anxiously. Her husband, _Pagliaccio_, has gone +away till morning. _Taddeo_ is at the market. She awaits her lover, +_Arlecchino_ (_Harlequin_). A dainty minuet forms the musical +background. + +A guitar is heard outside. _Columbine_ runs to the window with signs +of love and impatience. _Harlequin_, outside, sings his pretty +serenade to his _Columbine_, "O Colombina, il tenero" (O Columbine, +unbar to me thy lattice high). + +The ditty over, she returns to the front of the mimic stage, seats +herself, back to the door, through which _Tonio_, as _Taddeo_, a +basket on his arm, now enters. He makes exaggerated love to +_Columbine_, who, disgusted with his advances, goes to the window, +opens it, and signals. _Beppe_, as _Harlequin_, enters by the window. +He makes light of _Taddeo_, whom he takes by the ear and turns out of +the room, to the accompaniment of a few kicks. All the while the +minuet has tripped its pretty measure and the mimic audience has found +plenty to amuse it. + +_Harlequin_ has brought a bottle of wine, also a phial with a +sleeping-potion, which she is to give her husband, when opportunity +offers, so that, while he sleeps, she and _Harlequin_ may fly +together. Love appears to prosper, till, suddenly, _Taddeo_ bursts in. +_Columbine's_ husband, _Pagliaccio_, is approaching. He suspects her, +and is stamping with anger. "Pour the philtre in his wine, love!" +admonishes _Harlequin_, and hurriedly gets out through the window. + +_Columbine_ calls after him, just as _Canio_, in the character of +_Pagliaccio_, appears in the door, "Tonight, love, and forever, I am +thine!"--the same words _Canio_ heard his wife call after her lover a +few hours before. + +_Columbine_ parries _Pagliaccio's_ questions. He has returned too +early. He has been drinking. No one was with her, save the harmless +_Taddeo_, who has become alarmed and has sought safety in the closet. +From within, _Taddeo_ expostulates with _Pagliaccio_. His wife is +true, her pious lips would ne'er deceive her husband. The audience +laughs. + +But now it no longer is _Pagliaccio_, it is _Canio_, who calls out +threateningly, not to _Columbine_, but to _Nedda_, "His name!" + +"Pagliaccio! Pagliaccio!" protests _Nedda_, still trying to keep in +the play. "No!" cries out her husband--in a passage dramatically +almost as effective as "Ridi, Pagliaccio!"--"I am _Pagliaccio_ no +more! I am a man again, with anguish deep and human!" The audience +thinks his intensity is wonderful acting--all save _Silvio_, who shows +signs of anxiety. + +"Thou had'st my love," concludes _Canio_, "but now thou hast my hate +and scorn." + +"If you doubt me," argues _Nedda_, "why not let me leave you?" + +"And go to your lover!--His name! Declare it!" + +Still desperately striving to keep in the play, and avert the +inevitable, _Nedda_, as if she were _Columbine_, sings a chic gavotte, +"Suvvia, così terribile" (I never knew, my dear, that you were such a +tragic fellow). + +[Music] + +She ends with a laugh, but stops short, at the fury in _Canio's_ look, +as he takes a knife from the table. + +"His name!" + +"No!"--Save her lover she will, at whatever cost to herself. + +The audience is beginning to suspect that this is no longer acting. +The women draw back frightened, overturning the benches. _Silvio_ is +trying to push his way through to the stage. + +_Nedda_ makes a dash to escape into the audience. _Canio_ pursues and +catches up with her. + +"Take that--and--that!" (He stabs her in the back.) "Di morte negli +spasimi lo dirai" (In the last death agony, thou'lt call his name). + +"Soccorso ... Silvio!" (Help! Help!--Silvio!) + +A voice from the audience cries, "Nedda!" A man has nearly reached the +spot where she lies dead. _Canio_ turns savagely, leaps at him. A +steel blade flashes. _Silvio_ falls dead beside _Nedda_. + +"Gesummaria!" shriek the women; "Ridi _Pagliaccio_!" sob the +instruments of the orchestra. _Canio_ stands stupefied. The knife +falls from his hand: + +"La commedia è finita" (The comedy is ended). + +There are plays and stories in which, as in "Pagliacci," the drama on +a mimic stage suddenly becomes real life, so that the tragedy of the +play changes to the life-tragedy of one or more of the characters. +"Yorick's Love," in which I saw Lawrence Barrett act, and of which I +wrote a review for _Harper's Weekly_, was adapted by William D. +Howells from "Drama Nuevo" by Estébanez, which is at least fifty years +older than "Pagliacci." In it the actor _Yorick_ really murders the +actor, whom in character, he is supposed to kill in the play. In the +plot, as in real life, this actor had won away the love of _Yorick's_ +wife, before whose eyes he is slain by the wronged husband. About +1883, I should say, I wrote a story, "A Performance of Othello," for a +periodical published by students of Columbia University, in which the +player of _Othello_, impelled by jealousy, actually kills his wife, +who is the _Desdemona_, and then, as in the play, slays himself. Yet, +although the _motif_ is an old one, this did not prevent Catulle +Mendès, who himself had been charged with plagiarizing, in "La Femme +de Tabarin," Paul Ferrier's earlier play, "Tabarin," from accusing +Leoncavallo of plagiarizing "Pagliacci" from "La Femme de Tabarin," +and from instituting legal proceedings to enjoin the performance of +the opera in Brussels. Thereupon Leoncavallo, in a letter to his +publisher, stated that during his childhood at Montalto a jealous +player killed his wife after a performance, that his father was the +judge at the criminal's trial--circumstances which so impressed the +occurrence on his mind that he was led to adapt the episode for his +opera. Catulle Mendès accepted the explanation and withdrew his suit. + +There has been some discussion regarding the correct translation of +"Pagliacci." It is best rendered as "Clowns," although it only is +necessary to read in Italian cyclopedias the definition of +_Pagliaccio_ to appreciate Philip Hale's caution that the character is +not a clown in the restricted circus sense. Originally the word, +which is the same as the French _paillasse_, signified a bed of straw, +then was extended to include an upholstered under-mattress, and +finally was applied to the buffoon in the old Italian comedy, whose +costume generally was striped like the ticking or stuff, of which the +covering of a mattress is made. + +The play on the mimic stage in "Pagliacci" is, in fact, one of the +_Harlequin_ comedies that has been acted for centuries by strolling +players in Italy. But for the tragedy that intervenes in the opera, +_Pagliaccio's_ ruse in returning before he was expected, in order to +surprise his wife, _Columbina_, with _Arlecchino_, would have been +punished by his being buffetted about the room and ejected. For "the +reward of _Pagliaccio's_ most adroit stratagems is to be boxed on the +ears and kicked." + +Hence the poignancy of "Ridi, Pagliaccio!" + + + + +Giacomo Puccini + +(1858- ) + + +This composer, born in Lucca, Italy, June 22, 1858, first studied +music in his native place as a private pupil of Angeloni. Later, at +the Royal Conservatory, Milan, he came under the instruction of +Ponchielli, composer of "La Gioconda," whose influence upon modern +Italian opera, both as a preceptor and a composer, is regarded as +greater than that of any other musician. + +Puccini himself is considered the most important figure in the +operatic world of Italy today, the successor of Verdi, if there is +any. For while Mascagni and Leoncavallo each has one sensationally +successful short opera to his credit, neither has shown himself +capable of the sustained effort required to create a score vital +enough to maintain the interest of an audience throughout three or +four acts, a criticism I consider applicable even to Mascagni's +"Lodoletta," notwithstanding its production and repetitions at the +Metropolitan Opera House, New York, which I believe largely due to +unusual conditions produced by the European war. Puccini, on the other +hand, is represented in the repertoire of the modern opera house by +four large works: "Manon Lescaut" (1870), "La Bohème" (1896), "Tosca" +(1900), and "Madama Butterfly" (1904). His early two-act opera, "Le +Villi" (The Willis, Dal Verme Theatre, Milan, 1884), and his three-act +opera, "La Fanciulla del West" (The Girl of the Golden West), 1910, +have been much less successful; his "Edgar" (La Scala, Milan, 1889), +is not heard outside of Italy. And his opera, "La Rondine," has not at +this writing been produced here, and probably will not be until after +the war, the full score being the property of a publishing house in +Vienna, which, because of the war, has not been able to send copies of +it to the people in several countries to whom the performing rights +had been sold. + + +LE VILLI + +"Le Villi" (The Willis), signifying the ghosts of maidens deserted by +their lovers, is the title of a two-act opera by Puccini, words by +Ferdinando Fortuna, produced May 31, 1884, Dal Verme Theatre, Milan, +after it had been rejected in a prize competition at the Milan +Conservatory, but revised by the composer with the aid of Boïto. It is +Puccini's first work for the lyric stage. When produced at the Dal +Verme Theatre, it was in one act, the composer later extending it to +two, in which form it was brought out at the Reggio Theatre, Turin, +December 26, 1884; Metropolitan Opera House, N.Y., December 17, 1908, +with Alda (_Anna_), Bonci (_Robert_), Amato (_Wulf_). + +Of the principal characters _Wulf_ is a mountaineer of the Black +Forest; _Anna_, his daughter; _Robert_, her lover. After the betrothal +feast, _Robert_, obliged to depart upon a journey, swears to _Anna_ +that he will be faithful to her. In the second act, however, we find +him indulging in wild orgies in Mayence and squandering money on an +evil woman. In the second part of this act he returns to the Black +Forest a broken-down man. The Willis dance about him. From _Wulf's_ +hut he hears funeral music. _Anna's_ ghost now is one of the wild +dancers. While he appeals to her, they whirl about him. He falls dead. +The chorus sings "Hosanna" in derision of his belated plea for +forgiveness. + +Most expressive in the score is the wild dance of the Willis, who +"have a character of their own, entirely distinct from that of other +operatic spectres" (Streatfield). The prelude to the second act, +"L'Abbandono," also is effective. Attractive in the first act are the +betrothal scene, a prayer, and a waltz. "Le Villi," however, has not +been a success outside of Italy. + +"Manon Lescaut," on the other hand, has met with success elsewhere. +Between it and "Le Villi" Puccini produced another opera, "Edgar," +Milan, La Scala, 1889, but unknown outside of the composer's native +country. + + +MANON LESCAUT + + Opera in four acts, by Puccini. Produced at Turin, February + 1, 1893. Covent Garden, London, May 14, 1894. Grand Opera + House, Philadelphia, in English, August 29, 1894; Wallack's + Theatre, New York, May 27, 1898, by the Milan Royal Italian + Opera Company of La Scala; Metropolitan Opera House, New + York, January 18, 1907, with Caruso, Cavalieri, and Scotti. + The libretto, founded on Abbé Prévost's novel, is by + Puccini, assisted by a committee of friends. The composer + himself directed the production at the Metropolitan Opera + House. + + CHARACTERS + + MANON LESCAUT _Soprano_ + LESCAUT, sergeant of the King's Guards _Baritone_ + CHEVALIER DES GRIEUX _Tenor_ + GERONTE DE RAVOIR, Treasurer-General _Bass_ + EDMUND, a student _Tenor_ + + _Time_--Second half of eighteenth century. + + _Place_--Amiens, Paris, Havre, Louisiana. + +Act I plays in front of an inn at Amiens. _Edmund_ has a solo with +chorus for students and girls. _Lescaut_, _Geronte_, and _Manon_ +arrive in a diligence. _Lescaut_ is taking his sister to a convent to +complete her education, but finding her to be greatly admired by the +wealthy _Geronte_, is quite willing to play a negative part and let +the old satyr plot with the landlord to abduct _Manon_. _Des Grieux_, +however, has seen her. "Donna non vidi mai simile a questa" (Never did +I behold so fair a maiden), he sings in praise of her beauty. + +[Music] + +With her too it is love at first sight. When she rejoins him, as she +had promised to, they have a love duet. "Vedete! Io son fedele alla +parola mia" (Behold me! I have been faithful to my promise), she +sings. _Edmund_, who has overheard _Geronte's_ plot to abduct _Manon_, +informs _Des Grieux_, who has little trouble in inducing the girl to +elope with him. They drive off in the carriage _Geronte_ had ordered. +_Lescaut_, who has been carousing with the students, hints that, as +_Des Grieux_ is not wealthy and _Manon_ loves luxury, he will soon be +able to persuade her to desert her lover for the rich Treasurer-General. + +Such, indeed, is the case, and in Act II, she is found ensconced in +luxurious apartments in _Geronte's_ house in Paris. But to _Lescaut_, +who prides himself on having brought the business with her wealthy +admirer to a successful conclusion, she complains that "in quelle +trine morbide"--in those silken curtains--there's a chill that freezes +her. "O mia dimora umile, tu mi ritorni innanzi" (My little humble +dwelling, I see you there before me). She left _Des Grieux_ for wealth +and the luxuries it can bring--"Tell me, does not this gown suit me to +perfection?" she asks _Lescaut_--and yet she longs for her handsome +young lover. + +_Geronte_ sends singers to entertain her. They sing a madrigal, "Sulla +vetta tu del monte erri, O Clori" (Speed o'er the summit of the +mountain, gentle Chloe). + +[Music] + +Then a dancing master enters. _Manon_, _Lescaut_, _Geronte_, and old +beaus and abbés, who have come in with _Geronte_, form for the dance, +and a lesson in the minuet begins. + +[Music] + +_Lescaut_ hurries off to inform _Des Grieux_, who has made money in +gambling, where he can find _Manon_. When the lesson is over and all +have gone, her lover appears at the door. At first he reproaches her, +but soon is won by her beauty. There is an impassioned love duet, +"Vieni! Colle tue braccia stringi Manon che t'ama" (Oh, come love! In +your arms enfold Manon, who loves you). + +_Geronte_ surprises them, pretends to approve of their affection, but +really sends for the police. _Lescaut_ urges them to make a +precipitate escape. _Manon_, however, now loath to leave the luxuries +_Geronte_ has lavished on her, insists on gathering up her jewels in +order to take them with her. The delay is fatal. The police arrive. +She is arrested on the charge made by _Geronte_ that she is an +abandoned woman. + +Her sentence is banishment, with other women of loose character, to +the then French possession of Louisiana. The journey to Havre for +embarkation is represented by an intermezzo in the score, and an +extract from Abbé Prévost's story in the libretto. The theme of the +"Intermezzo," a striking composition, is as follows: + +[Music] + +Act III. The scene is laid in a square near the harbour at Havre. _Des +Grieux_ and _Lescaut_ attempt to free _Manon_ from imprisonment, but +are foiled. There is much hubbub. Then the roll is called of the +women, who are to be transported. As they step forward, the crowd +comments upon their looks. This, together with _Des Grieux's_ plea to +the captain of the ship to be taken along with _Manon_, no matter how +lowly the capacity in which he may be required to serve on board, make +a dramatic scene. + +Act IV. "A vast plain on the borders of the territory of New Orleans. +The country is bare and undulating, the horizon is far distant, the +sky is overcast. Night falls." Thus the libretto. The score is a long, +sad duet between _Des Grieux_ and _Manon_. _Manon_ dies of exhaustion. +_Des Grieux_ falls senseless upon her body. + + +LA BOHÈME + +THE BOHEMIANS + + Opera in four acts by Puccini; words by Giuseppe Giacosa and + Luigi Illica, founded on Henri Murger's book, _La Vie de + Bohème_. Produced, Teatro Reggio, Turin, February 1, 1896. + Manchester, England, in English, as "The Bohemians," April + 22, 1897. Covent Garden, London, in English, October 2, + 1897; in Italian, July 1, 1899. San Francisco, March, 1898, + and Wallack's Theatre, New York, May 16, 1898, by a + second-rate travelling organization, which called itself The + Milan Royal Italian Opera Company of La Scala; American + Theatre, New York, in English, by Henry W. Savage's Castle + Square Opera Company, November 20, 1898; Metropolitan Opera + House, New York, in Italian, December 18, 1901. + + CHARACTERS + + RUDOLPH, a poet _Tenor_ + MARCEL, a painter _Baritone_ + COLLINE, a philosopher _Bass_ + SCHAUNARD, a musician _Baritone_ + BENOIT, a landlord _Bass_ + ALCINDORO, a state councillor and + follower of _Musetta_ _Bass_ + PARPIGNOL, an itinerant toy vender _Tenor_ + CUSTOM-HOUSE SERGEANT _Bass_ + MUSETTA, a grisette _Soprano_ + MIMI, a maker of embroidery _Soprano_ + + Students, work girls, citizens, shopkeepers, street venders, + soldiers, waiters, boys, girls, etc. + + _Time_--About 1830. + + _Place_--Latin Quarter, Paris. + +"La Bohème" is considered by many Puccini's finest score. There is +little to choose, however, between it, "Tosca," and "Madama +Butterfly." Each deals successfully with its subject. It chances that, +as "La Bohème" is laid in the Quartier Latin, the students' quarter of +Paris, where gayety and pathos touch elbows, it laughs as well as +weeps. Authors and composers who can tear passion to tatters are more +numerous than those who have the light touch of high comedy. The +latter, a distinguished gift, confers distinction upon many passages +in the score of "La Bohème," which anon sparkles with merriment, anon +is eloquent of love, anon is stressed by despair. + +Act I. The garret in the Latin Quarter, where live the inseparable +quartet--_Rudolph_, poet; _Marcel_, painter; _Colline_, philosopher; +_Schaunard_, musician, who defy hunger with cheerfulness and play +pranks upon the landlord of their meagre lodging, when he importunes +them for his rent. + +When the act opens, _Rudolph_ is at a table writing, and _Marcel_ is +at work on a painting, "The Passage of the Red Sea." He remarks that, +owing to lack of fuel for the garret stove, the Red Sea is rather +cold. + +"Questo mar rosso" (This Red Sea), runs the duet, in the course of +which _Rudolph_ says that he will sacrifice the manuscript of his +tragedy to the needs of the stove. They tear up the first act, throw +it into the stove, and light it. _Colline_ comes in with a bundle of +books he has vainly been attempting to pawn. Another act of the +tragedy goes into the fire, by which they warm themselves, still +hungry. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Farrar as Mimi in "La Bohème"] + +[Illustration: Photo by Hall + +Café Momus Scene, "La Bohème," Act II + +Mimi (Rennyson), Musette (Joel), Rudolph (Sheehan)] + +But relief is nigh. Two boys enter. They bring provisions and fuel. +After them comes _Schaunard_. He tosses money on the table. The +boys leave. In vain _Schaunard_ tries to tell his friends the +ludicrous details of his three-days' musical engagement to an +eccentric Englishman. It is enough for them that it has yielded fuel +and food, and that some money is left over for the immediate future. +Between their noise in stoking the stove and unpacking the provisions, +_Schaunard_ cannot make himself heard. + +_Rudolph_ locks the door. Then all go to the table and pour out wine. +It is Christmas eve. _Schaunard_ suggests that, when they have emptied +their glasses, they repair to their favourite resort, the Café Momus, +and dine. Agreed. Just then there is a knock. It is _Benoit_, their +landlord, for the rent. They let him in and invite him to drink with +them. The sight of the money on the table reassures him. He joins +them. The wine loosens his tongue. He boasts of his conquests of women +at shady resorts. The four friends feign indignation. What! He, a +married man, engaged in such disreputable proceedings! They seize him, +lift him to his feet, and eject him, locking the door after him. + +The money on the table was earned by _Schaunard_, but, according to +their custom, they divide it. Now, off for the Café Momus--that is, +all but _Rudolph_, who will join them soon--when he has finished an +article he has to write for a new journal, the _Beaver_. He stands on +the landing with a lighted candle to aid the others in making their +way down the rickety stairs. + +With little that can be designated as set melody, there nevertheless +has not been a dull moment in the music of these scenes. It has been +brisk, merry and sparkling, in keeping with the careless gayety of the +four dwellers in the garret. + +Re-entering the room, and closing the door after him, _Rudolph_ clears +a space on the table for pens and paper, then sits down to write. +Ideas are slow in coming. Moreover, at that moment, there is a timid +knock at the door. + +"Who's there?" he calls. + +It is a woman's voice that says, hesitatingly, "Excuse me, my candle +has gone out." + +_Rudolph_ runs to the door, and opens it. On the threshold stands a +frail, appealingly attractive young woman. She has in one hand an +extinguished candle, in the other a key. _Rudolph_ bids her come in. +She crosses the threshold. A woman of haunting sweetness in aspect and +manner has entered Bohemia. + +She lights her candle by his, but, as she is about to leave, the +draught again extinguishes it. _Rudolph's_ candle also is blown out, +as he hastens to relight hers. The room is dark, save for the +moonlight that, over the snow-clad roofs of Paris, steals in through +the garret window. _Mimi_ exclaims that she has dropped the key to the +door of her room. They search for it. He finds it but slips it into +his pocket. Guided by _Mimi's_ voice and movements, he approaches. As +she stoops, his hand meets hers. He clasps it. + +"Che gelida manina" (How cold your hand), he exclaims with tender +solicitude. "Let me warm it into life." He then tells her who he is, +in what has become known as the "Racconto di Rodolfo" (Rudolph's +Narrative), which, from the gentle and solicitous phrase, "Che gelida +manina," followed by the proud exclamation, "Sono un poeta" (I am a +poet), leads up to an eloquent avowal of his dreams and fancies. Then +comes the girl's charming "Mi chiamano Mimi" (They call me Mimi), in +which she tells of her work and how the flowers she embroiders for a +living transport her from her narrow room out into the broad fields +and meadows. "Mi chiamano Mimi" is as follows:-- + +[Music] + +Her frailty, which one can see is caused by consumption in its early +stages, makes her beauty the more appealing to _Rudolph_. + +His friends call him from the street below. Their voices draw _Mimi_ +to the window. In the moonlight she appears even lovelier to +_Rudolph_. "O soave fanciulla" (Thou beauteous maiden), he exclaims, +as he takes her to his arms. This is the beginning of the love duet, +which, though it be sung in a garret, is as impassioned as any that, +in opera, has echoed through the corridors of palaces, or the moonlit +colonnades of forests by historic rivers. The theme is quoted here in +the key, in which it occurs, like a premonition, a little earlier in +the act. + +[Music] + +The theme of the love duet is used by the composer several times in +the course of the opera, and always in association with _Mimi_. +Especially in the last act does it recur with poignant effect. + +Act II. A meeting of streets, where they form a square, with shops of +all sorts, and the Café Momus. The square is filled with a happy +Christmas eve crowd. Somewhat aloof from this are _Rudolph_ and +_Mimi_. _Colline_ stands near the shop of a clothes dealer. +_Schaunard_ is haggling with a tinsmith over the price of a horn. +_Marcel_ is chaffing the girls who jostle against him in the crowd. + +There are street venders crying their wares; citizens, students, and +work girls, passing to and fro and calling to each other; people at +the café giving orders--a merry whirl, depicted in the music by +snatches of chorus, bits of recitative, and an instrumental +accompaniment that runs through the scene like a many-coloured thread, +and holds the pattern together. + +_Rudolph_ and _Mimi_ enter a bonnet shop. The animation outside +continues. When the two lovers come out of the shop, _Mimi_ is wearing +a new bonnet trimmed with roses. She looks about. + +"What is it?" _Rudolph_ asks suspiciously. + +"Are you jealous?" asks _Mimi_. + +"The man in love is always jealous." + +_Rudolph's_ friends are at a table outside the café. _Rudolph_ joins +them with _Mimi_. He introduces her to them as one who will make their +party complete, for he "will play the poet, while she's the muse +incarnate." + +_Parpignol_, the toy vender, crosses the square and goes off, followed +by children, whose mothers try to restrain them. The toy vender is +heard crying his wares in the distance. The quartet of Bohemians, now +a quintet through the accession of _Mimi_, order eatables and wine. + +Shopwomen, who are going away, look down one of the streets, and +exclaim over someone whom they see approaching. + +"'Tis Musetta! My, she is gorgeous!--Some stammering old dotard is +with her." + +_Musetta_ and _Marcel_ have loved, quarrelled, and parted. She has +recently put up with the aged but wealthy _Alcindoro de Mittoneaux_, +who, when she comes upon the square, is out of breath trying to keep +up with her. + +Despite _Musetta's_ and _Marcel's_ attempt to appear indifferent to +each other's presence, it is plain that they are not so. _Musetta_ has +a chic waltz song, "Quando me'n vo soletta per la via" (As through the +streets I wander onward merrily), one of the best-known numbers of the +score, which she deliberately sings at _Marcel_, to make him aware, +without arousing her aged gallant's suspicions, that she still loves +him. + +[Music] + +Feigning that a shoe hurts her, she makes the ridiculous _Alcindoro_ +unlatch and remove it, and trot off with it to the cobbler's. She and +_Marcel_ then embrace, and she joins the five friends at their table, +and the expensive supper ordered by _Alcindoro_ is served to them with +their own. + +The military tattoo is heard approaching from the distance. There is +great confusion in the square. A waiter brings the bill for the +Bohemians' order. _Schaunard_ looks in vain for his purse. _Musetta_ +comes to the rescue. "Make one bill of the two orders. The gentleman +who was with me will pay it." + +The patrol enters, headed by a drum major. _Musetta_, being without +her shoe, cannot walk, so _Marcel_ and _Colline_ lift her between them +to their shoulders, and carry her through the crowd, which, sensing +the humour of the situation, gives her an ovation, then swirls around +_Alcindoro_, whose foolish, senile figure, appearing from the +direction of the cobbler's shop with a pair of shoes for _Musetta_, it +greets with jeers. For his gay ladybird has fled with her friends from +the _Quartier_, and left him to pay all the bills. + +Act III. A gate to the city of Paris on the Orleans road. A toll house +at the gate. To the left a tavern, from which, as a signboard hangs +_Marcel's_ picture of the Red Sea. Several plane trees. It is +February. Snow is on the ground. The hour is that of dawn. Scavengers, +milk women, truckmen, peasants with produce, are waiting to be +admitted to the city. Custom-house officers are seated, asleep, around +a brazier. Sounds of revelry are heard from the tavern. These, +together with characteristic phrases, when the gate is opened and +people enter, enliven the first scene. + +Into the small square comes _Mimi_ from the Rue d'Enfer, which leads +from the Latin Quarter. She looks pale, distressed, and frailer than +ever. A cough racks her. Now and then she leans against one of the +bare, gaunt plane trees for support. + +A message from her brings _Marcel_ out of the tavern. He tells her he +finds it more lucrative to paint signboards than pictures. _Musetta_ +gives music lessons. _Rudolph_ is with them. Will not _Mimi_ join +them? She weeps, and tells him that _Rudolph_ is so jealous of her she +fears they must part. When _Rudolph_, having missed _Marcel_, comes +out to look for him, _Mimi_ hides behind a plane tree, from where she +hears her lover tell his friend that he wishes to give her up because +of their frequent quarrels. "Mimi è una civetta" (Mimi is a heartless +creature) is the burden of his song. Her violent coughing reveals her +presence. They decide to part--not angrily, but regretfully: "Addio, +senza rancor" (Farewell, then, I wish you well), sings _Mimi_. + +[Music] + +Meanwhile _Marcel_, who has re-entered the tavern, has caught +_Musetta_ flirting with a stranger. This starts a quarrel, which +brings them out into the street. Thus the music becomes a quartet: +"Addio, dolce svegliare" (Farewell, sweet love), sing _Rudolph_ and +_Mimi_, while _Marcel_ and _Musetta_ upbraid each other. The +temperamental difference between the two women, _Mimi_ gentle and +melancholy, _Musetta_ aggressive and disputatious, and the difference +in the effect upon the two men, are admirably brought out by the +composer. "Viper!" "Toad!" _Marcel_ and _Musetta_ call out to each +other, as they separate; while the frail _Mimi_ sighs, "Ah! that our +winter night might last forever," and she and _Rudolph_ sing, "Our +time for parting's when the roses blow." + +Act IV. The scene is again the attic of the four Bohemians. _Rudolph_ +is longing for _Mimi_, of whom he has heard nothing, _Marcel_ for +_Musetta_, who, having left him, is indulging in one of her gay +intermezzos with one of her wealthy patrons. "Ah, Mimi, tu più" (Ah, +Mimi, fickle-hearted), sings _Rudolph_, as he gazes at the little pink +bonnet he bought her at the milliner's shop Christmas eve. _Schaunard_ +thrusts the water bottle into _Colline's_ hat as if the latter were a +champagne cooler. The four friends seek to forget sorrow and poverty +in assuming mock dignities and then indulging in a frolic about the +attic. When the fun is at its height, the door opens and _Musetta_ +enters. She announces that _Mimi_ is dying and, as a last request, has +asked to be brought back to the attic, where she had been so happy +with _Rudolph_. He rushes out to get her, and supports her feeble and +faltering footsteps to the cot, on which he gently lowers her. + +She coughs; her hands are very cold. _Rudolph_ takes them in his to +warm them. _Musetta_ hands her earrings to _Marcel_, and bids him go +out and sell them quickly, then buy a tonic for the dying girl. There +is no coffee, no wine. _Colline_ takes off his overcoat, and, having +apostrophized it in the "Song of the Coat," goes out to sell it, so as +to be able to replenish the larder. _Musetta_ runs off to get her muff +for _Mimi_, her hands are still so cold. + +_Rudolph_ and the dying girl are now alone. This tragic moment, when +their love revives too late, finds expression, at once passionate and +exquisite, in the music. The phrases "How cold your hand," "They call +me Mimi," from the love scene in the first act, recur like mournful +memories. + +_Mimi_ whispers of incidents from early in their love. "Te lo +rammenti" (Ah! do you remember). + +[Music] + +_Musetta_ and the others return. There are tender touches in the good +offices they would render the dying girl. They are aware before +_Rudolph_ that she is beyond aid. In their faces he reads what has +happened. With a cry, "Mimi! Mimi!" he falls sobbing upon her lifeless +form. _Musetta_ kneels weeping at the foot of the bed. _Schaunard_, +overcome, sinks back into a chair. _Colline_ stands dazed at the +suddenness of the catastrophe. _Marcel_ turns away to hide his +emotion. + +Mi chiamano Mimi! + + +TOSCA + + Opera in three acts by Puccini; words by L. Illica and G. + Giacosa after the drama, "La Tosca," by Sardou. Produced, + Constanzi Theatre, Rome, January 14, 1900; London, Covent + Garden, July 12, 1900. Buenos Aires, June 16, 1900. + Metropolitan Opera House, New York, February 4, 1901, with + Ternina, Cremonini, Scotti, Gilibert (_Sacristan_), and + Dufriche (_Angelotti_). + + CHARACTERS + + FLORIA TOSCA, a celebrated singer _Soprano_ + MARIO CAVARADOSSI, a painter _Tenor_ + BARON SCARPIA, Chief of Police _Baritone_ + CESARE ANGELOTTI _Bass_ + A SACRISTAN _Baritone_ + SPOLETTA, police agent _Tenor_ + SCIARRONE, a gendarme _Bass_ + A GAOLER _Bass_ + A SHEPHERD BOY _Contralto_ + + Roberti, executioner; a cardinal, judge, scribe, officer, + and sergeant, soldiers, police agents, ladies, nobles, + citizens, artisans, etc. + + _Time_--June, 1800. + + _Place_--Rome. + +Three sharp, vigorous chords, denoting the imperious yet sinister and +vindictive character of _Scarpia_--such is the introduction to +"Tosca." + + * * * * * + +Act I. The church of Sant'Andrea della Valle. To the right the +Attavanti chapel; left a scaffolding, dais, and easel. On the easel a +large picture covered by a cloth. Painting accessories. A basket. + +Enter _Angelotti_. He has escaped from prison and is seeking a hiding +place. Looking about, he recognizes a pillar shrine containing an +image of the Virgin, and surmounting a receptacle for holy water. +Beneath the feet of the image he searches for and discovers a key, +unlocks the Attavanti chapel and disappears within it. The _Sacristan_ +comes in. He has a bunch of brushes that he has been cleaning, and +evidently is surprised not to find _Cavaradossi_ at his easel. He +looks into the basket, finds the luncheon in it untouched, and now is +sure he was mistaken in thinking he had seen the painter enter. + +The Angelus is rung. The _Sacristan_ kneels. _Cavaradossi_ enters. He +uncovers the painting--a Mary Magdalen with large blue eyes and masses +of golden hair. The _Sacristan_ recognizes in it the portrait of a +lady who lately has come frequently to the church to worship. The good +man is scandalized at what he considers a sacrilege. _Cavaradossi_, +however, has other things to think of. He compares the face in the +portrait with the features of the woman he loves, the dark-eyed +_Floria Tosca_, famous as a singer. "Recondita armonia di bellezze +diverse" (Strange harmony of contrasts deliciously blending), he +sings. + +Meanwhile the _Sacristan_, engaged in cleaning the brushes in a jug of +water, continues to growl over the sacrilege of putting frivolous +women into religious paintings. Finally, his task with the brushes +over, he points to the basket and asks, "Are you fasting?" "Nothing +for me," says the painter. The _Sacristan_ casts a greedy look at the +basket, as he thinks of the benefit he will derive from the artist's +abstemiousness. The painter goes on with his work. The _Sacristan_ +leaves. + +_Angelotti_, believing no one to be in the church, comes out of his +hiding place. He and _Cavaradossi_ recognize each other. _Angelotti_ +has just escaped from the prison in the castle of Sant'Angelo. The +painter at once offers to help him. Just then, however, _Tosca's_ +voice is heard outside. The painter presses the basket with wine and +viands upon the exhausted fugitive, and urges him back into the +chapel, while from without _Tosca_ calls more insistently, "Mario!" + +Feigning calm, for the meeting with _Angelotti_, who had been +concerned in the abortive uprising to make Rome a republic, has +excited him, _Cavaradossi_ admits _Tosca_. Jealously she insists that +he was whispering with someone, and that she heard footsteps and the +swish of skirts. Her lover reassures her, tries to embrace her. Gently +she reproves him. She cannot let him kiss her before the Madonna until +she has prayed to her image and made an offering. She adorns the +Virgin's figure with flowers she has brought with her, kneels in +prayer, crosses herself and rises. She tells _Cavaradossi_ to await +her at the stage door that night, and they will steal away together to +his villa. He is still distrait. When he replies, absent-mindedly, he +surely will be there, her comment is, "Thou say'st it badly." Then, +beginning the love duet, "Non la sospiri la nostra casetta" (Dost +thou not long for our dovecote secluded), she conjures up for him a +vision of that "sweet, sweet nest in which we love-birds hide." + +For the moment _Cavaradossi_ forgets _Angelotti_; then, however, urges +_Tosca_ to leave him, so that he may continue with his work. She is +vexed and, when she recognizes in the picture of Mary Magdalen the +fair features of the Marchioness Attavanti, she becomes jealous to the +point of rage. But her lover soon soothes her. The episode is +charming. In fact the libretto, following the Sardou play, unfolds, +scene by scene, an always effective drama. + +_Tosca_ having departed, _Cavaradossi_ lets _Angelotti_ out of the +chapel. He is a brother of the Attavanti, of whom _Tosca_ is so +needlessly jealous, and who has concealed a suit of woman's clothing +for him under the altar. They mention _Scarpia_--"A bigoted satyr and +hypocrite, secretly steeped in vice, yet most demonstratively +pious"--the first hint we have in the opera of the relentless +character, whose desire to possess _Tosca_ is the mainspring of the +drama. + +A cannon shot startles them. It is from the direction of the castle +and announces the escape of a prisoner--_Angelotti_. _Cavaradossi_ +suggests the grounds of his villa as a place of concealment from +_Scarpia_ and his police agents, especially the old dried-up well, +from which a secret passage leads to a dark vault. It can be reached +by a rough path just outside the Attavanti chapel. The painter even +offers to guide the fugitive. They leave hastily. + +The _Sacristan_ enters excitedly. He has great news. Word has been +received that Bonaparte has been defeated. The old man now notices, +however, greatly to his surprise, that the painter has gone. Acolytes, +penitents, choristers, and pupils of the chapel crowd in from all +directions. There is to be a "Te Deum" in honour of the victory, and +at evening, in the Farnese palace, a cantata with _Floria Tosca_ as +soloist. It means extra pay for the choristers. They are jubilant. + +_Scarpia_ enters unexpectedly. He stands in a doorway. A sudden hush +falls upon all. For a while they are motionless, as if spellbound. +While preparations are making for the "Te Deum," _Scarpia_ orders +search made in the Attavanti chapel. He finds a fan which, from the +coat-of-arms on it, he recognizes as having been left there by +_Angelotti's_ sister. A police agent also finds a basket. As he comes +out with it, the _Sacristan_ unwittingly exclaims that it is +_Cavaradossi's_, and empty, although the painter had said that he +would eat nothing. It is plain to _Scarpia_, who has also discovered +in the Mary Magdalen of the picture the likeness to the Marchioness +Attavanti, that _Cavaradossi_ had given the basket of provisions to +_Angelotti_, and has been an accomplice in his escape. + +_Tosca_ comes in and quickly approaches the dais. She is greatly +surprised not to find _Cavaradossi_ at work on the picture. _Scarpia_ +dips his fingers in holy water and deferentially extends them to +_Tosca_. Reluctantly she touches them, then crosses herself. _Scarpia_ +insinuatingly compliments her on her religious zeal. She comes to +church to pray, not, like certain frivolous wantons--he points to the +picture--to meet their lovers. He now produces the fan. "Is this a +painter's brush or a mahlstick?" he asks, and adds that he found it on +the easel. Quickly, jealously, _Tosca_ examines it, sees the arms of +the Attavanti. She had come to tell her lover that, because she is +obliged to sing in the cantata she will be unable to meet him that +night. Her reward is this evidence, offered by _Scarpia_, that he has +been carrying on a love affair with another woman, with whom he +probably has gone to the villa. She gives way to an outburst of +jealous rage; then, weeping, leaves the chapel, to the gates of which +_Scarpia_ gallantly escorts her. He beckons to his agent _Spoletta_, +and orders him to trail her and report to him at evening at the +Farnese palace. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Cavalieri as Tosca] + +[Illustration: Photo by Mishkin + +Scotti as Scarpia] + +Church bells are tolling. Intermittently from the castle of +Sant'Angelo comes the boom of the cannon. A Cardinal has entered and +is advancing to the high altar. The "Te Deum" has begun. _Scarpia_ +soliloquizes vindictively: "Va, Tosca! Nel tuo cuor s'annida Scarpia" +(Go, Tosca! There is room in your heart for Scarpia). + +He pauses to bow reverently as the Cardinal passes by. Still +soliloquizing, he exults in his power to send _Cavaradossi_ to +execution, while _Tosca_ he will bring to his own arms. For her, he +exclaims, he would renounce his hopes of heaven; then kneels and +fervently joins in the "Te Deum." + +This finale, with its elaborate apparatus, its complex emotions and +the sinister and dominating figure of _Scarpia_ set against a +brilliant and constantly shifting background, is a stirring and +effective climax to the act. + +Act II. The Farnese Palace. _Scarpia's_ apartments on an upper floor. +A large window overlooks the palace courtyard. _Scarpia_ is seated at +table supping. At intervals he breaks off to reflect. His manner is +anxious. An orchestra is heard from a lower story of the palace, where +Queen Caroline is giving an entertainment in honour of the reported +victory over Bonaparte. They are dancing, while waiting for _Tosca_, +who is to sing in the cantata. _Scarpia_ summons _Sciarrone_ and gives +him a letter, which is to be handed to the singer upon her arrival. + +_Spoletta_ returns from his mission. _Tosca_ was followed to a villa +almost hidden by foliage. She remained but a short time. When she left +it, _Spoletta_ and his men searched the house, but could not find +_Angelotti_. _Scarpia_ is furious, but is appeased when _Spoletta_ +tells him that they discovered _Cavaradossi_, put him in irons, and +have brought him with them. + +Through the open window there is now heard the beginning of the +cantata, showing that _Tosca_ has arrived and is on the floor below, +where are the Queen's reception rooms. Upon _Scarpia's_ order there +are brought in _Cavaradossi_, _Roberti_, the executioner, and a judge +with his clerk. _Cavaradossi's_ manner is indignant, defiant, +_Scarpia's_ at first suave. Now and then _Tosca's_ voice is heard +singing below. Finally _Scarpia_ closes the window, thus shutting out +the music. His questions addressed to _Cavaradossi_ are now put in a +voice more severe. He has just asked, "Once more and for the last +time," where is _Angelotti_, when _Tosca_, evidently alarmed by the +contents of the note received from _Scarpia_, hurries in and, seeing +_Cavaradossi_, fervently embraces him. Under his breath he manages to +warn her against disclosing anything she saw at the villa. + +_Scarpia_ orders that _Cavaradossi_ be removed to an adjoining room +and his deposition there taken. _Tosca_ is not aware that it is the +torture chamber the door to which has closed upon her lover. With +_Tosca_ _Scarpia_ begins his interview quietly, deferentially. He has +deduced from _Spoletta's_ report of her having remained but a short +time at the villa that, instead of discovering the Attavanti with her +lover, as she jealously had suspected, she had found him making plans +to conceal _Angelotti_. In this he has just been confirmed by her +frankly affectionate manner toward _Cavaradossi_. + +At first she answers _Scarpia's_ questions as to the presence of +someone else at the villa lightly; then, when he becomes more +insistent, her replies show irritation, until, turning on her with +"ferocious sternness," he tells her that his agents are attempting to +wring a confession from _Cavaradossi_ by torture. Even at that moment +a groan is heard. _Tosca_ implores mercy for her lover. Yes, if she +will disclose the hiding place of _Angelotti_. Groan after groan +escapes from the torture chamber. _Tosca_, overcome, bursts into +convulsive sobs and sinks back upon a sofa. _Spoletta_ kneels and +mutters a Latin prayer. _Scarpia_ remains cruelly impassive, silent, +until, seeing his opportunity in _Tosca's_ collapse, he steps to the +door and signals to the executioner, _Roberti_, to apply still greater +torture. The air is rent with a prolonged cry of pain. Unable longer +to bear her lover's anguish and, in spite of warnings to say nothing, +which he has called out to her between his spasms, she says hurriedly +and in a stifled voice to _Scarpia_, "The well ... in the garden." + +_Cavaradossi_ is borne in from the torture chamber and deposited on +the sofa. Kneeling beside him _Tosca_ lavishes tears and kisses upon +him. _Sciarrone_, the judge, _Roberti_ and the _Clerk_ go. In +obedience to a sign from _Scarpia_, _Spoletta_ and the agents remain +behind. Still loyal to his friend, _Cavaradossi_, although racked with +pain, asks _Tosca_ if unwittingly in his anguish he has disclosed +aught. She reassures him. + +In a loud and commanding voice _Scarpia_ says to _Spoletta_: "In the +well in the garden--Go _Spoletta_!" + +From _Scarpia's_ words _Cavaradossi_ knows that _Tosca_ has betrayed +_Angelotti's_ hiding place. He tries to repulse her. + +_Sciarrone_ rushes in much perturbed. He brings bad news. The victory +they have been celebrating has turned into defeat. Bonaparte has +triumphed at Marengo. _Cavaradossi_ is roused to enthusiasm by the +tidings. "Tremble, Scarpia, thou butcherly hypocrite," he cries. + +It is his death warrant. At _Scarpia's_ command _Sciarrone_ and the +agents seize him and drag him away to be hanged. + +Quietly seating himself at table, _Scarpia_ invites _Tosca_ to a +chair. Perhaps they can discover a plan by which _Cavaradossi_ may be +saved. He carefully polishes a wineglass with a napkin, fills it with +wine, and pushes it toward her. + +"Your price?" she asks, contemptuously. + +Imperturbably he fills his glass. She is the price that must be paid +for _Cavaradossi's_ life. The horror with which she shrinks from the +proposal, her unfeigned detestation of the man putting it forward, +make her seem the more fascinating to him. There is a sound of distant +drums. It is the escort that will conduct _Cavaradossi_ to the +scaffold. _Scarpia_ has almost finished supper. Imperturbably he peels +an apple and cuts it in quarters, occasionally looking up and scanning +his chosen victim's features. + +Distracted, not knowing whither or to whom to turn, _Tosca_ now utters +the famous "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore, non feci mai male ad anima +viva": + + (Music and love--these have I lived for, + Nor ever have I harmed a living being.... + + In this, my hour of grief and bitter tribulation, + O, Heavenly Father, why hast Thou forsaken me), + +The "Vissi d'arte" justly is considered the most beautiful air in the +repertoire of modern Italian opera. It is to passages of surpassing +eloquence like this that Puccini owes his fame, and his operas are +indebted for their lasting power of appeal. + +Beginning quietly, "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore," + +[Music] + +it works up to the impassioned, heart-rending outburst of grief with +which it comes to an end. + +[Music] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Emma Eames as Tosca] + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Caruso as Mario in "Tosca"] + +A knock at the door. _Spoletta_ comes to announce that _Angelotti_, on +finding himself discovered, swallowed poison. "The other," he adds, +meaning _Cavaradossi_, "awaits your decision." The life of _Tosca's_ +lover is in the hands of the man who has told her how she may save +him. Softly _Scarpia_ asks her, "What say you?" She nods consent; +then, weeping for the shame of it, buries her head in the sofa +cushions. + +_Scarpia_ says it is necessary for a mock execution to be gone through +with, before _Tosca_ and _Cavaradossi_ can flee Rome. He directs +_Spoletta_ that the execution is to be simulated--"as we did in the +case of Palmieri.--You understand." + +"Just like Palmieri," _Spoletta_ repeats with emphasis, and goes. + +_Scarpia_ turns to _Tosca_. "I have kept my promise." She, however, +demands safe conduct for _Cavaradossi_ and herself. _Scarpia_ goes to +his desk to write the paper. With trembling hand _Tosca_, standing at +the table, raises to her lips the wineglass filled for her by +_Scarpia_. As she does so she sees the sharp, pointed knife with which +he peeled and quartered the apple. A rapid glance at the desk assures +her that he still is writing. With infinite caution she reaches out, +secures possession of the knife, conceals it on her person. _Scarpia_ +has finished writing. He folds up the paper, advances toward _Tosca_ +with open arms to embrace her. + +"_Tosca_, at last thou art mine!" + +With a swift stroke of the knife, she stabs him full in the breast. + +"It is thus that _Tosca_ kisses!" + +He staggers, falls. Ineffectually he strives to rise; makes a final +effort; falls backward; dies. + +Glancing back from time to time at _Scarpia's_ corpse, _Tosca_ goes to +the table, where she dips a napkin in water and washes her fingers. +She arranges her hair before a looking-glass, then looks on the desk +for the safe-conduct. Not finding it there, she searches elsewhere for +it, finally discovers it clutched in _Scarpia's_ dead fingers, lifts +his arm, draws out the paper from between the fingers, and lets the +arm fall back stiff and stark, as she hides the paper in her bosom. +For a brief moment she surveys the body, then extinguishes the lights +on the supper table. + +About to leave, she sees one of the candles on the desk still burning. +With a grace of solemnity, she lights with it the other candle, places +one candle to the right, the other to the left of _Scarpia's_ head, +takes down a crucifix from the wall, and, kneeling, places it on the +dead man's breast. There is a roll of distant drums. She rises; steals +out of the room. + +In the opera, as in the play, which was one of Sarah Bernhardt's +triumphs, it is a wonderful scene--one of the greatest in all drama. +Anyone who has seen it adequately acted, knows what it has signified +in the success of the opera, even after giving Puccini credit for +"Vissi d'arte" and an expressive accompaniment to all that transpires +on the stage. + +Act III. A platform of the Castle Sant'Angelo. Left, a casement with a +table, a bench, and a stool. On the table are a lantern, a huge +register book, and writing materials. Suspended on one of the walls +are a crucifix and a votive lamp. Right, a trap door opening on a +flight of steps that lead to the platform from below. The Vatican and +St. Paul's are seen in the distance. The clear sky is studded with +stars. It is just before dawn. The jangle of sheep bells is heard, at +first distant, then nearer. Without, a shepherd sings his lay. A dim, +grey light heralds the approach of dawn. + +The firing party conducting _Cavaradossi_ ascends the steps through +the trap door and is received by a jailer. From a paper handed him by +the sergeant in charge of the picket, the jailer makes entries in the +register, to which the sergeant signs his name, then descends the +steps followed by the picket. A bell strikes. "You have an hour," the +jailer tells _Cavaradossi_. The latter craves the favour of being +permitted to write a letter. It being granted, he begins to write, but +soon loses himself in memories of _Tosca_. "E lucevan le stelle ed +olezzava la terra" (When the stars were brightly shining, and faint +perfumes the air pervaded)--a tenor air of great beauty. + +[Music] + +He buries his face in his hands. _Spoletta_ and the sergeant conduct +_Tosca_ up the steps to the platform, and point out to her where she +will find _Cavaradossi_. A dim light still envelopes the scene as with +mystery. _Tosca_, seeing her lover, rushes up to him and, unable to +speak for sheer emotion, lifts his hands and shows him--herself and +the safe-conduct. + +"At what price?" he asks. + +Swiftly she tells him what _Scarpia_ demanded of her, and how, having +consented, she thwarted him by slaying him with her own hand. Lovingly +he takes her hands in his. "O dolci mani mansuete e pure" (Oh! gentle +hands, so pitiful and tender). Her voice mingles with his in love and +gratitude for deliverance. + +"Amaro sol per te m'era il morire" (The sting of death, I only felt +for thee, love). + +[Music] + +She informs him of the necessity of going through a mock execution. He +must fall naturally and lie perfectly still, as if dead, until she +calls to him. They laugh over the ruse. It will be amusing. The firing +party arrives. The sergeant offers to bandage _Cavaradossi's_ eyes. +The latter declines. He stands with his back to the wall. The soldiers +take aim. _Tosca_ stops her ears with her hands so that she may not +hear the explosion. The officer lowers his sword. The soldiers fire. +_Cavaradossi_ falls. + +"How well he acts it!" exclaims _Tosca_. + +A cloth is thrown over _Cavaradossi_. The firing party marches off. +_Tosca_ cautions her lover not to move yet. The footsteps of the +firing party die away--"Now get up." He does not move. Can he not +hear? She goes nearer to him. "Mario! Up quickly! Away!