,a ,,second ,,book ,,of ,,operas by ,henry ,edward ,krehbiel ,,contents ,,and ,,index ,,chapter ,i ,,biblical ,,operas ,england and the ,lord ,chamberlain's censorship1 et ,gounod's ,reine de ,saba1 ,the transmigrations of ,un ,ballo in ,maschera1 ,how composers revamp their music1 et seq1--,handel and ,keiser1 ,mozart and ,bertati1 ,beethoven's readaptations of his own works1 ,rossini and his ,barber of ,seville1 ,verdi's ,nebuchadnezzar1 ,rossini's ,moses1 ,samson et ,dalila1 ,goldmark's ,konigin von ,saba1 ,the ,biblical operas of ,rubinstein1 ,mehul's ,joseph1 ,mendelssohn's ,elijah in dramatic form1 ,oratorios and ,lenten operas in ,italy1 ,carissimi and ,peri1 ,scarlatti's oratorios1 ,scenery and costumes in oratorios1 ,the passage of the ,red ,sea and ,dal tuo stellato1 ,nerves wrecked by beautiful music1 ,peter the ,hermit and refractory mimic troops1 ,mi manca la voce and operatic amenities1 ,operatic prayers and ballets1 ,goethe's criticism of ,rossini's ,mose1 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,bible ,,stories ,,in ,,opera ,,and ,,oratorio ,dr4 ,chrysander's theory of the undramatic nature of the ,hebrew1 his literature1 and his life1 ,hebrew history and ,greek mythology1 ,some parallels1 ,old ,testament subjects3 ,adam and ,eve1 ,cain and ,abel1 ,the ,kain of ,bulthaupt and d',albert1 ,tote ,augen1 ,noah and the ,deluge1 ,abraham1 ,the ,exodus1 ,mehal's ,joseph1 ,potiphar's wife and ,richard ,strauss1 ,raimondi's contrapuntal trilogy1 ,nebuchadnezzar1 ,judas ,maccabaeus1 ,jephtha and his ,daughter1 ,judith1 ,esther1 ,athalia1 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,rubinstein ,,and ,,his ,,geistliche ,,oper ,anton ,rubinstein and his ideals1 ,an ambition to emulate ,wagner1 ,the ,tower of ,babel1 ,the composer's theories and strivings1 et seq4--,dean ,stanley1 ,die ,makkabaer1 ,sulamith1 ,christus1 ,das verlorene ,paradies1 ,moses1 ,action and stage directions1 ,new ,testament stories in opera1 ,the ,prodigal ,son1 ,legendary material and the story of the ,nativity1 ,christ dramas1 ,hebbel and ,wagner1 ,parsifal1 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,samson ,,et ,,dalila ,the predecessors of ,m4 ,saint-,saens1 ,voltaire and ,rameau1 ,duprez and ,joachim ,raff1 ,history of ,saint-,saens's opera1 et seq4--,henri ,regnault1 ,first performances1 ,as oratorio and opera in ,new ,york1 ,an inquiry into the story of ,samson1 ,samson and ,herakles1 ,the ,hebrew hero in legend1 ,a true type for tragedy1 ,mythological interpretations1 ,saint-,saens's opera described1 et seq4--,a choral prologue1 ,local color1 ,the character of ,dalila1 et seq4--,milton on her wifehood and patriotism1 ,printemps qui commence1 ,mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix1 ,oriental ballet music1 ,the catastrophe1 ,,chapter ,v ,,die ,,konigin ,,von ,,saba ,meritoriousness of the book of ,goldmark's opera1 ,its slight connection with ,biblical story1 ,contents of the drama et seq4--,parallelism with ,wagner's ,tannhauser1 ,first performance in ,new ,york1 ,oriental luxury in scenic outfit1 ,goldmark's music1 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,herodiade ,modern opera and ancient courtesans1 ,transformed morals in ,massenet's opera1 ,a sea-change in ,england1 ,who and what was ,salome8 ,plot of the opera1 ,scenic and musical adornments1 ,performances in ,new ,york1 7footnote74 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,lakme ,story of the opera1 et seq4--,the ,bell ,song1 ,some unnecessary ,english ladies1 ,first performance in ,new ,york1 ,american history of the opera1 ,madame ,patti1 ,miss ,van ,zandt ,madame ,sembrich ,madame ,tetrazzini1 ,criticism of the drama1 ,the music1 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,pagliacci ,the twin operas1 ,cavalleria ,rusticana and ,pagliacci1 ,widespread influence of ,mascagni's opera1 ,it inspires an ambition in ,leoncavallo1 ,history of his opera1 ,a tragic ending taken from real life1 et seq4--,controversy between ,leoncavallo and ,catulle ,mendes1 et seq4--,la ,femme de ,tabarin1 ,tabarin operas1 ,the ,drama ,nuevo of ,estebanez and ,mr4 ,howells's ,yorick's ,love1 ,what is a ,pagliaccio8 ,first performances of the opera in ,milan and ,new ,york1 ,the prologue1 et seq4--,the opera described1 et seq4--,bagpipes and vesper bells1 ,harlequin's serenade1 ,the ,minuet1 ,the ,gavotte1 ,plaudite1 amici1 la commedia finita est6 ,philip ,hale on who should speak the final words1 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,cavalleria ,,rusticana ,how ,mascagni's opera impressed the author when it was new1 ,attic tragedy and ,attic decorum1 ,the loathsome operatic brood which it spawned1 ,not matched by the composer or his imitators since1 ,mascagni's account of how it came to be written1 et seq4--,verga's story1 et seq4--,story and libretto compared1 ,the ,siciliano1 ,the ,easter hymn1 ,analysis of the opera1 et seq4--,the prelude1 ,lola's stornello1 ,the intermezzo1 ,they have killed ,neighbor ,turiddu6 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,career ,,of ,,mascagni ,influence of ,cavalleria ,rusticana on operatic composition1 ,santuzza1 a ,german sequel1 ,cilea's ,tilda1 ,giordano's ,mala ,vita1 ,tasca's ,a ,santa ,lucia1 ,mascagni's history1 et seq4--,composes ,schiller's ,hymn to ,joy1 ,il ,filanda1 ,ratcliff1 ,l',amico ,fritz1 ,i ,rantzau1 ,silvano1 ,zanetto1 ,le ,maschere1 ,vistillia1 ,arnica1 ,mascagni's ,american visit1 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,iris ,the song of the sun1 ,allegory and drama1 ,story of the opera1 et seq4--,the music1 et seq4--,turbid orchestration1 ,local color1 ,borrowings from ,meyerbeer1 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,madama ,,butterfly ,the opera's ancestry1 ,loti's ,madame ,chrysantheme1 ,john ,luther ,long's story1 ,david ,belasco's play1 ,how the failure of ,naughty ,anthony suggested ,madame ,butterfly1 ,william ,furst and his music1 ,success of ,mr4 ,belasco's play in ,new ,york1 ,the success repeated in ,london1 ,brought to the attention of ,signor ,puccini1 ,ricordi and ,co4 and their librettists1 ,madama ,butterfly fails in ,milan1 ,the first casts in ,milan1 ,brescia1 and ,new ,york1 7footnote7 ,incidents of the fiasco1 ,rossini and ,puccini1 ,the opera revised1 ,interruption of the vigil1 ,story of the opera1 et seq4--,the hiring of wives in ,japan1 ,experiences of ,pierre ,loti1 ,geishas and mousmes1 ,a changed denouement1 ,messager's opera1 ,madame ,chrysantheme1 ,the end of ,loti's romance1 ,japanese melodies in the score1 ,puccini's method and ,wagner's1 ,the ,star-,spangled ,banner1 ,a tune from ,the ,mikado1 ,some of the themes of ,puccini and ,william ,furst1 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,der ,,rosenkavalier ,the opera's predecessors1 ,guntram1 ,feuersnot1 ,salome1 ,oscar ,wilde makes a mistaken appeal to ,france1 ,his necrophilism welcomed by ,richard ,strauss and ,berlin1 ,conried's efforts to produce ,salome at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,blouse suppressed1 ,hammerstein produces the work1 ,elektra1 ,hugo von ,hoffmannsthal and ,beaumarchais1 ,strauss and ,mozart1 ,mozart's themes and ,strauss's waltzes1 ,dancing in ,vienna at the time of ,maria ,theresa1 ,first performance of the opera at ,new ,york1 ,der ,rosenkavalier and ,le ,nozze di ,figaro1 ,criticism of the play and its music1 et seq4--,use of a melodic phrase from ,die ,zauberflote1 ,the language of the libretto1 ,the music1 ,cast of the first ,american performance1 7footnote7 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,konigskinder ,story of the play1 et seq4--,first production of ,hummerdinck's opera and cast1 ,earlier performance of the work as a melodrama1 ,author and composer1 ,opera and melodrama in ,germany1 ,wagnerian symbolism and music1 ,die ,meistersinger recalled1 ,hero and ,leander1 ,humperdinck's music1 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,boris ,,godounoff ,first performance of ,moussorgsky's opera in ,new ,york1 ,participation of the chorus in the tragedy1 ,imported ,french enthusiasm1 ,vocal melody1 textual accents and rhythms1 ,slavicism expressed in an ,italian translation1 ,moussorgsky and ,debussy1 ,political reasons for ,french enthusiasm1 ,rimsky-,korsakoff's revision of the score1 ,russian operas in ,america1 ,nero1 ,pique ,dame1 ,eugene ,onegin1 ,verstoffeky's ,askold's ,tomb1 ,the nationalism of ,boris ,godounoff1 ,the ,kolydda song ,slava and ,beethoven1 ,lack of the feminine element in the drama1 ,the opera's lack of coherency1 ,cast of the first ,american performance1 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,madame ,,sans-,,gene ,,and ,,other ,,operas ,,by ,,giordano ,first performance of ,madame ,sans-,gene1 ,a singing ,napoleon1 ,royalties in opera1 ,henry the ,fowler1 ,king ,mark1 ,verdi's ,pharaoh1 ,herod1 ,boris ,godounoff1 ,macbeth1 ,gustavus and some mythical kings and dukes1 et seq4--,mattheson's ,boris1 ,peter the ,great1 ,sardou's play and ,giordano's opera1 ,verdi on an operatic ,bonaparte1 ,sardou's characters1 ,andrea ,chenier1 ,french ,rhythms1 ,fedora1 ,siberia1 ,the historic ,chenier1 ,russian local color1 ,schone ,minka1 ,slava1 ,ay ouchnem1 ,french revolutionary airs1 ,la ,marseillaise1 ,la ,carmagnole1 ,ca ira1 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,two ,,operas ,,by ,,wolf-,,ferrari ,the composer's operas first sung in their original tongue in ,america1 ,first performances of ,le ,donne ,curiose1 ,il ,segreto di ,susanna1 ,i ,giojelli della ,madonna1 ,l',amore ,medico1 ,story and music of ,le ,donne ,curiose1 ,methods and apparatus of ,mozart's day1 ,wolf-,ferrari's ,teutonism1 ,goldoni paraphrased1 ,nicolai and ,verdi1 ,the ,german version of ,donne ,curiose1 ,musical motivi in the opera1 ,rameau's ,la ,poule1 ,cast of the first performance in ,new ,york1 7footnote7--,naples and opera1 ,i ,giojelli della ,madonna1 et seq4--,erlanger's ,aphrodite1 ,neapolitan folksongs1 ,wolf-,ferrari's individuality1 ,his ,vita ,nuova1 ,first performance in ,america of ,i ,giojelli1 ,,chapter ,i ,,biblical ,,operas ,whether or not the ,english owe a grudge to their ,lord ,chamberlain for depriving them of the pleasure of seeing operas based on ,biblical stories ,i do not know4 ,if they do1 the grudge cannot be a deep one1 for it is a long time since ,biblical operas were in vogue1 and in the case of the very few survivals it has been easy to solve the difficulty and salve the conscience of the public censor by the simple device of changing the names of the characters and the scene of action if the works are to be presented on the stage1 or omitting scenery1 costumes and action and performing them as oratorios4 ,in either case1 whenever this has been done1 however1 it has been the habit of critics to make merry at the expense of my ,lord ,chamberlain and the puritanicalness of the popular spirit of which he is supposed to be the official embodiment1 and to discourse lugubriously and mayhap profoundly on the perversion of composers' purposes and the loss of things essential to the lyric drama4 ,it may be heretical to say so1 but is it not possible that ,lord ,chamberlain and ,critic have both taken too serious a view of the matter8 ,there is a vast amount of admirable material in the ,bible 7historical1 legendary or mythical1 as one happens to regard it71 which would not necessarily be degraded by dramatic treatment1 and which might be made entertaining as well as edifying1 as it has been made in the past1 by stage representation4 ,reverence for this material is neither inculcated nor preserved by shifting the scene and throwing a veil over names too transparent to effect a disguise4 ,moreover1 when this is done1 there is always danger that the process may involve a sacrifice of the respect to which a work of art is entitled on its merits as such4 ,gounod1 in collaboration with ,barbier and ,carre1 wrote an opera entitled ,la ,reine de ,saba4 ,the plot had nothing to do with the ,bible beyond the name of ,sheba's ,queen and ,king ,solomon4 ,mr4 ,farnie1 who used to make comic operetta books in ,london1 adapted the ,french libretto for performance in ,english and called the opera ,irene4 ,what a title for a grand opera6 ,why not ,blanche or ,arabella8 ,no doubt such a thought flitted through many a careless mind unconscious that an ,irene was a ,byzantine ,empress of the eighth century1 who1 by her devotion to its tenets1 won beatification after death from the ,greek ,church4 ,the opera failed on the ,continent as well as in ,london1 but if it had not been given a comic operetta flavor by its title and association with the name of the excellent ,mr4 ,farnie1 would the change in supposed time1 place and people have harmed it8 ,a few years ago ,i read 7with amusement1 of course7 of the metamorphosis to which ,massenet's ,herodiade was subjected so that it might masquerade for a brief space on the ,london stage2 but when ,i saw the opera in ,new ,york in the original package 7to speak commercially71 ,i could well believe that the music sounded the same in ,london1 though ,john the ,baptist sang under an alias and the painted scenes were supposed to delineate ,ethiopia instead of ,palestine4 ,there is a good deal of nonsensical affectation in the talk about the intimate association in the minds of composers of music1 text1 incident1 and original purpose4 ,un ,ballo in ,maschera1 as we see it most often nowadays1 plays in ,nomansland2 but ,i fancy that its music would sound pretty much the same if the theatre of action were transplanted back to ,sweden1 whence it came originally1 or left in ,naples1 whither it emigrated1 or in ,boston1 to which highly inappropriate place it was banished to oblige the ,neapolitan censor4 ,so long as composers have the habit of plucking feathers out of their dead birds to make wings for their new1 we are likely to remain in happy and contented ignorance of mesalliances between music and score1 until they are pointed out by too curious critics or confessed by the author4 ,what is present habit was former custom to which no kind or degree of stigma attached4 ,bach did it2 ,handel did it2 nor was either of these worthies always scrupulous in distinguishing between meum and tuum when it came to appropriating existing thematic material4 ,in their day the merit of individuality and the right of property lay more in the manner in which ideas were presented than in the ideas themselves4 ,in #ahhf ,i spent a delightful day with ,dr4 ,chrysander at his home in ,bergedorf1 near ,hamburg1 and he told me the story of how on one occasion1 when ,keiser was incapacitated by the vice to which he was habitually prone1 ,handel1 who sat in his orchestra1 was asked by him to write the necessary opera4 ,handel complied1 and his success was too great to leave ,keiser's mind in peace4 ,so he reset the book4 ,before ,keiser's setting was ready for production ,handel had gone to ,italy4 ,hearing of ,keiser's act1 he secured a copy of the new setting from a member of the orchestra and sent back to ,hamburg a composition based on ,keiser's melodies to show how such themes ought to be treated4 ,dr4 ,chrysander1 also1 when he gave me a copy of ,bertati's ,don ,giovanni libretto1 for which ,gazzaniga composed the music1 told me that ,mozart had been only a little less free than the poet in appropriating ideas from the older work4 ,one of the best pieces in the final scene of ,fidelio was taken from a cantata on the death of the emperor of ,austria1 composed by ,beethoven before he left ,bonn4 ,the melody originally conceived for the last movement of the ,symphony in ,d minor was developed into the finale of one of the last string quartets4 ,in fact the instances in which composers have put their pieces to widely divergent purposes are innumerable and sometimes amusing1 in view of the fantastic belief that they are guided by plenary inspiration4 ,the overture which ,rossini wrote for his ,barber of ,seville was lost soon after the first production of the opera4 ,the composer did not take the trouble to write another1 but appropriated one which had served its purpose in an earlier work4 ,persons ignorant of that fact1 but with lively imaginations1 as ,i have said in one of my books1 ,a ,book of ,operas1 p4 #i have rhapsodized on its appositeness1 and professed to hear in it the whispered plottings of the lovers and the merry raillery of ,rosina contrasted with the futile ragings of her grouty guardian2 but when ,rossini composed this piece of music its mission was to introduce an adventure of the ,emperor ,aurelianus in ,palmyra in the third century of the ,christian era4 ,having served that purpose it became the prelude to another opera which dealt with ,queen ,elizabeth of ,england1 a monarch who reigned some twelve hundred years after ,aurelianus4 ,again1 before the melody now known as that of ,almaviva's cavatina had burst into the efflorescence which now distinguishes it1 it came as a chorus from the mouths of ,cyrus and his ,persians in ancient ,babylon4 ,when ,mr4 ,lumley desired to produce ,verdi's ,nabucodonosor 7called ,nabucco for short7 in ,london in #ahdf he deferred to ,english tradition and brought out the opera as ,nino1 ,re d',assyria4 ,i confess that ,i cannot conceive how changing a king of ,babylon to a king of ,assyria could possibly have brought about a change one way or the other in the effectiveness of ,verdi's ,italian music1 but ,mr4 ,lumley professed to have found in the transformation reason for the ,english failure4 ,at any rate1 he commented1 in his ,reminiscences of the ,opera1 ,that the opera thus lost much of its original character1 especially in the scene where the captive ,israelites became very uninteresting ,babylonians1 and was thereby shorn of one element of success present on the ,continent1 is undeniable4 ,there is another case even more to the purpose of this present discussion4 ,in #ahah ,rossini produced his opera ,mose in ,egitto in ,naples4 ,the strength of the work lay in its choruses2 yet two of them were borrowed from the composer's ,armida4 ,in #ahbb ,bochsa performed it as an oratorio at ,covent ,garden1 but1 says ,john ,ebers in his ,seven ,years of the ,king's ,theatre1 published in #ahbh1 the audience accustomed to the weighty metal and pearls of price of ,handel's compositions found the ',moses' as dust in the balance in comparison4 ,the oratorio having failed as completely as erst did ,pharaoh's host1 ,ebers continues1 the ashes of ',mose in ,egitto' revived in the form of an opera entitled ',pietro l',eremita4' ,moses was transformed into ,peter4 ,in this form the opera was as successful as it had been unfortunate as an oratorio4444 ',mose in ,egitto' was condemned as cold1 dull1 and heavy4 ',pietro l',eremita1' ,lord ,sefton1 one of the most competent judges of the day1 pronounced to be the most effective opera produced within his recollection2 and the public confirmed the justice of the remark1 for no opera during my management had such unequivocal success4 ,footnote3 ,seven ,years of the ,king's ,theatre1 by ,john ,ebers1 pp4 #aeg1 #aeh4 ,this was not the end of the opera's vicissitudes1 to some of which ,i shall recur presently2 let this suffice now3 ,rossini rewrote it in #ahbg1 adding some new music for the ,academie ,royal in ,paris1 and called it ,moise2 when it was revived for the ,covent ,garden oratorios1 ,london1 in #ahcc1 it was not only performed with scenery and dresses1 but recruited with music from ,handel's oratorio and renamed ,the ,israelites in ,egypt2 or the ,passage of the ,red ,sea2 when the ,french ,moise reached the ,royal ,italian ,opera1 ,covent ,garden1 in ,april1 #ahej1 it had still another name1 ,zora1 though ,chorley does not mention the fact in his ,thirty ,years' ,musical ,recollections1 probably because the failure of the opera which he loved grieved him too deeply4 ,for a long time ,moses occupied a prominent place among oratorios4 ,the ,handel and ,haydn ,society of ,boston adopted it in #ahde1 and between then and #ahgh performed it forty-five times4 ,in all the years of my intimate association with the lyric drama 7considerably more than the number of which ,mr4 ,chorley has left us a record7 ,i have seen but one opera in which the plot adheres to the ,biblical story indicated by its title4 ,that opera is ,saint-,saens's ,samson et ,dalila4 ,i have seen others whose titles and dramatis personae suggested narratives found in ,holy ,writ1 but in nearly all these cases it would be a profanation of the ,book to call them ,biblical operas4 ,those which come to mind are ,goldmark's ,konigin von ,saba1 ,massenet's ,herodiade and ,richard ,strauss's ,salome4 ,i have heard1 in whole or part1 but not seen1 three of the works which ,rubinstein would fain have us believe are operas1 but which are not--,das verlorene ,paradies1 ,der ,thurmbau zu ,babel and ,moses2 and ,i have a study acquaintance with the books and scores of his ,maccabaer1 which is an opera2 his ,sulamith1 which tries to be one1 and his ,christus1 which marks the culmination of the vainest effort that a contemporary composer made to parallel ,wagner's achievement on a different line4 ,there are other works which are sufficiently known to me through library communion or concert-room contact to enable me to claim enough acquaintanceship to justify converse about them and which must perforce occupy attention in this study4 ,chiefest and noblest of these are ,rossini's ,moses and ,mehul's ,joseph4 ,finally1 there are a few with which ,i have only a passing or speaking acquaintance2 whose faces ,i can recognize1 fragments of whose speech ,i know1 and whose repute is such that ,i can contrive to guess at their hearts--such as ,verdi's ,nabucodonosor and ,gounod's ,reine de ,saba4 ,rossini's ,moses was the last of the ,italian operas 7the last by a significant composer1 at least7 which used to be composed to ease the ,lenten conscience in pleasure-loving ,italy4 ,though written to be played with the adjuncts of scenery and costumes1 it has less of action than might easily be infused into a performance of ,mendelssohn's ,elijah1 and the epical element which finds its exposition in the choruses is far greater than that in any opera of its time with which ,i am acquainted4 ,in both its aspects1 as oratorio and as opera1 it harks back to a time when the two forms were essentially the same save in respect of subject matter4 ,it is a convenient working hypothesis to take the classic tragedy of ,hellas as the progenitor of the opera4 ,it can also be taken as the prototype of the ,festival of the ,ass1 which was celebrated as long ago as the twelfth century in ,france2 of the miracle plays which were performed in ,england at the same time2 the ,commedia spiritiuale of thirteenth-century ,italy and the ,geistliche ,schauspiele of fourteenth-century ,germany4 ,these mummeries with their admixture of church song1 pointed the way as media of edification to the dramatic representations of ,biblical scenes which ,saint ,philip ,neri used to attract audiences to hear his sermons in the ,church of ,st4 ,mary in ,vallicella1 in ,rome1 and the sacred musical dramas came to be called oratorios4 ,while the camerata were seeking to revive the classic drama in ,florence1 ,carissimi was experimenting with sacred material in ,rome1 and his epoch-making allegory1 ,la ,rappresentazione dell' ,anima e del ,corpo1 was brought out1 almost simultaneously with ,peri's ,euridice1 in #afjj4 ,putting off the fetters of plainsong1 music became beautiful for its own sake1 and as an agent of dramatic expression4 ,his excursions into ,biblical story were followed for a century or more by the authors of sacra azione1 written to take the place of secular operas in ,lent4 ,the stories of ,jephtha and his daughter1 ,hezekiah1 ,belshazzar1 ,abraham and ,isaac1 ,jonah1 ,job1 the ,judgment of ,solomon1 and the ,last ,judgment became the staple of opera composers in ,italy and ,germany for more than a century4 ,alessandro ,scarlatti1 whose name looms large in the history of opera1 also composed oratorios2 and ,mr4 ,e4 ,j4 ,dent1 his biographer1 has pointed out that except that the operas are in three acts and the oratorios in two1 the only difference is in the absence of professedly comic characters and of the formal statement in which the author protests that the words fata1 dio1 dieta1 etc41 are only scherzi poetici and imply nothing contrary to the ,catholic faith4 ,zeno and ,metastasio wrote texts for sacred operas as well as profane1 with ,tobias1 ,absalom1 ,joseph1 ,david1 ,daniel1 and ,sisera as subjects4 ,presently ,i shall attempt a discussion of the gigantic attempt made by ,rubinstein to enrich the stage with an art-form to which he gave a distinctive name1 but which was little else than1 an inflated type of the old sacra azione1 employing the larger apparatus which modern invention and enterprise have placed at the command of the playwright1 stage manager1 and composer4 ,i am compelled to see in his project chiefly a jealous ambition to rival the great and triumphant accomplishment of ,richard ,wagner1 but it is possible that he had a prescient eye on a coming time4 ,the desire to combine pictures with oratorio has survived the practice which prevailed down to the beginning of the nineteenth century4 ,handel used scenes and costumes when he produced his ,esther1 as well as his ,acis and ,galatea1 in ,london4 ,dittersdorf has left for us a description of the stage decorations prepared for his oratorios when they were performed in the palace of the ,bishop of ,groswardein4 ,of late years there have been a number of theatrical representations of ,mendelssohn's ,elijah4 ,i have witnessed as well as heard a performance of ,acis and ,galatea and been entertained with the spectacle of ,polyphemus crushing the head of presumptuous ,acis with a stave like another ,fafner while singing ,fly1 thou massy ruin1 fly to the bludgeon which was playing understudy for the fatal rock4 ,this diverting incident brings me to a consideration of one of the difficulties which stand in the way of effective stage pictures combined with action in the case of some of the most admired of the subjects for oratorios or sacred opera4 ,it was not the ,lord ,chamberlain who stood in the way of ,saint-,saens's ,samson et ,dalila in the ,united ,states for many years1 but the worldly wisdom of opera managers who shrank from attempting to stage the spectacle of the falling ,temple of ,dagon1 and found in the work itself a plentiful lack of that dramatic movement which is to-day considered more essential to success than beautiful and inspiriting music4 ,samson et ,dalila was well known in its concert form when the management of the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house first attempted to introduce it as an opera4 ,it had a single performance in the season of #ahid-ahie and then sought seclusion from the stage lamps for twenty years4 ,it was1 perhaps1 fortunate for the work that no attempt was made to repeat it1 for1 though well sung and satisfactorily acted1 the toppling of the pillars of the temple1 discreetly supported by too visible wires1 at the conclusion made a stronger appeal to the popular sense of the ridiculous than even ,saint-,saens's music could withstand4 ,it is easy to inveigh against the notion frivolous fribbles and trumpery trappings receive more attention than the fine music which ought to be recognized as the soul of the work1 the vital spark which irradiates an inconsequential material body2 but human nature has not yet freed itself sufficiently from gross clogs to attain so ideal an attitude4 ,it is to a danger similar to that which threatened the original ,new ,york ,samson that the world owes the most popular melody in ,rossini's ,mose4 ,the story is old and familiar to the students of operatic history1 but will bear retelling4 ,the plague of darkness opens the opera1 the passage of the ,red ,sea concludes it4 ,rossini's stage manager had no difficulty with the former1 which demanded nothing more than the lowering of the stage lights4 ,but he could evolve no device which could save the final miracle from laughter4 ,a hilarious ending to so solemn a work disturbed the management and the librettist1 ,totola1 who1 just before a projected revival in ,naples1 a year or two after the first production1 came to the composer with a project for saving the third act4 ,rossini was in bed1 as usual1 and the poet showed him the text of the prayer1 ,dal tuo stellato1 which he said he had written in an hour4 ,i will get up and write the music1 said ,rossini2 you shall have it in a quarter of an hour4 ,and he kept his word1 whether literally or not in respect of time does not matter4 ,when the opera was again performed it contained the chorus with its melody which provided ,paganini with material for one of his sensational performances on the ,g-string4 figure3 a musical score excerpt ,carpani tells the story and describes the effect upon the audience which heard it for the first time4 ,laughter was just beginning in the pit when the public was surprised to note that ,moses was about to sing4 ,the people stopped laughing and prepared to listen4 ,they were awed by the beauty of the minor strain which was echoed by ,aaron and then by the chorus of ,israelites4 ,the host marched across the mimic sea and fell on its knees1 and the music burst forth again1 but now in the major mode4 ,and now the audience joined in the jubilation4 ,the people in the boxes1 says ,carpani1 stood up2 they leaned over the railings2 applauded2 they shouted3 ,bello6 bello6 ,o che bello6 ,carpani adds3 ,i am almost in tears when ,i think of this prayer4 ,an impressionable folk1 those ,italians of less than a century ago4 ,among other things that can be said in praise of our hero1 remarked a physician to ,carpani1 amidst the enthusiasm caused by the revamped opera1 do not forget that he is an assassin4 ,i can cite to you more than forty attacks of nervous fever or violent convulsions on the part of young women1 fond to excess of music1 which have no other origin than the prayer of the ,hebrews in the third act with its superb change of key6 ,thus music saved the scene in ,naples4 ,when the opera was rewritten for ,london and made to tell a story about ,peter the ,hermit1 the corresponding scene had to be elided after the first performance4 ,ebers tells the story3 ,a body of troops was supposed to pass over a bridge which1 breaking1 was to precipitate them into the water4 ,the troops being made of basketwork and pulled over the bridge by ropes1 unfortunately became refractory on their passage1 and very sensibly refused1 when the bridge was about to give way1 to proceed any further2 consequently when the downfall of the arches took place the basket men remained very quietly on that part of the bridge which was left standing1 and instead of being consigned to the waves had nearly been set on fire4 ,the audience1 not giving the troops due credit for their prudence1 found no little fault with their compliance with the law of self-preservation4 ,in the following representations of the opera the bridge and basket men which1 en passant 7or en restant rather71 had cost fifty pounds1 were omitted4 ,footnote3 ,op4 cit41 p4 #afj ,when ,moise was prepared in ,paris #de1jjj francs were sunk in the ,red ,sea4 ,i shall recur in a moment to the famous preghiera but1 having ,ebers' book before me1 ,i see an anecdote so delightfully illustrative of the proverbial spirit of the lyric theatre that ,i cannot resist the temptation to repeat it4 ,in the revised ,moses made for ,paris there occurs a quartet beginning ,mi manca la voce 7,i lack voice7 which ,chorley describes as a delicious round4 ,camporese had to utter the words first and no sooner had she done so than ,ronzi di ,begnis1 in a whisper1 loud enough to be heard by her companion1 made the comment ,e vero6 7,true67--a remark1 says ,mr4 ,ebers1 which produced a retort courteous somewhat more than verging on the limit of decorum1 though not proceeding to the extremity asserted by rumor1 which would have been as inconsistent with propriety as with the habitual dignity and self-possession of ,camporese's demeanor4 ,somebody1 ,i cannot recall who1 has said that the success of ,dal tuo stellato set the fashion of introducing prayers into operas4 ,whether this be true or not1 it is a fact that a prayer occurs in four of the operas which ,rossini composed for the ,paris ,grand ,opera and that the formula is become so common that it may be set down as an operatic convention1 a convention1 moreover1 which even the iconoclast ,wagner left undisturbed4 ,one might think that the propriety of prayer in a religious drama would have been enforced upon the mind of a classicist like ,goethe by his admiration for the antique1 but it was the fact that ,rossini's opera showed the ,israelites upon their knees in supplication to ,god that set the great ,german poet against ,mose4 ,in a conversation recorded by ,eckermann as taking place in #ahbh1 we hear him uttering his objection to the work3 ,i do not understand how you can separate and enjoy separately the subject and the music4 ,you pretend here that the subject is worthless1 but you are consoled for it by a feast of excellent music4 ,i wonder that your nature is thus organized that your ear can listen to charming sounds while your sight1 the most perfect of your senses1 is tormented by absurd objects4 ,you will not deny that your ',moses' is in effect very absurd4 ,the curtain is raised and people are praying4 ,this is all wrong4 ,the ,bible says that when you pray you should go into your chamber and close the door4 ,therefore1 there should be no praying in the theatre4 ,as for me1 ,i should have arranged a wholly different ',moses4' ,at first ,i should have shown the children of ,israel bowed down by countless odious burdens and suffering from the tyranny of the ,egyptian rulers4 ,then you would have appreciated more easily what ,moses deserved from his race1 which he had delivered from a shameful oppression4 ,then1 says ,mr4 ,philip ,hale1 who directed my attention to this interesting passage1 ,goethe went on to reconstruct the whole opera4 ,he introduced1 for instance1 a dance of the ,egyptians after the plague of darkness was dispelled4 ,may not one criticise ,goethe8 ,if he so greatly reverenced prayer1 according to its institution under the ,new ,dispensation1 why did he not show regard also for the ,old and respect the verities of history sufficiently to reserve his ballet till after the passage of the ,red ,sea1 when ,moses celebrated the miracle with a song and ,miriam1 the prophetess1 the sister of ,aaron1 took a timbrel in her hand2 and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances8 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,bible ,,stories ,,in ,,opera ,,and ,,oratorio ,it was the fond belief of ,dr4 ,chrysander1 born of his deep devotion to ,handel1 in whose works he lived and moved and had his being1 that the heroic histories of the ,jews offered no fit material for dramatic representation4 ,in his view the ,jews never created dramatic poetry1 partly because of the ,mosaic prohibition against plastic delineation of their ,deity1 partly because the tragic element1 which was so potent an influence in the development of the ,greek drama1 was wanting in their heroes4 ,the theory that the ,song of ,songs1 that canticle of canticles of love1 was a pastoral play had no lodgment in his mind2 the poem seemed less dramatic to