The Complete Opera Book
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Title: The Complete Opera Book
Author: Gustav Kobbé
Release date: August 19, 2012 [eBook #40540]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMPLETE OPERA BOOK ***
[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_,
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