--Up! up! +Mario!" + +She raises the cloth. To the last _Scarpia_ has tricked her. He had +ordered a real, not a mock execution. Her lover lies at her feet--a +corpse. + +There are cries from below the platform. _Scarpia's_ murder has been +discovered. His myrmidons are hastening to apprehend her. She springs +upon the parapet and throws herself into space. + +[Illustration: Farrar as Tosca] + + +MADAMA BUTTERFLY + +MADAM BUTTERFLY + + Opera in two acts, by Giacomo Puccini, words after the story + of John Luther Long and the drama of David Belasco by L. + Illica and G. Giacosa. English version by Mrs. R.H. Elkin. + Produced unsuccessfully, La Scala, Milan, February 17, + 1904, with Storchio, Zenatello, and De Luca, conductor + Cleofante Campanini. Slightly revised, but with Act II + divided into two distinct parts, at Brescia, May 28, 1904, + with Krusceniski, Zenatello, and Bellati, when it scored a + success. Covent Garden, London, July 10, 1905, with Destinn, + Caruso, and Scotti, conductor Campanini. Washington, D.C., + October, 1906, in English, by the Savage Opera Company, and + by the same company, Garden Theatre, New York, November 12, + 1906, with Elsa Szamozy, Harriet Behne, Joseph F. Sheehan, + and Winifred Goff; Metropolitan Opera House, New York, + February 11, 1907, with Farrar (_Butterfly_), Homer + (_Suzuki_), Caruso (_Pinkerton_), Scotti (_Sharpless_), and + Reiss (_Goro_). + + CHARACTERS + + MADAM BUTTERFLY (Cio-Cio-San) _Soprano_ + SUZUKI (her servant) _Mezzo-Soprano_ + KATE PINKERTON _Mezzo-Soprano_ + B.F. PINKERTON, Lieutenant, U.S.N. _Tenor_ + SHARPLESS (U.S. Consul at Nagasaki) _Baritone_ + GORO (a marriage broker) _Tenor_ + PRINCE YAMADORI _Baritone_ + THE BONZE (_Cio-Cio-San's uncle_) _Bass_ + YAKUSIDE _Baritone_ + THE IMPERIAL COMMISSIONER _Bass_ + THE OFFICIAL REGISTRAR } _Baritone_ + CIO-CIO-SAN'S MOTHER } Members of _Mezzo-Soprano_ + THE AUNT } the Chorus _Mezzo-Soprano_ + THE COUSIN } _Soprano_ + TROUBLE (_Cio-Cio-San's Child_) + + _Cio-Cio-San's_ relations and friends. Servants. + + _Time_--Present day. + + _Place_--Nagasaki. + +[Illustration: Photo by Hall + +"Madame Butterfly," Act I + +(Francis Maclennan, Renée Vivienne, and Thomas Richards)] + +Although "Madama Butterfly" is in two acts, the division of the second +act into two parts by the fall of the curtain, there also being an +instrumental introduction to part second, practically gives the opera +three acts. + +Act I. There is a prelude, based on a Japanese theme. This theme runs +through the greater part of the act. It is employed as a background +and as a connecting link, with the result that it imparts much exotic +tone colour to the scenes. The prelude passes over into the first act +without a break. + +_Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton_, U.S.N., is on the point of contracting a +"Japanese marriage" with _Cio-Cio-San_, whom her friends call +_Butterfly_. At the rise of the curtain _Pinkerton_ is looking over a +little house on a hill facing the harbour. This house he has leased +and is about to occupy with his Japanese wife. _Goro_, the nakodo or +marriage broker, who has arranged the match, also has found the house +for him and is showing him over it, enjoying the American's surprise +at the clever contrivances found in Japanese house construction. Three +Japanese servants are in the house, one of whom is _Suzuki_, +_Butterfly's_ faithful maid. + +_Sharpless_, the American Consul at Nagasaki, arrives. In the chat +which follows between the two men it becomes apparent that _Sharpless_ +looks upon the step _Pinkerton_ is about to take with disfavour. He +argues that what may be a mere matter of pastime to the American Naval +lieutenant, may have been taken seriously by the Japanese girl and, if +so, may prove a matter of life or death with her. _Pinkerton_ on the +other hand laughs off his friend's fears and, having poured out drinks +for both, recklessly pledges his real American wife of the future. +Further discussion is interrupted by the arrival of the bride with her +relatives and friends. + +After greetings have been exchanged, the Consul on conversing with +_Butterfly_ becomes thoroughly convinced that he was correct in +cautioning _Pinkerton_. For he discovers that she is not contemplating +the usual Japanese marriage of arrangement, but, actually being in +love with _Pinkerton_, is taking it with complete seriousness. She has +even gone to the extent, as she confides to _Pinkerton_, of secretly +renouncing her religious faith, the faith of her forefathers, and +embracing his, before entering on her new life with him. This step, +when discovered by her relatives, means that she has cut herself loose +from all her old associations and belongings, and entrusts herself and +her future entirely to her husband. + +Minor officials whose duty it is to see that the marriage contract, +even though it be a "Japanese marriage," is signed with proper +ceremony, arrive. In the midst of drinking and merry-making on the +part of all who have come to the wedding, they are startled by fierce +imprecations from a distance and gradually drawing nearer. A weird +figure, shouting and cursing wildly, appears upon the scene. It is +_Butterfly's_ uncle, the _Bonze_ (Japanese priest). He has discovered +her renunciation of faith, now calls down curses upon her head for it, +and insists that all her relatives, even her immediate family, +renounce her. _Pinkerton_ enraged at the disturbance turns them out of +the house. The air shakes with their imprecations as they depart. +_Butterfly_ is weeping bitterly, but _Pinkerton_ soon is enabled to +comfort her. The act closes with a passionate love scene. + +The Japanese theme, which I have spoken of as forming the introduction +to the act, besides, the background to the greater part of it, in fact +up to the scene with the _Bonze_, never becomes monotonous because it +is interrupted by several other musical episodes. Such are the short +theme to which _Pinkerton_ sings "Tutto è pronto" (All is ready), and +the skippy little theme when _Goro_ tells _Pinkerton_ about those who +will be present at the ceremony. When _Pinkerton_ sings, "The whole +world over, on business or pleasure the Yankee travels," a motif based +on the "Star-Spangled Banner," is heard for the first time. + +In the duet between _Pinkerton_ and _Sharpless_, which _Pinkerton_ +begins with the words, "Amore o grillo" (Love or fancy), _Sharpless's_ +serious argument and its suggestion of the possibility of +_Butterfly's_ genuine love for _Pinkerton_ are well brought out in the +music. When _Butterfly_ and her party arrive, her voice soars above +those of the others to the strains of the same theme which occurs as a +climax to the love duet at the end of the act and which, in the course +of the opera, is heard on other occasions so intimately associated +with herself and her emotions that it may be regarded as a motif, +expressing the love she has conceived for _Pinkerton_. + +Full of feeling is the music of her confession to _Pinkerton_ that she +has renounced the faith of her forefathers, in order to be a fit wife +for the man she loves:--"Ieri son salita" (Hear what I would tell +you). An episode, brief but of great charm, is the chorus "Kami! O +Kami! Let's drink to the newly married couple." Then comes the +interruption of the cheerful scene by the appearance of the _Bonze_, +which forms a dramatic contrast. + +It is customary with Puccini to create "atmosphere" of time and place +through the medium of the early scenes of his operas. It is only +necessary to recall the opening episodes in the first acts of "La +Bohème" and "Tosca." He has done the same thing in "Madam Butterfly," +by the employment of the Japanese theme already referred to, and by +the crowded episodes attending the arrival of _Butterfly_ and the +performance of the ceremony. These episodes are full of action and +colour, and distinctly Japanese in the impression they make. Moreover, +they afford the only opportunity throughout the entire opera to employ +the chorus upon the open stage. It is heard again in the second act, +but only behind the scenes and humming in order to give the effect of +distance. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Farrar as Cio-Cio-San in "Madama Butterfly"] + +The love scene between _Pinkerton_ and _Butterfly_ is extended. From +its beginning, "Viene la sera" (Evening is falling), + +[Music] + +to the end, its interest never flags. It is full of beautiful melody +charged with sentiment and passion, yet varied with lighter passages, +like _Butterfly's_ "I am like the moon's little goddess"; "I used to +think if anyone should want me"; and the exquisite, "Vogliatemi bene" +(Ah, love me a little). There is a beautiful melody for _Pinkerton_, +"Love, what fear holds you trembling." The climax of the love duet is +reached in two impassioned phrases:--"Dolce notte! Quante stelle" +(Night of rapture, stars unnumbered), + +[Music] + +and "Oh! Quanti occhi fisi, attenti" (Oh, kindly heavens). + +[Music] + +Act II. Part I. Three years have elapsed. It is a long time since +_Pinkerton_ has left _Butterfly_ with the promise to return to her +"when the robins nest." When the curtain rises, after an introduction, +in which another Japanese theme is employed, _Suzuki_, although +convinced that _Pinkerton_ has deserted her mistress, is praying for +his return. _Butterfly_ is full of faith and trust. In chiding her +devoted maid for doubting that _Pinkerton_ will return, she draws in +language and song a vivid picture of his home-coming and of their +mutual joy therein:--"Un bel dì vedremo" (Some day he'll come). + +[Music] + +In point of fact, _Pinkerton_ really is returning to Nagasaki, but +with no idea of resuming relations with his Japanese wife. Indeed, +before leaving America he has written to _Sharpless_ asking him to let +_Butterfly_ know that he is married to an American wife, who will +join him in Nagasaki. _Sharpless_ calls upon _Butterfly_, and attempts +to deliver his message, but is unable to do so because of the emotions +aroused in _Butterfly_ by the very sight of a letter from _Pinkerton_. +It throws her into a transport of joy because, unable immediately to +grasp its contents, she believes that in writing he has remembered +her, and must be returning to her. _Sharpless_ endeavours to make the +true situation clear to her, but is interrupted by a visit from +_Yamadori_, a wealthy Japanese suitor, whom _Goro_ urges _Butterfly_ +to marry. For the money left by Pinkerton with his little Japanese +wife has dwindled almost to nothing, and poverty stares her in the +face. But she will not hear of an alliance with _Yamadori_. She +protests that she is already married to _Pinkerton_, and will await +his return. + +When _Yamadori_ has gone, _Sharpless_ makes one more effort to open +her eyes to the truth. They have a duet, "Ora a noi" (Now at last), in +which he again produces the letter, and attempts to persuade her that +Pinkerton has been faithless to her and has forgotten her. Her only +reply is to fetch in her baby boy, born since _Pinkerton's_ departure. +Her argument is, that when the boy's father hears what a fine son is +waiting for him in Japan, he will hasten back. She sings to _Trouble_, +as the little boy is called:--"Sai cos'ebbe cuore" (Do you hear, my +sweet one, what that bad man is saying). _Sharpless_ makes a final +effort to disillusion her, but in vain. If _Pinkerton_ does not come +back, there are two things, she says, she can do--return to her old +life and sing for people, or die. She sings a touching little lullaby +to her baby boy, _Suzuki_ twice interrupting her with the pathetically +voiced exclamation, "Poor Madam Butterfly!" + +A salute of cannon from the harbour announces the arrival of a +man-of-war. Looking through the telescope, _Butterfly_ and _Suzuki_ +discover that it is _Pinkerton's_ ship, the "Abraham Lincoln." Now +_Butterfly_ is convinced that _Sharpless_ is wrong. Her faith is +about to be rewarded. The man she loves is returning to her. The home +must be decorated and made cheerful and attractive to greet him. She +and _Suzuki_ distribute cherry blossoms wherever their effect will be +most charming. The music accompanying this is the enchanting duet of +the flowers, "Scuoti quella fronda di ciliegio" (Shake that cherry +tree till every flower). Most effective is the phrase, "Gettiamo a +mani piene mammole e tuberose" (In handfuls let us scatter violets and +white roses.) + +[Music] + +_Butterfly_ adorns herself and the baby boy. Then with her fingers she +pierces three holes in the paper wall of the dwelling. She, _Suzuki_, +and the baby peer through these, watching for _Pinkerton's_ arrival. +Night falls. _Suzuki_ and the boy drop off to sleep. _Butterfly_ +rigid, motionless, waits and watches, her faith still unshaken, for +the return of the man who has forsaken her. The pathos of the scene is +profound; the music, with the hum of voices, borne upon the night from +the distant harbour, exquisite. + +Act II. Part II. When the curtain rises, night has passed, dawn is +breaking. _Suzuki_ and the baby are fast asleep, but _Butterfly_ still +is watching. Again Puccini employs a Japanese melody (the "vigil" +theme). + +[Music] + +When _Suzuki_ awakes, she persuades the poor little "wife" to go +upstairs to rest, which _Butterfly_ does only upon _Suzuki's_ promise +to awaken her as soon as _Pinkerton_ arrives. _Pinkerton_ and +_Sharpless_ appear. _Suzuki_ at first is full of joyful surprise, +which, however, soon gives way to consternation, when she learns the +truth. _Pinkerton_ himself, seeing about him the proofs of +_Butterfly's_ complete loyalty to him, realizes the heartlessness of +his own conduct. There is a dramatic trio for _Pinkerton_, +_Sharpless_, and _Suzuki_. _Pinkerton_, who cannot bear to face the +situation, rushes away, leaving it to _Sharpless_ to settle matters as +best he can. + +_Butterfly_ has become aware that people are below. _Suzuki_ tries to +prevent her coming down, but she appears radiantly happy, for she +expects to find her husband. The pathos of the scene in which she +learns the truth is difficult to describe. But she does not burst into +lamentations. With a gentleness which has been characteristic of her +throughout, she bears the blow. She even expresses the wish to _Kate_, +_Pinkerton's_ real wife, that she may experience all happiness, and +sends word to _Pinkerton_ that, if he will come for his son in half an +hour, he can have him. + +_Sharpless_ and _Mrs. Pinkerton_ withdraw. In a scene of tragic power, +_Butterfly_ mortally wounds herself with her father's sword, the blade +of which bears the inscription, "To die with honour when one can no +longer live with honour," drags herself across the floor to where the +boy is playing with his toys and waving a little American flag, and +expires just as _Pinkerton_ enters to take away the son whom thus she +gives up to him. + +From examples that already have been given of modern Italian opera, it +is clear that "atmosphere," local colour, and character delineation +are typical features of the art of Italy's lyric stage as it +flourishes today. In "Madama Butterfly" we have exotic tone colour to +a degree that has been approached but not equalled by Verdi in "Aïda." +Certain brief scenes in Verdi's opera are Egyptian in tone colour. In +"Madama Butterfly" Japanese themes are used _in extenso_, and although +the thrilling climaxes in the work are distinctively Italian, the +Japanese under-current, dramatic and musical, always is felt. In that +respect compare "Madama Butterfly" with a typical old Italian opera +like "Lucia di Lammermoor" the scene of which is laid in Scotland, but +in which there is nothing Scotch save the costumes--no "atmosphere," +no local colour. These things are taken seriously by modern Italian +composers, who do not ignore melody, yet also appreciate the value of +an eloquent instrumental support to the voice score; whereas the older +Italian opera composers were content to distribute melody with a +lavish hand and took little else into account. + +In character delineation in the opera _Butterfly_ dominates. She is a +sweet, trusting, pathetic little creature--traits expressed in the +music as clearly as in the drama. The sturdy devotion of _Suzuki_ is, +if possible, brought out in an even stronger light in the opera than +in the drama, and _Sharpless_ is admirably drawn. _Pinkerton_, of +course, cannot be made sympathetic. All that can be expected of him is +that he be a tenor, and sing the beautiful music allotted to him in +the first act with tender and passionate expression. + +The use of the "Star-Spangled Banner" motif as a personal theme for +_Pinkerton_, always has had a disagreeable effect upon me, and from +now on should be objected to by all Americans. Some one in authority, +a manager like Gatti-Casazza, or Ricordi & Co.'s American +representatives, should call Puccini's attention to the fact that his +employment of the National Anthem of the United States of America in +"Madama Butterfly" is highly objectionable and might, in time, become +offensive; although no offence was meant by him. + +I "did" the first night of David Belasco's play "Madam Butterfly" for +the New York _Herald_. The production occurred at the Herald Square +Theatre, Broadway and Thirty-fifth Street, New York, March 5, 1900, +with Blanche Bates as _Butterfly_. It was given with "Naughty +Anthony," a farce-comedy also by Belasco, which had been a failure. +The tragedy had been constructed with great rapidity from John Luther +Long's story, but its success was even swifter. At the Duke of York's +Theatre, London, it was seen by Francis Nielsen, stage manager of +Covent Garden, who immediately sent word to Puccini urging him to come +from Milan to London to see a play which, in his hands, might well +become a successful opera. Puccini came at once, with the result that +he created a work which has done its full share toward making the +modern Italian lyric stage as flourishing as all unprejudiced critics +concede it to be. + +The Milan production of "Madama Butterfly" was an utter failure. The +audience hooted, the prima donna was in tears. The only person behind +the scenes not disconcerted was the composer, whose faith in his work +was so soon to be justified. + + +LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST + +(THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST) + + Opera in three acts by Puccini; words by C. Zangarini and G. + Civini, after the play by David Belasco. Produced, + Metropolitan Opera House, New York, December 10, 1910, with + Destinn, Mattfeld, Caruso, Amato, Reiss, Didur, Dinh-Gilly, + Pini-Corsi, and De Segurola. + + CHARACTERS + + MINNIE _Soprano_ + JACK RANCE, sheriff _Baritone_ + DICK JOHNSON (Ramerrez) _Tenor_ + NICK, bartender at the "Polka" _Tenor_ + ASHBY, Wells-Fargo agent _Bass_ + SONORA } _Baritone_ + TRIM } _Tenor_ + SID } _Baritone_ + HANDSOME } Miners _Baritone_ + HARRY } _Tenor_ + JOE } _Tenor_ + HAPPY } _Baritone_ + LARKENS } _Bass_ + BILLY JACKRABBIT, an Indian redskin _Bass_ + WOWKLE, Billy's squaw _Mezzo-Soprano_ + JAKE WALLACE, a travelling camp + minstrel _Baritone_ + JOSÉ CASTRO, a greaser from + Ramerrez's gang _Bass_ + A POSTILLION _Tenor_ + MEN OF THE CAMP + + _Time_--1849-1850, the days of the gold fever. + + _Place_--A mining-camp at the foot of the Cloudy Mountains, + California. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Destinn as Minnie, Caruso as Johnson, and Amato as Jack Rance in "The +Girl of the Golden West"] + +Successful in producing "atmosphere" in "La Bohème," "Tosca," and +"Madama Butterfly," Puccini has utterly failed in his effort to do so +in his "Girl of the Golden West." Based upon an American play, the +scene laid in America and given in America for the first time on any +stage, the opera has not been, the more's the pity, a success. + +In the first act, laid in the "Polka" bar-room, after a scene of +considerable length for the miners (intended, no doubt, to create +"atmosphere") there is an episode between _Rance_ and _Minnie_, in +which it develops that _Rance_ wants to marry her, but that she does +not care for him. _Johnson_ comes in. He and _Minnie_ have met but +once before, but have been strongly attracted to each other. She asks +him to visit her in her cabin, where they will be undisturbed by the +crowd, which has gone off to hunt for Ramerrez, head of a band of +outlaws, reported to be in the vicinity but which soon may be back. + +The scene of the second act is _Minnie's_ cabin, which consists of a +room and loft. After a brief scene for _Billy_ and _Wowkle_, _Minnie_ +comes in. Through night and a blizzard _Johnson_ makes his way up the +mountainside. There is a love scene--then noises outside. People are +approaching. Not wishing to be found with _Johnson_, _Minnie_ forces +him to hide. _Rance_ and others, who are on the trail of _Ramerrez_ +and hope to catch or kill him any moment, come in to warn her that +_Johnson_ is Ramerrez. When they have gone, and _Johnson_ acknowledges +that he is the outlaw, _Minnie_ denounces him and sends him out into +the blizzard. There is a shot. _Johnson_, sorely wounded, staggers +into the cabin. A knock at the door. _Rance's_ voice. With _Minnie's_ +aid the wounded man reaches the loft where he collapses. + +_Rance_ enters, expecting to find _Johnson_. He is almost persuaded by +_Minnie_ that the fugitive is not there, when, through the loose +timbers of the loft, a drop of blood falls on his hand. _Minnie_ +proposes that they play cards--_Johnson_ to live, or she to marry the +sheriff. They play. She cheats, and wins. + +The third act is laid in the forest. _Johnson_, who has recovered and +left _Minnie's_ cabin, is caught, and is to be hung. But at the +critical moment _Minnie_ arrives, and her pleading moves the men to +spare him, in spite of _Rance's_ protests. They leave to begin a new +life elsewhere. + +In the score there is much recitative. It is not interesting in +itself, nor is it made so by the insufficiently varied instrumental +accompaniment. For the action of the play is too vigorous to find +expression by means of the Debussyan manner that predominates in the +orchestra. The most genuinely inspired musical number is _Johnson's_ +solo in the last act, when it seems certain that he is about to be +executed.--"Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano" (Let her believe that I +have gained my freedom). + + +LA RONDINE + +THE SWALLOW + +The opera begins in Paris during the Second Empire. _Magda_, the +heroine, is a _demi-mondaine_ living under the protection of the rich +banker _Rambaldo_. Satisfied with the luxuries he lavishes upon her, +she longs for true affection, and is unable to stifle the remembrance +of her first love, a poor young student. She meets _Ruggero_, who like +her earlier love, is young and poor, and a student. At Bouilliers, the +rendezvous of the gay life of Paris, _Ruggero_ declares his love for +_Magda_. They leave Paris for Nice, where they hope to lead an idyllic +existence. + +_Ruggero_ looks forward to a life of perfect happiness. He writes to +his parents asking their consent to his marriage with _Magda_. The +reply is that if she is virtuous and honourable, she will be received +with open arms. _Magda_ now considers herself (like _Violetta_ in "La +Traviata") unworthy of _Ruggero's_ love and lest she shall bring +dishonour upon the man she loves, she parts with him. Other principal +rôles are _Lisetta_ and _Prunia_, and there are numerous second parts +requiring first-rate artists. + +In the second act of "La Rondine" is a quartet which, it is said, +Puccini believes will rival that at the end of the third act in "La +Bohème." "I have let my pen run," he is reported to have said, "and no +other method suffices to obtain good results, in my opinion. No matter +what marvellous technical effects may be worked up by lengthy +meditation, I believe in heart in preference to head." + +The opera was produced in March, 1917, in Monte Carlo, and during the +summer of the same year, in Buenos Aires. Puccini intended to compose +it with dialogue as a genuine opéra comique, but finally substituted +recitative. The work is said to approach opéra comique in style. +Reports regarding its success vary. + +After the first Italian performance, San Carlo Theatre, Naples, +February 26, 1918, Puccini, according to report, decided to revise "La +Rondine." Revision, as in the case of "Madama Butterfly," may make a +great success of it. + + +ONE-ACT OPERAS + +Three one-act operas by Puccini have been composed for performance at +one sitting. They are "Suor Angelica" (Sister Angelica), "Il Tabarro" +(The Cloak), and "Gianni Schicchi." The motifs of these operas are +sentiment, tragedy, and humour. + +The scene of "Suor Angelica" is laid within the walls of a mountain +convent, whither she has retired to expiate an unfortunate past. Her +first contact with the outer world is through a visit from an aunt, +who needs her signature to a document. Timidly she asks about the tiny +mite, whom she was constrained to abandon before she entered the +convent. Harshly the aunt replies that the child is dead. _Sister +Angelica_ decides to make an end to her life amid the flowers she +loves. Dying, she appeals for pardon for her act of self-destruction. +The doors of the convent church open, and a dazzling light pours forth +revealing the Virgin Mary on the threshold surrounded by angels, who, +intoning a sweet chorus, bear the poor, penitent, and weary soul to +eternal peace. This little work is entirely for female voices. + +The libretto of "Il Tabarro" is tragic. The great scene is between a +husband and his wife. The husband has killed her lover, whose body he +shows to his unfaithful wife, lifting from the ground the cloak (il +tabarro) under which it is hidden. + +The scene of "Il Tabarro" is laid on the deck of a Seine barge at +sunset, when the day's work is over, and after dark. The husband is +_Michele_, the wife _Giorgetta_, the lover, _Luigi_, and there are two +other bargemen. These latter go off after the day's work. _Luigi_ +lingers in the cabin. He persuades _Giorgetta_ that, when all is quiet +on the barge, and it will be safe for him to return to her, she shall +strike a match as a signal. He then goes. + +_Michele_ has suspected his wife. He reminds her of their early love, +when he sheltered her under his cloak. _Giorgetta_, however, receives +these reminiscences coldly, feigns weariness, and retires to the +cabin. + +It has grown dark. _Michele_ lights his pipe. _Luigi_, thinking it is +_Giorgetta's_ signal, clambers up the side of the barge, where he is +seized and choked to death by _Michele_, who takes his cloak and +covers the corpse with it. + +_Giorgetta_ has heard sounds of a struggle. She comes on deck in +alarm, but is somewhat reassured, when she sees _Michele_ sitting +alone and quietly smoking. Still somewhat nervous, however, she +endeavours to atone for her frigidity toward him, but a short time +before, by "making up" to him, telling him, among other things, that +she well recalls their early love and wishes she could again find +shelter in the folds of his big cloak. For reply, he raises the cloak, +and lets her see _Luigi's_ corpse. + +I have read another synopsis of this plot, in which _Michele_ forces +his wife's face close to that of her dead lover. At the same moment, +one of the other bargemen, whose wife also had betrayed him, returns +brandishing the bloody knife, with which he has slain her. The simpler +version surely is more dramatic than the one of cumulative horrors. + + * * * * * + +When the action of "Gianni Schicchi" opens one _Donati_ has been dead +for two hours. His relations are thinking of the will. A young man of +the house hands it to his mother [Transcriber's Note: should be +'aunt'] but exacts the promise that he shall marry the daughter of +neighbour _Schicchi_. When the will is read, it is found that _Donati_ +has left his all to charity. _Schicchi_ is called in, and consulted. +He plans a ruse. So far only those in the room know of _Donati's_ +demise. The corpse is hidden. _Schicchi_ gets into bed, and, when the +_Doctor_ calls, imitates the dead man's voice and pretends he wants to +sleep. The lawyer is sent for. _Schicchi_ dictates a new will--in +favour of himself, and becomes the heir, in spite of the anger of the +others. + + + + +Riccardo Zandonai + + +FRANCESCA DA RIMINI + +FRANCESCA OF RIMINI + + Opera in four acts, by Riccardo Zandonai; words by Tito + Ricordi, after the drama of the same title by Gabriele + d'Annunzio. English version from Arthur Symons's translation + of the drama. Produced, Reggio Theatre, Turin, February 1, + 1914. Covent Garden Theatre, London, July 16, 1914. + Metropolitan Opera House, New York, December 22, 1916, with + Alda (_Francesca_), Martinelli (_Paolo_), and Amato + (_Giovanni_). + + CHARACTERS + + GIOVANNI, the lame } sons of { _Baritone_ + PAOLO, the beautiful } Malatesta da { _Tenor_ + MALATESTINO, the one-eyed } Verrucchio { _Tenor_ + OSTASIO, son of Guido Minore da Polenta _Baritone_ + SER TOLDO BERARDENGO, a notary _Tenor_ + A JESTER _Bass_ + A BOWMAN _Tenor_ + TOWER WARDEN _Baritone_ + FRANCESCA, daughter of Guido and sister + of Ostasio _Soprano_ + SAMARITANA, sister of Francesca + and Ostasio _Soprano_ + BIANCOFIORE } { _Soprano_ + GARSENDA } women of Francesca { _Soprano_ + ALTICHIARA } { _Mezzo-Soprano_ + DONELLA _Mezzo-Soprano_ + SMARADI, a slave _Contralto_ + + Bowmen, archers, and musicians. + + _Time_--Thirteenth century. + + _Place_--First act, Ravenna, then Rimini. + +A pretentious but not wholly successful score based upon a somewhat +diffuse drama--such is the net impression made by Zandonai's opera +"Francesca da Rimini." The story of Francesca and Paolo is one of the +world's immortal tales of passion, and an opera set to it should be +inspired beyond almost any other. But as W.J. Henderson wrote in the +New York _Sun_ the day after the production of Zandonai's work in New +York, "In all human probability the full measure of 'love insatiable' +was never taken in music but once, and we cannot expect a second +'Tristan und Isolde' so soon." + +Act I. The scene is a court in the house of the Polentani, in Ravenna, +adjacent to a garden, whose bright colours are seen through a pierced +marble screen. A colloquy between _Francesca's_ brother _Ostasio_ and +the notary _Ser Toldo Berardengo_ informs us that for reasons of +state, _Francesca_ is to be married to that one of the three sons of +Malatesta da Verrucchio, who although named _Giovanni_, is known as +_Gianciotto, the Lamester_, because of his deformity and ugliness. As +_Francesca_ surely would refuse to marry _Gianciotto_, a plot has been +formed by which she is introduced to his handsome younger brother +_Paolo_, with whom, under the impression that he is her destined +bridegroom, she falls deeply in love at first sight, a passion that is +fully reciprocated by him, although they have only beheld each other, +and not yet exchanged a word. + +Such is the procedure of the first act. When _Francesca_ and _Paolo_ +behold each other through the marble screen, which divides the court +from the garden, in which _Paolo_ stands amid brightly coloured +flowers, the orchestra intones a phrase which may properly be called +the love motif. + +[Music] + +The act is largely lyric in its musical effect. Much charm is given to +it by the quartette of women who attend upon _Francesca_. Almost at +the outset the composer creates what might be called the necessary +love mood, by a playful scene between _Francesca's_ women and a +strolling jester, who chants for them the story of "Tristan und +Isolde." The setting of the scene is most picturesque. In fact +everything in this act tends to create "atmosphere," and were the rest +of the opera as successful, it would be one of the finest works of its +kind to have come out of modern Italy. + +Act II. The scene is the interior of a round tower in the fortified +castle of the Malatestas. The summit of the tower is crowned with +engines of war and arms. There are heavy cross-bows, ballistas, a +catapult, and other mediæval machinery of battle. The castle is a +stronghold of the Guelfs. In the distance, beyond the city of Rimini, +are seen the battlements of the highest Ghibelline Tower. A narrow +fortified window looks out on the Adriatic. + +Soon after the act opens, an attack takes place. The battle rages. +Amid all this distracting, and therefore futile tumult, occurs the +first meeting between _Francesca_ and _Paolo_, since the marriage into +which she was tricked. Their love is obvious enough. _Paolo_ +despairingly seeks death, to which _Francesca_ also exposes herself by +remaining on the platform of the tower during the combat. The relation +between these two principal characters of the opera is clearly enough +set forth, and the impression made by it would be forcible, were not +attention distracted by the fiercely raging mediæval combat. + +The Malatestas are victorious. The attacking foes are driven off. +_Gianciotto_ comes upon the platform and brings news to _Paolo_ of his +election as Captain of the people and Commune of Florence, for which +city _Paolo_ departs. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Alda as Francesca and Martinelli as Paolo in "Francesca da Rimini"] + +Act III. The scene is the beautiful apartment of _Francesca_, where, +from an old tome, she is reading to her women the story of _Lancelot +and Guenevere_. This episode has somewhat of the same charm as that +which pervaded portions of the first act. Especially is this true, +when to the accompaniment of archaic instruments, the women sing their +measures in praise of spring, "Marzo è giunto, e Febbraio gito se n'è +col ghiado" (March comes, and February goes with the wind today). + +[Music] + +The women dance and sing, until on a whispered word from her slave, +_Francesca_ dismisses them. _Paolo_ has returned. The greeting from +her to him is simple enough: "Benvenuto, signore mio cognato" (Welcome +my lord and kinsman), but the music is charged with deeper +significance. + +[Music] + +Even more pronounced is the meaning in the musical phrase at +Francesca's words, "Paolo, datemi pace" (Paolo, give me peace). + +[Music] + +Together they read the story which _Francesca_ had begun reading to +her women. Their heads come close together over the book. Their white +faces bend over it until their cheeks almost touch; and when in the +ancient love tale, the queen and her lover kiss, _Francesca's_ and +_Paolo's_ lips meet and linger in an ecstasy of passion. + +Act IV. This act is divided into two parts. The scene of the first +part is an octagonal hall of gray stone. A grated door leads to a +subterranean prison. Cries of a prisoner from there have disturbed +Francesca. When she complains of this to the youngest brother of +_Gianciotto_, _Malatestino_, he goes down into the prison and kills +the captive. The introduction to this act is, appropriately enough, +based on an abrupt phrase. + +[Music] + +_Malatestino_ is desperately in love with Francesca, urges his suit +upon her, and even hints that he would go to the length of poisoning +_Gianciotto_. _Francesca_ repulses him. Out of revenge he excites the +jealousy of _Gianciotto_ by arousing his suspicions of _Paolo_ and +_Francesca_, pointing out especially that _Paolo_ has returned from +Florence much sooner than his duties there would justify him in doing. + +The scene of part two is laid in _Francesca's_ chamber. It is night. +Four waxen torches burn in iron candlesticks. _Francesca_ is lying on +the bed. From her sleep she is roused by a wild dream that harm has +come to _Paolo_. Her women try to comfort her. After an exchange of +gentle and affectionate phrases, she dismisses them. + +A light knocking at the door, and _Paolo's_ voice calling, +"Francesca!" She flings open the door and throws herself into the arms +of her lover. There is an interchange of impassioned phrases. Then a +violent shock is heard at the door, followed by the voice of +_Gianciotto_, demanding admission. _Paolo_ spies a trap door in the +floor of the apartment, pulls the bolt, and bids _Francesca_ open the +door of the room for her husband, while he escapes. + +_Gianciotto_ rushes into the room. _Paolo's_ cloak has caught in the +bolt of the trap door. He is still standing head and shoulders above +the level of the floor. Seizing him by the hair, the _Lamester_ forces +him to come up. _Paolo_ unsheathes his dagger. _Gianciotto_ draws his +sword, thrusts at _Paolo_. _Francesca_ throws herself between the two +men, receives the thrust of her husband's sword full in the breast, +and falls into _Paolo's_ arms. Mad with rage, her deformed husband +with another deadly thrust pierces his brother's side. _Paolo_ and +_Francesca_ fall at full length to the floor. With a painful effort, +_Gianciotto_ breaks his bloodstained sword over his knee. + +Where the drama is lyric in character, and where it concentrates upon +the hot-blooded love story, a tradition in the Malatesta family, and +narrated by a Malatesta to Dante, who, as is well known, used it in +his "Inferno," the music is eloquent. Where, however, the action +becomes diffuse, and attention is drawn to subsidiary incidents, as is +far too often the case, interest in the music flags. With great +benefit to the score at least a third of the libretto could be +sacrificed. + + * * * * * + +Riccardo Zandonai was born at Sacco. He studied with Gianferrai and at +the Rossini Conservatory. "Conchita," another opera by him, Milan, +1912, was produced in this country in Chicago and New York in 1913. + + + + +Franco Leoni + + +L'ORACOLO + +THE SAGE + + Opera in one act by Franco Leoni, words by Camillo Zanoni, + adapted from the play, "The Cat and the Cherub," by Chester + Bailey Fernald. Produced, Covent Garden Theatre, London, + June 28, 1905. Metropolitan Opera House, New York, February + 4, 1915, with Scotti, as _Chim-Fen_; Didur, as _Win-She_; + Botta, as _Win-San-Lui_; and Bori, as _Ah-Joe_. + + CHARACTERS + + WIN-SHE, a wise man, called the Sage _Baritone_ + CHIM-FEN, an opium den proprietor _Baritone_ + WIN-SAN-LUI, son of Win-She _Tenor_ + HU-TSIN, a rich merchant _Bass_ + HU-CHI, a child, son of Hu-Tsin + AH-JOE, niece of Hu-Tsin _Soprano_ + HUA-QUI, nurse of Hu-Chi _Contralto_ + + Four opium fiends, a policeman, an opium maniac, a + soothsayer, distant voices, four vendors, Chinese men, + women, and children. + + _Time_--The present. + + _Place_--Chinatown, San Francisco. + +_Chim-Fen_ is about to close up his opium den. A man half crazed by +the drug comes up its steps and slinks away. + +Out of the house of the merchant _Hu-Tsin_ comes _Hua-Qui_, the nurse +of _Hu-Tsin's_ son, _Hu-Chi_. _Chim-Fen_ wants to marry the merchant's +daughter _Ah-Joe_. The nurse is in league with him. She brings him a +fan, upon which _Ah-Joe's_ lover, _San-Lui_, son of the sage, +_Win-She_, has written an avowal of love. _Hua-Qui_ is jealous, +because _Chim-Fen_ is in love with _Ah-Joe_. Her jealousy annoys him. +He threatens her and drives her away. + +Four gamblers, drunk with opium, emerge from the den. _Chim-Fen_ looks +after them with contempt. It is now very early in the morning of New +Year's Day. _Win-She_ comes along. _Chim-Fen_ greets him obsequiously +and is admonished by the sage to mend his vile ways. + +_San-Lui_ sings a serenade to _Ah-Joe_, who comes out on her balcony +to hear him. People pass by, street venders cry their wares. _Ah-Joe_ +withdraws into the house, _San-Lui_ goes his way. When _Hu-Tsin_, the +rich merchant, comes out, he is accosted by _Chim-Fen_, who asks for +the promise of _Ah-Joe's_ hand. _Hu-Tsin_ spurns the proposal. + +A fortune-teller comes upon the scene. _Chim-Fen_ has his fortune +told. "A vile past, a future possessed of the devil. Wash you of your +slime." When _Chim-Fen_ threatens the fortune-teller, the crowd, which +has gathered, hoots him and repeats the words of the fortune-teller +amid howls and jeers. + +_Hu-Tsin_, with _Ah-Joe_, _Hua-Qui_, and the baby boy come into the +street, where _Win-She_, gathering a group of worshippers about him, +bids _San-Lui_ prevent the crowd from creating a disturbance, then, +with all the people kneeling, intones a prayer, from which he finally +passes into a trance. When he comes out of it, he says that he has +seen two souls, one aspiring toward Nirvana, the other engulfed in the +inferno. He also has witnessed the grief of a father at the killing of +a hope. At this _Hu-Tsin_ shows alarm for the safety of _Hu-Chi_, and +the people join in lamentations, but _Win-She_ prophesies, "_Hu-Chi_ +is safe." + +Along comes the procession of the dragon. In watching this _Hua-Qui_ +neglects her charge. Utilizing this opportunity _Chim-Fen_ seizes the +child and carries him off into his cellar. When _Hu-Tsin_ discovers +the loss and has berated the nurse, he offers to give the hand of +_Ah-Joe_ in marriage to the finder of his son. This is just what +_Chim-Fen_ expected. _San-Lui_, however, immediately takes up the +search, in spite of _Ah-Joe's_ protests, for the girl fears that some +harm will come to him. + +_San-Lui_ starts towards _Chim-Fen's_ den. _Hua-Qui_ tries to warn +him, by telling him how the opium dealer deceived her and is seeking +the hand of _Ah-Joe_, in order to obtain _Hu-Tsin's_ money. _San-Lui_, +however, compels _Chim-Fen_ to descend with him to the cellar, where +he finds and is about to rescue _Hu-Chi_, when _Chim-Fen_ kills him +with a hatchet. _San-Lui_ staggers up the steps to the street, calls +_Ah-Joe's_ name, and falls dead. She wails over his body, a crowd +gathers, and _Hu-Tsin_ is horror-stricken to find that the man who has +been slain at his door is _San-Lui_. + +_Win-She_, the father of _San-Lui_, tells the merchant to wait; the +death of _San-Lui_ will be avenged. Immediately _Win-She_ goes over to +the opium den, hears the child's cry in the cellar, finds _Hu-Chi_ and +restores him to his father. He then goes to the door of the opium den, +calls _Chim-Fen_, who comes out, apparently filled with indignation +against the murderer of _Win-She's_ son, whom he says he would like to +throttle with his own hands. From the merchant's house there is heard +every now and then the voice of _Ah-Joe_, who has lost her reason +through grief, and is calling her lover's name. + +The two men seat themselves on a bench near the opium den. _Win-She_ +speaks calmly, quietly, and unperceived by _Chim-Fen_, draws a knife, +and plunges it into the villain's back. _Chim-Fen_ not dying at once, +_Win-She_ quietly winds the man's own pigtail around his neck and +proceeds slowly and gradually to strangle him, meanwhile disclosing +his knowledge of the murder, but without raising his voice, propping +up _Chim-Fen_ against some cases, and speaking so quietly, that a +policeman, who saunters by, thinks two Chinamen are in conversation, +and turns the corner without realizing that anything is wrong. +_Win-She_ now goes his way. _Chim-Fen's_ body falls to the ground. + +It will have been observed that many incidents are crowded into this +one act, but that the main features of the drama, the villainy of +_Chim-Fen_, and the calm clairvoyance of _Win-She_ are never lost +sight of. + +The music consists mainly of descriptive and dramatic phrases, with +but little attempt to give the score definite Chinese colouring. +_Ah-Joe's_ song on her balcony to the silvery dawn is the most tuneful +passage in the opera. Scotti, whose _Chim-Fen_ is a performance of +sinister power, Didur (_Win-She_), and Bori (_Ah-Joe_) were in the +Metropolitan production. + + * * * * * + +Franco Leoni was born at Milan, October 24, 1864. He studied under +Ponchielli at the Conservatory in his native city. Other works by him +are "Rip Van Winkle," "Raggio di Luna," and "Ib and Little +Christina." + + + + +Italo Montemezzi + + +L'AMORE DEI TRE RE + +THE LOVE OF THREE KINGS + + Opera in three acts, by Italo Montemezzi; words by Sem + Benelli, from his tragedy ("tragic poem") of the same title, + English version, by Mrs. R.H. Elkin. Produced, La Scala, + Milan, April 10, 1913; Metropolitan Opera House, New York, + January 2, 1914, with Didur (_Archibaldo_), Amato + (_Manfredo_), Ferrari-Fontana (_Avito_), Bori (_Fiora_). + Covent Garden Theatre, London, May 27, 1914. Théâtre des + Champs Elysées, Paris, April 25, 1914. In the Milan + production Luisa Villani was _Fiora_, and Ferrari-Fontana + _Avito_. + + CHARACTERS + + ARCHIBALDO, King of Altura _Bass_ + MANFREDO, son of Archibaldo _Baritone_ + AVITO, a former prince of Altura _Tenor_ + FLAMINIO, a castle guard _Tenor_ + FIORA, wife of Manfredo _Soprano_ + + A youth, a boy child (voice behind the scenes), a voice + behind the scenes, a handmaiden, a young girl, an old woman, + other people of Altura. + + _Time_--The tenth century. + + _Place_--A remote castle of Italy, forty years after a + Barbarian invasion, led by _Archibaldo_. + +[Illustration: Photo by Mishkin + +Bori and Ferrari-Fontana in "The Love of Three Kings"] + +This opera is justly considered one of the finest products of modern +Italian genius. Based upon a powerful tragedy, by Sem Benelli, one of +the foremost of living playwrights in Italy, it is a combination of +terse, swiftly moving drama with a score which vividly depicts events +progressing fatefully toward an inevitable human cataclysm. While +there is little or no set melody in Montemezzi's score, nevertheless +it is melodious--a succession of musical phrases that clothe the +words, the thought behind them, their significance, their most subtle +suggestion, in the weft and woof of expressive music. It is a mediæval +tapestry, the colours of which have not faded, but still glow with +their original depth and opulence. Of the many scores that have come +out of Italy since the death of Verdi, "L'Amore dei Tre Re" is one of +the most eloquent. + +Act I. The scene is a spacious hall open to a terrace. A lantern +employed as a signal sheds its reddish light dimly through the gloom +before dawn. + +From the left enters _Archibaldo_. He is old with flowing white hair +and beard, and he is blind. He is led in by his guide _Flaminio_, who +is in the dress of the castle guard. As if he saw, the old blind king +points to the door of a chamber across the hall and bids _Flaminio_ +look and tell him if it is quite shut. It is slightly open. +_Archibaldo_ in a low voice orders him to shut it, but make no noise, +then, hastily changing his mind, to leave it as it is. + +In the setting of the scene, in the gloom penetrated only by the glow +of the red lantern, in the costumes of the men, in the actions of the +old king, who cannot see but whose sense of hearing is weirdly acute, +and in the subtle suggestion of suspicion that all is not well, +indicated in his restlessness, the very opening of this opera +immediately casts a spell of the uncanny over the hearer. This is +enhanced by the groping character of the theme which accompanies the +entrance of _Archibaldo_ with his guide, depicting the searching +footsteps of the blind old man. + +[Music] + +There is mention of _Fiora_, the wife of _Archibaldo's_ son, +_Manfredo_, who is in the north, laying siege to an enemy stronghold. +There also is mention of _Avito_, a prince of Altura, to whom _Fiora_ +was betrothed before _Archibaldo_ humbled Italy, but whose marriage to +_Manfredo_, notwithstanding her previous betrothal, was one of the +conditions of peace. Presumably--as is to be gathered from the brief +colloquy--_Archibaldo_ has come into the hall to watch with _Flaminio_ +for the possible return of _Manfredo_, but the restlessness of the old +king, his commands regarding the door opposite, and even certain +inferences to be drawn from what he says, lead to the conclusion that +he suspects his son's wife and _Avito_. It is also clear--subtly +conveyed, without being stated in so many words--that _Flaminio_, +though in the service of _Archibaldo_, is faithful to _Avito_, like +himself a native of the country, which _Archibaldo_ has conquered. + +When _Flaminio_ reminds _Archibaldo_ that _Avito_ was to have wedded +_Fiora_, the blind king bids his guide look out into the valley for +any sign of _Manfredo's_ approach. "Nessuno, mio signore! Tutto è +pace!" is Flaminio's reply. (No one, my lord! All is quiet!) + +[Music] + +_Archibaldo_, recalling his younger years, tells eloquently of his +conquest of Italy, apostrophizing the ravishing beauty of the country, +when it first met his gaze, before he descended the mountains from +which he beheld it. He then bids _Flaminio_ put out the lantern, since +_Manfredo_ comes not. _Flaminio_ obeys then, as there is heard in the +distance the sound of a rustic flute, he urges upon _Archibaldo_ that +they go. It is nearly dawn, the flute appears to have been a signal +which _Flaminio_ understands. He is obviously uneasy, as he leads +_Archibaldo_ out of the hall. + +_Avito_ and _Fiora_ come out of her room. The woman's hair hangs in +disorder around her face, her slender figure is draped in a very fine +ivory-white garment. The very quiet that prevails fills _Avito_ with +apprehension. It is the woman, confident through love, that seeks to +reassure him. "Dammi le labbra, e tanta ti darò di questa pace!" (Give +me thy lips, and I will give thee of this peace). + +[Music] + +For the moment _Avito_ is reassured. There is a brief but passionate +love scene. Then _Avito_ perceives that the lantern has been +extinguished. He is sure someone has been there, and they are spied +upon. Once more _Fiora_ tries to give him confidence. Then she herself +hears someone approaching. _Avito_ escapes from the terrace into the +dim daylight. The door on the left opens and _Archibaldo_ appears +alone. He calls "Fiora! Fiora! Fiora!" + +Concealing every movement from the old man's ears, she endeavours to +glide back to her chamber. But he hears her. + +"I hear thee breathing! Thou'rt breathless and excited! O Fiora, say, +with whom hast thou been speaking?" + +Deliberately she lies to him. She has been speaking to no one. His +keen sense tells him that she lies. For when she sought to escape from +him, he heard her "gliding thro' the shadows like a snowy wing." + +_Flaminio_ comes hurrying in. The gleam of armoured men has been seen +in the distance. _Manfredo_ is returning. His trumpet is sounded. Even +now he is upon the battlement and embraced by his father. Longing for +his wife, _Fiora_, has led him for a time to forsake the siege. +_Fiora_ greets him, but with no more than a semblance of kindness. +With cunning, she taunts _Archibaldo_ by telling _Manfredo_ that she +had come out upon the terrace at dawn to watch for him, the truth of +which assertion _Archibaldo_ can affirm, for he found her there. As +they go to their chamber, the old man, troubled, suspecting, fearing, +thanks God that he is blind. + +Act II. The scene is a circular terrace on the high castle walls. A +single staircase leads up to the battlements. It is afternoon. The sky +is covered with changing, fleeting clouds. Trumpet blasts are heard +from the valley. From the left comes _Manfredo_ with his arms around +_Fiora_. He pleads with her for her love. As a last boon before he +departs he asks her that she will mount the stairway and, as he +departs down the valley, wave to him with her scarf. Sincerely moved +to pity by his plea, a request so simple and yet seemingly meaning so +much to him, she promises that this shall be done. He bids her +farewell, kisses her, and rushes off to lead his men back to the +siege. + +_Fiora_ tries to shake off the sensation of her husband's embrace. She +ascends to the battlemented wall. A handmaid brings her an inlaid +casket, from which she draws forth a long white scarf. The orchestra +graphically depicts the departure of _Manfredo_ at the head of his +cavalcade. + +[Music] + +_Fiora_ sees the horsemen disappear in the valley. As she waves the +veil, her hand drops wearily each time. _Avito_ comes. He tells her it +is to say farewell. At first, still touched by the pity which she has +felt for her husband, _Fiora_ restrains her passionate longing for +her lover, once or twice waves the scarf, tries to do so again, lets +her arms drop, her head droop, then, coming down the steps, falls into +his arms open to receive her, and they kiss each other as if dying of +love. "Come tremi, diletto" (How thou art trembling, beloved!) +whispers Fiora. + +[Music] + +"Guarda in sù! Siamo in cielo!" (Look up! We are in heaven!) responds +_Avito_. + +[Music] + +But the avenger is nigh. He is old, he is blind, but he knows. _Avito_ +is about to throw himself upon him with his drawn dagger, but is +stopped by a gesture from _Flaminio_, who has followed the king. +_Avito_ goes. But _Archibaldo_ has heard his footsteps. The king +orders _Flaminio_ to leave him with _Fiora_. _Flaminio_ bids him +listen to the sound of horses' hoofs in the valley. _Manfredo_ is +returning. _Fiora_ senses that her husband has suddenly missed the +waving of the scarf. _Archibaldo_ orders _Flaminio_ to go meet the +prince. + +The old king bluntly accuses _Fiora_ of having been with her lover. +Cowering on a stone bench that runs around the wall, she denies it. +_Archibaldo_ seizes her. Rearing like a serpent, _Fiora_, losing all +fear, in the almost certainty of death at the hands of the powerful +old man, who holds her, boldly vaunts her lover to him. _Archibaldo_ +demands his name, that he and his son may be avenged upon him. She +refuses to divulge it. He seizes her by the throat, again demands the +name, and when she again refuses to betray her lover, throttles her to +death. _Manfredo_ arrives. Briefly the old man tells him of _Fiora's_ +guilt. Yet _Manfredo_ cannot hate her. He is moved to pity by the +great love of which her heart was capable, though it was not for him. +He goes out slowly, while _Archibaldo_ hoists the slender body of the +dead woman across his chest, and follows him. + +Act III. The crypt of the castle, where _Fiora_ lies upon her bier +with white flowers all about her, and tapers at her head and feet. +Around her, people of her country, young and old, make their moan, +while from within the chapel voices of a choir are heard. + +Out of the darkness comes _Avito_. The others depart in order that he +may be alone with his beloved dead, for he too is of their country, +and they know. "Fiora! Fiora!--È silenzio!" (Fiora! Fiora!--Silence +surrounds us) are his first words, as he gazes upon her. + +[Music: Fiora, Fiora! È silenzio.] + +Then, desperately, he throws himself beside her and presses his lips +on hers. A sudden chill, as of approaching death, passes through him. +He rises, takes a few tottering steps toward the exit. + +Like a shadow, _Manfredo_ approaches. He has come to seize his wife's +lover, whose name his father could not wring from her, but whom at +last they have caught. He recognizes _Avito_. Then it was he whom she +adored. + +"What do you want?" asks _Avito_. "Can you not see that I can scarcely +speak?" + +Scarcely speak? He might as well be dead. Upon _Fiora's_ lips +_Archibaldo_ has spread a virulent poison, knowing well that her lover +would come into the crypt to kiss her, and in that very act would +drain the poison from her lips and die. Thus would they track him. + +With his last breath, _Avito_ tells that she loved him as the life +that they took from her, aye, even more. Despite the avowal, +_Manfredo_ cannot hate him; but rather is he moved to wonder at the +vast love _Fiora_ was capable of bestowing, yet not upon himself. + +_Avito_ is dead. _Manfredo_, too, throws himself upon _Fiora's_ +corpse, and from her lips draws in what remains of the poison, +quivers, while death slowly creeps through his veins, then enters +eternal darkness, as _Archibaldo_ gropes his way into the crypt. + +The blind king approaches the bier, feels a body lying by it, believes +he has caught _Fiora's_ lover, only to find that the corpse is that of +his son. + +Such is the love of three kings;--of _Archibaldo_ for his son, of +_Avito_ for the woman who loved him, of _Manfredo_ for the woman who +loved him not. + +Or, if deeper meaning is looked for in Sem Benelli's powerful tragedy, +the three kings are in love with Italy, represented by _Fiora_, who +hates and scorns the conqueror of her country, _Archibaldo_; coldly +turns aside from _Manfredo_, his son and heir apparent with whose hand +he sought to bribe her; hotly loves, and dies for a prince of her own +people, _Avito_. Tragic is the outcome of the conqueror's effort to +win and rule over an unwilling people. Truly, he is blind. + + * * * * * + +Italo Montemezzi was born in 1875, in Verona. A choral work by him, +"Cantico dei Cantici," was produced at the Milan Conservatory, 1900. +Besides "L'Amore dei Tre Re," he has composed the operas "Giovanni +Gallurese," Turin, 1905, and "Hélléra," Turin, 1909. + + + + +Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari + + +Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was born in Venice, January 12, 1876, the son of +August Wolf, a German painter, and an Italian mother. At first +self-taught in music, he studied later with Rheinberger in Munich. +From 1902-09 he was director of the conservatory Licio Benedetto +Marcello. He composed, to words by Dante, the oratorio "La Vita +Nuova." His operas, "Le Donne Curiose," "Il Segreto di Susanna," and +"L'Amore Medico," are works of the utmost delicacy. They had not, +however, been able to hold their own on the operatic stage of +English-speaking countries. This may explain the composer's plunge +into so exaggerated, and "manufactured" a blood and thunder work as +"The Jewels of the Madonna." In American opera this has held its own +in the repertoire of the Chicago Opera Company. It has at least some +substance, some approach to passion, even if this appears worked up +when compared with such spontaneous productions as "Cavalleria +Rusticana" and "I Pagliacci," which it obviously seeks to outdo in +sordidness and brutality. + +The failure of Wolf-Ferrari's other operas to hold the stage in +English-speaking countries disappointed many, who regarded him as next +to Puccini, the most promising contemporary Italian composer of opera. +The trouble is that the plots of his librettos are mere sketches, and +his scores delicate to the point of tenuity, so that even with good +casts, they are futile attempts to re-invoke the Spirit of Mozart +behind the mask of a half-suppressed modern orchestra. + + +I GIOJELLI DELLA MADONNA + +(THE JEWELS OF THE MADONNA) + + Opera in three acts by Wolf-Ferrari; plot by the composer, + versification by C. Zangarini and E. Golisciani. Produced in + German (Der Schmuck der Madonna), at the Kurfuersten Oper, + Berlin, December 23, 1911. Covent Garden Theatre, London, + March 30, 1912. Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, January 16, + 1912; Metropolitan Opera House, New York, March 5, 1912, + both the Chicago and New York productions by the Chicago + Opera Company, conducted by Cleofonte Campanini, with + Carolina White, Louis Bérat, Bassi, and Sammares. + + CHARACTERS + + GENNARO, in love with _Maliella_ _Tenor_ + MALIELLA, in love with _Rafaele_ _Soprano_ + RAFAELE, leader of the Camorrists _Baritone_ + CARMELA, _Gennaro's_ mother _Mezzo-Soprano_ + BIASO _Tenor_ + CICCILLO _Tenor_ + STELLA _Soprano_ + CONCETTA _Soprano_ + SERENA _Soprano_ + ROCCO _Bass_ + + Grazia, a dancer; Totonno, vendors, monks, populace. + + _Time_--The present. + + _Place_--Naples. + +Act I. A small square in Naples, near the sea. _Carmela's_ house, +_Gennaro's_ smithy, an inn, and the little hut of _Biaso_, the scribe, +among many other details. "It is the gorgeous afternoon of the +festival of the Madonna, and the square swarms with a noisy crowd, +rejoicing and celebrating the event with that strange mixture of +carnival and superstition so characteristic of Southern Italy." This +describes most aptly the gay, crowded scene, and the character of the +music with which the opera opens. It is quite kaleidoscopic in its +constant shifting of interest. At last many in the crowd follow a +band, which has crossed the square. + +_Gennaro_ in his blacksmith's shop is seen giving the finishing +touches to a candelabra on which he has been working. He places it on +the anvil, as on an altar, kneels before it, and sings a prayer to the +Madonna--"Madonna, con sospiri" (Madonna, tears and sighing). + +_Maliella_ rushes out of the house pursued by _Carmela_. She is a +restless, wilful girl, possessed of the desire to get away from the +restraint of the household and throw herself into the life of the +city, however evil--a potential _Carmen_, from whom opportunity has as +yet been withheld. Striking an attitude of bravado, and in spite of +_Gennaro's_ protests, she voices her rebellious thoughts in the +"Canzone di Cannetella,"--"Diceva Cannetella vedendosi inserata" (Thus +sang poor Cannetella, who yearned and sighed for her freedom). + +A crowd gathers to hear her. From the direction of the sea comes the +chorus of the approaching Camorrists. _Maliella_ and the crowd dance +wildly. When _Carmela_ reappears with a pitcher of water on her head, +the wayward girl is dashing along the quay screaming and laughing. + +_Carmela_ tells her son the brief story of _Maliella_. _Gennaro_ +languished, when an infant. _Carmela_ vowed to the Madonna to seek an +infant girl of sin begotten, and adopt her. "In the open street I +found her, and you recovered." There is a touching duet for mother and +son, in which _Carmela_ bids him go and pray to the Madonna, and +_Gennaro_ asks for her blessing, before he leaves to do so. _Carmela_ +then goes into the house. + +_Maliella_ runs in. The Camorrists, _Rafaele_ in the van, are in +pursuit of her. _Rafaele_, the leader of the band, is a handsome, +flashy blackguard. When he advances to seize and kiss her, she draws a +dagger-like hat pin. Laughing, he throws off his coat, like a +duellist, grasps and holds her tightly. She stabs his hand, making it +bleed, then throws away the skewer. Angry at first, he laughs +disdainfully, then passionately kisses the wound. While the other +Camorrists buy flowers from a passing flower girl and make a carpet of +them, _Rafaele_ picks up the hat pin, kneels before _Maliella_, and +hands it to her. _Maliella_ slowly replaces it in her hair, and then +_Rafaele_, her arms being uplifted, sticks a flower she had previously +refused, on her breast, where she permits it to remain. A few moments +later she plucks it out and throws it away. _Rafaele_ picks it up, and +carefully replaces it in his buttonhole. A little later he goes to the +inn, looks in her direction, and raises his filled glass to her, just +at the moment, when, although her back is toward him, a subtle +influence compels her to turn and look at him. + +Tolling of bells, discharge of mortars, cheers of populace, announce +the approach of the procession of Madonna. While hymns to the Virgin +are chanted, _Rafaele_ pours words of passion into _Maliella's_ ears. +The image of the Virgin, bedecked with sparkling jewels--the jewels of +the Madonna--is borne past. _Rafaele_ asseverates that for the love of +_Maliella_ he would even rob the sacred image of the jewels and bedeck +her with them. The superstitious girl is terrified. + +_Gennaro_, who returns at that moment, warns her against _Rafaele_ as +"the most notorious blackguard in this quarter," at the same time he +orders her into the house. _Rafaele's_ mocking laugh infuriates him. +The men seem about to fight. Just then the procession returns, and +they are obliged to kneel. _Rafaele's_ looks, however, follow +_Maliella_, who is very deliberately moving toward the house, her eyes +constantly turning in the Camorrist's direction. He tosses her the +flower she has previously despised. She picks it up, puts it between +her lips, and flies indoors. + +Act II. The garden of _Carmela's_ house. On the left wall a wooden +staircase. Under this is a gap in the back wall shut in by a railing. +It is late evening. + +_Carmela_, having cleared the table, goes into the house. _Gennaro_ +starts in to warn _Maliella_. She says she will have freedom, rushes +up the staircase to her room, where she is seen putting her things +together, while she hums, "E ndringhete, ndranghete" (I long for mirth +and folly). + +She descends with her bundle and is ready to leave. _Gennaro_ pleads +with her. As if lost in a reverie, with eyes half-closed, she recalls +how _Rafaele_ offered to steal the jewels of the Madonna for her. +_Gennaro_, at first shocked at the sacrilege in the mere suggestion, +appears to yield gradually to a desperate intention. He bars the way +to _Maliella_, locks the gate, and stands facing her. Laughing +derisively, she reascends the stairs. + +Her laugh still ringing in his ears, no longer master of himself, he +goes to a cupboard under the stairs, takes out a box, opens it by the +light of the lamp at the table, selects from its contents several +skeleton keys and files, wraps them in a piece of leather, which he +hides under his coat, takes a look at _Maliella's_ window, crosses +himself, and sneaks out. + +From the direction of the sea a chorus of men's voices is heard. +_Rafaele_ appears at the gate with his Camorrist friends. To the +accompaniment of their mandolins and guitars he sings to _Maliella_ a +lively waltzlike serenade. The girl, in a white wrapper, a light +scarlet shawl over her shoulders descends to the garden. There is a +love duet--"in a torrent of passion," according to the libretto, but +not so torrential in the score:--"T'amo, sì, t'amo" (I love you, I +love you), for _Maliella_; "Stringimi forte" (Cling fast to me) for +_Rafaele_; "Oh! strette ardenti" (Rapture enthralling) for both. She +promises that on the morrow she will join him. Then _Rafaele's_ +comrades signal that someone approaches. + +Left to herself, she sees in the moonlight _Gennaro's_ open tool box. +As if in answer to her presentiment of what it signifies, he appears +with a bundle wrapped in red damask. He is too distracted by his +purpose to question her presence in the garden at so late an hour and +so lightly clad. Throwing back the folds of the damask, he spreads out +on the table, for _Maliella_, the jewels of the Madonna. + +_Maliella_, in an ecstacy, half mystic, half sensual, and seemingly +visioning in _Gennaro_ the image of the man who promised her the +jewels, _Rafaele_, who has set every chord of evil passion in her +nature vibrating--no longer repulses _Gennaro_, but, when, at the foot +of a blossoming orange tree, he seizes her, yields herself to his +embrace;--a scene described in the Italian libretto with a realism +that leaves no doubt as to its meaning. + +Act III. A haunt of the Camorrists on the outskirts of Naples. On the +left wall is a rough fresco of the Madonna, whose image was borne in +procession the previous day. In front of it is a sort of altar. + +The Camorrists gather. They are men and women, all the latter of +doubtful character. There is singing with dancing--the "Apache," the +"Tarantella." _Stella_, _Concetta_, _Serena_, and _Grazia_, the +dancer, are the principal women. They do not anticipate _Maliella's_ +expected arrival with much pleasure. When _Rafaele_ comes in, they ask +him what he admires in her. In his answer, "Non sapete ... di +Maliella" (know you not of Maliella), he tells them her chief charm is +that he will be the first man to whom she has yielded herself. + +In the midst of an uproar of shouting and dancing, while _Rafaele_, +standing on a table, cracks a whip, _Maliella_ rushes in. In an agony +she cries out that, in a trance, she gave herself up to _Gennaro_. The +women laugh derisively at _Rafaele_, who has just sung of her as being +inviolable to all but himself. There is not a touch of mysticism about +_Rafaele_. That she should have confused _Gennaro_ with him, and so +have yielded herself to the young blacksmith, does not appeal to him +at all. For him she is a plucked rose to be left to wither. Furiously +he rejects her, flings her to the ground. The jewels of the Madonna +fall from her cloak. They are readily recognized; for they are +depicted in the rough fresco on the wall. + +_Gennaro_, who has followed her to the haunt of the Camorrists, +enters. He is half mad. _Maliella_, laughing hysterically, flings the +jewels at his feet, shrieking that he stole them for her. The crowd, +as superstitious as it is criminal, recoils from both intruders. The +women fall to their knees. _Rafaele_ curses the girl. At his command, +the band disperses. _Maliella_ goes out to drown herself in the sea. +"Madonna dei dolor! Miserere!" (Madonna of our pain, have pity), prays +_Gennaro_. His thoughts revert to his mother. "Deh non piangere, O +Mamma mia" (Ah! Weep not, beloved mother mine). Among the débris he +finds a knife and plunges it into his heart. + + * * * * * + +"Le Donne Curiose" (Inquisitive Women), words by Luigi Sagana, after a +comedy by Goldoni, was produced at the Hofoper, Munich, November 27, +1903, in German. It was given for the first time in Italian at the +Metropolitan Opera House, New York, January 3, 1912. + +Several Venetian gentlemen, including _Ottavio_, the father of +_Rosaura_, who is betrothed to _Florindo_, have formed a club, to +which women are not admitted. The latter immediately have visions of +forbidden pleasures being indulged in by the men at the club. By +various intrigues the women manage to obtain a set of keys, and enter +the club, only to find the men enjoying themselves harmlessly at +dinner. All ends in laughter and dancing. + +The principal characters are _Ottavio_, a rich Italian (_Bass_); +_Beatrice_, his wife (_Mezzo-Soprano_); _Rosaura_, his daughter +(_Soprano_); _Florindo_, betrothed to _Rosaura_ (_Tenor_); +_Pantalone_, a Venetian merchant (_Buffo-Baritone_); his friends, +_Lelio_ (_Baritone_), and _Leandro_ (_Tenor_); _Colombina_, +_Rosaura's_ maid (_Soprano_); _Eleanora_, wife to _Lelio_ (_Soprano_); +_Arlecchino_; servant to _Pantalone_ (_Buffo-Bass_). There are +servants, gondoliers, and men and women of the populace. The action is +laid in Venice in the middle of the eighteenth century. There are +three acts: + +Act I, in the Friendship Club, and later in Ottavio's home; Act II, in +_Lelio's_ home; Act III, a street in Venice near the Grand Canal, and +later in the club. + +In the music the club's motto, "Bandie xe le Done" (No Women Admitted) +is repeated often enough to pass for a motif. The most melodious vocal +passage is the duet for _Rosaura_ and _Florindo_ in Act II, "Il cor +nel contento" (My heart, how it leaps in rejoicing). In the first +scene of Act III a beautiful effect is produced by the composer's use +of the Venetian barcarolle, "La Biondina in Gondoletta," which often, +in the earlier days of Rossini's Opera, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," was +introduced by prima donnas in the lesson scene. + +In the Metropolitan production Farrar was _Rosaura_, Jadlowker +_Florindo_, and Scotti _Lelio_. Toscanini conducted. The rôles of +_Colombina_ and _Arlecchino_ (Harlequin) are survivals of old Italian +comedy, which Goldoni still retained in some of his plays. + + * * * * * + +"Il Segreto di Susanna" (The Secret of Suzanne), the scene a +drawing-room in Piedmont, time 1840, is in one act. _Countess Suzanne_ +(_Soprano_) smokes cigarettes. The aroma left by the smoke leads +_Count Gil_ (_Baritone_) to suspect his wife of entertaining a lover. +He discovers her secret--and all is well. The third character, a +servant, _Sante_, is an acting part.--A musical trifle, at the +Hofoper, Munich, November 4, 1909; Metropolitan Opera House, New York, +by the Chicago Opera Company, March 14, 1911, with Carolina White and +Sammarco; Constanzi Theatre, Rome, November 27, 1911. The "book" is by +Enrico Golisciani, from the French. + + * * * * * + +"L'Amore Medico," Metropolitan Opera House, March 25, 1914, is another +typical bit of Wolf-Ferrari musical bric-a-brac--slight, charming, and +quite unable to hold its own in the hurly-burly of modern _verismo_. A +girl is lovesick. Her father, who does not want her ever to leave him, +thinks her ailment physical, and vainly summons four noted physicians. +Then the clever maid brings in the girl's lover disguised as a doctor. +He diagnoses the case as love-hallucination, and suggests as a remedy +a mock marriage, with himself as bridegroom. The father consents, and +an actual marriage takes place. + +The scene of "L'Amore Medico" (Doctor Cupid), words by Golisciani +after Molière's "L'Amour Médecin," is a villa near Paris, about 1665 +(Louis XIV). The characters are _Arnolfo_, a rich, elderly landowner +(_Bass_); _Lucinda_, his daughter (_Soprano_); _Clitandro_, a young +cavalier, (_Tenor_); _Drs. Tomes_ (_Bass_); _Desfonandres_ (_Bass_); +_Macroton_ (_Baritone_); _Bahis_ (_Tenor_); _Lisetta_, _Lucinda's_ +maid (_Soprano_); _Notary_ (_Bass_). There also are servants, peasants +and peasant girls, musicians, dancing girls, etc. The work is in two +acts, the scene of the first the villa garden; of the second a +handsome interior of the villa. The original production, in German, +was at the Dresden Royal Opera House, December 4, 1913. + + + + +Umberto Giordano + + +Umberto Giordano was born at Foggia, August 26, 1867. Paolo Serrão was +his teacher in music at the Naples Conservatory. With a one-act opera, +"Marina," he competed for the Sonzogno prize, which Mascagni won with +"Cavalleria Rusticana." "Marina," however, secured for him a +commission for the three-act opera, "Mala Vita," Rome, 1892. Then +followed the operas which have been noticed above. + + +MADAME SANS-GÊNE + + Opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano, words by Renato + Simoni after the play by Victorien Sardou and E. Moreau. + Produced, for the first time on any stage, Metropolitan + Opera House, New York January 25, 1915, with Farrar as + _Catherine_, and Amato as _Napoleon_. + + CHARACTERS + + NAPOLEON BONAPARTE _Baritone_ + LEFEBVRE, sergeant of the National Guards, + later a Marshal of France and Duke + of Danzig _Tenor_ + FOUCHÉ, officer of the National Guards, + later Minister of Police _Baritone_ + COUNT DE NEIPPERG _Tenor_ + VINAIGRE, drummer boy _Tenor_ + DESPRÉAUX, dancing master _Tenor_ + GELSOMINO, page _Baritone_ + LEROY, tailor _Baritone_ + DE BRIGODE, chamberlain _Baritone_ + ROUSTAN, head of the Mamelukes _Baritone_ + CATHERINE HUEBSCHER, "Madame Sans-Gêne," + laundress; later Duchess of Danzig _Soprano_ + TOINETTE } { _Soprano_ + JULIA } laundresses { _Soprano_ + LA ROSSA } { _Soprano_ + QUEEN CAROLINE } sisters of { _Soprano_ + PRINCESS ELISA } NAPOLEON { _Soprano_ + LADY DE BÜLOW, matron of honour to + the Empress _Soprano_ + + _Maturino_, _Constant_ (valet to _Napoleon_), the voice of + the Empress, citizens, shopkeepers, villagers, soldiers, + ladies of the court, officials, diplomats, academicians, + hunters, pages, and two Mamelukes. + + _Time_--August 10, 1792; and September, 1811. + + _Place_--Paris. + +"Madame Sans-Gêne" is an opera that maintains itself in the repertoire +largely because of the play that underlies it. The title rôle is +delightful. It has been among the successes of several clever +actresses, including Ellen Terry, to whose _Catherine_ Henry Irving +was the _Napoleon_. Its creator in the opera was Geraldine Farrar, to +whose vivacity in interesting the character, far more than to the +musical merit of the work itself, is due the fact that the opera has +not dropped out of the repertoire. In point of fact the same +composer's "André Chénier" is of greater musical interest, but the +leading character does not offer the same scope for acting, which +accounts for its having dropped almost entirely out of the repertoire +in America. + +In "Madame Sans-Gêne," _Catherine_ (in the Italian libretto +_Caterina_) is a laundress. The first act opens in her laundry in +Paris during the French Revolution. The nickname of Madame Sans-Gêne, +usually translated Madame Free-and-Easy, is given her because of her +vivacity, originality, straightforwardness in speech, and charm. + +Discharge of cannon and other sounds indicate that fighting is going +on in the streets. Three women employed by _Catherine_ are at work in +the laundry. _Catherine_ comes in from the street. She tells of her +adventures with a lot of rough soldiers. She does this amazingly, but +her experience has cured her of her curiosity to see what is going on +outside. There is a scene between _Catherine_ and _Fouché_, a +time-server, waiting to observe how matters go, before he decides +whether to cast his fortunes with the Royalists or the people. They +gossip about a Corsican officer, who owes _Catherine_ for laundry, but +is so poor he has been obliged to pawn his watch for bread. +Nevertheless, the good-hearted, lively _Madame Sans-Gêne_ continues to +do his laundry work for him, and trusts to the future for the bill. + +_Catherine_ is left alone. Rifle shots are heard. _Count Neipperg_, a +wounded Austrian officer of the Queen's suite, comes in and asks to be +hidden. Although she is of the people, _Catherine_ hides him in her +own room. His pursuers enter. It chances they are led by _Catherine's_ +betrothed, _Sergeant Lefebvre_. For a while _Catherine_ diverts the +squad from its purpose by offering wine. _Lefebvre_ uncorks the +bottle, meanwhile giving a lively description of the sacking of the +Tuilleries. There is a scene of affection between him and _Catherine_. +He notices that his hands are black with powder and, intending to wash +them in _Catherine's_ room, becomes violently suspicious on finding +the door locked. He wrenches the key from her, unlocks the door, +enters the room. _Catherine_, expecting every moment to hear him +despatching the wounded man stops up her ears. _Lefebvre_ comes out +quietly. He tells her the man in her room is dead. As she is not at +all excited, but merely surprised, he knows that he has no cause to +suspect that the wounded man is her lover. He will help her to save +him. _Catherine_ throws herself into his arms. There are sounds of +drums and of marching and shouting in the street. _Lefebvre_ leads out +his squad. + +Like most modern composers who do not possess the gift for sustained +melody, Giordano would make up for it by great skill in the handling +of his orchestra and constant depiction of the varying phases of the +action. There is considerable opportunity for a display of this talent +in the first act of "Madame Sans-Gêne," and the composer has furnished +a musical background, in which the colours are laid on in short, +quick, and crisp strokes. "The Marseillaise" is introduced as soldiers +and mob surge past _Catherine's_ laundry. + +Act II. The drawing-room of the Château de Compiègne. The Empire has +been established. _Lefebvre_ is a Marshal and has been created Duke of +Danzig. _Catherine_ is his duchess. She scandalizes the court with her +frequent breaches of etiquette. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Farrar as Catherine in "Mme. Sans-Gêne"] + +When the act opens _Despréaux_, the dancing master, _Gelsomino_, the +valet, and _Leroy_, the ladies' tailor, are engaged in passing +criticisms upon her. She enters, is as unconventional as ever, and +amusingly awkward, when she tries on the court train, or is being +taught by _Despréaux_ how to deport herself, when she receives the +Emperor's sisters, whom she is expecting. _Lefebvre_ comes in like a +thunder cloud. _Napoleon_, he tells her, has heard how she has +scandalized the court by her conduct and has intimated that he wishes +him to divorce her. There is a charming scene--perhaps the most +melodious in the opera--between the couple who love each other +sincerely. _Neipperg_, who now is Austrian Ambassador, comes upon the +scene to bid his old friends good-bye. _Napoleon_ suspects that there +is an intrigue between him and the Empress, and has had him recalled. +_Fouché_, Minister of Police, announces _Napoleon's_ sisters--_Queen +Carolina_ and _Princess Elisa_. _Catherine's_ court train bothers her. +She is unrestrained in her language. The royal ladies and their suite +at first laugh contemptuously, then as _Catherine_, in her resentment, +recalls to _Carolina_ that _King Murat_, her husband, once was a +waiter in a tavern, the scene becomes one of growing mutual +recrimination, until, to the measures of "The Marseillaise," +_Catherine_ begins to recount her services to _Napoleon's_ army as +_Cantinière_. Enraged, the royal ladies and their suite leave. _De +Brigode_, the court chamberlain, summons _Catherine_ to the presence +of the _Emperor_. Not at all disconcerted, she salutes in military +fashion the men who have remained behind, and follows _De Brigode_. + +Act III. Cabinet of the _Emperor_. There is a brief scene between +_Napoleon_ and his sisters, to whom he announces that there is to be a +hunt at dawn, at which he desires their presence. They withdraw; +_Catherine_ is announced. + +_Napoleon_ brusquely attacks her for her behaviour. She recalls his +own humble origin, tells of her services to the army, and of the wound +in the arm she received on the battlefield, maintains that his sisters +in insulting her also insulted his army, and, as a climax draws out a +bit of yellow paper--a laundry bill he still owes her, for he was the +impecunious young lieutenant mentioned in the first act. With much +chicness she even tells him that, when she delivered his laundry, she +tried to attract his attention, but he was always too absorbed in +study to take notice of her, and make love to her. + +The _Emperor_ is charmed. He kisses the scar left by the wound on her +arm. _Catherine_, bowing, exclaims, "The Emperor owes me nothing +more!" + +_Catherine_ is about to go, _Napoleon_ ordering for her the escort of +an officer, when _Neipperg_ is apprehended, as he is approaching the +_Empress's_ door. Infuriated, _Napoleon_ tears the string of medals +from the Ambassador's breast and appears about to strike him in the +face with it. _Neipperg_ draws his sword. Officers rush in. _Napoleon_ +orders that he be shot ere dawn, and that _Fouché_ and _Lefebvre_ have +charge of the execution. + +Act IV. The scene is the same, but it is far into the night. The +candles are burning low, the fire is dying out, _Catherine_ and +_Lefebvre_ have a brief scene in which they deplore that they are +powerless to prevent _Neipperg's_ execution. _Catherine_ cannot even +inform the _Empress_ and possibly obtain her intervention, for her +door, at _Napoleon's_ command, is guarded by _Roustan_. + +But _Napoleon_, when he comes in, is sufficiently impressed by +_Catherine's_ faith in the _Empress's_ loyalty to put it to the test. +At his direction, she knocks at the _Empress's_ door, and pretending +to be her Matron of Honour, Mme. de Bülow, says, "Majesty, Neipperg is +here." The _Empress_ passes out a letter. "Give this to him--and my +farewell." _Napoleon_ takes the letter, breaks the seal. The letter is +to the _Empress's_ father, the Emperor of Austria, whom she asks to +entertain _Neipperg_ in Vienna as his assiduity troubles her and the +_Emperor_. _Napoleon_ orders _Fouché_ to restore _Neipperg's_ sword +and let him depart. + +"As for your divorce," he says to _Lefebvre_, with a savage look, "My +wish is this"--playfully he tweaks _Catherine_ by the ear. "Hold her +for ever true. Give thanks to heaven for giving her to you." + +Hunting-horns and the chorus of hunters are heard outside. + + +ANDRÉ CHÉNIER + +"André Chénier" was produced at La Scala, Milan, March 23, 1896. It +was given in London, in English, April 26, 1903. Long before that, +November 13, 1896, New York heard it at the Academy of Music, under +Mapleson. It had a single performance, under the management of Oscar +Hammerstein, at the Manhattan Opera House in 1908, and eight years +later was given by, and endured through the season of, the +Boston-National Opera Company, both in Boston and on tour. + +Historical as a character though André Chénier be, Giordano's +librettist, Luigi Illica, has turned his life into fiction. Chénier +was a poet, dreamer, and patriot. Born at Constantinople, he went to +Paris for his education. Later he became a participant in and victim +of the French Revolution. + + CHARACTERS + + ANDRÉ CHÉNIER _Tenor_ + CHARLES GÉRARD _Baritone_ + COUNTESS DE COIGNY _Soprano_ + MADELEINE, her daughter _Soprano_ + BERSI, her maid _Mezzo-Soprano_ + ROUCHER _Bass_ + MATHIEU _Baritone_ + MADELON _Soprano_ + FLÉVILLE _Tenor_ + THE ABBÉ _Tenor_ + SCHMIDT, jailer at St. Lazare _Bass_ + A SPY _Tenor_ + [Transcriber's Note: "Tenor" missing in original] + + Guests at ball, servants, pages, peasants, soldiers of the + Republic, masqueraders, judges, jurymen, prisoners, mob, + etc. + + _Time_--Just prior to and during the French Revolution. + + _Place_--Paris. + +Act I. Ballroom in a château. _Gérard_, a servant, but also a +revolutionist, is secretly in love with _Madeleine_, the _Countess's_ +daughter. Among the guests at a ball is _André Chénier_, a poet with +revolutionary tendencies. _Madeleine_ asks him to improvise a poem on +love. Instead, he sings of the wrongs of the poor. _Gérard_ appears +with a crowd of ragged men and women, but at the _Countess's_ command +servants force the intruders out. _Chénier_ and _Madeleine_, the +latter weary of the routine of fashion, have been attracted to each +other. + +Act II. Café Hottot in Paris, several years later. _Chénier_ has +offended the Revolutionists by denouncing Robespierre. A spy is +watching _Bersi_, _Madeleine's_ old nurse, and sees her hand _Chénier_ +a letter. It is from _Madeleine_. She loves him. She is dogged by +spies, begs him come to her aid, and arranges a meeting. + +Robespierre passes, followed by a mob. _Gérard_, now high in favour, +seeks to possess _Madeleine_, who comes to meet the poet. They are +about to flee, when _Gérard_, notified by the spy, interposes. +_Chénier_ and _Gérard_ fight with swords. _Gérard_ is wounded. The +lovers escape. + +Act III. Revolutionary Tribunal. The crowd sings the "Carmagnole." +_Chénier_ has been captured. _Gérard_ writes the indictment for his +rival. _Madeleine_ pleads for her lover, finally promising to give +herself to _Gérard_ if _Chénier_ is spared. _Gérard_, moved by the +girl's love, agrees to save _Chénier_ if he can. At the trial he +declares that the indictment against _Chénier_ is false. But the mob, +thirsting for more blood, demands the poet's death. + +Act IV. Prison of Lazare at midnight. _Madeleine_ enters to _Chénier_ +with _Gérard_. She has bribed the _jailer_ to allow her to substitute +for another woman prisoner. If she cannot live for her lover, she can, +at least, die with him. Together she and _Chénier_ go to the scaffold. + + * * * * * + +Two other operas by Giordano have been heard in America--"Fedora," +after Sardou, Metropolitan Opera House, December 16, 1906, with +Cavalieri and Caruso; and "Siberia," Manhattan Opera House, February +5, 1908. They have not lasted. + + + + +Modern Italian Opera + + +ERO E LEANDRO + +Opera in three acts by Luigi Mancinelli; libretto by Arrigo Boïto. +First produced in America at the Metropolitan Opera House, March 10, +1899, with the composer conducting and the following cast: _Hero_, +Mme. Eames; _Leandro_, Saléza, and Plançon as _Ariofarno_. + +In the first act the lovers meet at a festival. _Leandro_, victor in +the Aphrodisian games both as a swordsman and cytharist, is crowned by +_Hero_. He sings two odes borrowed from Anacreon. _Ariofarno_, the +archon, loves _Hero_. When he seeks to turn her from her sacred +mission as priestess of Aphrodite she spurns his love. She invokes an +omen from a sea shell, on the altar of the goddess, and hears in it +rushing waters and the surging sea, that will eventually turn her +romance to tragedy. When she kneels before the statue of Apollo and +pleads to know her fate, _Ariofarno_, concealed, answers: "Death." + +The second act takes place in the temple of Aphrodite. The archon +claims that he has been warned by the oracle to reinstate a service in +a town by the sea. He consecrates _Hero_ to the duty of giving warning +of approaching storms, so that the raging waters may be appeased by +priestly ritual. He offers to release her from this task if she will +return his love. When she again spurns him, _Leandro_ attempts to +attack him. For this, the young man is banished to the shores of Asia, +while _Hero_ sadly pledges herself to the new service. + +In the third act _Leandro_ has performed his famous swimming feat. +The lovers sing their ecstasy. Meanwhile a storm arises unobserved. +The trumpet that should have been sounded by _Hero_ is sounded from +the vaults beneath the tower. _Leandro_ throws himself into the +Hellespont while _Ariofarno_ and his priests chide _Hero_ for her +neglect as they discover its cause. A thunderbolt shatters a portion +of the tower wall and _Leandro's_ body is disclosed. _Hero_ falls +dying to the ground, while the archon rages. + + +CONCHITA + + Opera in four acts by Riccardo Zandonai; text by Vaucaire + and Zangarini, based on Pierre Louÿs's "La Femme et le + Pantin" (The Woman and the Puppet). Produced, Milan, 1911. + + CHARACTERS + + CONCHITA _Soprano_ + MATEO _Tenor_ + CONCHITA'S MOTHER _Mezzo-Soprano_ + RUFINA _Mezzo-Soprano_ + ESTELLA _Mezzo-Soprano_ + THE SUPERINTENDENT _Mezzo-Soprano_ + THE INSPECTOR _Bass_ + GARCIA, Dance Hall Proprietor _Bass_ + TONIO, waiter _Bass_ + + Various characters in a cigar factory, a dance hall, and a + street. Distant voices. + + _Time_--The Present. + + _Place_--Seville. + +Act I. In a cigar factory. Among the visitors _Conchita_, one of the +cigar girls, recognizes _Mateo_, a wealthy Spaniard, who rescued her +from the forced attentions of a policeman. She invites _Mateo_ to her +home. The girl's mother, delighted that her daughter has attracted a +wealthy man, goes out to make some purchases. Love scene for _Mateo_ +and _Conchita_. The mother returns, and, unseen by _Conchita_, _Mateo_ +gives her money. When _Mateo_ leaves, and _Conchita_ discovers he has +given her mother money, she is furious and vows never to see _Mateo_ +again, because she thinks he has endeavoured to purchase her love. In +her anger she leaves her home. + +Act II. A dance hall, where _Conchita_ earns a living by her risqué +dances. _Mateo_, who finds her after a long search, is astounded. He +begs her to go away with him. She refuses, and executes a most daring +dance for a group of visitors. _Mateo_, watching her from outside, and +wild with jealousy, breaks through the window. _Conchita_, angry at +first, takes from him the key to a little house he owns and tells him +that, if he comes at midnight, she will open her lattice to him as to +a mysterious lover. + +Act III. A street in Seville. _Mateo_ stands before the house. But +instead of admitting him, when he pleads his love, she turns and +calls, as if to someone within, "Morenito!"--the name of a man he saw +her dancing with at the dance hall. _Mateo_ tries to break into the +house. _Conchita_ taunts him. He staggers away. + +Act IV. _Mateo_ is desperate. _Conchita_ comes to his home and says +she certainly expected him to kill himself for love of her. Enraged, +he seizes her. She tries to stab him. He beats her without mercy. At +last--and it seems about time--_Conchita_ now sees how desperately he +must love her. She declares that she has loved him all the time. He +takes her, radiant, into his arms. + + +CRISTOFORO COLOMBO + + Opera in three acts and an epilogue, by Alberto Franchetti, + text by Luigi Illica. Produced, Genoa, 1892; in revised + version, same year, at La Scala, Milan. Metropolitan Opera + House, Philadelphia, November 20, 1913, with Titta Ruffo. + + CHARACTERS + + CRISTOFORO COLOMBO _Baritone_ + QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN _Soprano_ + DON FERNANDO GUEVARA, Captain of the + Royal Guards _Tenor_ + DON ROLDANO XIMENES, Spanish Knight _Bass_ + MATHEOS, Foreman of the Crew _Tenor_ + ANACOANA, Indian Queen _Mezzo-Soprano_ + IGUAMOTA, her daughter _Soprano_ + BOBADILLA, False Messenger of the + King of Spain _Bass_ + + _Time_--Before, during, and soon after Columbus's voyage of + discovery. + + _Place_--Spain and America. + +In act first, on the square in Salamanca, _Colombo_ learns that the +council has rejected his plans. In the convent of San Stefano _Queen +Isabella_ is praying. _Colombo_ tells her of the council's acts. She +promises him the ships. In act second, on the _Santa Maria_, the +sailors mutiny. At the critical moment _Colombo_ points to a distant +shore. In act three, _Roldano_, an enemy to _Colombo_, has slain an +Indian king. The Indian queen, _Anacoana_, pretends to love her +husband's slayer, hoping for opportunity to avenge his death. But an +Indian uprising is quelled and _Bobadilla_, a false messenger arriving +from Spain, announces that _Colombo_ has been deposed from authority, +and _Roldano_ been made viceroy in his stead. + +The epilogue shows the royal tombs of Spain. _Colombo_--the librettist +here stretching historical license--learning that _Queen Isabella_ has +died and is buried here, expires upon her tomb. + + +CRISPINO E LA COMARE + +(THE COBBLER AND THE FAIRY) + + Opera "Bouffe" in three acts by Luigi and Federico Ricci; + text by Francesco Maria Piave. Produced, Venice, 1850. + + CHARACTERS + + CRISPINO, a cobbler _Baritone_ + ANNETTA, his wife, a ballad singer _Soprano_ + COUNT DEL FIORE _Tenor_ + FABRIZIO, a physician _Bass_ + MIRABOLANO, an apothecary _Tenor_ + DON ASDRUBALE, a miser _Bass_ + LA COMARE, a fairy _Mezzo-Soprano_ + BORTOLO, a mason _Bass_ + LISETTA, ward of DON ASDRUBALE _Soprano_ + + Doctors, Scholars, Citizens. + + _Place_--Venice. + + _Time_--Seventeenth Century. + +Act I. _Crispino_, the cobbler, and _Annetta_, his wife, the ballad +singer, are in sore straits. _Don Asdrubale_, their landlord, who is a +miser, is about to put them out for non-payment of rent, but hints +that if _Annetta_ will respond to his suit he may reconsider. +_Crispino_, in desperation, runs away, and is followed by _Annetta_. +He is about to drown himself in a well when a fairy appears to him. +She predicts that he will be a famous doctor. _Crispino_ and _Annetta_ +rejoice. + +Act II. _Crispino_ nails up a physician's sign. The neighbours rail, +but soon a mason is brought in severely hurt, and, though the doctors +fail to bring him around, _Crispino_ cures him. + +Act III. _Crispino_, overbearing since his good fortune, has built a +fine house. He ignores former friends and even is unkind to _Annetta_. +He even berates the _Fairy_. Suddenly he is in a cavern. The _Fairy's_ +head has turned into a skull. She has become Death. Humbled, he begs +for another glimpse of _Annetta_ and the children. He awakes to find +himself with them and to hear a joyous song from _Annetta_. + + +LORELEY + +Alfred Catalani's "Loreley" was presented by the Chicago Opera Company +for the first time in New York, at the Lexington Theatre, on Thursday +evening, February 13, 1919, with Anna Fitziu, Florence Macbeth, +Virgilio Lazzari, Alessandro Dolci, and Giacomo Rimini. The +librettists are Messrs. D'Ormeville and Zanardini. + +The legendary siren who sits combing her hair on a rock in the +traditional manner, is in this opera the reincarnated spirit of a +young orphan, who has been jilted by her fiancé, _Walter_, Lord of +Oberwessel. When the faithless young man is about to marry another +beautiful maiden, _Anna_, _Loreley_ casts her spell upon him, and +_Anna_, too, is thrown over. _Walter_ follows _Loreley_ to a watery +grave, and _Anna_ dies of grief. + + +FEDORA + + Opera in three acts, by Umberto Giordano; text, after the + Sardou drama, by Colautti. Produced, Milan, 1898. + + CHARACTERS + + PRINCESS FEDORA _Soprano_ + COUNT LORIS _Tenor_ + COUNTESS OLGA _Soprano_ + DE SIRIEX, a diplomat _Baritone_ + GRECH, a police officer _Bass_ + DMITRI, a groom _Contralto_ + CYRIL, a coachman _Baritone_ + BOROV, a doctor _Baritone_ + BARON ROUVEL _Baritone_ + + _Time_--Present. + + _Place_--Paris and Switzerland. + +Act I. Home of _Count Vladimir_, St. Petersburg. While the beautiful +_Princess Fedora_ awaits the coming of her betrothed, _Count +Vladimir_, he is brought in, by _De Siriex_, mortally wounded. +Suspicion for the murder falls upon _Count Loris_. _Fedora_ takes a +Byzantine jewelled cross from her breast and swears by it to avenge +her betrothed. + +Act II. Salon of _Fedora_ in Paris. _Loris_ is entertained by her. She +uses all her arts of fascination in hope of securing proof of his +guilt. He falls desperately in love with her, and she succeeds in +drawing from him a confession of the murder. _Grech_, a police +officer, plans to take _Loris_ after all the guests have left. Then, +however, _Loris_ tells her further that he killed the _Count_ because +he betrayed his young wife and brought about her untimely death. +_Fedora_, who herself has fallen in love with _Loris_, now takes him +into her arms. But the trap is ready to be sprung. She is, however, +able to escape with him. + +Act III. Switzerland. _Loris_ and _Fedora_ are married. _Loris's_ +footsteps, however, are followed by a spy. _Fedora_ learns that +because of _Loris's_ act his brother has been thrown into prison and +has died there. _Loris's_ mother has died of shock. He discovers that +it was _Fedora_ who set the secret service on his track. He is about +to kill her when, in despair, she swallows poison. _Loris_ now pleads +with her to live, but it is too late. She dies in his arms. + + +GERMANIA + + Opera in a prologue, two acts and an epilogue, by Alberto + Franchetti; text by Luigi Illica. Produced, Milan, March 11, + 1902; in this country, January 22, 1910. + + CHARACTERS + + FREDERICK LOEWE, member of the brotherhood _Tenor_ + CARL WORMS, member of the brotherhood _Baritone_ + GIOVANNI PALM, member of the brotherhood _Bass_ + CRISOGONO, member of the brotherhood _Baritone_ + STAPPS, Protestant priest _Bass_ + RICKE, a Nuremberg maiden _Soprano_ + JANE, her sister _Mezzo-Soprano_ + LENA ARMUTH, a peasant woman _Mezzo-Soprano_ + JEBBEL, her nephew _Soprano_ + LUIGI LÜTZOW, an officer _Bass_ + CARLO KÖRNER, an officer _Tenor_ + PETERS, a herdsman _Bass_ + SIGNORA HEDVIGE _Mezzo-Soprano_ + CHIEF OF POLICE _Bass_ + + _Time_--Napoleonic Wars. + + _Place_--Germany. + +Prologue. An Old Mill near Nuremberg. Students under _Palm_ are +shipping out in grain-bags literature directed against the +invader--Napoleon. _Ricke_ tells _Worms_, whose mistress she has been, +that her sweetheart, the poet _Loewe_, will soon return, and that she +must confess to him her guilty secret. _Worms_ dissuades her. _Loewe_ +arrives and is joyously welcomed by his comrades. The police break in, +arrest _Palm_, and take him off to be executed. + +Act I. A Hut in the Black Forest. Seven years are supposed to have +passed. _Loewe_, his aged mother, and _Ricke_ and _Jane_ have found +refuge here from the victorious troops of Napoleon. _Worms_ is thought +to be dead. _Loewe_ is to be married to _Ricke_. But suddenly the +voice of _Worms_ is heard in the forest. _Loewe_ joyously meets his +old friend, who, however, is much disconcerted at the sight of +_Ricke_, and goes away. _Ricke_ flees from her husband, who concludes +that she has fled with _Worms_. + +Act II. Secret Cellar at Koenigsberg. _Worms_ and others plot to +overthrow Napoleon. _Loewe_ challenges _Worms_ to a duel. _Worms_, +penitent, asks _Loewe_ to kill him. But the preparations are stayed by +_Queen Louise_. She declares they should be fighting against Napoleon, +not against each other. + +Epilogue. Battlefield of Leipzig. Napoleon has been defeated. The +great field is strewn with dead and dying. Among the latter, _Ricke_, +still loving _Loewe_, finds him. He asks her to forgive _Worms_, who +lies dead. She forgives the dead man, then lies down beside her dying +husband. Distant view of the retreat of Napoleon's shattered legions. + + + + +Modern French Opera + + + The contemporaries and successors of Bizet wrote many + charming operas that for years have given pleasure to large + audiences. French opera has had generous representation in + New York. Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann," Delibes's + "Lakmé," Saint-Saëns's "Samson et Dalila," Massenet's + "Manon" are among the most distinguished works of this + school. + +"Les Contes d'Hoffmann"; a fanciful opera in four acts; words by MM. +Michel Carré and Jules Barbier; posthumous music by Jacques Offenbach, +produced at the Opéra Comique on February 10, 1881. "Les Contes +d'Hoffmann" had been played thirty years before, on March 31, 1851, at +the Odéon, in the shape of a comedy. Such as it was designed to be, +the work offers an excellent frame for the music, bringing on the +stage in their fantastic form three of the prettiest tales of the +German story-teller, connected with each other in an ingenious +fashion, with the contrasts which present themselves. Lyrical +adaptation therefore appeared quite natural and it was done with much +taste. Offenbach had almost entirely finished its music when death +came to surprise him. At the same time he had not put his score into +orchestral form and it was Ernest Girard who was charged with +finishing this and writing the instrumentation, which it was easy to +perceive at hearing it, Girard being a musician taught differently +from the author of the "Belle Hélène" and "Orphée aux Enfers." It is +right to say that several passages of the Contes d'Hoffmann were +welcome and testify to a real effort by the composer. If to that be +added the interest that the libretto offers and the excellence of an +interpretation entrusted to Mlle. Adèle Isaac (_Stella_, _Olympia_, +_Antonia_), to MM. Talazac (_Hoffmann_), Taskin (_Lindorf_, +_Coppélius_, _Dr. Miracle_), Belhomme (_Crespel_), Grivot (_Andrès_, +_Cochenille_, _Frantz_), Gourdon (_Spalanzani_), Collin (_Wilhelm_), +Mlles. Marguerite Ugalde (_Nicklausse_), Molé (_the nurse_), one will +understand the success which greeted the work. The Contes d'Hoffmann +was reproduced in 1893 at the Renaissance, during the transient +directorship of M. Détroyat, who gave to this theatre the title of +Théâtre Lyrique. + + +LAKMÉ + +Opera in three acts by Delibes; libretto by Gille and Gondinet. + +[Illustration: Photo copyright, 1916, by Victor Georg + +Galli-Curci as Lakmé] + +_Lakmé_ is the daughter of _Nilakantha_, a fanatical Brahmin priest. +While he nurses his hatred of the British invader, his daughter +strolls in her garden, singing duets with her slave _Mallika_. An +English officer, one _Gerald_, breaks through the bambou fence that +surrounds _Nilakantha's_ retreat, in a ruined temple in the depths of +an Indian forest. He courts _Lakmé_ who immediately returns his love. +_Nilakantha_ seeing the broken fence at once suspects an English +invader. In act two the old man disguised as a beggar is armed with a +dagger. _Lakmé_ is disguised as a street singer. Together they search +for the profaner of the sacred spot at a market. It is here that she +sings the famous Bell Song. _Gerald_ recognizes _Lakmé_ as +_Nilakantha_ recognizes the disturber of his peace. A dagger thrust +lays _Gerald_ low. _Lakmé_ and her slave carry him to a hut hidden in +the forest. During his convalescence the time passes pleasantly. The +lovers sing duets and exchange vows of undying love. But _Frederick_, +a brother officer and a slave to duty, informs _Gerald_ that he must +march with his regiment. _Lakmé_ makes the best of the situation by +eating a poisonous flower which brings about her death. + +The story is based by Gondinet and Gille upon "Le Mariage de Loti." +_Ellen_, _Rose_, and _Mrs. Benson_, Englishwomen, hover in the +background of the romance. But their parts are of negligible +importance, and in fact when Miss Van Zandt and a French Company first +gave the opera in London they were omitted altogether, some said +wisely. The opera was first presented in Paris at the Opéra Comique +with Miss Van Zandt. It was first sung in New York by the American +Opera Company at the Academy of Music, March 1, 1886. The first +_Lakmé_ to be heard in New York was Pauline L'Allemand, the second +Adelina Patti, this time in 1890 and at the Metropolitan Opera House. +Mme. Sembrich and Luisa Tetrazzini sang it later. + + +SAMSON ET DALILA + + Opera in three acts and four scenes. Music by Saint-Saëns; + text by Ferdinand Lemaire. Produced: Weimar, December 2, + 1877. + + CHARACTERS + + DALILA _Mezzo-Soprano_ + SAMSON _Tenor_ + HIGH PRIEST OF DAGON _Baritone_ + ABIMELECH, satrap of Gaza _Bass_ + AN OLD HEBREW _Bass_ + THE PHILISTINES' WAR MESSENGER _Tenor_ + + _Place_--Gaza. + + _Time_--1136 B.C. + +Act I. Before the curtain rises we hear of the Philistines at Gaza +forcing the Israelites to work. When the curtain is raised we see in +the background the temple of Dagon, god of the Philistines. With the +lamentations of the Jews is mixed the bitter scorn of _Abimelech_. But +_Samson_ has not yet expressed a hope of conquering. His +drink-inspired songs agitate his fellow countrymen so much that it +now amounts to an insurrection. _Samson_ slays _Abimelech_ with the +sword he has snatched from him and Israel's champion starts out to +complete the work. _Dagon's_ high priest may curse, the Philistines +are not able to offer resistance to the onslaught of the enemy. +Already the Hebrews are rejoicing and gratefully praise God when there +appear the Philistines' most seductive maidens, _Dalila_ at their +head, to do homage to the victorious _Samson_. Of what use is the +warning of an old Hebrew? The memory of the love which she gave him +when "the sun laughed, the spring awoke and kissed the ground," the +sight of her ensnaring beauty, the tempting dances ensnare the +champion anew. + +Act II. The beautiful seductress tarries in the house of her victim. +Yes, her victim. She had never loved the enemy of her country. She +hates him since he left her. And so the exhortation of the high priest +to revenge is not needed. _Samson_ has never yet told her on what his +superhuman strength depends. Now the champion comes, torn by +irresolute reproaches. He is only going to say farewell to her. Her +allurements in vain entice him, he does not disclose his secret. But +he will not suffer her scorn and derision; overcome, he pushes her +into the chamber of love. And there destiny is fulfilled. _Dalila's_ +cry of triumph summons the Philistines. Deprived of his hair, the +betrayed champion is overcome. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by White + +Caruso as Samson in "Samson and Dalila"] + +Act III. In a dungeon the blinded giant languishes. But more +tormenting than the corporal disgrace or the laments of his companions +are the reproaches in his own breast. Now the doors rattle. _Beadles_ +come in to drag him to the Philistines' celebration of their +victory--(change of scene). In _Dagon's_ temple the Philistine people +are rejoicing. Bitter scorn is poured forth on _Samson_ whom the high +priest insultingly invites to sing a love-song to _Dalila_. The false +woman herself mocks the powerless man. But _Samson_ prays to his God. +Only once again may he have strength. And while the intoxication of +the festival seizes on everybody, he lets himself be led between the +two pillars which support the temple. He clasps them. A terrible +crash--the fragments of the temple with a roar bury the Philistine +people and their conqueror. + + +LE ROI D'YS + +Opera by Lalo, produced at the Opéra Comique in 1888, and given in +London in 1901. The story is founded upon a Breton legend. _Margared_ +and _Rozenn_, daughters of the King of Ys, love _Mylio_. But the +warrior has only eyes for _Rozenn_. In revenge _Margared_ betrays her +father's city to _Karnac_, a defeated enemy. To him she gives the keys +of the sluices which stand between the town and the sea. When the town +and all its inhabitants are about to be swept away, the girl in +remorse throws herself into the sea. St. Corentin, patron saint of Ys, +accepts her sacrifice and the sea abates. + + +GRISÉLIDIS + +Massenet's "Grisélidis," a lyric tale in three acts and a prologue, +poem by Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand based on the "Mystery" in +free verse by the same authors, produced at the Comédie-Française, +Paris, May 15, 1891, was given for the first time in America, January +19, 1910, at the Manhattan Opera House, New York. The story of the +patient _Griselda_ has been handed down to posterity by Boccaccio in +the Decameron, 10th day, 10th novel, and by Chaucer, who learned it, +he said from Petrarch at Padua, and then put it into the mouth of the +Clerk of Oxenforde. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Mary Garden as Grisélidis] + +The old ballad of "Patient Grissell" begins thus: + + A noble marquess + As he did ride a-hunting, + Hard by a forest side, + A fair and comely maiden, + As she did sit a-spinning, + His gentle eye espied. + + Most fair and lovely + And was of comely grace was she, + Although in simple attire, + She sang most sweetly, + With pleasant voice melodiously, + Which set the lord's heart on fire. + +An English drama, "Patient Grissel," was entered at Stationers' Hall +in 1599. The word "Grizel," the proverbial type of a meek and patient +wife, crept into the English language through this story. Chaucer +wrote: + + No wedded man so hardy be tassaille + His wyves patience, in hope to fynde + Grisildes, for in certain he shall fail. + +Several operas on this subject were written before Massenet's, but the +ballet "Griseldis: Les Cinq Sens" by Adam (Paris, 1848), has another +story. So too has Flotow's comic opera, "Griselda, l'esclave du +Camoens." + +Silvestre and Morand represented _Griselda_ as tempted by _Satan_ in +person that he might win a wager made with the marquis. When the +"Mystery" was given in 1891 the cast included Miss Bartet as +_Griseldis_; Coquelin cadet as _Le Diable_; Silvain as the _Marquis de +Saluce_ and A. Lambert, fils, as _Alain_. It was played at fifty-one +consecutive performances. According to Mr. Destranges, Bizet wrote +music for a "Grisélidis" with a libretto by Sardou, but most of this +was destroyed. Only one air is extant, that is the air sung by Micaela +in "Carmen." According to the same authority Massenet's score lay "En +magasin" for nearly ten years. Thus the music antedated that of +"Thaïs" (1894), "La Navarraise" (1894), "Sapho" (1897), "Cendrillon" +(1899), and it was not performed until 1901. + +"Grisélidis" was produced at the Opéra Comique, Paris, November 20, +1901, with Lucienne Bréval, Lucien Fugère, Messrs. Maréchal and +Dufranne. André Messager conducted. On November 23, 1901, the opera +drew the largest receipts known thus far in the history of the Opéra +Comique--9538 francs. + +Mr. Philip Hale tells the story of the opera as follows: + +"The scene is in Provence and in the fourteenth century. The _Marquis +of Saluzzo_, strolling about in his domains, met _Griselda_, a +shepherdess, and he loved her at first sight. Her heart was pure; her +hair was ebon black; her eyes shone with celestial light. He married +her and the boy _Loÿs_ was born to them. The happy days came to an +end, for the _Marquis_ was called to the war against the Saracens. +Before he set out, he confided to the prior his grief at leaving +_Griselda_. The prior was a Job's comforter: 'Let my lord look out for +the devil! When husbands are far away, _Satan_ tempts their wives.' +The _Marquis_ protests for he knew the purity of _Griselda_; but as he +protested he heard a mocking laugh, and he saw at the window an +ape-like apparition. It was the devil all in green. The _Marquis_ +would drive him away, but the devil proposed a wager: he bet that he +would tempt _Griselda_ to her fall, while the _Marquis_ was absent. +The _Marquis_ confidently took up the wager, and gave the devil his +ring as a pledge. The devil of these librettists had a wife who nagged +her spouse, and he in revenge sought to make other husbands unhappy. +He began to lay snares for _Griselda_; he appeared in the disguise of +a Byzantine Jew, who came to the castle, leading as a captive, his own +wife, _Fiamina_, and he presented her: 'This slave belongs to the +_Marquis_. He bids you to receive her, to put her in your place, to +serve her, to obey her in all things. Here is his ring.' _Griselda_ +meekly bowed her head. The devil said to himself that _Griselda_ would +now surely seek vengeance on her cruel lord. He brought _Alain_ by a +spell to the castle garden at night--_Alain_, who had so fondly loved +_Griselda_. She met him in an odorous and lonely walk. He threw +himself at her feet and made hot love. _Griselda_ thought of her +husband who had wounded her to the quick, and was about to throw +herself into _Alain's_ arms, when her little child appeared. +_Griselda_ repulsed _Alain_, and the devil in his rage bore away the +boy, _Loÿs_. The devil came again, this time as a corsair, who told +her that the pirate chief was enamoured of her beauty; she would +regain the child if she would only yield; she would see him if she +would go to the vessel. She ran to the ship, but lo! the _Marquis_, +home from the East. And then the devil, in another disguise, spoke +foully of _Griselda's_ behaviour, and the _Marquis_ was about to +believe him, but he saw _Griselda_ and his suspicions faded away. The +devil in the capital of a column declared that _Loÿs_ belonged to him. +Foolish devil, who did not heed the patron saint before whom the +_Marquis_ and _Griselda_ were kneeling. The cross on the altar was +bathed in light; the triptych opened; there, at the feet of St. Agnes, +was little _Loÿs_ asleep. + +"The opera begins with a prologue which is not to be found in the +version played at the Comédie-Française in 1891. The prologue +acquaints us with the hope of the shepherd _Alain_ that he may win +_Griselda_: with the _Marquis_ meeting _Griselda_ as he returns from +the chase, his sudden passion for her, his decision to take the young +peasant as his wife, the despair of _Alain_. This prologue, with a +fine use of themes that are used in the opera as typical, is described +as one of the finest works of Massenet, and even his enemies among the +ultra-moderns admit that the instrumentation is prodigiously skilful +and truly poetic. + +"The first act pictures the oratory of _Griselda_, and ends with the +departure of the _Marquis_. + +"The second act passes before the château, on a terrace adorned with +three orange trees, with the sea glittering in the distance. It is +preceded by an entr'acte of an idyllic nature. It is in this act +that the devil and his wife enter disguised, the former as a slave +merchant, the latter as an odalisque. In this act the devil, up to his +old tricks, orders the flowers to pour madding perfumes into the air +that they may aid in the fall of _Griselda_. And in this act _Alain_ +again woos his beloved, and the devil almost wins his wager. + +"The third act is in _Griselda's_ oratory. At the end, when _Loÿs_ is +discovered at the feet of St. Agnes, the retainers rush in and all +intone the 'Magnificat' and through a window the devil is seen in a +hermitage, wearing cloak and hood. + +"The passages that have excited the warmest praise are the prologue, +_Griselda's_ scene in the first act, 'L'Oiseau qui pars à +tire-d'aile,' and the quiet ending of the act after the tumult of the +departure to the East; in the second act, the prelude, the song, 'Il +partit au printemps,' the invocation, and the duet; in the third act, +a song from the _Marquis_, and the final and mystic scene." + + +THAÏS + +"Thaïs," a lyric comedy in three acts and seven scenes, libretto by M. +Louis Gallet, taken from the novel by M. Anatole France which bears +the same title; music by Massenet; produced at the Opéra on March 16, +1894. It had been, I think, more than sixty years since the Opéra had +applied the designation of "lyric comedy" to a work produced on its +stage, which is a little too exclusively solemn. As a matter of fact +there is no question in Thaïs of one of those powerful and passionate +dramas, rich in incidents and majestic dramatic strokes, or one of +those subjects profoundly pathetic like those of "Les Huguenots," "La +Juive," or "Le Prophète." One could extract from the intimate and +mystic novel of "Thaïs" only a unity and simplicity of action without +circumlocutions or complications, developing between two important +persons and leaving all the others in a sort of discreet shadow, the +latter serving only to emphasize the scenic movement and to give to +the work the necessary life, color, and variety. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Mary Garden as Thaïs] + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Farrar and Amato as Thaïs and Athanaël] + +The librettist had the idea of writing his libretto in prose, rhymed, +if not entirely in blank verse, in a measured prose to which, in a too +long article reviewing it, he gave the name of "poésie mélique." This +explanation left the public indifferent, the essential for them being +that the libretto be good and interesting and that it prove useful to +the musician. The action of "Thaïs" takes place at the end of the +fourth century. The first act shows us in a corner of the Theban plain +on the banks of the Nile a refuge of cenobites. The good fathers are +finishing a modest repast at their common table. One place near them +remains empty, that of their comrade _Athanaël_ (Paphnuce in the +novel) who has gone to Alexandria. Soon he comes back, still greatly +scandalized at the sensation caused in the great city by the presence +of a shameless courtesan, the famous actress and dancer, _Thaïs_, who +seems to have turned the sceptical and light heads of its inhabitants. +Now in his younger days _Athanaël_ had known this _Thaïs_, and in +Alexandria too, which he left to consecrate himself to the Lord and to +take the robe of a religious. + +_Athanaël_ is haunted by the memory of _Thaïs_. He dreams that it +would be a pious and meritorious act to snatch her from her unworthy +profession and from a life of debauchery which dishonours her and of +which she does not even seem to be conscious. He goes to bed and +sleeps under the impress of this thought, which does not cease to +confront him, so much so that he sees her in a dream on the stage of +the theatre of Alexandria, representing the Loves of Venus. He can +refrain no longer and on awaking he goes to find her again, firmly +resolved to do everything to bring about her conversion. + +Arrived at Alexandria, _Athanaël_ meets an old friend, the beau +_Nicias_, to whom he makes himself known and who is the lover of +_Thaïs_ for a day longer because he has purchased her love for a week +which is about to end. _Athanaël_ confides his scheme to _Nicias_ who +receives him like a brother and makes him put on clothes which will +permit him to attend a fête and banquet which he is to give that very +night in honour of _Thaïs_. Soon he finds himself in the presence of +the courtesan who laughs at him at his first words and who engages him +to come to see her at her house if he expects to convert her. He does +not fail to accept this invitation and once in _Thaïs's_ house tells +her to be ashamed of her disorderly life and with eloquent words +reveals to her the heavenly joys and the felicities of religion. +_Thaïs_ is very much impressed; she is on the point of yielding to his +advice when afar off in a song are heard the voices of her companions +in pleasure. Then she repels the monk, who, without being discouraged, +goes away, saying to her: "At thy threshold until daylight I will +await thy coming." + +In fact here we find him at night seated on the front steps of +_Thaïs's_ house. Time has done its work and a few hours have sufficed +for the young woman to be touched by grace. She goes out of her house, +having exchanged her rich garments for a rough woollen dress, finds +the monk, and begs him to lead her to a convent. The conversion is +accomplished. + +But _Athanaël_ has deceived himself. It was not love of God but it was +jealousy that dictated his course without his being aware of it. When +he has returned to the Thebaid after having conducted _Thaïs_ to a +convent and thinks he has found peace again, he perceives with horror +that he loves her madly. His thoughts without ceasing turn to her and +in a new dream, a cruel dream, he seems to see _Thaïs_, sanctified and +purified by remorse and prayer, on the point of dying in the convent +where she took refuge. On awaking, under the impression of this +sinister vision, he hurries to the convent where _Thaïs_ in fact is +near to breathing her last breath. But he does not wish that she die; +and while she, in ecstasy, is only thinking of heaven and of her +purification, he wants to snatch her from death and only talks to her +of his love. The scene is strange and of real power. _Thaïs_ dies at +last and _Athanaël_ falls stricken down beside her. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Farrar as Thaïs] + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Farrar and Amato as Thaïs and Athanaël] + +This subject, half mystic, half psychological, was it really a +favourable one for theatrical action? Was it even treated in such a +way as to mitigate the defects it might present in this connection? We +may doubt it. Nevertheless M. Massenet has written on this libretto of +"Thaïs" a score which, if it does not present the firm unity of those +of "Manon" and of "Werther," certainly does not lack either +inspiration or colour or originality and in which moreover are found +in all their force and all their expansion the astonishing technical +qualities of a master to whom nothing in his art is foreign. All the +music of the first act, which shows us the retreat of the cenobites, +is of a sober and severe colour, with which will be contrasted the +movement and the gracefulness of the scene at the house of _Nicias_. +There should be noted the peaceful chorus of monks, the entrance of +_Athanaël_, the fine phrase which follows his dream: "Toi qui mis la +pitié dans nos âmes," and the very curious effect of the scene where +he goes away again from his companions to return to Alexandria. In the +second act the kind of invocation placed in the mouth of the same +_Athanaël_: "Voilà donc la terrible cité," written on a powerful +rhythm, is followed by a charming quartette, a passage with an +emphasis full of grace and the end of which especially is delightful. +I would indicate again in this act the rapid and kindly dialogue of +_Nicias_ and of _Thaïs_: "Nous nous sommes aimés une longue semaine," +which seems to conceal under its apparent indifference a sort of sting +of melancholy. I pass over the air of _Thaïs_: "Dis-moi que je suis +belle," an air of bravado solely destined to display the finish of a +singer, to which I much prefer the whole scene that follows, which +is only a long duet in which _Athanaël_ tries to convert _Thaïs_. The +severe and stern accents of the monk put in opposition to the raillery +and the voluptuous outbreaks (buoyancy) of the courtesan produce a +striking contrast which the composer has known how to place in relief +with a rare felicity and a real power. The symphonic intermezzo which, +under the name of "Méditation," separates this act from the following, +is nothing but an adorable violin solo, supported by the harps and the +development of which, on the taking up again of the first motif by the +violin, brings about the entrance of an invisible chorus, the effect +of which is purely exquisite. The curtain then rises on the scene in +which _Thaïs_, who has put on a rough woollen dress, goes to seek the +monk to flee with him. Here there is a duet in complete contrast with +the preceding. _Athanaël_ wants _Thaïs_ to destroy and burn whatever +may preserve the memory of her past. She obeys, demanding favour only +for a little statue of Eros: "L'amour est un vertu rare." It is a sort +of invocation to the purity of love, written, if one may say so, in a +sentiment of chaste melancholy and entirely impressed with +gracefulness and poetry. But what should be praised above all is the +final scene, that of the death of _Thaïs_. This scene, truly pathetic +and powerful, has been treated by the composer with a talent of the +first order and an incontestable superiority. There again he knew +wonderfully well how to seize the contrast between the pious thoughts +of _Thaïs_, who at the moment of quitting life begins to perceive +eternal happiness, and the powerless rage of _Athanaël_, who, devoured +by an impious love, reveals to her, without her understanding or +comprehending it, all the ardour of a passion that death alone can +extinguish in him. The touching phrases of _Thaïs_, the despairing +accents of _Athanaël_, interrupted by the desolate chants of the nuns, +companions of the dying woman, provoke in the hearer a poignant and +sincere emotion. That is one of the finest pages we owe to the pen of +M. Massenet. We must point out especially the return of the beautiful +violin phrase which constitutes the foundation of the intermezzo of +the second act. + +The work has been very well played by Mlle. Sybil Sanderson (_Thaïs_), +M. Delmas (_Athanaël_), M. Alvarez (_Nicias_), Mmes. Héglon and Marcy, +and M. Delpouget. + + +MANON + + Opera in five acts by Massenet; words by Henri Meilhac and + Philippe Gille, after the story by Abbé Prévost. Produced + Opéra Comique, Paris, January 19, 1884; Théâtre de la + Monnaie, Brussels, March 15, 1884. In English, by the Carl + Rosa Company, Liverpool, January 17, 1885; and at Drury + Lane, London, May 7, 1885, with Marie Roze, Barton McGuckin, + and Ludwig. In French, Covent Garden, May 14, 1894. Carcano + Theatre, Milan, October 19, 1893. Academy of Music, New + York, December 23, 1885, with Minnie Hauck (_Manon_), + Giannini (_Des Grieux_), and Del Puente (_Lescaut_); + Metropolitan Opera House, January 16, 1895, with Sibyl + Sanderson and Jean de Reszke. + + CHARACTERS + + CHEVALIER DES GRIEUX _Tenor_ + COUNT DES GRIEUX, his father _Bass_ + LESCAUT, of the Royal Guard, + cousin to Manon _Baritone_ + GUILLOT DE MORFONTAINE, Minister of + Finance, an old beau _Bass_ + DE BRÉTIGNY, a nobleman _Baritone_ + MANON _Soprano_ + POUSSETTE, JAVOTTE, ROSETTE, actresses _Sopranos_ + + Students, innkeeper, a sergeant, a soldier, gamblers, + merchants and their wives, croupiers, sharpers, guards, + travellers, ladies, gentlemen, porters, postilions, an + attendant at the Monastery of St. Sulpice, the people. + + _Time_--1821. + + _Place_--Amiens, Paris, Havre. + +Act I. Courtyard of the inn at Amiens. _Guillot_ and _De Brétigny_, +who have just arrived with the actresses _Poussette_, _Javotte_, and +_Rosette_, are shouting for the innkeeper. Townspeople crowd about the +entrance to the inn. They descry a coach approaching. _Lescaut_, who +has alighted from it, enters followed by two guardsmen. Other +travellers appear amid much commotion, amusement, and shouting on the +part of the townspeople. He is awaiting his cousin _Manon_, whom he is +to conduct to a convent school, and who presently appears and gives a +sample of her character, which is a mixture of demureness and +vivacity, of serious affection and meretricious preferment, in her +opening song, "Je suis encore tout étourdie" (A simple maiden fresh +from home), in which she tells how, having left home for the first +time to travel to Amiens, she sometimes wept and sometimes laughed. It +is a chic little song. + +_Lescaut_ goes out to find her luggage. From the balcony of the inn +the old roué _Guillot_ sees her. She is not shocked, but laughs at his +hints that he is rich and can give her whatever she wants. _De +Brétigny_, who, accompanied by the actresses, comes out on the balcony +in search of _Guillot_, also is much struck with her beauty. +_Guillot_, before withdrawing with the others from the balcony, softly +calls down to her that his carriage is at her disposal, if she will +but enter it and await him. _Lescaut_ returns but at the same time his +two guardsmen come after him. They want him to join with them in +gambling and drinking. He pretends to _Manon_ that he is obliged to go +to his armoury for a short time. Before leaving her, however, he warns +her to be careful of her actions. "Regardez-moi bien dans les yeux" +(Now give good heed to what I say). + +Left alone, _Manon_ expresses admiration for the jewels and finery +worn by the actresses. She wishes such gems and dresses might belong +to her. The _Chevalier des Grieux_, young, handsome, ardent, comes +upon the scene. He loves _Manon_ at first sight. Nor does she long +remain unimpressed by the wooing of the _Chevalier_. Beginning with +his words, "If I knew but your name," and her reply, "I am called +Manon," the music soon becomes an impassioned love duet. To him she is +an "enchantress." As for her--"À vous ma vie et mon âme" (To you my +life and my soul). + +_Manon_ sees _Guillot's_ postilion, who has been told by his master to +take his orders from _Manon_. She communicates to _Des Grieux_ that +they will run away to Paris in _Guillot's_ conveyance. "Nous vivrons à +Paris" ('Tis to Paris we go), they shout in glad triumph, and are off. +There is much confusion when the escape is discovered. Ridicule is +heaped upon _Guillot_. For is it not in his carriage, in which the old +roué hoped to find _Manon_ awaiting him, that she has driven off with +her young lover! + +Act II. The apartment of _Des Grieux_ and _Manon_, Rue Vivienne, +Paris. _Des Grieux_ is writing at his desk. Discovering _Manon_ +looking over his shoulder, he reads her what he has written--a letter +to his father extolling her charms and asking permission to marry her. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Caruso as Des Grieux in "Manon"] + +The scene is interrupted by knocking and voices without. The maid +servant announces that two guardsmen demand admission. She whispers to +_Manon_, "One of them loves you--the nobleman, who lives near here." +The pair are _Lescaut_ and _De Brétigny_, the latter masquerading as a +soldier in _Lescaut's_ regiment. _Lescaut_ scents more profit for +himself and for his cousin _Manon_ in a liaison between her and the +wealthy nobleman than in her relations with _Des Grieux_. Purposely he +is gruff and demands "yes" or "no" to his question as to whether or +not _Des Grieux_ intends to marry the girl. _Des Grieux_ shows the +letter he is about to despatch to his father. Apparently everything is +satisfactory. But _De Brétigny_ manages to convey to _Manon_ the +information that the _Chevalier's_ father is incensed at his son's +mode of life, and has arranged to have him carried off that night. If +she will keep quiet about it, he (_De Brétigny_) will provide for her +handsomely and surround her with the wealth and luxury she craves. +She protests that she loves _Des Grieux_--but is careful not to warn +him of the impending abduction. + +_Lescaut_ and the nobleman depart, after _Lescaut_, sly fellow, has +blessed his "children," as he calls _Manon_ and _Des Grieux_. Shortly +afterwards the latter goes out to despatch the letter to his father. +_Manon_, approaching the table, which is laid for supper, sings the +charming air, "Adieu, nôtre petite table" (Farewell, dear little +table). This is followed by the exquisite air with harp accompaniment, +"Le Rève de Manon" (A vision of Manon), which is sung by _Des Grieux_, +who has re-entered and describes her as he saw her in a dream. + +There is a disturbance outside. _Manon_ knows that the men who will +bear away her lover have arrived. She loves _Des Grieux_, but luxury +means more to her than love. An effort is made by her to dissuade the +_Chevalier_ from going outside to see who is there--but it is a +half-hearted attempt. He goes. The noise of a struggle is heard. +_Manon_, "overcome with grief," exclaims, "He has gone." + +Act III. Scene I. The Cours de la Reine, Paris, on the day of a +popular fête. Stalls of traders are among the trees. There is a +pavilion for dancing. After some lively preliminary episodes between +the three actresses and _Guillot_, _De Brétigny_ enters with _Manon_. +She sings a clever "Gavotte." It begins, "Obéissons, quand leur voix +appelle" (List to the voice of Youth when it calleth). + +The _Count des Grieux_, father of the _Chevalier_, comes upon the +scene. From a conversation between him and _De Brétigny_, which +_Manon_ overhears, she learns that the _Chevalier_ is about to enter +the seminary of St. Sulpice and intends to take holy orders. After a +duet between _Manon_ and the _Count_, who retires, the girl enters her +chair, and bids the wondering _Lescaut_ to have her conveyed to the +seminary. + +Scene II. Parlour in the Seminary of St. Sulpice. Nuns and visitors, +who have just attended religious service, are praising the sermon +delivered by _Des Grieux_, who enters a little later attired in the +garb of an abbé. The ladies withdraw, leaving _Des Grieux_ with his +father, who has come in unobserved, and now vainly endeavours to +dissuade his son from taking holy orders. Left alone, _Des Grieux_ +cannot banish _Manon_ from his thoughts. "Ah! fuyez douce image" (Ah! +depart, image fair), he sings, then slowly goes out. + +Almost as if in answer to his soliloquy, the woman whose image he +cannot put away enters the parlour. From the chapel chanting is heard. +Summoned by the porter of the seminary, _Des Grieux_ comes back. He +protests to _Manon_ that she has been faithless and that he shall not +turn from the peace of mind he has sought in religious retreat. + +Gradually, however, he yields to the pleading of the woman he loves. +"N'est-ce plus ma main que cette main presse?... Ah! regarde-moi! +N'est-ce plus Manon?" ("Is it no longer my hand, your own now +presses?... Ah! look upon me! Am I no longer Manon?") The religious +chanting continues, but now only as a background to an impassioned +love duet--"Ah! Viens, Manon, je t'aime!" (Ah, Manon, Manon! I love +thee.) + +Act IV. A fashionable gambling house in Paris. Play is going on. +_Guillot_, _Lescaut_, _Poussette_, _Javotte_, and _Rosette_ are of the +company. Later _Manon_ and _Des Grieux_ come in. _Manon_, who has run +through her lover's money, counsels the _Chevalier_ to stake what he +has left on the game. _Des Grieux_ plays in amazing luck against +_Guillot_ and gathers in winning after winning. "Faites vos jeux, +Messieurs," cry the croupiers, while _Manon_ joyously sings, "Ce bruit +de l'or, ce rire, et ces éclats joyeux" (Music of gold, of laughter, +and clash of joyous sounds). The upshot of it all, however, is that +_Guillot_ accuses the _Chevalier_ of cheating, and after an angry +scene goes out. Very soon afterwards, the police, whom _Guillot_ has +summoned, break in. Upon _Guillot's_ accusation they arrest _Manon_ +and the _Chevalier_. "Ô douleur, l'avenir nous sépare" (Oh despair! +Our lives are divided for ever), sings _Manon_, her accents of grief +being echoed by those of her lover. + +Act V, originally given as a second scene to the fourth act. A lonely +spot on the road to Havre. _Des Grieux_ has been freed through the +intercession of his father. _Manon_, however, with other women of her +class, has been condemned to deportation to the French colony of +Louisiana. _Des Grieux_ and _Lescaut_ are waiting for the prisoners to +pass under an escort of soldiers. _Des Grieux_ hopes to release +_Manon_ by attacking the convoy, but _Lescaut_ restrains him. The +guardsman finds little difficulty in bribing the sergeant to permit +_Manon_, who already is nearly dead from exhaustion, to remain behind +with _Des Grieux_, between whom the rest of the opera is a dolorous +duet, ending in _Manon's_ death. Even while dying her dual nature +asserts itself. Feebly opening her eyes, almost at the last, she +imagines she sees jewels and exclaims, "Oh! what lovely gems!" She +turns to _Des Grieux_: "I love thee! Take thou this kiss. 'Tis my +farewell for ever." It is, of course, this dual nature which makes the +character drawn by Abbé Prévost so interesting. + + * * * * * + +"Manon" by Massenet is one of the popular operas in the modern +repertoire. Its music has charm, and the leading character, in which +Miss Farrar appears with such distinction, is both a good singing and +a good acting rôle, a valuable asset to a prima donna. I have an +autograph letter of Massenet's written, presumably to Sibyl Sanderson, +half an hour before the curtain rose on the _première_ of "Manon," +January 19, 1884. In it he writes that within that brief space of time +they will know whether their hopes are to be confirmed, or their +illusions dissipated. In New York, eleven years later, Miss Sanderson +failed to make any impression in the rôle. + +The beauty of Massenet's score is responsible for the fact that +audiences are not troubled over the legal absurdity in the sentence of +deportation pronounced upon _Manon_ for being a courtesan and a +gambler's accomplice. In the story she also is a thief. + +The last act is original with the librettists. In the story the final +scene is laid in Louisiana (see Puccini's _Manon Lescaut_). The +effective scene in the convent of St. Sulpice was overlooked by +Puccini, as it also was by Scribe, who wrote the libretto for Auber's +"Manon." This latter work survives in the laughing song, "L'Éclat de +Rire," which Patti introduced in the lesson scene in "Il Barbiere di +Siviglia," and which Galli-Curci has revived for the same purpose. + + +LE CID + +"Le Cid"; opera in four acts and ten scenes; the poem by MM. d'Ennery, +Louis Gallet, and Édouard Blau; music by Massenet; produced at the +Opéra on November 30, 1885. The authors of the libretto of "Le Cid" +declared at the start of it that they had been inspired by Guillen de +Castro and by Corneille. The sole masterpiece of Corneille which is +built about a sort of psychological analysis of the character of +_Chimène_ and of the continual conflict of the two feelings which +divide her heart, in fact would not have given them sufficient action; +on the other hand they would not have been able to find in it the +pretext for adornments, for sumptuousness, for the rich stage setting +which the French opera house has been accustomed for two centuries to +offer to its public. + +This is the way the opera is arranged: First act, first scene: at the +house of the _Comte de Gormas_; scene between _Chimène_ and the +_Infanta_. Second scene: entering the cathedral of Burgos. _Rodrigo_ +is armed as a knight by the _King_. The _King_ tells _Don Diego_ that +he names him governor of the _Infanta_. Quarrel of _Don Diego_ and +_Don Gormas_. Scene of _Don Diego_ and _Don Rodrigo_: "Rodrigue, +as-tu du coeur?" Second act, third scene: A street in Burgos at +night. Stanzas by _Rodrigo_: "Percé jusques au fond du coeur." +_Rodrigo_ knocks at the door of _Don Gormas_: "À moi, comte, deux +mots!" Provocation; duel; death of _Don Gormas_. _Chimène_ discovers +that _Rodrigo_ is the slayer of her father. Fourth scene: The public +square in Burgos. A popular festival. Ballet. _Chimène_ arrives to ask +the _King_ for justice. _Don Diego_ defends his son. A Moorish courier +arrives to declare war on the _King_ on the part of his master. The +_King_ orders _Rodrigo_ to go and fight the infidels. Third act, fifth +scene: The chamber of _Chimène_: "Pleurez, pleurez, mes yeux, et +fondez-vous en eau." Scene of _Chimène_ and _Rodrigo_. Sixth scene: +the camp of _Rodrigo_. Seventh scene: _Rodrigo's_ tent. The vision. +St. James appears to him. Eighth scene: the camp. The battle. Defeat +of the Moors. Fourth act, ninth scene: The palace of the Kings at +Granada. _Rodrigo_ is believed to be dead. _Chimène_ mourns for him: +"Éclate ô mon amour, tu n'as plus rien à craindre." Tenth scene: A +courtyard in the palace. _Rodrigo_ comes back as a conqueror. +_Chimène_ forgives him. The end. + + +DON QUICHOTTE + + Opera in five acts by Jules Massenet; text by Henri Cain, + after the play by Jacques Le Lorrain, based on the romance + of Cervantes. Produced, Monte Carlo, 1910. + + CHARACTERS + + LA BELLE DULCINÉE _Contralto_ + DON QUICHOTTE _Bass_ + SANCHO _Baritone_ + PEDRO, burlesquer _Soprano_ + GARCIAS, burlesquer _Soprano_ + RODRIGUEZ _Tenor_ + JUAN _Tenor_ + TWO VALETS _Baritone_ + + TENEBRUN, chief, and other bandits, friends of Dulcinée, and + others. + + _Time_--The Middle Ages. + + _Place_--Spain. + +Act I. Square in front of the house of _Dulcinée_, whose beauty people +praise in song. Into the midst of the throng ride _Don Quichotte_ and +his comical companion, _Sancho_. Night and moonlight. _Don Quichotte_ +serenades _Dulcinée_, arousing the jealousy of _Juan_, a lover of the +professional beauty, who now appears and prevents a duel. She is +amused by the avowals of _Don Quichotte_, and promises to become his +beloved if he will recover a necklace stolen from her by brigands. + +Act II. On the way to the camp of the brigands. Here occurs the fight +with the windmill. + +Act III. Camp of the brigands. _Don Quichotte_ attacks them. _Sancho_ +retreats. The Knight is captured. He expects to be put to death. But +his courage, his grave courtesy, and his love for his _Dulcinée_, +deeply impress the bandits. They free him and give him the necklace. + +Act IV. Fête at _Dulcinée's_. To the astonishment of all _Don +Quichotte_ and _Sancho_ put in their appearance. _Dulcinée_, overjoyed +at the return of the necklace, embraces the Knight. He entreats her to +marry him at once. Touched by his devotion, _Dulcinée_ disillusions +him as to the kind of woman she is. + +Act V. A forest. _Don Quichotte_ is dying. He tells _Sancho_ that he +has given him the island he promised him in their travels; the most +beautiful island in the world--the "Island of Dreams." In his delirium +he sees _Dulcinée_. The lance falls from his hand. The gaunt figure in +its rusty suit of armour--no longer grotesque, but tragic--stiffens in +death. + + +CENDRILLON + +CINDERELLA + + Opera, in four acts, by Massenet, text by Henri Cain. + Produced, Opéra Comique, Paris, May 24, 1899. + + CHARACTERS + + CINDERELLA _Soprano_ + MME. DE LA HALTIÈRE, her stepmother _Mezzo-Soprano_ + NOÉMIE, her stepsister _Soprano_ + DOROTHÉE, her stepsister _Soprano_ + PANDOLFE, her father _Baritone_ + THE PRINCE CHARMING _Soprano_ + THE FAIRY _Soprano_ + THE KING _Baritone_ + DEAN OF THE FACULTY _Baritone_ + MASTER OF CEREMONIES _Tenor_ + PRIME MINISTER _Bass_ + + _Time_--Period of Louis XIII. + + _Place_--France. + +The story follows almost entirely the familiar lines of the fairy +tale. It may differ from some versions in including _Cinderella's_ +father, _Pandolfe_, among the characters. In the third act, +sympathizing with her in her unhappiness with her stepmother and +stepsisters, he plans to take her back to the country. But she goes +away alone, falls asleep under the fairy oak, and in a dream sees the +_Prince_, with whom she has danced at the ball. The fairy reveals them +to each other and they pledge their love. In the fourth act the dream +turns into reality. + +As for the music, it is bright, graceful, and pretty, especially in +the dances, the fairy scenes, and the love scene between _Cinderella_ +and _Prince Charming_. + + +LA NAVARRAISE + +Opera in one act by Massenet; libretto by Jules Claretie and Henri +Cain. It was performed for the first time at Covent Garden, June 20, +1894, by Mme. Calvé and Messrs. Alvarez, Plançon, Gilibert, Bonnard, +and Dufriche. + +The opera is one of other days. Now it is seldom given. There were two +famous _Anitas_--Emma Calvé and Jeanne Gerville-Réache. The +extraordinary success of "Cavalleria Rusticana" no doubt impelled +Massenet to try his hand at a tragic one-act opera, just as "Hänsel +and Gretel" was responsible for his "Cendrillon." It is among the best +of his works. The music is intensely dramatic. It has colour, +vitality. The action is swift and stirring, uninterrupted by +sentimental romanzas. The libretto is based on a short story, "La +Cigarette," written by Jules Claretie and published in the _Figaro +Illustré_ about 1890. Later it gave the title to a collection of short +stories. + +The time is during the last days of the Carlist war. The place is +Spain. _Araquil_, a Biscayan peasant, loves _Anita_ madly, but her +parents frown upon his poverty. No crime seems too great to win his +bride. _General Garrito_, the Spanish chief, has promised a reward to +any man who will deliver up _Zucarraga_, the Carlist. When this +dangerous foe is injured in battle, _Araquil_ poisons the wound and +claims the promised reward. The general pays the sum, but, disgusted, +orders _Araquil_ to be shot. _Anita's_ father consents to the wedding +before the execution. But _Anita_ refuses disdainfully, and _Araquil_ +is killed as he puffs a cigarette. This is Claretie's story. At his +suggestion and for the purposes of opera the parts were changed. +_Araquil_ became _Anita_ and the peasant with the cigarette became _La +Navarraise_. + + +LE JONGLEUR DE NÔTRE DAME + +Opera in three acts by Jules Massenet. Libretto by Maurice Léna. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Mary Garden in "Le Jongleur de Nôtre Dame"] + +The opera was first sung at Monte Carlo, February 18, 1902, when the +part of Jean was taken by Mr. Maréchal, for this miracle play with +music was composed originally for male singers. The only two women in +the cast were represented as angels. The part of _Boniface_ the cook +was created by Mr. Renaud. + +The story was first published by Gaston Paris as "Le Tombeor de Nostre +Dame" in 1874-75 in the review, _Romania_, and later in his "Étude sur +la Poésie Française au Moyen Âge." The story is better known, however, +by Anatole France's version, included in his "Étui de Nacre" (1912). + +A poor juggler after performing in the streets to earn his bread, +begins to think of the future life and enters a monastery. There he +sees the monks paying homage to the Virgin in eloquent prayers. Unable +in his ignorance to imitate their pious learning, _Jean_ decides to +offer homage through the only means in his power. He shuts himself in +the chapel, turns somersaults, and performs his feats in Our Lady's +honour. When the monks searching for _Jean_ rush in and cry +"Sacrilege" at his singing, dancing, and tumbling, the statue of the +Virgin comes to life, smiles, and blesses the poor juggler, who dies +in ecstasy at her feet, while the monks chant the beatitude concerning +the humble. + +Massenet was later persuaded to turn the part of _Jean_ into a +soprano. It is known to New York through Miss Mary Garden. It is said +that the libretto of this opera was handed to Massenet by the postman, +one day, as he was leaving for the country. In the railway carriage, +seeking distraction, he opened the registered package. He was +delighted with the libretto and wrote at once to the author, a teacher +in the university. + + +WERTHER + +Opera in four acts by Jules Massenet with a libretto by Édouard Blau, +Paul Milliet, and G. Hartmann. First performance in New York, April +19, 1894, with Mme. Eames and Sigrid Arnoldson and Jean de Reszke. + +In the first act the bailiff, _Charlotte's_ father, is seen teaching +his youngest children to sing a Christmas carol, while _Charlotte_ +dresses for a ball. Ready before the carriage arrives, she gives the +children their bread and butter as she has done every day since their +mother died. She greets _Werther_, her cousin, who is also invited to +the ball, with a kiss. After they have gone, _Albert_ returns. He has +been away six months. He wonders whether _Charlotte_, his betrothed, +still cares for him and is reassured as to her fidelity by her younger +sister _Sophie_. When _Charlotte_ and _Werther_ return from the ball +_Werther_ declares his love. At that moment the bailiff announces +_Albert's_ return. _Charlotte_ tells _Werther_ that she had promised +to marry him only to please her mother. _Werther_ replies: "If you +keep that promise I shall die." + +Act II takes place three months later. _Charlotte_ and _Albert_ are +man and wife. _Albert_ knows that _Werther_ loves his wife but trusts +him. _Charlotte_ begs _Werther_ not to try to see her again until +Christmas day. + +In Act III _Charlotte_ is at home alone. Her thoughts are with +_Werther_ and she wonders how she could have sent him away. Suddenly +_Werther_ returns and there is a passionate love scene. When _Werther_ +has gone _Albert_ enters, and notices his wife's agitation. A servant +brings a note from _Werther_ saying that he is about to go on a long +journey and asking _Albert_ to lend him his pistols. _Charlotte_ has a +horrible presentiment and hastily follows the servant. + +In Act IV _Charlotte_ finds _Werther_ dying in his apartments. He is +made happy by her confession that she has loved him from the moment +when she first saw him. + + +HÉRODIADE + +Massenet's "Hérodiade," with a libretto by Paul Milliet, had its +first performance in New York at the Manhattan Opera House, November, +1908, with Lina Cavalieri, Jeanne Gerville-Réache, Charles Dalmorès, +and Maurice Renaud in the principal rôles. The scene is Jerusalem and +the first act shows _Herod's_ palace. _Salome_ does not know that she +is the daughter of _Herodias_, for she was mysteriously separated from +her mother in childhood. With a caravan of Jewish merchants, who bring +gifts to _Herod_, she comes to Jerusalem in search of her mother. She +tells _Phanuel_, a young philosopher, that she wishes to return to the +_Prophet_ who had been kind to her in the desert. + +As she leaves _Herod_ enters, notices her, and is aroused by her +beauty. He calls upon her to return. But instead _Herodias_ enters +demanding _John's_ head for he has publicly called her Jezebel. +_Herod_ refuses. _John_ appears and continues his denunciation. The +royal couple flee. _Salome_ returns and falls at _John's_ feet +confessing her love. + +_Herod_ in vain seeks to put the thought of _Salome_ from him. +_Herodias_, mad with jealousy, consults the astrologer _Phanuel_ who +tells her that her daughter is her rival. + +In the temple _Herod_ offers his love to _Salome_, who repulses him +crying: "I love another who is mightier than Cæsar, stronger than any +hero." In his fury _Herod_ orders both _Salome_ and _John_, who has +been seized and put in chains, delivered into the hands of the +executioner. _John_ in his dungeon clasps _Salome_ in his arms. + +In the last scene _Salome_ implores _Herodias_ to save _John_, but the +executioner's sword is already bloodstained. _Salome_ snatches a +dagger and rushes upon _Herodias_ who cries in terror, "Have mercy. I +am your mother." "Then take back your blood and my life," cries +_Salome_, turning the weapon upon herself. + + +SAPHO + +Massenet's "Sapho," with a libretto by Henri Cain and Arthur Bernède, +based on Daudet's famous novel, was a complete failure in New York +when it was sung for three performances in 1909. Its favourable +reception in Paris, where it was produced at the Opéra Comique in +1897, was chiefly due to the vivid impersonation of Emma Calvé. The +story concerns an artist's model who captivates an unsophisticated +young man from the country and wrecks his life in attempting to rise +above her past. + + +CLÉOPÂTRE + +Opera by J. Massenet. Written for Lucy Arbell, the opera was produced +by Raoul Gunsbourg, at Monte Carlo, in his season of 1914-15 with +Marie Kousnezova in the title rôle. The first performance in America +took place in Chicago, at the Auditorium, January 10, 1916, with the +same singer. The first performance in New York was on January 23, +1919, with Miss Mary Garden as the Queen of Egypt and Alfred Maguénat, +who created the rôle at Monte Carlo and in Chicago, as the _Marc +Anthony_. The story is the traditional one. + + +LOUISE + + A musical romance in four acts, libretto and music by + Gustave Charpentier. + + CHARACTERS + + JULIEN _Tenor_ + THE FATHER _Baritone_ + LOUISE _Soprano_ + THE MOTHER _Contralto_ + IRMA _Soprano_ + +The opera was produced at the Opéra Comique, Paris, February 2, 1900. +The part of _Louise_ was created by Miss Rioton, who then sang for the +first time in an opera house; that of _Julien_ by Maréchal; that of +the father by Fugère, and that of the mother by Mme. Deschamps-Jéhin. + +[Illustration: Photo by Mishkin + +Mary Garden as Louise] + +The story is simple. _Louise_, a working girl, loves _Julien_, an +artist. Her father puts no trust in an artist of irregular life, so +_Louise_ leaves her family. The lovers are happy, but _Louise_ is +remorseful. She grieves for her father and reproaches herself for +ingratitude. Finally she returns home. But free forgiveness does not +make up for the freedom she has lost. Paris the city of pleasure +tempts her again, and again she succumbs. Her family realizes that she +is for ever lost to the home. + +Charpentier himself described his work to F. de Menil. When asked why +he called his opera a musical romance, he replied: "Because in a +romance there are two entirely distinct sides, the drama and the +description, and in my 'Louise' I wish to treat these different sides. +I have a descriptive part, composed of decoration, scenic +surroundings, and a musical atmosphere in which my characters move; +then I have the purely dramatic part, devoted wholly to the action. +This is, therefore, a truly musical romance." When asked whether the +work were naturalistic, realistic, or idealistic, he answered: "I have +a horror of words that end in 'istic.' I am not a man of theories. +'Louise,' as everything that I do, was made by me instinctively. I +leave to others, the dear critics, the care of disengaging the +formulas and the tendencies of the work. I have wished simply to give +on the stage that which I have given in concert; the lyric impression +of the sensations that I reap in our beautiful, fairy-like modern +life. Perhaps I see this as in a fever, but that is my right for the +street intoxicates me. The essential point of the drama is the coming +together, the clashing of two sentiments in the heart of +_Louise_--love, which binds her to her family, to her father, the fear +of leaving suffering behind her, and, on the other hand, the +irresistible longing for liberty, pleasure, happiness, love, the cry +of her being, which demands to live as she wishes. Passion will +conquer because it is served by a prodigious and mysterious auxiliary, +which has little by little breathed its dream into her young +soul--Paris, the voluptuous city, the great city of light, pleasure, +and joy, which calls her irresistibly towards an undaunted future." + + +SALAMMBÔ + +Reyer's "Salammbô" received a gorgeous production at the Metropolitan +Opera House on March 20, 1901, with the following cast: _Salammbô_, +Lucienne Bréval; _Taanach_, Miss Carrie Bridewell; _Mathô_, Albert +Saléza; _Shahabarim_, Mr. Salignac; _Narr'Havas_, Mr. Journet; +_Spendius_, Mr. Sizes; _Giscon_, Mr. Gilibert; _Autharite_, Mr. +Dufriche; _Hamilcar_, Mr. Scotti. Mr. Mancinelli conducted. The +exquisitely painted scenes were copies of the Paris models, and the +costumes were gorgeous. Miss Bréval's radiant Semitic beauty shone in +the title rôle. Flaubert's novel was made into a libretto by Camille +du Locle. History supplied the background for romance in the shape of +the suppression of a mutiny among the mercenaries of the Carthaginians +in the first Punic war. Against this is outlined in bold relief the +story of the rape of the sacred veil of Tanit by the leader of the +revolting mercenaries, his love for _Salammbô_, daughter of the +Carthaginian general; her recovery of the veil, bringing in its train +disaster to her lover and death to both. + +[Illustration: Photo by Histed + +Lucienne Bréval as Salammbô] + + +PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE + + Opera in five acts (12 scenes). Music by Debussy; text by + Maurice Maeterlinck. Produced: Paris, April 30, 1902. New + York, February 19, 1908. + + CHARACTERS + + ARKEL, King of Allemonde _Bass_ + GENOVEVA, mother of Pelléas and Golo _Alto_ + PELLÉAS } King Arkel's { _Tenor_ + GOLO } grandsons { _Baritone_ + MÉLISANDE _Soprano_ + LITTLE YNIOLD, Golo's son by + first marriage _A child's voice_ + A PHYSICIAN _Bass_ + +Act I. Scene I. In a forest. _Golo_ while hunting has lost his way +following a wild boar and come to a place unknown to him. There he +sees a woman sitting by a spring. She acts like a figure in a fairy +tale and behaves like a person stranger to and isolated from the +world. Finally _Golo_ succeeds in inducing _Mélisande_--she at last +tells him her name after being urged--to follow him out of the dark +woods. + +Scene II. A room in the castle. _Genoveva_ is reading to the aged, +almost blind _King Arkel_ a letter which _Golo_ has written to his +half-brother _Pelléas_. From this letter we learn that _Golo_ has +already been married six months to the mysterious _Mélisande_. He has +great love for his wife, about whom, however, he knows no more today +than he did at first in the woods. So he fears that his grandfather, +the _King_, may not forgive him for this union and asks _Pelléas_ to +give him a sign in case the _King_ is ready "to honour the stranger as +his daughter." Otherwise he will steer the keel of his ship to the +most remote land. _King Arkel_ has arrived at that time of life when +the wisdom of experience tends to make one forgiving toward everything +that happens. So he pardons _Golo_ and commissions his grandson +_Pelléas_ to give his brother the sign agreed upon. + +Scene III. Before the castle. The old queen _Genoveva_ seeks to calm +_Mélisande's_ distress at the gloominess of the world into which she +has wandered. _Pelléas_ too is there. He would like to go to see a +distant friend who is ill but fate holds him here. Or rather have not +chains been wound about the twain of which they yet have no +anticipation? + +Act II. Scene IV. A fountain in the park. _Pelléas_ and _Mélisande_ +have arrived at this thickly shaded spot. Is _Mélisande_ a +Melusine-like creature? Water attracts her wonderfully. She bends over +her reflection. Because she cannot reach it, she is tempted to play +with the ring that _Golo_ sent her. It slips from her hand and sinks. + +Scene V. There must have been some peculiar condition attached to the +ring. At the same hour that it fell in the fountain _Golo's_ horse +shied while hunting so that he was hurt and now lies wounded in bed. +_Mélisande_ is taking care of him. She tells _Golo_ that she did not +feel well the day before. She is oppressed by a certain foreboding, +she does not know what it is. _Golo_ seizes her hands to console her +and sees that the ring is missing. Then he drives her out into the +night to look for it. "Sooner would I give away everything I have, my +fortune and goods, rather than have lost the precious ring." _Pelléas_ +will help her. + +Scene VI. Before a grotto in the rocks. _Mélisande_ has deceived +_Golo_ by telling him that the ring has slipped from her hand into the +sea. So _Pelléas_ must now lead her to this grotto in order that she +may know at least the place in which she can claim that she lost the +ring. A dreadful place in which the shudder of death stalks. + +Act III. Scene VII. A tower in the castle. At the window of the tower +_Mélisande_ is standing combing her hair that she has let down. Then +_Pelléas_ comes along the road that winds around under her window. +_Pelléas_ is coming to say farewell. Early the next morning he is +going away. So _Mélisande_ will at least once more reach out her hand +to him that he may press it to his lips. Love weaves a web about the +twain with an ever thicker netting without their noticing it. Their +hands do not touch but as _Mélisande_ leans forward so far her long +hair falls over _Pelléas's_ head and fills the youth with passionate +feelings. Their words become warmer--then _Golo_ comes near and +reproves their "childishness." + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Davis & Sanford Co. + +Mary Garden as Mélisande in "Pelléas and Mélisande"] + +Scene VIII. In the vault under the castle. Like a gloomy menace _Golo_ +leads _Pelléas_ into these underground rooms where the breeze of death +blows. Seized with shuddering they go out. On the terrace at the +entrance to the vault _Golo_ in earnest words warns _Pelléas_ to keep +away from _Mélisande_ and to refrain from confidential conversations +with her. + +Scene IX. Before the castle. In vain _Golo_ has sought to quiet +himself by saying that it was all only childishness. Jealousy devours +his heart. So now he seeks with hypocritical calm his little son +_Yniold_, offspring of his first marriage, to inquire about the +intimacy of _Pelléas_ and _Mélisande_. The child cannot tell him of +anything improper yet _Golo_ feels how it is with the couple. And he +feels that he himself is old, much older than _Pelléas_ and +_Mélisande_. + +Act IV. Scene X. In a room in the castle _Pelléas_ and _Mélisande_ +meet. This evening he must see her. She promises to go in the park to +the old fountain where she formerly lost the ring. It will be their +last meeting. Yet _Mélisande_ does not understand what is driving the +youth away. The old _King Arkel_ enters the room. The aged man has +taken _Mélisande_ to his heart. He feels that the young wife is +unhappy. Now _Golo_ also enters. He can scarcely remain master of his +inner commotion. The sight of his wife, who appears the picture of +innocence, irritates him so much that he finally in a mad rage throws +her on her knees and drags her across the room by her hair. + +Scene XI. By the old spring in the park. There is an oppressive +feeling of disaster in the air. Only little _Yniold_ does not suffer +this gripping burden. It is already growing dark when _Mélisande_ goes +to _Pelléas_. And yet in their farewell, perhaps also on account of +_Golo's_ outburst of anger, the couple clearly see what has caused +their condition. And there comes over them something like the +affirmation of death and the joy of dying. How fate shuts the gates +upon them; like a fate they see _Golo_ coming. They rejoice in the +idea of death. _Pelléas_ falls by _Golo's_ sword, _Mélisande_ flees +from her husband's pursuit into the night. + +Act V. Scene XII. A room in the castle. _Mélisande_ lies stretched out +in bed. _Arkel_, _Golo_, and the physician are conversing softly in +the room. No; _Mélisande_ is not dying from the insignificant wound +_Golo_ has given her. Perhaps her life will be saved. She awakes as if +from dreaming. Everything that has happened is like a dream to her. +Desperately _Golo_ rushes to her couch, begs her pardon, and asks her +for the truth. He is willing to die too but before his death he wants +to know whether she had betrayed him with _Pelléas_. She denies it. +_Golo_ presses her so forcibly and makes her suffer so that she is +near death. Then earthly things fall away from her as if her soul were +already free. It is not possible to bring her back now. The aged +_Arkel_ offers the last services for the dying woman, to make the way +free for her soul escaping from earthly pain and the burden of the +tears of persons left behind. + + +APHRODITE + + A lyric drama in five acts and seven scenes after the story + by Pierre Louÿs. Adapted by Louis de Gramont. Music by + Camille Erlanger. First given at the Opéra Comique, Paris, + March 23, 1906, with Mary Garden as _Chrysis_, Leon Beyle as + _Démétrios_, Gustave Huberdeau as the _Jailor_, Mmes. + Mathieu-Lutz and Demellin as _Myrto_ and _Rhodis_, and + Claire Friche as _Bacchis_. + + CHARACTERS + + DÉMÉTRIOS _Tenor_ + TIMON _Baritone_ + PHILODÈME _Tenor_ + LE GRAND PRÊTRE _Bass_ + CALLIDÈS _Bass_ + LE GEÔLIER _Bass_ + CHRYSIS _Soprano_ + BACCHIS _Mezzo-Soprano_ + MYRTO _Soprano_ + RHODIS _Mezzo-Soprano_ + CHIMARIS _Mezzo-Soprano_ + SÉSO _Soprano_ + +Act I. The wharf at Alexandria. Act II. The temple of Aphrodite. Act +III. At the house of _Bacchis_. Act IV. The studio of _Démétrios_. Act +V. Scene I. The lighthouse; Scene II. The prison; Scene III. The +garden of Hermanubis. + +Act I. The throng moves back and forth on the crowded wharf. There are +young people, courtesans, philosophers, sailors, beggars, +fruit-sellers. _Rhodis_ and _Myrto_ play on their flutes while +_Théano_ dances. _Démétrios_ the sculptor approaches and leans on the +parapet overlooking the sea. The Jewess _Chimaris_, a fortune-teller, +reads his hand. She tells him that she sees past happiness and love in +the future, but that this love will be drowned first in the blood of +one woman, then in that of a second, and finally in his own. +_Chrysis_, a beautiful courtesan, appears on the wharf. _Démétrios_ +wishes to follow her, but she declines his advances. To possess her he +must bring her three gifts, the silver mirror of _Bacchis_, the +courtesan, the ivory comb of _Touni_, wife of the High Priest, and the +pearl necklace clasped around the neck of the statue of the goddess +Aphrodite in the temple. _Démétrios_ is appalled but swears to fulfil +her wishes. She embraces him and disappears. + +In Act II the temple guards and eunuchs perform their sacred offices. +_Démétrios_ enters the temple. He has committed two of the three +crimes. He has stolen the mirror from _Bacchis_ and stabbed Touni to +take her comb. The celebration of the first day of the Aphrodisiacs +begins. Courtesans bring offerings to the goddess. _Rhodis_ and +_Myrto_ bring a caged dove. _Chrysis_ hands the High Priest her +bronze mirror, her copper comb, and her emerald necklace, as +offerings. When the crowd leaves the temple, _Démétrios_ snatches the +necklace from the statue and disappears. + +Act III shows the feast and the bacchanale at the house of _Bacchis_. +The theft of the mirror is discovered. _Corinna_, a slave, is accused +and crucified. _Chrysis_ is inwardly exultant that her wish has been +obeyed. + +In Act IV _Chrysis_ goes to _Démétrios_ to receive the gifts and to +bestow the reward. _Démétrios_, mad with passion, clasps her in his +embrace. The clamour without reminds him of his misdeed. In a fit of +disgust he demands that the beautiful woman shall not hoard her +treasures in secret, but appear in public decked with them, as an +atonement. He sends her away. + +On the island of the lighthouse of Alexandria the crowds discuss the +theft of the mirror and the crucifixion of _Corinna_. _Timon_ +announces the slaying of Touni and the stealing of her comb. _Chrysis_ +appears wrapped in a long mantle. The sacred courtesans and the temple +guards announce the theft of the jewels from the temple. Suddenly +_Chrysis_ appears on the highest balcony of the lighthouse, the stolen +comb in her hair, the mirror in her hand, and the necklace about her +throat. Disclosed in a flash of lightning the crowds think it is the +goddess in person. Soon they realize the truth and _Chrysis_ is seized +and taken to prison. + +The _Jailor_ brings a poisoned goblet to her cell. She +drinks--_Démétrios_ arrives too late, to find her dead. + +Her friends, _Myrto_ and _Rhodis_, bury her body in the Garden of +Hermanubis. + + +L'ATTAQUE DU MOULIN + +THE ATTACK ON THE MILL + +This is a four-act music-drama by Alfred Bruneau, the libretto by +Louis Gallet, based on a story from Zola's "Soirées de Medan." It was +produced at the Opéra Comique, Paris, November 23, 1893, and in this +country in 1908. + +The tale is an episode of the Franco-Prussian War. In the first act we +see the betrothal of _Françoise_, daughter of the miller, _Merlier_, +to _Dominique_. The _Town Crier_ announces the declaration of war. + +In the second act the mill is attacked and captured by the Germans. +_Dominique_ is made a prisoner and locked in the mill. _Françoise_ +gets a