him than the ,book of ,job4 ,the former sprang from the idyllic life of the northern tribes and reflected that life2 the latter1 much more profound in conception1 proved by its form that the road to a real stage-play was insurmountably barred to the ,hebrew poet4 ,what poetic field was open to him then8 ,only the hymning of a ,deity1 invisible1 omnipresent and omnipotent1 the swelling call to combat for the glory of ,god against an inimical world1 and the celebration of an ideal consisting in a peaceful1 happy existence in the ,land of ,promise under ,god's protecting care4 ,this ,god presented ,himself occasionally as a militant1 all-powerful warrior1 but only in moments when the fortunes of ,his people were critically at issue4 ,these moments1 however1 were exceptional and few2 as a rule1 ,god manifested ,himself in prophecy1 through words and music4 ,the laws were promulgated in song2 so were the prophetic promises1 denunciations1 and calls to repentance2 and there grew up a magnificent liturgical service in the temple4 ,hebrew poetry1 epic and lyrical1 was thus antagonistic to the drama4 ,so1 also1 ,dr4 ,chrysander contends1 was the ,hebrew himself4 ,not only had he no predilection for plastic creation1 his life was not dramatic in the sense illustrated in ,greek tragedy4 ,he lived a care-free1 sensuous existence1 and either fell under righteous condemnation for his transgressions or walked in the way prescribed of the ,lord and found rest at last in ,abraham's bosom4 ,his life was simple2 so were his strivings1 his longings1 his hopes4 ,yet when it came to the defence or celebration of his spiritual possessions his soul was filled with such a spirit of heroic daring1 such a glow of enthusiasm1 as are not to be paralleled among another of the peoples of antiquity4 ,he thus became a fit subject for only one of the arts--music2 in this art for only one of its spheres1 the sublime1 the most appropriate and efficient vehicle of which is the oratorio4 ,one part of this argument seems to me irrelevant2 the other not firmly founded in fact4 ,it does not follow that because the ,greek conscience evolved the conceptions of rebellious pride and punitive ,fate while the ,hebrew conscience did not1 therefore the ,greeks were the predestined creators of the art-form out of which grew the opera and the ,hebrews of the form which grew into the oratorio4 ,neither is it true that because a people are not disposed toward dramatic creation themselves they can not1 or may not1 be the cause of dramatic creativeness in others4 ,dr4 ,chrysander's argument1 made in a lecture at the ,johanneum in ,hamburg in #ahif1 preceded an analysis of ,handel's ,biblical oratorios in their relation to ,hebrew history1 and his exposition of that history as he unfolded it chronologically from the ,exodus down to the ,maccabaean period was in itself sufficient to furnish many more fit operatic plots than have yet been written4 ,nor are there lacking in these stories some of the elements of ,greek legend and mythology which were the mainsprings of the tragedies of ,athens4 ,the parallels are striking3 ,jephtha's daughter and ,iphigenia2 ,samson and his slavery and the servitude of ,hercules and ,perseus2 the fate of ,ajax and other heroes made mad by pride1 and the lycanthropy of ,nebuchadnezzar1 of whose vanity ,dr4 ,hanslick once reminded ,wagner1 warning him against the fate of the ,babylonian king who became like unto an ox1 ate grass and was composed by ,verdi2 think reverently of ,alcestis and the ,christian doctrine of atonement6 ,the writers of the first ,biblical operas sought their subjects as far back in history1 or legend1 as the written page permitted4 ,theile composed an ,adam and ,eve in #afgh2 but our first parents never became popular on the serious stage4 ,perhaps the fearful soul of the theatrical costumer was frightened and perplexed by the problem which the subject put up to him4 ,haydn introduced them into his oratorio ,the ,creation1 but1 as the custom goes now1 the third part of the work1 in which they appear1 is frequently1 if not generally omitted in performance4 ,adam1 to judge by the record in ,holy ,writ1 made an uneventful end3 ,and all the days that ,adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years3 and he died2 but this did not prevent ,lesueur from writing an opera on his death ten years after ,haydn's oratorio had its first performance4 ,he called it ,la ,mort d',adam et son ,apotheose1 and it involved him in a disastrous quarrel with the directors of the ,conservatoire and the ,academie4 ,pursuing the search chronologically1 the librettists next came upon ,cain and ,abel1 who offered a more fruitful subject for dramatic and musical invention4 ,we know very little about the sacred operas which shared the list with works based on classical fables and ,roman history in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries2 inasmuch1 however1 as they were an outgrowth of the pious plays of the ,middle ,ages and designed for edifying consumption in ,lent1 it is likely that they adhered in their plots pretty close to the ,biblical accounts4 ,i doubt if the sentimental element which was in vogue when ,rossini wrote ,mose in ,egitto played much of a role in such an opera as ,johann ,philipp ,fortsch's ,kain und ,abel2 oder der verzweifelnde ,brudermorder1 which was performed in ,hamburg in #afhi1 or even in ,abel's ,tod1 which came along in #agga4 ,the first fratricidal murder seems to have had an early and an enduring fascination for dramatic poets and composers4 ,metastasio's ,la ,morte d',abele1 set by both ,caldara and ,leo in #agcb1 remained a stalking-horse for composers down to ,morlacchi in #ahbj4 ,one of the latest of ,biblical operas is the ,kain of ,heinrich ,bulthaupt and ,eugen d',albert4 ,this opera and a later lyric drama by the same composer1 ,tote ,augen 7under which title a casual reader would never suspect that a ,biblical subject was lurking71 call for a little attention because of their indication of a possible drift which future dramatists may follow in treating sacred story4 ,wicked envy and jealousy were not sufficient motives in the eyes of ,bulthaupt and d',albert for the first fratricide2 there must be an infusion of psychology and modern philosophy4 ,abel is an optimist1 an idealist1 a contented dreamer1 joying in the loveliness of life and nature2 ,cain1 a pessimist1 a morose brooder1 for whom life contained no beautiful illusions4 ,he gets up from his couch in the night to question the right of ,god to create man for suffering4 ,he is answered by ,lucifer1 who proclaims himself the benefactor of the family in having rescued them from the slothful existence of ,eden and given them a ,redeemer4 ,the devil discourses on the delightful ministrations of that ,redeemer1 whose name is ,death4 ,in the morning ,abel arises and as he offers his sacrifice he hymns the sacred mystery of life and turns a deaf ear to the new-found gospel of his brother4 ,an inspiring thought comes to ,cain2 by killing ,abel and destroying himself he will save future generations from the sufferings to which they are doomed4 ,with this benevolent purpose in mind he commits the murder4 ,the blow has scarcely been struck before a multitude of spirit-voices call his name and ,god thunders the question3 ,where is ,abel1 thy brother8 ,adam comes from his cave and looks upon the scene with horror4 ,now ,cain realizes that his work is less than half done3 he is himself still alive and so is his son ,enoch4 ,he rushes forward to kill his child1 but the mother throws herself between1 and ,cain discovers that he is not strong-willed enough to carry out his design4 ,god's curse condemns him to eternal unrest1 and while the elements rage around him ,cain goes forth into the mountain wilderness4 ,herr ,bulthaupt did not permit chronology to stand in the way of his action1 but it can at least be said for him that he did not profane the ,book as ,herr ,ewers1 ,mr4 d',albert's latest collaborator1 did when he turned a story of ,christ's miraculous healing of a blind woman into a sensational melodrama4 ,in the precious opera1 ,tote ,augen 7,dead ,eyes71 brought out in ,march1 #aiaf1 in ,dresden1 ,myrocle1 the blind woman1 is the wife of ,arcesius1 a ,roman ambassador in ,jerusalem4 ,never having seen him1 ,myrocle believes her husband to be a paragon of beauty1 but he is1 in fact1 hideous of features1 crook-backed1 and lame2 deformed in mind and heart1 too1 for he has concealed the truth from her4 ,christ is entering ,jerusalem1 and ,mary of ,magdala leads ,myrocle to him1 having heard of the miracles which he performs1 and he opens the woman's eyes at the moment that the multitude is shouting its hosannahs4 ,the first man who fills the vision of ,myrocle is ,galba1 handsome1 noble1 chivalrous1 who had renounced the love he bore her because she was the wife of his friend4 ,in ,galba the woman believes she sees the husband whom in her fond imagination she had fitted out with the charms of mind and person which his friend possesses4 ,she throws herself into his arms1 and he does not repel her mistaken embraces2 but the misshapen villain throws himself upon the pair and strangles his friend to death4 ,a slave enlightens the mystified woman2 the murderer1 not the dead hero at his feet1 is her husband4 ,singularly enough1 she does not turn from him with hatred and loathing1 but looks upon him with a great pity4 ,then she turns her eyes upon the sun1 which ,christ had said should not set until she had cursed him1 and gazes into its searing glow until her sight is again dead4 ,moral3 it is sinful to love the loveliness of outward things2 from the soul must come salvation4 ,as if she had never learned the truth1 she returns to her wifely love for ,arcesius4 ,the story is as false to nature as it is sacrilegious2 its trumpery theatricalism is as great a hindrance to a possible return of ,biblical opera as the disgusting celebration of necrophilism in ,richard ,strauss's ,salome4 ,in our historical excursion we are still among the patriarchs1 and the whole earth is of one language and of one speech4 ,noah1 the ark1 and the deluge seem now too prodigious to be essayed by opera makers1 but1 apparently1 they did not awe the ,englishman ,edward ,eccleston 7or ,eggleston71 who is said to have produced an opera1 ,noah's ,flood1 or the ,destruction of the ,world1 in ,london in #afgi1 nor ,seyfried1 whose ,libera me was sung at ,beethoven's funeral1 and who1 besides ,biblical operas entitled ,saul1 ,abraham1 ,the ,maccabees1 and ,the ,israelites in the ,desert1 brought out a ,noah in ,vienna in #ahah4 ,halevy left an unfinished opera1 ,noe1 which ,bizet1 who was his son-in-law1 completed4 ,of oratorios dealing with the deluge ,i do not wish to speak further than to express my admiration for the manner in which ,saint-,saens opened the musical floodgates in ,le ,deluge4 ,on the plain in the ,land of ,shinar the families of the sons of ,noah builded them a city and a tower whose top they arrogantly hoped might reach unto heaven4 ,but the tower fell1 the tongues of the people were confounded1 and the people were scattered abroad on the face of the earth4 ,rubinstein attempted to give dramatic representation to the tremendous incident1 and to his effort and vain dream ,i shall revert in the next chapter of this book4 ,now ,i must on with the history of the patriarchs4 ,the story of ,abraham and his attempted offering of ,isaac has been much used as oratorio material1 and ,joseph ,elsner1 ,chopin's teacher1 brought out a ,polish opera1 ,ofiara ,abrama1 at ,warsaw in #ahbg4 ,a significant milestone in the history of the ,hebrews as well as ,biblical operas has now been reached4 ,the sojourn of the ,jews in ,egypt and their final departure under the guidance of ,moses have already occupied considerable attention in this study4 ,they provided material for the two operas which seem to me the noblest of their kind--,mehul's ,joseph and ,rossini's ,mose in ,egitto4 ,mehul's opera1 more than a decade older than ,rossini's1 still holds a place on the stages of ,france and ,germany1 and this despite the fact that it foregoes two factors which are popularly supposed to be essential to operatic success--a love episode and woman's presence and participation in the action4 ,the opera1 which is in three acts1 was brought forward at the ,theatre ,feydeau in ,paris on ,february #ag1 #ahjg4 ,it owed its origin to a ,biblical tragedy entitled ,omasis1 by ,baour ,lormian4 ,the subject--the sale of ,joseph by his brothers into ,egyptian slavery1 his rise to power1 his forgiveness of the wrong attempted against him1 and his provision of a home for the people of ,israel in the land of ,goshen--had long been popular with composers of oratorios4 ,the list of these works begins with ,caldara's ,giuseppe in #agbb4 ,metastasio's ,giuseppe riconosciuto was set by half a dozen composers between #agcc and #aghh4 ,handel wrote his ,english oratorio in #agdc2 ,g4 ,a4 ,macfarren's was performed at the ,leeds festival of #ahgg4 ,lormian thought it necessary to introduce a love episode into his tragedy1 but ,alexander ,duval1 who wrote the book for ,mehul's opera1 was of the opinion that the diversion only enfeebled the beautiful if austere picture of patriarchal domestic life delineated in the ,bible4 ,he therefore adhered to tradition and created a series of scenes full of beauty1 dignity1 and pathos1 simple and strong in spite of the bombast prevalent in the literary style of the period4 ,mehul's music is marked by grandeur1 simplicity1 lofty sentiment1 and consistent severity of manner4 ,the composer's predilection for ecclesiastical music1 created1 no doubt1 by the blind organist who taught him in his childhood and nourished by his studies and labors at the monastery under the gifted ,hauser1 found opportunity for expression in the religious sentiments of the drama1 and his knowledge of plain chant is exhibited in the score the simplicity1 grandeur1 and dramatic truth of which will always command the admiration of impartial musicians1 remarks ,gustave ,choquet4 ,the enthusiasm of ,m4 ,tiersot goes further still1 for he says that the music of ,joseph is more conspicuous for the qualities of dignity and sonority than that of ,handel's oratorio4 ,the ,german ,hanslick1 to whom the absence from the action of the salt of the earth1 women seemed disastrous1 nevertheless does not hesitate to institute a comparison between ,joseph and one of ,mozart's latest operas4 ,in its mild1 passionless benevolence the entire role of ,joseph in ,mehul's opera1 he says1 reminds one strikingly of ,mozart's ',titus1' and not to the advantage of the latter4 ,the opera ',titus' is the work of an incomparably greater genius1 but it belongs to a partly untruthful1 wholly modish1 tendency 7that of the old opera seria71 while the genre of ',joseph' is thoroughly noble1 true1 and eminently dramatic4 ',joseph' has outlived ',titus4' ,footnote3 ,die ,moderne ,opera1 p4 #ib4 ,carl ,maria von ,weber admired ,mehul's opera greatly1 and within recent years ,felix ,weingartner has edited a ,german edition for which he composed recitatives to take the place of the spoken dialogue of the original book4 ,there is no story of passion in ,joseph4 ,the love portrayed there is domestic and filial2 its objects are the hero's father1 brothers1 and country--,champs eternels1 ,hebron1 douce vallee4 ,it was not until our own day that an author with a perverted sense which had already found gratification in the stench of mental1 moral1 and physical decay exhaled by ,salome and ,elektra nosed the piquant1 pungent odor of the episode of ,potiphar's wife and blew it into the theatre4 ,joseph's temptress did not tempt even the prurient taste which gave us the ,parisian operatic versions of the stories of ,phryne1 ,thais1 and ,messalina4 ,richard ,strauss's ,josephslegende stands alone in musical literature4 ,there is1 indeed1 only one reference in the records of oratorio or opera to the woman whose grovelling carnality is made the foil of ,joseph's virtue in the story as told in the ,book4 ,that reference is found in a singular trilogy1 which was obviously written more to disclose the possibilities of counterpoint than to set forth the story--even if it does that1 which ,i cannot say2 the suggestion comes only from a title4 ,in ,august1 #aheb1 ,pietro ,raimondi produced an oratorio in three parts entitled1 respectively1 ,putifar1 ,giuseppe giusto1 and ,giacobbe1 at the ,teatro ,argentina1 in ,rome4 ,the music of the three works was so written that after each had been performed separately1 with individual principal singers1 choristers1 and orchestras1 they were united in a simultaneous performance4 ,the success of the stupendous experiment in contrapuntal writing was so great that the composer fell in a faint amidst the applause of the audience and died less than three months afterward4 ,in the course of this study ,i have mentioned nearly all of the ,biblical characters who have been turned into operatic heroes4 ,nebuchadnezzar appeared on the stage at ,hamburg in an opera of ,keiser's in #agjd2 ,ariosti put him through his bovine strides in ,vienna in #agjf4 ,he was put into a ballet by a ,portuguese composer and made the butt of a ,french opera bouffe writer1 ,j4 ,j4 ,debillement1 in #ahga4 ,he recurs to my mind now in connection with a witty fling at ,nabucco made by a ,french rhymester when ,verdi's opera was produced at ,paris in #ahde4 ,the noisy brass in the orchestration offended the ears of a critic1 and he wrote3 ,vraiment l'affiche est dans son tort2 ,en faux1 ou devrait la poursuivre4 ,pourquoi nous annoncer ,nabuchodonos--or ,quand c'est ,nabuchodonos--cuivre8 ,judas ,maccabaeus is one of the few heroes of ancient ,israel who have survived in opera1 ,rubinstein's ,makkabaer still having a hold1 though not a strong one1 on the ,german stage4 ,the libretto is an adaptation by ,mosenthal 7author also of ,goldmark's ,queen of ,sheba7 of a drama by ,otto ,ludwig4 ,in the drama as well as some of its predecessors some liberties have been taken with the story as told in ,maccabees ,,ii1 chapter #g4 ,the tale of the ,israelitish champion of freedom and his brothers ,jonathan and ,simon1 who lost their lives in the struggle against the tyranny of the kings of ,syria1 is intensely dramatic4 ,for stage purposes the dramatists have associated the massacre of a mother and her seven sons and the martyrdom of the aged ,eleazar1 who caused the uprising of the ,jews1 with the family history of ,judas himself4 ,j4 ,w4 ,franck produced ,die ,maccabaische ,mutter in ,hamburg in #afgi1 ,ariosti composed ,la ,madre dei ,maccabei in #agjd1 ,ignaz von ,seyfried brought out ,die ,makkabaer1 oder ,salmonaa in #ahah1 and ,rubinstein his opera in ,berlin on ,april #ag1ahge4 ,the romantic career of ,jephtha1 a natural son1 banished from home1 chief of a band of roving marauders1 mighty captain and ninth judge of ,israel1 might have fitted out many an opera text1 irrespective of the pathetic story of the sacrifice of his daughter in obedience to a vow1 though this episode springs first to mind when his name is mentioned1 and has been the special subject of the ,jephtha operas4 ,an ,italian composer named ,pollarolo wrote a ,jefte for ,vienna in #afib2 other operas dealing with the history are ,rolle's ,mehala1 die ,tochter ,jephthas 7#aghd71 ,meyerbeer's ,jephtha's ,tochter 7,munich1 #ahac71 ,generali1 ,il voto di ,jefte 7#ahbg71 ,sanpieri1 ,la ,figlia di ,jefte 7#ahgb74 ,luis ,cepeda produced a ,spanish opera in ,madrid in #ahde1 and a ,french opera1 in five acts and a prologue1 by ,monteclaire1 was prohibited1 after one performance1 by ,cardinal de ,noailles in #ahcb4 ,judith1 the widow of ,manasseh1 who delivered her native city of ,bethulia from the ,assyrian ,holofernes1 lulling him to sleep with her charms and then striking off his drunken head with a falchion1 though an ,apocryphal personage1 is the most popular of ,israelitish heroines4 ,the record shows the operas ,judith und ,holofernes by ,leopold ,kotzeluch 7#agii71 ,giuditta by ,s4 ,levi 7#ahdd71 ,achille ,peri 7#ahfj71 ,righi 7#ahga71 and ,sarri 7#ahge74 ,naumann wrote a ,judith in #aheh1 ,doppler another in #ahgj1 and ,alexander ,seroff a ,russian opera under the same title in #ahfc4 ,martin ,roder1 who used to live in ,boston1 composed a ,judith1 but it was never performed1 while ,george ,w4 ,chadwick's ,judith1 half cantata1 half opera1 which might easily be fitted for the stage1 has had to rest content with a concert performance at a ,worcester 7,mass47 festival4 ,the memory of ,esther1 the queen of ,ahasuerus1 who saved her people from massacre1 is preserved and her deed celebrated by the ,jews in their gracious festival of ,purim4 ,a gorgeous figure for the stage1 she has been relegated to the oratorio platform since the end of the eighteenth century4 ,racine's tragedy ,athalie has called out music from ,abbe ,vogler1 ,gossec1 ,boieldieu1 ,mendelssohn1 and others1 and a few oratorios1 one by ,handel1 have been based on the story of the woman through whom idolatry was introduced into ,judah2 but ,i have no record of any ,athalia opera4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,rubinstein',s ,,geistliche ,,oper ,i have a strong belief in the essential excellence of ,biblical subjects for the purposes of the lyric drama--at least from an historical point of view4 ,i can see no reason against but many reasons in favor of a return to the stage of the patriarchal and heroic figures of the people who are a more potent power in the world to-day1 despite their dispersal and loss of national unity1 than they were in the days of their political grandeur and glory4 ,throughout the greater part of his creative career ,anton ,rubinstein was the champion of a similar idea4 ,of the twenty works which he wrote for the theatre1 including ballets1 six were on ,biblical subjects1 and to promote a propaganda which began with the composition of ,der ,thurmbau zu ,babel1 in #ahgj1 he not only entered the literary field1 but made personal appeal for practical assistance in both the ,old ,world and the ,new4 ,his1 however1 was a religious point of view1 not the historical or political4 ,it is very likely that a racial predilection had much to do with his attitude on the subject1 but in his effort to bring religion into the service of the lyric stage he was no more ,jew than ,christian3 the stories to which he applied his greatest energies were those of ,moses and ,christ4 ,much against my inclination 7for ,rubinstein came into my intellectual life under circumstances and conditions which made him the strongest personal influence in music that ,i have ever felt71 ,i have been compelled to believe that there were other reasons besides those which he gave for his championship of ,biblical opera4 ,smaller men than he1 since ,wagner's death1 have written trilogies and dreamed of theatres and festivals devoted to performances of their works4 ,little wonder if ,rubinstein believed that he had created1 or could create1 a kind of art-work which should take place by the side of ,der ,ring des ,nibelungen1 and have its special home like ,bayreuth2 and it may have been a belief that his project would excite the sympathetic zeal of the devout ,jew and pious ,christian alike1 as much as his lack of the capacity for self-criticism1 which led him like a will-o'-the-wisp along the path which led into the bogs of failure and disappointment4 ,while ,i was engaged in writing the programme book for the music festival given in ,new ,york in #ahha1 at which ,the ,tower of ,babel was performed in a truly magnificent manner1 ,dr4 ,leopold ,damrosch1 the conductor of the festival1 told me that ,rubinstein had told him that the impulse to use ,biblical subjects in lyrical dramas had come to him while witnessing a ballet based on a ,bible story many years before in ,paris4 ,he said that he had seldom been moved so profoundly by any spectacle as by this ballet1 and it suggested to him the propriety of treating sacred subjects in a manner worthy of them1 yet different from the conventional oratorio4 ,the explanation has not gotten into the books1 but is not inconsistent with the genesis of his ,biblical operas1 as related by ,rubinstein in his essay on the subject printed by ,joseph ,lewinsky in his book ,vor den ,coulissen1 published in #ahhb after at least three of the operas had been written4 ,the composer's defence of his works and his story of the effort which he made to bring about a realization of his ideals deserve to be rehearsed in justice to his character as man and artist1 as well as in the interest of the works themselves and the subjects1 which1 ,i believe1 will in the near future occupy the minds of composers again4 ,the oratorio1 said ,rubinstein1 is an art-form which ,i have always been disposed to protest against4 ,the best-known masterpieces of this form have1 not during the study of them but when hearing them performed1 always left me cold2 indeed1 often positively pained me4 ,the stiffness of the musical and still more of the poetical form always seemed to me absolutely incongruous with the high dramatic feeling of the subject4 ,to see and hear gentlemen in dress coats1 white cravats1 yellow gloves1 holding music books before them1 or ladies in modern1 often extravagant1 toilets singing the parts of the grand1 imposing figures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments has always disturbed me to such a degree that ,i could never attain to pure enjoyment4 ,involuntarily ,i felt and thought how much grander1 more impressive1 vivid1 and true would be all that ,i had experienced in the concert-room if represented on the stage with costumes1 decorations1 and full action4 ,the contention1 said ,rubinstein in effect1 that ,biblical subjects are ill adapted to the stage beeause of their sacred character is a testimony of poverty for the theatre1 which should be an agency in the service of the highest purposes of culture4 ,the people have always wanted to see stage representations of ,bible incidents2 witness the mystery plays of the ,middle ,ages and the ,passion ,play at ,oberammergau to-day4 ,but yielding to a prevalent feeling that such representations are a profanation of sacred history1 he had conceived an appropriate type of art-work which was to be produced in theatres to be specially built for the purpose and by companies of artists to be specially trained to that end4 ,this art-work was to be called ,sacred ,opera 7geistliche ,oper71 to distinguish it from secular opera1 but its purpose was to be purely artistic and wholly separate from the interests of the ,church4 ,he developed ways and means for raising the necessary funds1 enlisting artists1 overcoming the difficulties presented by the mise en scene and the polyphonic character of the choral music1 and set forth his aim in respect of the subject-matter of the dramas to be a representation in chronological order of the chief incidents described in the ,old and ,new ,testaments4 ,he would be willing to include in his scheme ,biblical operas already existing1 if they were not all1 with the exception of ,mehul's ,joseph1 made unfit by their treatment of sacred matters1 especially by their inclusion of love episodes which brought them into the domain of secular opera4 ,for years1 while on his concert tours in various countries1 ,rubinstein labored to put his plan into operation4 ,wherever he found a public accustomed to oratorio performances he inquired into the possibility of establishing his sacred theatre there4 ,he laid the project before the ,grand ,duke of ,weimar1 who told him that it was feasible only in large cities4 ,the advice sent him to ,berlin1 where he opened his mind to the ,minister of ,education1 von ,muhler4 ,the official had his doubts2 sacred operas might do for ,old ,testament stories1 but not for ,new2 moreover1 such a theatre should be a private1 not a governmental1 undertaking4 ,he sought the opinion of ,stanley1 ,dean of ,westminster ,abbey1 who said that he could only conceive a realization of the idea in the oldtime popular manner1 upon a rude stage at a country fair4 ,for a space it looked as if the leaders of the ,jewish congregations in ,paris would provide funds for the enterprise so far as it concerned itself with subjects taken from the ,old ,dispensation2 but at the last they backed out1 fearing to take the initiative in a matter likely to cause popular clamor4 ,i even thought of ,america1 says ,rubinstein1 of the daring transatlantic impresarios1 with their lust of enterprise1 who might be inclined to speculate on a gigantic scale with my idea4 ,i had indeed almost succeeded1 but the lack of artists brought it to pass that the plans1 already in a considerable degree of forwardness1 had to be abandoned4 ,i considered the possibility of forming an association of composers and performing artists to work together to carry on the enterprise materially1 intellectually1 and administratively2 but the great difficulty of enlisting any considerable number of artists for the furtherance of a new idea in art frightened me back from this purpose also4 ,in these schemes there are evidences of ,rubinstein's willingness to follow examples set by ,handel as well as ,wagner4 ,the former composed ,judas ,maccabaeus and ,alexander ,balus to please the ,jews who had come to his help when he made financial shipwreck with his opera2 the latter created the ,richard ,wagner ,verein to put the ,bayreuth enterprise on its feet4 ,of the six sacred operas composed by ,rubinstein three may be said to be practicable for stage representation4 ,they are ,die ,makkabaer1 ,sulamith 7based on ,solomon's ,song of ,songs7 and ,christus4 ,the first has had many performances in ,germany2 the second had a few performances in ,hamburg in #ahhc2 the last1 first performed as an oratorio in ,berlin in #ahhe1 was staged in ,bremen in #ahie4 ,it has had1 ,i believe1 about fourteen representations in all4 ,as for the other three works1 ,der ,thurmbau zu ,babel 7first performance in ,konigsberg in #ahgj71 ,das verlorene ,paradies 7,dusseldorf1 #ahge71 and ,moses 7still awaiting theatrical representation1 ,i believe71 it may be said of them that they are hybrid creations which combine the oratorio and opera styles by utilizing the powers of the oldtime oratorio chorus and the modern orchestra1 with the descriptive capacity of both raised to the highest power1 to illustrate an action which is beyond the capabilities of the ordinary stage machinery4 ,in the character of the forms employed in the works there is no startling innovation2 we meet the same alternation of chorus1 recitative1 aria1 and ensemble that we have known since the oratorio style was perfected4 ,a change1 howeer1 has come over the spirit of the expression and the forms have all relaxed some of their rigidity4 ,in the oratorios of ,handel and ,haydn there are instances not a few of musical delineation in the instrumental as well as the vocal parts2 but nothing in them can be thought of1 so far at least as the ambition of the design extends1 as a companion piece to the scene in the opera which pictures the destruction of the tower of ,babel4 ,this is as far beyond the horizon of the fancy of the old masters as it is beyond the instrumental forces which they controlled4 ,paradise ,lost1 the text paraphrased from portions of ,milton's epic1 is an oratorio pure and simple4 ,it deals with the creation of the world according to the ,mosaic 7or as ,huxley would have said1 ,miltonic7 theory and the medium of expression is an alternation of recitatives and choruses1 the latter having some dramatic life and a characteristic accompaniment4 ,it is wholly contemplative2 there is nothing like action in it4 ,the ,tower of ,babel has action in the restricted sense in which it enters into ,mendelssohn's oratorios1 and scenic effects which would tax the utmost powers of the modern stage-machinist who might attempt to carry them out4 ,a mimic tower of ,babel is more preposterous than a mimic temple of ,dagon2 yet1 unless ,rubinstein's stage directions are to be taken in a ,pickwickian sense1 we ought to listen to this music while looking at a stage-setting more colossal than any ever contemplated by dramatist before4 ,we should see a wide stretch of the plain of ,shinar2 in the foreground a tower so tall as to give color of plausibility to a speech which prates of an early piercing of heaven and so large as to provide room for a sleeping multitude on its scaffoldings4 ,brick kilns1 derricks1 and all the apparatus and machinery of building should be on all hands1 and from the summit of a mound should grow a giant tree1 against whose trunk should hang a brazen shield to be used as a signal gong4 ,we should see in the progress of the opera the bustling activity of the workmen1 the roaring flames and rolling smoke of the brick kilns1 and witness the miraculous spectacle of a man thrown into the fire and walking thence unharmed4 ,we should see 7in dissolving views7 the dispersion of the races and behold the unfolding of a rainbow in the sky4 ,and1 finally1 we should get a glimpse of an open heaven and the ,almighty on ,his throne1 and a yawning hell1 with ,satan and his angels exercising their dread dominion4 ,can such scenes be mimicked successfully enough to preserve a serious frame of mind in the observer8 ,hardly4 ,yet the music seems obviously to have been written in the expectation that sight shall aid hearing to quicken the fancy and emotion and excite the faculties to an appreciation of the work4 ,the ,tower of ,babel has been performed upon the stage2 how ,i cannot even guess4 ,knowing1 probably1 that the work would be given in concert form oftener than in dramatic1 ,rubinstein tries to stimulate the fancy of those who must be only listeners by profuse stage directions which are printed in the score as well as the book of words4 ,moses is in the same case4 ,by the time that ,rubinstein had completed it he evidently realized that its hybrid character as well as its stupendous scope would stand in the way of performances of any kind4 ,before even a portion of its music had been heard in public1 he wrote in a letter to a friend3 ,it is too theatrical for the concert-room and too much like an oratorio for the theatre4 ,it is1 in fact1 the perfect type of the sacred opera that ,i have dreamed of for years4 ,what will come of it ,i do not know2 ,i do not think it can be performed entire4 ,as it contains eight distinct parts1 one or two may from time to time be given either in a concert or on the stage4 ,america was the first country to act on the suggestion of a fragmentary performance4 ,the first scene was brought forward in ,new ,york by ,walter ,damrosch at a public rehearsal and concert of the ,symphony ,society 7the ,oratorio ,society assisting7 on ,january #ah and #ai1 #ahhi4 ,the third scene was performed by the ,german ,liederkranz1 under ,reinhold ,l4 ,herman1 on ,january #bg of the same year4 ,the third and fourth scenes were in the scheme of the ,cincinnati ,music ,festival1 ,theodore ,thomas1 conductor1 on ,may #be1ahid4 ,each of the eight scenes into which the work is divided deals with an episode in the life of ,israel's lawgiver4 ,in the first scene we have the incident of the finding of the child in the bulrushes2 in the second occurs the oppression of the ,israelites by the ,egyptian taskmasters1 the slaying of one of the overseers by ,moses1 who1 till then regarded as the king's son1 now proclaims himself one of the oppressed race4 ,the third scene discloses ,moses protecting ,zipporah1 daughter of ,jethro1 a ,midianitish priest1 from a band of marauding ,edomites1 his acceptance of ,jethro's hospitality and the scene of the burning bush and the proclamation of his mission4 ,scene ,,iv deals with the plagues1 those of blood1 hail1 locusts1 frogs1 and vermin being delineated in the instrumental introduction to the part1 the action beginning while the land is shrouded in the thick darkness that might be felt4 ,the ,egyptians call upon ,osiris to dispel the darkness1 but are forced at last to appeal to ,moses4 ,he demands the liberation of his people as the price to be paid for the removal of the plague2 receiving a promise from ,pharaoh1 he utters a prayer ending with ,let there be light4 ,the result is celebrated in a brilliant choral acclamation of the returning sun4 ,the scene has a parallel in ,rossini's opera4 ,pharaoh now equivocates2 he will free the sons of ,jacob1 but not the women1 children1 or chattels4 ,moses threatens punishment in the death of all of ,egypt's first-born1 and immediately solo and chorus voices bewail the new affliction4 ,when the king hears that his son is dead he gives his consent1 and the ,israelites depart with an ejaculation of thanks to ,jehovah4 ,the passage of the ,red ,sea1 ,miriam's celebration of that miracle1 the backsliding of the ,israelites and their worship of the golden calf1 the reception of the ,tables of the ,law1 the battle between the ,israelites and ,modbites on the threshold of the ,promised ,land1 and the evanishment and apotheosis of ,moses are the contents of the remainder of the work4 ,it is scarcely to be wondered at that the subjects which opera composers have found adaptable to their uses in the ,new ,testament are very few compared with those offered by the ,old4 ,the books written by the evangelists around the most stupendous tragical story of all time set forth little or nothing 7outside of the birth1 childhood1 teachings1 miracles1 death1 and resurrection of ,jesus of ,nazareth7 which could by any literary ingenuity be turned into a stage play except the parables with which ,christ enforced and illustrated ,his sermons4 ,the sublime language and imagery of the ,apocalypse have furnished forth the textual body of many oratorios1 but it still transcends the capacity of mortal dramatist4 ,in the parable of the ,prodigal ,son there is no personage whose presentation in dramatic garb could be looked upon as a profanation of the ,scriptures4 ,it is this fact1 probably1 coupled with its profoundly beautiful reflection of human nature1 which has made it a popular subject with opera writers4 ,there was an ,italian ,figliuolo ,prodigo as early as #agjd1 composed by one ,biffi2 a ,french melodrama1 ,l',enfant ,prodigue1 by ,morange about #ahaj2 a ,german piece of similar character by ,joseph ,drechsler in ,vienna in #ahbj4 ,pierre ,gaveaux1 who composed ,leonore1 ou l',amour ,conjugal1 which provided ,beethoven with his ,fidelio1 brought out a comic opera on the subject of the ,prodigal ,son in #ahaa1 and ,berton1 who had also dipped into ,old ,testament story in an oratorio1 entitled ,absalon1 illustrated the parable in a ballet4 ,the most recent settings of the theme are also the most significant3 ,auber's five-act opera ,l',enfant ,prodigue1 brought out in ,paris in #ahej1 and ,ponchielli's ,il ,figliuolo ,prodigo1 in four acts1 which had its first representation at ,la ,scala in #ahhj4 ,the mediaeval mysteries were frequently interspersed with choral songs1 for which the liturgy of the ,church provided material4 ,if we choose to look upon them as incipient operas or precursors of that art-form we must yet observe that their monkish authors1 willing enough to trick out the story of the ,nativity with legendary matter drawn from the ,apocryphal ,new ,testament1 which discloses anything but a reverential attitude toward the sublime tragedy1 nevertheless stood in such awe before the spectacle of ,calvary that they deemed it wise to leave its dramatic treatment to the church service in the ,passion ,tide4 ,in that service there was something approaching to characterization in the manner of the reading by the three deacons appointed to deliver1 respectively1 the narrative1 the words of ,christ1 and the utterances of the ,apostles and people2 and it may be--that this and the liturgical solemnities of ,holy ,week were reverently thought sufficient by them and the authors of the first sacred operas4 ,nevertheless1 we have ,reiser's ,der ,blutige und ,sterbende ,jesus1 performed at ,hamburg1 and ,metastasio's ,la ,passione di ,gesu ,christi1 composed first by ,caldara1 which probably was an oratorio4 ,earlier than these was ,theile's ,die ,geburt ,christi1 performed in ,hamburg in #afha4 ,the birth of ,christ and ,his childhood 7there was an operatic representation of ,his presentation in the ,temple7 were subjects which appealed more to the writers of the rude plays which catered to the popular love for dramatic mummery than did ,his crucifixion4 ,i am speaking now more specifically of lyric dramas1 but it is worthy of note that in the ,coventry mysteries1 as ,hone points out in the preface to his book1 ,ancient ,mysteries ,described1 ,footnote3 ,ancient ,mysteries ,described1 especially the ,english ,miracle ,plays ,founded on ,apocryphal ,new ,testament ,story1 ,london1 #ahbc4 there are eight plays1 or pageants1 which deal with the ,nativity as related in the canon and the pseudo-gospels4 ,in them much stress was laid upon the suspicions of the ,virgin ,mother's chastity1 for here was material that was good for rude diversion as well as instruction in righteousness4 ,that ,rubinstein dared to compose a ,christ drama must be looked upon as proof of the profound sincerity of his belief in the art-form which he fondly hoped he had created2 also1 perhaps1 as evidence of his artistic ingenuousness4 ,only a brave or naive mind could have calmly contemplated a labor from which great dramatists1 men as great as ,hebbel1 shrank back in alarm4 ,after the completion of ,lohengrin ,wagner applied himself to the creation of a tragedy which he called ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,we know his plan in detail1 but he abandoned it after he had offered his sketches to a ,french poet as the basis of a lyric drama which he hoped to write for ,paris4 ,he confesses that he was curious to know what the ,frenchman would do with a work the stage production of which would provoke a thousand frights4 ,he himself was unwilling to stir up such a tempest in ,germany2 instead1 he put his sketches aside and used some of their material in his ,parsifal4 ,wagner ignored the religious1 or1 let us say1 the ecclesiastical1 point of view entirely in ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,his hero was to have been1 as ,i have described him elsewhere1 ,footnote3 ,a ,book of ,operas1 p4 #bhh4 a human philosopher who preached the saving grace of ,love and sought to redeem his time and people from the domination of conventional law--the offspring of selfishness4 ,his philosophy was socialism imbued by love4 ,rubinstein proceeded along the lines of history1 or orthodox belief1 as unreservedly in his ,christus as he had done in his ,moses4 ,the work may be said to have brought his creative activities to a close1 although two compositions 7a set of six pianoforte pieces and an orchestral suite7 appear in his list of numbered works after the sacred opera4 ,he died on ,november #bj1 #ahid1 without having seen a stage representation of it4 ,nor did he live to see a public theatrical performance of his ,moses1 though he was privileged to witness a private performance arranged at the ,german ,national ,theatre in ,prague so that he might form an opinion of its effectiveness4 ,the public has never been permitted to learn anything about the impression which the work made4 ,on ,may #be1 #ahie1 a series of representations of ,christus was begun in ,bremen1 largely through the instrumentality of ,professor ,bulthaupt1 a potent and pervasive personage in the old ,hanseatic town4 ,he was not only a poet and the author of the book of this opera and of some of ,bruch's works1 but also a painter1 and his mural decorations in the ,bremen ,chamber of ,commerce are proudly displayed by the citizens of the town4 ,it was under the supervision of the painter-poet that the ,bremen representations were given and1 unless ,i am mistaken1 he painted the scenery or much of it4 ,one of the provisions of the performances was that applause was prohibited out of reverence for the sacred character of the scenes1 which were as frankly set forth as at ,oberammergau4 ,the contents of the tragedy in some scenes and an epilogue briefly outlined are these3 ,the first scene shows the temptation of ,christ in the wilderness1 where the devil shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time4 ,this disclosure is made by a series of scenes1 each opening for a short time in the background--castles1 palaces1 gardens1 mountains of gold1 and massive heaps of earth's treasures4 ,in the second scene ,john the ,baptist is seen and heard preaching on the banks of the ,jordan1 in whose waters he baptizes ,jesus4 ,this scene at the ,bremen representations was painted from sketches made by ,herr ,handrich in ,palestine1 as was also that of the ,sermon on the ,mount and ,the ,miracle of the ,loaves and ,fishes1 which form the subject of the next part4 ,the fourth tableau shows the expulsion of the money changers from the ,temple2 the fifth the ,last ,supper1 with the garden of ,gethsemane as a background2 the sixth the trial and the last the crucifixion4 ,here1 as if harking back to his ,tower of ,babel1 ,rubinstein brings in pictures of heaven and hell1 with angels and devils contemplating the catastrophe4 ,the proclamation of the ,gospel to the ,gentiles by ,st4 ,paul is the subject of the epilogue4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,samson ,,et ,,dalila ,there are but two musical works based on the story of ,samson on the current list to-day1 ,handel's oratorio and ,saint-,saens's opera2 but lyric drama was still in its infancy when the subject first took hold of the fancy of composers and it has held it ever since4 ,the earliest works were of the kind called sacred operas in the books and are spoken of as oratorios now1 though they were doubtless performed with scenery and costumes and with action of a sort4 ,such were ,il ,sansone by ,giovanni ,paola ,colonna 7,bologna1 #afgg71 ,sansone accecato da ,filistri by ,francesco ,antonio ,uri 7,venice1 about #agjj71 ,simson by ,christoph ,graupner 7,hamburg1 #agji71 ,simson by ,georg von ,pasterwitz 7about #aggj71 ,samson by ,j4 ,n4 ,lefroid ,mereaux 7,paris1 #aggd71 ,simson by ,johann ,heinrich ,rolle 7about #agij71 ,simson by ,franz ,tuczek 7,vienna1 #ahjd71 and ,il ,sansone by ,francesco ,basili 7,naples1 #ahbd74 ,two ,french operas are associated with great names and have interesting histories4 ,voltaire wrote a dramatic text on the subject at the request of ,la ,popeliniere1 the farmer-general1 who1 as poet1 musician1 and artist1 exercised a tremendous influence in his day4 ,rameau was in his service as household clavecinist and set ,voltaire's poem4 ,the authors looked forward to a production on the stage of the ,grand ,opera1 where at least two ,biblical operas1 an ,old ,testament ,jephte and a ,new ,testament ,enfant prodigue were current2 but ,rameau had powerful enemies1 and the opera was prohibited on the eve of the day on which it was to have been performed4 ,the composer had to stomach his mortification as best he could2 he put some of his ,hebrew music into the service of his ,persian ,zoroastre4 ,the other ,french ,samson to whom ,i have re ferred had also to undergo a sea-change like unto ,rameau's1 ,rossini's ,moses1 and ,verdi's ,nebuchadnezzar4 ,duprez1 who was ambitious to shine as a composer as well as a singer 7he wrote no less than eight operas and also an oratorio1 ,the ,last ,judgment71 tried his hand on a ,samson opera and succeeded in enlisting the help of ,dumas the elder in writing the libretto4 ,when he was ready to present it at the door of the ,grand ,opera the ,minister of ,fine ,arts told him that it was impracticable1 as the stage-setting of the last act alone would cost more than #ajj1jjj francs1 ,duprez then followed the example set with ,rossini's ,mose in ,london and changed the book to make it tell a story of the crusades which he called ,zephora4 ,nevertheless the original form was restored in ,german and ,italian translations of the work1 and it had concert performances in #aheg4 ,to ,joachim ,raff was denied even this poor comfort4 ,he wrote a ,german ,simson between #ahea and #aheg4 ,the conductor at ,darmstadt to whom it was first submitted rejected it on the ground that it was too difficult for his singers4 ,raff then gave it to ,liszt1 with whom he was sojourning at ,weimar1 and who had taken pity on his ,konig ,alfred2 but the tenor singer at the ,weimar opera said the music was too high for the voice4 ,long afterward ,wagner's friend1 ,schnorr von ,carolsfeld1 saw the score in the hands of the composer4 ,the heroic stature of the hero delighted him1 and his praise moved ,raff to revise the opera2 but before this had been done ,schnorr died of the cold contracted while creating the role of ,wagner's ,tristan at ,munich in #ahfe4 ,thus mournfully ended the third episode4 ,as late as #ahhb ,raff spoke of taking the opera in hand again1 but though he may have done so his death found the work unperformed and it has not yet seen the light of the stage-lamps4 ,saint-,saens's opera has also passed through many vicissitudes1 but has succumbed to none and is probably possessed of more vigorous life now than it ever had4 ,it is the recognized operatic masterpiece of the most resourceful and fecund ,french musician since ,berlioz4 ,saint-,saens began the composition of ,samson et ,dalila in #ahfi4 ,the author of the book1 ,ferdinand ,lemaire1 was a cousin of the composer4 ,before the breaking out of the ,franco-,prussian ,war the score was so far on the way to completion that it was possible to give its second act a private trial4 ,this was done1 an incident of the occasion-which afterward introduced one element of pathos in its history-being the singing of the part of ,samson by the painter ,henri ,regnault1 who soon after lost his life in the service of his country4 ,a memorial to him and the friendship which existed between him and the composer is the ,marche ,heroique1 which bears the dead man's name on its title-page4 ,toward the end of #ahgb the opera was finished4 ,for two years the score rested in the composer's desk4 ,then the second act was again brought forth for trial1 this time at the country home of ,mme4 ,viardot1 at ,croissy1 the illustrious hostess singing the part of ,dalila4 ,in #ahge the first act was performed in concert style by ,m4 ,edouard ,colonne in ,paris4 ,liszt interested himself in the opera and secured its acceptance at the ,grand ,ducal ,opera ,house of ,weimar1 where ,eduard ,lassen brought it out on ,december #b1 #ahgg4 ,brussels heard it in #ahgh2 but it did not reach one of the theatres of ,france until ,march #c1 #ahij1 when ,rouen produced it at its ,theatre des ,arts under the direction of ,m4 ,henri ,verdhurt4 ,it took nearly seven months more to reach ,paris1 where the first representation was at the ,eden ,theatre on ,october #ca of the same year4 ,two years later1 after it had been heard in a number of ,french and ,italian provincial theatres1 it was given at the ,academie ,nationale de ,musique under the direction of ,m4 ,colonne4 ,the part of ,dalila was taken by ,mme4 ,deschamps-,jehin1 that of ,samson by ,m4 ,vergnet1 that of the ,high ,priest by ,m4 ,lassalle4 ,eight months before this it had been performed as an oratorio by the ,oratorio ,society of ,new ,york4 ,there were two performances1 on ,march #be and #bf1 #ahib1 the conductor being ,mr4 ,walter ,damrosch and the principal singers being ,frau ,marie ,ritter-,goetze1 ,sebastian ,montariol1 ,h4 ,e4 ,distelhurst1 ,homer ,moore1 ,emil ,fischer1 and ,purdon ,robinson4 ,london had heard the work twice as an oratorio before it had a stage representation there on ,april #bf1 #aiji1 but this performance was fourteen years later than the first at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house on ,february #h1 #ahie4 ,the ,new ,york performance was scenically inadequate1 but the integrity of the record demands that the cast be given here3 ,samson1 ,signor ,tamagno2 ,dalila1 ,mme4 ,mantelli2 ,high ,priest1 ,signor ,campanari2 ,abimelech and ,an ,old ,hebrew1 ,m4 ,plancon2 ,first ,philistine1 ,signor ,rinaldini2 ,second ,philistme1 ,signor de ,vachetti2 conductor1 ,signor ,mancinelli4 ,the ,metropolitan management did not venture upon a repetition until the opening night of the season #aiae-aiaf1 when its success was such that it became an active factor in the repertory of the establishment2 but by that time it had been made fairly familiar to the ,new ,york public by performances at the ,manhattan ,opera ,house under the management of ,mr4 ,oscar ,hammerstein1 the first of which took place on ,november #ac1 #aijh4 ,signor ,campanini conducted and the cast embraced ,mme4 ,gerville-,reache as ,dalila1 ,charles ,dalmores as ,samson1 and ,m4 ,dufranne as ,high ,priest4 ,the cast at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house's revival of the opera on ,november #ae1aiae1 was as follows3 ,dalila1 ,mme4 ,margarete ,matzenauer2 ,samson1 ,signor ,enrico ,caruso2 ,high ,priest1 ,signor ,pasquale ,amato2 ,abimelech1 ,herr ,carl ,schlegel2 ,an ,old ,hebrew1 ,m4 ,leon ,rothier2 ,a ,philistine ,messenger1 ,herr ,max ,bloch2 ,first ,philistine1 ,pietro ,audisio2 ,second ,philistine1 ,vincenzo ,reschiglian2 conductor1 ,signor ,polacco4 ,it would be a curious inquiry to try to determine the source of the fascination which the story of ,manoah's son has exerted upon mankind for centuries4 ,it bears a likeness to the story of the son of ,zeus and ,alcmene1 and there are few books on mythology which do not draw a parallel between the two heroes4 ,samson's story is singularly brief4 ,for twenty years he judged ,israel1 but the ,biblical history which deals with him consists only of an account of his birth1 a recital of the incidents in which he displayed his prodigious strength and valor1 the tale of his amours1 and1 at the end1 the account of his tragical destruction1 brought about by the weak element in his character4 ,commentators have been perplexed by the tale1 irrespective of the adornments which it has received at the hands of the ,talmudists4 ,is ,samson a ,hebrew form of the conception personified by the ,greek ,herakles8 ,is he a mythical creature1 born in the human imagination of primitive nature worship--a variant of the ,tyrian sun-god ,shemesh1 whose name his so curiously resembles8 ,in ,hebrew he is called ,shimshon1 and the sun shemesh4 ,was he something more than a man of extraordinary physical strength and extraordinary moral weakness1 whose patriotic virtues and pathetic end have kept his memory alive through the ages8 ,have a hundred generations of men to whom the story of ,herakles has appeared to be only a fanciful romance1 the product of that imagination heightened by religion which led the ,greeks to exalt their supreme heroes to the extent of deification1 persisted in hearing and telling the story of ,samson with a sympathetic interest which betrays at least a sub-conscious belief in its verity8 ,is the story only a parable enforcing a moral lesson which is as old as humanity8 ,if so1 how got it into the canonical ,book of ,judges1 which1 with all its mythical and legendary material1 seems yet to contain a large substratum of unquestionable history8 ,there was nothing of the divine essence in ,samson as the ,hebrews conceived him1 except that spirit of ,god with which he was directly endowed in supreme crises4 ,there is little evidence of his possession of great wisdom1 but strong proof of his moral and religious laxity4 ,he sinned against the laws of ,israel's ,god when he took a ,philistine woman1 an idolater1 to wife2 he sinned against the moral law when he visited the harlot at ,gaza4 ,he was wofully weak in character when he yielded to the blandishments of ,delilah and wrought his own undoing1 as well as that of his people4 ,the disgraceful slavery into which ,herakles fell was not caused by the hero's incontinence or uxoriousness1 but a punishment for crime1 in that he had in a fit of madness killed his friend ,iphitus4 ,and the three years which he spent as the slave of ,omphale were punctuated by larger and better deeds than those of ,samson in like situation--bursting the new cords with which the men of ,judah had bound him and the green withes and new ropes with which ,delilah shackled him4 ,the record that ,samson judged ,israel in the days of the ,philistines twenty years leads the ordinary reader to think of him as a sage1 judicial personage1 whereas it means only that he was the political and military leader of his people during that period1 lifted to a magisterial position by his strength and prowess in war4 ,his achievements were muscular1 not mental4 ,rabbinical legends have magnified his stature and power in precisely the same manner as the imagination of the poet of the ,lay of the ,nibelung magnified the stature and strength of ,siegfried4 ,his shoulders1 says the legend1 were sixty ells broad2 when the ,spirit of ,god came on him he could step from ,zorah to ,eshtaol although he was lame in both feet2 the hairs of his head arose and clashed against one another so that they could be heard for a like distance2 he was so strong that he could uplift two mountains and rub them together like two clods of earth1 ,herakles tore asunder the mountain which1 divided1 now forms the ,straits of ,gibraltar and ,gates of ,hercules4 ,the parallel which is frequently drawn between ,samson and ,herakles cannot be pursued far with advantage to the ,hebrew hero4 ,samson rent a young lion on the road to ,timnath1 whither he was going to take his ,philistine wife2 ,herakles1 while still a youthful herdsman1 slew the ,thespian lion and afterward strangled the ,nemean lion with his hands4 ,samson carried off the gates of ,gaza and bore them to the top of a hill before ,hebron2 ,herakles upheld the heavens while ,atlas went to fetch the golden apples of ,hesperides4 ,moreover1 the feats of ,herakles show a higher intellectual quality than those of ,samson1 all of which1 save one1 were predominantly physical4 ,the exception was the trick of tying #cjj foxes by their tails1 two by two1 with firebrands between and turning them loose to burn the corn of the ,philistines4 ,an ingenious way to spread a conflagration1 probably1 but primitive1 decidedly primitive4 ,herakles was a scientific engineer of the modern school2 he yoked the rivers ,alpheus and ,peneus to his service by turning their waters through the ,augean stables and cleansing them of the deposits of #cjjj oxen for thirty years4 ,herakles had excellent intellectual training2 ,rhadamanthus taught him wisdom and virtue1 ,linus music4 ,we know nothing about the bringing up of ,samson save that the child grew and the ,lord blessed him4 ,and the ,lord began to move him at times in the camp of ,dan between ,zorah and ,eshtaol4 ,samson made little use of his musical gifts1 if he had any1 but that little he made well2 ,herakles made little use of his musical training1 and that little he made ill4 ,he lost his temper and killed his music master with his lute2 ,samson1 after using an implement which only the black slaves of our ,south have treated as a musical instrument1 to slay a thousand ,philistines1 jubilated in song3-- ,with the jawbone of an ass ,heaps upon heaps6 ,with the jawbone of an ass ,have ,i slain a thousand men6 ,the vast fund of human nature laid bare in the story of ,samson is1 it appears to me1 quite sufficient to explain its popularity1 and account for its origin4 ,the hero's virtues--strength1 courage1 patriotism--are those which have ever won the hearts of men1 and they present themselves as but the more admirable1 as they are made to appear more natural1 by pairing with that amiable weakness1 susceptibility to woman's charms4 ,after all ,samson is a true type of the tragic hero1 whatever ,dr4 ,chrysander or another may say4 ,he is impelled by ,fate into a commission of the follies which bring about the wreck of his body4 ,his marriage with the ,philistine woman in ,timnath was part of a divine plot1 though unpatriotic and seemingly impious4 ,when his father said unto him3 ,is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren or among all my people that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised ,philistines8 he did not know that it was of the ,lord that he sought an occasion against the ,philistines4 ,out of that wooing and winning grew the first of the encounters which culminated in the destruction of the temple of ,dagon1 when the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life4 ,so his yielding to the pleadings of his wife when she betrayed the answer to his riddle and his succumbing to the wheedling arts of ,delilah when he betrayed the secret of his strength 7acts incompatible with the character of an ordinary strong and wise man7 were of the type essential to the machinery of the ,greek drama4 ,a word about the mythological interpretation of the characters which have been placed in parallel3 ,it may be helpful to an understanding of the ,hellenic mind to conceive ,herakles as a marvellously strong man1 first glorified into a national hero and finally deified4 ,so1 too1 the theory1 that ,herakles sinking down upon his couch of fire is but a symbol of the declining sun can be entertained without marring the grandeur of the hero or belittling ,nature's phenomenon2 but it would obscure our understanding of the ,hebrew intellect and profane the ,hebrew religion to conceive ,samson as anything but the man that the ,bible says he was2 while to make of him1 as ,ignaz ,golziher suggests1 a symbol of the setting sun whose curly locks 7crines ,phoebi7 are sheared by ,delilah-,night1 would bring contumely upon one of the most beautiful and impressive of ,nature's spectacles4 ,before the days of comparative mythology scholars were not troubled by such interpretations4 ,josephus disposes of the ,delilah episode curtly3 ,as for ,samson being ensnared by a woman1 that is to be ascribed to human nature1 which is too weak to resist sin4 ,it is not often that an operatic figure invites to such a study as that which ,i have attempted in the case of ,samson1 and it may be that the side-wise excursion in which ,i have indulged invites criticism of the kind illustrated in the metaphor of using a club to brain a gnat4 ,but ,i do not think so4 ,if heroic figures seem small on the operatic stage1 it is the fault of either the author or the actor4 ,when genius in a creator is paired with genius in an interpreter1 the hero of an opera is quite as deserving of analytical study as the hero of a drama which is spoken4 ,no labor would be lost in studying the character of ,wagner's heroes in order to illuminate the impersonations of ,niemann1 ,lehmann1 or ,scaria2 nor is ,maurel's lago less worthy of investigation than ,edwin ,booth's4 ,the character of ,delilah presents even more features of interest than that of the man of whom she was the undoing1 and to those features ,i purpose to devote some attention presently4 ,there is no symbolism in ,saint-,saens's opera4 ,it is frankly a piece for the lyric theatre1 albeit one in which adherence to a plot suggested by the ,biblical story compelled a paucity of action which had to be made good by spectacle and music4 ,the best element in a drama being that which finds expression in action and dialogue1 and these being restricted by the obvious desire of the composers to avoid such extraneous matter as ,rossini and others were wont to use to add interest to their ,biblical operas 7the secondary love stories1 for instance71 ,saint-,saens could do nothing else than employ liberally the splendid factor of choral music which the oratorio form brought to his hand4 ,we are introduced to that factor without delay4 ,even before the first scene is opened to our eyes we hear the voice of the multitude in prayer4 ,the ,israelites1 oppressed by their conquerors and sore stricken at the reflection that their ,god has deserted them1 lament1 accuse1 protest1 and pray4 ,before they have been heard1 the poignancy of their woe has been published by the orchestra1 which at once takes its place beside the chorus as a peculiarly eloquent expositor of the emotions and passions which propel the actors in the drama4 ,that mission and that eloquence it maintains from the beginning to the final catastrophe1 the instrumental band doing its share toward characterizing the opposing forces1 emphasizing the solemn dignity of the ,hebrew religion and contrasting it with the sensuous and sensual frivolity of the worshippers of ,dagon4 ,the choral prayer has for its instrumental substructure an obstinate syncopated figure1 figure3 an musical score excerpt which rises with the agonized cries of the people and sinks with their utterances of despair4 ,the device of introducing voices before the disclosure of visible action in an opera is not new1 and in this case is both uncalled for and ineffective4 ,gounod made a somewhat similar effort in his ,romeo et ,juliette1 where a costumed group of singers presents a prologue1 vaguely visible through a gauze curtain4 ,meyerbeer tried the expedient in ,le ,pardon de ,ploermel1 and the siciliano in ,mascagni's ,cavalleria ,rusticana and the prologue in ,leoncavallo's ,pagliacci are other cases in point4 ,of these only the last can be said to achieve its purpose in arresting the early attention of the audience4 ,when the curtain opens we see a public place in ,gaza in front of the temple of ,dagon4 ,the ,israelites are on their knees and in attitudes of mourning1 among them ,samson4 ,the voice of lamentation takes a fugal form-- figure3 a musical score excerpt as the oppressed people tell of the sufferings which they have endured3-- ,nous avons vu nos cites renversees ,et les gentils profanants ton autel1 etc4 ,the expression rises almost to the intensity of sacrilegious accusation as the people recall to ,god the vow made to them in ,egypt1 but sinks to accents of awe when they reflect upon the incidents of their former serfdom4 ,now ,samson stands forth4 ,in a broad arioso1 half recitative1 half cantilena1 wholly in the oratorio style when it does not drop into the mannerism of ,meyerbeerian opera1 he admonishes his brethren of their need to trust in ,god1 their duty to worship ,him1 of ,his promises to aid them1 of the wonders that ,he had already wrought in their behalf2 he bids them to put off their doubts and put on their armor of faith and valor4 ,as he proceeds in his preachment he develops somewhat of the theatrical pose of ,john of ,leyden in ,the ,prophet4 ,the ,israelites mutter gloomily of the departure of their days of glory1 but gradually take warmth from the spirit which has obsessed ,samson and pledge themselves to do battle with the foe with him under the guidance of ,jehovah4 ,now ,abimelech1 ,satrap of ,gaza1 appears surrounded by ,philistine soldiers4 ,he rails at the ,israelites as slaves1 sneers at their ,god as impotent and craven1 lifts up the horn of ,dagon1 who1 he says1 shall pursue ,jehovah as a falcon pursues a dove4 ,the speech fills ,samson with a divine anger1 which bursts forth in a canticle of prayer and prophecy4 ,there is a flash as of swords in the scintillant scale passages which rush upward from the eager1 angry1 pushing figure which mutters and rages among the instruments4 ,the ,israelites catch fire from ,samson's ecstatic ardor and echo the words in which he summons them to break their chains4 ,abimelech rushes forward to kill ,samson1 but the hero wrenches the sword from the ,philistine's hand and strikes him dead4 ,the satrap's soldiers would come to his aid1 but are held in fear by the hero1 who is now armed4 ,the ,israelites rush off to make war on their oppressors4 ,the ,high ,priest comes down from the temple of ,dagon and pauses where the body of ,abimelech lies4 ,two ,philistines tell of the fear which had paralyzed them when ,samson showed his might4 ,the ,high ,priest rebukes them roundly for their cowardice1 but has scarcely uttered his denunciation before a ,messenger enters to tell him that ,samson and his ,israelitish soldiers have overrun and ravaged the country4 ,curses and vows of vengeance against ,israel1 her hero1 and her ,god from the mouth of ,dagon's servant4 ,one of his imprecations is destined to be fulfilled3-- ,maudit soit le sein de la femme ,qui lui donna le jour6 ,qu'enfin une compagne infame ,trahisse son amour6 ,revolutions run a rapid course in operatic ,palestine4 ,the insurrection is but begun with the slaying of ,abimelech1 yet as the ,philistines1 bearing away his body1 leave the scene1 it is only to make room for the ,israelites1 chanting of their victory4 ,we expect a sonorous hymn of triumph1 but the people of ,god have been chastened and awed by their quick deliverance1 and their paean is in the solemn tone of temple psalmody1 the first striking bit of local color which the composer has introduced into his score--a reticence on his part of which it may be said that it is all the more remarkable from the fact that local color is here completely justified3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt1 sung to the words ,praise1 ye ,jehovah6 ,tell all the wondrous story6 ,psalms of praise loudly swell6 ,hymne de joie1 hymne de deliverance ,montez vers l',eternel6 ,it is a fine piece of dramatic characterization2 which is followed by one whose serene beauty is heightened by contrast4 ,dalila and a company of singing and dancing ,philistine women come in bearing garlands of flowers4 ,not only ,samson's senses1 our own as well1 are ravished by the delightful music3-- ,voici le printemps1 nous portant des fleurs ,pour orner le front des guerriers vainquers6 ,melons nos accents aux parfums des roses ,a peine ecloses6 ,avec l'oiseau chantons1 mes soeurs6 figure3 a musical score excerpt sung to the words ,now ,spring's generous band1 ,brings flowers to the land ,dalila is here and it is become necessary to say something of her1 having said so much about the man whose destruction she accomplished4 ,let the ingenious and erudite ,philip ,hale introduce her3 ,was ,delilah a patriotic woman1 to be ranked with ,jael and ,judith1 or was she merely a courtesan1 as certain opera singers who impersonate her in the opera seem to think8 ,e4 ,meier says that the word ',delilah' means 'the faithless one4' ,ewald translates it 'traitress1' and so does ,ranke4 ,knobel characterizes her as 'die ,zarte1' which means tender1 delicate1 but also subtle4 ,lange is sure that she was a weaver woman1 if not an out-and-out 'zonah4' ,there are other ,germans who think the word is akin to the verb 'einlullen1' to lull asleep4 ,some liken it to the ,arabic dalilah1 a woman who misguides1 a bawd4 ,see in ',the ,thousand ,nights and a ,night' the speech of the damsel to ,aziz3 ',if thou marry me thou wilt at least be safe from the daughter of ,dalilah1 the ,wily ,one4' ,also ',the ,rogueries of ,dalilah1 the ,crafty1 and her daughter1 ,zayrah1 the ,coney ,catcher4' ,we are directly concerned here with the ,dalila of the opera1 but ,mr4 ,hale invites us to an excursion which offers a pleasant occupation for a brief while1 and we cheerfully go with him4 ,the ,biblical ,delilah is a vague figure1 except in two respects3 ,she is a woman of such charms that she wins the love of ,samson1 and such guile and cupidity that she plays upon his passion and betrays him to the lords of the ,philistines for pay4 ,the ,bible knows nothing of her patriotism1 nor does the sacred historian give her the title of ,samson's wife1 though it has long been the custom of ,biblical commentators to speak of her in this relation4 ,st4 ,chrysostom set the fashion and ,milton followed it3-- ,but who is this8 ,what thing of sea or land-- ,female of sex it seems-- ,that1 so bedeck'd1 ornate and gay ,comes this way sailing ,like a stately ship ,of ,tarsus1 bound for the isles ,of ,javan or ,gadire1 ,with all her bravery on1 and tackle trim1 ,sails fill'd and streamers waving1 ,courted by all the winds that hold them play2 ,an amber scent of odorous perfume-- ,her harbinger1 a damsel train behind8 ,some rich ,philistian matron she may seem2 ,and now1 at nearer view1 no other certain ,than ,dalila1 thy wife4 ,it cannot be without significance that the author of the story in the ,book of ,judges speaks in a different way of each of the three women who play a part in the tragedy of ,samson's life4 ,the woman who lived among the vineyards of ,timnath1 whose murder ,samson avenged1 was his wife4 ,she was a ,philistine1 but ,samson married her according to the conventional manner of the time and1 also according to the manner of the time1 she kept her home with her parents after her marriage4 ,wherefore she has gotten her name in the good books of the sociological philosophers who uphold the matronymic theory touching early society4 ,the woman of ,gaza whom ,samson visited what time he confounded his would-be captors by carrying off the doors of the gates of the city was curtly an harlot4 ,of the third woman it is said only that it came to pass that ,samson loved a woman in the ,valley of ,sorek1 whose name was ,delilah4 ,thereupon follows the story of her bribery by the lords of the ,philistines and her betrayal of her lover4 ,evidently a licentious woman who could not aspire even to the merit of the heroine of ,dekker's play4 ,milton not only accepted the theory of her wifehood1 but also attributed patriotic motives to her4 ,she knew that her name would be defamed in ,dan1 in ,judah and the bordering tribes4 ,but in my country1 where ,i most desire1 ,in ,eeron1 ,gaza1 ,asdod and in ,gath1 ,i shall be nam'd among the famousest ,of women1 sung at solemn festivals1 ,living and dead recorded1 who to save ,her country from a fierce destroyer1 chose ,above the faith of wedlock bands2 my tomb ,with odours visited and annual flowers2 ,not less renown'd than in ,mount ,ephraim ,jael1 who1 with inhospitable guile1 ,smote ,sisera sleeping4 ,in the scene before us ,dalila is wholly and simply a siren1 a seductress who plays upon the known love of ,samson from motives which are not disclosed4 ,as yet one may imagine her moved by a genuine passion4 ,she turns her lustrous black eyes upon him as she hails him a double victor over his foes and her heart1 and invites him to rest from his arms in her embraces in the fair valley of ,sorek4 ,temptation seizes upon the soul of ,samson4 ,he prays ,god to make him steadfast2 but she winds her toils the tighter3 ,it is for him that she has bound a coronet of purple grapes upon her forehead and entwined the rose of ,sharon in her ebon tresses4 ,an ,old ,hebrew warns against the temptress and ,samson agonizingly invokes a veil over the beauty that has enchained him4 ,extinguish the fires of those eyes which enslave me4--thus he4 ,sweet is the lily of the valley1 pleasant the juices of mandragora1 but sweeter and more pleasant are my kisses6--thus she4 ,the ,old ,hebrew warns again3 ,if thou give ear to her honeyed phrases1 my son1 curses will alight on thee which no tears that thou may'st weep will ever efface4 ,but still the siren song rings in his ears4 ,the maidens who had come upon the scene with ,dalila 7are they priestesses of ,dagon87 dance1 swinging their floral garlands seductively before the eyes of ,samson and his followers4 ,the hero tries to avoid the glances which ,dalila1 joining in the dance1 throws upon him4 ,it is in vain2 his eyes follow her through all the voluptuous postures and movements of the dance4 figure3 a musical score excerpt ,and ,dalila sings ,printemps qui commence--a song often heard in concert-rooms1 but not so often as the air with which the love-duet in the second act reaches its culmination1 which is popularly held also to mark the climax of the opera4 ,that song is wondrously insinuating in its charm2 it pulsates with passion1 so much so1 indeed1 that it is difficult to conceive that its sentiments are feigned1 but this is lovelier in its fresh1 suave1 graceful1 and healthy beauty3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt1 sung to the words ,the ,spring with her dower of bird and flower1 brings hope in her train4 ,as ,dalila leaves the scene her voice and eyes repeat their lure1 while ,samson's looks and acts betray the trouble of his soul4 ,it is not until we see and hear ,dalila in the second act that she is revealed to us in her true character4 ,not till now does she disclose the motives of her conduct toward her lover4 ,night is falling in the valley of ,sorek1 the vale which lies between the hill country which the ,israelites entered from the ,east1 and the coast land which the ,philistines1 supposedly an island people1 invaded from the ,west4 ,dalila1 gorgeously apparelled1 is sitting on a rock near the portico of her house4 ,the strings of the orchestra murmur and the chromatic figure which we shall hear again in her love-song coos in the wood-winds3 figure3 a musical score excerpt ,she awaits him whom passion has made her slave in full confidence of her hold upon him4 ,samson1 recherchant ma presence1 ,ce soir doit venir en ces lieux4 ,voici l'heure de la vengeance ,qui doit satisfaire nos dieux6 ,amour6 viens aider ma faiblesse6 ,the vengeance of her gods shall be glutted2 it is to that end she invokes the power of love to strengthen her weakness4 ,a passion like his will not down--that she knows4 ,to her comes the ,high ,priest3 ,samson's strength1 he says1 is supernatural and flows from a vow with which he was consecrated to effect the glory of ,israel4 ,once while he lay in her arms that strength had deserted him1 but now1 it is said1 he flouts her love and doubts his own passion4 ,there is no need to try to awaken figure3 a musical score excerpt jealousy in the heart of ,dalila2 she hates ,samson more bitterly than the leader of his enemies4 ,she is not mercenary1 like the ,biblical woman2 she scorns the promise of riches which the ,high ,priest offers so she obtain the secret of the ,hebrew's strength4 ,thrice had she essayed to learn that secret and thrice had he set her spell at naught4 ,now she will assail him with tears--a woman's weapon4 ,the rumblings of thunder are heard2 the scene is lit up by flashes of lightning4 ,running before the storm1 which is only a precursor and a symbol of the tempest which is soon to rend his soul1 ,samson comes4 ,dalila upbraids her lover1 rebukes his fears1 protests her grief4 ,samson cannot withstand her tears4 ,he confesses his love1 but he must obey the will of a higher power4 ,what god is mightier than ,love8 ,let him but doubt her constancy and she will die4 ,and she plays her trump card3 ,mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix1 while the fluttering strings and cooing wood-winds insinuate themselves into the crevices of ,samson's moral harness and loosen the rivets that hold it together3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt to the words ,my heart1 at thy dear voice ,herein lies the strength and the weakness of music3 it must fain be truthful4 ,dalila's words may be hypocritical1 but the music speaks the speech of genuine passion4 ,not until we hear the refrain echoed mockingly in the last scene of the drama can we believe that the passion hymned in this song is feigned4 ,and we almost deplore hat the composer put it to such disgraceful use4 ,samson hears the voice of his ,god in the growing and again hesitates4 ,the storm bursts as ,dalila shrieks out the hate that fills her and runs toward her dwelling4 ,beethoven sought to suggest external as well as internal peace in the ,dona nobis of his ,mass in ,d by mingling the sounds of war with the prayer for peace2 ,saint-,saens pictures the storm in nature and in ,samson's soul by the music which accompanies the hero as he raises his hands mutely in prayer2 then follows the temptress with faltering steps and enters her dwelling4 ,the tempest reaches its climax2 ,dalila appears at the window with a shout to the waiting ,philistine soldiery below4 ,the voice of ,samson cuts through the stormy night3 ,trahison6 ,act ,,iii4--,first scene3 ,a prison in ,gaza4 ,samson1 shorn of his flowing locks1 which as a ,nazarite he had vowed should never be touched by shears1 labors at the mill4 ,he has been robbed of his eyes and darkness has settled down upon him2 darkness1 too1 upon the people whom his momentary weakness had given back into slavery4 ,total eclipse6 ,saint-,saens has won our admiration for the solemn dignity with which he has invested the penitent confession of the blind hero4 ,but who shall hymn the blindness of ,manoah's son after ,milton and ,handel8 ,from a crowd of captive ,hebrews outside the prison walls come taunting accusations1 mingled with supplications to ,god4 ,we recognize again the national mood of the psalmody of the first act4 ,the entire scene is finely conceived4 ,it is dramatic in a lofty sense1 for its action plays on the stage of the heart4 ,samson1 contrite1 humble1 broken in spirit1 with a prayer for his people's deliverance1 is led away to be made sport of in the temple of ,dagon4 ,there1 before the statue of the god1 grouped among the columns and before the altar the ,high ,priest and the lords of the ,philistines4 ,dalila1 too1 with maidens clad for the lascivious dance1 and the multitude of ,philistia4 ,the women's choral song to spring which charmed us in the first act is echoed by mixed voices4 ,the ballet which follows is a prettily exotic one1 with an introductory cadence marked by the ,oriental scale1 out of which the second dance melody is constructed--a scale which has the peculiarity of an interval composed of three semitones1 and which we know from the song of the priestesses in ,verdi's ,aida3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt figure3 a musical score excerpt ,the ,high ,priest makes mock of the ,judge of ,israel3 ,let him empty the wine cup and sing the praise of his vanquisher6 ,dalila1 in the pride of her triumph1 tauntingly tells him how simulated love had been made to serve her gods1 her hate1 and her nation4 ,samson answers only in contrite prayer4 ,together in canonic imitation 7the erudite form does not offend1 but only gives dignity to the scene7 priest and siren offer a libation on the altar of the ,fish god4 figure3 a musical score excerpt ,the flames flash upward from the altar4 ,now a supreme act of insolent impiety2 ,samson1 too1 shall sacrifice to ,dagon4 ,a boy is told to lead him where all can witness his humiliation4 ,samson feels that the time for retribution upon his enemies is come4 ,he asks to be led between the marble pillars that support the roof of the temple4 ,priests and people1 the traitress and her dancing women1 the lords of the ,philistines1 the rout of banqueters and worshippers--all hymn the praise of ,dagon4 ,a brief supplication to ,israel's ,god-- ,and ,samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and on which it was borne up1 of the one with his right hand and of the other with his left4 ,and ,samson said1 ',let me die with the ,philistines4' ,and he bowed himself with all his might3 and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein4 ,so the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life4 ,,chapter ,v ,,die ,,konigin ,,von ,,saba ,the most obvious reason why ,goldmark's ,konigin von ,saba should be seen and heard with pleasure lies in its book and scenic investiture4 ,thoughtfully considered the book is not one of great worth1 but in the handling of things which give pleasure to the superficial observer it is admirable4 ,in the first place it presents a dramatic story which is rational2 which strongly enlists the interest if not the sympathies of the observer2 which is unhackneyed2 which abounds with imposing spectacles with which the imagination of childhood already had made play1 that are not only intrinsically brilliant and fascinating but occur as necessary adjuncts of the story4 ,viewed from its ethical side and considered with reference to the sources whence its elements sprang1 it falls under a considerable measure of condemnation1 as will more plainly appear after its incidents have been rehearsed4 ,the title of the opera indicates that the ,biblical story of the visit of the ,queen of ,sheba to ,solomon had been drawn on for the plot4 ,this is true1 but only in a slight degree4 ,sheba's ,queen comes to ,solomon in the opera1 but that is the end of the draft on the ,scriptural legend so far as she is concerned4 ,sulamith1 who figures in the drama1 owes her name to the ,canticles1 from which it was borrowed by the librettist1 but no element of her character nor any of the incidents in which she is involved4 ,the ,song of ,songs1 which is ,solomon's contributes a few lines of poetry to the book1 and a ritualistic service which is celebrated in the temple finds its original text in the opening verses of ,psalms lxvii and cxvii1 but with this ,i have enumerated all that the opera owes to the ,bible4 ,it is not a ,biblical opera1 in the degree that ,mehul's ,joseph1 ,rossini's ,moses1 or ,rubinstein's ,maccabees is ,biblical1 to say nothing of ,saint-,saens's ,samson et ,dalila4 ,solomon's magnificent reign and marvellous wisdom1 which contribute a few factors to the sum of the production1 belong to profane as well as to sacred history and it will be found most agreeable to deeply rooted preconceptions to think of some other than the ,scriptural ,solomon as the prototype of the ,solomon of ,mosenthal and ,goldmark1 who1 at the best1 is a sorry sort of sentimentalist4 ,the local color has been borrowed from the old story2 the dramatic motive comes plainly from ,wagner's ,tannhauser4 ,assad1 a favorite courtier1 is sent by ,solomon to extend greetings and a welcome to the ,queen of ,sheba1 who is on the way to visit the king1 whose fame for wealth and wisdom has reached her ears in far ,arabia4 ,assad is the type 7though a milk-and-watery one1 it must be confessed7 of manhood struggling between the things that are of the earth and the things which are of heaven--between a gross1 sensual passion and a pure1 exalting love4 ,he is betrothed to ,sulamith1 the daughter of the ,high ,priest of the temple1 who awaits his return from ,solomon's palace and leads her companions in songs of gladness4 ,assad meets the ,queen at ,gath1 performs his mission1 and sets out to return1 but1 exhausted by the heat of the day1 enters the forest on ,mount ,lebanon and lies down on a bank of moss to rest4 ,there the sound of plashing waters arrests his ear4 ,he seeks the cause of the grateful noise and comes upon a transportingly beautiful woman bathing4 ,the nymph1 finding herself observed1 does not1 like another ,diana1 cause the death of her admirer1 but discloses herself to be a veritable ,wagnerian ,venus4 ,she clips him in her arms and he falls at her feet2 but a reed rustles and the charmer flees4 ,these incidents we do not see4 ,they precede the opening of the opera1 and we learn of them from ,assad's narration4 ,assad returns to ,jerusalem1 where1 conscience stricken1 he seeks to avoid his chaste bride4 ,to ,solomon1 however1 he confesses his adventure1 and the king sets the morrow as his wedding day with ,sulamith4 ,the ,queen of ,sheba arrives1 and when she raises her veil1 ostensibly to show unto ,solomon the first view of her features that mortal man has ever had vouchsafed him1 ,assad recognizes the heroine of his adventure in the woods on ,lebanon4 ,his mind is in a maze2 bewilderingly he addresses her1 and haughtily he is repulsed4 ,but the woman has felt the dart no less than ,assad2 she seeks him at night in the palace garden2 whither she had gone to brood over her love and the loss which threatens her on the morrow1 and the luring song of her slave draws him again into her arms4 ,before the altar in the temple1 just as ,assad is about to pronounce the words which are to bind him to ,sulamith1 she confronts him again1 on the specious pretext that she brings gifts for the bride4 ,assad again addresses her4 ,again he is denied4 ,delirium seizes upon his brain2 he loudly proclaims the ,queen as the goddess of his devotion4 ,the people are panic-stricken at the sacrilege and rush from the temple2 the priests cry anathema2 ,sulamith bemoans her fate2 ,solomon essays words of comfort2 the ,high ,priest intercedes with heaven2 the soldiery1 led by ,baal-,hanan1 overseer of the palace1 enter to lead the profaner to death4 ,now ,solomon claims the right to fix his punishment4 ,the ,queen1 fearful that her prey may escape her1 begs his life as a boon1 but ,solomon rejects her appeal2 ,assad must work out his salvation by overcoming temptation and mastering his wicked passion4 ,sulamith approaches amid the wailings of her companions4 ,she is about to enter a retreat on the edge of the ,syrian desert1 but she1 too1 prays for the life of ,assad4 ,solomon1 in a prophetic ecstasy1 foretells ,assad's deliverance from sin and in a vision sees a meeting between him and his pure love under a palm tree in the desert4 ,assad is banished to the sandy waste2 there a simoom sweeps down upon him2 he falls at the foot of a lonely palm to die1 after calling on ,sulamith with his fleeting breath4 ,she comes with her wailing maidens1 sees the fulfilment of ,solomon's prophecy1 and ,assad dies in her arms4 ,thy beloved is thine1 in love's eternal realm1 sing the maidens1 while a mirage shows the wicked ,queen1 with her caravan of camels and elephants1 returning to her home4 ,the parallel between this story and the immeasurably more poetical and beautiful one of ,tannhauser is apparent to half an eye4 ,sulamith is ,elizabeth1 the ,queen is ,venus1 ,assad is ,tannhauser1 ,solomon is ,wolfram von ,eschenbach4 ,the ethical force of the drama--it has some1 though very little--was weakened at the performances at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house footnote3 ,goldmark's opera was presented for the first time in ,america at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house on ,december #b1 #ahhe4 ,cast3 ,sulamith1 ,fraulein ,lilli ,lehmann2 die ,konigin von ,saba1 ,frau ,kramer-,wiedl2 ,astaroth1 ,fraulein ,marianne ,brandt2 ,solomon1 ,herr ,adolph ,robinson2 ,assad1 ,herr ,stritt2 ,der ,hohe ,priester1 ,herr ,emil ,fischer2 ,baal-,hanan1 ,herr-,alexi4 ,anton ,seidl conducted1 and the opera had fifteen representations in the season4 ,these performances were in the original ,german4 ,on ,april #c1 #ahhh1 an ,english version was presented at the ,academy of ,music by the ,national ,opera ,company1 then in its death throes4 ,the opera was revived at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house by ,mr4 ,conried in the season #aije-aijf and had five performances4 in ,new ,york by the excision from the last act of a scene in which the ,queen attempts to persuade ,assad to go with her to ,arabia4 ,now ,assad rises superior to his grosser nature and drives the temptress away1 thus performing the saving act demanded by ,solomon4 ,herr ,mosenthal1 who made the libretto of ,die ,konigin von ,saba1 treated this material1 not with great poetic skill1 but with a cunning appreciation of the opportunities which it offers for dramatic effect4 ,the opera opens with a gorgeous picture of the interior of ,solomon's palace1 decked in honor of the coming guest4 ,there is an air of joyous expectancy over everything4 ,sulamith's entrance introduces the element of female charm to brighten the brilliancy of the picture1 and her bridal song--in which the refrain is an excerpt from the ,canticles1 ,thy beloved is thine1 who feeds among the roses--enables the composer to indulge his strong predilection and fecund gift for ,oriental melody4 ,the action hurries to a thrilling climax4 ,one glittering pageant treads on the heels of another1 each more gorgeous and resplendent than the last1 until the stage1 set to represent a fantastical hall with a bewildering vista of carved columns1 golden lions1 and rich draperies1 is filled with such a kaleidoscopic mass of colors and groupings as only an ,oriental mind could conceive4 ,finally all the preceding strokes are eclipsed by the coming of the ,queen4 ,but no time is lost2 the spectacle does not make the action halt for a moment4 ,sheba makes her gifts and uncovers her face1 and at once we are confronted by the tragical element1 and the action rushes on toward its legitimate and mournful end4 ,in this ingenious blending of play and spectacle one rare opportunity after another is presented to the composer4 ,sulamith's epithalamium1 ,assad's narrative1 the choral greeting to the ,queen1 the fateful recognition--all these things are made for music of the inspiring1 swelling1 passionate kind4 ,in the second act1 the ,queen's monologue1 her duet with ,assad1 and1 most striking of all1 the unaccompanied bit of singing with which ,astaroth lures ,assad into the presence of the ,queen1 who is hiding in the shadow of broad-leaved palms behind a running fountain--a melodic phrase saturated with the mystical color of the ,east--these are gifts of the rarest kind to the composer1 which he has enriched to give them in turn to the public4 ,that relief from their stress of passion is necessary is not forgotten1 but is provided in the ballet music and the solemn ceremonial in the temple1 which takes place amid surroundings that call into active operation one's childhood fancies touching the sacred fane on ,mount ,moriah and the pompous liturgical functions of which it was the theatre4 ,goldmark's music is highly spiced4 ,he was an eclectic1 and his first aim seems to have been to give the drama a tonal investiture which should be in keeping with its character1 external as well as internal4 ,at times his music rushes along like a lava stream of passion1 every measure pulsating with eager1 excited1 and exciting life4 ,he revels in instrumental color4 ,the language of his orchestra is as glowing as the poetry attributed to the royal poet whom his operatic story celebrates4 ,many composers before him made use of ,oriental cadences1 rhythms1 and idioms1 but to none do they seem to have come so like native language as to ,goldmark4 ,it is romantic music1 against which the strongest objection that can be urged is that it is so unvaryingly stimulated that it wearies the mind and makes the listener long for a change to a fresher and healthier musical atmosphere4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,herodiade ,in the ballet scene of ,gounod's most popular opera ,mephistopheles conjures up visions of ,phryne1 ,lais1 ,aspasia1 ,cleopatra1 and ,helen of ,troy to beguile the jaded interest of ,faust4 ,the list reads almost like a catalogue of the operas of ,massenet whose fine talent was largely given to the celebration of the famous courtesans of the ancient world4 ,with the addition of a few more names from the roster of antiquity 7,thais1 ,dalila1 and ,aphrodite71 and some less ancient but no less immoral creatures of modern fancy1 like ,violetta1 ,manon ,lescaut1 ,zaza1 and ,louise1 we might make a pretty complete list of representatives of the female type in which modern dramatists and composers seem to think the interest of humanity centres4 ,when ,massenet's ,herodiade was announced as the first opera to be given at the ,manhattan ,opera ,house in ,new ,york for the season of #aiji-aiaj it looked to some observers as if the dominant note of the year was to be sounded by the ,scarlet ,woman2 but the representation brought a revelation and a surprise4 ,the names of the principal characters were those which for a few years had been filling the lyric theatres of ,germany with a moral stench2 but their bearers in ,massenet's opera did little or nothing that was especially shocking to good taste or proper morals4 ,herod was a love-sick man of lust1 who gazed with longing eyes upon the physical charms of ,salome and pleaded for her smiles like any sentimental milksop2 but he did not offer her ,capernaum for a dance4 ,salome may have known how1 but she did not dance for either half a kingdom or the whole of a man's head4 ,instead1 though there were intimations that her reputation was not all that a good maiden's ought to be1 she sang pious hosannahs and waved a palm branch conspicuously in honor of the prophet at whose head she had bowled herself in the desert1 the public streets1 and king's palaces4 ,at the end she killed herself when she found that the vengeful passion of ,herodias and the jealous hatred of ,herod had compassed the death of the saintly man whom she had loved4 ,herodias was a wicked woman1 no doubt1 for ,john the ,baptist denounced her publicly as a ,jezebel1 but her jealousy of ,salome had reached a point beyond her control before she learned that her rival was her own daughter whom she had deserted for love of the ,tetrarch4 ,as for ,john the ,baptist the camel's hair with which he was clothed must have cost as pretty a penny as any of the modern kind1 and if he wore a girdle of skins about his loins it was concealed under a really regal cloak4 ,he was a voice2 but not one crying in the wilderness4 ,he was in fact an operatic tenor comme il faut1 who needed only to be shut up in a subterranean jail with the young woman who had pursued him up hill and down dale1 in and out of season to make love to her in the most approved fashion of the ,paris ,grand ,opera4 ,what shall we think of the morals of this ,french opera1 after we have seen and heard that compounded by the ,englishman ,oscar ,wilde and the ,german ,richard ,strauss8 ,no wonder that ,england's ,lord ,chamberlain asked nothing more than an elimination of the ,biblical names when he licensed a performance of ,herodiade at ,covent ,garden4 ,there was no loss of dramatic quality in calling ,herod1 ,moriame1 and ,herodias1 ,hesotade1 and changing the scene from ,jerusalem to ,azoum in ,ethiopia2 though it must have been a trifle diverting to hear fair-skinned ,ethiopians singing ,schma ,yisroel1 ,adonai ,elohenu in a temple which could only be that of ,jerusalem4 ,john the ,baptist was only ,jean in the original and needed not to be changed1 and ,salome is not in the ,bible1 though ,salome1 a very different woman is--a fact which the ,lord ,chamberlain seems to have overlooked when he changed the title of the opera from ,herodiade to ,salome4 ,where does ,salome come from1 anyway8 ,and where did she get her chameleonlike nature8 ,was she an innocent child1 as ,flaubert represents her1 who could but lisp the name of the prophet when her mother told her to ask for his head8 ,had she taken dancing lessons from one of the women of ,cadiz to learn to dance as she must have danced to excite such lust in ,herod8 ,was she a monster1 a worse than vampire as she is represented by ,wilde and ,strauss8 ,was she an ,israelitish grisette as ,pougin called the heroine of the opera which it took one ,italian 7,zanardini7 and three ,frenchmen 7,milliet1 ,gremont1 and ,massenet7 to concoct8 ,no wonder that the brain of ,saint-,saens reeled when he went to hear ,herodiade at its first performance in ,brussels and found that the woman whom he had looked upon as a type of lasciviousness and monstrous cruelty had become metamorphosed into a penitent ,magdalen4 ,read the plot of the opera and wonder6 ,salome is a maiden in search of her mother whom ,john the ,baptist finds in his wanderings and befriends4 ,she clings to him when he becomes a political as well as a religious power among the ,jews1 though he preaches unctuously to her touching the vanity of earthly love4 ,herodias demands his death of her husband for that he had publicly insulted her1 but ,herod schemes to use his influence over the ,jews to further his plan to become a real monarch instead of a ,roman ,tetrarch4 ,but when the pro-consul ,vitellius wins the support of the people and ,herod learns that the maiden who has spurned him is in love with the prophet1 he decrees his decapitation4 ,salome1 baffled in her effort to save her lover1 attempts to kill ,herodias2 but the wicked woman discloses herself as the maiden's mother and ,salome turns the dagger against her own breast4 ,this is all of the story one needs to know4 ,it is richly garnished with incident1 made gorgeous with pageantry1 and clothed with much charming music4 ,melodies which may be echoes of synagogal hymns of great antiquity resound in the walls of the temple at ,jerusalem1 in which respect the opera recalls ,goldmark's ,queen of ,sheba4 ,curved ,roman trumpets mix their loud clangors with the instruments of the modern brass band and compel us to think of ,aida4 ,there are dances of ,egyptians1 ,babylonians1 and ,phoenicians1 and if the movements of the women make us deplore the decay of the choreographic art1 the music warms us almost as much as the ,spanish measures in ,le ,cid4 ,eyes and ears are deluged with ,oriental color until at the last there comes a longing for the graciously insinuating sentimentalities of which the earlier ,massenet was a master4 ,two of the opera's airs had long been familiar to the public from performance in the concert-room--,salome's ,il est doux and ,herod's ,vision fugitive--and they stand out as the brightest jewels in the opera's musical crown2 but there is much else which woos the ear delightfully1 for ,massenet was ever a gracious if not a profound melodist and a master of construction and theatrical orchestration4 ,when he strives for massive effects1 however1 he sometimes becomes futile1 banal where he would be imposing2 but he commands a charm which is insinuating in its moments of intimacy4 ,footnote3 ,herodiade had its first performance in ,new ,york 7it had previously been given in ,new ,orleans by the ,french ,opera ,company7 on ,november #h1 #aiji4 ,the cast was as follows3 ,salome--,lina ,cavalieri2 ,herodias--,gerville-,reache2 ,john--,charles ,dalmores2 ,herod--,maurice ,renaud2 ,vitellius--,crabbe2 ,phanuel--,m4 ,vallier2 ,high ,priest--,m4 ,nicolay4 ,the musical director was ,henriques de la ,fuente4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,lakme ,lakme is the daughter of ,nilakantha1 a fanatical ,brahmin priest1 who has withdrawn to a ruined temple deep in an ,indian forest4 ,in his retreat the old man nurses his wrath against the ,british invader1 prays assiduously to ,brahma 7thus contributing a fascinating ,oriental mood to the opening of the opera71 and waits for the time to come when he shall be able to wreak his revenge on the despoilers of his country4 ,lakme sings ,oriental duets with her slave1 ,mallika3-- ,sous le dome epais ou le blanc jasmin ,a la rose s'assemble1 ,sur la rive en fleurs1 riant au matin ,viens1 descendons ensemble-- a dreamy1 sense-ensnaring1 hypnotic barcarole4 ,the opera opens well2 by this time the composer has carried us deep into the jungle4 ,the ,occident is rude3 ,gerald1 an ,english officer1 breaks through a bamboo fence and makes love to ,lakme1 who1 though widely separated from her operatic colleagues from an ethnological point of view like ,elsa and ,senta1 to expedite the action requites the passion instanter4 ,after the ,englishman is gone the father returns and1 with an ,oriental's cunning which does him credit1 deduces from the broken fence that an ,englishman has profaned the sacred spot4 ,this is the business of ,act ,i4 ,in ,act ,,ii the father1 disguised as a beggar who holds a dagger ever in readiness1 and his daughter1 disguised as a street singer1 visit a town market in search of the profaner4 ,the business is not to ,lakme's taste1 but it is not for the like of her to neglect the opportunity offered to win applause with the legend of the pariah's daughter1 with its tintinnabulatory charm3-- ,ou va la jeune ,hindoue ,fille des parias2 ,quand la lune se joue ,dans les grand mimosas8 ,it is the ,bell song1 which has tinkled so often in our concert-rooms4 ,gerald recognizes the singer despite her disguise2 and ,nilakantha recognizes him as the despoiler of the hallowed spot in which he worships and incidentally conceals his daughter4 ,the bloodthirsty fanatic observes sententiously that ,brahma has smiled and cuts short ,gerald's soliloquizing with a dagger thrust4 ,lakme1 with the help of a male slave1 removes him to a hut concealed in the forest4 ,while he is convalescing the pair sing duets and exchange vows of undying affection4 ,but the military ,briton1 who has invaded the country at large1 must needs now invade also this cosey abode of love4 ,frederick1 a brother officer1 discovers ,gerald and informs him that duty calls 7,britain always expects every man to do his duty1 no matter what the consequences to him7 and he must march with his regiment4 ,frederick has happened in just as ,lakme is gone for some sacred water in which she and ,gerald were to pledge eternal love for each other1 to each other4 ,but1 spurred on by ,frederick and the memory that ,england expects1 etc41 ,gerald finds the call of the fife and drum more potent than the voice of love4 ,lakme1 psychologist as well as botanist1 understands the struggle which now takes place in ,gerald's soul1 and relieves him1 of his dilemma by crushing a poisonous flower 7to be exact1 the ,datura stramonium7 between her teeth1 dying1 it would seem1 to the pious delight of her father1 who ecstatically beholds her dwelling with ,brahma4 ,the story1 borrowed by ,gondinet and ,gille from the little romance ,le ,mariage de ,loti1 is worthless except to furnish motives for tropical scenery1 ,hindu dresses1 and ,oriental music4 ,three ,english ladies1 ,ellen1 ,rose1 and ,mrs4 ,bentson1 figure in the play1 but without dramatic purpose except to take part in some concerted music4 ,they are1 indeed1 so insignificant in all other respects that when the opera was given by ,miss ,van ,zandt and a ,french company in ,london for the first time in #ahhe they were omitted1 and the excision was commended by the critics1 who knew that it had been made4 ,the conversation of the women is all of the veriest stopgap character4 ,the maidens1 ,rose and ,ellen1 are ,english ladies visiting in the ,east2 ,mrs4 ,bentson is their chaperon4 ,all that they have to say is highly unimportant1 even when true4 ,what do you see1 ,frederick8 ,a garden4 ,and you1 ,gerald8 ,big1 beautiful trees4 ,anybody about8 ,don't know4 ,look again4 ,that's not easy2 the fence shuts out the view within4 ,can't you make a peephole through the bamboo8 ,girls1 girls1 be careful4 ,and so on and so on for quantity4 ,but we must fill three acts1 and ensemble makes its demands2 besides1 we want pretty blondes of the ,english