knife to him. While (in the third act) the girl engages the +attention of the sentinel, _Dominique_ makes his way out of the mill, +kills the sentinel, and escapes. In the fourth act the French, guided +by _Dominique_, return. But just as they enter, with _Dominique_ at +their head, the Germans shoot _Merlier_ before his daughter's eyes. + + * * * * * + +In writing about his theories of the lyric drama, Bruneau, who was +regarded as a promising follower of Wagner, used these words: "It is +music uniting itself intimately to the poetry ... the orchestra +comments upon the inward thoughts of the different characters." +Wagnerian--but also requiring the genius of a Wagner. + + +ARIANE ET BARBE-BLEUE + +ARIADNE AND BLUE-BEARD + + Opera in three acts, by Paul Dukas; text by Maurice + Maeterlinck. Produced in New York, March 3, 1911. + + CHARACTERS + + BLUE-BEARD _Bass_ + ARIANE, wife of _Blue-Beard_ _Soprano_ + THE NURSE _Contralto_ + SÉLYSETTE, wife of _Blue-Beard_ _Mezzo-Soprano_ + YGRAINE, wife of _Blue-Beard_ _Soprano_ + MÉLISANDE, wife of _Blue-Beard_ _Soprano_ + BELLANGÈRE, wife of _Blue-Beard_ _Soprano_ + ALLAINE, wife of _Blue-Beard_ _Acting Rôle_ + AN OLD PEASANT _Bass_ + + Peasants and Mob. + + _Time_--Middle Ages. + + _Place_--_Blue-Beard's_ Castle. + +Act I. Hall in _Blue-Beard's_ castle. _Ariane_, sixth wife of +_Blue-Beard_, is warned by voices of the crowd outside that +_Blue-Beard_ has already murdered five wives. _Ariane_ has seven +keys--six of silver and one of gold. When _Ariane_, intent only on +opening the forbidden chamber, throws down the six silver keys, her +_Nurse_ picks them up. With one she unlocks the first door. Instantly +amethysts set in diadems, bracelets, rings, girdles, fall down in a +shower on _Ariane_. And so, to her joy, as door after door swings +open, she is showered with sapphires, pearls, emeralds, rubies, and +diamonds. Now _Ariane_ opens, with the golden key, the seventh door. +Darkness, out of which come the voices of the five lost wives. Here +_Ariane_ is surprised by _Blue-Beard_, who lays hold of her. The +crowd, admitted by the _Nurse_, rush in to kill _Blue-Beard_, but are +told by _Ariane_ that he has not harmed her. + +Act II. A subterranean hall. _Ariane_ descends with the _Nurse_ into +the depths of the blackness on which the seventh door opened. There +she finds the five wives still alive but emaciated and in rags. She +tells them that she has obeyed a higher law than _Blue-Beard's_, and +that outside birds are singing and the sun is shining. A jet of water +extinguishes _Ariane's_ light, but she is not fearful. She leads the +five toward a radiant spot at the end of the vault. She throws herself +against the barred wall. It gives away. The sunlight streams in. +Blinded at first by its brilliance, the five wives finally come out of +the vault and go off singing joyously. + +Act III. Same as Act I. The wives are adorning themselves with the +help of _Ariane_. She urges them to make the best use of their gifts. +_Blue-Beard_ is approaching. The people are lying in wait for him. The +wives watch his capture. Bound and wounded, he is brought in. But to +the astonishment of all _Ariane_ bandages his wounds and the others +help her. Then she cuts the cords and frees him, but herself departs, +although _Blue-Beard_ pleads with her to remain. But when she in turn +implores the five wives to go with her, they decline, and she leaves +them in the castle. + +The allegory in this tale is that five out of six women prefer +captivity (with a man) to freedom without him. The opera has not been +popular in this country. + + +MONNA VANNA + +Henry Février's "Monna Vanna" was first sung in New York in 1914 by +Mary Garden and Lucien Muratore. The opera is based upon Maeterlinck's +play in which _Monna Vanna_ to save the starving Pisans goes to +_Prinzivalle's_ tent clad only in a cloak and her long hair. The +commander of the besieging army does not profit by the bargain, but +treats her with the utmost respect while he discourses eloquently of +his youthful love. The music is as commonplace as that of this +composer's other opera, "Gismonda." + + +GISMONDA + +Opera in four acts by Henri Février with a libretto based on Sardou's +famous play had its first performance in America in Chicago, January +14, 1919, with Miss Mary Garden, Charles Fontaine, Gustave Huberdeau, +Marcel Journet, and other members of the Chicago Opera Company in the +leading rôles. The opera was given on the opening night of the same +organization's season in New York, January 27, 1919, at the Lexington +Theatre with the same cast. + +The story follows that of the play. _Gismonda_, Duchess of Athens, +promises to wed the man who succeeds in rescuing her little son from a +tiger's pit, into which he has been pushed by a conspirator who wishes +to help _Zaccaria Franco_ to seize the Duchy. _Almério_, a young +falconer, kills the beast and saves the child. But the proud though +grateful _Duchess_ will not consider a peasant for her husband. + +If _Almério_ will renounce his claim _Gismonda_ promises to spend a +night at his hut. When she discovers that _Zaccaria_ has followed her +she slays him. _Almério_ takes the guilt for the murder upon himself +but _Gismonda_ makes public confession of her visit to his hut, hands +over the wicked _Grégoras_, who had attempted to murder her little +son, to justice, and proclaims the falconer her lord and husband. + + +MAROUF, THE COBBLER OF CAIRO + +"Marouf" was sung for the first time in America at the Metropolitan +Opera House, December 19, 1917, with Frances Alda, Kathleen Howard, +Léon Rothier, Andrés de Segurola, Thomas Chalmers, and Giuseppe de +Luca as the Cobbler, in the cast. Pierre Monteux conducted. + +_Marouf_ is unhappy at home. His wife, _Fatimah_, is ugly and has a +bad disposition. When she asked for rice cake, sweetened with honey, +and thanks to his friend the pastry cook, _Marouf_ brought her cake +sweetened with cane sugar instead, she flew into a rage and ran to +tell the _Cadi_ that her husband beat her. The credulous _Cadi_ orders +the _Cobbler_ thrashed by the police, in spite of protesting +neighbours. _Marouf_, disgusted, decides to disappear. He joins a +party of passing sailors. A tempest wrecks the ship. He alone is +saved. _Ali_, his friend, whom he has not seen for twenty years and +who has become rich in the meantime, picks him up on the shore and +takes him to the great city of Khaltan, "somewhere between China and +Morocco." _Marouf_ is presented to the townspeople as the richest +merchant in the world who has a wonderful caravan on the way. He is +accepted everywhere and in spite of the doubting _Vizier_ the Sultan +invites him to his palace. Furthermore, he offers him his beautiful +daughter as a bride. For forty days _Marouf_ lives in luxury with the +princess. He empties the treasury of the _Sultan_ who consoles himself +with thoughts of the promised caravan which must soon arrive. At last +the _Princess_ questions _Marouf_ who tells the truth. They decide +upon flight, and the _Princess_ disguises herself as a boy. + +At an oasis in the desert they are sheltered by a poor peasant. +_Marouf_ seeks to repay his hospitality by a turn at his plow. The +implement strikes an iron ring attached to the covering of a +subterranean chamber. The ring also has magic power. When the +_Princess_ rubs it the poor peasant is transformed into a genii, who +offers his services, and discloses a hidden treasure. When the +_Sultan_ and his guards, in pursuit of the fugitives, appear upon the +scene, the sounds of an approaching caravan are also heard in the +distance. The ruler apologizes. _Marouf_ and the _Princess_ triumph. +The doubting _Vizier_ is punished with a hundred lashes. + + * * * * * + +Henri Rabaud, composer of "Marouf," is a Parisian, the son of a +professor of the Conservatoire of which he is also a graduate. + +His second symphony has been played in New York. He has to his credit +a string quartet, other smaller works, and an opera, "La Fille de +Roland," which was given some years ago at the Opéra Comique. "Marouf" +was produced at that theatre in the spring of 1914. M. Rabaud, for +several years conductor at the Grand Opéra and the Opéra Comique, was +called to America in 1918 to be the conductor of the Boston Symphony +Orchestra, succeeding Karl Muck, and Pierre Monteux who filled the +vacancy for a few weeks before M. Rabaud's arrival from France. + + +LE SAUTERIOT + +THE GRASSHOPPER + +"Le Sauteriot" (Grasshopper) by Sylvio Lazzari, with a libretto by +Henri Pierre Roche and Martial Perrier, based on E. de Keyserling's +drama "Sacre de Printemps," is the story of a modern Cinderella, +_Orti_, who lives in Lithuania. She is the natural daughter of +_Mikkel_, whose wife _Anna_, lies dying as the curtain rises. The +doctor gives _Orti_, or _Grasshopper_ as she is known, some medicine +to give the patient if she grows worse. Only ten drops though, because +the remedy is a powerful poison. _Anna's_ old mother, _Trine_, tells +_Orti_ the legend of the mother who prayed that she might die in place +of her baby, and whose prayer was granted. Realizing herself despised +and a drudge, _Orti_ prays to die instead of _Anna_. + +_Grasshopper_ is secretly in love with _Indrik_. But he has no eyes +for her. All his attention is fixed upon _Madda_, _Mikkel's_ youngest +sister. In the second act at a village festival, _Indrik_, who has +quarrelled with _Madda_, fights with his successor in her affections, +_Josef_. _Orti_ rushes in and seizes _Josef's_ hand as he is about to +slay _Hendrik_. She is the heroine of the festival. _Hendrik_ pays +court to her and leads her to believe that he will marry her. When a +few days later she discovers that he has gone back to _Madda_, +_Grasshopper_ commits suicide. + + * * * * * + +M. Lazzari of Paris is by birth a Tyrolean, whose father was an +Italian. But the composer has spent most of his life in Paris. He +entered the Conservatoire at twenty-four, where his teachers were +Guiraud and César Franck. His operas "L'Ensorcelée" and "La Lépreuse" +were first sung in Paris. "Le Sauteriot" would also have had its first +performance there. But the war made it possible for Mr. Campanini to +acquire it for Chicago. It was presented there on the closing day of +the season, January 19, 1918. The Chicago Opera Company gave New York +its first opportunity to hear the work on February 11, 1918, when it +was conducted by the composer. + + +LA REINE FIAMMETTE + +QUEEN FIAMMETTE + + "La Reine Fiammette," by Xavier Leroux, with a libretto + adapted from his play by Catulle Mendès, had its first + performance in America at the Metropolitan Opera House, + January 24, 1919. The cast was as follows: + + CHARACTERS + + ORLANDA _Geraldine Farrar_ + DANIELO _Hipolito Lazaro_ + GIORGIO D'AST _Adamo Didur_ + CARDINAL SFORZA _Léon Rothier_ + PANTASILLE _Flora Perini_ + MOTHER AGRAMENTE _Kathleen Howard_ + VIOLINE _Kittie Beale_ + VIOLETTE _Lenore Sparkes_ + VIOLA _Mary Ellis_ + POMONE _Marie Tiffany_ + MICHELA _Lenore Sparkes_ + ANGIOLETTA _Mary Ellis_ + CHIARINA _Marie Mattfeld_ + TWO BOYS { _Mary Mellish_ + { _Cecil Arden_ + LUC AGNOLO _Mario Laurenti_ + CASTIGLIONE _Angelo Bada_ + CORTEZ _Albert Reiss_ + CESANO _Giordano Paltrinieri_ + VASARI _Pietro Audisio_ + PROSECUTOR _Paolo Ananian_ + TWO NOVICES { _Phillis White_ + { _Veni Warwick_ + +While this was the first operatic performance of Catulle Mendès's +famous work, Charles Dillingham produced the play for the first time +in America at the Hollis Street Theatre, Boston, October 6, 1902, with +Julia Marlowe. Paul Kester made the English adaptation. The late Frank +Worthing appeared as _Danielo_. Others in the cast were Frank Reicher, +Albert Bruning, and Arthur Lawrence. + +The story takes place in Italy of the sixteenth century, in an +imaginary Kingdom of Bologna, whose ruler _Queen Fiammette_, young and +capricious, has chosen as her consort _Giorgio d'Ast_, an adventurer. +It is this very man whom the Papal See has determined to elevate to +the throne in place of the madcap _Orlanda_. But _Cardinal Sforza_ is +not satisfied with the mere dethroning of _Orlanda_. He wishes her to +be assassinated, and goes to Bologna to hatch the plot for her doom. +The _Prince Consort_ agrees to play his part and to involve several +young courtiers in the scheme. It is decided to slay the _Queen_ +during a fête at her palace. + +_Danielo_, a young monk, is chosen to strike the blow. The _Cardinal_ +tells him that after indulging in a passing fancy for his brother, the +_Queen_ has had the youth killed. The monk is only too eager for +revenge. He has been in the habit of meeting a beautiful woman, whose +identity is unknown, at a convent. This is none other than _Fiammette_ +herself who uses the convent for her gallantries. _Danielo_ confides +his mission of vengeance to the fair unknown. But when he recognizes +in the queen the woman he adores he is powerless to carry out his +intention of slaying her. He is arrested by order of the _Cardinal_ +for failing to keep his pact. The _Queen_ signs her abdication and +hopes to fly with her lover, but the _Cardinal_ condemns both to the +headsman's block. + + +LE CHEMINEAU + +THE WAYFARER + +Opera by Xavier Leroux with a libretto by Jean Richepin, performed +for the first time in America at New Orleans in 1911. + +A jovial wayfarer dallies with _Toinette_, one of the pretty girls +working on a farm in Normandy. He loves her and goes his way. In +despair _Toinette_ marries _François_. The wayfarer's child, _Toinet_, +is born. Years later when _François_ has become a hopeless invalid, +_Toinet_ woos _Aline_, the daughter of _Pierre_, a surly neighbour, +who doubting the youth's origin refuses his consent to the match. +Suddenly the wayfarer reappears. _François_ expires, after commending +_Toinette_ to the care of her former lover. But the call of the open +road is too strong. The wayfarer refuses to contemplate domesticity. +Once more he takes his well-worn hat and goes out into the storm. + + +LE VIEIL AIGLE + +THE OLD EAGLE + +Raoul Gunsbourg wrote both the words and the music for his one act +lyric drama, "Le Vieil Aigle" (The Old Eagle), which was first +produced at the Opera House in Monte Carlo, February 13, 1909. The +first performance of the opera in New York was given by the Chicago +Opera Company at the Lexington Theatre with Georges Baklanoff in the +title rôle, supported by Yvonne Gall, Charles Fontaine, and Désiré +Defrère, February 28, 1919. + +The scene of the story is a rocky coast in the Crimea. The time, the +fourteenth century. The _Khan Asvezel Moslain_ informs his son +_Tolak_, who has just returned from a successful campaign against the +Russians, that great preparations have been made to celebrate his +return. But the young man is sad and replies that he only seeks +forgetfulness in death. He asks his father to grant him the dearest +wish of his heart and confesses his love for the _Khan's_ favourite +slave _Zina_. The old man consents to give her to his son, but when +he orders the girl to follow _Tolak_ she refuses to do so. The _Khan_, +wishing to retain his son's love, throws the disobedient slave into +the sea, but as this far from restores harmony between the generations +the old man follows her to her watery grave. + + + + +Modern German and Bohemian Opera + + + Wagner's powerful influence upon German opera produced + countless imitators. For some reason or other it appeared to + be almost impossible for other German composers to + assimilate his ideas and yet impart originality to their + scores. Among those who took his works for a model were + Peter Cornelius, Hermann Goetz, and Carl Goldmark. + + Perhaps the most important contribution to German opera + during the decade that followed Wagner's death was + Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel." Then came Richard Strauss + with his "Feuersnot," "Salome," "Elektra," and "Der + Rosenkavalier." + + The most famous representative of the Bohemian school of + opera, which is closely allied to the German, is Smetana. + + +ST. ELIZABETH + + Operatic version of Liszt's "Legend," made by Artur + Bodanzky, from the book of the oratorio by Otto Roquette. + Sung in English at the Metropolitan Opera House, January 3, + 1918, with the following cast: + + CHARACTERS + + ELIZABETH _Florence Easton_ + LANDGRAVINE SOPHIE _Margarete Matzenauer_ + LANDGRAVE LUDWIG _Clarence Whitehill_ + LANDGRAVE HERMANN _Carl Schlegel_ + A HUNGARIAN MAGNATE _Basil Ruysdael_ + SENESCHAL _Robert Leonhardt_ + + Conductor, _Artur Bodanzky_ + +The dramatic version of Liszt's sacred work once had sixty +performances at Prague. + +Although the score of "Saint Elizabeth" is dedicated to Wagner's +benefactor, Ludwig II. of Bavaria, the Grand Duke Alexander of Weimar +was responsible for the fact that Liszt undertook a setting of a poem +on this subject by Otto Roquette. This poem was inspired by a series +of frescoes by Moritz Schwind at the Wartburg, which tells the story +of _Elizabeth's_ sad life. The daughter of a Hungarian king of the +thirteenth century, she was brought to the Wartburg at the age of four +and betrothed to the boy, _Ludwig_, son of the Landgrave of Thuringia. +The children were reared as brother and sister, and at seventeen +_Elizabeth_ was married to _Ludwig_ who succeeded to the throne. + +A famine came upon the land. _Elizabeth_ impoverished herself by +helping the poor, and incurred the displeasure of her mother-in-law. +Forbidden to give any further aid to the victims of the famine, she +was one day found by her husband carrying a basket. She declared that +it was filled with flowers. When he tore it from her hands a miracle +had happened, and the bread and wine had changed into roses. Then she +confessed her deception which was atoned for by the miracle. The two +after offering a prayer of thanksgiving renew their vows. + +Soon afterwards _Ludwig_ joins a passing procession of crusaders. He +is killed in battle with the Saracens and his wife becomes ruler of +the Wartburg. _Sophie_, her mother-in-law, plots with the _Seneschal_ +and drives _Elizabeth_ out with her children into a storm. She finds +refuge in a hospital she once founded. The remainder of her life is +devoted to assisting the helpless and the poor. The closing scene of +the opera shows her apotheosis. + + +THE BARBER OF BAGDAD + + Opera in two acts. Words and music by Peter Cornelius. + Produced: Weimar, December 15, 1858. + + CHARACTERS + + THE CALIPH _Baritone_ + BABA MUSTAPHA, a cadi _Tenor_ + MARGIANA, his daughter _Soprano_ + BOSTANA, a relative of the cadi _Mezzo-Soprano_ + NUREDDIN _Tenor_ + THE BARBER _Bass_ + +Act I. _Nureddin_ is ill, very ill his servants say. They must know +very little of such youthful illnesses. _Margiana_ calls the invalid +in a dream. _Margiana_ is the medicine that can cure him, _Margiana_, +the marvellously glorious daughter of the mighty cadi, _Baba +Mustapha_. And see how health reanimates _Nureddin's_ limbs, when +_Bostana_, a relative of the cadi, approaches and brings the sweet +news that _Margiana_ will wait for her lover about noon when her +father has gone to prayers in the mosque. But the latter, in order to +appear properly, needs above everything else a barber. And _Bostana_ +appoints--"O knowest thou, revered one, I find for you a learned +one--the greatest of all barbers, _Abdul Hassan Ali Ebn Bekar_. He is +great as a barber, a giant as a talker, swift his razor, a thousand +times quicker his tongue." + +Act II. A magnificent room in the cadi's house. What a stirring, +harmonious picture. _Margiana_, _Bostana_, and the cadi rejoice: "He +comes! he comes! oh, delightful pleasure." Of course the covetous old +cadi is not thinking of young _Nureddin_ but of the rich old _Selim_ +who wants to have _Margiana_ for his wife. A mighty chest full of rich +gifts, so he announces. But the cadi goes off full of dignity to +prayers in the mosque. And now _Nureddin_ comes. How happy the couple +are. But is not that the barber approaching with his love-song? "O +Allah, save us from the flood of his talk"--no, rather save us from +the cadi who suddenly comes back. The screams of a servant, whom he is +punishing with a bastonade by his own hand, announce his arrival. +There is only one escape. Quickly the chest is emptied and _Nureddin_ +gets in. Then the barber with _Nureddin's_ servant. _Abdul Hassan Ali +Ebn Bekar_ leaves no customers in the lurch. He who screamed can only +be _Nureddin_ whom the furious cadi has murdered. _Bostana_ advises +him to drag forth the chest; the cadi opposes. The wild clamour +brings, in crowds, the people of Bagdad who hear rumours of a murder. +Finally the caliph comes too. What is in the chest? _Nureddin's_ +corpse, says the barber; _Margiana's_ dowry, answers the cadi. The +chest is opened. The cadi is right, for _Nureddin_ is not a corpse but +only in a swoon because he was nearly smothered, but he is without +doubt _Margiana's_ dowry and he will become so publicly. A cadi cannot +lightly oppose the wish of a caliph. The barber is seized but is +ordered by the caliph to be taken to his palace to entertain him with +stories. + + +THE TAMING OF THE SHREW + + Opera in four acts; libretto adapted by Victor Widmann from + Shakespeare's comedy. Music by Herman Goetz. + + CHARACTERS + + BAPTISTA _Otto Goritz_ + KATHARINA _Margarete Ober_ + BIANCA _Marie Rappold_ + HORTENSIO _Robert Leonhardt_ + LUCENTIO _Johannes Sembach_ + PETRUCHIO _Clarence Whitehill_ + GRUMIO _Basil Ruysdael_ + A TAILOR _Albert Reiss_ + MAJOR DOMO _Max Bloch_ + HOUSEKEEPER _Marie Mattfeld_ + +This opera was produced at the Metropolitan Opera House in +commemoration of Shakespeare in 1916. It was first sung in Mannheim +in 1874, when it was known as "Die Widerspenstigen Zachmung." Mr. +Bodanzky came to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera House, from that +city, and the New York performance was perhaps the result of a +suggestion made by him. Widmann in his libretto brings into prominence +the wooing of _Bianca_ by rival suitors. This is done to give relief +to _Petruchio's_ blustering and to the exhibitions of temper by the +_Shrew_. The librettist also provides his own introduction which +includes the rival suitors, a chorus of angry servants, interested +women on the balcony, and _Petruchio's_ entrance. The second act +represents _Petruchio's_ tempestuous wooing. In the third _Bianca_ is +courted by _Lucentio_ as a tutor and _Hortensio_ as a musician. The +wedding party returns and _Petruchio_ makes his hasty exit bearing his +sulky bride. Servants and wedding guests provide an opportunity for +chorus music. The tailor is introduced and _Katharina_ is finally +tamed. + + +THE QUEEN OF SHEBA + + Opera in four acts: music by Karl Goldmark; text by G.H. + Mosenthal. Produced: Vienna, March 10, 1875. + + CHARACTERS + + KING SOLOMON _Baritone_ + BAAL HANAU, the palace overseer _Baritone_ + ASSAD _Tenor_ + THE HIGH PRIEST _Bass_ + SULAMITH, his daughter _Tenor_ + THE QUEEN OF SHEBA _Mezzo-Soprano_ + ASTAROTH, her slave _Soprano_ + + _Time_--Tenth Century B.C. + + _Place_--Jerusalem. + +Act I. In _Solomon's_ magnificent palace everybody is preparing for +the reception of the _Queen of Sheba_. But nobody is more delighted +than _Sulamith_, the daughter of the High Priest. _Assad_, who had +gone to meet the foreign queen, returns. Here he comes already into +the hall. But _Assad_, growing pale, draws back before his betrothed. +He confesses to _King Solomon_ that he has not yet seen the _Queen of +Sheba_ but at a certain well a wonderful woman favoured him with her +love and since then his mind has been confused. The King consoles the +young man by telling him that God will permit him to find her again. +Now the queen's train approaches; she greets _Solomon_ and unveils +herself. _Assad_ rushes toward her. What does the young man want of +her? She does not know him. + +Act II. The queen did not want to recognize _Assad_ but the woman in +her is consumed with longing for him. He comes and happy love unites +them. Then the scene changes and shows the interior of the Temple. The +wedding of _Assad_ and _Sulamith_ is about to be solemnized. Then, at +a decisive moment the queen appears, and _Assad_ throws the ring on +the floor and hurries to the queen as if the deceit were making a fool +of him. She has never seen him, she declares a second time. _Assad_, +however, who has offended the Almighty, has incurred the penalty of +death. In the meantime _Solomon_, who is examining the affair, defers +sentence. + +Act III. _Solomon_ is alone with the queen. She has one request to +make of him, that he shall release _Assad_. Why? He is nothing to her +but she wants to see whether the king has regard for his guest. And +_Solomon_ refuses the request of the deceitful woman who, breathing +vengeance, strides out of the palace. But when _Sulamith_ complains, +_Solomon_ consoles her. _Assad_ will shake off the unworthy chains. +Far away on the borders of the desert, she will find peace with +_Assad_. + +Act IV. Again the scene changes. On the border of the desert stands +the asylum of the young women consecrated to God in which _Sulamith_ +has found rest from the deceitful world. _Assad_ staggers hither; a +weary, banished man. And again the _Queen of Sheba_ appears before +him offering him her love. But he flees from the false woman for whom +he had sacrificed _Sulamith_, the noble one. A desert storm arises, +burying _Assad_ in the sand. When the sky becomes clear again +_Sulamith_, taking a walk with her maidens, finds her lover. She +pardons the dying man and points out to him the eternal joys which +they will taste together. + + +THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH + + Opera in three acts, by Carl Goldmark, text by M. Willner, + after the story by Charles Dickens. Produced, Berlin, 1896; + in this country, 1910. + + CHARACTERS + + JOHN _Baritone_ + DOT, his wife _Soprano_ + MAY _Soprano_ + EDWARD PLUMMER _Tenor_ + TACKLETON _Basso_ + THE CRICKET _Soprano_ + + _Time_--Early Part of 19th Century. + + _Place_--An English Village. + +Act I. Room in _John's_ house. Invisible chorus of elves. To the +_Cricket_, the guiding spirit of the house, _Dot_ confides her secret. +She hopes soon to have a child. _May_, a pretty young girl, a +toymaker, is to be married the next day to _Tackleton_, her employer. +She bemoans her fate. She still loves _Edward Plummer_, who +disappeared several years before. After _May's_ departure _John_ +appears with _Edward_, disguised as a sailor, and is not recognized +either by _John_ or the villagers. + +Act II. A garden. _May_ and _Tackleton_ are supping together. _John_ +makes _Tackleton_ jealous of the stranger, _Edward_, who, seeing that +_May_ is only marrying _Tackleton_ because his wealth will save her +old foster-father from want, reveals his identity to _Dot_. +_Tackleton_ now makes _John_ jealous of _Edward_, but _John_ is lulled +to sleep by the _Cricket_, and dreams of himself as a happy father. + +Act III. _May_ resolves to be true to _Edward_. Recognizing him (after +his song, "Hulla, list to the Seas"), they drive off in _Tackleton's_ +carriage. _John_ is told of _Dot's_ secret. Reconciliation, with the +_Cricket_ chirping merrily. There is much pretty music (for instance, +the quintet on the hearth in the second act, and _Edward's_ song), +which, however, has not sufficed to keep the piece in the repertoire +in this country. + + +KÖNIGSKINDER + +KING'S CHILDREN + + Opera by Engelbert Humperdinck with a libretto by Ernst + Rosmer. The first performance on any stage was at the + Metropolitan Opera House, December 28, 1910, with the + following cast: + + DER KÖNIGSSOHN _Herman Jadlowker_ + DIE GANSEMAGD _Geraldine Farrar_ + DER SPIELMANN _Otto Goritz_ + DIE HEXE _Louise Homer_ + DER HOLZHACKER _Adamo Didur_ + DER BESENBINDER _Albert Reiss_ + ZWEI KINDER _Edna Walter and Lotta Engel_ + DER RATSALTESTE _Marcel Reiner_ + DER WIRT _Antonio Pini-Corsi_ + DIE WIRTSTOCHTER _Florence Wickham_ + DER SCHNEIDER _Julius Bayer_ + DIE STALLMAGD _Marie Mattfeld_ + ZWEI TORWACHTER _Ernst Maran and William Hinshaw_ + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Farrar as the Goose Girl in "Königskinder"] + +A king's daughter forced to act as a goose-girl in a forest, by an old +witch who has cast a spell upon her, is discovered and loved by a +king's son. Though she returned his love and would gladly go with him +she finds that she cannot break the spell which holds her a +prisoner in the forest. Leaving the crown at her feet the prince +continues his wanderings. No sooner has he gone than a broom-maker and +a wood-chopper guided by a wandering minstrel come to the witch's hut. +They are ambassadors from the city of Hellabrunn which has been so +long without a sovereign that the people themselves feel sadly in need +of a government. The ambassadors ask the witch who this ruler shall be +and by what signs the people may recognize him. The witch answers that +their ruler will be the first person who enters the gates of the city +after the bells have rung the hour of noon on the following day, which +is the day of the festival of Hella. The minstrel notices the +beautiful goose-girl and recognizes her to be of royal birth. He +breaks the spell of the witch and forces her to give the lovely maiden +into his keeping. He persuades her to break the enchantment and defy +the evil powers by which she has been bound. + +The prince, meanwhile, is at Hellabrunn, acting as a swineherd. The +innkeeper's daughter loves the handsome young man but he proudly +repulses her advances. He dreams of the goose-girl. The innkeeper's +daughter revenges herself by proclaiming him a thief. As he is about +to be led away to prison the bells announce the hour of the festival, +and the gates are thrown open in expectation of the new ruler. Through +the gates comes the goose-girl, wearing her wreath of flowers and +followed by her geese and the minstrel. The lovers embrace. But only +the minstrel and a little child recognize their royal rank. The +townspeople, thinking that their sovereign would appear in royal +regalia, drive the kings' children from the city, burn the witch, and +break the minstrel's leg on a wheel. + +The two lovers lose their way in a forest as the snow falls. They both +die of a poisoned loaf made by the witch. The children of Hellabrunn, +guided by a bird, find them buried under the same tree under which +they had first met. + + +HÄNSEL UND GRETEL + + A fairy opera in three acts. Music by Engelbert Humperdinck. + Book by Adelheid Wette. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Dupont + +Van Dyck and Mattfeld as Hänsel and Gretel] + +The first act represents the hut of a broom-maker. _Hänsel_ is binding +brooms and _Gretel_ is knitting. The children romp, quarrel, and make +up. When their mother, _Gertrude_, enters she is angry to see them +idle, but wishing to strike them, she upsets a pitcher of milk +instead. With all hope of supper banished she sends the children out +into the woods with little baskets to look for strawberries, while she +herself, bemoaning their poverty, sinks exhausted upon a chair and +falls asleep. A riotous song announces the approach of her husband, +drunk as usual. She is about to utter reproaches when she notices that +he has brought sausages, bread and butter, coffee--enough for a feast. +He tells her that he has had good luck at the Kirmes and bids her +prepare supper. When he asks for the children he is horrified to hear +that they have been sent into the woods, for a wicked fairy lives near +the Ilsenstein who entices children to bake them in her oven and +devour them. Both parents rush off in search of _Hänsel_ and _Gretel_. + +The second act takes place near the Ilsenstein. _Hänsel_ has filled +his basket with berries and _Gretel_ has made a wreath with which her +brother crowns her. Before they realise what they are doing the +children eat all the berries. Then they see that it is both too dark +to look for any more or to find their way home. _Gretel_ weeps with +fear. _Hänsel_ comforts her. They grow sleepy. The sandman sprinkles +sand into their eyes, but before going to sleep the children are +careful not to forget their evening prayer. Fourteen guardian angels +are seen descending the heavenly ladder to protect them. + +Morning comes with the third act. The dew fairy sprinkles dew on the +children. Suddenly they notice a little house made of cake and sugar. +They start to break off little bits when a voice cries out from within +and the witch opens the door. She throws a rope around _Hänsel's_ +throat, urging them both to enter. Frightened, they try to escape, but +after binding them with a magic spell she imprisons _Hänsel_ in a +kennel, [Transcriber's Note: missing 'and'] she forces _Gretel_ to go +into the house. + +When she believes _Hänsel_ to be asleep she turns her attention to the +oven, then rides around the house on her broom-stick. When she alights +she orders _Hänsel_ to show her his finger. But it is still thin and +the witch orders more food for him. While she turns her back, +_Gretel_, seizing the juniper bough, speaks the magic words and breaks +her brother's enchantment. Then the witch tells _Gretel_ to get into +the oven and see if the honey cakes are done. But _Gretel_ pretends to +be stupid and asks her to show her how to get in. Together the +children push the old witch into the oven and slam the door. The oven +soon falls to pieces. The children then see a row of boys and girls +standing stiffly against the house. _Gretel_ breaks the spell for them +as she had done for _Hänsel_. There is general rejoicing. _Gertrude_ +and _Peter_ now appear, the old witch is pulled out of the ruined oven +as gigantic honey cake and everyone on the stage joins in a hymn of +thanksgiving. + + +THE GOLDEN CROSS + + Opera in two acts. Music by Brüll; text by H. Mosenthal, + after the French. Produced: Berlin, December 22, 1875. + + CHARACTERS + + GONTRAN DE L'ANERY, a young nobleman _Tenor_ + COLAS, an innkeeper _Baritone_ + CHRISTINE, his sister _Soprano_ + THÉRÈSE, his bride _Soprano_ + BOMBARDON, a sergeant _Bass_ + + _Time_--1812. + + _Place_--Melun, near Paris. + +Act I. The town of Melun is suffering heavily from the great campaign +which Napoleon is undertaking against Russia in 1812, so many of the +young men must take the field. Among the hardest hit are _Thérèse_ and +_Christine_, the first a bride, the other a beloved sister. Their +_Colas_ has been taken away; if he can find no substitute he must go +to the war. _Sergeant Bombardon_, who is to take away the drafted men, +is already in town with his soldiers. At the same time as the +sergeant, a young nobleman, _Gontran de l'Anery_, arrives. He hears +that _Christine_ has promised her hand to the man who goes to war in +place of her brother. She will give him a golden cross and when he +brings it back will be his bride. But no one has the desire to expose +himself to the hazards of war. Then _Gontran_, seized by a violent +love, decides to take _Colas'_ place. Through the sergeant he sends +for the cross. _Christine_ does not know who has offered himself for +her brother. + +Act II. Three years have passed. In the house of the innkeeper +_Colas_, now as brave as before, having been wounded in battle with +the invading enemy, _Captain Gontran_ finds himself received as a +severely wounded person. He loves his nurse _Christine_ with all his +heart and she also is attached to him. He even has a claim upon her as +having been once a substitute for her brother, but he will not force +her affections, and besides, he no longer has "the golden cross." +_Christine_ too dares not follow her inclinations for, as _Gontran_ +tells her that it was he who went to the war, she would offend him +very much if she, true to her oath, should ask for the cross. This +also reappears. A cripple, in whom one would scarcely recognize the +former stalwart _Sergeant Bombardon_, is the bearer. _Christine's_ +heart nearly breaks, but she does not hesitate to keep her word. But +no! _Bombardon_ is not an impostor. He got the cross from a dying man. +Yet, who is this? Dare he trust his eyes? The man whom he believed +dead comes out of the house. It is _Gontran_. What happiness for the +two lovers! + + +VERSIEGELT + +SEALED IN + + Opera in one act after Raupach. Music by Blech. Words by + Richard Batka and Pordes-Milo. Produced: Hamburg, November + 4, 1908. + + CHARACTERS + + BRAUN, a burgomaster _Baritone_ + ELSE, his daughter _Soprano_ + FRAU GERTRUD, a young widow _Mezzo-Soprano_ + FRAU WILLMERS _Alto_ + BERTEL, her son, a court clerk _Tenor_ + LAMPE, a bailiff _Bass_ + + _Time_--1830. + + _Place_--A small German town. + +In the centre of the whole scene stands a sideboard. This same +sideboard belongs to _Frau Willmers_ who now comes running to the +apartment of the pretty young widow, _Gertrud_, with every sign of +agitation, to tell her that the bailiff, _Lampe_, intends to seize her +sideboard, an old and valuable heirloom. The burgomaster bears her ill +will because her son _Bertel_ has been casting eyes at his daughter +_Else_, and now takes occasion to inflict on her this disgrace. To +escape this she begs her lodger the favour of taking in the sideboard +for her. _Frau Gertrud_ is very willing. She has a grudge against the +burgomaster. He used to call on her almost every day, and _Frau +Gertrud_ allowed herself to hope that sometime she would become the +_Frau_ burgomistress. Nevertheless, she would very willingly +accelerate his decision. Scarcely is the sideboard, with the help of a +neighbour, happily installed at _Frau Gertrud's_ than _Bertel_, _Frau +Willmers'_ son and the burgomaster's daughter _Else_ enter. They have +made every effort to make the burgomaster kindly disposed but it was +in vain. But as the couple have decided not to give up each other, +they have come to _Frau Gertrud_ to beg her influence with the +burgomaster. When she thus receives confirmation of her suspicion of +the burgomaster's liking for her, she naturally is not averse to the +rôle of matchmaker. Out of her beautiful dreams of the future the +young woman, left alone by her neighbours, is aroused by a knock. But +it is not the burgomaster, whom she secretly expected, but the +bailiff, _Lampe_. Loquacious, conceited, and intrusive, he begins by +telling her all his merits and his skill, brings greetings to the +widow, as the burgomaster has commissioned him. The sideboard seems to +him very suspicious. So now he will go only to _Frau Willmers'_ to +convince himself whether his suspicion is well founded. As soon as he +has gone the burgomaster comes. He also makes use of evasions and then +confides to his gentle friend the anxieties of a father. It grieves +him very much that his _Else_ loves this _Bertel_, son of his +bitterest enemy, who is now dead. _Frau Gertrud_, however, interests +her self bravely in favour of her protégés. Her remark that the +burgomaster surely has not a heart of stone, brings him nearer to +realizing his own condition. Instead of the children he now talks of +himself. First he is seeking for a sign that she means well by him +with her advice. Soon she has led him so far that he confesses his +love for her and begs a kiss. The twilight that has begun favours the +idyll. Then again comes the trouble-maker _Lampe_. Nothing worse can +happen to the couple than to be discovered by this gossiper. So the +burgomaster must hide in order to save his own and _Frau Gertrud's_ +reputation. But where? There is nothing better than the empty +sideboard. Scarcely has the somewhat corpulent burgomaster fortunately +concealed himself in it than _Lampe_ enters the apartment and, "In the +name of the authorities" seals up the sideboard. Unfortunately the +burgomaster in his hiding place finds himself not so quiet as caution +demanded. The sound does not escape _Lampe_ and his evil thoughts +scent here something very improper. Surely there is a lover concealed +in the sideboard, and he goes away with the malicious idea of finding +the burgomaster to tell him that _Frau Gertrud_ is not the right sort +of woman for him. But _Frau Gertrud_ is sure of her point and, as +_Bertel_ and _Else_ also come in with _Frau Willmers_, a plot is soon +concocted by the four so that the happiness of everybody will result +from this favourable accident. The two women leave the young couple +alone so that through a put-up game on the father everything will be +obtained. _Else_ plays the lovesick girl, _Bertel_ on the other hand +the virtuous one whose respect for the burgomaster knows no bounds. So +he refuses to accept _Else's_ love against the will of her father and +she, desperate, wants to run away when a voice proceeds from the +sideboard. Now the father and burgomaster must humbly beg of his clerk +that he take upon himself the offence of breaking the seal and letting +him out of the sideboard. Naturally, the first takes place after +_Else_ has dictated the marriage contract. The burgomaster, who at all +hazards must get out before _Lampe_ comes back, consents to +everything. _Bertel_ employs his profession in writing out the whole +contract and through a peephole in the sideboard the burgomaster has +to sign it before the door is finally opened to him. But he makes his +terms. In place of himself, _Bertel_ and _Else_ must enter the +sideboard. Naturally they do not hesitate long and they are for the +first time together undisturbed within it. The burgomaster has +concealed himself in the next room when the two women come back with a +gay company. (The following very indelicate passage, which endangers +all the sympathy of the audience for _Frau Gertrud_, might easily be +cut out.) _Frau Gertrud_ has brought people from a nearby shooters' +festival to show them the trapped burgomaster, evidently because she +believes her scheme more assured thus. All the greater is the +astonishment when the young couple step out of the opened sideboard. +But the burgomaster all of a sudden appears in the background. Then +_Frau Gertrud_ cleverly takes everything on herself. She had shut up +the young couple in it and had spread the report that the burgomaster +was concealed in it in order that he might be affected by it and could +no longer oppose the union of the two young people. Surely everything +is solved satisfactorily when _Lampe_ arrives with every sign of +agitation. He has not found the burgomaster, and _Else_ and the clerk +of the court have disappeared. The burgomaster must certainly have +been murdered by the clerk. _Lampe_ rages so long in the excessive +indignation of his official power that he himself is shut up in the +sideboard and the others, now undisturbed, seal their compact and +reseal it. + + +DER TROMPETER VON SÄKKINGEN + +THE TRUMPETER OF SÄKKINGEN + + Opera in three acts and a Prologue; music by Viktor E. + Nessler; text by Rudolf Bunge after Viktor von Scheffel's + poem with the same title. Produced: Leipzig, May 4, 1884. + + CHARACTERS + + WERNER KIRCHHOFER _Baritone_ + KONRADIN, a peasant _Bass_ + THE STEWART _Tenor_ + THE RECTOR _Bass_ + BARON VON SCHÖNAU _Bass_ + MARIA, his daughter _Soprano_ + COUNT VON WILDENSTEIN _Bass_ + HIS DIVORCED WIFE _Alto_ + DAMIAN, Count von Wildenstein's son _Tenor_ + +Prologue. In the Heidelberg palace courtyard there is a merry company +of students and peasants gathered in a drinking bout. The enthusiasm +for "Old Heidelberg the fine" and for the gay life of a cavalier takes +on such a noisy expression that the steward of the _Rector's_ wife +orders them to be quiet. _Werner Kirchhofer_, a law student, leaps on +a table, the peasant _Konradin_ lends him his trumpet and now there +echoes forth the sweet song "which once the Palsgrave Friedrich sang" +in honour of the "Palsgravin, the most beautiful of women." But the +_Rector_ and the Senate entertain other views of the nightly noise of +trumpets and the entire body of students is expelled. So they all seek +to become cavaliers. + +Act I. In Säkkingen a great festival is being held, Fridolin's day. +Peasants from the suburbs have come to town for it. There is a +suspicious agitation among them. _Konradin_ who is now in the service +of the state has his hands full keeping order. What happiness when he +sees his old comrade _Werner_. But now as _Maria_, daughter of the +_Baron von Schönau_; together with her haughty aunt, the divorced wife +of _Count von Wildenstein_, arrive at the church, insurrection breaks +out. Who knows what the peasants would not have done to the ladies had +not _Werner_ as knightly protector sprung between them. Love at first +sight seized the two young people. (Change of scene.) Above in Schönau +castle the old baron is again tormented by chills. Serving as a means +of lessening his pain comes a letter from his brother-in-law, _Count +von Wildenstein_, who announces that he is coming to visit him. He has +a son, _Damian_, who would be just the right husband for _Schönau's_ +daughter _Maria_. Moreover that would be an opportunity to bring about +a reconciliation between the count and his divorced wife, none other +than _Maria's_ aunt. The marriage was dissolved and their son was once +stolen by gypsies. _Damian_ is a son of the second wife of _Count von +Wildenstein_, who is dead. Out of his pleasant thoughts about his +future son-in-law and protector of the castle in these evil days the +_Baron_ is frightened by the reports of his women about the uprising +of the peasants. In the praise that _Maria_ gives to the brave +trumpeter is echoed his playing from the Rhine to here. That stirs the +old baron like an elixir of youth in his bones. The trumpeter is +summoned and a look in _Maria's_ love-warmed eyes is enough for him to +accept the Baron's offer to become trumpeter of the castle. Of course +the proximity of the young people will not please the aunt. + +Act II. That they love each other both already long know but the +acknowledgment nevertheless would be very beautiful. But the old aunt +is always at hand especially at the music lessons which _Werner_ gives +to the young woman. A real piece of luck that _Konradin_ is coming +today to the castle to bring wine for the May festival. He knows how +to arrange it so that the old woman must go to the wine cellar. Now it +is all over with pride. _Maria_ lies in the arms of the humble +trumpeter. Unfortunately, the old aunt comes back. She is not moved by +their prayers, but tells all about it to the excited Baron. Nothing +helps, the trumpeter must leave the house. _Maria's_ bridegroom is +already chosen. At today's May festival he will take part. _Damian_ is +certainly stupid enough but that does not help the lovers. "Would to +God that it had not been so beautiful, would to God it had not been!" + +Act III. But _Damian_ is not only stupid, he is also a miserable +coward. That is shown as it now behooves him to defend _Baron von +Schönau's_ castle against the revolted peasants. The knights there +would have been lost had not relief suddenly come. It is _Werner_ who +arrives with a troop of country people. _Maria_ flees to her lover's +arms. But alas, he is wounded in the arm. And what is that? That mole? +The old _Countess Wildenstein_ recognizes in the trumpeter her son, +whom the gypsies once stole. Now naturally there is nothing in the way +of the union. Now "young _Werner_ is the happiest man" and who can +deny that "Love and trumpet sounds are very useful, good things." + + +DER EVANGELIMANN + +THE EVANGELIST + + Music-drama in two acts by Wilhelm Kienzl; text by the + composer after a tale by L.F. Meissner. Produced: Berlin, + May 4, 1895. + + CHARACTERS + + FRIEDRICH ENGEL _Bass_ + MARTHA, his niece _Soprano_ + MAGDALENA, her friend _Alto_ + JOHANNES FREUDHOFER, teacher at + St. Othmar's _Baritone_ + MATTHIAS FREUDHOFER, his brother, + actuary in a monastery _Tenor_ + ZITTERBART, a tailor and other artisans _Tenor_ + +Act I. The feelings in the breast of _Johannes Freudhofer_, the +teacher, do not correspond to the peaceful spectacle of the monastery +of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Othmar. He is filled with a savage +jealousy of his own brother, _Matthias_, who is actuary in the +monastery, because he sees that the affections of _Martha_, the +beautiful niece of _Engel_, the steward of the monastery, are denied +him. He thinks to injure his brother when he betrays the latter's love +to the haughty steward. And the latter actually dismisses _Matthias_ +from his office. But with this _Johannes_ has not attained his object. +For he himself can spy on them and see the two plighting eternal +faithfulness on his secret departure. So the treacherous man resolved +upon the complete ruin of the lovers. He sets fire to the monastery. +_Matthias_, who is tarrying in the arbour beside his sweetheart +hurries out to get help, but is seized by the other as the incendiary +out of revenge. + +Act II. Thirty years have elapsed. In the courtyard of a house in +Vienna, _Magdalena_ meets an evangelist in whom she recognizes +_Matthias_, the friend of her youth. She herself is here caring for +_Johannes_ who is ill. How has _Matthias_ become an evangelist? He +tells her his sad history. He had been sentenced to prison for twenty +years. When he had finished his punishment he learned that his +sweetheart _Martha_ out of grief had sought death in the water. Then +he had become a wandering, singing preacher. + +Second Part. In the sitting-room, _Johannes_ lies ill. But more than +pain disturbs his mind. Then he hears outside the voice of the +evangelist. _Magdalena_ must call him in. Without recognizing him +_Johannes_ tells his brother of the infamous action through which he +had ruined the other's life. And _Matthias_ not only preaches love but +practices it too. He forgives his brother who now can die in peace. + + +DER KUHREIGEN + +RANZ DES VACHES + + Music-drama in three acts; music by Wilhelm Kienzl; poem by + Richard Batka. + + CHARACTERS + + THE KING _Bass_ + MARQUIS MASSIMELLE, commandant _Bass_ + BLANCHEFLEUR, his wife _Soprano_ + CLEO, their lady at court _Mezzo-Soprano_ + CAPTAIN BRAYOLE _Tenor_ + PRIMUS THALLUS _Tenor_ + DURSEL (_Bass_) and under officers + in a Swiss regiment + FAVART, under-officer of Chasseurs _Baritone_ + DORIS, daughter of the keeper of a + canteen in the St. Honoré barracks _Soprano_ + + _Time_--1792-3. + + _Place_--Paris and Versailles. + +Act I. Barracks of St. Honoré. Under penalty of death the Swiss +soldiers have been forbidden to sing their native songs especially +the Kuhreigen or "Ranz des Vaches," because songs of their native land +always awakened homesickness and had led to desertions. But a quarrel +between _Primus Thallus_, of the Swiss, and _Favart_, of the +Chasseurs, excites the Swiss and they sing "In the fort at Strassburg" +(Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz) the song of the Swiss who became a +deserter through homesickness, the song which was forbidden by such a +severe decree, especially because it introduced the Kuhreigen or "Ranz +des Vaches." Then _Favart_ believed the moment had come to be able to +avenge himself. He quickly called an officer to hear the forbidden +song. The officer first wants to arrest all the Swiss, but _Primus +Thallus_ takes all the blame on himself; he is glad to prevent the +others being imprisoned. + +Act II. In the King's bedroom at Versailles the ceremony of the royal +levee is taking place. This medley of laughable ceremonial and the +practice of the highest refinement makes a sharp contrast with the +wild ferment and discontent among the people, of which, however, no +one hears anything in these rooms and will know nothing. So the +commandant _Massimelle_ is among those waiting because he has to lay +before the _King_ the death sentence on the unsubdued Swiss. Naturally +the _King_ thinks nothing about bringing an obsolete law into force +again, and leaves the decision to _Massimelle's_ wife, _Blanchefleur_. +She begs _Thallus's_ life for herself and wants to learn the fellow +manners in her service. Silly as are the thoughts of this whole +company, so also are those of _Blanchefleur_. Through a whim she has +obtained the release of the young Swiss, now she wants as a reward to +have diversion with him. The high authorities already are glad to play +shepherds and shepherdesses; what would happen if they could have a +real Swiss as a shepherd! _Cleo_, the court lady, is perfectly +delighted with the idea and awaits with enjoyment the play in which +_Primus Thallus_ shall appear with _Blanchefleur_. But the play takes +a serious turn, _Primus Thallus_ sees no joke in the thing. To him, +_Blanchefleur_ appears as the image of his dreams, and yet he knows +that this dream never can be a reality, at least not for a man to +whom, as to this Swiss, love is not merely a form of amusement in +life. So _Blanchefleur_ has to give up her shepherd's dream and let +_Primus Thallus_ withdraw. + +Act III. The earnest man is very quickly drawn in. In the ruined +dining-hall of the palace of _Massimelle_, the sans-culottes are +lodged. _Favart_, under whose direction the castle has been stormed, +is vexed at his report for which _Doris_, his sweetheart, and the +others with their wild drinking and quarrelling scarcely leave him the +possibility. By chance the half-drunken men discover a secret door. +They go down into the passage and drag out _Blanchefleur_ who had +concealed herself there. _Favart_ wants her to play for the men, but +he cannot prevail upon her to do it. With her graceful, distinguished +air she refuses to have anything to do with the dirty, uncivilized men +and smilingly allows herself to be condemned to death and led away to +the frightful prison of the Temple. Hardly has she gone than _Primus +Thallus_ enters. He has been promoted by the Directory to be a captain +as a reward because he has often been threatened with death by the +royalists. His great courage certainly makes an impression on these +savage troops, but as _Massimelle_ outside is being led to the +scaffold and he learns of the arrest of _Blanchefleur_ only one +thought rules him--to save the beautiful woman. + +The scene changes to the underground prison of the Temple. One can +hardly recognize the figure of _Primus Thallus_ who presents himself +here, but one must admit of these aristocrats that while they know how +to live laughingly they also know how to die with a smile. While +without the guillotine is fulfilling its awful task uninterruptedly, +they are dancing and playing here underneath as though these were +still the gayest days of the _King's_ delights at Versailles. In vain +_Primus Thallus_ uses all his eloquence to persuade _Blanchefleur_ to +flee or to give him her hand because then he could obtain a pardon. +She has only one reward for his faithfulness: a dance. Then when her +name is called she dances with a light minuet step to the scaffold. + + +LOBETANZ + + Opera in three acts; music by Ludwig Thuille; text by Otto + Julius Bierbaum. Produced: Carlsruhe, February 6, 1898. + + CHARACTERS + + LOBETANZ _Tenor_ + THE PRINCESS _Mezzo-Soprano_ + THE KING _Bass_ + THE FORESTER, the executioner, + the judge _Speaking parts_ + A TRAVELLING STUDENT _Tenor_ + +Act I. This play takes place somewhere and somewhen but begins in a +blooming garden in spring. And the most fragrant flowers in the garden +are the lovely girls that play in it. Take care, _Lobetanz_; take +care! Now that you have leaped over the wall into the garden, still +take care! You are a travelling singer, your clothes are tattered; but +you are a magnificent fellow and sing as only a bird can sing or a +fellow who knows nothing about the illness of the _Princess_. What is +the matter with her then? She no longer laughs as she once did, her +cheeks are pale, she no longer sings but sighs. "Alas!" Oh, the +maidens know what is the matter with her but no one asks the maidens. +The poet-laureate today at the festival of the Early Rose Day will +announce what is the matter with the child of the _King_. And the +_King_ is coming, the _Princess_ and the people. And the poets proudly +strut in and make known their wisdom. But that does not help. Now the +sound of a violin is heard. How the _Princess_ listens and now the +player comes before her and fiddles and sings and the maid revives. +Roses bloom on her cheeks; her eyes shine in looking at the violinist +who is singing of the morning in May when they kissed each other, +innocently dear, and played "bridegroom and bride." You must flee, +_Lobetanz_, flee; that is magic with which you are subduing the child +of the _King_. + +Act II. Spring has awakened your heart, you happy singer, and has +brought to life what was asleep deep within you. Now you may dream of +what will be. And see, she comes to you, the sick _Princess_, to be +restored to health by you. And she sits there by you in the branch of +a linden tree. But alas, alas! The _King_ and his hunting train are +suddenly there and all things have an end. + +Act III. In a dungeon sits the bird once so gay. For "dead, dead, dead +must he be and so slip with hurrahs into the infernal abode." And they +lead you to the gallows and tell you your sentence. And the _King_ and +the people, the envious singers and the _Princess_ sick unto death on +her bier are all there. Now choose your last present, you poor gallows +bird. So let me once more sing. And, "see, Oh see, how the delicate +face is covered with a rosy glow." He is singing her back to life, the +lovely _Princess_, until finally she flees to his arms: "Thou art +mine!" Now leave the gallows, there is a wedding today. "A great +magician is _Lobetanz_, let the couple only look, the gallows shine +with luck and lustre; spring has done wonders." + + +DER CORREGIDOR + +THE MAGISTRATE + + Opera in four acts; music by Hugo Wolf; text by Rosa + Mayreder-Obermayer. Produced: Mannheim, June 7, 1896. + + CHARACTERS + + THE CORREGIDOR (magistrate) _Tenor_ + DOÑA MERCEDES, his wife _Soprano_ + REPELA, his valet _Bass_ + TIO LUCAS, a miller _Baritone_ + FRASQUITA, his wife _Mezzo-Soprano_ + JUAN LOPEZ, the alcalde _Bass_ + PEDRO, his secretary _Tenor_ + MANUELA, a maid _Mezzo-Soprano_ + TONUELO, a court messenger _Bass_ + +Act I. The miller, _Tio Lucas_, is living a happy life with his +beautiful wife, _Frasquita_. Her love is so true that jealousy, to +which he is inclined, cannot thrive. Jealous? Yes, he has a bump of +jealousy. True, the _Corregidor_, who eagerly concerns him about the +miller's pretty wife, has one too. But no matter, he is a high, very +influential functionary. Meanwhile _Frasquita_ loves her _Tio Lucas_ +so truly that she can even allow herself a dance with the +_Corregidor_. Perhaps she will cure him so, perhaps she will obtain in +addition the wished-for official place for her nephew. The +_Corregidor_ too does not keep her waiting long and _Frasquita_ makes +him so much in love with her that he becomes very impetuous. Thereupon +he loses his balance and the worthy official falls in the dust, out of +which the miller, without suspecting anything, raises him up. But the +_Corregidor_ swears revenge. + +Act II. The opportunity for this comes very quickly. As the miller one +evening is sitting with his wife in their cozy room, there comes a +knock at the door. It is the drunken court messenger, _Tonuelo_, who +produces a warrant of arrest. _Tio Lucas_ must follow him without +delay to the alcalde who has lent himself as a willing instrument to +the _Corregidor_. _Frasquita_ is trying to calm her anxiety with a +song when outside there is a cry for help. She opens the door and +before it stands the _Corregidor_ dripping with water. He had fallen +in the brook. Now he begs admission from _Frasquita_ who is raging +with anger. He has also brought with him the appointment of the +nephew. But the angry woman will pay no attention and sends the +_Corregidor_ away from her threshold. Then he falls in a swoon. His +own servant now comes along. _Frasquita_ admits both of them to the +house and herself goes into town to look for her _Tio Lucas_. When the +_Corregidor_, awakened out of his swoon, hears this, full of anxiety, +he sends his valet after her; he himself, however, hangs his wet +clothes before the fire and goes to bed in the miller's bedroom. + +(Change of scene.) In the meantime _Tio Lucas_ has drunk under the +table the alcalde and his fine comrades and seizes the occasion to +flee. + +Act III. In the darkness of the night, _Tio Lucas_ and _Frasquita_ +pass by without seeing each other. The miller comes to his mill. +(Change of scene.) Everything is open. In the dust lies the +appointment of the nephew; before the fire hang the _Corregidor's_ +clothes. A frightful suspicion arises in _Tio Lucas's_ mind which +becomes certainty when through the keyhole he sees the _Corregidor_ in +his own bed. He is already groping for his rifle to shoot the seducer +and the faithless woman when another thought strikes him. The +_Corregidor_ also has a wife, a beautiful wife. Here the +_Corregidor's_ clothes are hanging. He quickly slips into them and +goes back to town. In the meantime the _Corregidor_ has awakened. He +wants to go back home now. But he does not find his clothes and so he +crawls into those of the miller. Thus he is almost arrested by the +alcalde who now enters with his companions and _Frasquita_. When the +misunderstanding is cleared up, they all go with different feelings +into the town after the miller. + +Act IV. Now comes the explanation and the punishment of the +_Corregidor_, at least in so far as he receives a sound thrashing and +becomes really humbled. In reality the miller also has not yet had his +"revenge," but he is recognized and likewise is beaten blue. That he +must suffer in reparation for his doubt of the faithful _Frasquita_, +and he hears it willingly for they have now come to a good +understanding about everything. + + + + +Richard Strauss + + +Richard Strauss was born at Munich, June 11, 1864. His father, Franz +Strauss, was a distinguished horn player in the Royal Opera orchestra. +From him Richard received rigid instruction in music. His teacher in +composition was the orchestral conductor, W. Meyer. At school he wrote +music on the margins of his books. He was so young at the first public +performance of a work by him, that when he appeared and bowed in +response to the applause, someone asked, "What has that boy to do with +it?" "Nothing, except that he composed it," was the reply. + +Strauss is best known as the composer of many beautiful songs and of +the orchestral works _Tod und Verklaerung_ (Death and Transfiguration), +and _Till Eulenspiegel's Lustige Streiche_ (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry +Pranks). The latter is a veritable _tour de force_ of orchestral +scoring and a test of the virtuosity of a modern orchestra. _Thus +Spake Zarathustra_, _Don Quixote_, and _Ein Heldenleben_ (A Hero's +Life) are other well-known orchestral works by him. They are of large +proportions. To the symphony, and the symphonic poem, Strauss has +added the tone poem as a form of instrumental music even freer in its +development than the symphonic poem, which was Liszt's legacy to +music. + + +FEUERSNOT + +FIRE FAMINE + + Opera in one act. Music by Richard Strauss; text by Ernst + von Wolzogen. Produced: Dresden, November 21, 1901. + + CHARACTERS + + SCHWEIKER VON GUNDELFINGEN, keeper of + the castle _Tenor_ + ORTOLF SENTLINGER, burgomaster _Bass_ + DIEMUT, his daughter _Soprano_ + KUNRAD, the leveller _Baritone_ + + _Time_--13th Century. + + _Place_--Munich. + +The action takes place in Munich on the day of the winter solstice in +olden times. At the time of the representation the twelfth century has +just passed. A big crowd of children, followed by grown-ups, is going +in whimsical wantonness from house to house to collect wood for the +solstitial fire ("Subendfeuer"). After they have collected rich booty +at the burgomaster's they go over to the house opposite. It appears +strangely gloomy. Shutters and doors are closed as though it were +empty. Yet a short time ago young _Herr Kunrad_ lived there. It is his +legal inheritance and property, a legacy from his ancestor who was an +"excellent sorcerer" and now taken possession of after a long absence. +Nevertheless, the superstition of the masses had been much concerned +with the house. The most reasonable was that its occupant was a +strange fellow, the majority thought him a gloomy magician. In reality +the young man sat in the house poring over books. The noise of the +children calls him forth. When he hears that it is the solstice, the +great festival of his profession, an agitation seizes him in which he +tells the children to take away all the wood from his house. This +destruction stirs the townsmen but _Kunrad_ is so struck at sight of +_Diemut_, who seems to him like a revelation of life, that he dashes +through the townsmen and kisses the girl on the mouth. The agitation +of the townsmen is silenced sooner than _Diemut's_ who plans revenge +for this outrage. + +Now the townsmen are all out of doors on account of the solstitial +holiday. But in _Kunrad's_ heart the promptings of love are blazing +like a fire. A mad longing for _Diemut_ seizes him, and as she now +appears on her balcony he begs for her love with warm words. The spark +has also been well kindled in her heart, but still she only thinks of +revenge. So she lures him toward the side street where the order +basket still stands on the ground. _Kunrad_ steps into it and _Diemut_ +hauls him upward. But halfway up she lets him hang suspended. So +_Kunrad_ becomes a laughing-stock for the townsmen returning home. +Then a fearful rage seizes upon him; he makes use of his magic art: +"May an ice-cold everlasting night surround you because you have +laughed at the might of love." Every light is extinguished and a deep +darkness covers the town and its inhabitants. Now _Kunrad_ from the +balcony, addresses the townsmen, furious with rage in a speech filled +with personal references whose basic idea is that the people always +recognize and follow their great masters. So they have sadly mistaken +his purpose and the maid whom he had chosen had mocked him. For +punishment their light is now extinguished. Let all the warmth leave +the women, all the light of love depart from ardent young maidens, +until the fire burns anew. Now the tables are turned. All recognize in +_Kunrad_ a great man. In their self-reproaches are mingled complaints +about the darkness and an imploring cry to _Diemut_ by her love to +make an end of the lack of fire. But _Diemut_ in the meantime has +changed her mind; love in her too gets the upper hand as the sudden +rekindling of every light makes known. + + +GUNTRAM + + Music-drama in three acts: music and words by Richard + Strauss. Produced: Weimar, May 10, 1894. + + CHARACTERS + + THE OLD DUKE _Bass_ + FREIHILD, his daughter _Soprano_ + DUKE ROBERT, her betrothed _Baritone_ + GUNTRAM, a singer _Tenor_ + FRIEDHOLD, a singer _Bass_ + THE DUKE'S CLOWN _Tenor_ + + _Time_--Thirteenth Century. + + _Place_--A German duchy. + +Act I. _Guntram_ has been brought up to manhood as pupil of the +religious knightly Band of the Good. This band has set for itself the +realization of the Christian idea of love for the soul. The brotherly +union of all men, who shall be brought through love to world peace is +the aim of the band, the noble art of song its means of obtaining +recruits. _Guntram_ seems to his teacher _Friedhold_ ready for the +great work and so he is assigned to a difficult task. The _Old Duke_ +has given the hand of his daughter _Freihild_, and also his estate, to +_Duke Robert_. The latter, the only one of the powerful tyrants left, +through his oppression had so stirred up the peaceful people that they +rose against his rule. Then he had put down the rising cruelly and had +burdened the unfortunate people so heavily that they were thinking of +leaving their homes. _Freihild_ most deeply sympathizes with the +people and had given her hand to the _Duke_ only unwillingly, and she +seeks in the happiness of the people consolation for her loveless +life. But the _Duke_ has forbidden her this work of love and she seeks +release from life in a voluntary death in the waters of the lake. +_Guntram_ rescues her. The _Old Duke_, out of gratitude for saving his +daughter, promises pardon to the rebels and invites the singer to the +feast that is to be given in the ducal palace in celebration of the +putting down of the rebellion. + +Act II. At the festive banquet _Guntram_, relying upon the power of +the thought of love as presented by him, will make use of the occasion +to win the _Duke's_ heart for peace. The _Duke_, whose _clown_ has +just irritated him, in a rage interrupts _Guntram_. But the latter is +protected by the vassals all of whom at heart are angry at the cruel +ruler. When a messenger brings news of a new revolt, a vote is taken +and they all decide for war. Then _Guntram_ reminds them anew of peace +in inspired songs. In a rage the _Duke_ scorns him as a rebel, +assaults him and, after a brief wrestle, _Guntram_ strikes down the +tyrant. Then the _Old Duke_ has him thrown into a dungeon and goes off +with the vassals to put down the rebellion again. But _Freihild_, +whose heart is inflamed with love for the bold, noble singer, +conspires with the _clown_ to save him and flee with him. + +Act III. In the gloomy dungeon in which _Guntram_ is awaiting his +punishment, the young hero has plenty of leisure to meditate on his +deeds and their motives. The Band of the Good has sent _Friedhold_ to +him in order that he may ask of him an account of his sinful deed. For +such an act is considered as murder in every case. _Guntram_ feels +that he is not guilty in the opinion of the Band but is self-convicted +in the opinion of the highest humanity. For he cannot conceal from +himself that the passionate love for _Freihild_, wife of the _Duke_, +which burns in his heart, led him to his deed. Therefore, he can +certainly reject the reproach of the Band, but he charges himself with +renunciation as expiation for his deed. He has taught himself that +true freedom cannot be attained unless it is acquired by one's own +power and victory over one's self. So the Band of the Good is caught +in an error and _Guntram_ renounces his connection with them. But +_Freihild_, who has succeeded to the duchy since the _Old Duke_ has +fallen on the field, he refers to the godly message which calls her to +promote the happiness of the people. In this noble task she will find +indemnification for the personal sacrifice of her lost love. The +singer withdraws thence into solitude. + + +SALOME + + Opera in one act by Richard Strauss; words after Oscar + Wilde's poem of the same title, translated into German by + Hedwig Lachmann. Produced at the Court Opera, Dresden, + December 9, 1905. Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 1907, + with Olive Fremstad; Manhattan Opera House, New York, with + Mary Garden. + + CHARACTERS + + HEROD ANTIPAS, Tetrarch of Judea _Tenor_ + HERODIAS, wife of Herod _Mezzo-Soprano_ + SALOME, daughter of Herodias _Soprano_ + JOKANAAN (John the Baptist) _Baritone_ + NARRABOTH, a young Syrian, Captain of + the Guard _Tenor_ + A PAGE _Alto_ + + A young Roman, the executioner, five Jews, two Nazarenes, + two soldiers, a Cappadocian and a slave. + + _Time_--About 30 A.D. + + _Place_--The great terrace in the palace of Herod at + Tiberias, Galilee, the capital of his kingdom. + +On the great terrace of _Herod's_ palace, off the banquet hall, is his +body-guard. The ardent looks of the young captain, _Narraboth_, a +Syrian, are directed toward the banquet hall where _Salome_ is seated. +In vain the _Page_, who is aware of the neurotic taint in the woman, +warns him. The young captain is consumed with ardent desires. + +The night is sultry. The soldiers' talk is interrupted by the sounds +from the hall. Suddenly there is heard a loud and deep voice, as from +a tomb. Dread seizes even upon the rough soldiers. He who calls is a +madman according to some, a prophet according to others, in either +case, a man of indomitable courage who with terrifying directness of +speech brings the ruling powers face to face with their sins and bids +them repent. This is _Jokanaan_. His voice sounds so reverberant +because it issues from the gloomy cistern in which he is held a +captive. + +Suddenly _Salome_, in great commotion, steps out on the terrace. The +greedy looks with which the _Herod_, her stepfather, has regarded her, +as well as the talk and noisy disputes of the gluttons and degenerates +within have driven her out. In her stirs the sinful blood of her +mother, who, in order that she might marry _Herod_, slew her husband. +Depraved surroundings, a court at which the satiating of all desires +is the main theme of the day, have poisoned her thoughts. She seeks +new pleasures, as yet untasted enjoyments. Now, as she hears the voice +of the _Prophet_, there arises in her the lust to see this man, whom +she has heard her mother curse, because he has stigmatized her shame, +and whom she knows the Tetrarch fears, although a captive. What she +desires is strictly forbidden, but _Narraboth_ cannot resist her +blandishments. The strange, gloomy figure of the _Jokanaan_, +fantastically noble in the rags of his captivity, stirs _Salome's_ +morbid desires. Her abandoned arts are brought into full play in her +efforts to tempt him, but with the sole result that he bids her do +penance. This but adds fuel to the flame. When _Narraboth_, in despair +over her actions, kills himself on his own sword, she does not so much +as notice it. Appalled by the wickedness of the young woman, the +_Prophet_ warns her to seek for the only one in whom she can find +redemption, the Man of Galilee. But realizing that his words fall on +deaf ears, he curses her, and retreats into his cistern. + +[Illustration: Copyright photo by Mishkin + +Mary Garden as Salome] + +_Herod_, _Herodias_, and their suite come out on the terrace. _Herod_ +is suffering under the weight of his crimes, but the infamous +_Herodias_ is as cold as a serpent. _Herod's_ sinful desire for his +stepdaughter is the only thing that can stir his blood. But _Salome_ +is weary and indifferent; _Herodias_ full of bitter scorn for him and +for her daughter. Against the _Prophet_, whose voice terrifies the +abandoned gatherings at table, her hatred is fierce. But _Herod_ +stands in mysterious awe of the _Prophet_. It is almost because of his +dread of the future, which _Jokanaan_ proclaims so terribly, that +_Herod_ asks as a diversion for _Salome's_ dance in order that life +may flow warm again in his chilled veins. _Salome_ demurs, until he +swears that he will grant any request she may make of him. She then +executes the "Dance of the Seven Veils," casting one veil after +another from her. _Herod_ asks what her reward shall be. In part +prompted by _Herodias_, but also by her own mad desire to have +vengeance for her rejected passion, she demands the head of the +_Prophet_. _Herod_ offers her everything else he can name that is most +precious, but _Salome_ refuses to release him from his promise. The +executioner descends into the cistern. _Jokanaan_ is slain and his +severed head presented to _Salome_ upon a silver charger. Alive he +refused her his lips. Now, in a frenzy of lust, she presses hers upon +them. Even _Herod_ shudders, and turns from her revolted. "Kill that +woman!" he commands his guards, who crush her under their shields. + +Regarding the score of "Salome," Strauss himself remarked that he had +paid no consideration whatever to the singers. There is a passage for +quarrelling Jews that is amusing; and, for a brief spell, in the +passage in which _Salome_ gives vent to her lust for _Jokanaan_, the +music is molten fire. But considered as a whole, the singers are like +actors, who intone instead of speaking. Whatever the drama suggests, +whatever is said or done upon the stage--a word, a look, a gesture--is +minutely and realistically set forth in the orchestra, which should +consist of a hundred and twelve pieces. The real musical climax is +"The Dance of the Seven Veils," a superb orchestral composition. + +Strauss calls the work a drama. As many as forty motifs have been +enumerated in it. But they lack the compact, pregnant qualities of the +motifs in the Wagner music-dramas which are so individual, so +melodically eloquent that their significance is readily recognized not +only when they are first heard, but also when they recur. +Nevertheless, the "Salome" of Richard Strauss is an effective work--so +effective in the setting forth of its offensive theme that it was +banished from the Metropolitan Opera House, although Olive Fremstad +lavished her art upon the title rôle; nor have the personal +fascination and histrionic gifts of Mary Garden been able to keep it +alive. + +At the Metropolitan Opera House, then under the direction of Heinrich +Conried, it was heard at a full-dress rehearsal, which I attended, and +at one performance. It was then withdrawn, practically on command of +the board of directors of the opera company, although the initial +impulse is said to have come from a woman who sensed the brutality of +the work under its mask of "culture." + + +ELEKTRA + + Opera in one act by Richard Strauss; words by Hugo von + Hofmannsthal. Produced: Dresden, January 25, 1909. Manhattan + Opera House, New York, in a French version by Henry + Gauthier-Villars, and with Mazarin as _Elektra_. + + CHARACTERS + + CLYTEMNESTRA, wife of _Aegisthus_ _Mezzo-Soprano_ + ELEKTRA } her daughters by the { _Soprano_ + CHRYSOTHEMIS } murdered king Agamemnon { _Soprano_ + AEGISTHUS _Tenor_ + ORESTES _Baritone_ + + Preceptor of _Orestes_, a confidant, a train bearer, an + overseer of servants, five serving women, other servants, + both men and women, old and young. + + _Time_--Antiquity. + + _Place_--Mycenae. + +Storck, in his _Opera Book_, has this to say of Von Hofmannsthal's +libretto: "The powerful subject of the ancient myth is here dragged +down from the lofty realm of tragedy, to which Sophocles raised it, to +that of the pathologically perverse. With a gloomy logic the strain of +blood-madness and unbridled lust is exploited by the poet so that the +overwhelming effect of its consequences becomes comprehensible. None +the less, there is the fact, of no little importance, that through its +treatment from this point of view, a classical work has been dragged +from its pedestal." + +The inner court of the palace in Mycenae is the scene of the drama. +Since _Clytemnestra_, in league with her paramour, _Aegisthus_, has +compassed the murder of her husband, _Agamemnon_, her daughter +_Elektra_ lives only with the thought of vengeance. She exists like a +wild beast, banished from the society of human beings, a butt of +ridicule to the servants, a horror to all, only desirous of the blood +of her mother and _Aegisthus_ in atonement for that of her father. The +murderers too have no rest. Fear haunts them. + +_Elektra's_ sister, _Chrysothemis_, is entirely unlike her. She craves +marriage. But it is in a disordered way that her desire for husband +and child is expressed. _Clytemnestra_ also is morbidly ill. Deeply +she deplores her misdeed, but for this very reason has completely +surrendered herself to the unworthy _Aegisthus_. So frightfully do her +dreams torment her that she even comes to seek help from the hated +Elektra in her hovel in the inner court. It is the latter's first +triumph in all her years of suffering. But it is short-lived, for +_Clytemnestra_ mocks her with the news that _Orestes_ has died in a +distant land. A terrible blow this for _Elektra_, who had hoped that +_Orestes_ would return and wreak vengeance on the queen and +_Aegisthus_. Now the daughters must be the instruments of vengeance. +And as _Chrysothemis_, shocked, recoils from the task, _Elektra_ +determines to complete it alone. She digs up in the courtyard the very +axe with which her father was slain and which she had buried in order +to give it to her brother on his return. + +But the message regarding the death of _Orestes_ was false. It was +disseminated by her brother in order to allay the fears of the +murderers of his father and put them off their guard. The stranger, +who now enters the court, and at first cannot believe that the +half-demented woman in rags is his sister, finally is recognized by +her as _Orestes_, and receives from her the axe. He enters the palace, +slays _Clytemnestra_ and, upon the return of _Aegisthus_, pursues him +from room to room and kills him. _Elektra_, her thirst for vengeance +satisfied, under the spell of a blood-madness, dances, beginning +weirdly, increasing to frenzy, and ending in her collapse, dead, upon +the ground, where, since her father's death, she had grovelled waiting +for the avenger. + +As in "Salome," so in "Elektra" there is a weft and woof of leading +motifs which, lacking the compactness, firmness, and unmistakable +_raisons d'être_ of the leading motives in the Wagner music-dramas, +crawl, twist, and wind themselves in spineless convolutions about the +characters and the action of the piece. In "Salome" the score worked +up to one set climax, the "Dance of the Seven Veils." In "Elektra" +there also is a set composition. It is a summing up of emotions, in +one eloquent burst of song, which occurs when _Elektra_ recognizes +_Orestes_. It may be because it came in the midst of so much cacophony +that its effect was enhanced. But at the production of the work in the +Manhattan Opera House, it seemed to me not only one of Strauss's most +spontaneous lyrical outgivings, but also one of the most beautiful I +had ever heard. Several times every year since then, I have been +impelled to go to the pianoforte and play it over, although forced to +the unsatisfactory makeshift of playing-in the voice part with what +already was a pianoforte transcription of the orchestral +accompaniment. + +Mme. Schumann-Heink, the _Clytemnestra_ of the original production in +Dresden, said: "I will never sing the rôle again. It was frightful. We +were a set of mad women.... There is nothing beyond 'Elektra.' We have +lived and reached the furthest boundary in dramatic writing for the +voice with Wagner. But Richard Strauss goes beyond him. His singing +voices are lost. We have come to a full stop. I believe Strauss +himself sees it."--And, indeed, in his next opera, "Der +Rosenkavalier," the composer shows far more consideration for the +voice, and has produced a score in which the melodious elements are +many. + + +DER ROSENKAVALIER + +THE KNIGHT OF THE ROSE + + Opera in three acts by Richard Strauss; words by Hugo von + Hofmannsthal. Produced: Royal Opera House, Dresden, January + 26, 1911; Covent Garden, London, January 1, 1913; + Metropolitan Opera House, New York, by Gatti-Casazza, + December 9, 1913, with Hempel (_Princess Werdenberg_), Ober + (_Octavian_), Anna Case (_Sophie_), Fornia (_Marianne_), + Mattfeld (_Annina_), Goritz (_Lerchenan_), Weil (_Faninal_), + and Reiss (_Valzacchi_). + + CHARACTERS + + BARON OCHS of Lerchenan _Bass_ + VON FANINAL, a wealthy parvenu, + recently ennobled _Baritone_ + VALZACCHI, an intriguer _Tenor_ + OCTAVIAN, Count Rofrano, known as + "Quin-Quin" _Mezzo-Soprano_ + PRINCESS VON WERDENBERG _Soprano_ + SOPHIE, daughter of _Faninal_ _Soprano_ + MARIANNE, duenna of _Sophie_ _Soprano_ + ANNINA, companion of _Valzacchi_ _Alto_ + + A singer (_tenor_), a flutist, a notary, commissary of + police, four lackeys of _Faninal_, a master of ceremonies, + an innkeeper, a milliner, a noble widow and three noble + orphans, a hairdresser and his assistants, four waiters, + musicians, guests, two watchmen, kitchen maids and several + apparitions. + + _Time_--Eighteenth century during the reign of Maria + Theresa. + + _Place_--Vienna. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Hempel as the Princess and Ober as Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier"] + +With the exception of Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel," "Der +Rosenkavalier," by Richard Strauss, is the only opera that has come +out of Germany since the death of Wagner, which has appeared to secure +a definite hold upon the repertoire. Up to the season of 1917-18, when +it was taken out of the repertoire on account of the war in Europe, +it had been given twenty-two times at the Metropolitan Opera House, +since its production there late in 1913. + +The work is called a "comedy for music," which is mentioned here +simply as a fact, since it makes not the slightest difference to the +public what the composer of an opera chooses to call it, the proof of +an opera being in the hearing just as the proof of a pudding always is +in the eating. So far it is the one opera by Richard Strauss which, +after being heralded as a sensation, has not disappeared through +indifference. + +To those who know both works, the libretto of "Der Rosenkavalier" +which has been violently attacked, goes no further in suggestiveness +than that of "Le Nozze di Figaro." But it is very long, and +unquestionably the opera would gain by condensation, although the +score is a treasure house of orchestration, a virtuosity in the choice +of instruments and manner of using them which amounts to inspiration. +An examination of the full orchestral score shows that 114 instruments +are required, seventeen of them for an orchestra on the stage. The +composer demands for his main orchestra 32 violins, 12 violas, 10 +violoncellos, 8 double basses, 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 2 clarinets, 1 bass +clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 2 +harps, glockenspiel, triangle, bell, castanets, tympani, side and bass +drums, cymbals, celeste, and rattle. A small orchestra for the stage +also requires 1 oboe, 1 flute, 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 2 bassoons, 1 +trumpet, 1 drum, harmonium, piano, and string quintet. + +"Der Rosenkavalier" also contains melodious phrases in number and +variety, which rarely permit the bearer's interest to flag. Waltz +themes abound. They are in the manner of Johann Strauss and Lanner. It +is true that these composers flourished much later than the rococo +period in which the opera is laid, but just as it makes no difference +what a composer calls an opera, so it makes no difference whether he +indulges in anachronisms or not. Gavottes, etc., would have been more +in keeping with the period, but the waltz themes served Strauss's +purpose far better and are introduced with infinite charm. They give +the work that subtle thing called atmosphere, and play their part in +making passages, like the finale to the second act, the most +significant music for the stage of opera that has been penned in the +composer's country since Wagner. They also abound in the scene between +_Octavian_ and _Lerchenan_ in the third act. + +Act I. Room in the _Princess von Werdenberg's_ palace. Morning. The +curtain rises after an impassioned orchestral introduction which is +supposed to depict _risqué_ incidents of the previous night suggested +by the stage directions. These directions were not followed in the +production made at the Metropolitan Opera House. Not only did their +disregard show respect for the audience's sense of decency, it in no +way interfered with the success of the work as a comedy set to music. + +_Octavian_, a handsome youth, is taking a passionate leave of the +_Princess_, whose husband, a Field Marshal, is away on military duty. +_Octavian_ is loath to go, the _Princess_, equally loather to have him +depart. For the _Princess_ cannot conceal from herself that in spite +of _Octavian's_ present love for her, the disparity in their ages soon +will cause him to look to women younger than herself for love. + +There is a commotion beyond the door of the _Princess's_ suite of +rooms. One of her relatives, the vulgar _Baron Ochs von Lerchenan_, +wishes to see her. The servants remonstrate with him that the hour is +much too early, but he forces his way in. Taking alarm, and in order +to spare the _Princess_ the scandal of having him discovered with her, +_Octavian_ escapes into an inner room where he disguises himself in +the attire of a chambermaid, a rôle which his youthful, beardless +beauty enables him to carry out to perfection. + +_Von Lerchenan_ has come to inquire of the _Princess_ if, as she +promised, she has sent a Knight of the Rose with an offer of his hand +to _Sophie_, daughter of the wealthy, recently ennobled _Herr von +Faninal_. A Knight of the Rose was chosen at that period as a suitor +by proxy to bear a silver rose, as a symbol of love and fidelity, to +the lady of his principal's choice. Unfortunately the _Princess's_ +passion for _Octavian_ has entirely diverted her thoughts from +_Lerchenan's_ commission. He, however, consoles himself by flirting +with the pretty chambermaid, _Octavian_, whose assumed coyness, +coupled with slyly demure advances, charms him. Before this, however, +he has lost his temper, because he has been unable to engage the +_Princess's_ attention amid the distractions provided by her morning +levee, at which she receives various petitioners--a singer, +_Valzacchi_, and _Annina_, who are Italian intriguers, three noble +orphans, and others. This levee, together with the love intrigues and +the looseness of manners and morals indicated by the plot, is supposed +in a general way to give to the piece the tone of the rococo period in +which the story is laid. The scene is a lively one. + +_Lerchenan_ is appeased not only by the charms of the supposed +chambermaid, who waits on the _Princess_ and her relative at +breakfast, but also because he is so eager to make a rendezvous with +her. _Octavian_ in his disguise understands so well how to lead +_Lerchenan_ on without granting his request, that he forgets the cause +of his annoyance. Moreover the _Princess_ promises that she presently +will despatch a Knight of the Rose to the daughter of the wealthy +_Faninal_ whose wealth, of course, is what attracts _Lerchenan_. The +_Princess_ chooses _Octavian_ to be the Knight of the Rose. Later she +regrets her choice. For after the handsome youth has departed on his +mission, and she is left alone, she looks at herself in the glass. +She is approaching middle age, and although she still is a handsome +woman, her fear that she may lose _Octavian_, to some younger member +of her sex, cannot be banished from her thoughts. + +Act II. Salon in the house of _Herr von Faninal_. This lately ennobled +_nouveau rich_ considers it a great distinction that the _Baron von +Lerchenan_, a member of the old nobility, should apply for the hand of +his daughter. That the _Baron_ only does it to mend his broken +fortunes does not worry him, although his daughter _Sophie_ is a sweet +and modest girl. Inexperienced, she awaits her suitor in great +agitation. Then his proxy, _Octavian_, comes with the silver rose to +make the preliminary arrangements for his "cousin," _Baron von +Lerchenan_. _Octavian_ is smitten with the charms of the girl. She, +too, is at once attracted to the handsome young cavalier. So their +conversation imperceptibly has drifted into an intimate tone when the +real suitor enters. His brutal frankness in letting _Sophie_ +comprehend that he is condescending in courting her, and his rude +manners thoroughly repel the girl. _Octavian_ meanwhile is boiling +with rage and jealousy. The girl's aversion to the _Baron_ increases. +The two men are on the point of an outbreak, when _Lerchenan_ is +called by a notary into an adjoining room where the marriage contract +is to be drawn up. _Sophie_ is shocked at what she has just +experienced. Never will it be possible for her to marry the detested +_Baron_, especially since she has met the gallant _Octavian_. The two +are quick in agreeing. _Sophie_ sinks into his arms. + +At that moment there rush out from behind the two large chimney pieces +that adorn the room, the intriguers, _Valzacchi_ and his companion +_Annina_, whom _Lerchenan_ has employed as spies. Their cries bring +the _Baron_ from the next room. The staff of servants rushes in. +_Octavian_ tells the _Baron_ of _Sophie's_ antipathy, and adds taunt +to taunt, until, however reluctant to fight, the _Baron_ is forced to +draw his sword. In the encounter _Octavian_ lightly "pinks" him. The +_Baron_, a coward at heart, raises a frightful outcry. There ensues +the greatest commotion, due to the mix-up of the servants, the doctor, +and the rage of _Faninal_, who orders _Sophie_ to a convent when she +positively refuses to give her hand to _Lerchenan_. The latter, +meanwhile, rapidly recovers when his wound has been dressed and he has +drunk some of _Faninal's_ good wine. + +_Octavian_ is determined to win _Sophie_. For that purpose he decides +to make use of the two intriguers, who are so disgusted by the +niggardly pay given them by the _Baron_, that they readily fall in +with the plans of the brilliant young cavalier. After the crowd has +dispersed and the _Baron_ is alone for a moment, _Annina_ approaches +and hands him a note. In this the _Princess's_ chambermaid promises +him a rendezvous. _Lerchenan_ is delighted over the new conquest he +believes himself to have made. + +Act III. A room in an inn near Vienna. With the help of _Valzacchi_ +and _Annina_, who are now in the service both of the _Baron_ and of +_Octavian_, but are more prone to further the latter's plans because +he pays them better, _Octavian_ has hired a room in an inn. This room +is fitted up with trapdoors, blind windows and the like. Here, at the +suggestion of the intriguers, who have the run of the place and know +to what uses the trick room can be put, _Lerchenan_ has made his +rendezvous for the evening with the pretty chambermaid. _Octavian_, in +his girl's clothes, is early at the place. + +Between the _Baron_ and the disguised _Octavian_, as soon as they are +alone, a rude scene of courtship develops. _Octavian_ is able to hold +him off skilfully, and gradually there is unfolded the mad web of +intrigue in which the _Baron_ is caught. Strange figures appear at the +windows. _Lerchenan_, ignorant, superstitious, thinks he sees ghosts. +Suddenly what was supposed to be a blind window, bursts open, and a +woman dressed in mourning rushes in. It is the disguised intriguante, +_Annina_, who claims to be the deserted wife of _Lerchenan_. Innkeeper +and servants hurry in. The clamour and confusion become more and more +frantic. Finally the _Baron_ himself calls for the police, without +thinking what a "give away" it may be for himself. When the Commissary +of Police arrives, to save his face, he gives out that his companion, +the supposed chambermaid, is his affianced, _Sophie von Faninal_. +That, however, only adds to the confusion, for _Octavian's_ +accomplices have sought out _Faninal_ and invited him on behalf of the +_Baron_ to come to the inn. In his amazement the _Baron_ knows of no +other way out of the dilemma save to act as if he did not know +_Faninal_ at all, whereupon the latter, naturally, is greatly angered. +When the confusion is at its height the _Princess_ suddenly appears. A +lackey of the _Baron_, seeing his master in such difficulties, has run +to her to ask for her powerful protection. She quickly takes in the +whole situation; and however bitterly _Octavian's_ disaffection +grieves her, she is a clever enough woman of the world to recognize +that the time for her to give him up has come. The threads now quickly +disentangle themselves. The _Baron_ leaves, _Octavian_ and _Sophie_ +are forgiven, and _Herr von Faninal_ feels himself fully compensated +for all he has been through, because he is to be driven home beside +the _Princess_ in her carriage. + + +ARIADNE AUF NAXOS + +ARIADNE ON NAXOS + + Opera in one act; by Richard Strauss; words by Hugo von + Hofmannsthal. To follow Molière's Comedy, "Le Bourgeois + Gentilhomme." + + CHARACTERS + + ARIADNE _Soprano_ + BACCHUS _Tenor_ + NAIAD _Soprano_ + DRYAD _Alto_ + ECHO _Soprano_ + ZERBINETTA _Soprano_ + ARLECCHINO } Characters in _Baritone_ + SCARAMUCCIO } old Italian _Tenor_ + TRUFFALDIN } comedy _Bass_ + BRIGHELLA _Tenor_ + + _Time_--Antiquity. + + _Place_--The Island of Naxos. + + NOTE: On the stage there are present, as spectators of the + opera, _Jourdain_, _Marquise Dorimène_ and _Count Dorantes_, + characters from "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme." + +The peculiar relationship of this opera to Molière's comedy is easily +explained, although the scheme is a curious one. In "Le Bourgeois +Gentilhomme," Molière has _Jourdain_, the commoner, who in his folly +strives to imitate the nobility, engage an entire ballet troupe for a +private performance at his house. The opera, "Ariadne auf Naxos," is +supposed to take the place of this ballet. Besides the opera, Richard +Strauss has composed eleven incidental musical members for the two +acts of the comedy, to which the opera is added as an independent +third act. + +Into the representation there enters another factor, which is liable +to cause confusion, unless it is understood by the spectator. Besides +the opera, _Jourdain_ has engaged a troupe of buffoons to give a +performance of the old Italian Harlequin (Arlecchino) comedy. Having +paid for both, he insists that both shall take place, with the result +that, while the opera is in progress, the comedians dash on the stage, +go through their act, and dash off again. + +The adapter of Molière's work to Strauss's purpose has omitted the +entire passage of the love scene between _Cléonte_ and _Lucille_, +_Jourdain's_ daughter, so that the two acts of the comedy concern +themselves mainly with _Jourdain's_ folly--his scenes with the music +teacher, the dancing master, the fencing master, the philosopher, and +the tailor. They also show how the intriguing _Count Dorantes_ makes +use of _Jourdain's_ stupidity, borrowing a large sum of money from +him, and persuading him that he can win the favour of the _Marquise_ +with costly presents and by arranging in her honour the fête at which +the opera is given. At the same time the sly _Dorantes_ represents +everything to the _Marquise_ as if he himself had contrived and paid +for the gifts and the fête in her honour. The _Marquise_ goes to +_Jourdain's_ house to the banquet and celebration, as a climax to +which the opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" is presented. The opera therefore +follows the adaptation of "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme." + +On a desert island lies _Ariadne_ asleep before a cave. _Naiad_, +_Echo_ and _Dryad_ are singing. _Ariadne_, on awaking, bewails the lot +of the forsaken one. In her grief she feels herself near death. Then +the old comedy figures come whirling in. In her desire for death +_Ariadne_ does not notice them. _Zerbinetta_ sings and dances with her +four _Harlequins_. This is their idea of life--to enjoy things +lightly. When they have disappeared, _Naiad_, _Dryad_, and _Echo_ come +back and announce the arrival of a youthful god. _Bacchus_ approaches +the island. From afar he sings. _Ariadne_ hopes it is Death coming to +release her. She longs for him, sinks into his arms. They are the arms +of love. + + +DIE VERKAUFTE BRAUT + +THE BARTERED BRIDE + + Opera in three acts; music by Friedrich Smetana, Czech, text + by R. Sabina. Produced in Czech, May 30, 1866, at Prague; in + German, April 2, 1893, in Vienna. + + CHARACTERS + + KRUSCHINA, a peasant _Baritone_ + KATRINKA, his wife _Soprano_ + MARIE, their daughter _Soprano_ + MICHA, a landlord _Bass_ + AGNES, his wife _Mezzo-Soprano_ + WENZEL, their son _Tenor_ + HANS, MICHA'S son by a first marriage _Tenor_ + KEZAL, a marriage broker _Bass_ + SPRINGER, manager of a troop of artists _Tenor_ + ESMERALDA, a danseuse _Soprano_ + MUFF, a comedian _Tenor_ + +Act I. It is the anniversary of the consecration of the village +church. _Marie_, daughter of the rich peasant _Kruschina_, is not +happy for she must today accept a suitor picked out for her by her +parents and she only loves _Hans_ although she does not know his +antecedents. _Hans_ consoles her. He will always be true to her and he +comes from a good family, only a wicked stepmother has robbed him of +his father's love. So she must be of good cheer. Then _Marie's_ +parents arrive with the marriage broker, _Kezal_. The latter wants to +complete arrangements for the marriage of _Marie_ and _Wenzel_, the +rich son of the peasant _Micha_. When _Marie's_ father has given his +consent to this union, the go-between considers _Marie's_ opposition +as a trifle which, he tells _Micha_ outside in the inn, can be easily +remedied. + +Act II. But with what eyes has _Kezal_ looked upon _Wenzel_ that he +praises his excellences so loudly? At any rate not with those of a +young woman. Can _Kruschina's Marie_ love this stutterer and coxcomb? +Never! Fortunately for her, he does not know her; and so the clever +girl is able to deceive him. She speaks disparagingly to him of +_Kruschina's Marie_ who loves another and whom therefore he should not +allow himself to marry. The puzzled _Wenzel_, enamoured, runs after +the laughing girl. On this _Hans_ comes in with _Kezal_. The latter is +telling his companion to give up his love affair. He offers him first +a hundred and finally three hundred florins if he will do so. At last +_Hans_ consents but only on condition that _Marie_ shall marry none +other than the son of _Micha's_ wife. _Kezal_ is content with that as +he understands it. He goes away to get witnesses and everybody is +provoked at the light heart with which _Hans_ has sold his bride. + +Act III. In the meantime, _Wenzel_ has fallen in love with _Esmeralda_ +the danseuse in a troop of acrobats. In his infatuation he allows +himself to be induced to act in place of a drunken comedian. His +parents and _Kezal_ surprise him while practising his dance. They are +very much astonished when he absolutely refuses to marry _Kruschina's +Marie_. But the matter would have been entirely different had he +recognized her to be the lovely maiden of earlier in the day. _Marie_ +herself, out of revolt and grief at the fact that her lover has so +lightly prized her heart, is ready for everything. Then _Hans_ rushes +in, freely expressing his supercilious feelings. All stand astounded +until _Micha_ recognizes in _Hans_ his own long missing son by his +first marriage. That _Hans_ now signs the contract as the happy +husband of _Marie_ is the joyful end of this merry opera. + + + + +Russian Opera + + + Too little is known of Russian opera in this country. It is + true that Tschaikowsky's "Pique-Dame," Rubinstein's "Nero," + Moussorgsky's "Boris Godounoff," Borodin's "Prince Igor," + Rimsky-Korsakoff's fascinating "Coq d'Or" have been + performed here; while one act of Serge Rachmaninoff's "Miser + Knight" was given by Henry Russell at the Boston Opera House + with that excellent artist George Baklanoff in the title + rôle. But according to Mr. Rachmaninoff thirteen operas of + Rimsky-Korsakoff still await an American production and this + represents the work of only one composer. Who will undertake + the further education of the American public in this + respect? + + +RUSSLAN AND LUDMILLA + +Michael Ivanovich Glinka's second opera is based upon one of Pushkin's +earliest poems. The poet had hardly agreed to prepare a dramatic +version of his fairy tale for the composer when he was killed in a +duel incurred owing to the supposed infidelity of his wife. As a +result of his untimely end, Glinka employed the services of no less +than five different librettists. This, of course, weakened the story. + +The opera opens with an entertainment held by the Grand Duke of Kieff +in honour of his daughter _Ludmilla's_ suitors. Of the three, +_Russlan_, a knight, _Ratmir_, an Oriental poet, and _Farlaf_, a +blustering coward. _Russlan_ is the favoured one. A thunderclap +followed by sudden darkness interrupts the festivities. When this is +over, _Ludmilla_ has disappeared. Her father, _Svietosar_, promises +her hand in marriage to anyone who will rescue her. + +The second act takes place in the cave of _Finn_, the wizard, to whom +_Russlan_ has come for advice. The knight hears that the abduction is +the work of _Tchernomor_ the dwarf. _Finn_ warns him against the +interference of _Naina_, a wicked fairy. He then starts out on his +search. The next scene shows _Farlaf_ in consultation with _Naina_. +The fairy advises him to neglect _Ludmilla_ until she is found by +_Russlan_, then to carry her off again. The next scene shows _Russlan_ +on a battlefield. In spite of the mist he finds a lance and shield. +When the atmosphere grows clearer he discovers a gigantic head, which +by its terrific breathing creates a storm. _Russlan_ subdues the head +with a stroke of his lance. Under it is the magic sword which will +make him victorious over _Tchernomor_. The head then explains that its +condition is due to its brother, the dwarf, and reveals to _Russlan_ +the means to be made of the sword. + +In the third act, at the enchanted palace of _Naina_, _Gorislava_, who +loves _Ratmir_ appears. When the object of her passion appears he +slights her for a siren of _Naina's_ court. _Russlan_, too, is +imperilled by the sirens, but he is saved from their fascination by +_Finn_. + +The fourth act takes place in the dwelling of _Tchernomor_. +_Ludmilla_, in despair, refuses to be consoled by any distraction. She +finally falls asleep, only to be awakened by _Tchernomor_ and his +train. The arrival of _Russlan_ interrupts the ensuing ballet. Forcing +_Ludmilla_ into a trance, _Tchernomor_ meets _Russlan_ in single +combat. The knight is victorious, but unable to awaken _Ludmilla_ from +her sleep. He carries her off. + +In the fifth act, _Russlan_ with a magic ring, the gift of _Finn_, +breaks _Tchernomor's_ spell and restores _Ludmilla_ to consciousness. + + +PRINCE IGOR + +Opera in four acts and a prologue by Borodin. Libretto suggested by +Stassoff, written by the composer. + +The prologue takes place in the market-place of Poultivle where +_Igor_, Prince of Seversk lives. Although implored to postpone his +departure because of an eclipse of the sun, which his people regard as +an evil omen, _Igor_ with his son _Vladimir Igoreivitch_ departs to +pursue the Polovtsy, an Oriental tribe, driven to the plains of the +Don by _Prince Sviatoslav_ of Kiev. _Prince Galitzky_, _Igor's_ +brother, remains to govern Poultivle and watch over the _Princess +Yaroslavna_. The first scene of the first act shows _Galitzky_ a +traitor, endeavouring to win the populace to his side with the help of +_Eroshka_ and _Skoula_, two deserters from _Igor's_ army. In the +second scene of this act young girls complain to _Yaroslavna_ about +the abduction of one of their companions. They ask her protection +against _Galitzky_. _Yaroslavna_ has a scene with her brother and +orders him from her presence. News is brought that _Igor's_ army has +been defeated, that he and the young prince are prisoners, and that +the enemy is marching upon Poultivle. The loyal Boyards swear to +defend their princess. + +The second and third acts take place in the camp of the Polovtsy. +Young _Vladimir_ has fallen in love with _Khan Konchak's_ beautiful +daughter, _Konchakovna_. He serenades her in her tent. His father +laments his captivity. _Ovlour_, a soldier of the enemy, offers to +help him escape, but _Igor_ refuses to repay the _Khan's_ chivalrous +conduct in that manner. In the second act the _Khan_ gives a banquet +in honour of his captive. Oriental dances and choruses are introduced. + +[Illustration: Photo by Mishkin + +Scene from the Ballet in "Prince Igor" (with Rosina Galli)] + +In the third act the victorious Polovstians return with prisoners from +Poultivle. _Igor_ consents to escape. _Konchakovna_ learns of the +secret preparations for flight which _Ovlour_ arranges by giving the +army a liberal allowance of wine. After a wild orgy the soldiers fall +asleep. When _Igor_ gives the signal for flight, _Konchakovna_ throws +herself upon young _Vladimir_ and holds him until his father has +disappeared. The soldiers rush to kill him as in revenge for _Igor's_ +escape, but the _Khan_ is content to let him remain as his daughter's +husband. + +In the last act the lamenting _Yaroslavna_ is cheered by the return of +her husband, and together they enter the Kremlin at Poultivle. + +Borodin, who divided his life between science and music, wrote his +opera piece by piece. Rimsky-Korsakoff wrote that he often found him +working in his laboratory that communicated directly with his house. +"When he was seated before his retorts, which were filled with +colourless gases of some kind, forcing them by means of tubes from one +vessel to another, I used to tell him that he was spending his time in +pouring water into a sieve. As soon as he was free he would take me to +his living-rooms and there we occupied ourselves with music and +conversation, in the midst of which Borodin would rush off to the +laboratory to make sure that nothing was burning or boiling over, +making the corridor ring as he went with some extraordinary passage of +ninths or seconds. Then back again for more music and talk." + +Borodin, himself, wrote: "In winter I can only compose when I am too +unwell to give my lectures. So my friends, reversing the usual custom, +never say to me, 'I hope you are well' but 'I do hope you are ill.' At +Christmas I had influenza, so I stayed at home and wrote the +Thanksgiving Chorus in the last act of 'Igor.'" + +He never finished his opera. It was completed by Rimsky-Korsakoff and +his pupil Glazounoff, and three years after his death received its +first performance. Borodin never wrote down the overture, but +Glazounoff heard him play it so frequently that it was an easy matter +for him to orchestrate it according to Borodin's wishes. The composer +left this note about his opera: "It is curious to see how all the +members of our set agree in praise of my work. While controversy rages +amongst us on every other subject, all, so far, are pleased with +'Igor.' Moussorgsky, the ultra-realist, the innovating lyrico-dramatist, +Cui, our master, Balakireff, so severe as regards form and tradition, +Vladimir Stassoff himself, our valiant champion of everything that +bears the stamp of novelty or greatness." + + +BORIS GODOUNOFF + + Opera in four acts and eight scenes; libretto taken from the + dramatic scenes of