type to put in contrast with the dark-skinned ,lakme and her slave4 ,at the first representation in ,new ,york by the ,american ,opera ,company1 at the ,academy of ,music1 on ,march #a1 #ahhf1 the three women were permitted to interfere with what there is of poetical spirit in the play1 and their conversation1 like that of the other principals1 was uttered in the recitatives composed by ,delibes to take the place of the spoken dialogue used at the ,paris ,opera ,comique1 where spoken dialogue is traditional4 ,theodore ,thomas conducted the ,academy performance1 at which the cast was as follows3 ,lakme1 ,pauline ,l',allemand2 ,nilakantha1 ,alonzo ,e4 ,stoddard2 ,gerald1 ,william ,candidus2 ,frederick1 ,william ,h4 ,lee2 ,ellen1 ,charlotte ,walker2 ,rose1 ,helen ,dudley ,campbell2 ,mrs4 ,bentson1 ,may ,fielding2 ,mallika1 ,jessie ,bartlett ,davis2 ,hadji1 ,william ,h4 ,fessenden4 ,few operas have had a more variegated ,american history than ,lakme4 ,it was quite new when it was first heard in ,new ,york1 but it had already given rise to considerable theatrical gossip1 not to say scandal4 ,the first representation took place at the ,opera ,comique in ,april1 #ahhc1 with ,miss ,marie ,van ,zandt1 an ,american girl1 the daughter of a singer who had been actively successful in ,english opera in ,new ,york and ,london1 as creator of the part of the heroine4 ,the opera won a pretty triumph and so did the singer4 ,at once there was talk of a ,new ,york performance4 ,mme4 ,etelka ,gerster studied the titular role with ,m4 ,delibes and1 as a member of ,colonel ,mapleson's company at the ,academy of ,music1 confidently expected to produce the work there in the season of #ahhc-ahhd1 the first season of the rivalry between the ,academy and the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 which had just opened its doors2 but though she went so far as to offer to buy the ,american performing rights from ,heugel1 the publisher1 nothing came of it4 ,the reason was easily guessed by those who knew that there has been1 or was pending1 a quarrel between ,colonel ,mapleson and ,m4 ,heugel concerning the unauthorized use by the impresario of other scores owned by the publisher4 ,during the same season1 however1 ,miss ,emma ,abbott carried a version 7or rather a perversion7 of the opera1 for which the orchestral parts had been arranged from the pianoforte score1 into the cities of the ,west1 and brought down a deal of unmerited criticism on the innocent head of ,m4 ,delibes4 ,in the season of #ahhd-ahhe ,colonel ,mapleson came back to the ,academy with vouchers of various sorts to back up a promise to give the opera4 ,there was a human voucher in the person of ,miss ,emma ,nevada1 who had also enjoyed the instruction of the composer and who had trunkfuls and trunkfuls and trunkfuls of ,oriental dresses1 though ,lakme needs but few4 ,there were gorgeous uniforms for the ,british soldiers1 the real article1 each scarlet coat and every top boot having a piece of history attached1 and models of the scenery which any doubting ,thomas of a newspaper reporter might inspect if he felt so disposed4 ,when the redoubtable colonel came it was to be only a matter of a week or so before the opera would be put on the stage in the finest of styles2 it was still a matter of a week or so when the ,academy season came to an end4 ,when ,delibes's exquisite and exotic music reached a hearing in the ,american metropolis1 it was sung to ,english words1 and the most emphatic success achieved in performance was the acrobatic one of ,mme4 ,l',allemand as she rolled down some uncalled-for pagoda steps in the death scene4 ,mme4 ,adelina ,patti was the second ,lakme heard in ,new ,york4 ,after the fifth season of ,german opera at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house had come to an end in the spring of #ahij1 ,messrs4 ,abbey and ,grau took the theatre for a short season of ,italian opera by a troupe headed by ,mme4 ,patti4 ,in that season ,lakme was sung once--on ,april #b1 #ahij4 ,now came an opportunity for the original representative of the heroine4 ,abbey and ,grau resumed the management of the theatre in #ahia1 and in their company was ,miss ,van ,zandt1 for whom the opera was revived on ,february #bb4 ,mr4 ,abbey had great expectations1 but they were disappointed4 ,for the public there was metal more attractive than ,miss ,van ,zandt and the ,hindu opera in other members of the company and other operas4 ,it was the year of ,emma ,eames's coming and also of ,jean de ,reszke's 7they sang together in ,gounod's ,romeo et ,juliette7 and ,cavalleria ,rusticana was new4 ,then ,delibes's opera hibernated in ,new ,york for fifteen years1 after which the presence in the ,metropolitan company of ,mme4 ,marcella ,sembrich led to another revival4 7,operas which are unperformed for a term of two or three years after having been once included in the repertory are revived in ,new ,york47 ,it was sung three times in the season of #aijf-aijg4 ,it also afforded one of ,mr4 ,hammerstein's many surprises at the ,manhattan ,opera ,house4 ,five days before the close of his last season1 on ,march #ba1 #aiaj1 it was precipitated on the stage 7pitchforked is the popular and professional term7 to give ,mme4 ,tetrazzini a chance to sing the bell song4 ,altogether ,i know of no more singular history than that of ,lakme in ,new ,york4 ,lakme is a child of the theatrical boards1 who inherited traits from several predecessors1 the strongest being those deriving from ,aida and ,selika4 ,like the former1 she loves a man whom her father believes to be the arch enemy of his native land1 and1 like her1 she is the means of betraying him into the hands of the avenger4 ,like the heroine of ,meyerbeer's posthumous opera1 she has a fatal acquaintance with tropical botany and uses her knowledge to her own destruction4 ,her scientific attainments are on about the same plane as her amiability1 her abnormal sense of filial duty1 and her musical accomplishments4 ,she loves a man whom her father wishes her to lure to his death by her singing1 and she sings entrancingly enough to bring about the meeting between her lover's back and her father's knife4 ,that she does not warble herself into the position of particeps criminis in a murder she owes only to the bungling of the old man4 ,having done this1 however1 she turns physician and nurse and brings the wounded man back to health1 thus sacrificing her love to the duty which her lover thinks he owes to the invaders of her country and oppressors of her people4 ,after this she makes the fatal application of her botanical knowledge4 ,such things come about when one goes to ,india for an operatic heroine4 ,the feature of the libretto which ,delibes has used to the best purpose is its local color4 ,his music is saturated with the languorous spirit of the ,east4 ,half a dozen of the melodies are lovely inventions1 of marked originality in both matter and treatment1 and the first half hour of the opera is apt to take one's fancy completely captive4 ,the drawback lies in the oppressive weariness which succeeds the first trance1 and is brought on by the monotonous character of the music4 ,after an hour of ,lakme one yearns for a few crashing chords of ,c major as a person enduring suffocation longs for a gush of fresh air4 ,the music first grows monotonous1 then wearies4 ,delibes's lyrical moments show the most numerous indications of beauty2 dramatic life and energy are absent from the score4 ,in the second act he moves his listeners only once--with the attempted repetition of the bell song after ,lakme has recognized her lover4 ,the odor of the poppy invites to drowsy enjoyment in the beginning1 and the first act is far and away the most gratifying in the opera1 musically as well as scenically4 ,it would be so if it contained only ,lakme's song ,pourquoi dans les grands bois1 the exquisite barcarole--a veritable treasure trove for the composer1 who used its melody dramatically throughout the work--and ,gerald's air1 ,fantaisie aux divins mensonges4 ,real depth will be looked for in vain in this opera2 superficial loveliness is apparent on at least half its pages4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,p,a,g,l,i,a,c,cl ,for a quarter of a century ,cavalleria ,rusticana and ,pagliacci have been the ,castor and ,pollux of the operatic theatres of ,europe and ,america4 ,together they have joined the hunt of venturesome impresarios for that ,calydonian boar1 success2 together they have lighted the way through seasons of tempestuous stress and storm4 ,of recent years at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house in ,new ,york efforts have been made to divorce them and to find associates for one or the other1 since neither is sufficient in time for an evening's entertainment2 but they refuse to be put asunder as steadfastly as did the twin brothers of ,helen and ,clytemnestra4 ,there has been no operatic ,zeus powerful enough to separate and alternate their existences even for a day2 and though blase critics will continue to rail at the double bill as they have done for two decades or more1 the two fierce little dramas will sit shining on the sails of many a managerial ship and bring it safe to haven for many a year to come4 ,twins the operas are in spirit2 twins in their capacity as supreme representatives of verismo2 twins in the fitness of their association2 but twins they are not in respect of parentage or age4 ,cavalleria ,rusticana is two years older than ,pagliacci and as truly its progenitor as ,weber's operas were the progenitors of ,wagner's4 ,they are the offspring of the same artistic movement1 and it was the phenomenal figure3 a musical score excerpt success of ,mascagni's opera which was the spur that drove ,leoncavallo to write his4 ,when ,cavalleria ,rusticana appeared on the scene1 two generations of opera-goers had passed away without experiencing anything like the sensation caused by this opera4 ,they had witnessed the production1 indeed1 of great masterpieces1 which it would be almost sacrilegious to mention in the same breath with ,mascagni's turbulent and torrential tragedy1 but these works were the productions of mature masters1 from whom things monumental and lasting were expected as a matter of course2 men like ,wagner and ,verdi4 ,the generations had also seen the coming of ,carmen and gradually opened their minds to an appreciation of its meaning and beauty1 while the youthful genius who had created it sank almost unnoticed into his grave2 but they had not seen the advent of a work which almost in a day set the world on fire and raised an unknown musician from penury and obscurity to affluence and fame4 ,in the face of such an experience it was scarcely to be wondered at that judgment was flung to the winds and that the most volatile of musical nations and the staidest alike hailed the young composer as the successor of ,verdi1 the regenerator of operatic ,italy1 and the pioneer of a new school which should revitalize opera and make unnecessary the hopeless task of trying to work along the lines laid down by ,wagner4 ,and this opera was the outcome of a competition based on the frankest kind of commercialism--one of those occasionals from which we have been taught to believe we ought never to expect anything of ideal and lasting merit4 ,pagliacci was1 in a way1 a fruit of the same competition4 ,three years before ,cavalleria ,rusticana had started the universal conflagration ,ruggiero ,leoncavallo1 who at sixteen years of age had won his diploma at the ,naples ,conservatory and received the degree of ,doctor of ,letters from the ,university of ,bologna at twenty1 had read his dramatic poem ,i ,medici to the publisher ,ricordi and been commissioned to set it to music4 ,for this work he was to receive #bdjj francs4 ,he completed the composition within a year1 but there was no contract that the opera should be performed1 and this hoped-for consummation did not follow4 ,then came ,mascagni's triumph1 and ,leoncavallo1 who had been obliged meanwhile to return to the routine work of an operatic repetiteur1 lost patience4 ,satisfied that ,ricordi would never do anything more for him1 and become desperate1 he shut himself in his room to attempt one more work--as he said in an autobiographical sketch which appeared in ,la ,reforme1 a journal published in ,alexandria4 ,in five months he had written the book and music of ,pagliacci1 which was accepted for publication and production by ,sonzogno1 ,ricordi's business rival1 after a single reading of the poem4 ,maurel1 whose friendship ,leoncavallo had made while coaching opera singers in ,paris1 used his influence in favor of the opera1 offered to create the part of ,tonio1 and did so at the first performance of the opera at the ,teatro dal ,verme1 ,milan1 on ,may #ag1 #ahib4 ,leoncavallo's opera turns on a tragical ending to a comedy which is incorporated in the play4 ,the comedy is a familiar one among the strolling players who perform at village fairs in ,italy1 in which ,columbina1 ,pagliaccio1 and ,arlecchino 7respectively the ,columbine1 ,clown1 and ,harlequin of our pantomime7 take part4 ,pagliaccio is husband to ,colombina and ,arlecchino is her lover1 who hoodwinks ,pagliaccio4 ,there is a fourth character1 ,taddeo1 a servant1 who makes foolish love to ,columbina and1 mingling imbecile stupidity with maliciousness1 delights in the domestic discord which he helps to foment4 ,the first act of the opera may be looked upon as an induction to the conventional comedy which comes to an unconventional and tragic end through the fact that the ,clown 7,canio7 is in real life the husband of ,columbine 7,nedda7 and is murderously jealous of her2 wherefore1 forgetting himself in a mad rage1 he kills her and her lover in the midst of the mimic scene4 ,the lover1 however1 is not the ,harlequin of the comedy1 but one of the spectators whom ,canio had vainly sought to identify1 but who is unconsciously betrayed by his mistress in her death agony4 ,the ,taddeo of the comedy is the clown of the company1 who in real life entertains a passion for ,nedda1 which is repulsed1 whereupon he also carries his part into actuality and betrays ,nedda's secret to ,canio4 ,it is in the ingenious interweaving of these threads--the weft of reality with the warp of simulation--that the chief dramatic value of ,leoncavallo's opera lies4 ,actual murder by a man while apparently playing a part in a drama is older as a dramatic motif than ,pagliacci1 and ,leoncavallo's employment of it gave rise to an interesting controversy and a still more interesting revelation in the early days of the opera4 ,old theatre-goers in ,england and ,america remember the device as it was employed in ,dennery's ,paillaisse1 known on the ,english stage as ,belphegor1 the ,mountebank4 ,in #ahgd ,paul ,ferrier produced a play entitled ,tabarin1 in which ,coquelin appeared at the ,theatre ,francais4 ,thirteen years later ,catulle ,mendes brought out another play called ,la ,femme de ,tabarin1 for which ,chabrier wrote the incidental music4 ,the critics were prompt in charging ,mendes with having plagiarized ,ferrier1 and the former defended himself on the ground that the incident which he had employed1 of actual murder in a dramatic performance1 was historical and had often been used4 ,this1 however1 did not prevent him from bringing an accusation of theft against ,leoncavallo when ,pagliacci was announced for production in ,french at ,brussels and of beginning legal proceedings against the composer and his publisher on that score4 ,the controversy which followed showed very plainly that ,mendes did not have a leg to stand upon either in law or equity1 and he withdrew his suit and made a handsome amende in a letter to the editor of ,le ,figaro4 ,before this was done1 however1 ,signor ,leoncavallo wrote a letter to his publisher1 which not only established that the incident in question was based upon fact but directed attention to a dramatic use of the motif in a ,spanish play written thirty-five years before the occurrence which was in the mind of ,leoncavallo4 ,the letter was as follows3-- ,lugano1 ,sept4 #c1 #ahid4 ,dear ,signor ,sonzogno4 ,i have read ,catulle ,mendes's two letters4 ,m4 ,mendes goes pretty far in declaring a priori that ,pagliacci is an imitation of his ,femme de ,tabarin4 ,i had not known this book1 and only know it now through the accounts given in the daily papers4 ,you will remember that at the time of the first performance of ,pagliacci at ,milan in #ahib several critics accused me of having taken the subject of my opera from the ,drama ,nuevo of the well known ,spanish writer1 ,estebanez4 ,what would ,m4 ,mendes say if he were accused of having taken the plot of ,la ,femme de ,tabarin from the ,drama ,nuevo1 which dates back to #ahcj or #ahdj8 ,as a fact1 a husband1 a comedian1 kills in the last scene the lover of his wife before her eyes while he only appears to play his part in the piece4 ,it is absolutely true that ,i knew at that time no more of the ,drama ,nuevo than ,i know now of ,la ,femme de ,tabarin4 ,i saw the first mentioned work in ,rome represented by ,novelli six months after ,pagliacci's first production in ,milan4 ,in my childhood1 while my father was judge at ,montalto1 in ,calabria 7the scene of the opera's plot71 a jealous player killed his wife after the performance4 ,this event made a deep and lasting impression on my childish mind1 the more since my father was the judge at the criminal's trial2 and later1 when ,i took up dramatic work1 ,i used this episode for a drama4 ,i left the frame of the piece as ,i saw it1 and it can be seen now at the ,festival of ,madonna della ,serra1 at ,montalto4 ,the clowns arrive a week or ten days before the festival1 which takes place on ,august #ae1 to put up their tents and booths in the open space which reaches from the church toward the fields4 ,i have not even invented the coming of the peasants from ,santo ,benedetto1 a neighboring village1 during the chorale4 ,what ,i write now ,i have mentioned so often in ,germany and other parts that several opera houses1 notably that of ,berlin1 had printed on their bills ,scene of the true event4 ,after all this1 ,m4 ,mendes insisted on his claim1 which means that he does not believe my words4 ,had ,i used ,m4 ,mendes's ideas ,i would not have hesitated to open correspondence with him before the first representation1 as ,i have done now with a well known writer who has a subject that ,i wish to use for a future work4 ,pagliacci is my own1 entirely my own4 ,if in this opera1 a scene reminds one of ,m4 ,mendes's book1 it only proves that we both had the same idea which ,estebanez had before us4 ,on my honor and conscience ,i assure you that ,i have read but two of ,m4 ,mendes's books in my life--,zo ,hur and ,la ,premiere ,maitresse4 ,when ,i read at ,marienbad a little while ago the newspaper notices on the production of ,la ,femme de ,tabarin ,i even wrote to you1 dear ,signor ,sonzogno1 thinking this was an imitation of ,pagliacci4 ,this assertion will suffice1 coming from an honorable man1 to prove my loyalty4 ,if not1 then ,i will place my undoubted rights under the protection of the law1 and furnish incontestable proof of what ,i have stated here4 ,i have the honor1 etc41 etc4 ,at various times and in various manners1 by letters and in newspaper interviews1 ,leoncavallo reiterated the statement that the incident which he had witnessed as a boy in his father's courtroom had suggested his drama4 ,the chief actor in the incident1 he said1 was still living4 ,after conviction he was asked if he felt penitent4 ,the rough voice which rang through the room years before still echoed in ,leoncavallo's ears3 ,i repent me of nothing6 ,on the contrary1 if ,i had it to do over again ,i'd do it again6 7,non mi pento del delitto6 ,tutt altro4 ,se dovessi ricominciare1 ricomincerei67 ,he was sentenced to imprisonment and after the expiration of his term took service in a little ,calabrian town with ,baroness ,sproniere4 ,if ,mendes had prosecuted his action1 poor ,alessandro was ready to appear as a witness and tell the story which ,leoncavallo had dramatized4 ,i have never seen ,la ,femme de ,tabarin and must rely on ,mr4 ,philip ,hale1 fecund fountain of informal information1 for an outline of the play which ,pagliacci called back into public notice3 ,francisquine1 the wife of ,tabarin1 irons her petticoats in the players' booth4 ,a musketeer saunters along1 stops and makes love to her4 ,she listens greedily4 ,tabarin enters just after she has made an appointment with the man4 ,tabarin is drunk--drunker than usual4 ,he adores his wife2 he falls at her feet2 he entreats her2 he threatens her4 ,meanwhile the crowd gathers to see the parade4 ,tabarin mounts the platform and tells openly of his jealousy4 ,he calls his wife2 she does not answer4 ,he opens the curtain behind him2 then he sees her in the arms of the musketeer4 ,tabarin snatches up a sword1 stabs his wife in the breast and comes back to the stage with starting eyes and hoarse voice4 ,the crowd marvels at the passion of his play4 ,francisquine1 bloody1 drags herself along the boards4 ,she chokes2 she cannot speak4 ,tabarin1 mad with despair1 gives her the sword1 begs her to kill him4 ,she seizes the sword1 raises herself1 hiccoughs1 gasps out the word ,canaille1 and dies before she can strike4 ,paul ,ferrier and ,emanuel ,pessard produced a grand opera in two acts entitled ,tabarin in ,paris in #ahhe2 ,alboiz and ,andre a comic opera with the same title1 music by ,georges ,bousquet1 in #aheb4 ,gilles and ,furpilles brought out an operetta called ,tabarin ,duelliste1 with music by ,leon ,pillaut1 in #ahff4 ,the works seem to have had only the name of the hero in common4 ,their stories bear no likeness to those of ,la ,femme de ,tabarin or ,pagliacci4 ,the ,spanish play1 ,drama ,nuevo1 by ,estebanez1 was adapted for performance in ,english by ,mr4 ,w4 ,d4 ,howells under the title ,yorick's ,love4 ,the translation was made for ,mr4 ,lawrence ,barrett and was never published in book form4 ,if it had the denouement suggested in ,leoncavallo's letter to ,sonzogno1 the fact has escaped the memory of ,mr4 ,howells1 who1 in answer to a letter of inquiry which ,i sent him1 wrote3 ,so far as ,i can remember there was no likeness between ',yorick's ,love' and ',pagliacci4' ,but when ,i made my version ,i had not seen or heard ',pagliacci4' ,the title of ,leoncavallo's opera is ,pagliacci1 not ,i ,pagliacci as it frequently appears in books and newspapers4 ,when the opera was brought out in the vernacular1 ,mr4 ,frederick ,e4 ,weatherly1 who made the ,english adaptation1 called the play and the character assumed by ,canio in the comedy ,punchinello4 ,this evoked an interesting comment from ,mr4 ,hale3 ',pagliacci' is the plural of ,pagliaccio1 which does not mean and never did mean ,punchinello4 ,what is a ,pagliaccio8 ,a type long known to the ,italians1 and familiar to the ,french as ,paillasse4 ,the ,pagliaccio visited ,paris first in #aegj4 ,he was clothed in white and wore big buttons4 ,later1 he wore a suit of bedtick1 with white and blue checks1 the coarse mattress cloth of the period4 ,hence his name4 ,the word that meant straw was afterward used for mattress which was stuffed with straw and then for the buffoon1 who wore the mattress cloth suit4 ,in ,france the ,paillasse1 as ,i have said1 was the same as ,pagliaccio4 ,sometimes he wore a red checked suit1 but the genuine one was known by the colors1 white and blue4 ,he wore blue stockings1 short breeches puffing out a la blouse1 a belted blouse and a black1 close-fitting cap4 ,this buffoon was seen at shows of strolling mountebanks4 ,he stood outside the booth and by his jests and antics and grimaces strove to attract the attention of the people1 and he told them of the wonders performed by acrobats within1 of the freaks exhibited4 ,many of his jests are preserved4 ,they are often in dialogue with the proprietor and are generally of vile indecency4 ,the lowest of the strollers1 he was abused by them4 ,the ,italian ,pagliaccio is a species of clown1 and ,punchinello was never a mere buffoon4 ,the ,punch of the puppet-show is a bastard descendant of the latter1 but the original type is still seen in ,naples1 where he wears a white costume and a black mask4 ,the original type was not necessarily humpbacked4 ,punchinello is a shrewd fellow1 intellectual1 yet in touch with the people1 cynical2 not hesitating at murder if he can make by it2 at the same time a local satirist1 a dealer in gags and quips4 ,pagliacci is perhaps best translated by 'clowns'2 but the latter word must not be taken in its restricted circus sense4 ,these strolling clowns are pantomimists1 singers1 comedians4 ,at the first performance of ,pagliacci in ,milan the cast was as follows3 ,canio1 ,geraud2 ,tonio1 ,maurel2 ,silvio1 ,ancona2 ,peppe1 ,daddi2 ,nedda1 ,mme4 ,stehle4 ,the first performance in ,america was by the ,hinrichs ,grand ,opera ,company1 at the ,grand ,opera ,house1 ,new ,york1 on ,june #ae1 #ahic2 ,selma ,kronold was the ,nedda1 ,montegriffo the ,canio1 and ,campanari the ,tonio4 ,the opera was incorporated in the ,metropolitan repertory in the season of #ahic-ahid4 ,rinuccini's ,dafne1 which was written #cjj years ago and more1 begins with a prologue which was spoken in the character of the poet ,ovid4 ,leoncavallo's ,pagliacci also begins with a prologue1 but it is spoken by one of the people of the play2 whether in his character as ,tonio of the tragedy or ,pagliaccio of the comedy there is no telling4 ,he speaks the sentiments of the one and wears the motley of the other4 ,text and music1 however1 are ingeniously contrived to serve as an index to the purposes of the poet and the method and material of the composer4 ,in his speech the prologue tells us that the author of the play is fond of the ancient custom of such an introduction1 but not of the old purpose4 ,he does not employ it for the purpose of proclaiming that the tears and passions of the actors are but simulated and false4 ,no6 ,he wishes to let us know that his play is drawn from life as it is--that it is true4 ,it welled up within him when memories of the past sang in his heart and was written down to show us that actors are human beings like unto ourselves4 ,an unnecessary preachment1 and if listened to with a critical disposition rather an impertinence1 as calculated to rob us of the pleasure of illusion which it is the province of the drama to give4 ,closely analyzed1 ,tonio's speech is very much of a piece with the prologue which ,bully ,bottom wanted for the play of ,pyramus in ,shakespeare's comedy4 ,we are asked to see a play4 ,in this play there is another play4 ,in this other play one of the actors plays at cross-purposes with the author--forgets his lines and himself altogether and becomes in reality the man that he seems to be in the first play4 ,the prologue deliberately aims to deprive us of the thrill of surprise at the unexpected denouement1 simply that he may tell us what we already know as well as he1 that an actor is a human being4 ,plainly then1 from a didactic point of view1 this prologue is a gratuitous impertinence4 ,not so its music4 ,structurally1 it is little more than a loose-jointed pot-pourri2 but it serves the purpose of a thematic catalogue to the chief melodic incidents of the play which is to follow4 ,in this it bears a faint resemblance to the introduction to ,berlioz's ,romeo and ,juliet symphony4 ,it begins with an energetic figure1 figure3 a musical score excerpt which is immediately followed by an upward scale-passage with a saucy flourish at the end--not unlike the crack of a whiplash3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,it helps admirably to picture the bustling activity of the festa into which we are soon to be precipitated4 ,the bits of melody which are now introduced might all be labelled in the ,wolzogen-,wagner manner with reference to the play's peoples and their passions if it were worth while to do so1 or if their beauty and eloquence were not sufficient unto themselves4 ,first we have the phrase in which ,canio will tell us how a clown's heart must seem merry and make laughter though it be breaking3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,next the phrase from the love music of ,nedda and ,silvio3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,the bustling music returns1 develops great energy1 then pauses1 hesitates1 and makes way for ,tonio1 who1 putting his head through the curtain1 politely asks permission of the audience1 steps forward and delivers his homily1 which is alternately declamatory and broadly melodious4 ,one of his melodies later becomes the theme of the between-acts music1 which separates the supposedly real life of the strolling players from the comedy which they present to the mimic audience3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,at last ,tonio calls upon his fellow mountebanks to begin their play4 ,the curtain rises4 ,we are in the midst of a rural celebration of the ,feast of the ,assumption on the outskirts of a village in ,calabria4 ,a perambulant theatre has been set up among the trees and the strolling actors are arriving1 accompanied by a crowd of villagers1 who shout greetings to ,clown1 ,columbine1 and ,harlequin4 ,nedda arrives in a cart drawn by a donkey led by ,beppe4 ,canio in character invites the crowd to come to the show at #g o'clock 7ventitre ore74 ,there they shall be regaled with a sight of the domestic troubles of ,pagliaccio and see the fat mischief-maker tremble4 ,tonio wants to help ,nedda out of the cart1 but ,canio interferes and lifts her down himself2 whereupon the women and boys twit ,tonio4 ,canio and ,beppe wet their whistles at the tavern1 but ,tonio remains behind on the plea that he must curry the donkey4 ,the hospitable villager playfully suggests that it is ,tonio's purpose to make love to ,nedda4 ,canio1 half in earnest1 half in jest1 points out the difference between real life and the stage4 ,in the play1 if he catches a lover with his wife1 he flies into a mock passion1 preaches a sermon1 and takes a drubbing from the swain to the amusement of the audience4 ,but there would be a different ending to the story were ,nedda actually to deceive him4 ,let ,tonio beware6 ,does he doubt ,nedda's fidelity8 ,not at all4 ,he loves her and seals his assurance with a kiss4 ,then off to the tavern4 ,hark to the bagpipes6 ,huzza1 here come the zampognari6 ,drone pipes droning and chaunters skirling--as well as they can skirl in ,italian6 figure3 a musical score excerpt ,now we have people and pipers on the stage and there's a bell in the steeple ringing for vespers4 ,therefore a chorus4 ,not that we have anything to say that concerns the story in any way4 ,din1 don6 ,that would suffice1 but if you must have more3 ,let's to church4 ,din1 don4 ,all's right with love and the sunset4 ,din1 don6 ,but mamma has her eye on the young folk and their inclination for kissing4 ,din1 don6 ,bells and pipes are echoed by the singers4 ,her husband is gone to the tavern for refreshment and ,nedda is left alone4 ,there is a little trouble in her mind caused by the fierceness of ,canio's voice and looks4 ,does he suspect8 ,but why yield to such fancies and fears8 ,how beautiful the mid-,august sun is6 ,her hopes and longings find expression in the ,ballatella--a waltz tune with twitter of birds and rustle of leaves for accompaniment4 ,pretty birds1 where are you going8 ,what is it you say8 ,mother knew your song and used once to tell it to her babe4 ,how your wings flash through the ether6 ,heedless of cloud and tempest1 on1 on1 past the stars1 and still on6 ,her wishes take flight with the feathered songsters1 but ,tonio brings her rudely to earth4 ,he pleads for a return of the love which he says he bears her1 but she bids him postpone his protestations till he can make them in the play4 ,he grows desperately urgent and attempts to rape a kiss4 ,she cuts him across the face with a donkey whip1 and he goes away blaspheming and swearing vengeance4 ,then ,silvio comes--,silvio1 the villager1 who loves her and who has her heart4 ,she fears he will be discovered1 but he bids her be at peace2 he had left ,canio drinking at the tavern4 ,she tells him of the scene with ,tonio and warns him1 but he laughs at her fears4 ,then he pleads with her4 ,she does not love her husband2 she is weary of the wandering life which she is forced to lead2 if her love is true let her fly with him to happiness4 ,no4 ',tis folly1 madness2 her heart is his1 but he must not tempt her to its destruction4 ,tonio slinks in and plays eavesdropper4 ,he hears the mutual protestations of the lovers1 hears ,nedda yield to ,silvio's wild pleadings1 sees them locked in each other's arms1 and hurries off to fetch ,canio4 ,canio comes1 but not in time to see the man who had climbed over the wall1 yet in time to hear ,nedda's word of parting3 ,a stanotte--e per sempre tua saro--,to-night1 and forever1 ,i am yours6 ,he throws ,nedda aside and gives chase after the fugitive1 but is baffled4 ,he demands to be told the name of her lover4 ,nedda refuses to answer4 ,he rushes upon her with dagger drawn1 but ,beppe intercepts and disarms him4 ,there is haste now2 the villagers are already gathering for the play4 ,tonio insinuates his wicked advice3 ,let us dissemble2 the gallant may be caught at the play4 ,the others go out to prepare for their labors4 ,canio staggers toward the theatre4 ,he must act the merry fool1 though his heart be torn6 ,why not8 ,what is he8 ,a man8 ,no2 a clown6 ,on with the motley6 ,the public must be amused4 ,what though ,harlequin steals his ,columbine8 ,laugh1 ,pagliaccio1 though thy heart break6 ,the between-acts music is retrospective2 it comments on the tragic emotions1 the pathos foretold in the prologue4 ,act ,,ii brings the comedy which is to have a realistic and bloody ending4 ,the villagers gather and struggle for places in front of the booth4 ,among them is ,silvio1 to whom ,nedda speaks a word of warning as she passes him while collecting the admission fees4 ,he reminds her of the assignation2 she will be there4 ,the comedy begins to the music of a graceful minuet3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,columbine is waiting for ,harlequin4 ,taddeo is at the market buying the supper for the mimic lovers4 ,harlequin sings his serenade under the window3 ,o1 ,colombina1 il tenero fido ,arlecchin--a pretty measure6 ,taddeo enters and pours out his admiration for ,colombina in an exaggerated cadenza as he offers her his basket of purchases4 ,the audience shows enjoyment of the sport4 ,taddeo makes love to ,colombina and ,harlequin1 entering by the window1 lifts him up by the ears from the floor where he is kneeling and kicks him out of the room4 ,what fun6 ,the mimic lovers sit at table and discuss the supper and their love4 ,taddeo enters in mock alarm to tell of the coming of ,pagliaccio4 ,harlequin decamps1 but leaves a philtre in the hands of ,columbine to be poured into her husband's wine4 ,at the window ,columbine calls after him3 ,a stanotte--e per sempre io saro tua6 ,at this moment ,canio enters in the character of ,pagliaccio4 ,he hears again the words which ,nedda had called after the fleeing ,silvio1 and for a moment is startled out of his character4 ,but he collects himself and begins to play his part4 ,a man has been here6 ,you've been drinking6 ,the dialogue of the comedy continues1 but ever and anon with