Pushkin which bear this title; music by + Moussorgsky; produced at the theatre Marie in Petrograd in + 1874. + + CHARACTERS + + BORIS GODOUNOFF _Baritone_ + FEODOR _Mezzo-Soprano_ + XENIA _Soprano_ + THE OLD NURSE _Contralto_ + PRINCE SHOUISKY _Tenor_ + ANDREY STCHELAKOV, clerk of the Douma _Baritone_ + PIMEN, monk and chronicler _Bass_ + THE PRETENDER DIMITRI, called _Gregory_ _Tenor_ + MARINA _Soprano_ + RANGONI, a Jesuit in disguise _Bass_ + VARLAAM _Bass_ + MISSAIL _Tenor_ + THE HOSTESS _Mezzo-Soprano_ + NIKITIN (_Michael_), constable _Bass_ + + _Time_--1598-1605. + + _Place_--Russia. + +[Illustration: Photo by White + +Anna Case as Feodor, Didur as Boris, and Sparkes as Xenia, in "Boris +Godounoff"] + +The subject brings to the stage one of the most curious episodes of +the history of Russia in the seventeenth century. A privy councillor +of the _Czar Feodor_, son of Ivan, named _Boris Godounoff_, has caused +to be assassinated the young _Dimitri_, brother of the emperor and his +only heir. On the death of _Feodor_, _Boris_, who has committed his +crime with the sole object of seizing power, causes himself to be +acclaimed by the people and ascends the throne. But about the same +time, a young monk named Grischka escapes from his convent, discards +his habit, and goes to Poland where he passes as the dead czarevitch +_Dimitri_. The Polish government receives him all the more cordially +as it understands all the advantage such an event might afford it. +Soon the pretended _Dimitri_, who has married the daughter of one of +the most powerful magnates, puts himself at the head of the Polish +army and marches with it against Russia. Just at this moment they hear +of the death of _Boris_, and the false _Dimitri_, taking advantage of +the circumstances, in turn usurps power which he is destined not to +keep very long. + +Such is the poetical drama, the arrangement of which is a little +inconsistent from the scenic point of view, and which a historian of +Russian music, himself a musician, M. César Cui, treats in these +words: "There is no question here of a subject of which the different +parts, combined in such a way as to present a necessary sequence of +events, one flowing from the other, correspond in their totality to +the ideas of a strict dramatic unity. Each scene in it is independent; +the rôles, for the greater part, are transitory. The episodes that we +see follow each other necessarily have a certain connection; they all +relate more or less to a general fact, to a common action; but the +opera would not suffer from a rearrangement of the scenes nor even +from a substitution of certain secondary episodes by others. This +depends on the fact that 'Boris Godounoff' properly speaking is +neither a drama nor an opera, but rather a musical chronicle after the +manner of the historical dramas of Shakespeare. Each of the acts, +taken separately, awakens a real interest which, however, is not +caused by what goes before and which stops brusquely without +connection with the scene which is going to follow." Let us add that +some of these scenes are written entirely in prose while others are in +verse and we will have a general idea of the make-up of the libretto +of "Boris Godounoff," which moreover offered the composer a series of +scenes very favourable to music. + +The score of Moussorgsky is uneven, like his talents, but nevertheless +remains very interesting and indicative of a distinct personality. +Although the composer was not much of a symphonist and rather +indifferently understood how to manage the resources of the orchestra, +although his harmony is sometimes strange and rude and his modulation +incorrect and excessive, he had at least a lavishness of inspiration, +the abundance and zest of which are calculated to cause astonishment. +He is a musician perhaps of more instinct than of knowledge, who goes +straight ahead without bothering himself about obstacles and who +sometimes trips while on his way but who nevertheless reaches his +object, sometimes even going beyond it by his strength of audacity. + +Not much of a symphonist, as I have said, Moussorgsky did not even +take the trouble to write an overture and some entr'actes. But certain +pages of his score are not the less remarkable for their accent, their +colour, and their scenic effect, and especially for the national +feeling which from a musical point of view flows from them. Under this +head we would point out in the first act the great military scene, +which is of superb brilliance, and the chorus of begging monks; in the +second, the entire scene of the inn, in which the dramatic intensity +does not lessen for a second and which presents an astonishing variety +of rhythm and colour; then, in the third, the chorus of female +attendants, sung on a Cracovian woman's air, the song of _Marina_ in +the style of a mazurka, and a great Polish dance full of go and +warmth; finally the whole episode of the death of _Boris_, which has a +really gripping effect. These are enough, in spite of the inequalities +and defects of the work, to cause regret for the death of an artist +endowed with a very individual style, whose instruction had been +doubtless incomplete, but who nevertheless seemed called to have a +brilliant future. + + +EUGEN ONEGIN + + Opera in three acts; music by Peter Ilitsch Tschaikowsky; + text after Pushkin's tale by Modeste Tschaikowsky, the + composer's brother; German text by von A. Bernhard. Produced + at Moscow, March, 1879. + + CHARACTERS + + LARINA, who owns an estate _Mezzo-Soprano_ + TATIANA } her daughters { _Soprano_ + OLGA } { _Alto_ + FILIPIEVNA, a waitress _Mezzo-Soprano_ + EUGEN ONEGIN _Baritone_ + LENSKI _Tenor_ + PRINCE GREMIN _Baritone_ + A CAPTAIN _Bass_ + SARETSKY _Bass_ + TRIQUET, a Frenchman _Tenor_ + +As the characterization of the opera as "lyrical scenes" shows, the +poet offers no substantial work, but follows closely, often even word +for word, Pushkin's epic tale, with which one must be fully +acquainted--as is the case with everybody in Russia--in order to be +able to follow the opera properly. + +Act I. _Eugen Onegin_ has been called from a wild life of pleasure to +his sick uncle, of whose property he takes possession after the +uncle's sudden death. He has brought with him from the big city a +profound satiety of all enjoyments and a deep contempt for the society +of mankind in his solitary country seat. Here, however, he forms a +friendship for a young fanatic, the poet _Lenski_. Through him he is +introduced to _Larina_, a woman who owns an estate. Her two daughters, +_Olga_ and _Tatiana_, correspond to the double nature of their mother, +whose youth was a period of sentimentality in which she allowed +herself to be affected like others by Richardson's novels, raved over +Grandison, and followed the wild adventures of Lovelace with anxious +thrills. Life later had made her rational, altogether too rational and +insipid. _Olga_ now has become a cheerful, superficial, pleasureful +silly young girl; _Tatiana_, a dreamer whose melancholy is increasing +through reading books which her mother had once used. _Lenski_ is +betrothed to _Olga_. _Tatiana_ recognizes at her first sight of +_Onegin_ the realization of her dreams. Her heart goes out to meet him +and in her enthusiasm she reveals all her feelings in a letter to him. +_Onegin_ is deeply stirred by this love; a feeling of confidence in +mankind that he had not known for such a long time awakens in him. But +he knows himself too well. He knows that every faculty as a husband is +departing from him. And now he considers it his duty not to disappoint +this maiden soul, to be frank. He refuses her love. He takes the blame +on himself, but he would not have been the worldly wise man if his +superiority to the simple country child had not been emphasized +chiefly on this account. But _Tatiana_ only listens to the refusal; +she is very unhappy. _Onegin_ remains her ideal, who now will be still +more solitary, in spite of it. + +Act II. _Tatiana's_ name-day is being celebrated with a big ball. +_Onegin_ goes there on _Lenski's_ invitation. The stupid company with +their narrow views about him vex him so much that he seeks to revenge +himself on _Lenski_ for it, for which he begins courting _Olga_. +_Lenski_ takes the jest in earnest; it comes to a quarrel between the +friends. _Lenski_ rushes out and sends _Onegin_ a challenge. Social +considerations force _Onegin_ to accept the challenge; a duelling +fanatic landlord, _Saretsky_ stirs _Lenski's_ anger so severely that a +reconciliation is not possible. This part in Pushkin's work is the +keenest satire, an extraordinarily efficacious mockery of the whole +subject of duelling. There is derision on _Onegin's_ side, too, for he +chooses as his second his coachman Gillot. But the duel was terribly +in earnest; _Lenski_ falls shot through by his opponent's bullet. +(This scene recalls a sad experience of the poet himself; for he +himself fell in a duel by the bullet of a supercilious courtier, Georg +d'Anthès-Heckeren, who died in Alsace in 1895.) + +Act III. Twenty-six years later. _Onegin_ has restlessly wandered over +the world. Now he is in St. Petersburg at a ball given by _Prince +Gremin_. There, if he sees aright, Princess Gremina, that accomplished +woman of the world is "his" _Tatiana_. Now his passion is aroused in +all its strength. He must win her. _Tatiana_ does not love him with +the same ardour as before. When she upbraids _Onegin_ that he loves +her only because she has now become a brilliant woman of the world it +is only a means of deceiving herself and her impetuous adorer as to +her real feelings. But finally her true feeling is revealed. She tells +_Onegin_ that she loves him as before. But at the same time she +explains that she will remain true to her duty as a wife. +Broken-hearted _Onegin_ leaves her. + + +PIQUE-DAME + +THE QUEEN OF SPADES + +The libretto of Tschaikowsky's "Pique-Dame" was first prepared by the +composer's brother Modeste for a musician who later refused to use it. +Tschaikowsky wrote it in six weeks, during a stay in Florence. The +libretto is that of the well-known story by Pushkin. _Herman_, the +hero, a passionate gambler, loves _Lisa_, whom he met while walking in +the summer garden in St. Petersburg. He learns that she is the +granddaughter of "the belle of St. Petersburg," famous in her old age +as the luckiest of card players. So strange is the old lady's +appearance that she has been named "The Queen of Spades." The two +women exert conflicting influences over _Herman_. He loves _Lisa_, +while the old woman awakens his gambling impulses. It is said that the +old _Countess's_ success at the card table is based upon her secret +knowledge of a combination of three cards. _Herman_ is bent upon +learning the secret. Although _Lisa_ loves _Herman_ she engages +herself to _Prince Yeletsky_. With the hope of forcing the old woman +to reveal her secret, he hides in her bedroom one night. When she sees +him the shock kills her, and _Herman_ learns nothing. Half-crazed with +remorse _Herman_ is haunted by the old _Countess's_ ghost. The +apparition shows him the three cards. + +When he goes to her house the night after her funeral and plays +against _Prince Yeletsky_, he wins twice by the cards shown him by the +ghost. He stakes everything he possesses on the third card but he +turns up, not the expected card, but the queen of spades herself. At +the same instant he sees a vision of the _Countess_, triumphant and +smiling. Desperate, _Herman_ ends his life. + +Tschaikowsky enjoyed his work on this opera. He wrote as follows to +the Grand Duke Constantine: "I composed this opera with extraordinary +joy and fervour, and experienced so vividly in myself all that happens +in the tale, that at one time I was actually afraid of the spectre of +the Queen of Spades. I can only hope that all my creative fervour, my +agitation, and my enthusiasm will find an echo in the heart of my +audiences." First performed at St. Petersburg in 1890, this opera soon +rivalled "Eugen Onegin" in popularity. + + +LE COQ D'OR + +THE GOLDEN COCK + + Opera pantomime in three acts with prologue and epilogue. + Produced in May, 1910, at Zimin's Private Theatre, Moscow. + Music by Rimsky-Korsakoff. + + CHARACTERS + + KING DODON _Baritone_ + PRINCE GUIDON _Tenor_ + PRINCE AFRON _Baritone_ + VOEVODA POLKAN (the General) _Baritone_ + AMELFA (the royal housekeeper) _Contralto_ + THE ASTROLOGER _Tenor_ + THE QUEEN OF SHEMAKHAN _Soprano_ + THE GOLDEN COCK _Soprano_ + +"Le Coq D'Or" was Rimsky-Korsakoff's last opera. The censor refused to +sanction its performance during the composer's lifetime and his +difficulties with the authorities in this matter are supposed to have +hastened his death. When the work was given in Petrograd it was +thought to be over-taxing for the singers who are obliged to dance, or +for the dancers who are obliged to sing. M. Fokine ingeniously devised +the plan of having all the singers seated at each side of the stage, +while the dancers interpreted, in pantomime, what was sung. In spite +of the protests made by the composer's family, this was done in Paris, +London, and New York. + +The opera is composed to a libretto, by V. Bielsky, based upon a +well-known poem by Pushkin. In a preface to the book the author says: +"The purely human nature of Pushkin's 'Golden Cock'--that instructive +tragicomedy of the unhappy consequences following upon mortal passions +and weaknesses--permits us to place the plot in any region and in any +period." + +_King Dodon_, lazy and gluttonous, is oppressed by the cares of state. +Warlike neighbours harass him with their attacks. Holding council in +the hall of his palace with his Boyards, he asks the advice first of +one son, then the other. But the wise old _General_ disagrees with the +solutions suggested by the young princes. Soon the entire assembly is +in an uproar. The astrologer then appears and offers the _King_ a +golden cock. The bird has the power to foretell events, and in case of +danger will give warning. The _King_ is overjoyed. From a spire in the +capital the bird sends out various messages. At its bidding citizens +now rush for their weapons, now continue peaceful occupations. +_Dodon's_ bed is brought upon the stage, and the monarch relieved of +all responsibility goes to sleep, after having been tucked in by the +royal housekeeper. Suddenly the cock sounds the war alarm. The rudely +awakened sovereign first sends his sons, then goes himself. _Dodon's_ +army fares ill. In the second act, the moonlight in a narrow pass +reveals the bodies of his two sons. At dawn, _Dodon_ notices a tent +under the hillside. The _King_ thinks it is the tent of the enemy +leader, but to his astonishment, a beautiful woman emerges. The lovely +_Queen_ lures on the aged _Dodon_, mocks at his voice, and forces him +to dance, until he falls exhausted to the ground. Finally she agrees +to become his bride. + +The third act shows the populace preparing to welcome _Dodon_, There +is a wonderful procession led by _Dodon_ and the _Queen_, followed by +a grotesque train of giants and dwarfs. Soon the _Queen_ is bored. The +astrologer returns, claiming a reward for his magic bird. He demands +the _Queen_. _Dodon_ kills the astrologer by a blow on the head with +his sceptre, but this does not improve his position with his bride. +With an ominous cry, the bird flies towards the _King_ and fells him +with one blow from his beak. A thunderclap is followed by darkness. +When light returns both _Queen_ and cock have disappeared. The people +lament the death of the _King_. In the epilogue the resuscitated +astrologer announces that the story is only a fairy tale and that in +_Dodon's_ kingdom only the _Queen_ and himself are mortals. + + +MANRU + + Opera in three acts. Music by Ignace Jan Paderewski. Book by + Alfred Nossig. The first performance in New York was on + February 14, 1902, at the Metropolitan Opera House. Mr. + Damrosch conducted. The cast included Mme. Sembrich, Mme. + Homer, Miss Fritzi Scheff, Alexander van Bandrowski, Mr. + Mühlmann, Mr. Blass, Mr. Bispham. + +The opera had its first performance on any stage at the Court Theatre, +Dresden, May 29, 1901. Before being sung in New York it was heard in +Cracow, Lemberg, Zurich, and Cologne. + +The scene is laid among the Tatra mountains, between Galicia and +Hungary. The story illustrates the gypsy's wanderlust. The plot is +borrowed from a Polish romance. _Manru_ has won the love of a Galician +girl, _Ulana_, and married her gypsy fashion. After a time she returns +to her native village among the Tatra mountains, seeking her mother's +help and forgiveness. But her mother curses her, and she is the object +of the villagers' scorn. They taunt her with a song which celebrates +the inconstancy of all gypsies under the spell of the full moon. As +she has already noticed signs of uneasiness in her husband, _Ulana_ +seeks the help of _Urok_, a dwarf, who loves her and who is said to be +a sorcerer. He gives her a magic draught by means of which she wins +back _Manru_ for a time. Alone in the mountains, however, the +influence of the moon, the charm of gypsy music, and the fascinations +of a gypsy girl are too strong for him. He rejoins his companions. +_Oros_, the gypsy chief, himself in love with the maiden of _Manru's_ +fancy, opposes her reinstatement in the band. But through the +influence of _Jagu_, a gypsy fiddler, his wishes are overruled and +_Manru_ is made chief in _Oros's_ place. The deposed chief revenges +himself by hurling his successful rival down a precipice, a second +after the distraught _Ulana_ has thrown herself into a mountain lake. + + + + +American Opera + + + No really distinguished achievement has as yet been reached + in the world of American opera. Various reasons are given + for the delinquency. Some say that American composers are + without that sense of the theatre so apparent in the + composers of the modern Italian school. But whatever the + reasons, the fact remains inalterably true. + + The Metropolitan has housed several worthy efforts. Two of + the most successful were Mr. Parker's "Mona" and Mr. + Damrosch's "Cyrano de Bergerac." After much fulsome praise + had been bestowed upon both, however, these operas were + promptly shelved. Others have taken their place. But the + writer of a truly great American opera has yet to make his + appearance. + + +THE SACRIFICE + +Opera in three acts by Frederick Shepherd Converse. + +Mr. Converse wrote his own libretto. The lyrics are by John Macy. The +story takes place in southern California in 1846. Americans are +guarding the Anaya mansion, and the American officer, _Burton_, a +baritone, is in love with _Chonita_, the beauty of the household. +_Chonita_ has an old Indian servant, _Tomasa_, who hates the +Americans, yet seems to realize that they will conquer. _Chonita_, +praying in the Mission Church desecrated by the invaders, is told by +_Burton_ that he has killed a Mexican. Her questions reveal that +_Bernal_ is the dead man. But _Bernal_ is wounded, not dead, and he +comes into the church. _Burton_ again assures _Chonita_ of his love +and promises to do for her all that a man can do. "You wretched devil, +'tis I she loves," cries _Bernal_, and he rushes at _Burton_ with a +dagger. _Chonita_ throws herself between the two, and is accidentally +wounded by the American's sword. _Bernal_ is held a prisoner. + +In the third act, _Chonita_ is in bed apparently dying. If she could +only have her lover she would live, she sings; despair is killing her. +_Padre Gabriel_ brings her consolation, and sets a trap for the +Americans. _Burton_ brings _Bernal_ that he may sing a love duet with +_Chonita_. She pleads for _Bernal's_ freedom. "He is not a spy." +_Burton_ stands between love and duty. To give _Chonita_ happiness he +is willing to die. The Americans are suddenly attacked and _Burton_, +throwing down his sword, is killed by Mexican rescuers. _Tomasa_ looks +at _Burton's_ corpse and sums up the whole tragedy: "'Tis true as +ever. Love brings life and death." + + +THE PIPE OF DESIRE + +Opera in one act by Frederick Shepherd Converse. Poem by George +Edwards Barton. + +The scene takes place in a wood during the first day of spring. Elves +flit to and fro performing sundry occupations. One scatters seeds to +the winds. Others remove dead leaves from flowers. They sing of the +awakening of Nature from her sleep through the winter. _Iolan_, a +peasant, is heard singing in the distance. The elves although +reproached by the _Old One_ desire to show themselves to him. _Iolan_ +tells them that he is to wed _Naoia_ tomorrow, and bids them come to +the wedding. The _Old One_ reminds them that it is forbidden to show +themselves to man, and adds that no good can come of it. _Iolan_ +laughs at the _Old One_ and his Pipe. The _Old One_ plays for the +elves to dance, but with misgivings. _Iolan_ still defies the power of +the Pipe. The elves demand that the _Old One_ make him dance and +respect its power. When he cannot resist the music, he snatches the +Pipe and breaks the cord which holds it. The _Old One_ tells him that +it is the Pipe God gave to Lilith, who played it to Adam in Eden, and +that the mortal who now plays the Pipe without understanding its +secret will die when it becomes known to him. _Iolan_, however, puts +the Pipe to his lips. At first only discordant sound, later beautiful +music is his reward. _Iolan_ sees a vision of what he most desires. He +is rich. He owns horses, goats, and wine. _Naoia_, his wife, comes to +him through roses. His children play about the door of their home. He +calls on _Naoia_ to come to him. She comes to him, bleeding. Because +he played the Pipe misfortune has come to her. She dies and _Iolan_ +soon follows her, while the sorrowing elves proclaim that they who die +for love have accomplished their life. + + +SHANEWIS, OR THE ROBIN WOMAN + + An American opera in two parts; book by Nelle Richmond + Eberhardt; music by Charles Wakefield Cadman. Produced at + the Metropolitan Opera House, March 23, 1918, with the + following cast: + + SHANEWIS _Sophie Braslau_ + MRS. EVERTON _Kathleen Howard_ + AMY EVERTON _Marie Sundelius_ + LIONEL _Paul Althouse_ + PHILIP _Thomas Chalmers_ + +An Indian girl, whose voice has been elaborately cultivated, falls in +love with the son of her benefactress. The young man is already +betrothed to _Mrs. Everton's_ daughter. An Indian suitor offers +_Shanewis_ a bow and poisoned arrow which she rejects. When he +discovers that his rival has left _Shanewis_ in ignorance of his +previous betrothal he shoots the gay deceiver, and finishes both the +youth and the opera. + + +THE TEMPLE DANCER + + Opera in one act in English by John Adam Hugo. Libretto by + Jutta Bell-Ranske. Performed for the first time on any stage + at the Metropolitan Opera House, March 12, 1919, with + Florence Easton, Morgan Kingston, and Carl Schlegel. + + CHARACTERS + + TEMPLE DANCER _Soprano_ + GUARD _Tenor_ + YOGA _Bass_ + +The leading dancer of the Temple of Mahadeo has fallen in love with a +youth who is not of her faith. Through her lover's suffering she +realizes the unjust and immoral demands made upon the temple dancers +whose beauty is sold to passers-by in order that jewels may be bought +for Mahadeo. The opera opens with a ceremony in the temple. The great +Mahadeo sits blazing in jewels. _The Dancer_ enters. She has decided +to take the jewels for her lover, who is in want. She considers that +the jewels bought with the price of her beauty are hers, by right. She +pleads for a sign from the god, but as her prayer remains unanswered +she threatens the temple. The returning temple guard, hearing her +imprecations, threatens her with death. To protect herself, she takes +the snake from Mahadeo and winds it around her. She begs to be +permitted to pray before being slain, and in a seductive dance, that +interprets her prayer, fascinates the guard. He promises her his +protection and she pretends to return his passion. In a love scene he +loosens the bands of her outer robe, which falls off. A letter to her +lover tells of her plan to meet him with the stolen jewels. The guard, +enraged, prepares to torture her. But she dances again, and as a last +prayer begs for a drop of water. When the guard brings her the water +she poisons it and persuades him to drink to her courage in facing +death. He drinks and dies cursing her, her laughter, and her mocking +dance. As he dies the dancer calls down curses upon the temple. A +thunderstorm is the answer. Lightning shatters the walls and as the +dancer puts out her hand to take the jewels of the god it strikes her +and she falls dead beside the guard. The priests, returning, see the +bodies of guard and dancer and call upon the gods for protection. The +opera closes with the singing of the hymn of redemption, which +implores forgiveness for the erring spirits of the dead. + + +THE LEGEND + +A lyric tragedy in one act in English by Joseph Breil, with a libretto +by Jacques Byrne. Produced for the first time on any stage at the +Metropolitan Opera House, March 12, 1919, with Rosa Ponselle, Kathleen +Howard, Paul Althouse, and Louis d'Angelo. + +_Count Stackareff_, an impoverished nobleman, lives with his daughter, +_Carmelita_, at his hunting lodge in Muscovadia, a mythical country in +the Balkans. In order to make his living, he leads a double life. By +day he is a courtly nobleman, and by night a bloodthirsty bandit, +_Black Lorenzo_. No one but his daughter knows his secret, and she is +in constant fear of his discovery for there is a price upon his head. +The story opens on a stormy night. _Stackareff_ tells his daughter +that he has captured a wealthy merchant, and is holding him for a +large ransom. He expects the ransom to arrive by messenger at any +moment. If it does not come _Stackareff_ intends to kill the prisoner. +_Carmelita_ not only fears for the safety of her father, but that her +lover _Stephen Pauloff_, whom she met in Vienna, will find out that +she is the daughter of such a rogue, and cast her off. She prays +before the statue of the Virgin that the young man will not discover +her father's double life. _Marta_, an old servant, enters and tells +_Carmelita_ that she has seen _Stephen_ in the woods. He has told her +that he will soon come to see his sweetheart. _Carmelita_ rejoices but +_Marta_ warns her of the legend that on this night the Evil One walks +abroad and knocks at doors. He who opens the door dies within a year. + +_Carmelita_ scoffs and asks _Marta_ to tell her fortune with the +cards. The ace of spades, the death card, presents itself at every +cutting. _Marta_ refuses to explain its significance and leaves her +young mistress bewildered. The storm increases. There are two knocks. +Thinking it is _Stephen_, _Carmelita_ opens the door. No one is there. +She is terrified. Later _Stephen_ arrives. In his arms she for the +moment forgets her fears, but they are soon renewed when her lover +tells her that he has been sent to take the murderous bandit, _Black +Lorenzo_, dead or alive. _Carmelita_ makes the young man swear before +the Virgin that he will never desert her. Then she prepares to elope +with him. + +_Stackareff_ enters, expecting to find the messenger. He is +apprehensive when he sees a soldier at his fireside. _Carmelita's_ +assurance that _Stephen_ is her lover calms his fear. But _Stephen_ in +answer to _Stackareff's_ questions tells him that he is after _Black +Lorenzo_. Again the knocks are heard. _Stackareff_, after shouting at +_Stephen_ that he is his man, escapes through the door. When the young +soldier resists her prayers to desist from pursuing the murderer +_Carmelita_ stabs him. Two soldiers bring in the mortally wounded body +of her father. Realizing that _Carmelita_ has killed their captain +they fire upon her. Their shot rings out through the music of the +finale. + + +NATOMAH + + Opera in three acts by Victor Herbert. First performance on + any stage at the Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, + February 23, 1911, with Miss Mary Garden, Miss Lillian + Grenville, Mr. Huberdeau, Mr. Dufranne, Mr. Sammarco, Mr. + Preisch, Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Nicolay, Mr. McCormack. + + CHARACTERS + + DON FRANCISCO DE LA GUERRA, a noble Spaniard + of the old régime _Bass_ + FATHER PERALTA, Padre of the Mission Church _Bass_ + JUAN BAPTISTA ALVARADO, a young Spaniard _Baritone_ + JOSÉ CASTRO, a half-breed _Baritone_ + PICO } bravos, comrades of Castro _Tenor_ + KAGAMA } _Bass_ + PAUL MERRILL, Lieut. on the U.S. + Brig _Liberty_ _Tenor_ + BARBARA DE LA GUERRA, daughter of + Don Francisco _Soprano_ + NATOMAH, an Indian girl _Soprano_ + +The time is 1820, under the Spanish régime. The scene of Act I is laid +on the Island of Santa Cruz, two hours' sail from the mainland. Act II +takes place in the plaza of the town of Santa Barbara on the mainland, +in front of the Mission Church. Act III represents the interior of the +Mission Church. + +At the beginning of the opera _Don Francisco_ is awaiting the return +from a convent of his only child, _Barbara_. His reverie is +interrupted by the arrival of _Alvarado_ and his comrades _Castro_, +_Pico_, and _Kagama_. _Alvarado_ wishes to marry his cousin _Barbara_ +in order to gain possession of the estates left to her by her mother. +_Castro_ is a half-breed. _Pico_ and _Kagama_ are vaqueros and +hunters. All three have come to the island ostensibly for a wild-boar +hunt, but _Alvarado_ has timed his arrival with the return of his +cousin. + +_Lieutenant Paul Merrill_, an American naval officer, and _Natomah_, a +pure-blooded Indian girl, appear together at the back of the stage. +His ship has dropped anchor in the Bay of Santa Barbara. _Natomah_ has +never seen an American before and she is fascinated by him. She tells +him of a legend of her people. She is the last of her race. During +their childhood she was _Barbara's_ playmate. She tells him of the +young girl's beauty, and imagining that when he sees _Barbara_ he will +fall in love, the Indian girl begs him to permit her to be at least +his slave. _Barbara_ and _Father Peralta_ enter. With the young girl +and _Paul_ it is a case of love at first sight. When all but _Castro_ +and _Natomah_ have gone into the hacienda, the half-breed urges +_Natomah_ to cease spending her time with white people and to follow +him, the leader of her race. _Natomah_ turns from him in disgust. When +they separate, _Alvarado_ serenades _Barbara_ who appears on the +porch. He has heard that she has eyes only for the American. Fearing +to lose time he declares his love. But he does not advance his suit by +taunting her with her infatuation for the American officer. When she +leaves him he swears to have _Paul's_ life. _Castro_ suggests that it +would be better to carry _Barbara_ off. _Natomah_, hidden in an +arbour, overhears them discussing their plans. The next day a fiesta +will be held in honour of _Barbara's_ return. When the festivity is at +its height fast horses will be ready to bear the young girl away to +the mountains where pursuit would be difficult. + +When all the guests have departed, _Barbara_ speaks aloud in the +moonlight of her love for _Paul_. He suddenly appears and they +exchange vows. + +The next act shows the fiesta. _Alvarado_ dances the Habanera with the +dancing-girl _Chiquita_. There is formal ceremony in which the +_Alcalde_ and the leading dignitaries of the town pay tribute to the +young girl on her coming of age. _Alvarado_ begs the honour of dancing +with his cousin. The American ship salutes and _Paul_ arrives with an +escort to pay tribute to the Goddess of the Land, _Barbara_. +_Alvarado_ demands that his cousin continue the dance. A number of +couples join them and the dance changes into the Panuelo or +handkerchief dance of declaration. Each man places his hat upon the +head of his partner. Each girl retains the hat but _Barbara_ who +tosses _Alvarado's_ disdainfully aside. During this time _Natomah_ has +sat motionless upon the steps of the grand-stand. When _Castro_ +approaches in an ugly mood, rails at the modern dances and challenges +someone to dance the dagger dance with him, she draws her dagger and +hurls it into the ground beside the half-breed's. The crowd is +fascinated by the wild dance. Just as _Alvarado_ is about to smother +_Barbara_ in the folds of his serape, _Natomah_, purposely passing +him, plunges her dagger into the would-be abductor. The dance comes to +a sudden stop. _Alvarado_ falls dead. _Paul_ and his escort hold the +crowd at bay. _Natomah_ seeks protection in the Mission Church at the +feet of _Father Peralta_. + +At the opening of the third act _Natomah_ is crooning an Indian +lullaby to herself in the church. She wishes to join her people, but +instead _Father Peralta_ persuades her to enter the convent. + + +MONA + +Opera in three acts. Poem by Brian Hooker. Music by Horatio Parker. +The action takes place during the days of the Roman rule in Britain. +First performance at the Metropolitan, March 4, 1912. + +_Quintus_, son of the Roman _Governor_, by a British captive, has +grown up as one of his mother's people. Known to them as _Gwynn_, he +has won power and position among them as a bard. He is about to marry +_Mona_, foster-child of _Enya_ and _Arth_, and last of the blood of +Boadicea. But a great rebellion is stirred up in Britain by _Caradoc_, +the chief bard, and _Gloom_, the Druid, foster-brother of _Mona_. By +birthright and by old signs and prophecies she is proclaimed leader. +The girl has been taught to hate Rome and to dream of great deeds. +_Gwynn_, fearing to lose _Mona_ and his power, swears fellowship in +the conspiracy. But in spite of this, for urging peace, he is cast off +by _Mona_ and her followers. + +The faithful lover follows her about on her mission to arouse revolt, +prevents the Roman garrisons from seizing her, and secretly saves her +life many times. The _Governor_, his father, blames him for this, but +he replies that through _Mona_ he will yet keep the tribes from war. +The _Governor_ lays all the responsibility upon his shoulders. He +promises to spare the Britons if they remain passive, but swears to +crush them without mercy if they attack. _Gwynn_ meets _Mona_ just +before the battle and so moves her love for him that she becomes his +creature from that moment. Triumphantly he begins to tell her of his +plans for peace. Suddenly she seems to realize that he is a Roman, and +calls the Britons to her aid. Still, she lies to save his life. The +youth is made prisoner and led by _Mona_ and the bards against the +Roman town. + +The rebellion is crushed. _Arth_ and _Gloom_ are slain. _Gwynn_, +coming upon them and _Mona_, tells her of his parentage and pleads for +assistance. But having believed him a traitor, she now thinks him a +liar and slays him. The _Governor_ and his soldiers take her captive. +From them she learns that _Gwynn_ had spoken the truth. + + +CYRANO + + Opera in four acts by Walter Damrosch. Book by William J. + Henderson after the drama by Edmond Rostand. First + performance on any stage at the Metropolitan Opera House, + February 27, 1913, with Pasquale Amato as _Cyrano_, Frances + Alda as _Roxane_, and Riccardo Martin as _Christian_. + + CHARACTERS + + CYRANO DE BERGERAC _Baritone_ + ROXANE _Soprano_ + DUENNA _Alto_ + LISE _Soprano_ + A FLOWER GIRL _Soprano_ + RAGUENEAU _Tenor_ + CHRISTIAN _Bass_ + DE GUICHE _Bass_ + LE BRET _Bass_ + A TALL MUSKETEER _Tenor_ + MONTFLEURY _Bass_ + FIRST CAVALIER _Bass_ + SECOND CAVALIER _Tenor_ + THIRD CAVALIER _Bass_ + A CADET _Tenor_ + +Act I. Interior of the Hôtel de Bourgogne. Act II. "The Poet's Eating +House," _Ragueneau's_ cook and pastry shop. Act III. A small square in +the Old Marais. Act IV, Scene 1. Entrenchment at the siege of Arras. +Scene 2. A convent garden near the field of battle. + +Rostand's play was first produced, October, 1898, by Richard +Mansfield, and repeated in subsequent seasons. In 1900 it was given in +French by Bernhardt and Coquelin. The libretto of the opera follows +the play closely. Mr. Henderson retained and successfully remodelled +the main incidents of the drama. The operatic version begins at the +Hôtel de Bourgogne where "La Clorise" is to be played. _Cyrano_ orders +the leading actor off the stage because he has dared to cast insolent +glances at his cousin _Roxane_, whom _Cyrano_ loves but dares not woo +because of the deformity of his hideous nose. _Roxane_, from a box, +sees in the audience the man with whom she has fallen in love, +although she has never met him. _Cyrano_ fights a duel with _De +Guiche_, a married suitor of _Roxane_, and pricks him in the arm. +Elated at the prospect of a meeting with his cousin arranged through +her duenna, _Cyrano_ rushes off to disperse one hundred men who are +waiting to kill one of his friends. + +In Act II, _Cyrano_ is at _Ragueneau's_ shop waiting for his cousin. +He writes an ardent love letter, intending to give it to her. His +hopes are high, but they are dashed to the ground when _Roxane_ tells +him of her love for _Christian_, who is to join her cousin's regiment +that day. _Cyrano_ promises to watch over _Christian_. He bears his +insults and agrees to woo _Roxane_ for _Christian_ by his wit and +verse. He even sacrifices his own love letter. + +In Act III, _Christian_ rebels at the second-hand love-making. But +when _Roxane_ is disgusted with his commonplaces he is glad to turn +again to _Cyrano_. Under cover of night, _Cyrano_ courts _Roxane_ +beneath her balcony. She is delighted and rewards her lover with a +kiss. _De Guiche_ sends a priest with a letter in which he attempts to +gain an interview with her. _Roxane_ tells the priest that the letter +contains an order for him to perform the marriage ceremony. While +_Cyrano_ keeps _De Guiche_ outside the lovers are married. In revenge, +_De Guiche_ orders the Gascon regiment of which _Cyrano_ and +_Christian_ are both members to the war. + +In the last act, _Roxane_ visits the entrenchment at the siege of +Arras. Her carriage is driven by the faithful _Ragueneau_. _Cyrano's_ +love letters, ostensibly from _Christian_, have prompted her coming. +Her husband realizes that the man she really loves is _Cyrano_, +although she believes it to be _Christian_. He leaves the cousins +alone, urging _Cyrano_ to tell the truth. He is soon brought back, +mortally wounded. _Cyrano_ assures him that he has told _Roxane_ of +the deception and that _Christian_ is the man she loves. + +The second scene takes place in a convent. _Cyrano_, wounded and +dying, visits _Roxane_. He begs to see her husband's last letter. +Forgetting himself, he recites it in the dusk. Thus he betrays his +love. But when _Roxane_ realizes the truth he denies it, "dying," as +he declares, "without a stain upon his soldier's snow-white plume." + + +THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS + + Opera in four acts by Reginald de Koven. Book by Percy + Mackaye. Produced for the first time on any stage at the + Metropolitan Opera House, March 8, 1917, with the following + cast: + + CHAUCER _Johannes Sembach_ + THE WIFE OF BATH _Margaret Ober_ + THE PRIORESS _Edith Mason_ + THE SQUIRE _Paul Althouse_ + KING RICHARD II _Albert Reiss_ + JOHANNA _Marie Sundelius_ + THE FRIAR _Max Bloch_ + JOANNES _Pietro Audisio_ + MAN OF LAW _Robert Leonhardt_ + THE MILLER _Basil Ruysdael_ + THE HOST _Giulio Rossi_ + THE HERALD _Riccardo Tegani_ + TWO GIRLS { _Marie Tiffany_ + { _Minnie Egener_ + THE PARDONER _Julius Bayer_ + THE SUMMONER _Carl Schlegel_ + THE SHIPMAN _Mario Laurenti_ + THE COOK _Pompilio Malatesta_ + + Conductor, Bodanzky + +The time is April, 1387; the place, England. _Chaucer_, first +poet-laureate of England, travelling incognito with pilgrims from +London to Canterbury, encounters _Alisoun_, the _Wife of Bath_, a +woman of the lower middle class, buxom, canny, and full of fun, who +has had five husbands, and is looking for a sixth. She promptly falls +in love with _Chaucer_ who, instead of returning her sprightly +attentions, conceives a high, serious, poetic affection for the +_Prioress_. She is a gentlewoman, who, according to the custom of the +time, is both ecclesiastical and secular, having taken no vows. + +The _Wife of Bath_, however, is determined to win her man. Devising a +plan for this, she wagers that she will be able to get from the +_Prioress_ the brooch, bearing the inscription "Amor Vincit Omnia," +that this lady wears upon her wrist. Should _Alisoun_ win, _Chaucer_ +is bound by compact to marry her. After much plotting and by means of +a disguise, the _Wife of Bath_ wins her bet, and _Chaucer_ ruefully +contemplates the prospect of marrying her. In his plight he appeals to +_King Richard II_, who announces that the _Wife of Bath_ may marry a +sixth time if she chooses, but only on condition that her prospective +bridegroom be a miller. A devoted miller, who has long courted her, +joyfully accepts the honour, and the opera ends with a reconciliation +between _Chaucer_ and the _Prioress_. + +Mr. Mackaye in speaking of his libretto at the time of the production +of the opera had this to say: + +"In writing 'The Canterbury Pilgrims' one of my chief incentives was +to portray, for a modern audience, one of the greatest poets of all +times in relation to a group of his own characters. As a romancer of +prolific imagination and dramatic insight, Chaucer stands shoulder to +shoulder with Shakespeare. For English speech he achieved what Dante +did for Italian, raising a local dialect to a world language. + +"Yet the fourteenth-century speech of Chaucer is just archaic enough +to make it difficult to understand in modern times. Consequently his +works are little known today, except by students of English +literature. + +"To make it more popularly known I prepared a few years ago (with +Professor J.S.P. Tatlock) 'The Modern Readers' Chaucer'; and I wrote +for Mr. E.H. Sothern in 1903 my play 'The Canterbury Pilgrims,' which +since then has been acted at many American universities by the Coburn +Players, and in book form is used by many Chaucer classes. + +"In the spring of 1914, at the suggestion of Mr. De Koven, I +remodelled the play in the form of opera, condensing its plot and +characters to the more simple essentials appropriate to operatic +production. Thus focussed, the story depicts Chaucer--the humorous, +democratic, lovable poet of Richard Second's court--placed between two +contrasted feminine characters, the _Prioress_, a shy, religious-minded +gentlewoman, who has retired from the world, but has as yet taken no +vows; and the _Wife of Bath_, a merry, sensual, quick-witted hoyden of +the lower middle class, hunting for a sixth husband. These three, with +many other types of old England, are pilgrims, en route from London to +the shrine of Thomas à Becket, at Canterbury. + +"Becoming jealous of the _Prioress_, the _Wife of Bath_ makes a bet +with _Chaucer_ concerning the gentlewoman's behaviour--a bet which she +wins by a trick in the third act, only to lose it in the fourth. + +"The work is a comedy in blank verse of various metres, interspersed +with rhythmed lyrics. For the first time, I believe, in drama of any +language, it inaugurates on the stage the character of the famous +first poet-laureate of England--the 'Father of English Literature.'" + +Mr. De Koven also tells how he came to compose the music: + +"I have often been asked the question why I have never before now +written a work in the larger operatic form, and my answer has always +been that I was waiting until I could find a really good book. For an +opera libretto that successfully meets the requirements of a lyric +work of this class, which is primarily for and of the stage, in the +way of dramatic interest, development and climax, a poetic knowledge +of the possibilities and limitations of the English language when +sung, and those visual and picturesque qualities in the story which +alone can make the unreal conditions of opera, _per se_, either +plausible or intelligible, is about as rare as the proverbial white +crow--as many gifted composers have found to their cost. + +"All these requirements are, I think, fulfilled in the really charming +libretto which Mr. Mackaye has written in 'The Canterbury Pilgrims,' +which came to me unsought as it were. As a member of a committee for +choosing plays to be used in settlement work on the East Side, my wife +read Mr. Mackaye's earlier play of the same name, and told me she +thought it contained excellent operatic material. Agreeing with her, I +went to Mr. Mackaye and suggested the idea to him. He agreed with me +and soon afterwards, early in 1914, we set to work. To adapt a play of +over 17,000 words for operatic purposes by merely cutting it was +manifestly impossible. Entire reconstruction, both in structure and +language, was necessary, and this Mr. Mackaye has so successfully +accomplished that in my judgment his libretto, as an artistic whole, +is far superior to his earlier play. + +"I took the first act with me when I went abroad in March, 1914, and +the entire opera, begun October 10, 1914, was finished on December 21, +1915, during which time I lived at Vevey, Switzerland, amid, and yet +far from, wars and rumours of wars. + +"As to my part of the work, the characters of Mr. Mackaye's story, +whose essentially old English atmosphere appealed to me strongly from +the first, naturally suggested Verdi's 'Falstaff' as a model in a +sense. But Verdi abjured the leit motif or motto theme, and I had +always felt that Wagner's theory, applied in some form, was the true +basis of construction for all musico-dramatic work. Yet again it +always seemed to me that, save in the hands of a consummate master, +the leit motif, pushed to its logical development, was only too apt to +become tiresome, obscure, and ineffective. So, after much +consideration, I bethought me of the very way in which Massenet in +'Manon' had used a limited number of what might be called recurrent +themes--such as the one for 'Des Grieux'--and made up my mind to try +what could be done along these simpler and more plastic lines. + +"So, without attempting to describe pictorially in music, swords, +tarnhelms, or dragons, or to weave music into an intricate +contrapuntal work, I have in 'The Canterbury Pilgrims,' while +following closely the spirit and meaning of Mr. Mackaye's poetic text, +attributed a number of saliently melodic themes to the characters, +incidents, and even material objects of the story, and when these +recur in or are suggested by the text the attributive themes recur +with them, so that, as I hope, they may be readily recognizable by +the untechnical opera-goer and aid him in following this story and +action. + +"Just a word in regard to the English language as a medium for opera +and song. As Mr. Gatti says that a typical operatic audience in Italy, +knowing their own language and generally familiar with both text and +story of their operas, only expect to understand about half the words +as sung, owing to the very conditions of opera itself, may it not be +fairly said that American audiences who go to hear operas in English, +expecting to understand every word, expect the impossible, and should +be more reasonable in their demands? + +"Again, I have always contended and maintained that the English +language, properly used, is an entirely singable language, and as so +far during the rehearsals of 'The Canterbury Pilgrims' none of the +artists has seemed to find any great difficulty in singing in English +beyond that inherent to a certain lack of familiarity with the +language itself, it looks as if my contention stands at least a fair +chance of being admitted." + + + + +Spanish Opera + + +During the winter of 1915-16 the interest in Spanish music was at its +height in New York. Enrique Granados, a distinguished Spanish composer +and pianist, came to the city to superintend the production of his +opera, "Goyescas," sung in Spanish at the Metropolitan. Pablo Casals, +the famous Spanish 'cellist, and Miguel Llobet, virtuoso of the +guitar, were making frequent appearances. La Argentina was dancing, +and Maria Barrientos made her début at the Metropolitan. In the season +of 1917-18 the Spanish craze culminated in "The Land of Joy," a +musical revue which came first to the Park Theatre, then was +transferred to the Knickerbocker Theatre. The music was by Joaquin +Valverde, fils, and the entertainment was an entrancing blend of +colour and intoxicating rhythms, with the dancing of the passionate +gipsy, Doloretes, as the most amazing and vivid feature. + + +GOYESCAS + +The characters and setting of the opera are suggested by the work of +the Spanish painter Goya. The opera opens with a crowd of _majas_ and +_majos_ enjoying a holiday on the outskirts of Madrid. Some of the +_majas_ are engaged in the popular pastime of tossing the _pelele_ (a +man of straw) in a blanket. _Paquiro_ the toreador is paying +compliments to the women. _Pepa_, his sweetheart of the day, arrives +in her dogcart. Popular, she is warmly welcomed. Soon _Rosario_, a +lady of rank, arrives in her sedan-chair to keep a tryst with her +lover, _Fernando_, a captain in the Royal Spanish Guards. _Paquiro_ +reminds her of a _baile de candil_ (a ball given in a room lit by +candlelight) which she once attended. He invites her to go again. +_Fernando_ overhears his remarks. His jealousy is aroused. He informs +_Paquiro_ that _Rosario_ shall go to the ball, but that he, +_Fernando_, will accompany her. He extracts _Rosario's_ promise to go +with him, while _Pepa_, enraged by _Paquiro's_ neglect, vows vengeance +upon her. + +The second tableau shows the scene at the ball. _Fernando_ appears +with _Rosario_. His haughty bearing and disdainful speech anger all +present. The two men arrange for a duel that evening, and when +_Rosario_ recovers from a swoon, _Fernando_ takes her away. + +The third tableau reveals _Rosario's_ garden. _Fernando_ visits her +before keeping his appointment with _Paquiro_. When a bell strikes the +fatal hour, _Fernando_ tears himself away. He is followed hesitatingly +by _Rosario_. Soon the silence is broken by a cry from _Fernando_, +followed by a shriek from _Rosario_. The lovers reappear. _Rosario_ +supports _Fernando_ to a stone bench where he dies in her arms. + +Enrique Granados, perhaps the first important composer from Spain to +visit North America, was born July 27, 1867, at Lerida, Catalonia. He +died March 24, 1916, a passenger on the _Sussex_, torpedoed in the +English Channel. The libretto for his "Goyescas" is by Fernando +Periquet. + + + + +INDEX + + + NOTE: In setting this index, different faces of type have + been used as follows: + + For operas, thus: =Aïda=. + For characters, thus: Rhadames. + For singers, thus: _Eames_. + For composers, thus: VERDI. + + + A + + Abimelech, 725 + + Adalgisa, 326 ff. + + ADAM, ADOLPHE CHARLES, 467, 497 + + _Adams, Suzanne_, 45, 516 + + Adina, 335 ff. + + Adriano, 94 ff. + + Æneas, 539, 541 + + Aennchen, 64 ff. + + Afron, Prince, 829 + + Aegisthus, 804 + + Agathe, 64 ff. + + Agnes, 816 + + Agramente, Mother, 765 + + Ah-Joe, 686 ff. + + =Aïda=, 1, 6, 7, 90, 433, 438, 439, 466, 602, 618, 672 + + Alain, 728 + + Alberich, 89, 141, 148, 208 + + Albert, 748 + + _Alboni_, 306, 308 + + =Alceste=, 493 + + Alcindoro, 643 ff. + + _Alda, Frances_, 458, 466, 602, 680, 762, 841 + + =Alessandro Stradella=, 559 + + Alessio, 319 ff. + + Alfio, 612 ff. + + Alfonso, 52, 53, 496 + + Alfonso XI., 359 ff. + + Ali, 762 + + Alice, 343 ff., 501 ff. + + Aline, 767 + + Alisa, 343 + + Allaine, 760 + + Almaviva, 308 + + Almaviva, Count, 23 ff., 295 ff. + + Almaviva, Countess, 23 ff. + + Almério, 762 + + _Alston, Elizabeth_, 23 + + _Althouse, Paul_, 834, 836, 843 + + Altichiara, 680 ff. + + Alvar, Don, 524 ff. + + Alvarado, Juan Baptista, 838 + + _Alvarez, M._, 458, 516, 543, 736, 745 + + Alvaro, Don, 437 ff. + + _Alvary, Max_, 69, 140, 148, 191, 208, 227 + + Alvise, 482 ff. + + _Amato, Pasquale_, 14, 427, 475, 482, 587, 602, 622, 639, 674, 680, + 690, 707, 841 + + _Ambré, Mme._, 586 + + Ambrosio, 295 + + Amelfa, 829 + + Amelia (Adelia), 427 ff. + + Amfortas, 272 ff. + + =Amico Fritz, L'=, 618 ff. + + Amina, 319 ff. + + Amneris, 439 ff. + + _Amodio_, 402, 416, 531 + + Amonasro, 439 ff. + + Amor, God of Love, 9 ff. + + =Amore Medici, L'=, 698 + + Anacoana, 718 ff. + + _Ananian, Paolo_, 765 + + _Ancona_, 359, 602, 628 + + Andrès, 724 + + =André Chénier=, 712 ff. + + Andromache, 539 + + ANGELINO, 638 + + _Angelo_ (Director), 434 + + Angelotti, Cesare, 653 ff. + + Angioletta, 765 + + _Angrisani, Carlo_, 44, 295 + + Anita, 746 + + Anna, 523 ff., 541, 639, 720, 764 + + =Anna Bolena=, 334 + + Anne, 466 ff. + + Annetta, 718 ff. + + Annina, 416 ff., 807 + + _Anschütz, Carl_ (Director), 69 + + Antipas, Herod, 801 + + _Antognini, Signor_, 333 + + Antonia, 724 + + Antonio, 23 ff., 367 ff., 581 ff., 622 ff. + + =Aphrodite=, 756 ff. + + _Araline, Mme._, 62 + + Araquil, 746 + + ARBELL, LUCY (Librettist), 750 + + Archibaldo, 690 ff. + + _Arden, Cecil_, 765 + + ARDITI, 306 + + Ariadne, 813 + + =Ariadne= (=Arianna=), 5 + + =Ariadne auf Naxos=, 813 + + Ariane, 759 ff. + + =Ariane et Barbe-Bleue=, 759 + + =Arianna= (=Ariadne=), 5 + + Ariofarno, 715 + + Arkel, 752 ff. + + Arlecchino, 705 ff., 814 + + =Armide=, 8, 20, 85, 493 + + Armide, 14 ff. + + Armuth, Lena, 721 + + Arnold, 313 ff. + + _Arnoldson, Sigrid_, 748 + + Arnolfo, 706 + + Arontes, 15 ff. + + Arrigo, 436 ff. + + Arsaces, 310 ff. + + =Artaxerxes=, 4 + + Artemidore, 15 ff. + + Arth, 840 + + Arturo, 343 + + Ascanio, 536 ff. + + Ascanius, 539, 541 + + Asdrubale, Don, 719 + + Ashby, 674 ff. + + Ashton, Lord Henry, 343 ff. + + Assad, 773 + + Assur, 310 ff. + + Astaroth, 773 + + Astolfo, 339 ff. + + Astyonax, 539 + + Astrofiammante, Queen of the Night, 45 + + Asvezel Moslain, Khan, 767 + + Athanaël, 732 + + =Attaque du Moulin, L'=, 758 ff. + + AUBER, DANIEL FRANÇOIS ESPRIT, 2, 306, 426, 496, 498, 510 + + _Audisio, Pietro_, 765, 844 + + Autharite, 752 + + Avito, 690 ff. + + Azema, 310 ff. + + Azucena, 403 ff. + + + B + + Baal Hanau, 773 + + Bacchis, 757 + + Bacchus, 813 + + _Bada, Angelo_, 765 + + _Baglioni, Antonio_, 32 + + Bahis, Dr., 706 + + _Baklanoff, Georges_, 767 + + Balducci, 536 ff. + + BALFE, 467 + + =Ballo in Maschera, Un=, 426, 438 + + Balthazar, 359 ff. + + _Bandrowski, Alexander Van_, 830 + + Baptista, 772 + + Barbarina, 23 ff. + + =Barber of Bagdad, The=, 770 + + =Barber of Seville=, 7, 22, 25, 295, 307, 308, 315, 376, 742 + + BARBIER, JULES (Librettist), 23, 531, 535, 562, 565, 574, 580, 585, 723 + + _Barbieri, Mme._, 44 + + Bardolph, 466 ff. + + _Barili, Clothilda_, 367 + + Barnaba, 482 ff. + + Baroncello, 94 ff. + + _Barré_, 585 + + _Barrientos, Maria_, 849 + + _Bartet, Miss_, 728 + + Bartolo, 719 + + Bartolo, Doctor, 23 ff., 295 ff. + + BARTON, GEORGE EDWARDS (Librettist), 833 + + Basilio, 295 + + _Bassett, Charles_, 612 + + _Bassi, Signor_, 32, 699 + + Bastien, 52 + + =Bastien and Bastienne=, 51 + + Bastienne, 52 + + BATKA, RICHARD (Libretttist), 781, 788 + + _Bayer, Julius_, 272, 776, 844 + + _Beale, Kittie_, 765 + + Beatrice, 583, 704 ff. + + =Beatrice and Benedict=, 538 + + BEAUMARCHAIS (Librettist), 23 + + Beckmesser, Sixtus, 246 ff. + + BEETHOVEN, 22, 54, 