difficulty on the part of ,pagliaccio1 who begins to put a sinister inflection into his words4 ,taddeo is dragged from the cupboard in which he had taken hiding4 ,he1 too1 puts color of verity into his lines1 especially when he prates about the purity of ,columbine4 ,canio loses control of himself more and more4 ,pagliaccio no more1 but a man--a man seeking vengeance4 ,the name of your lover6 ,the audience is moved by his intensity4 ,silvio betrays anxiety4 ,canio rages on4 ,the name1 the name6 ,the mimic audience shouts1 ,bravo6 ,nedda3 if he doubts her she will go4 ,no1 by ,god6 ,you'll remain and tell me the name of your lover6 ,with a great effort ,nedda forces herself to remain in character4 ,the music1 whose tripping dance measures have given way to sinister mutterings in keeping with ,canio's mad outbursts1 as the mimic play ever and anon threatens to leave its grooves and plunge into the tragic vortex of reality1 changes to a gavotte3-- figure3 a musical excerpt ,columbine explains3 she had no idea her husband could put on so tragical a mask4 ,it is only harmless ,harlequin who has been her companion4 ,the name6 ,the name66 ,,the ,,name666 ,nedda sees catastrophe approaching and throws her character to the winds4 ,she shrieks out a defiant ,no6 and attempts to escape from the mimic stage4 ,silvio starts up with dagger drawn4 ,the spectators rise in confusion and cry ,stop him6 ,canio seizes ,nedda and plunges his knife into her3 ,take that6 ,and that6 ,with thy dying gasps thou'lt tell me6 ,woful intuition6 ,dying1 ,nedda calls3 ,help1 ,silvio6 ,silvio rushes forward and receives ,canio's knife in his heart4 ,gesumaria6 shriek the women4 ,men throw themselves upon ,canio4 ,he stands for a moment in a stupor1 drops his knife and speaks the words3 ,the comedy is ended4 ,ridi ,pagliaccio6 shrieks the orchestra as the curtain falls4 ,plaudite1 amici1 said ,beethoven on his death bed1 la commedia finita est6 ,and there is a tradition that these1 too1 were the last words of the arch-jester ,rabelais4 ,when ',pagliacci' was first sung here 7in ,boston71 by the ,tavary company1 says ,mr4 ,philip ,hale1 ,tonio pointed to the dead bodies and uttered the sentence in a mocking way4 ,and there is a report that such was ,leoncavallo's original intention4 ,as the ,tonio began the piece in explanation so he should end it4 ,but the tenor 7de ,lucia7 insisted that he should speak the line4 ,i do not believe the story4 7#a7 ,as ,maurel was the original ,tonio and the tenor was comparatively unknown1 it is doubtful whether ,maurel1 of all men1 would have allowed of the loss of a fat line4 7#b7 ,as ,canio is chief of the company it is eminently proper that he should make the announcement to the crowd4 7#c7 ,the ghastly irony is accentuated by the speech when it comes from ,canio's mouth4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,cavalleria ,,rusticana ,having neither the patience nor the inclination to paraphrase a comment on ,mascagni's ,cavalleria ,rusticana which ,i wrote years ago when the opera was comparatively new1 and as it appears to me to contain a just estimate and criticism of the work and the school of which it and ,pagliacci remain the foremost exemplars1 ,i quote from my book1 ,chapters of ,opera ,footnote3 ,chapters of ,opera1 by ,h4 ,e4 ,krehbiel1 p4#bbc ,seventeen years ago ',cavalleria ,rusticana' had no perspective4 ,now1 though but a small portion of its progeny has been brought to our notice1 we nevertheless look at it through a vista which looks like a valley of moral and physical death through which there flows a sluggish stream thick with filth and red with blood4 ,strangely enough1 in spite of the consequences which have followed it1 the fierce little drama retains its old potency4 ,it still speaks with a voice which sounds like the voice of truth4 ,its music still makes the nerves tingle1 and carries our feelings unresistingly on its turbulent current4 ,but the stage-picture is less sanguinary than it looked in the beginning4 ,it seems to have receded a millennium in time4 ,it has the terrible fierceness of an ,attic tragedy1 but it also has the decorum which the ,attic tragedy never violated4 ,there is no slaughter in the presence of the audience1 despite the humbleness of its personages4 ,it does not keep us perpetually in sight of the shambles4 ,it is1 indeed1 an exposition of chivalry2 rustic1 but chivalry nevertheless4 ,it was thus ,clytemnestra slew her husband1 and ,orestes his mother4 ,note the contrast which the duel between ,alfio and ,turiddu presents with the double murder to the piquant accompaniment of comedy in ',pagliacci1' the opera which followed so hard upon its heels4 ,since then piquancy has been the cry2 the piquant contemplation of adultery1 seduction1 and murder amid the reek and stench of the ,italian barnyard4 ,think of ,cilea's ',tilda1' ,giordano's ',mala ,vita1' ,spinelli's ',a ,basso ,porto1' and ,tasca's ',a ,santa ,lucia'6 ,the stories chosen for operatic treatment by the champions of verismo are all alike4 ,it is their filth and blood which fructifies the music1 which rasps the nerves even as the plays revolt the moral stomach4 ,i repeat3 ,looking back over the time during which this so-called veritism has held its orgies1 ',cavalleria ,rusticana' seems almost classic4 ,its music is highly spiced and tastes 'hot i' th' mouth1' but its eloquence is1 after all1 in its eager1 pulsating1 passionate melody--like the music which ,verdi wrote more than half a century ago for the last act of ',il ,trovatore4' ,if neither ,mascagni himself nor his imitators have succeeded in equalling it since1 it is because they have thought too much of the external devices of abrupt and uncouth change of modes and tonalities1 of exotic scales and garish orchestration1 and too little of the fundamental element of melody which once was the be-all and end-all of ,italian music4 ,another fountain of gushing melody must be opened before ',cavalleria rusticana' finds a successor in all things worthy of the succession4 ,ingenious artifice1 reflection1 and technical cleverness will not suffice even with the blood and mud of the slums as a fertilizer4 ,how ,mascagni came to write his opera he has himself told us in a bright sketch of the early part of his life-history which was printed in the ,fanfulla della ,domenica of ,rome shortly after he became famous4 ,recounting the story of his struggle for existence after entering upon his career1 he wrote3-- ,in #ahhh only a few scenes 7of ,ratcliff7 remained to be composed2 but ,i let them lie and have not touched them since4 ,the thought of ,cavalleria rusticana had been in my head for several years4 ,i wanted to introduce myself with1 a work of small dimensions4 ,i appealed to several librettists1 but none was willing to undertake the work without a guarantee of recompense4 ,then came notice of the ,sonzogno competition and ,i eagerly seized the opportunity to better my condition4 ,but my salary of #ajj lire1 to which nothing was added1 except the fees from a few pianoforte lessons in ,cerignola and two lessons in the ,philharmonic ,society of ,canosa 7a little town a few miles from ,cerignola71 did not permit the luxury of a libretto4 ,at the solicitation of some friends ,targioni1 in ,leghorn1 decided to write a ,cavalleria rusticana for me4 ,my mind was long occupied with the finale4 ,the words3 ,hanno ammazzato compare ,turiddu6 7,they have killed ,neighbor ,turiddu67 were forever ringing in my ears4 ,i needed a few mighty orchestral chords to give characteristic form to the musical phrase and achieve an impressive close4 ,how it happened ,i don't know1 but one morning1 as ,i was trudging along the road to give my lessons at ,canosa1 the idea came to me like a stroke of lightning1 and ,i had found my chords4 ,they were those seventh chords1 which ,i conscientiously set down in my manuscript4 ,thus ,i began my opera at the end4 ,when ,i received the first chorus of my libretto by post 7,i composed the ,siciliano in the prelude later7 ,i said in great good humor to my wife3 ,to-day we must make a large expenditure4 ,what for8 ,an alarm clock4 ,why8 ,to wake me up before dawn so that ,i may begin to write on ',cavalleria rusticana4' ,the expenditure caused a dubious change in the monthly budget1 but it was willingly allowed4 ,we went out together1 and after a good deal of bargaining spent nine lire4 ,i am sure that ,i can find the clock1 all safe and sound1 in ,cerignola4 ,i wound it up the evening we bought it1 but it was destined to be of no service to me1 for in that night a son1 the first of a row of them1 was born to me4 ,in spite of this ,i carried out my determination1 and in the morning began to write the first chorus of ,cavalleria4 ,i came to ,rome in ,february1 #ahij1 in order to permit the jury to hear my opera2 they decided that it was worthy of performance4 ,returning to ,cerignola in a state of the greatest excitement1 ,i noticed that ,i did not have a penny in my pocket for the return trip to ,rome when my opera was to be rehearsed4 ,signor ,sonzogno helped me out of my embarrassment with a few hundred francs4 ,those beautiful days of fear and hope1 of discouragement and confidence1 are as vividly before my eyes as if they were now4 ,i see again the ,constanzi ,theatre1 half filled2 ,i see how1 after the last excited measures of the orchestra1 they all raise their arms and gesticulate1 as if they were threatening me2 and in my soul there awakens an echo of that cry of approval which almost prostrated me4 ,the effect made upon me was so powerful that at the second representation ,i had to request them to turn down the footlights in case ,i should be called out2 for the blinding light seemed a hell to me1 like a fiery abyss that threatened to engulf me4 ,it is a rude little tale which ,giovanni ,verga wrote and which supplied the librettists1 ,g4 ,targioni-,tozzetti and ,g4 ,menasci1 with the plot of ,mascagni's opera4 ,sententious as the opera seems1 it is yet puffed out1 padded1 and bedizened with unessential ornament compared with the story4 ,this has the simplicity and directness of a folk-tale or folk-song1 and much of its characteristic color and strength were lost in fitting it out for music4 ,the play1 which ,signora ,duse presented to us with a power which no operatic singer can ever hope to match1 was more to the purpose1 quicker and stronger in movement1 fiercer in its onrush of passion1 and more pathetic in its silences than the opera with its music1 though the note of pathos sounded by ,signor ,mascagni is the most admirable element of the score4 ,with half a dozen homely touches ,verga conjures up the life of a ,sicilian village and strikes out his characters in bold outline4 ,turiddu ,macca1 son of ,nunzia1 is a bersagliere returned from service4 ,he struts about the village streets in his uniform1 smoking a pipe carved with an image of the king on horseback1 which he lights with a match fired by a scratch on the seat of his trousers1 lifting his leg as if for a kick4 ,lola1 daughter of ,massaro ,angelo1 was his sweetheart when he was conscripted1 but meanwhile she has promised to marry ,alfio1 a teamster from ,licodia1 who has four ,sortino mules in his stable4 ,now ,turiddu could do nothing better than sing spiteful songs under her window4 ,lola married the teamster1 and on ,sundays she would sit in the yard with her hands posed on her hips to show off the thick gold rings which her husband had given her4 ,opposite ,alfio's house lived ,massaro ,cola1 who was as rich as a hog1 as they said1 and who had an only daughter named ,santa4 ,turiddu1 to spite ,lola1 paid his addresses to ,santa and whispered sweet words into her ear4 ,why don't you go and say these nice things to ,lola8 asked ,santa one day4 ,lola is a fine lady now2 she has married a crown prince4 ,but you are worth a thousand ,lolas2 she isn't worthy of wearing your old shoes4 ,i could just eat you up with my eyes1 ,santa--thus ,turiddu4 ,you may eat me with your eyes and welcome1 for then there will be no leaving of crumbs4 ,if ,i were rich ,i would like to have a wife just like you4 ,i shall never marry a crown prince1 but ,i shall have a dowry as well as ,lola when the good ,lord sends me a lover4 ,the tassel on his cap had tickled the girl's fancy4 ,her father disapproved of the young soldier1 and turned him from his door2 but ,santa opened her window to him until the village gossips got busy with her name and his4 ,lola listened to the talk of the lovers from behind a vase of flowers4 ,one day she called after ,turiddu3 ,ah1 ,turiddu6 ,old friends are no longer noticed1 eh8 ,he is a happy man who has the chance of seeing you1 ,lola4 ,you know where ,i live1 answered ,lola4 ,and now ,turiddu visited ,lola so often that ,santa shut her window in his face and the villagers began to smile knowingly when he passed by4 ,alfio was making a round of the fairs with his mules4 ,next ,sunday ,i must go to confession1 said ,lola one day1 for last night ,i dreamt that ,i saw black grapes4 ,never mind the dream1 pleaded ,turiddu4 ,but ,easter is coming1 and my husband will want to know why ,i have not confessed4 ,santa was before the confessional waiting her turn when ,lola was receiving absolution4 ,i wouldn't send you to ,rome for absolution1 she said4 ,alfio came home with his mules1 and money and a rich holiday dress for his wife4 ,you do well to bring presents to her1 said ,santa to him1 for when you are away your wife adorns your head for you4 ,holy ,devil6 screamed ,alfio4 ,be sure of what you are saying1 or ,i'll not leave you an eye to cry with6 ,i am not in the habit of crying4 ,i haven't wept even when ,i have seen ,turiddu going into your wife's house at night4 ,enough6 said ,alfio4 ,i thank you very much4 ,the cat having come back home1 ,turiddu kept off the streets by day1 but in the evenings consoled himself with his friends at the tavern4 ,they were enjoying a dish of sausages there on ,easter eve4 ,when ,alfio came in ,turiddu understood what he wanted by the way he fixed his eyes on him4 ,you know what ,i want to speak to you about1 said ,alfio when ,turiddu asked him if he had any commands to give him4 ,he offered ,alfio a glass of wine1 but it was refused with a wave of the hand4 ,here ,i am1 said ,turiddu4 ,alfio put his arms around his neck4 ,we'll talk this thing over if you will meet me to-morrow morning4 ,you may look for me on the highway at sunrise1 and we will go on together4 ,they exchanged the kiss of challenge1 and ,turiddu1 as an earnest that he would be on hand1 bit ,alfio's ear4 ,his companions left their sausages uneaten and went home with ,turiddu4 ,there his mother was sitting up for him4 ,mamma1 ,turiddu said to her1 do you remember that when ,i went away to be a soldier you thought ,i would never come back8 ,kiss me as you did then1 mamma1 for to-morrow ,i am going away again4 ,before daybreak he took his knife from the place in the haymow where he had hidden it when he went soldiering1 and went out to meet ,alfio4 ,holy ,mother of ,jesus6 grumbled ,lola when her husband prepared to go out2 where are you going in such a hurry8 ,i am going far away1 answered ,alfio1 and it will be better for you if ,i never come back6 ,the two men met on the highway and for a while walked on in silence4 ,turiddu kept his cap pulled down over his face4 ,neighbor ,alfio1 he said after a space1 as true as ,i live ,i know that ,i have wronged you1 and ,i would let myself be killed if ,i had not seen my old mother when she got up on the pretext of looking after the hens4 ,and now1 as true as ,i live1 ,i will kill you like a dog so that my dear old mother may not have cause to weep4 ,good6 answered ,alfio2 we will both strike hard6 ,and he took off his coat4 ,both were good with the knife4 ,turiddu received the first blow in his arm1 and when he returned it struck for ,alfio's heart4 ,ah1 ,turiddu6 ,you really do intend to kill me8 ,yes1 ,i told you so4 ,since ,i saw her in the henyard ,i have my old mother always in my eyes4 ,keep those eyes wide open1 shouted ,alfio1 for ,i am going to return you good measure6 ,alfio crouched almost to the ground1 keeping his left hand on the wound1 which pained him4 ,suddenly he seized a handful of dust and threw it into ,turiddu's eyes4 ,ah6 howled ,turiddu1 blinded by the dust1 ,i'm a dead man6 ,he attempted to save himself by leaping backward1 but ,alfio struck him a second blow1 this time in the belly1 and a third in the throat4 ,that makes three--the last for the head you have adorned for me6 ,turiddu staggered back into the bushes and fell4 ,he tried to say1 ,ah1 my dear mother6 but the blood gurgled up in his throat and he could not4 ,music lends itself incalculably better to the celebration of a mood accomplished or achieved by action1 physical or psychological1 than to an expression of the action itself4 ,it is in the nature of the lyric drama that this should be so1 and there need be no wonder that wherever ,verga offered an opportunity for set lyricism it was embraced by ,mascagni and his librettists4 ,verga tells us that ,turiddu1 having lost ,lola1 comforted himself by singing spiteful songs under her window4 ,this suggested the ,siciliano1 which1 an afterthought1 ,mascagni put into his prelude as a serenade1 not in disparagement1 but in praise of ,lola4 ,it was at ,easter that ,alfio returned to discover the infidelity of his wife1 and hence we have an ,easter hymn1 one of the musical high lights of the work1 though of no dramatic value4 ,verga aims to awaken at least a tittle of extenuation and a spark of sympathy for ,turiddu by showing us his filial love in conflict with his willingness to make reparation to ,alfio2 ,mascagni and his librettists do more by showing us the figure of the young soldier blending a request for a farewell kiss from his mother with a prayer for protection for the woman he has wronged4 ,in its delineation of the tender emotions1 indeed1 the opera is more generous and kindly than the story4 ,santuzza does not betray her lover in cold blood as does ,santa1 but in the depth of her humiliation and at the climax of her jealous fury created by ,turiddu's rejection of her when he follows ,lola into church4 ,moreover1 her love opens the gates to remorse the moment she realizes what the consequence of her act is to be4 ,the opera sacrifices some of the virility of ,turiddu's character as sketched by ,verga1 but by its classic treatment of the scene of the killing it saves us from the contemplation of ,alfio's dastardly trick which turns a duel into a cowardly assassination4 ,the prelude to the opera set the form which ,leoncavallo followed1 slavishly followed1 in ,pagliacci4 ,the orchestral proclamation of the moving passions of the play is made by the use of fragments of melody which in the vocal score mark climaxes in the dialogue4 ,the first high point in the prelude is reached in the strain to which ,santuzza begs for the love of ,turiddu even after she has disclosed to him her knowledge of his infidelity3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt figure3 a musical score excerpt the second is the broad melody in which she pleads with him to return to her arms3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,between these expositions falls the ,siciliano1 which interrupts the instrumental flood just as ,lola's careless song1 the ,stornello1 interrupts the passionate rush of ,santuzza's protestations1 prayers1 and lamentations in the scene between her and her faithless lover3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt setting the words ,o ,lola1 blanca come flor di spino1 quando t'affaci ti s'affaccio il sole ,these sharp contrasts1 heightened by the device of surprise1 form one of the marked characteristics of ,mascagni's score and one of the most effective4 ,we meet it also in the instrumentation--the harp accompaniment to the serenade1 the pauses which give piquancy to ,lola's ditty1 the unison violins1 harp arpeggios1 and sustained organ chords of the intermezzo4 ,when the curtain rises it discloses the open square of a ,sicilian village1 flanked by a church and the inn of ,lucia1 ,turiddu's mother4 ,it is ,easter morning and villagers and peasants are gathering for the ,paschal mass4 ,church bells ring and the orchestra breaks into the eager melody which a little later we hear combined with the voices which are hymning the pleasant sights and sounds of nature3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt setting the words tempo e si mormori ,a charming conception is the regular beat and flux and reflux of the women's voices as they sing figure3 a musical score excerpt setting the words ,gliaranci olezzano sui verdi margini cantando le allo do le tra i mirti in flor 4 4 4 ,delightful and refreshing is the bustling strain of the men4 ,the singers depart with soft exclamations of rapture called out by the contemplation of nature and thoughts of the ,virgin ,mother and ,child in their hearts4 ,comes ,santuzza1 sore distressed1 to ,mamma ,lucia1 to inquire as to the whereabouts of her son ,turiddu4 ,lucia thinks him at ,francofonte2 but ,santuzza knows that he spent the night in the village4 ,in pity for the maiden's distress1 ,lucia asks her to enter her home1 but ,santuzza may not--she is excommunicate4 ,alfio enters with boisterous jollity1 singing of his jovial carefree life as a teamster and his love of home and a faithful wife4 ,it is a paltry measure1 endurable only for its offering of contrast1 and we will not tarry with it1 though the villagers echo it merrily4 ,alfio1 too1 has seen ,turiddu1 and ,lucia is about to express her surprise when ,santuzza checks her4 ,the hour of devotion is come1 and the choir in the church intones the ,regina coeli1 while the people without fall on their knees and sing the ,resurrection ,hymn4 ,after the first outburst1 to which the organ appends a brief postlude1 ,santuzza leads in the canticle1 ,innegiamo il ,signor non dmorte3 ,let us sing of our ,lord ris'n victorious6 ,let us sing of our ,lord ever glorious3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt figure3 a musical score excerpt ,the instrumental basses supply a foundation of ,bachian granite1 the chorus within the church interpolates shouts of ,alleluia6 and the song swells until the gates of sound fly wide open and we forget the theatre in a fervor of religious devotion4 ,only the critic in his study ought here to think of the parallel scene which ,leoncavallo sought to create in his opera4 ,thus far the little dramatic matter that has been introduced is wholly expository2 yet we are already near the middle of the score4 ,all the stage folk enter the church save ,santuzza and ,lucia1 and to the mother of her betrayer the maiden tells the story of her wrongs4 ,the romance which she sings is marked by the copious use of one of the distinguishing devices of the veritist composers--the melodic triplet1 an efficient help for the pushing1 pulsating declamation with which the dramatic dialogue of ,mascagni1 ,leoncavallo1 and their fellows is carried on4 ,lucia can do no more for the unfortunate than commend her to the care of the ,virgin4 ,she enters the church and ,turiddu comes4 ,he lies as to where he has been4 ,santuzza is quick with accusation and reproach1 but at the first sign of his anger and a hint of the vengeance which ,alfio will take she abases herself4 ,let him beat and insult her1 she will love and pardon though her heart break4 ,she is in the extremity of agony and anguish when ,lola is heard trolling a careless song3-- figure3 musical example setting the word ,fior di giaggiolo 4 4 gli angeli belli stanno a mille in cielo 4 4 4 ,she is about to begin a second stanza when she enters and sees the pair4 ,she stops with an exclamation4 ,she says she is seeking ,alfio4 ,is ,turiddu not going to mass8 ,santuzza1 significantly3 ,it is ,easter and the ,lord sees all things6 ,none but the blameless should go to mass4 ,but ,lola will go1 and so will ,turiddu4 ,scorning ,santuzza's pleadings and at last hurling her to the ground1 he rushes into the church4 ,she shouts after him a threat of ,easter vengeance and fate sends the agent to her in the very moment4 ,alfio comes and ,santuzza tells him that ,turiddu has cuckolded him and ,lola has robbed her of her lover3-- ,turiddu mi tolse1 mi tolse l'onore1 ,e vostra moglie lui rapiva a me6 figure3 musical example setting the above words ,the oncoming waves of the drama's pathos have risen to a supreme height1 their crests have broken1 and the wind-blown spume drenches the soul of the listeners2 but the composer has not departed from the first principle of the master of whom1 for a time1 it was hoped he might be the legitimate successor4 ,melody remains the life-blood of his music as it is that of ,verdi's from his first work to his last2--as it will be so long as music endures4 ,terrible is the outbreak of ,alfio's rage3-- ,infami lero1 ad esse non perdono1 ,vendetta avro pria che tra monti il di4 figure3 musical example setting the above words ,upon this storm succeeds the calm of the intermezzo--in its day the best abused and most hackneyed piece of music that the world knew2 yet a triumph of simple1 straightforward tune4 ,it echoes the ,easter hymn1 and in the midst of the tumult of earthly passion proclaims celestial peace4 ,its instrumentation was doubtless borrowed from ,hellmesberger's arrangement of the air ,ombra mai fu from ,serse1 known the world over as ,handel's ,largo--violins in unison1 harp arpeggios1 and organ harmonies4 ,in nothing artistically distinguished it makes an unexampled appeal to the multitude4 ,some years ago a burlesque on ,cavalleria rusticana was staged at a theatre in ,vienna4 figure3 a musical score excerpt ,it was part of the witty conceit of the author to have the intermezzo played on a handorgan4 ,up to this point the audience had been hilarious in its enjoyment of the burlesque1 but with the first wheezy tones from the grinder the people settled down to silent attention2 and when the end came applause for the music rolled out wave after wave4 ,a burlesque performance could not rob that music of its charm4 ,ite missa est4 ,mass is over4 ,the merry music of the first chorus returns4 ,the worshippers are about to start homeward with pious reflections1 when ,turiddu detains ,lola and invites his neighbors to a glass of ,mamma ,lucia's wine4 ,we could spare the drinking song as easily as ,alfio1 entering1 turns aside the cup which ,turiddu proffers him4 ,turiddu understands4 ,i await your pleasure4 ,some of the women apprehend mischief and lead ,lola away4 ,the challenge is given and accepted1 ,sicilian fashion4 ,turiddu confesses his wrong-doing to ,alfio1 but1 instead of proclaiming his purpose to kill his enemy1 he asks protection for ,santuzza in case of his death4 ,then1 while the violins tremble and throb1 he calls for his mother like an errant child3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,he has been too free with the winecup1 he says1 and must leave her4 ,but first her blessing1 as when he went away to be a soldier4 ,should he not return1 ,santa must be her care3 ,voi dovrete fare2 da madre a ,santa6 ,it is the cry of a child4 ,a kiss6 ,another kiss1 mamma6 ,farewell6 ,lucia calls after him4 ,he is gone1 ,santuzza comes in with her phrase of music descriptive of her unhappy love4 ,it grows to a thunderous crash4 ,then a hush6 ,a fateful chord6 ,a whispered roll of the drums6 ,a woman is heard to shriek3 ,they have killed ,neighbor ,turiddu6 ,a crowd of women rush in excitedly2 ,santuzza and ,lucia fall in a swoon4 ,hanno ammazzato compare ,turiddu6 ,the tragedy is ended4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,career ,,of ,,mascagni ,it would be foolish to question or attempt to deny the merits of the type of ,italian opera established by ,mascagni's lucky inspiration4 ,the brevity of the realistic little tragedy1 the swiftness of its movement1 its adherence to the ,italian ideal of melody first1 its ingenious combination of song with an illuminative orchestral part--these elements in union created a style which the composers of ,italy1 ,france1 and ,germany were quick to adopt4 ,pagliacci was the first fruit of the movement and has been the most enduring2 indeed1 so far as ,america and ,england are concerned1 ,cavalleria rusticana and ,pagliacci are the only products of the school which have obtained a lasting footing4 ,they were followed by a flood of ,italian1 ,french1 and ,german works in which low life was realistically portrayed1 but1 though the manner of composition was as easily copied as the subjects were found in the slums1 none of the imitators of ,mascagni and ,leoncavallo achieved even a tithe of their success4 ,the men themselves were too shrewd and wise to attempt to repeat the experiment which had once been triumphant4 ,in one respect the influence of the twin operas was deplorable4 ,i have attempted to characterize that influence in general terms1 but in order that the lesson may be more plainly presented it seems to me best to present a few examples in detail4 ,the eagerness with which writers sought success in moral muck1 regardless of all artistic elements1 is strikingly illustrated in an attempt by a ,german writer1 ,edmund von ,freihold1 ,footnote3 ,i owe this illustration to ,ferdinand ,pfobl's book ,die ,moderne ,oper4 to provide ,cavalleria rusticana with a sequel4 ,von ,freihold wrote the libretto for a music drama which he called ,santuzza1 the story of which begins long enough after the close of ,verga's story for both the women concerned in ,gavalleria rusticana to have grown children4 ,santuzza has given birth to a son named ,massimo1 and ,lola to a daughter1 ,anita4 ,the youthful pair grow up side by side in the ,sicilian village and fall in love with one another4 ,they might have married and in a way expiated the sins of their parents had not ,alfio overheard his wife1 ,lola1 confess that ,turiddu1 not her husband1 is the father of ,anita1 ,the lovers are thus discovered to be half brother and sister4 ,this reminder of his betrayal by ,lola infuriates ,alfio anew4 ,he rushes upon his wife to kill her1 but ,santuzza1 who hates him as the slayer of her lover1 throws herself between and plunges her dagger in ,alfio's heart4 ,having thus taken revenge for ,turiddu's death1 ,santuzza dies out of hand1 ,lola1 as an inferior character1 falls in a faint1 and ,massimo makes an end of the delectable story by going away from there to parts unknown4 ,in ,cilea's ,tilda a street singer seeks to avenge her wrongs upon a faithless lover4 ,she bribes a jailor to connive at the escape of a robber whom he is leading to capital punishment4 ,this robber she elects to be the instrument of her vengeance4 ,right merrily she lives with him and his companions in the greenwood until the band captures the renegade lover on his wedding journey4 ,tilda rushes upon the bride with drawn dagger1 but melts with compassion when she sees her victim in the attitude of prayer4 ,she sinks to her knees beside her1 only to receive the death-blow from her seducer4 ,there are piquant contrasts in this picture and ,ave ,marias and tarantellas in the music4 ,take the story of ,giordano's ,mala ,vita4 ,here the hero is a young dyer whose dissolute habits have brought on tuberculosis of the lungs4 ,the principal object of his amours is the wife of a friend4 ,a violent hemorrhage warns him of approaching death4 ,stricken with fear he rushes to the nearest statue of the ,madonna and registers a vow2 he will marry a wanton1 effect her redemption1 thereby hoping to save his own miserable life4 ,the heroine of the opera appears and she meets his requirements4 ,he marries her and for a while she seems blest4 ,but the siren1 the ,lola in the case1 winds her toils about him as the disease stretches him on the floor at her feet4 ,piquancy again1 achieved now without that poor palliative1 punishment of the evil-doer4 ,tasca's ,a ,santa ,lucia has an appetizing story about an oysterman's son who deserts a woman by whom he has a child1 in order to marry one to whom he had previously been affianced4 ,the women meet4 ,there is a dainty brawl1 and the fiancee of ,cicillo 7he's the oysterman's son7 strikes her rival's child to the ground4 ,the mother tries to stab the fiancee with the operatic ,italian woman's ever-ready dagger1 and this act stirs up the embers of ,cicillo's love4 ,he takes the mother of his child back home--to his father's house1 that is4 ,the child must be some four years old by this time1 but the oysterman--dear1 unsuspecting old man6--knows nothing about the relation existing between his son and his housekeeper4 ,he is thinking of marriage with his common law daughter-in-law when in comes the old fiancee with a tale for ,cicillo's ears of his mistress's unfaithfulness4 ,it is not true6 shrieks the poor woman1 but the wretch1 her seducer1 closes his ears to her protestations2 and she throws herself into the sea1 where the oysters come from4 ,cicillo rushes after her and bears her to the shore1 where she dies in his arms1 gasping in articulo mortis1 ,it is not true6 ,the romantic interest in ,mascagni's life is confined to the period which preceded his sudden rise to fame4 ,his father was a baker in ,leghorn1 and there he was born on ,december #g1ahfc4 ,of humble origin and occupation himself1 the father1 nevertheless1 had large ambitions for his son2 but not in the line of art4 ,pietro was to be shaped intellectually for the law4 ,like ,handel1 the boy studied the pianoforte by stealth in the attic4 ,grown in years1 he began attending a music-school1 when1 it is said1 his father confined him to his house2 thence his uncle freed him and took over his care upon himself4 ,singularly enough1 the man who at the height of his success posed as the most ,italian of ,italian masters had his inspiration first stirred by ,german poetry4 ,early in his career ,beethoven resolved to set ,schiller's ,hymn to ,joy2 the purpose remained in his mind for forty years or so1 and finally became a realization in the finale of the ,ninth ,symphony4 ,pietro ,mascagni resolved as a boy to compose music for the same ode2 and did it at once4 ,then he set to work upon a two-act opera1 ,il ,filanda4 ,his uncle died1 and a ,count ,florestan 7here is another ,beethovenian echo67 sent him to the ,conservatory at ,milan1 where1 like nearly all of his native contemporaries1 he imbibed knowledge 7and musical ideas7 from ,ponchielli4 ,after two years or so of academic study he yielded to a gypsy desire and set out on his wanderings1 but not until he had chosen as a companion ,maffei's translation of ,heine's ,ratcliff--a gloomy romance which seems to have caught the fancy of many composers4 ,there followed five years of as checkered a life as ever musician led4 ,over and over again he was engaged as conductor of an itinerant or stationary operetta and opera company1 only to have the enterprise fail and leave him stranded4 ,for six weeks in ,naples his daily ration was a plate of macaroni4 ,but he worked at his opera steadily1 although1 as he once remarked1 his dreams of fame were frequently swallowed up in the growls of his stomach1 which caused him more trouble than many a millionaire suffers from too little appetite or too much gout4 ,finally1 convinced that he could do better as a teacher of the pianoforte1 he ran away from an engagement which paid him two dollars a day1 and1 sending off the manuscript of ,ratcliff in a portmanteau1 settled down in ,cerignola4 ,there he became director of a school for orchestral players1 though he had first to learn to play the instruments2 he also taught pianoforte and thoroughbass1 and eked out a troublous existence until his success in competition for the prize offered by ,sonzogno1 the ,milanese publisher1 made him famous in a day and started him on the road to wealth4 ,it was but natural that1 after ,cavalleria rusticana had virulently affected the whole world with what the enemies of ,signor ,mascagni called ,mascagnitis1 his next opera should be looked forward to with feverish anxiety4 ,there was but a year to wait1 for ,l',amico ,fritz was brought forward in ,rome on the last day of ,october1 #ahia4 ,within ten weeks its title found a place on the programme of one of ,mr4 ,walter ,damrosch's ,sunday night concerts in ,new ,york2 but the music was a disappointment4 ,five numbers were sung by ,mme4 ,tavary and ,signor ,campanini1 and ,mr4 ,damrosch1 not having the orchestral parts1 played the accompaniments upon a pianoforte4 ,as usual1 ,mr4 ,gustav ,hinrichs was to the fore with a performance in ,philadelphia 7on ,june #h1 #ahib71 the principal singers being ,mme4 ,koert-,kronold1 ,clara ,poole1 ,m4 ,guille1 and ,signor ,del ,puente4 ,on ,january #ca1 #ahic1 the ,philadelphia singers1 aided by the ,new ,york ,symphony ,society1 gave a performance of the opera1 under the auspices of the ,young ,men's ,hebrew ,association1 for the benefit of its charities1 at the ,carnegie ,music ,hall1 ,new ,york4 ,mr4 ,walter ,damrosch was to have conducted1 but was detained in ,washington by the funeral of ,mr4 ,blaine1 and ,mr4 ,hinrichs took his place4 ,another year elapsed1 and then1 on ,january #aj1 #ahid1 the opera reached the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house4 ,in spite of the fact that ,madame ,calve sang the part of ,suzel1 only two performances were given to the work4 ,the failure of this opera did not dampen the industry of ,mascagni nor the zeal of his enterprising publishers4 ,for his next opera the composer went again to the ,french authors1 ,erckmann-,chatrian1 who had supplied him with the story of ,l',amico ,fritz4 ,this time he chose ,les deux ,freres1 which they had themselves turned into a drama with the title of ,rantzau4 ,mascagni's librettist retained the title4 ,the opera came out in ,florence in #ahib4 ,the tremendous personal popularity of the composer1 who was now as much a favorite in ,vienna and ,berlin as he was in the town of his birth which had struck a medal in his honor1 or the town of his residence which had created him an honorary citizen1 could not save the work4 ,now he turned to the opera which he had laid aside to take up his ,cavalleria1 and in #ahie ,guglielmo ,ratcliff1 based upon the gloomy ,scotch story told by ,heine1 was brought forward at ,la ,scala1 in ,milan4 ,it was in a sense the child of his penury and suffering1 but he had taken it up inspired by tremendous enthusiasm for the subject1 and inasmuch as most of its music had been written before success had turned his head1 or desire for notoriety had begun to itch him1 there was reason to hope to find in it some of the hot blood which surges through the score of ,cavalleria4 ,as a matter of fact1 critics who have seen the score or heard the work have pointed out that portions of ,i ,rantzau and ,cavalleria are as alike as two peas4 ,it would not be a violent assumption that the composer in his eagerness to get his score before the ,sonzogno jury had plucked his early work of its best feathers and found it difficult to restore plumage of equal brilliancy when he attempted to make restitution4 ,in the same year1 #ahie1 his next opera1 ,silvano1 made a fiasco in ,milan4 ,a year later there appeared ,zanetto1 which seems like an effort to contract the frame of the lyric drama still further than is done in ,cavalleria4 ,it is a bozzetto1 a sketch1 based on ,coppee's duologue ,le ,passant1 a scene between a strumpet who is weary of the world and a young minstrel4 ,its orchestration is unique--there are but strings and a harp4 ,it was brought out at ,pesaro1 where1 in #ahie1 ,mascagni had been appointed director of the ,liceo ,musicale ,rossini4 ,as director of the music-school in ,rossini's native town ,mascagni's days were full of trouble from the outset4 ,he was opposed1 said his friends1 in reformatory efforts by some of the professors and pupils1 whose enmity grew so virulent that in #ahig they spread the story that he had killed himself4 ,he was deposed from his position by the administration1 but reinstated by the ,minister of ,fine ,arts4 ,the criticism followed him for years that he had neglected his duties to travel about ,europe1 giving concerts and conducting his operas for the greater glory of himself and the profit of his publisher4 ,at the time of the suicide story it was also said that he was in financial straits2 to which his friends replied that he received a salary of #fj lire 7#ab7 a day as director1 #ajjj lire 7#bjj7 a month from ,sonzogno1 and lived in a princely dwelling4 ,after ,zanetto came ,iris1 to which1 as the one opera besides ,cavalleria rusticana which has remained in the ,american repertory1 ,i shall devote the next chapter in this book4 ,iris was followed by ,le ,maschere1 which was brought out on ,january #ag1 #aija1 simultaneously in six cities--,rome1 ,milan1 ,venice1 ,genoa1 ,turin1 and ,naples4 ,it made an immediate failure in all of these places except ,rome1 where it endured but a short time4 ,mascagni's next operatic work was a lyric drama1 entitled ,vistilia1 the libretto of which1 based upon an historical novel by ,racco de ,zerbi1 was written by ,menasci and ,targioni-,tozzetti1 who collaborated on the book of ,cavalleria rusticana4 ,the action goes back to the time of ,tiberius and deals with the loves of ,vistilia and ,helius4 ,then came another failure in the shape of ,amica1 which lived out its life in ,monte ,carlo1 where it was produced in ,march1 #aije4 ,in the winter of #aijb-aijc ,signor ,mascagni was in the ,united ,states for the purpose of conducting performances of some of his operas and giving concerts4 ,the company of singers and instrumentalists which his ,american agents had assembled for his purpose was1 with a few exceptions1 composed of the usual operatic flotsam and jetsam which can be picked up at any time in ,new ,york4 ,the enterprise began in failure and ended in scandal4 ,there had been no adequate preparation for the operas announced1 and one of them was not attempted4 ,this was ,ratcliff4 ,cavalleria rusticana1 ,zanetto1 and ,iris were poorly performed at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house in ,october1 and an attempt at ,sunday night concerts was made4 ,signor ,mascagni's countrymen labored hard to create enthusiasm for his cause1 but the general public remained indifferent4 ,having failed miserably in ,new ,york1 ,mascagni1 heavily burdened with debt1 went to ,boston4 ,there he was arrested for breach of contract4 ,he retaliated with a suit for damages against his ,american managers4 ,the usual amount of crimination and recrimination followed1 but eventually the difficulties were compounded and ,mascagni went back to his home a sadly disillusionized man4 ,footnote3 ,the story of this visit is told in greater detail in my ,chapters of ,opera1 as is also the story of the rivalry among ,american managers to be first in the field with ,cavalleria rusticana4 ,zanetto was produced along with ,cavalleria rusticana at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house on ,october #h1 #aijb1 and ,iris on ,october #af4 ,signor ,mascagni conducted and the parts were distributed as follows among the singers of the company3 ,iris1 ,marie ,farneti2 ,osaka1 ,pietro ,schiavazzi2 ,kyoto1 ,virgilio ,bollati2 ,il ,cieco1 ,francesco ,navarrini2 ,una ,guecha1 ,dora de ,filippe2 ,un ,mercianola1 ,pasquale ,blasio2 ,un ,cencianola1 ,bernardino ,landino4 ,the opera was not heard of again until the season of #aijg-aijh1 when1 just before the end of the administration of ,heinrich ,conried1 it was incorporated into the repertory of the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house apparently for the purpose of giving ,mme4 ,emma ,eames an opportunity to vie with ,miss ,geraldine ,farrar in ,japanese opera4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,iris ,light is the language of the eternal ones--hear it6 proclaims the librettist of ,iris in that portion of his book which is neither said nor sung nor played4 ,and it is the sun that sings with divers voices after the curtain has risen on a nocturnal scene1 and the orchestra has sought to depict the departure of the night1 the break of day1 the revivification of the flowers and the sunrise4 ,as ,byron sang of him1 so ,phoebus ,apollo celebrates himself as the god of life and poetry and light1 but does not stop there4 ,he is also ,infinite ,beauty1 ,cause1 ,reason1 ,poetry1 and ,love4 ,the music begins with an all but inaudible descending passage in the basses1 answered by sweet concordant harmonies4 ,a calm song tells of the first streaks of light2 woodwind and harp add their voices2 a mellifluous hymn chants the stirring flowers1 and leads into a rhythmically1 more incisive1 but still sustained1 orchestral song1 which bears upon its surface the choral proclamation of the sun3 ,i am6 ,i am life6 ,i am ,beauty infinite6 ,the flux and reflux of the instrumental surge grows in intensity1 the music begins to glow with color and pulsate with eager life1 and reaches a mighty sonority1 gorged with the crash of a multitude of tamtams1 cymbals1 drums1 and bells1 at the climacteric reiteration of ,calore6 ,luce6 ,amor6 ,the piece is thrillingly effective1 but as little operatic as the tintinnabulatory chant of the cherubim in the prologue of ,boito's ,mefistofele4 ,and now allegory makes room for the drama4 ,to the door of her cottage1 embowered on the banks of a quiet stream1 comes ,iris4 ,the peak of ,fujiyama glows in the sunlight4 ,iris is fair and youthful and innocent4 ,a dream has disturbed her4 ,gorgons and ,hydras and ,chimaeras dire had filled her garden and threatened her doll1 which she had put to sleep under a rose-bush4 ,but the sun's rays burst forth and the monsters flee4 ,she lifts her doll and moves its arms in mimic salutation to the sun4 ,osaka1 a wealthy rake1 and ,kyoto1 a pander1 play spy on her actions1 gloat on her loveliness and plot to steal her and carry her to the ,yoshiwara4 ,to this end they go to bring on a puppet show1 that its diversion may enable them to steal her away without discovery4 ,women come down to the banks of the river and sing pretty metaphors as they wash their basketloads of muslins4 ,gradually the music of samisens1 gongs1 and drums approaches4 ,osaka and ,kyoto have disguised themselves as travelling players1 gathered together some geishas and musicians1 and now set up a marionette theatre4 ,iris comforts her blind father1 the only object of her love1 besides her doll1 and promises to remain at his side4 ,the puppet play tells the story of a maiden who suffers abuse from a cruel father1 who threatens to sell her to a merchant4 ,iris is much affected by the sorrows of the puppet4 ,the voice of ,jor1 the son of the sun1 is heard--it is ,osaka1 singing without4 ,the melody is the melody of ,turridu's ,siciliano1 but the words are a promise of a blissful1 kissful death and thereafter life everlasting4 ,the puppet dies and with ,jor dances off into ,nirvana4 ,now three geishas1 representing ,beauty1 ,death1 and the ,vampire1 begin a dance4 ,kyoto distracts the attention of the spectators while the dancers flaunt their skirts higher and wider until their folds conceal ,iris1 and ,osaka's hirelings seize her and bear her off toward the city4 ,kyoto places a letter and money at the cottage door for the blind father4 ,through a pedler and the woman he learns that his daughter is gone to be an inmate of the ,yoshiwara4 ,he implores the people who had been jeering him to lead him thither1 that he may spit in her face and curse her4 ,iris is asleep upon a bed in the ,green ,house of the district1 which needs no description4 ,a song1 accompanied by the twanging of a samisen and the clanging of tamtams1 is sung by three geishas4 ,kyoto brings in ,osaka to admire her beauty1 and sets a high price upon it4 ,osaka sends for jewels4 ,iris awakes and speculates in philosophical vein touching the question of her existence4 ,she cannot be dead1 for death brings knowledge and paradise joy2 but she weeps4 ,osaka appears4 ,he praises her rapturously--her form1 her hair1 her eyes1 her mouth1 her smile4 ,iris thinks him veritably ,jor1 but he says his name is ,pleasure4 ,the maiden recoils in terror4 ,a priest had taught her in an allegory that ,pleasure and ,death were one6 ,osaka loads her with jewels1 fondles her1 draws her to his breast1 kisses her passionately4 ,iris weeps4 ,she knows nothing of passion1 and longs only for her father1 her cottage1 and her garden4 ,osaka wearies of his guest1 but ,kyoto plans to play still further upon his lust4 ,he clothes her in richer robes1 but more transparent1 places her upon a balcony1 and1 withdrawing a curtain1 exhibits her beauty to the multitude in the street4 ,amazed cries greet the revelation4 ,osaka returns and pleads for her love4 ,iris6 ,it is the cry of the blind man hunting the child whom he thinks has sold herself into disgraceful slavery4 ,the crowd falls back before him1 while ,iris rushes forward to the edge of the veranda and cries out to him1 that he may know her presence4 ,he gathers a handful of mud from the street and hurls it in the direction of her voice4 ,there6 ,in your face6 ,in your forehead6 ,in your mouth6 ,in your eyes6 ,fango6 ,under the imprecations of her father the mind of ,iris gives way4 ,she rushes along a corridor and hurls herself out of a window4 ,the third act is reached1 and drama merges again into allegory4 ,in the wan light of the moon rag-pickers1 men and women1 are dragging their hooks through the slimy muck that flows through the open sewer beneath the fatal window4 ,they sing mockingly to the moon4 ,a flash of light from ,fujiyama awakens a glimmer in the filth4 ,again4 ,they rush forward and pull forth the body of ,iris and begin to strip it of its adornments4 ,she moves and they fly in superstitious fear4 ,she recovers consciousness1 and voices from invisible singers1 tell her of the selfish inspirations of ,osaka1 ,kyoto1 and her blind father2 ,osaka's desire baffled by fate--such is life6 ,kyoto's slavery to pleasure and a hangman's reward2--such is life6 ,the blind man's dependence on his child for creature comforts2--such is life6 ,iris bemoans her fate as death comes gently to her4 ,the sky grows rosy and the light brings momentary life4 ,she stretches out her arms to the sun and acclaims the growing orb4 ,as once upon ,ida-- ,glad earth perceives and from her bosom pours ,unbidden herbs and voluntary flow'rs6 ,a field of blossoms spreads around her1 into which she sinks1 while the sun1 again many-voiced and articulate1 chants his glory as in the beginning4 ,the story is perhaps prettier in the telling than in the performance4 ,what there is in its symbolism and its poetical suggestion that is ingratiating is more effective in the fancy than in the experience4 ,there are fewer clogs1 fewer stagnant pools1 fewer eddies which whirl to no purpose4 ,in the modern school1 with its distemper music put on in splotches1 there must be more merit and action4 ,psychological delineation in music which stimulates action1 or makes one forget the want of outward movement1 demands a different order of genius than that which ,signor ,mascagni possesses4 ,mere talent for artful device will not suffice4 ,there are many effective bits of expressive writing in the score of ,iris1 but most of them are fugitive and aim at coloring a word1 a phrase1 or at best a temporary situation4 ,there is little flow of natural1 fervent melody4 ,what the composer accomplished with tune1 characteristic but fluent1 eloquent yet sustained1 in ,cavalleria rusticana1 he tries to achieve in ,iris with violent1 disjointed1 shifting of keys and splashes of instrumental color4 ,in this he is seldom successful1 for he is not a master of orchestral writing--that technical facility which nearly all the young musicians have in the same degree that all pianists have finger technic4 ,his orchestral stream is muddy2 his effects generally crass and empty of euphony4 ,he throws the din of outlandish instruments of percussion1 a battery of gongs1 big and little1 drums1 and cymbals into his score without achieving local color4 ,once only does he utilize it so as to catch the ears and stir the fancy of his listeners--in the beginning of the second act1 where there is a murmur of real ,japanese melody4 ,as a rule1 however1 ,signor ,mascagni seems to have been careless in the matter of local color1 properly so1 perhaps1 for1 strictly speaking1 local color in the lyric drama is for comedy with its petty limitations1 not for tragedy with its appeal to large and universal passions4 ,yet it is in the lighter scenes1 the scenes of comedy1 like the marionette show1 the scenes of mild pathos1 like the monologues of ,iris1 and the scenes of mere accessory decoration1 like that of the laundresses1 the mousmes in the first act1 with its purling figure borrowed from ,les ,huguenots and its unnecessarily uncanny col legno effect conveyed from ,l',africaine that it is most effective4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,madama ,,butterfly ,this is the book of the generation of ,madama ,butterfly3 ,an adventure in ,japan begat ,pierre ,loti's ,madame ,chrysantheme2 ,madame ,chrysantheme begat ,john ,luther ,long's ,madame ,butterfly1 a story2 ,madame ,butterfly1 the story1 begat ,madame ,butterfly1 a play by ,david ,belasco2 ,madame ,butterfly1 the play1 begat ,madama ,butterfly1 the opera by ,giacomo ,puccini4 ,the heroine of the roving ,french romanticist is therefore seen in her third incarnation in the heroine of the opera book which ,l4 ,illica and ,g4 ,giacosa made for ,puccini4 ,but in operatic essence she is still older1 for1 as ,dr4 ,korngold1 a ,viennese critic1 pointed out1 ,selica is her grandmother and ,lakme her cousin4 ,even this does not exhaust her family history2 there is something like a bar sinister in her escutcheon4 ,mr4 ,belasco's play was not so much begotten1 conceived1 or born of admiration for ,mr4 ,long's book as it was of despair wrought by the failure of another play written by ,mr4 ,belasco4 ,this play was a farce entitled ,naughty ,anthony1 created by ,mr4 ,belasco in a moment of aesthetic aberration for production at the ,herald ,square ,theatre1 in ,new ,york1 in the spring of #aijj4 ,mr4 ,belasco doesn't think so now1 but at the time he had a notion that the public would find something humorous and attractive in the spectacle of a popular actress's leg swathed in several layers of stocking4 ,so he made a show of ,blanche ,bates4 ,the public refused to be amused at the farcical study in comparative anatomy1 and when ,mr4 ,belasco's friends began to fault him for having pandered to a low taste1 and he felt the smart of failure in addition1 he grew heartily ashamed of himself4 ,his affairs1 moreover1 began to take on a desperate aspect2 the season threatened to be a ruinous failure1 and he had no play ready to substitute for ,naughty ,anthony4 ,some time before a friend had sent him ,mr4 ,long's book1 but he had carelessly tossed it aside4 ,in his straits it came under his eyes again1 and this time he saw a play in it--a play and a promise of financial salvation4 ,it was late at night when he read the story1 but he had come to a resolve by morning and in his mind's eye had already seen his actors in ,japanese dress4 ,the drama lay in the book snugly enough2 it was only necessary to dig it out and materialize it to the vision4 ,that occupation is one in which ,mr4 ,belasco is at home4 ,the dialogue went to his actors a few pages at a time1 and the pictures rose rapidly in his mind4 ,something different from a stockinged leg now6 ,glimpses of ,nippon--its mountains1 waters1 bridges1 flowers1 gardens1 geishas2 as a foil to their grace and color the prosaic figures of a naval officer and an ,american ,consul4 ,all things tinged with the bright light of day1 the glories of sunset or the super-glories of sunrise4 ,we must saturate the fancy of the audience with the atmosphere of ,japan1 mused ,mr4 ,belasco4 ,therefore1 ,japanese scenes1 my painter6 ,electrician1 your plot shall be worked out as carefully as the dialogue and action of the play's people4 ,first drop discovered2 house-lights down2 white foots with blue full work change of color at back of drop2 white lens on top of mountain2 open light with white1 straw1 amber1 and red on lower part of drop2 when full on lower footlights to blue1 and so on4 ,mr4 ,belasco's emotions1 we know1 find eloquent expression in stage lights4 ,but the ear must be carried off to the land of enchantment as well as the eye4 ,come1 ,william ,furst1 recall your experiences on the ,western coast4 ,for my first curtain ,i want a quaint1 soft ,japanese melody1 pp--you know how6 ,and so ,madame ,butterfly1 the play1 was made4 ,in two weeks all was ready1 and a day after the first performance at the ,herald ,square ,theatre1 on ,march #e1 #aijj1 the city began to hum with eager comment on the dramatic intensity of the scene of a ,japanese woman's vigil1 of the enthralling eloquence of a motionless1 voiceless figure1 looking steadily through a hole torn through a paper partition1 with a sleeping child and a nodding maid at her feet1 while a mimic night wore on1 the lanterns on the floor flickered out one by one and the soft violins crooned a melody to the arpeggios of a harp4 ,the season at the ,herald ,square ,theatre was saved4 ,some time later1 when ,mr4 ,belasco accompanied ,mr4 ,charles ,frohman to ,london to put on ,zaza at the ,garrick ,theatre1 he took ,madame ,butterfly with him and staged it at the ,duke of ,york's ,theatre1 hard by4 ,on the first night of ,madame ,butterfly ,mr4 ,frohman was at the latter playhouse1 ,mr4 ,belasco at the former4 ,the fall of the curtain on the little ,japanese play was followed by a scene of enthusiasm which endured so long that ,mr4 ,frohman had time to summon his colleague to take a curtain call4 ,at a stroke the pathetic play had made its fortune in ,london1 and1 as it turned out1 paved the way for a new and larger triumph for ,mr4 ,long's story4 ,the musical critics of the ,london newspapers came to the house and saw operatic possibilities in the drama4 ,so did ,mr4 ,francis ,nielson1 at the time ,covent ,garden's stage manager1 who sent word of the discovery to ,signor ,puccini4 ,the composer came from ,milan1 and realized on the spot that the successor of ,tosca had been found4 ,signori ,illica and ,giacosa1 librettists in ordinary to ,ricordi ,co41 took the work of making the opera book in hand4 ,signor ,illica's fancy had roamed in the ,land of ,flowers before2 he had written the libretto for ,mascagni's ,iris4 ,the ephemeral life of ,cho-,cho-,san was over in a few months1 but by that time ,madama ,butterfly1 glorified by music1 had lifted her wings for a new flight in ,milan4 ,it is an old story that many operas which are recognized as masterpieces later1 fail to find appreciation or approval when they are first produced4 ,madama ,butterfly made a fiasco when brought forward at ,la ,scala on ,february #ag1 #aijd4 ,footnote3 ,at this premiere ,campanini was the conductor and the cast was as follows3 ,butterfly1 ,storchio2 ,suzuki1 ,giaconia2 ,pinkerton1 ,zenatello2 ,sharpless1 ,de ,luca2 ,goro1 ,pini-,corsi2 ,bonzo1 ,venturini2 ,yakuside1 ,wulmann4 ,at the first performance in ,london1 on ,july #aj1 #aije1 at ,covent ,garden1 the cast was3 ,butterfly1 ,destinn2 ,suzuki1 ,lejeune2 ,pinkerton1 ,caruso2 ,sharpless1 ,scotti2 ,goro1 ,dufriche2 ,bonzo1 ,cotreuil2 ,yakuside1 ,rossi4 ,conductor1 ,campanini4 ,after the revision it was produced at ,brescia on ,may #bh1 #aijd1 with ,zenatello1 of the original cast1 ,krusceniski as ,butterfly1 and ,bellati as ,sharpless4 ,the first ,american performances were in the ,english version1 made by ,mrs4 ,b4 ,h4 ,elkin1 by the ,savage ,opera ,company1 which came to the ,garden ,theatre1 ,new ,york1 after a trial season in ,washington1 on ,november #ab1 #aijf4 ,it had a run of nearly three months before it reached the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 on ,february #aa1 #aijg4 ,mr4 ,walter ,rothwell conducted the ,english performance1 in which there were several changes of casts1 the original ,butterfly being ,elza ,szamozy 7a ,hungarian singer72 ,suzuki1 ,harriet ,behne2 ,pinkerton1 ,joseph ,f4 ,sheehan1 and ,sharpless1 ,winifred ,goff4 ,arturo ,vigna conducted the first ,italian performance at the ,metropolitan1 with ,geraldine ,farrar as ,butterfly1 ,louise ,homer as ,suzuki1 ,caruso as ,pinkerton1 ,scotti as ,sharpless1 and ,albert ,reiss as ,goro4 ,so complete was the fiasco that in his anxiety to withdraw the work ,signer ,puccini is said to have offered to reimburse the management of the theatre for the expenditures entailed by the production4 ,failures of this kind are frequently inexplicable1 but it is possible that the unconventional character of the story and the insensibility of the ,italians to national musical color other than their own1 had a great deal to do with it in this case4 ,whatever the cause1 the popular attitude toward the opera was displayed in the manner peculiar to ,italy1 the discontented majority whistling1 shrilling on house keys1 grunting1 roaring1 bellowing1 and laughing in the good old-fashioned manner which might be set down as possessed of some virtuous merit if reserved for obviously stupid creations4 ,the ,pall ,mall ,gazette reported that at the time the composer told a friend that on this fateful first night he was shut up in a small room behind the scenes1 where he could hear nothing of what was going on on the stage or in the audience-room4 ,on a similar occasion1 nearly a century before1 when ,the ,barber of ,seville scored an equally monumental failure1 ,rossini1 in the conductor's chair1 faced the mob1 shrugged his shoulders1 and clapped his hands to show his contempt for his judges1 then went home and composedly to bed4 ,puccini1 though he could not see the discomfiture of his opera1 was not permitted to remain in ignorance of it4 ,his son and his friends brought him the news4 ,his collaborator1 ,giacosa1 rushed into the room with dishevelled hair and staring eyes1 crying3 ,i have suffered the passion of death6 while ,signorina ,storchio burst into such a flood of tears and sobs that it was feared she would be ill4 ,puccini was cut to the heart1 but he did not lose faith in the work4 ,he had composed it in love and knew its potentialities1 ,his faith found justification when he produced it in ,brescia three months later and saw it start out at once on a triumphal tour of the ,european theatres4 ,his work of revision was not a large or comprehensive one4 ,he divided the second act into two acts1 made some condensations to relieve the long strain1 wrote a few measures of introduction for the final scene1 but refused otherwise to change the music4 ,his fine sense of the dramatic had told him correctly when he planned the work that there ought not to be a physical interruption of the pathetic vigil out of which ,blanche ,bates in ,new ,york and ,evelyn ,millard in ,london had made so powerful a scene1 but he yielded to the compulsion of practical considerations1 trying to save respect for his better judgment by refusing to call the final scene an act1 though he permitted the fall of the curtain2 but nothing can make good the loss entailed by the interruption4 ,the mood of the play is admirably preserved in the music of the intermezzo1 but the mood of the listeners is hopelessly dissipated with the fall of the curtain4 ,when the scene of the vigil is again disclosed1 the charm and the pathos have vanished1 never to return4 ,it is true that a rigid application of the law of unities would seem to forbid that a vigil of an entire night from eve till morning be compressed into a few minutes2 but poetic license also has rights1 and they could have been pleaded with convincing eloquence by music1 with its marvellous capacity for publishing the conflicting emotions of the waiting wife4 ,his ship having been ordered to the ,asiatic station1 ,benjamin ,franklin ,pinkerton1 ,lieutenant in the ,united ,states ,navy1 follows a custom 7not at all unusual among naval officers1 if ,pierre ,loti is to be believed7 and for the summer sojourn in ,japan leases a ,japanese wife4 7,the word wife is a euphemism for housekeeper1 companion1 play-fellow1 mistress1 what not47 ,this is done in a manner involving little ceremony1 as is known to travellers and others familiar with the social customs of ,nippon1 through a nakodo1 a marriage broker or matrimonial agent4 ,m4 ,loti called his man ,kangourou2 ,mr4 ,long gave his the name of ,goro4 ,that1 however1 and the character of the simple proceeding before a registrar is immaterial4 ,m4 ,loti1 who assures us that his book is merely some pages from a veritable diary1 entertains us with some details preliminary to his launch into a singular kind of domestic existence1 which are interesting as bearing on the morals of the opera and as indicative of the fact that he is a closer observer of ,oriental life than his ,american confrere4 ,he lets us see how merchantable wives are chosen1 permits ,m4 ,kangourou to exhibit his wares and expatiate on their merits4 ,there is the daughter of a wealthy ,china merchant1 a young woman of great accomplishments who can write commercially and has won a prize in a poetic contest with a sonnet4 ,she is1 consequently1 very dear--#ajj yen1 say #ajj--;but that is of no consequence2 what matters is that she has a disfiguring scar on her cheek4 ,she will not do4 ,then there is ,mlle4 ,jasmin1 a pretty girl of fifteen years1 who can be had for #ah or #bj a month 7contract cancellable at the end of any month for non-payment71 a few dresses of fashionable cut and a pleasant house to live in4 ,mlle4 ,jasmin comes to be inspected with one old lady1 two old ladies1 three old ladies 7mamma and aunts71 and a dozen friends and neighbors1 big and little4 ,loti's moral stomach revolts at the thought of buying for his uses a child who looks like a doll1 and is shocked at the public parade which has been made of her as a commodity4 ,he has not yet been initiated into some of the extraordinary customs of ,japan1 nor yet into some of the distinctions attendant upon those customs4 ,he learns of one of the latter when he suggests to the broker that he might marry a charming geisha who had taken his fancy at a tea house4 ,the manner in which the suggestion was received convinced him that he might as well have purposed to marry the devil himself as a professional dancer and singer4 ,among the train of ,mlle4 ,jasmin's friends is one less young than ,mlle4 ,jasmin1 say about eighteen1 and already more of a woman2 and when ,loti says1 ,why not her8 ,m4 ,kangourou trots her out for inspection and1 discreetly sending ,loti away1 concludes the arrangement between night-fall and #aj o'clock1 when he comes with the announcement3 ,all is arranged1 sir2 her parents will give her up for #bj a month--the same price as ,mlle4 ,jasmin4 ,so ,mlle4 ,chrysantheme became the wife of ,pierre ,loti during his stay at ,nagasaki1 and then dutifully went home to her mother without breaking her heart at all4 ,but she was not a geisha1 only a mousme--one of the prettiest words in the ,nipponese language1 comments ,m4 ,loti1 it seems almost as if there must be a little moue in the very sound1 as if a pretty1 taking little pout1 such as they put on1 and also a little pert physiognomy1 were described by it4 ,lieutenant ,pinkerton1 equally ignorant with ,lieutenant ,loti but uninstructed evidently1 marries a geisha whose father had made the happy dispatch at the request of the ,son of ,heaven after making a blunder in his military command4 ,she is ,cio-,cio-,san1 also ,madama ,butterfly1 and she comes to her wedding with a bevy of geishas or mousmes 7,i do not know which7 and a retinue of relations4 ,all enjoy the hospitality of the ,american officer while picking him to pieces1 but turn from their kinswoman when they learn from an uncle1 who is a ,buddhist priest and comes late to the wedding like the wicked fairy in the stories1 that she has attended the ,mission school and changed her religion4 ,wherefore the bonze curses her3 ,hou1 hou6 ,cio-,cio-,san1 hou1 hou6 ,sharpless1 ,united ,states ,consul at ,nagasaki1 had not approved of ,pinkerton's adventure1 fearing that it might bring unhappiness to the little woman2 but ,pinkerton had laughed at his scruples and emptied his glass to the marriage with an ,american wife which he hoped to make some day4 ,neither ,loti nor ,long troubles us with the details of so prosaic a thing as the marriage ceremony2 but ,puccini and his librettists make much of it1 for it provides the only opportunity for a chorus and the musician had found delightfully mellifluous ,japanese gongs to add a pretty touch of local color to the music4 ,cio-,cio-,san has been outcasted and ,pinkerton comforts her and they make love in the starlight 7after ,butterfly has changed her habiliments7 like any pair of lovers in ,italy4 ,dolce notte6 ,quante stelle6 ,vieni1 vieni6 for quantity4 ,this is the first act of the opera1 and it is all expository to ,belasco's ,tragedy of ,japan1 which plays in one act1 with the pathetic vigil separating the two days which form its period of action4 ,when that1 like the second act of the opera1 opens1 ,pinkerton has been gone from ,nagasaki and his wife three years1 and a baby boy of whom he has never heard1 but who has his eyes and hair has come to bear ,butterfly company in the little house on the hill4 ,the money left by the male butterfly when he flitted is all but exhausted4 ,madama ,butterfly appears to be lamentably ignorant of the customs of her country1 for she believes herself to be a wife in the ,american sense and is fearfully wroth with ,suzuki1 her maid1 when she hints that she never knew a foreign husband to come back to a ,japanese wife4 ,but ,pinkerton when he sailed away had said that he would be back when the robins nest again1 and that suffices ,cio-,cio-,san4 ,but when ,sharpless comes with a letter to break the news that his friend is coming back with an ,american wife1 he loses courage to perform his mission at the contemplation of the little woman's faith in the truant4 ,does he know when the robins nest in ,america8 ,in ,japan they had nested three times since ,pinkerton went away4 ,the consul quails at that and damns his friend as a scoundrel4 ,now ,goro1 who knows ,butterfly's pecuniary plight1 brings ,yamadori to her4 ,yamadori is a wealthy ,japanese citizen of ,new ,york in the book and play and a prince in the opera1 but in all he is smitten with ,butterfly's beauty and wants to add her name to the list of wives he has conveniently married and as conveniently divorced on his visits to his native land4 ,butterfly insists that she is an ,american and cannot be divorced ,japanese fashion1 and is amazed when ,sharpless hints that ,pinkerton might have forgotten her and she would better accept ,yamadori's hand4 ,first she orders him out of the house1 but1 