55, 56, 77 + + _Behne, Harriet_, 665 + + Belcore, 335 ff. + + _Belhomme_, M., 724 + + BELL-RANSKE, JUTTA (Librettist), 834 + + Bellangère, 760 + + _Bellati_, 665 + + _Bellini, Laura_, 612 + + BELLINI, VINCENZO, 1, 318 ff., 325, 329, 334, 376, 493, 608 + + Benedict, 538 + + BENELLI, SEM (Librettist), 690 + + Benjamin, 495 + + Benoit, 643 ff. + + Benson, Mrs., 725 + + =Benvenuto Cellini=, 535 ff. + + Benvolio, 575 ff. + + Beppe, 619 ff., 628 ff. + + Berardengo, Ser Toldo, 680 ff. + + _Bérat, Louis_, 699 + + _Bergmann, Carl_ (Director), 63, 107 + + BERGMÜLLER, ROBERT, 559 + + BERLIOZ, HECTOR, 13, 63, 78, 85, 535, 542 + + Bernal, 832 + + Bernardino, 536 ff. + + BERNÈDE, ARTHUR (Librettist), 749 + + BERNHARD, A. (Librettist), 825 + + Bersi, 713 ff. + + Berta, 295 + + Bertel, 781 + + Bertha, 516 ff. + + BERTONI, FERNANDINO, 12 + + Bertram, the Unknown, 501 + + Bervoix, Flora, 416 ff. + + Besenbinder, Der, 776 + + =Betrothed, The= (=I Promessi Sposi=), 481 + + _Bettaque, Katti_, 148 + + _Bettini_, 501 + + _Betz_, 89 + + BEY, MARIETTE (Librettist), 439 + + _Beyle, Leon_, 756 + + _Biachi, Hannibal_, 562 + + Bianca, 772 + + Biancofiore, 680 ff. + + Biaso, 699 ff. + + BIELSKY, V., 829 + + BIERBAUM, OTTO JULIUS (Librettist), 791 + + _Bignardi_, 386 + + BIS (Librettist), 317 + + _Bischoff, A._, 163 + + _Bispham, David_, 52, 227, 375, 830 + + BISHOP, HENRY ROWLEY, 30 + + _Bishop, Mme. Anna_, 546 + + Biterolf, 107 ff. + + BIZET, GEORGES, 2, 494, 510, 586, 601, 603, 728 + + Black Lorenzo, 836 + + Blanchefleur, 788 + + _Blass, M._, 272, 830 + + BLAU, EDOUARD (Librettist), 742, 747 + + BLECH, 781 + + _Bloch, Max_, 772, 844 + + Blue-Beard, 759 ff. + + _Blum, A._, 163 + + Bobadilla, 718 ff. + + BODANZKY, ARTUR, 769, 773, 844 + + =Bohème, La= (Leoncavallo), 628 + + =Bohème, La= (Puccini), 638, 643 ff. + + _Bohner, Mrs. Jennie_, 612 + + BOIELDIEU, FRANÇOIS ADRIEN, 495 + + BOÏTO, ARRIGO (Librettist), 458, 466, 474, 480, 482, 715 + + Bombardon, 779 + + _Bonci_, 329, 372, 639 + + _Bondini, Teresa_, 32 + + Boniface, 747 + + _Bonnard_, 745 + + Bonze, The, 665 ff. + + _Borghese, Signora_, 333 + + Borgia, Lucrezia, 339 ff. + + _Bori_, 620, 686, 690 + + =Boris Godounoff=, 822 + + BORODIN, 819 + + Borov, 720 + + Borsa, 387 ff. + + _Bosio, Signorina_, 501, 503 + + Bostana, 771 + + Botta, 620, 686 + + BOUILLY (Librettist), 55 + + Boy, 440 + + _Braendle, Miss_, 272 + + Brander, 543 ff. + + Brangäne, 227 ff. + + _Brandt, Marianne_, 62, 69, 117, 163, 236, 272, 516 + + _Braun_, 18, 504 + + Braun, 781 + + _Braslau, Sophie_, 834 + + Brayole, Captain, 788 + + BREIL, JOSEPH, 836 + + _Brema_, 516 + + _Bressler-Gianoli_, 586, 602 + + Bret, Le, 841 + + BREUNING (Librettist), 54 + + _Bréval, Lucienne_, 729, 752 + + _Bridewell, Carrie_, 752 + + Brighella, 814 + + _Brignoli_, 339, 402, 416, 513, 585 + + _Broschi, Carlo_, 4 + + _Brough_, 319 + + BRÜLL, 779 + + BRUNEAU, ALFRED, 758 + + Brünnhilde, 7, 89, 140, 142, 146, 164, 208 + + Bucklaw, Lord Arthur, 343 ff. + + BUNGE, RUDOLF (Librettist), 784 + + _Burgstaller_, 272 + + Burton, 832 + + Butterfly, Madam (Cio-Cio-San), 665 ff. + + =Butterfly, Madama=, 638, 644, 664 + + BYRNE, JACQUES (Librettist), 836 + + + C + + Cadi, 762 + + CADMAN, CHARLES WAKEFIELD, 834 + + CAIN, HENRI (Librettist), 743, 745, 749 + + Cajus, Dr., 466 ff. + + Calatrava, Marquis di, 437 ff. + + Caliph, The, 771 + + =Calife de Bagdad, Le=, 495 + + Callidès, 756 ff. + + _Calvé, Mme._, 475, 543, 564, 586, 602, 604, 612, 618, 745 + + CALZABIGI, RANIERO DI (Librettist), 9 + + =Cambiale di Matrimonio, La=, 294 + + CAMMARANO, SALVATORE (Librettist), 343, 372, 402 + + _Campanari_, 23, 628 + + =Campanello di Notte, Il=, 334, 374 ff. + + _Campanini, Cleofante_ (Director), 354, 458, 466, 611, 665, 699 + + _Campanini, Italo_, 117, 343, 354, 359, 402, 437, 440, 475, 503, 531, + 546, 562, 586, 587 + + _Campbell, Miss_, 612 + + Canio, 628 ff. + + _Canissa, Pauline_, 163 + + =Canterbury Pilgrims, The=, 843 + + _Capoul_, 575, 580 + + Capulet, Count, 575 ff. + + Caradoc, 840 + + Carlos, Don, 377, 437, 438 + + Carmela, 699 ff. + + Carmelita, 836 + + =Carmen=, 2, 303, 510, 586, 587, 603 + + Caroline, Queen, 708 ff. + + CARRÉ, MICHEL (Librettist), 2, 531, 562, 565, 574, 580, 585, 603, 723 + + _Caruso_, 14, 335, 337, 339, 343, 354, 386, 388, 402, 412, 426, 475, + 482, 504, 516, 546, 564, 587, 602, 604, 611, 620, 622, 640, 665, 674, 714 + + _Cary, Annie Louise_, 117, 359, 402, 437, 440, 475, 503, 585 + + _Case, Anna_, 807 + + Cassandra, 539 + + Cassio, 459 ff. + + _Castelmary_, 557 + + Castiglione, 765 + + CASTIL-BLAZE (Librettist), 299, 307 + + =Castor and Pollux=, 1 + + Castro, José, 675, 838 + + CATALINA, ALFRED, 719 + + Caterina, 619 ff. + + Catherine, 530 + + CAVALIERI, CATERINA, 43 + + _Cavalieri, Lina_, 640, 715, 749 + + =Cavalleria Rusticana=, 609, 610, 612, 626, 698, 707, 746 + + CAVALLI, 5 + + Cavaradossi, Mario, 652 ff. + + Cellini, Benvenuto, 536 ff. + + =Cendrillon=, 728, 745 + + Ceprano, Count, 386 ff. + + Ceprano, Countess, 387 ff. + + Cesano,765 + + =Cesare Borgia=, 627 + + _Cesarini, Duke_ (Director), 300 + + _Chaliapine_, 475 + + _Chalmers, Thomas_, 762, 834 + + Chappelou, 497 + + _Chapuis_, 601 + + Charles, Vicomte de Sirval, 367 ff. + + Charlotte, 748 + + Charming, Prince, 745 + + CHARPENTIER, GUSTAVE, 750 + + Chaucer, 843 + + =Chemineau, Le=, 766 + + Chénier, André, 713 ff. + + CHERUBINI, LUIGI, 493, 494 + + Cherubino, 23 ff. + + Chiarina, 765 + + Chim-Fen, 686 ff. + + Chimaris, 757 + + Chimène, 742 + + Chonita, 832 + + CHOPIN, 306 + + CHORLEY (Librettist), 574 + + Choroebus, 539 + + Christian, 841 + + Christine, 779 + + Chrysis, 757 + + Chrysothemis, 804 + + Ciccillo, 699 ff. + + =Cid, Le=, 742 + + Cieca, La, 482 ff. + + Cinderella, 745 + + _Cinti-Damoreau, Mlle._, 501 + + CIVINI, G., 674 + + CLARETIE, JULES (Librettist), 745 + + _Clarke, Payne_, 612 + + Claudio, 538 + + =Clemenza di Tito=, 51 + + Cleo, 788 + + Cleopatra, 750 + + =Cléopâtre=, 750 + + Clitandro, 706 + + Clotilda, 326 ff. + + Clytemnestra, 804 + + Cochenille, 724 + + Colas, 52, 779 + + COLAUTTI (Librettist), 720 + + _Coletti_, 503, 562 + + _Colin_, 562 + + _Collin, M._, 724 + + Colline, 643 ff. + + Colombina, 704 ff. + + Colombo, Cristoforo, 717 ff. + + Colonna, Steffano, 94 ff. + + Comare, La, 719 + + Concetta, 699 ff. + + =Conchita=, 685, 716 + + Conchita, 716 ff. + + _Conried, Heinrich_ (Director), 272, 612, 804 + + =Contes d'Hoffmann, Les=, 723 + + CONVERSE, FREDERICK SHEPHERD, 832, 833 + + Coppélius, 724 + + =Coq d'Or, Le=, 828 + + _Coquelin_, 728 + + _Cordier_, 531 + + Corentino, 531 ff. + + CORMON (Librettist), 603 + + CORNEILLE, 742 + + CORNELIUS, PETER, 769, 770 + + =Corregidor, Der=, 792 + + _Corsi, Pini_, 674 + + =Cortez, Fernando=, 80 + + Cortez, 765 + + Cosse, 504 ff. + + =Così Fan Tutte=, 24, 52 + + COSTA, 63, 78 + + _Crabbe, Mr._, 837 + + _Cremonini_, 359, 652 + + =Crepusculum=, 627 + + Crespel, 724 + + =Cricket on the Hearth, The=, 775 + + Crisogono, 721 + + =Crispino e La Comare=, 718 ff. + + Crispino, 718 ff. + + =Cristoforo Colombo=, 717 ff. + + _Crivelli, Signor_, 295 + + Cuno, 63 ff. + + Cyril, 720 + + =Cyrano de Bergerac=, 832, 841 + + =Czar und Zimmermann= (=Czar and Carpenter=), 80 + + + D + + =Dafne=, 4 + + Daland, 98 ff. + + Dalila, 725 + + _Dalmorès, Charles_, 543, 587, 602, 749 + + =Dame Blanche, La=, 495 + + Damian, 784 + + =Damnation de Faust, La=, 535, 542 ff. + + _Damrosch, Dr. Leopold_ (Director), 62, 90, 107, 163, 498, 523, 542, 830 + + DAMROSCH, WALTER, 832, 841 + + _d'Angelo, Louis_, 836 + + Danielo, 765 + + Danish Knight, The, 15 ff. + + DA PONTE, LORENZO (Librettist), 29, 30, 31, 44, 52 + + David, 247 ff., 619 ff. + + DÉBUSSY, 2, 752 + + _Defrère, Désiré_, 767 + + D'ENNERY, M. (Librettist), 742 + + _de Gebel, Frida_, 163 + + DE GRAMONT, LOUIS (Librettist), 756 + + DE KOVEN, REGINALD, 843 + + DELAVIGNE (Librettist), 496, 501 + + DELDEVEZ, EDOUARD, 559 + + DELIBES, 724 + + _Delmas, M._, 736 + + _Delpouget, M._, 736 + + _Del Puente_, 402, 503, 562, 586, 612, 736 + + _de Luca, Giuseppe_, 628, 665, 762 + + _Demellin_, 756 + + Démétrios, 756 ff. + + _de Reszke, Édouard_, 45, 208, 227, 246, 440, 503, 516, 523 + + _de Reszke, Jean_, 23, 45, 140, 208, 227, 246, 426, 503, 516, 523, + 542, 575, 563, 586, 736, 748 + + DESCHAMPS (Librettist), 503 + + _Deschamps-Jéhin, Mme._, 750 + + Desdemona, 459 ff. + + _de Segurola, Andrés_, 674, 762 + + Desfonandres, Dr., 706 + + Despina, 52 + + Despréaux, 707 ff. + + d'Este, Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, 339 ff. + + _Destinn, E._, 427, 466, 475, 482, 504, 665, 674 + + =Deux Journées, Les=, 493 + + Diable, Le, 728 + + Diana, 18 ff. + + Dido, 541 + + _Didur, Adamo_, 516, 622, 674, 686, 690, 765, 776 + + Diego, Don, 524 ff., 742 + + Diemut, 797 + + _Dilthey, Minnie_, 9 + + Dimitri, the Pretender, 822 + + _di Murska, Ilma_, 531 + + _Dinh-Gilly_, 674 + + Dinorah, 531 ff. + + =Dinorah, ou le Pardon de Ploërmel=, 500, 530 + + Di Silva, Don Ruy Gomez, 377 ff. + + =Djamileh=, 605 + + Djamileh, 605 + + Dmitri, 720 + + d'Obigny, Marquis, 416 ff. + + Dodon, King, 828 + + _Dolci, Alessandro_, 720 + + Dominique, 759 + + Donati, 679 + + =Don Carlos=, 437, 441 + + Donella, 680 ff. + + DONIZETTI, 1, 308, 334, 359, 366, 372, 376, 493, 608 + + =Donne Curiose, Le=, 698, 704 + + Donner, 89, 148 + + Dorabella, 52 + + D'ORINVILLE (Librettist), 720 + + Doris, 788 + + _Dorus, Mlle._, 501 + + Dot, 775 + + Douphol, Baron, 416 ff. + + =Duca d'Alba, Il=, 366 + + _Dufranne, Mr._, 729, 837 + + _Dufriche_, 652, 745, 752 + + DUKAS, PAUL, 759 + + Dulcamara, 335 ff. + + Dulcinée, La belle, 743 ff. + + DU LOCLE, CAMILLE (Librettist), 752 + + _Duprez_, 313, 343 + + Durham, Lady Harriet, 546 ff. + + Dursel, 788 + + =Dusk of the Gods, The=, 89 + + Dutchman, The, 98 + + DUVAL, ALEXANDER (Librettist), 495 + + DU WAILLY (Librettist), 535 + + + E + + _Eames, Emma_, 23, 140, 246, 402, 426, 458, 466, 475, 564, 575, 586, + 612, 620, 715, 748 + + _Easton, Florence_, 622, 769, 835 + + EBERHARDT, NELLE RICHMOND (Librettist), 834 + + Eboli, Princess, 438 + + =Edgar=, 639 + + Edgar of Ravenswood, 343 ff. + + Edgardo, 343, 608 + + Edmund, 640 ff. + + _Egener, Minnie_, 844 + + Eislinger, Ulrich, 246 ff. + + El Dancairo, 587 ff. + + Eleanora, 704 ff. + + =Elektra=, 769, 804 + + Elektra, 804 + + Elena, 475 ff. + + Elisa, Princess, 708 ff. + + Elizabeth, 107 ff. + + Elizabeth, St., 769 + + Ellen, 725 + + _Ellis, Mary_, 765 + + =Elopement from the Serail, The= (=Belmonte und Constance=), 52 + + El Remendado, 587 ff. + + Elsa of Brabant, 117 ff. + + Else, 781 + + Elvino, 319 ff. + + Elvira, 330, 377, 608 + + Elvira, Donna, 31 ff. + + Emilia, 459 ff. + + Engel, Friedrich, 787 + + _Engel, Lotta_, 776 + + Enrico, 343, 375 + + =Enrico di Borgogna=, 335 + + =Ensorcelée, L'=, 764 + + Enya, 840 + + Erda, 89, 140, 142, 148 + + Eric, 98 ff. + + ERLANGER, CAMILLE, 756 + + =Ernani=, 377, 385 + + Ernani, 608 + + Ernani, John, of Aragon, 377 ff. + + Ernesto, 372 ff. + + Eroshka, 820 + + Escamillo, 587 ff. + + Eschenbach, Wolfram von, 107 ff. + + Esmeralda, 816 + + Estella, 716 ff. + + ÉTIENNE, V.J. ("JOUY"), 313 + + =Eugen Onegin=, 825, 828 + + =Euryanthe=, 63, 69, 77, 85 + + Eurydice, 9 ff. + + Eva, 247 ff. + + =Evangelimann, Der=, 787 + + Everton, Amy, 834 + + Everton, Mrs., 834 + + + F + + Fabrizio, 718 ff. + + Fafner, 141, 148 + + =Fairies, The=, 82 + + =Falstaff=, 7, 376, 466, 480, 847 + + Falstaff, Sir Henry, 466 ff. + + =Fanciulla del West, La=, 638, 674 + + =Faniska=, 494 + + Farlaf, 818 + + _Farneti, Marie_, 620 + + _Farrar, Geraldine_, 23, 45, 565, 586, 602, 611, 622, 665, 705, 707, + 741, 765, 776 + + Fasolt, 141, 148 + + Fatimah, 762 + + _Faure_, 45, 531, 562, 585 + + =Faust=, 7, 79, 510, 561, 562 + + Faust, 475, 543, 562 + + Favart, 788 + + =Favorita, La=, 334, 359 + + =Fedora=, 714, 720 + + Fedora, Princess, 720 + + =Feldlager in Schlesien, Das=, 500, 530 + + Fenella, 496 + + Fenton, 466 ff. + + Feodor, 822 + + Ferdinand, 359 ff. + + Fernando, 850 + + =Fernando Cortez=, 80 + + Fernando, Don, 54 ff. + + Ferrando, 52, 402 + + _Ferrari-Fontana_, 690 + + =Feuersnot=, 769, 796 + + FEVRIER, HENRY, 761 + + Fiamina, 729 + + =Fidelio=, 22, 54, 56, 62, 77 + + Fides, 516 ff. + + Fieramosca, 536 ff. + + Figaro, 23, 24, 295, 309 + + =Figaro, Marriage of=, 51, 295 + + =Figlia del Reggimento, La=, 334, 355 + + =Figliuol Prodigo, Il=, 481 + + Filipievna, 825 + + =Fille de Roland, La=, 763 + + Finn, 818 + + Fiordiligi, 52 + + Fiorello, 295 + + _Fischer, Emil_, 69, 117, 140, 148, 191, 208, 227, 246 + + _Fitziu, Anna_, 719 + + Flaminio, 690 ff. + + Flammen, 622 ff. + + Flavius, 326 ff. + + Fléville, 713 ff. + + Flora, 690 ff. + + Florestan, 54, 62 + + Florinda, 704 ff. + + Flosshilde, 148, 208 + + =Flying Dutchman, The=, 69, 79, 84, 98, 109, 118, 226 + + Folco, 626 + + Folz, Hans, 246 ff. + + _Fontaine, Charles_, 761, 767 + + Ford, 466 ff. + + Ford, Mistress, 466 ff. + + Forêt, Lysiart de, 69 ff. + + _Formes, Carl_, 313, 501, 503 + + _Fornia_, 807 + + Forth, Sir Richard, 330 ff. + + FORTUNA, FERDINANDO (Librettist), 639 + + =Forza del Destino, La=, 436 ff. + + FORZANO, GIOACCHINO (Librettist), 622 + + Fouché, 707 + + =Fra Diavolo=, 497 + + Francesca, 680 ff. + + =Francesca Da Rimini=, 680 ff. + + Francesco, 536 ff. + + FRANCHETTI, ALBERTO, 717, 721 + + =Franco Arciero, Il=, 63 + + François, 767 + + Françoise, 759 + + Frantz, 724 + + Franz, 622 ff. + + Frasquita, 587, 793 + + Frédéric, 581 ff. + + Frederica, Duchess of Ostheim, 434 ff. + + Frederick, 724 + + Frederick of Telramund, 117 ff. + + Frederico, 619 ff. + + Freia, 141, 148 ff. + + =Freischütz, Der=, 62, 77, 81, 85 + + _Fremstad, Olive_, 14, 140, 227, 801, 804 + + Freudhofer, Johannes, 787 + + Freudhofer, Matthias, 787 + + _Frezzolini_, 386 + + _Friche, Claire_, 756 + + Fricka, 89, 142, 148, 164 + + Friedhold, 799 + + Froh, 148 ff. + + _Fuchs_, 272 + + _Fugère, Lucien_, 729, 750 + + Furies, The, 10 + + _Fursch-Madi_, 483 + + Furst, Walter, 313 ff. + + + G + + GABEAUX, PIERRE, 55 + + Gabriel, Padre, 833 + + _Gadski, Johanna_, 9, 227, 246 + + _Galassi, Antonio_, 332, 354, 367, 387, 402, 437, 458, 587 + + Galitzky, Prince, 820 + + _Gall, Yvonne_, 767 + + GALLET, M. LOUIS (Librettist), 605, 731, 742, 758 + + _Galli-Curci, Amelita_, 295, 306, 343, 386, 388, 416, 532, 575, 742 + + _Galli-Marié_, 586, 601 + + GANDONNIÈRE, 542 + + Gansemagd, Die, 776 + + Garcia, 716, 743 ff. + + _Garcia, Mme._, 44 + + _Garcia, Manuel_, 44, 295, 309 + + _Garcia, Jr., Manuel_, 44 + + _Garcia, Maria_, 44, 295 + + _Garden, Mary_, 587, 603, 747, 750, 756, 761, 801, 804, 837 + + _Garrison, Mabel_, 52 + + Garrito, Gen., 746 + + Garsenda, 680 ff. + + Gaspar, Don, 359 ff. + + _Gates, Lucy_, 52, 375 + + _Gatti-Casazza_, 516, 611 + + GAUTHIER-VILLARS, HENRY (Librettist), 804 + + _Gay_, 466 + + Gazello, 339 ff. + + GAZZANIGA, GIUSEPPE, 31 + + Gelsomino, 707 ff. + + Gennaro, 339, 699 ff. + + Genoveva, 752 ff. + + Geôlier, Le, 756 ff. + + Gerald, 724 + + GÉRARD (Librettist), 542 + + Gérard, Charles, 713 ff. + + =Germania=, 720 + + Germont, Alfredo, 416 ff. + + Germont, Giorgio, 416 ff. + + =Gerolamo Savonarola=, 627 + + _Gerold, Herman_, 612 + + Geronte de Ravoir, 640 ff. + + _Gerster, Etelka_, 45, 319, 325, 329, 335, 343, 546 + + Gertrud, Frau, 781 + + Gertrude, 575, 778 + + Gertrude, Queen of Denmark, 586 + + _Gerville-Réache, Jeanne_, 746, 749 + + Gessler, 313 ff. + + GHISLANZONI, ANTONIO, 439, 441 + + GIACOSA, GIUSEPPE (Librettist), 643, 652, 664 + + _Gianini_, 736 + + Giannetta, 335 ff. + + Giannetto, 622 ff. + + =Gianni Schicchi=, 677 + + Giarno, 581 ff. + + GIESEKE (Librettist), 45, 46 + + Gil, Count, 705 + + Gilda, 387 ff. + + _Gilibert, Charles_, 355, 602, 652, 745, 752 + + GILLE, PHILIPPE (Librettist), 724, 736 + + =Gioconda, La=, 480, 481, 482, 638 + + Gioconda, La, 482 ff. + + GIORDANO, UMBERTO, 607, 707, 726 + + Giorgetta, 678 + + Giorgio D'Ast, 765 + + _Giorgi-Righetti_, 300, 308 + + Giovanni, 377, 387, 680 + + =Giovanni di Guzman--Vespri Siciliani=, 436 + + =Giovanni, Don=, 21, 22, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 43, 51, 85, 493 + + Giovanni, Don, 21, 31 ff. + + _Giraldoni_, 482 + + =Giovanni Gallurese=, 697 + + GIRARD, ERNEST, 723 + + Giscon, 752 + + =Gismonda=, 761 + + Gismonda, 761 + + Giuseppe, 416 ff. + + GLINKA, MICHAEL IVANOVICH, 818 + + Gloom, 840 + + _Gluck, Alma_, 9, 14 + + GLUCK, CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD, 1, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22, 77, + 90, 293, 493, 494 + + Godfrey, Duke, 117 ff. + + =Godounoff, Boris=, 822 + + Godounoff, Boris, 822 + + GOETZ, HERMANN, 769, 772 + + _Goff, Winifred_, 665 + + =Golden Cross, The=, 779 + + _Golden, Grace_, 612 + + GOLDMARK, CARL, 769, 773, 775 + + GOLISCIANI, ENRICO (Librettist), 699, 705 + + Golo, 752 ff. + + GONDINET (Librettist), 724 + + Gorislava, 819 + + _Goritz, Otto_, 246, 272, 772, 776, 807 + + Gormas, Comte de, 742 + + Goro, 665 + + =Götterdämmerung=, 140, 207 + + GOUNOD, CHARLES FRANÇOIS, 2, 438, 459, 494, 510 + + _Gourdon, M._, 724 + + =Goyescas=, 849 + + GRANADOS, ENRIQUE, 849 + + _Grange, La_, 416, 503 + + _Grau, Maurice_ (Director), 509, 563 + + Grazia, 699 ff. + + _Graziani_, 417 + + Grech, 720 + + Grégoras, 762 + + Gregory, 575 ff. + + Gremin, 825 + + Grenvil, Dr., 416 ff. + + _Grenville, Miss Lilian_, 837 + + Gretel, 778 + + Grieux, Chevalier Des, 640, 736 ff. + + Grieux, Count Des, 736 ff. + + Grimaldo, Enzo, 482 ff. + + Griselda, 727 + + =Grisélidis=, 727 + + _Grivot, M._, 724 + + _Grisi_, 306, 309, 326, 329, 339, 374 + + Grumio, 772 + + _Grün, Frau_, 89 + + _Guadagni, Gaetano_, 12, 14 + + Gubetta, 339 ff. + + _Gudehus_, 272 + + Guerra, Barbara de la, 838 + + Guerra, Don Francisco de la, 837 + + Guevara, Don Fernando, 717 ff. + + Guglielmo, 52 + + Guidon, Prince, 828 + + Guiche, de, 841 + + GUILLARD, FRANÇOIS (Librettist), 18 + + =Guillaume Tell=, 294, 312 + + _Guille_, 612 + + GUNSBOURG, RAOUL, 767 + + Gunther, 89, 143, 208 + + =Guntram=, 798 + + Guntram, 799 + + _Gura_, 89 + + Gurnemanz, 272 ff. + + Gusmann, Leonora di, 359 ff. + + =Gustave III, ou Le Bal Masqué=, 426 + + GUTIERREZ, ANTONIO GARCIA (Librettist), 402 + + Gutrune, 89, 143, 208 + + Gwynn, 840 + + + H + + Hänsel, 778 + + =Hänsel und Gretel=, 746, 769, 778, 807 + + Hagen, 89, 143, 208 + + HALÉVY, JACQUES, 2, 498, 510 + + Haltière, Mme. de la, 745 + + Hamilcar, 752 + + =Hamlet=, 585 + + Hamlet, 585 + + _Hammerstein, Oscar_ (Director), 612 + + HÄNDEL, 14 + + Handsome, 674 + + Hanego, 619 ff. + + Hans, 816 + + =Hans Heiling=, 79 + + Happy, 674 ff. + + =Happy Shade, A=, 9 ff. + + _Harden_, 272 + + Haroun, Prince, 605 + + =Harriette, ou La Servante de Greenwiche=, 559 + + Harry, 674 ff. + + HARTMANN, G. (Librettist), 747 + + HASSE, JOHANN ADOLPH, 4 + + _Hastreiter, Helene_, 9 + + Hate, 14 ff. + + _Hauck, Minnie_, 575, 586, 602, 612, 736 + + HAYDN, 51 + + _Hayes, Miss_, 516 + + Hecuba, 539 + + Hedvige, Signora, 721 + + Hedwiga, 313 ff. + + _Héglon, Mme._, 736 + + Hélène, Duchess, 436 ff. + + HELL, THEODOR (Librettist), 76 + + =Hélléra=, 697 + + _Hempel, Freda_, 23, 45, 246, 427, 475, 504, 807 + + HENDERSON, WILLIAM J. (Librettist), 841 + + Henrietta, 330 ff. + + Henry the Fowler, 117 ff. + + HERBERT, VICTOR, 837 + + Herman, 827 + + Hermann, 107 ff. + + Hermann, Landgrave, 769 + + Hero, 538, 715 + + =Hero e Leandro=, 715 ff. + + Herod, 749 + + =Hérodiade=, 748 + + Herodias, 749, 801 + + HÉROLD, LOUIS J.F., 497 + + Hexe, Die, 776 + + Hidraot, 15 ff. + + _Hill_, 89, 272 + + _Hincks, Mrs. Pemberton_, 612 + + _Hinrichs, Gustave_ (Director), 612, 618, 628 + + _Hinshaw, William_, 776 + + HIPPOLYTE (Librettist), 313 + + Hoël, 531 ff. + + _Hofer, Mme._, 52 + + Hoffman, 724 + + _Holman, Miss_, 309 + + _Holman, Mrs._, 23 + + Holzhacker, Der, 776 + + _Homer, Louise_, 9, 14, 140, 246, 272, 402, 427, 475, 482, 665, 776, 830 + + HOOKER, BRIAN (Librettist), 840 + + Hortensio, 355, 772 + + _Howard, Kathleen_, 762, 765, 834, 836 + + Hua-Qui, 686 ff. + + _Huberdeau, Gustave_, 756, 761, 837 + + Hu-chi, 686 ff. + + Huebscher, Catherine, 708 ff. + + HUGO, JOHN ADAM, 834 + + HUGO, VICTOR (Librettist), 343, 377, 386 + + =Huguenots, Les=, 294, 498, 500, 503, 510, 527, 731 + + HUMPERDINCK, ENGELBERT, 769, 776, 778 + + Hunding, 142, 163 + + Hu-Tsin, 686 ff. + + Hylas, 541 + + + I + + Iago, 458 ff. + + =Ib and Little Christina=, 689 + + =Idomeneo=, 51 + + Idrenus, 310 ff. + + Igor, 820 + + =Igor, Prince=, 819 + + Igoreivitch, Vladimir, 820 + + Iguamota, 718 ff. + + =Il Barbiere di Siviglia=, 705 + + Il Cieco, 620 ff. + + =Il Dissoluto Punito, ossia il Don Giovanni=, 30 + + ILLICA, LUIGI (Librettist), 619, 625, 643, 652, 664, 712, 717, 721 + + Inez, 359, 403, 523 + + Infanta, 742 + + Intendant, 367 + + Iolan, 833 + + =Iphigénie en Aulide=, 493 + + =Iphigénie en Tauride=, 8, 9, 18, 19, 20 + + Iphigénie, 18 ff. + + =Iphigenia in Aulis=, 85 + + Irene, 94 ff. + + =Iris=, 611, 619, 620 + + Irma, 750 + + _Isaac, Mlle. Adèle_, 724 + + Isèpo, 482 ff. + + =Isabeau=, 611, 625 + + Isabeau, 625 ff. + + Isabella, 501 ff. + + Isabel of Spain, Queen, 717 ff. + + Isolde, 227 ff. + + + J + + Jackrabbit, Billy, 674 ff. + + Jacob, 495 + + Jacquino, 54 ff. + + _Jadlowker, Herman_, 705, 776 + + _Jäger_, 272 + + Jago, 377 ff. + + Jagu, 831 + + _Jaide_, 89 + + _Jamet_, 585 + + Jane, 721 + + _Janouschoffsky, Mme._, 612 + + Javotte, 736 ff. + + Jean, 746, 747 + + =Jean de Paris=, 495 + + Jebbel, 721 + + Jemmy, 313 ff. + + =Jessonda=, 79 + + =Jewels of the Madonna, The=, 699 + + Joannes, 844 + + Joe, 674 ff. + + Johanna, 844 + + John, 775 + + Johnson, Dick (Ramerrez), 674 ff. + + John the Baptist, 749 + + Jokanaan, 801 + + Jonas, 516 ff. + + =Jongleur de Nôtre Dame, Le=, 746 ff. + + Jopas, 541 + + José, Don, 587 ff. + + Josef, 764 + + =Joseph en Egypte=, 495 + + Joseph, 495 + + _Journet, Marcel_, 272, 477, 620, 752, 761 + + "JOUY," V.J. ÉTIENNE (Librettist), 313 + + Juan, 744 + + _Juch, Emma_, 9 + + =Juive, La=, 498, 510, 731 + + Julia, 708 ff. + + Julien, 750 + + Juliet, 575 ff. + + + K + + Kagama, 838 + + KALBECK, MAX (Librettist), 51 + + Karnac, 727 + + Kaspar, 64 ff. + + Katharina, 772 + + Katrinka, 815 + + KEISER, REINHARD, 4 + + _Kellogg, Clara Louise_, 367, 546, 562 + + _Kelly, Michael_, 24 + + _Kemlitz_, 227, 246 + + _Kerker, Gustave_ (Director), 612 + + Kezal, 817 + + KIENZL, WILHELM, 787, 788 + + Kilian, 64 ff. + + _Kingston, Morgan_, 835 + + Kirchhofer, Werner, 784 + + Klingsor, 272 ff. + + Kobus, Fritz, 619 ff. + + _Kögel, Josef_, 107, 163 + + Konchak, Khan, 820 + + Konchakovna, 820 + + =Königskinder=, 776 + + Königssohn, Der, 776 + + Konradin, 784 + + Körner, Carlo, 721 + + Kothner, Fritz, 246 ff. + + _Kousnezova, Marie_, 750 + + KREUTZER, CONRADIN, 80 + + _Kronold, Selma_, 612, 628 + + _Krusceniski_, 665 + + Kruschina, 815 + + =Kuhreigen, Der=, 788 + + Kundry, 273 ff. + + Kunrad, 797 + + _Kurt_, 18, 140 + + Kurwenal, 227 ff. + + Kyoto, 630 ff. + + + L + + _Lablache_, 45, 329, 374, 562 + + LACHMANN, HEDWIG (Librettist), 800 + + Laertes, 581, 586 + + =L'Africaine=, 500, 523, 527 + + =Lakmé=, 724 + + Lakmé, 724 + + _L'Allemand, Pauline_, 725 + + LALO, 727 + + _Lambert, A._, 728 + + =L'Âme en Peine=, 546 + + _Lammert, Fräulein_, 89 + + =L'Amore Medici=, 705 ff. + + =L'Amore Dei Tre Re=, 690 ff. + + Lampe, 781 + + L'Anery, Gontran de, 779 + + LANGE, FERDINAND, 76 + + LANNER, 808 + + Larina, 825 + + Larkens, 674 ff. + + _Lasalle_, 523, 585 + + Laura, 434, 482 + + _Laurenti, Mario_, 765, 844 + + Lawrence, Friar, 575 ff. + + _Lazaro, Hipolito_, 765 + + LAZZARI, SYLVIO, 764 + + _Lazzari, Virgilio_, 720 + + Leandro, 704, 715 + + =Le Villi=, 638 + + _Leesugg, Miss_, 295, 308 + + Lefebvre, 707 ff. + + _Legros_, 12, 13 + + =Legend, The=, 836 + + _Lehmann, Lilli_, 45, 62, 69, 89, 93, 140, 191, 207, 227, 326, 475, + 516, 603 + + _Lehmann, Marie_, 89 + + =Leila=, 603 + + Leila, 604 + + Lelio, 704 ff. + + =L'Elisire d'Amore=, 334, 335 + + LEMAIRE, FERDINAND (Librettist), 725 + + LÉNA, MAURICE (Librettist), 746 + + Lenski, 825 + + Leonato, 538 + + LEONI, 607, 686 + + LEONCAVALLO, RUGGIERO, 7, 91, 607, 608, 627, 628, 638 + + _Leonhardt, Robert_, 769, 772, 844 + + Leonora, Donna, 437 ff. + + Leonora, Duchess, 403 ff. + + =Leonora, ossia L'Amore Conjugale=, 55 + + Leonore, 54, 62 + + Leporello, 31 ff. + + =Lépreuse, La=, 764 + + LEROUX, XAVIER, 765, 766 + + Leroy, 707 ff. + + Lescaut, 640, 736 + + =L'Étoile du Nord=, 500, 530 + + Letorières, Gastone de, 416 ff. + + Leuthold, 313 ff. + + _Levasseur_, 501 + + _Levi, Hermann_ (Director), 52, 272 + + _Lherie_, 601 + + =Liebesverbot, Das=, 82 + + _Lind, Jenny_, 325, 334, 355, 501 + + Linda, 367 ff. + + =Linda di Chamounix=, 367 + + Lindorf, 724 + + Lionel, 546, 834 + + Lisa, 319, 827 + + Lise, 841 + + Lisetta, 706, 719 + + _Listner, Mme._, 163 + + LISZT, FRANZ, 86, 98, 117, 120, 535, 769 + + =Lituani, I=, 481 + + Liverotto, 339 ff. + + =Lobetanz=, 791 + + Lobetanz, 791 + + LOCLE, CAMILLE DU (Librettist), 439, 441 + + =Lodoletta=, 611, 622 + + Lodoletta, 622 ff. + + Lodovico, 459 ff. + + Loewe, Frederick, 721 + + Loge, 89, 148 + + =Lohengrin=, 68, 69, 79, 86, 99, 117, 118, 273, 516 + + Lohengrin, 117 ff. + + Lola, 612 ff. + + _Lolli, Giuseppe_, 32 + + Lopez, Juan, 793 + + =Loreley=, 719 ff. + + Loreley, 720 + + Loris, Count, 720 + + LORTZING, ALBERT, 80 + + Lothario, 581 ff. + + Louis VI., 69 ff. + + =Louise=, 750 + + Louise, 750 + + Loÿs, 729 + + Luc Agnolo, 765 + + _Lucca_, 355, 523 + + Lucentio, 772 + + Lucia, 343 + + =Lucia di Lammermoor=, 7, 334, 343, 376, 426, 608, 673 + + Lucia, Mamma, 612 ff. + + Lucinda, 706 + + Lucinde, 14 ff. + + =Lucrezia Borgia=, 334, 339 + + Lucy, 343 ff. + + Ludmilla, 818 + + _Ludwig_, 736 + + Ludwig, Landgrave, 769 + + Luigi, 678 + + Luisa, 434 ff. + + =Luisa Miller=, 433, 438 + + LULLY, 4, 6, 17, 21 + + _Lussan, Zélie de_, 466 + + Lützow, Luigi, 721 + + + M + + _Macbeth, Florence_, 719 + + MACKAYE, PERCY (Librettist), 843 + + Macroton, Dr., 706 + + Madda, 764 + + Maddalena, 387 ff. + + Madeleine, 713 ff. + + Madeline, 367 ff. + + Madelon, 713 ff. + + MAETERLINCK, MAURICE (Librettist), 752, 759 + + Magda, 676 ff. + + Magdalena, 247, 787 + + _Maguénat, Alfred_, 750 + + MAHLER, GUSTAVE, 76 + + =Magic Flute, The=, 7, 21, 22, 45, 52, 55, 77, 85, 307 + + Malatesta, Dr., 372 ff. + + _Malatesta, Pompilio_, 844 + + Malatestino, 680 ff. + + =Mala Vita=, 707 + + _Malibran_, 44 + + Maliella, 699 ff. + + Mallika, 724 + + _Malten_, 262 + + _Mancinelli_ (Director), 752 + + MANCINELLI, LUIGI, 715 + + Manfredo, 690 ff. + + =Manon Lescaut=, 638, 640, 736, 741, 742 + + Manon Lescaut, 640, 736 ff. + + _Maran, Ernst_, 776 + + Mantua, Duke of, 386 ff. + + Manuela, 793 + + _Mapleson_ (Director), 354, 712 + + Manrico, 402 ff. + + =Manru=, 830 + + Manru, 831 + + _Mantelli_, 359, 503 + + Marcel, 504, 643 + + MARAST, ARMAND (Librettist), 313 + + Marc Antony, 750 + + Marcellina, 23 ff., 54 ff. + + _Marconi_, 458 + + _Marcy, Mme._, 736 + + _Mardones_, 516 + + _Maréchal, Mr._, 729, 746, 750 + + _Maretzek, Mme._, 516 + + Margared, 727 + + Margherita, 475 ff. + + Margiana, 771 + + Marguerite, 543, 562 + + Maria, 784 + + Marianne, 807 + + Marie, 355, 816 + + _Marimon_, 531 + + =Marina=, 707 + + Marina, 822 + + _Marini_, 501, 503 + + _Mario_, 45, 326, 374, 388, 516 + + =Marion Delorme=, 481 + + Marke, King, 227 ff. + + Marouf, 762 + + =Marouf, the Cobbler of Cairo=, 762 + + =Marriage of Figaro, The=, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 295 + + MARSCHNER, HEINRICH, 79 + + Marta, 836 + + =Martha=, 546 ff. + + Martha, 475, 787 + + _Martinelli_, 680 + + _Martin, Riccardo_, 841 + + _Martyn, Mrs._, 62 + + Marullo, 387 ff. + + Mary, 98 ff. + + =Masaniello=, 496, 498, 510 + + Masaniello, 496 + + MASCAGNI, PIETRO, 7, 91, 607, 610, 612, 618, 638 + + =Maschere, Le= (=The Maskers=), 611 + + Masetto, 31 ff., 36 ff. + + =Masked Ball, The= (=Un Ballo in Maschera=), 426 ff. + + _Mason, Edith_, 843 + + MASSENET, JULES, 2, 7, 306, 494, 510, 727, 731, 736, 742, 743, 745, + 746, 747, 748, 750 + + Massimelle, Marquis, 788 + + Mateo, 716 ff. + + _Materna, Frau_, 89, 163, 272, 498 + + Mathieu, 713 ff. + + _Mathieu-Lutz, Mme._, 756 + + Matheos, 718 ff. + + Mathô, 752 + + _Mattfeld, Marie_, 674, 765, 772, 776, 807 + + Matthisen, 516 ff. + + MATTINATA, 306 + + _Matzenauer, Margarete_, 23, 427, 504, 516, 769 + + _Maurel, Victor_, 45, 440, 458, 466, 503, 623, 627 + + Max, 64 ff. + + May, 775 + + MAYR, SIMON, 55 + + MEYREDER-OBERMAYER, ROSA, 792 + + _Mazarin_, 804 + + _Mazzoleni, Francesco_, 523, 562 + + _McCormack, John_, 45, 355, 837 + + _McGuckin, Barton_, 736 + + _McIntyre, Margaret_, 475 + + =Medici, I=, 627 + + Mefistofele, 475 ff. + + MÉHUL, ÉTIENNE NICHOLAS, 495 + + MEILHAC, HENRI (Librettist), 586, 736 + + =Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die=, 88, 91, 119, 246, 376 + + _Melba, Nellie_, 295, 306, 343, 388, 416, 458, 503, 543, 564, 628 + + Melcthal, 313 ff. + + MÉLÉSVILLE (Librettist), 497 + + Mélisande, 753, 760 + + Mélisse, 14 ff. + + Melot, 227 ff. + + MENASCI, G., 612 + + MENDÈS, CATULLE (Librettist), 765 + + =Mephistopheles=, 474 + + Méphistophélès, 543, 562 + + Mercedes, 587 ff. + + Mercedes, Doña, 793 + + Mercutio, 575 ff. + + =Mère Coupable, La=, 296 + + Merlier, 759 + + Merrill, Paul, 838 + + =Merry Wives of Windsor, The=, 80 + + Méru, 504 ff. + + MÉRY (Librettist), 437 + + =Messiah, The=, 14 + + MEYERBEER, GIACOMO, 1, 2, 79, 438, 440, 459, 494, 498, 499, 510, 523 + + Micaela, 587 ff. + + _Micelli, Catarina_, 32 + + Micha, 816 + + Michela, 765 + + Michele, 678 + + _Mierzwinski_, 313 + + =Mignon=, 580 ff. + + Mignon, 581 ff. + + Mikkel, 764 + + Mikleford, Lord Tristan de, 546 ff. + + Miller, 434 ff. + + MILLIET, PAUL (Librettist), 747, 748 + + _Milon_, 44 + + Mime, 89, 148 + + Mimi, 143, 644 + + Minnie, 674 ff. + + _Miolan-Carvalho_, 562, 575 + + _Mirabella_, 475 + + Mirabolano, 719 + + Miracle, Dr., 724 + + Missail, 822 + + Mitranus, 310 ff. + + _Molé, Mlle._, 724 + + =Mona=, 832, 840 + + Mona, 840 + + =Monna Vanna=, 761 + + Monna Vanna, 761 + + Montano, 459 ff. + + _Monteux, Pierre_ (Director), 762 + + _Montegriffo_, 628 + + MONTEMEZZI, ITALO, 607, 690 + + Monterone, Count, 386 ff. + + MONTEVERDI, CLAUDIO, 5 + + Montfleury, 841 + + Montford, Guy de, 436 ff. + + Morales, 587 ff. + + MORAND, EUGÈNE (Librettist), 727 + + _Moran, Miss_, 272 + + _Moran-Oldern_, 140, 148 + + _Morello, Signor_, 43 + + Morfontaine, Guillot de, 736 ff. + + =Mors et Vita=, 561 + + MOSENTHAL, G.H. (Librettist), 773 + + MOSENTHAL, H. (Librettist), 779 + + Moser, August, 246 ff. + + _Mottl, Felix_ (Director), 539 + + Monostatos, 46 ff. + + MOUSSORGSKY, 822, 824 + + MOZART, 21, 22, 24, 30, 33, 43, 45, 51, 55, 77, 293, 295, 426, 493 + + =Muette de Portici, La= (=Masaniello=), 496 + + Muff, 816 + + _Mühlmann_, 272, 830 + + MÜLLER, WENZEL, 46 + + _Muratore_, 564, 575, 761 + + _Murska, Ilma di_, 45 + + Musetta, 643 ff. + + Mustapha, Baba, 771 + + _Muzio_, 516 + + Mylio, 727 + + Myrto, 757 + + =Mystères d'Isis, Les=, 45, 51 + + + N + + Nachtigall, Conrad, 246 ff. + + =Nachtlager in Granada, Das=, 80 + + Nadir, 604 + + Naiad, 15, 814 + + Nancy, 546 ff. + + Nangis, Raoul de, 504 ff. + + _Nannetti_, 440 + + Naoia, 833 + + Napoleon Bonaparte, 707 ff. + + Narbal, 541 + + Narraboth, 801 + + Narr'Havas, 752 + + =Natomah=, 837 + + Natomah, 838 + + =Navarraise, La=, 605, 728, 745 + + Nedda, 608, 628 + + Neipperg, Count de, 707 ff. + + Nelusko, 523 ff. + + Nemorino, 335 ff. + + Nereno, 475 ff. + + =Nerone= (=Nero=), 480 + + NESSLER, VIKTOR E., 784 + + _Neuendorff, Adolff_, 107, 162, 163 + + _Neumann, Angelo_ (Director), 140 + + Nevers, Adolar de, 69 ff. + + Nevers, Count de, 504 ff. + + =Nibelungen, Der Ring des=, 139 ff. + + =Nibelung, The, Dramas=, 87, 88 + + Nicias, 732 + + Nick, 674 ff. + + Nicklausse, 724 + + NICOLAI, OTTO, 80, 466 + + _Nicolay, Mr._, 837 + + _Nicolini_, 575 + + _Niemann_, 62, 89, 140, 207, 227 + + Nikitin, (Michael), 822 + + Nilakantha, 724 + + _Nilsson, Christine_, 117, 402, 416, 475, 483, 503, 546, 562, 580, 585 + + Ninus, Ghost of, 310 ff. + + Noémie, 745 + + _Nordica, Lillian_, 45, 140, 227, 482, 503, 523 + + Norina, 372 ff. + + =Norma=, 318, 325 + + Norma, 326 ff. + + Norman, 343 ff. + + Normanno, 343 + + NOSSIG, ALFRED (Librettist), 830 + + Nourabad, 604 + + _Nourrit_, 13, 313, 501 + + _Novara_, 475, 483, 562 + + =Nozze di Figaro, Le=, 23, 24, 309, 376, 493, 808 + + Nureddin, 771 + + + O + + _Ober, Margarete_, 482, 772, 807, 843 + + =Oberon=, 63 + + Oberthal, Count, 516 ff. + + Ochs, Baron, 807 + + Octavian, 807 + + OFFENBACH, JACQUES, 723 + + Olga, 825 + + Olga, Countess, 720 + + Olympia, 724 + + Onegin, Eugen, 825 + + Ophelia, 585 + + =Oracola, L'=, 686 ff. + + Orestes, 18, 20, 804 + + Orfeo, 8, 9, 13, 14 + + =Orfeo ed Euridice=, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 20, 77, 493 + + Orlando, 765 + + Oroe, 310 ff. + + Oros, 831 + + Oroveso, 326 ff. + + Orsini, Maffio, 339 ff. + + Orsino, Paolo, 94 ff. + + Ortel, Hermann, 246 ff. + + Orti, 764 + + Ortrud, 117 ff. + + Osaka, 620 ff. + + Oscar (Edgardo), 427 ff. + + Ostasio, 680 ff. + + =Othello=, 7, 376, 458, 480 + + Othello, 458 ff. + + Ottavio, 704 ff. + + Ottavio, Don, 31 ff. + + Ottokar, Prince, 63 ff. + + =Ory, Comte=, 294 + + + P + + PADEREWSKI, IGNACE JAN, 830 + + PAËR, 55 + + Page, Mistress, 466 ff. + + =Pagliacci, I=, 608, 618, 626, 628, 698 + + PAISIELLO, 300 + + Palm, Giovanni, 721 + + _Paltrinieri, Giordano_, 765 + + Pamina, 45 ff. + + Pandolfe, 745 + + Pantalis, 475 ff. + + Pantalone, 704 ff. + + Pantasille, 765 + + Pantheus, 539, 541 + + Paolo, 680 ff. + + Papagena, 46 ff. + + Papageno, 45 ff. + + _Pappenheim_, 163 + + Paquiro, 849 + + _Parepa-Rosa_, 503 + + Paris, Count, 575 ff. + + PARKER, HORATIO, 832, 840 + + Parpignol, 643 ff. + + =Parsifal=, 90, 119, 247, 272 + + Parsifal, 272 ff. + + _Pasquali, di_, 372 + + =Pasquale, Don=, 334, 372 + + Pasquale, Don, 372 ff. + + PASQUÉ, ERNST, 76 + + _Patti, Adelina_, 295, 305, 308, 309, 319, 343, 354, 355, 367, 377, + 388, 416, 531, 546, 564, 725, 742 + + _Patti, Carlotta_, 45 + + Pauloff, Stephen, 836 + + _Pearman_, 23 + + =Pêcheurs de Perles, Les=, 603 ff. + + Pedro, 743, 793 + + Pedro, Don, 31, 523, 538 + + Pelléas, 752 ff. + + =Pelléas et Mélisande=, 2, 752 + + PEPOLI, COUNT (Librettist), 329 + + Peralta, Father, 837 + + PERI, JACOPO, 4 + + PERINET (Librettist), 46 + + _Perini, Flora_, 765 + + PERIQUET, FERNANDO (Librettist), 850 + + _Perozzi, Signor_, 333 + + PERRIER, MARTIAL (Librettist), 764 + + _Persiani_, 343 + + =Pescatori di Perle=, 603 + + _Peschka-Leutner_, 306 + + Peter, 779 + + Peters, 721 + + Peter the Great, 530 + + Petruchio, 772 + + _Pettigiani_, 523 + + Phanuel, 749 + + Phenice, 14 ff. + + Philine, 581 ff. + + Philip, 834 + + Philip II., 438 + + _Phillipps, Thomas_, 23, 295, 308 + + Philodème, 756 ff. + + PIAVE, FRANCESCO MARIA (Librettist), 377, 386, 416, 718 + + PICCINI, NICOLA, 8, 9, 20 + + _Piccolomini_, 416 + + Pico, 838 + + Pierre, 767 + + Pierrot, 367 ff. + + Pimen, 822 ff. + + _Pini-Corsi, Antonio_, 372, 776 + + _Pinkert_, 329 + + Pinkerton, Kate, 665 ff. + + Pinkerton, Lieutenant B.F., 665 ff. + + =Pipe of Desire, The=, 833 + + =Pique-Dame=, 827 + + Pistacchio, Don Hannibal, 375 + + Pistol, 466 ff. + + Pizarro, 54 ff. + + _Placide, Mr._, 62 + + _Plançon, Pol_, 359, 427, 475, 482, 503, 516, 565, 587, 715, 745 + + Plummer, Edward, 775 + + Plunkett, 564 ff. + + Pogner, Veit, 246 ff. + + Polkan, Voevoda, 829 + + Pollione, 326 ff. + + Polonius, 586 + + Polyxena, 539 + + Pomone, 765 + + Pompeo, 536 ff. + + PONCHIELLI, AMILCARE, 480, 481, 638 + + _Ponselle, Rosa_, 836 + + _Ponziani, Felice_, 32 + + PORDES-MILO (Librettist), 781 + + =Postillon de Longumeau, Le=, 497 + + Poussette, 736 ff. + + Prefect, 367 ff. + + _Preisch, Mr._, 837 + + Prêtre, Le Grand, 756 ff. + + _Preusser, Felix_, 163 + + Priam, 539 + + Procida, Giovanni di, 436 ff. + + =Prodigal Son, The=, 481 + + =Prophète, Le=, 500, 504, 516, 731 + + _Pruette, William_, 612 + + PUCCINI, GIACOMO, 1, 7, 91, 482, 607, 638, 643, 652 + + _Puente, Del_, 117, 437, 483 + + Puiset, Eglantine de, 69 ff. + + =Puritani, I=, 318, 329 + + PUSHKIN (Librettist), 822 + + Pylades, 182 ff. + + + Q + + =Quichotte, Don=, 743 ff. + + Quichotte, Don, 743 ff. + + Quickly, Dame, 466 ff. + + QUINALT, FRANÇOIS (Librettist), 14, 17 + + Quintus, 840 + + + R + + RABAUD, HENRI, 763 + + Rachel, 498 + + Rafaele, 699 ff. + + =Raggio di Luna=, 689 + + Ragueneau, 841 + + Raimbaut, 501 + + Raimondo, 343 + + Raimondo, 94 ff. + + Raimondo, King, 625 ff. + + _Raisa, Rosa_, 625 + + Rambaldo, 676 ff. + + RAMEAU, 1, 21 + + Ramphis, 439 + + Rance, Jack, 674 ff. + + Rangoni, 822 + + _Rappold, Marie_, 18, 772 + + Ratmir, 818 + + Ratsalteste, Der, 776 + + Raymond, 343 ff. + + =Rédemption, La=, 561 + + _Reichmann_, 272 + + =Reine Fiammette, La=, 765 + + _Reiner, Marcel_, 776 + + Reinhart (Renato), 427 ff. + + _Reiss, Albert_, 52, 375, 665, 674, 765, 772, 776, 807, 843 + + _Renaud, Maurice_, 45, 387, 475, 543, 747, 749 + + Renaud (Rinaldo), 15 ff. + + Repela, 793 + + Retz, de, 504 + + REYER, 752 + + Rhadames, 439 ff. + + =Rheingold, Das=, 87, 89, 139, 148 + + Rhinedaughters, 89, 141 + + Rhodis, 757 + + Riccardo, Don, 377 ff. + + RICCI, FEDERICO, 718 + + RICCI, LUIGI, 718 + + RICCORDI, TITO (Librettist), 680 + + Richard, Count of Warwick, 427 ff. + + Richard II., King, 843 + + RICHEPIN, JEAN (Librettist), 766 + + _Richings_, 319 + + _Richter, Hans_ (Director), 89, 107, 246 + + Ricke, 721 + + =Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribune=, 84, 94, 98, 109, 118 + + Rienzi, Cola, 94 ff. + + RIESE, WILHELM FRIEDRICH (Librettist), 546 + + =Rigoletto=, 7, 376, 386, 426, 438, 466, 471, 602 + + Rigoletto, 386 ff. + + _Rimini, Giacomo_, 720 + + RIMSKY-KORSAKOFF, 828 + + =Rinegata, La=, 343 + + =Ring Dramas, The=, 91, 119, 122, 247 + + _Rioton, Miss_, 750 + + =Rip Van Winkle=, 689 + + RIVAS, DUKE OF (Librettist), 437 + + Robert, 639 + + Robert, Duke, 501, 799 + + Roberti, 653 ff. + + =Robert le Diable=, 498, 500, 504, 510 + + Robertson, Sir Benno, 330 ff. + + Robin, 466 ff. + + _Robinson, Adolf_, 107, 117, 208, 227 + + Rocco, 54, 699 + + ROCHE, HENRI PIERRE (Librettist), 764 + + Roderigo, 459 ff. + + Rodolpho, Count, 319, 434 + + Rodrigo, 742 + + Rodrigo, Marquis de Posa, 438 + + Rodriguez, 744 + + =Roi d'Ys, Le=, 727 + + =Roland of Berlin=, 628 + + ROMANI, FELICE (Librettist), 318, 325, 335, 339 + + Romeo, 575 ff. + + =Roméo et Juliette=, 561, 574 + + _Ronconi, Mlle._, 580 + + _Ronconi_, 387 + + =Rondine, La=, 639, 676 + + ROQUETTE, OTTO (Librettist), 769 + + _Rosa, Parepa_, 546 + + Rosario, 850 + + Rosaura, 704 ff. + + =Rosenkavalier, Der=, 376, 759, 807 + + Rose, 725 + + ROSENFELD, SYDNEY, 374 + + Rosette, 736 ff. + + _Rosick, Signor_, 295 + + Rosina, 295, 306, 308 + + ROSMER, ERNST (Librettist), 776 + + Rossa, La, 708 ff. + + ROSSI, GAETANO (Librettist), 309, 367 + + _Rossi, Giulio_, 335, 844 + + ROSSINI, GIOACHINO ANTONIO, 1, 22, 25, 293, 307, 309, 312, 334, 426, + 493, 494, 498, 510, 608 + + _Rothier, Léon_, 762, 765 + + Roucher, 713 ff. + + Roustan, 707 ff. + + Rouvel, Baron, 720 + + Roxana, 841 + + ROYER, ALPHONSE (Librettist), 359 + + _Roze, Marie_, 736 + + Rozenn, 727 + + _Rubini_, 45, 329 + + Rudolph, 313, 643 + + Ruedi, 313 ff. + + Rufina, 716 ff. + + _Ruffo, Titta_, 387, 475, 585, 717 + + Ruggero, 676 ff. + + =Ruin of Athens, The=, 56 + + Ruiz, 402 ff. + + _Russitano_, 466 + + Russlan, 818 + + =Russlan und Ludmilla=, 818 + + Rustighello, 339 ff. + + _Ruysdael, Basil_, 769, 772, 844 + + + S + + SABINA, R. (Librettist), 815 + + Sachs, Hans, 145, 246 + + =Sacrifice, The=, 832 + + SAGANA, LUIGI (Librettist), 704 + + St. Bris, Count de, 504 ff. + + =St. Elizabeth=, 769 + + ST. GEORGE, 559 + + SAINT-SAËNS, 725 + + =Salammbô=, 752 + + Salammbô, 752 + + _Saléza, Albert_, 575, 587, 715, 752 + + _Salignac, Mr._, 752 + + SALIERI, 24, 466 + + =Salome=, 769, 800 + + Salome, 749, 801 + + Saluce, Marquis de, 728 + + _Salvi_, 502, 516 + + Salviati, Cardinal, 536 ff. + + _Salvini-Donatelli_, 417 + + Samaritana, 680 ff. + + _Sammarco, Mr._, 458, 705, 837 + + _Sammares_, 699 + + Samson, 725 + + =Samson et Dalila=, 14, 725 + + Samuel, 427 ff. + + Sancho, 743 ff. + + _Sänger_, 227 + + _Sanderson, Sibyl_, 736, 741 + + =Sans-Gêne, Madame=, 707 ff. + + Sante, 705 + + _Santley_, 503, 562, 585 + + Santuzza, 612 ff. + + _Saporiti, Teresa_, 32 + + =Sapho=, 561, 728, 749 + + Sarastro, 45 ff. + + SARDOU (Librettist), 728, 761 + + Saretsky, 825 + + Satan, 728 + + =Sauteriot, Le=, 764 + + Savoie, Euryanthe de, 69 ff. + + _Scalchi_, 309, 458, 466, 483, 562, 580 + + Scaramuccio, 814 + + _Scaria_, 272 + + SCARLATTI, ALESSANDRO, 5 + + Scarpia, Baron, 652 ff. + + Schaunard, 643 ff. + + =Schauspieldirektor, Der=, 52 + + _Scheff, Fritzi_, 23, 830 + + _Schefsky, Fräulein_, 89 + + Schicchi, 679 + + SCHIKANEDER, EMANUEL (Librettist), 45, 46, 55 + + SCHILLER (Librettist), 434, 437 + + _Schlegel, Carl_, 769, 835, 844 + + _Schlosser_, 89 + + Schmidt, 713 ff. + + Schneider, Der, 776 + + _Schott, Anton_, 107, 163, 497, 516 + + Schreiber, Heinrich der, 107 ff. + + _Schröder-Devrient, Mme._, 56, 84 + + _Schroeder-Hanfstaengl_, 516 + + _Schumann-Heink_, 140, 246, 340, 516, 806 + + Schwartz, Hans, 246 ff. + + Schwerlein, Martha, 562 ff. + + Sciarrone, 653 ff. + + _Scolara_, 440 + + _Scotti, Antonio_, 23, 45, 335, 372, 427, 458, 466, 504, 620, 640, + 652, 665, 686, 705, 752 + + SCRIBE (Librettist), 436, 495, 498, 501, 503, 516, 523, 528 + + =Segreto di Susanna, Il=, 698, 705 + + _Seidl, Anton_ (Director), 62, 69, 117, 140, 227, 246, 255 + + _Seidl-Kraus_, 107, 117, 163, 191, 207, 246 + + Selika, 523 ff. + + Sélysette, 759 ff. + + _Sembach, Johannes_, 18, 772, 843 + + _Sembrich_, 23, 45, 295, 306, 319, 325, 335, 343, 355, 372, 377, 416, + 483, 503, 546, 565, 725, 830 + + =Semiramide=, 309 ff. + + Semiramide, 310 ff. + + Seneschal, 769 + + Senta, 98 ff. + + Sentlinger, Ortolf, 797 + + Serafina, 375 + + Serena, 699 ff. + + Séso, 757 + + _Setti_, 503 + + Sforza, Cardinal, 765 + + Shahabarim, 752 + + Shanewis, 834 + + =Shanewis, or The Robin Woman=, 834 + + Sharpless, 665 ff. + + =Sheba, The Queen of=, 773 + + Sheba, Queen of, 773 + + _Sheehan, Joseph F._, 665 + + Shouisky, 822 + + =Siberia=, 714 + + Sid, 674 ff. + + Sidonie, 14 ff. + + Siebel, 562 ff. + + =Siegfried=, 87, 89, 91, 140, 191 + + Siegfried, 89, 140, 143, 208 + + Sieglinde, 89, 140, 142, 146, 164 + + Siegmund, 89, 140, 142, 146, 163 + + _Siehr_, 89, 272 + + _Silvain_, 728 + + Silvan, 427 ff. + + SILVESTRE, ARMAND (Librettist), 727 + + Silvio, 628 ff. + + Siméon, 495 + + SIMONI, RENATO (Librettist), 707 + + =Singspiel=, 51 + + _Sinico, Mme._, 586 + + Siriex, de, 720 + + _Sizes_, 752 + + Skoula, 820 + + _Slach, Anna_, 107 + + _Slezak_, 458 + + Smaradi, 680 ff. + + SMETANA, FRIEDRICH, 769, 815 + + Solomon, King, 773 + + Somarone, 538 + + SOMMA-SCRIBE (Librettist), 426 + + =Songe d'une Nuit d'Été, Le=, 467 + + =Sonnambula, La=, 7, 318, 331, 376, 426, 608 + + SONNLEITHNER, JOSEPH (Librettist), 54, 55 + + Sonora, 674 ff. + + _Sontag_, 355 + + Sophie, 748, 807 + + Sophie, Landgravine, 769 + + Spalanzani, 724 + + Sparafucile, 386 ff. + + _Sparkes, Lenore_, 765 + + Spendius, 752 + + Spielmann, Der, 776 + + Splendiano, 605 + + SPOHR, LUDWIG, 79 + + Spoletta, 653 ff. + + SPONTINI, GASPARO, 80 + + Springer, 816 + + Stackareff, Count, 836 + + _Stagno_, 483 + + Stallmagd, Die, 776 + + Stapps, 721 + + STASSOFF (Librettist), 819 + + _Staudigl_, 163 + + Stchelakov, Andrey, 822 + + _Steffanone_, 402, 501, 503, 516 + + Stella, 699, 724 + + STERBINI, CESARE (Librettist), 295 + + _Stockton, Fanny_, 562 + + Stolzing, Walther von, 246 ff. + + _Storchio_, 665 + + _Strakosch, Max_ (Director), 440 + + STRAUSS, JOHANN, 808 + + STRAUSS, RICHARD, 7, 20, 32, 306, 769, 796, 798, 800, 804, 807, 813 + + _Stritt_, 117, 246 + + SUARATONI (Librettist), 618 + + Sulamith, 773 + + Sulpice, 355 ff. + + _Sulzer, Henrietta_, 562 + + _Sundelius, Marie_, 834, 844 + + =Suor Angelica=, 677 + + Susanna, 23 ff. + + _Susini_, 326 + + Suzanne, Countess, 705 + + Suzel, 619 ff. + + Suzuki, 665 ff. + + Sviatoslav, Prince, 820 + + Svietosar, 818 + + _Szamozy, Elsa_, 665 + + + T + + =Tabarro, Il=, 677 + + Tackleton, 775 + + _Tagliafico_, 516 + + _Taglioni_, 501 + + _Talazac, M._, 724 + + Talbot, Lord Arthur, 330 ff. + + _Tamagno_, 313, 458 + + _Tamburini_, 329, 374 + + =Taming of the Shrew, The=, 772 + + Tamino, 45 ff. + + =Tancredi=, 12, 294, 307 + + =Tannhäuser=, 68, 69, 79, 85, 86, 88, 99, 106, 118, 226, 303, 516 + + Tannhäuser, 107 ff. + + Tan Taanach, 752 + + TARGIONI-TOGGETTI, GIOVANNI (Librettist), 612 + + _Taskin, M._, 724 + + Tatiana, 825 + + Tavannes, 504 ff. + + Tchernomor, 819 + + _Teal, Jeannie_, 612 + + _Tegani, Riccardo_, 844 + + Tell, William, 313 ff. + + =Temple Dancer, The=, 834 + + =Templer und die Judin, Der=, 79 + + Tenebrun, 744 + + Teresa, 319, 536 + + _Ternina, Milka_, 140, 227, 272, 652 + + _Tetrazzini, Luisa_, 295, 319, 325, 329, 343, 355, 388, 416, 458, + 531, 725 + + =Thaïs=, 728, 731 + + Thaïs, 732 + + Thallus, Primus, 788 + + Thérèse, 779 + + Thoas, 18 ff. + + THOMAS, AMBROISE, 580, 585, 586 + + Thore, 504 ff. + + =Three Pintos, The=, 76 + + THUILLE, LUDWIG, 791 + + _Tichatschek_, 84 + + _Tietjens_, 306, 339 + + _Tiffany, Marie_, 765, 844 + + Timon, 756 ff. + + Tio Lucas, 793 + + Titurel, 272 ff. + + Toinet, 767 + + Toinette, 708, 767 + + Tolak, 767 + + Tom (Tommaso), 427 ff. + + Tomaso, 832 + + Tomes, Dr., 706 + + =Tommaso Chatterton=, 626 + + Tonio, 355, 628, 716 + + Tonuelo, 793 + + _Torriani, Mlle._, 440 + + =Torvaldo e Dorliska=, 300 + + =Tosca=, 638, 644, 652 + + Tosca, Floria, 652 ff. + + _Toscanini_ (Director), 705 + + =Traviata, La=, 376, 416, 438, 471 + + Trebelli, 475, 581 + + TREITSCHKE, GEORG FRIEDRICH (Librettist), 54, 56 + + _Trentini_, 602 + + Trim, 674 ff. + + Trine, 764 + + Triquet, 825 + + Tristan, 227 ff. + + =Tristan und Isolde=, 87, 88, 91, 119, 227, 247, 335 + + =Trompeter von Säkkingen, Der=, 784 + + Trouble (Cio-Cio-San's child), 665 ff. + + =Trovatore, Il=, 376, 402, 471 + + =Troyens à Carthage=, 540 ff. + + =Troyens, Les, La Prise de Troie=, 539 ff. + + Truffaldin, 814 + + TSCHAIKOWSKY, MODESTE (Librettist), 825, 827 + + TSCHAIKOWSKY, PETER ILITSCH, 825, 827 + + Turiddu, 609, 612 + + Tybalt, 575 ff. + + + U + + Ubalde, 15 ff. + + _Ugalde, Mlle. Marguerite_, 724 + + Ulana, 831 + + Ulrica, 427 ff. + + =Undine=, 80 + + _Unger_, 89 + + Urbain, 504 ff. + + Urok, 831 + + Ursula, 538 + + Utobal, 495 + + + V + + _Valda, Giulia_, 434 + + Valentine, 504, 562 + + Valéry, Violetta, 416 ff. + + =Valkyr, The=, 89, 91 + + _Valleria_, 475 + + Valois, Elizabeth de, 438 + + Valois, Marguerite de, 504 ff. + + _Valtellino, Signor_, 333 + + Valzacchi, 807 + + =Vampyr, Der=, 79 + + _Van Dyck_, 140 + + Vannard, 622 ff. + + _Van Rooy_, 140, 246, 272 + + _Van Zandt, Miss_, 725 + + _Varesi_, 417 + + Varlaam, 822 + + Vasari, 765 + + Vasco Da Gama, 523 ff. + + VAUCAIRE (Librettist), 716 + + Vecchio, Cecco del, 94 ff. + + Venus, 107 ff. + + =Vêpres Siciliennes, Les=, 440 + + VERDI, GIUSEPPE, 1, 6, 7, 22, 90, 91, 334, 376, 377, 386, 402, 416, + 426, 436, 481, 493, 494, 608, 638, 847 + + =Verkaufte Braut, Die=, 815 + + VERNOY, BAYARD (Librettist), 355 + + VERNOY, JULES H. (Librettist), 355, 559 + + Verona, Duke of, 575 ff. + + =Versiegelt=, 781 + + =Vestale, La=, 80 + + _Vestivalli_, 309, 402 + + _Viardot-Garcia, Pauline_, 13, 44, 305, 516 + + _Vicini_, 434 + + =Vieil Aigle, Le=, 767 + + _Vietti_, 503 + + _Villani, Louise_, 690 + + =Villi, Le=, 639 ff. + + Vinaigre, 707 ff. + + Viola, 765 + + Violette, 765 + + Violine, 765 + + =Viscardello=, 402 + + Vitellozzo, 339 ff. + + _Vogel_, 89 + + Vogelgesang, Kunz, 246 ff. + + Vogelweide, von der, 107 ff. + + VON BREUNING, STEPHAN (Librettist), 56 + + _von Bülow, Hans_ (Director), 227, 246, 535 + + VON CHEZY, HELMINE (Librettist), 69 + + _von Doenhof, Helen_, 612 + + von Faninal, 807 + + VON FLOTOW, FRIEDRICH, 546, 559 + + von Gundelfingen, Schweiker, 797 + + VON HOFMANNSTHAL, HUGO (Librettist), 804, 807, 813 + + _von Milde_, 227 + + von Schönau, Baron, 784 + + von Werdenberg, Princess, 807 + + von Wildenstein, Count, 784 + + VON WOLZOGEN, ERNST, 796 + + + W + + _Wachtel, Theodore_, 496, 497, 503 + + WAEZ, GUSTAVE (Librettist), 359 + + =Waffenschmied, Der=, 80 + + Wagner, 475, 562 + + WAGNER, RICHARD, 6, 8, 68, 71, 79, 81, 86, 90, 98, 106, 117, 118, + 139, 148, 163, 191, 207, 227, 293, 459, 481, 483, 494, 562, 626, 759, + 769, 803, 807, 847 + + _Walker, Edyth_, 482 + + =Walküre, Die=, 7, 87, 139, 163 ff. + + Wallace, Jake, 675 ff. + + Wälse, 142 ff. + + Walter, 720 + + Walter, Count, 434 ff. + + _Walter, Edna_, 776 + + Walton, Lord Gautier, 329 ff. + + Walton, Sir George, 329 ff. + + Waltraute, 89, 140, 208 + + _Warwick, Veni_, 765 + + WEBER, CARL MARIA VON, 63, 68, 76, 77, 79, 493, 562 + + _Weckerin, Fräulein_, 89 + + _Weil_, 18, 807 + + Wellgunde, 148, 208 + + Wenzel, 816 + + =Werther=, 747 + + Werther, 748 + + WETTE, ADELHEID (Librettist), 778 + + _White, Carolina_, 699, 705 + + _White, Phillis_, 765 + + _Whitehill, Clarence_, 246, 769, 772 + + _Wickham, Florence_, 776 + + WIDMANN, VICTOR (Librettist), 772 + + Wilhelm, 584 ff., 724 + + =Wildschütz, Der=, 80 + + =William Tell=, 498, 510 + + Willmers, Frau, 781 + + WILLNER, M. (Librettist), 775 + + _Winckelmann_, 272 + + Win-San-Lui, 686 ff. + + Win-She, 686 ff. + + Wirt, Der, 776 + + Wirtstochter, Die, 776 + + Woglinde, 148, 208 + + WOLF-FERRARI, ERMANO, 607, 698 + + WOLF, HUGO, 792 + + _Wood, Mr._, 319, 501 + + _Wood, Mrs._, 319, 501 + + Worms, Carl, 721 + + Wotan, 89, 140, 141, 148, 164 + + Wowkle, 675 ff. + + Wulf, 639 + + + X + + Xenia, 822 + + Ximenes, Don Roldano, 718 ff. + + + Y + + Yakuside, 665 ff. + + Yamadori, Prince, 665 ff. + + Yaroslavna, Princess, 820 + + Yeletsky, Prince, 828 + + Ygraine, 759 ff. + + Yniold, 753 ff. + + Yoga, 835 + + _Yppolito, G._, 562 + + + Z + + Zaccaria, Franco, 762 + + Zacharias, 516 ff. + + _Zamboni_, 301 + + Zamiel, 64 ff. + + =Zampa=, 497 + + ZANARDINI (Librettist), 720 + + ZANDONAI, RICCARDO, 607, 680, 716 + + =Zanetto=, 611 + + ZANGARINI, C. (Librettist), 674, 699, 716 + + ZANONI, CAMILLO (Librettist), 686 + + =Zauberflöte, Die=, 51, 493 + + =Zaza=, 628 + + _Zenatello_, 458, 665 + + Zerbinetta, 814 + + Zerlina, 31, 36 + + Zina, 767 + + Zitterbart, 787 + + Zorn, Balthazar, 246 ff. + + Zuàne, 482 ff. + + Zucarraga, 746 + + _Zucchi_, 523 + + Zuniga, 587 ff. + + Zurga, 604 + + Zweter, Reinmar von, 107 ff. + + + + +My Path Through Life + +By Lilli Lehmann + +Translated from the German by Alice Benedict Seligman + +_8o. About 500 pp. With 50 Illustrations_ + +Mme. Lehmann gives us a volume of memoirs, musical and personal, which +will command the attention of the world-wide public which this great +singer has charmed. The book is written with her characteristic +sincerity and frankness. She unfolds the complete story of her life, +devoting a generous measure of attention to her friends and rivals +upon the operatic stage. + +Her achievements in Prague, Leipsic, Vienna, and elsewhere, her +struggles in Berlin, her extended tours in Europe and America, are +fascinatingly told. She presents an account of her collaborations with +Wagner at Bayreuth, and tells of her experiences at Court. + +The pleasant as well as the arduous aspects of the artist's career are +presented with a wealth of anecdote. + + G.P. Putnam's Sons + New York + London + + + + +_"Clear in construction, direct in purpose, and written with +intellectual calm, yet with the enthusiasm of a musician."--N.Y. Sun._ + +The Life of Johann Sebastian Bach + +BY + +Sir Hubert Parry, M.A., Mus. Doc., D.C.L. + +Professor of Music, Oxford; Director of Royal College of Music + +Author of "Studies of Great Composers," "Evolution of the Art of +Music," etc. + +_8vo. With Portraits._ + +Sir Hubert Parry's _Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer_, is at once a +biography and a critical and historical study of the achievements of +the great eighteenth-century composer, director, and performer upon +the organ and piano. The eminence of Sir Hubert Parry himself as a +composer and as a writer and student of music needs no comment here. +For the last decade he has been professor of music at Oxford. +Considering the importance of the man who is the subject of this life, +and the authority of Sir Hubert Parry as a critic and writer, no +student of music can afford to be a stranger to this thorough and +comprehensive work. + + G.P. Putnam's Sons + New York + London + + + + +Memoirs of a Prima Donna + +By Clara Louise Kellogg + +(Mme. Strakosch) + +_8o. With 48 Illustrations._ + +Clara Louise Kellogg, who is now Clara Louise Strakosch, was the first +American prima donna to win recognition abroad. After making her début +in opera at the Academy of Music, in New York, in 1861, she appeared +in opera in London and later in Berlin, Vienna, and Saint Petersburg. +In every country she was received with acclaim and returned to her +native land covered with honors showered upon her by the best +audiences that the old world affords. + +Miss Kellogg created the rôle of Marguerite in Gounod's _Faust_ in +this country, and of Mignon in Ambroise Thomas's opera of that name. +After winning laurels in Italian opera she organized an English opera +company of her own, which sang for several seasons in New York and the +principal cities of the United States. While at the head of her own +company she produced Wagner's _Flying Dutchman_ for the first time in +America, creating the rôle of Senta, and she was the first prima donna +to sing _Aïda_ and _Carmen_ in English. Miss Kellogg was famous not +only for the beautiful quality of her voice but for her marvelous +musical ear. It is said that there were over forty operas that she +could sing on twenty-four hours' notice, and that never once in the +course of her operatic career had she been known to sing a fraction of +a tone off the key. + +These Memoirs are filled with anecdotes of the interesting people whom +she met, on and off the stage, and contain a fund of information about +voice culture and the study of music that no one interested in the +subject can read without profit. + + G.P. Putnam's Sons + New York + London + + + + +_An Ideal Biography_ + +Richard Wagner + +His Life and His Dramas + +A Biographical Study of the Man and an Explanation of His Work + +By + +W.J. Henderson + +Author of "The Story of Music," "Preludes and Studies," "What Is Good +Music," etc. + +The purpose of this book is to supply Wagner-lovers with a single work +which shall meet all their needs. The author has told the story of +Wagner's life, explained his artistic aims, given the history of each +of his great works, examined its literary sources, shown how Wagner +utilized them, surveyed the musical plan of each drama, and set forth +the meaning and purpose of its principal ideas. The volume has been +prepared with great care and no little labor, and is not intended to +be critical, but is designed to be expository. It aims to help the +Wagner-lover to a thorough knowledge and understanding of the man and +his works. + +"An exposition rather than a criticism of Wagner's art, for in +Wagner's case it is peculiarly true that any biographical study of the +man is inseparable from an explanation of his works. Mr. Henderson's +book is intended to help the lover of Wagner to a thorough knowledge +and understanding both of the man and his works. Nothing in the +English language, at least, has ever so fully covered the +subject."--_Review of Reviews._ + + G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS + New York + London + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Complete Opera Book, by Gustav Kobbé + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40540 *** |