repenting her of her rudeness1 brings in the child to show him something that no one is likely to forget4 ,she asks the consul to write to his friend and tell him that he has a son1 so fine a son1 indeed1 that she indulges in a day dream of the ,mikado stopping at the head of his troops to admire him and make him a prince of the realm4 ,sharpless goes away with his mission unfulfilled and ,suzuki comes in dragging ,goro with her1 for that he had been spreading scandalous tales about the treatment which children born like this child receive in ,america4 ,butterfly is tempted to kill the wretch1 but at the last is content to spurn him with her foot4 ,at this moment a cannon shot is heard4 ,a man-of-war is entering the harbor4 ,quick1 the glasses6 ,steady my hand1 ,suzuki1 that ,i may read the name4 ,it is the ,abraham ,lincoln1 ,pinkerton's ship6 ,now the cherry tree must give up its every blossom1 every bush or vine its violets and jessamines to garnish the room for his welcome6 ,the garden is stripped bare1 vases are filled1 the floor is strewn with petals4 ,perfumes exhale from the voices of the women and the song of the orchestra4 ,here local color loses its right2 the music is all ,occidental4 ,butterfly is dressed again in her wedding gown of white and her pale cheeks are touched up with carmine4 ,the paper partitions are drawn against the night4 ,butterfly punctures the shoji with three holes--one high up for herself to look through1 standing2 one lower for the maid to look through1 sitting2 one near the floor for the baby4 ,and so ,butterfly stands in an all-night vigil4 ,the lanterns flicker and go out4 ,maid and babe sink down in sleep4 ,the gray dawn creeps over the waters of the harbor4 ,human voices1 transformed into instruments1 hum a barcarolle4 7,we heard it when ,sharpless tried to read the letter47 ,a ,japanese tune rises like a sailors' chanty from the band4 ,mariners chant their ,yo ho6 ,day is come4 ,suzuki awakes and begs her mistress to seek rest4 ,butterfly puts the baby to bed1 singing a lullaby4 ,sharpless and ,pinkerton come and learn of the vigil from ,suzuki1 who sees the form of a lady in the garden and hears that it is the ,american wife of ,pinkerton4 ,pinkerton pours out his remorse melodiously4 ,he will be haunted forever by the picture of his once happy home and ,cio-,cio-,san's reproachful eyes4 ,he leaves money for ,butterfly in the consul's hands and runs away like a coward4 ,kate1 the ,american wife1 and ,suzuki meet in the garden4 ,the maid is asked to tell her mistress the meaning of the visit1 but before she can do so ,butterfly sees them4 ,her questions bring out half the truth2 her intuition tells her the rest4 ,kate 7an awful blot she is on the dramatic picture7 begs forgiveness and asks for the baby boy that her husband may rear him4 ,butterfly says he shall have him in half an hour if he will come to fetch him4 ,she goes to the shrine of ,buddha and takes from it a veil and a dagger1 reading the words engraved on its blade3 ,to die with honor when one can no longer live with honor4 ,it is the weapon which the ,mikado had sent to her father4 ,she points the weapon at her throat1 but at the moment ,suzuki pushes the baby into the room4 ,butterfly addresses it passionately2 then1 telling it to play1 seats it upon a stool1 puts an ,american flag into its hands1 a bandage around its eyes4 ,again she takes dagger and veil and goes behind a screen4 ,the dagger is heard to fall4 ,butterfly totters out from behind the screen with a veil wound round her neck4 ,she staggers to the child and falls1 dying1 at its feet4 ,pinkerton rushes in with a cry of horror and falls on his knees1 while ,sharpless gently takes up the child4 ,i have no desire to comment disparagingly upon the denouement of the book of ,mr4 ,long or the play of ,mr4 ,belasco which ,puccini and his librettists followed2 but in view of the origin of the play a bit of comparative criticism seems to be imperative4 ,loti's ,madame ,chrysantheme was turned into an opera by ,andre ,messager4 ,what the opera was like ,i do not know4 ,it came1 it went1 and left no sign2 yet it would seem to be easy to guess at the reason for its quick evanishment4 ,if it followed the ,french story1 as no doubt it did1 it was too faithful to the actualities of ,japanese life to awaken a throb of emotion in the ,occidental heart4 ,without such a throb a drama is naught--a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal4 ,the charm of ,loti's book lies in its marvellously beautiful portrayal of a country1 a people1 and a characteristic incident in the social life of that people4 ,its interest as a story1 outside of the charm of its telling1 is like that excited by inspection of an exotic curio4 ,in his dedication of the book the author begged ,mme4 la ,duchesse de ,richelieu not to look for any meaning in it1 but to receive it in the same spirit in which she would receive some quaint bit of pottery1 some grotesque carved ivory idol1 or some preposterous trifle brought back from the fatherland of all preposterousness4 ,it is a record of a bit of the wandering life of a poet who makes himself a part of every scene into which fortune throws him4 ,he has spent a summer with a ,japanese mousme1 whom he had married ,japanese fashion1 and when he has divorced her1 also in ,japanese fashion1 with regard for all the conventions1 and sailed away from her forever1 he is more troubled by thoughts of possible contamination to his own nature than because of any consequences to the woman4 ,before the final farewell he had felt a touch of pity for the poor little gypsy1 but when he mounted the stairs to her room for the last time he heard her singing1 and mingled with her voice was a strange metallic sound1 dzinn1 dzinn6 as of coins ringing on the floor4 ,is she amusing herself with quoits1 or the jeu du crapaud1 or pitch and toss8 ,he creeps in1 and there1 dressed for the departure to her mother's1 sitting on the floor is ,chrysantheme2 and spread out around her all the fine silver dollars he had given her according to agreement the night before4 ,with the competent dexterity of an old money changer she fingers them1 turns them over1 throws them on the floor1 and armed with a little mallet ad hoc1 rings them vigorously against her ear1 singing the while ,i know not what little pensive1 birdlike song1 which ,i dare say she improvises as she goes along4 ,well1 after all1 it is even more completely ,japanese than ,i could possibly have imagined it--this last scene of my married life6 ,i feel inclined to laugh4 ,and he commends the little gypsy's worldly wisdom1 offers to make good any counterfeit piece which she may find1 and refuses to permit her to see him go aboard of his ship4 ,she does1 nevertheless1 along with the ,japanese wives of four of his fellow officers1 who peep at their flitting husbands through the curtains of their sampans4 ,but when he is far out on the great ,yellow ,sea he throws the faded lotus flowers which she had given him through the porthole of his cabin1 making his best excuses for giving to them1 natives of ,japan1 a grave so solemn and so vast2 and he utters a prayer3 ,o ,ama-,terace-,omi-,kami1 wash me clean from this little marriage of mine in the waters of the river of ,kamo6 ,the story has no soul1 and to give his story1 which borrowed its motive from ,loti's1 a soul1 ,mr4 ,long had to do violence to the verities of ,japanese life4 ,yet might not even a geisha feel a genuine passion8 ,the use of folk-tunes in opera is older than ,madama ,butterfly1 but ,puccini's score stands alone in the extent of the use and the consistency with which ,japanese melody has been made the foundation of the music4 ,when ,signor ,illica1 one of the librettists1 followed ,sar ,peladan and d',annunzio into ,nippon seeking flowers for ,iris1 he took ,mascagni with him--metaphorically1 of course4 ,but ,mascagni was a timid gleaner4 ,puccini plucked with a bolder hand1 as indeed he might1 for he is an incomparably greater adept in the art of making musical nosegays4 ,in fact1 ,i know of only one score that is comparable with that of ,madama ,butterfly in respect of its use of national musical color1 and that is ,boris ,godounoff4 ,moussorgsky1 however1 had more1 richer1 and a greater variety of material to work with than ,puccini4 ,japanese music is arid and angular1 and yet so great is ,puccini's skill in combining creative imagination and reflection that he knew how to make it blossom like a rose4 ,pity that he could not wholly overcome its rhythmical monotony4 ,japanese melody runs almost uninterruptedly through his instrumental score1 giving way at intervals to the ,italian style of lyricism when the characters and passions become universal rather than local types4 ,structurally1 his score rests on the ,wagnerian method1 in that the vocal part floats on an uninterrupted instrumental current4 ,in the orchestral part the tunes which he borrowed from the popular music of ,japan are continuously recurrent1 and fragments of them are used as the connecting links of the whole fabric4 ,he uses also a few typical themes 7,leitmotive7 of his own invention1 and to them it might be possible1 by ingenious study of their relation to text and situation1 to attach significances in the manner of the ,wagnerian handbooks2 but ,i do not think that such processes occupied the composer's mind to any considerable extent1 and the themes are not appreciably characteristic4 ,his most persistent use of a connecting link1 arbitrarily chosen1 is found in the case of the first motive of the theme1 which he treats fugally in the introduction1 and which appears thereafter to the end of the chapter 7a1 in the list of themes printed herewith74 ,what might be called personal themes are the opening notes of ,the ,star-,spangled ,banner for ,pinkerton and the melody 7d7 which comes in with ,yamadori1 in which the ,japanese tune used by ,sir ,arthur ,sullivan in ,the ,mikado is echoed4 ,the former fares badly throughout the score 7for which no blame need attach to ,signor ,puccini71 but the latter is used with capital effect1 though not always in connection with the character4 ,if ,signor ,puccini had needed the suggestion that ,japanese music was necessary for a ,japanese play 7which of course he did not71 he might have received it when he saw ,mr4 ,belasco's play in ,london4 ,for the incidental music in that play ,mr4 ,william ,furst provided ,japanese tunes1 or tunes made over the very convenient ,japanese last4 ,through ,mr4 ,belasco's courtesy ,i am able to present here a relic of this original ,butterfly music4 ,the first melody 7a7 was the theme of the curtain-music2 7b7 that accompanying ,cho-,cho-,san1 when discovered at the beginning spraying flowers1 presenting an offering at the shrine and burning incense in the house at the foot of ,higashi hill2 7c7 the ,yamadori music2 7d7 the music accompanying the first production of the sword2 7e7 the music of the vigil4 ,there were also two ,occidental pieces--the melody of a little song which ,pinkerton had taught ,cho-,cho-,san1 ,i ,call ,her the ,belle of ,japan1 and ,rock-a-bye1 ,baby4 figure3 a musical score excerpt figure3 a musical score excerpt ,themes from ,puccini's ,butterfly music ,by permission of ,ricordi ,co4 figure3 a musical score excerpt ,meiodies from ,mr4 ,furst's ,butterfly music ,by permission of ,mr4 ,david ,belasco4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,der ,,rosenkavalier ,in the beginning there was ,guntram1 of which we in ,america heard only fragmentary echoes in our concert-rooms4 ,then came ,feuersnot1 which reached us in the same way1 but between which and the subject which is to occupy me in this chapter there is a kinship through a single instrumental number1 the meaning of which no commentator has dared more than hint at4 ,it is the music which accompanies the episode1 politely termed a love scene1 which occurs at the climax of the earlier opera1 but is supposed to take place before the opening of the curtain in the later4 ,perhaps ,i shall recur to them again--if ,i have the courage4 ,these were the operas of ,richard ,strauss which no manager deemed it necessary or advisable to produce in ,new ,york4 ,now came ,salome4 ,popular neurasthenia was growing4 ,oscar ,wilde thought ,france might accept a glorification of necrophilism and wrote his delectable book in ,french4 ,france would have none of it1 but when it was done into ,german1 and ,richard ,strauss accentuated its sexual perversity by his hysterical music1 lo6 ,berlin accepted it with avidity4 ,the theatres of the ,prussian capital were keeping pace with the pathological spirit of the day1 and were far ahead of those of ,paris1 where1 it had long been the habit to think1 moral obliquity made its residence4 ,if ,berlin1 then why not ,new ,york8 ,so thought ,mr4 ,conned1 saturated with ,german theatricalism1 and seeing no likely difference in the appeal of a ,parsifal which he had successfully produced1 and a ,salome1 he prepared to put the works of ,wagner and ,strauss on the same footing at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house4 ,an influence which has not yet been clearly defined1 but which did not spring from the director of the opera nor the gentlemen who were his financial backers1 silenced the maunderings of the lust-crazed ,herod and paralyzed the contortions of the lascivious dancer to whom he was willing to give one-half his kingdom4 ,footnote3 ,for the story of ,salome in ,new ,york1 see my ,chapters of ,opera 7,henry ,holt ,co41 ,new ,york71 p4 #cdc et seq4 ,now ,mr4 ,hammerstein came to continue the artistic education which the owners of the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house had so strangely and unaccountably checked4 ,salome lived out her mad life in a short time1 dying1 not by the command of ,herod1 but crushed under the shield of popular opinion4 ,the operation1 though effective1 was not as swift as it might have been had operatic conditions been different than they are in ,new ,york1 and before it was accomplished a newer phase of ,strauss's pathological art had offered itself as a nervous1 excitation4 ,it was ,elektra1 and under the guise of an ancient religious ideal1 awful but pathetic1 the people were asked to find artistic delight in the contemplation of a woman's maniacal thirst for a mother's blood4 ,it is not necessary to recall the history of the opera at the ,manhattan ,opera ,house to show that the artistic sanity of ,new ,york was proof against the new poison4 ,hugo von ,hoffmannsthal had aided ,strauss in this brew and collaborated with him in the next1 which1 it was hoped1 probably because of the difference in its concoction and ingredients1 would make his rein even more taut than it had ever been on theatrical managers and their public4 ,from the ,greek classics he turned to the comedy of the ,beaumarchais period4 ,putting their heads together1 the two wrote ,der ,rosenkavalier4 ,it was perhaps shrewd on their part that they avoided all allusion to the opera buffa of the period and called their work a comedy for music4 ,it enabled them1 in the presence of the ignorant1 to assume a virtue which they did not possess2 but it is questionable if that circumstance will help them any4 ,it is only the curious critic nowadays who takes the trouble to look at the definition1 or epithet1 on a title page4 ,it is the work which puts the hallmark on itself2 not the whim of the composer4 ,it would have been wise1 very wise indeed1 had ,hoffmannsthal avoided everything which might call up a comparison between himself and ,beaumarchais4 ,it was simply fatal to ,strauss that he tried to avoid all comparison between his treatment of an eighteenth century comedy and ,mozart's4 ,one of his devices was to make use of the system of musical symbols which are irrevocably associated with ,wagner's method of composition4 ,mozart knew nothing of this system1 but he had a better one in his ,beaumarchaisian comedy1 which ,der ,rosenkavalier recalls2 it was that of thematic expression for each new turn in the dramatic situation--a system which is carried out so brilliantly in ,le ,nozze di ,figaro that there is nothing1 even in ,die ,meistersinger1 which can hold a candle to it4 ,another was to build up the vocal part of his comedy on orchestral waltzes4 ,evidently it was his notion that at the time of ,maria ,theresa 7in whose early reign the opera is supposed to take place7 the ,viennese world was given over to the dance4 ,it was so given over a generation later1 so completely1 indeed1 that at the meetings in the ridotto1 for which ,mozart1 ,haydn1 ,gyrowetz1 ,beethoven1 and others wrote music1 retiring rooms had to be provided for ladies who were as unprepared for possible accidents as was one of those described by ,pepys as figuring in a court ball in his time2 but to put scarcely anything but waltz tunes under the dialogue of ,der ,rosenkavalier is an anachronism which is just as disturbing to the judicious as the fact that ,herr ,strauss1 though he starts his half-dozen or more of waltzes most insinuatingly1 never lets them run the natural course which ,lanner and the ,viennese ,strauss1 who suggested their tunes1 would have made them do4 ,always1 the path which sets out so prettily becomes a byway beset with dissonant thorns and thistles and clogged with rocks4 ,all of this is by way of saying that ,der ,rosenkavalier reached ,new ,york on ,december #i1 #aiac1 after having endured two years or so in ,europe1 under the management of ,mr4 ,gatti-,casazza1 and was treated with the distinction which ,mr4 ,conried gave ,parsifal and had planned for ,salome4 ,it was set apart for a performance outside the subscription1 special prices were demanded1 and the novelty dressed as sumptuously and prepared with as lavish an expenditure of money and care as if it were a work of the very highest importance4 ,is it that8 ,the question is not answered by the fact that its music was composed by ,richard ,strauss1 even though one be willing to admit that ,strauss is the greatest living master of technique in musical composition1 the one concerning whose doings the greatest curiosity is felt and certainly the one whose doings are the best advertised4 ,der ,rosenkavalier1 in spite of all these things1 must stand on its merits--as a comedy with music4 ,the author of its book has invited a comparison which has already been suggested by making it a comedy of intrigue merely and placing its time of action in ,vienna and the middle of the eighteenth century4 ,he has gone further2 he has invoked the spirit of ,beaumarchais to animate his people and his incidents4 ,the one thing which he could not do1 or did not do1 was to supply the satirical scourge which justified the ,figaro comedies of his great ,french prototype and which1 while it made their acceptance tardy1 because of royal and courtly opposition1 made their popular triumph the more emphatic4 ,le ,nozze di ,figaro gave us more than one figure and more than one scene in the representation1 and ,le ,nozze di ,figaro is to those who understand its text one of the most questionable operas on the current list4 ,but there is a moral purpose underlying the comedy which to some extent justifies its frank salaciousness4 ,it is to prevent the ,count from exercising an ancient seigniorial right over the heroine which he had voluntarily resigned1 that all the characters in the play unite in the intrigue which makes up the comedy4 ,moreover1 there are glimpses over and over again of honest and virtuous love between the characters and beautiful expressions of it in the music which makes the play delightful1 despite its salaciousness4 ,even ,cherubino who seems to have come to life again in ,octavian1 is a lovable youth if for no othe reason than that he represents youth in its amorousness toward all womankind1 with thought of special mischief toward none4 ,der ,rosenkavalier is a comedy of lubricity merely1 with what little satirical scourge it has applied only to an old roue who is no more deserving of it than most of the other people in the play4 ,so much of its story as will bear telling can be told very briefly4 ,it begins1 assuming its instrumental introduction 7played with the scene discreetly hidden7 to be a part of it1 with a young nobleman locked in the embraces of the middle-aged wife of a field marshal1 who is conveniently absent on a hunting expedition4 ,the music is of a passionate order1 and the composer1 seeking a little the odor of virtue1 but with an oracular wink in his eye1 says in a descriptive note that it is to be played in the spirit of parody 7parodistisch74 ,unfortunately the audience cannot see the printed direction1 and there is no parody in music except extravagance and ineptitude in the utterance of simple things 7like the faulty notes of the horns in ,mozart's joke on the village musicians1 the cadenza for violin solo in the same musical joke1 or the twangling of ,beckmesser's lute72 so the introduction is an honest musical description of things which the composer is not willing to confess1 and least of all the stage manager1 for when the curtain opens there is not presented even the picture called for by the ,german libretto4 ,nevertheless1 morn is dawning1 birds are twittering1 and the young lover1 kneeling before his mistress on a divan1 is bemoaning the fact that day is come and that he cannot publish his happiness to the world4 ,the tete-a-tete is interrupted by a rude boor of a nobleman1 who come to consult his cousin 7the princess7 about a messenger to send with the conventional offering of a silver rose to the daughter of a vulgar plebeian just elevated to the nobility because of his wealth4 ,the conversation between the two touches on little more than old amours1 and after the lady has held her levee designed to introduce a variety of comedy effects in music as well as action1 the princess recommends her lover for the office of rosebearer4 ,meanwhile the lover has donned the garments of a waiting maid and been overwhelmed with the wicked attentions of the roue1 ,lerchenau4 ,when the lovers are again alone there is a confession of renunciation on the part of the princess1 based on the philosophical reflection that1 after all1 her ,octavian being so young would bring about the inevitable parting sooner or later4 ,in the second act what the princess in her prescient abnegation had foreseen takes place4 ,her lover carries the rose to the young woman whom the roue had picked out for his bride and promptly falls in love with her4 ,she with equal promptness1 following the example of ,wagner's heroines1 bowls herself at his head4 ,the noble vulgarian complicates matters by insisting that he receive a dowry instead of paying one4 ,the young hot-blood adds to the difficulties by pinking him in the arm with his sword1 but restores order at the last by sending him a letter of assignation in his first act guise of a maid servant of the princess4 ,this assignation is the background of the third act1 which is farce of the wildest and most vulgar order4 ,much of it is too silly for description4 ,always1 however1 there is allusion to the purpose of the meeting on the part of ,lerchenau1 whose plans are spoiled by apparitions in all parts of the room1 the entrance of the police1 his presumptive bride and her father1 a woman who claims him as her husband1 four children who raise bedlam 7and memories of the contentious ,jews in ,salome72 by shouting ,papa6 papa6 until his mind is in a whirl and he rushes out in despair4 ,the princess leaves the new-found lovers alone4 ,they hymn their happiness in ,mozartian strains 7the melody copied from the second part of the music with which ,papageno sets the blackamoors to dancing in ,die ,zauberflote71 the orchestra talks of the matronly renunciation of the princess1 enthusiastic ,straussians of a musical parallel with the quintet from ,wagner's ,meistersinger1 and the opera comes to an end after three and one-half hours of more or less unintelligible dialogue poised on waltz melodies4 ,i have said unintelligible dialogue4 ,for this unintelligibility there are two reasons-the chief one musical1 the other literary4 ,though ,strauss treats his voices with more consideration in ,der ,rosenkavalier than in his tragedies1 he still so overburdens them that the words are distinguishable only at intervals4 ,only too frequently he crushes them with orchestral voices1 which in themselves are not overwhelming--the voices of his horns1 for instance1 for which he shows a particular partiality4 ,his style of declamation is melodic1 though it is only at the end of the opera that he rises to real vocal melody2 but it seems to be put over an orchestral part1 and not the orchestral part put under it4 ,there is no moment in which he can say1 as ,wagner truthfully and admiringly said of the wonderful orchestral music of the third act of ,tristan und ,isolde1 that all this swelling instrumental song existed only for the sake of what the dying ,tristan was saying upon his couch4 ,all of ,strauss's waltzes seem to exist for their own sake1 which makes the disappointment greater that they are not carried through in the spirit in which they are begun2 that is1 the spirit of the naive ,viennese dance tune4 ,a second reason for the too frequent unintelligibility of the text is its archaic character4 ,its idioms are eighteenth century as well as ,viennese1 and its persistent use of the third person even among individuals of quality1 though it gives a tang to the libretto when read in the study1 is not welcome when heard with difficulty4 ,besides this1 there is use of dialect--vulgar when assumed by ,octavian1 mixed when called for by such characters as ,valzacchi and his partner in scandal mongery1 ,annina4 ,to be compelled to forego a knowledge of half of what such a master of diction as ,mr4 ,reiss was saying was a new sensation to his admirers who understand ,german4 ,yet the fault was as little his as it was ,mr4 ,goritz's that so much of what he said went for nothing2 it was all his misfortune1 including the fact that much of the music is not adapted to his voice4 ,the music offers a pleasanter topic than the action and dialogue4 ,it is a relief to those listeners who go to the opera oppressed with memories of ,salome and ,elektra4 ,it is not only that their ears are not so often assaulted by rude sounds1 they are frequently moved by phrases of great and genuine beauty4 ,unfortunately the ,straussian system of composition demands that beauty be looked for in fragments4 ,continuity of melodic flow is impossible to ,strauss--a confession of his inability either to continue ,wagner's method1 to improve on it1 or invent anything new in its place4 ,the best that has been done in the ,wagnerian line belongs to ,humperdinck4 ,footnote3 ,der ,rosenkavalier had its first ,american production at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 ,new ,york1 on ,december #i1 #aiac1 the cast being as follows3-- ,feldmarschallin ,furstin ,werdenberg444444444444 ,frieda ,hempel ,baron ,ochs auf ,lerchenau4444444444444444444444 ,otto ,goritz ,octavian1 genannt ,quinquin44444444444444444444 ,margarete ,ober ,herr von ,faninal444444444444444444444444444444 ,hermann ,weil ,sophie1 seine ,tochter4444444444444444444444444 ,anna ,case ,jungfer ,marianne ,leitmetzerin44444444444444444 ,rita ,fornia ,valzacchi1 ein ,intrigant4444444444444444444444 ,albert ,reiss ,annina1 seine ,begleiterin444444444444444444444 ,marie ,mattfeld ,ein ,polizeikommissar44444444444444444444444 444 ,carl ,schlegel ,haushofmeister der ,feldmarschalh'n444444444444 ,pietro ,audisio ,haushofmeister bei ,faninal44444444444444444444 ,lambert ,murphy ,ein ,notar4444444444444444444444444444444444 444 ,basil ,ruysdael ,ein ,wirt44444444444444444444444444444444444 444 ,julius ,bayer ,ein ,sanger444444444444444444444444444444444 444 ,carl ,jorn ,drei adelige ,waisen444444444444444444444444444 ,louise ,cox ,rosina ,van ,dyck ,sophie ,braslau ,eine ,modistin4444444444444444444444444444444 44 ,jeanne ,maubourg ,ein ,lakai4444444444444444444444444444444444 444 ,ludwig ,burgstaller ,ein kleiner ,neger44444444444444444444444444444 ,ruth ,weinstein ,conductor--,alfred ,hertz ,,chapter ,,xiv ,konigskinder ,once upon a time a witch cast a spell upon a king's daughter and held her in servitude as a gooseherd4 ,a prince found her in the forest and loved her4 ,she loved him in return1 and would gladly have gone away from her sordid surroundings with him1 though she had spurned the crown which he had offered her in exchange for her wreath of flowers2 but when she escaped from her jailer she found that she could not break the charm which held her imprisoned in the forest4 ,then the prince left the crown lying at her feet and continued his wanderings4 ,scarcely had he gone when there came to the hut of the witch a broommaker and a woodchopper1 guided by a wandering minstrel4 ,they were ambassadors from the city of ,hellabrunn1 which had been so long without a king that its boorish burghers themselves felt the need of a ruler in spite of their boorishness4 ,to the wise woman the ambassadors put the questions3 ,who shall be this ruler and by what sign shall they recognize him8 ,the witch tells them that their sovereign shall be the first person who enters their gates after the bells have rung the noon hour on the morrow1 which is the day of the ,hella festival4 ,then the minstrel catches sight of the lovely goose-girl1 and through the prophetic gift possessed by poets he recognizes in her a rightly born princess for his people4 ,by the power of his art he is enabled to put aside the threatening spells of the witch and compel the hag to deliver the maiden into his care4 ,he persuades her to break the enchantment which had held her bound hitherto and defy the wicked power4 ,meanwhile1 however1 grievous misfortunes have befallen the prince1 her lover4 ,he has gone to ,hellabrunn1 and desiring to learn to serve in order that he might better know how to rule1 he had taken service as a swineherd4 ,the daughter of the innkeeper becomes enamoured of the shapely body of the prince1 whose proud spirit she cannot understand1 and who has repulsed her advances4 ,his thoughts go back to the goosegirl whose wreath1 with its fresh fragrance1 reminds him of his duty4 ,he attempts to teach the burghers their own worth1 but the wench whose love he had repulsed accuses him of theffy and he is about to be led off to prison when the bells peal forth the festal hour4 ,joyfully the watchmen throw open the strong town gates and the multitude and gathered councillors fall back to receive their king4 ,but through the doors enters the gooseherd1 proudly wearing her crown and followed by her flock and the minstrel ,the lovers fall into each other's arms1 but only the poet and a little child recognize them as of royal blood4 ,the boorish citizens1 who had fancied that their king would appear in regal splendor1 drive the youth and maiden out with contumely1 burn the witch and cripple the minstrel by breaking one of his legs on the wheel4 ,seeking his home1 the prince and his love lose their way in the forest during a snowstorm and die of a poisoned loaf made by the witch1 for which the prince had bartered his broken crown1 under the same tree which had sheltered them on their first meeting2 but the children of ,hellabrunn1 who had come out in search of them1 guided by a bird1 find their bodies buried under the snow and give them royal acclaim and burial4 ,and the prescient minstrel hymns their virtues4 ,this is the story of ,engelbert ,humperdinck's opera ,konigskinder1 which had its first performance on any stage at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 ,new ,york1 on ,december #bh1aiaj1 with the following cast3 ,der ,konigssohn4444444444444444444444,herman ,jadlowker ,die ,gansemagd44444444444444444444444,gerald ine ,farrar ,der ,spielmann444444444444444444444444444 ,otto ,goritz ,die ,hexe44444444444444444444444444444444,lo uise ,homer ,der ,holzhacker44444444444444444444444444 ,adamo ,didur ,der ,besenbinder444444444444444444444444 ,albert ,reiss ,zwei ,kinder44444444444444,edna ,walter and ,lotte ,engel ,der ,ratsalteste44444444444444444444444 ,marcel ,reiner ,der ,wirt44444444444444444444444444,antonio ,pini-,corsi ,die ,wirtstochter4444444444444444444 ,florence ,wickham ,der ,schneider44444444444444444444444444 ,julius ,bayer ,die ,stallmagd4444444444444444444444444,mari e ,mattfeld ,zwei ,torwachter44444 ,ernst ,maran and ,william ,hinshaw ,conductor3 ,alfred ,hertz ,to some in the audience the drama was new only in the new operatic dress with which ,humperdinck had clothed it largely at the instance of the ,metropolitan management4 ,it had been known as a spoken play for twelve years and three of its musical numbers--the overture and two pieces of between-acts music--had been in local concert-lists for the same length of time4 ,the play had been presented with incidental music for many of the scenes as well as the overture and entr'actes in #ahih in an extremely interesting production at the ,irving ,place ,theatre1 then under the direction of ,heinrich ,conried1 in which ,agnes ,sorma and ,rudolf ,christians had carried the principal parts4 ,it came back four years later in an ,english version at the ,herald ,square ,theatre1 but neither in the ,german nor the ,english performance was it vouchsafed us to realize what had been the purpose of the author of the play and the composer of the music4 ,the author1 who calls herself ,ernst ,rosmer1 is a woman1 daughter of ,heinrich ,forges1 for many years a factotum at the ,bayreuth festivals4 ,it was her father's devotion to ,wagner which gave her the name of ,elsa4 ,she married a lawyer and litterateur in ,munich named ,bernstein1 and has written a number of plays besides ,konigskinder1 which she published in #ahie1 and afterward asked ,herr ,humperdinck 7not yet a royal ,prussian professor1 but a simple musician1 who had made essays in criticisms and tried to make a composer out of ,siegfried ,wagner7 to provide with incidental music4 ,mr4 ,humperdinck took his task seriously4 ,the play1 with some incidental music1 was two years old before ,mr4 ,humperdinck had his overture ready4 ,he had tried a new experiment1 which proved a failure4 ,the second and third acts had their preludes1 and the songs of the minstrel had their melodies and accompaniments1 and all the principal scenes had been provided with illustrative music in the ,wagnerian manner1 with this difference1 that the dialogue had been pointed1 as a church musician would say--that is1 the rhythm was indicated with exactness1 and even the variations of pitch1 though it was understood that the purpose was not to achieve song1 but an intensified utterance1 halfway between speech and song4 ,this was melodrama1 as ,herr ,humperdinck conceived it and as it had no doubt existed for ages--ever since the primitive ,greek drama1 in fact4 ,it is easy to understand how ,herr ,humperdinck came to believe in the possibility of an art-form which1 though accepted1 for temporary effect1 by ,beethoven and ,cherubini1 and used for ballads with greater or less success by ,schumann1 had been harshly rejected by his great model and master1 ,wagner4 ,humperdinck lives in ,germany1 where in nearly every theatre there is more or less of an amalgamation of the spoken drama and the opera--where choristers play small parts and actors1 though not professional singers1 sing when not too much is required of them4 ,and yet ,herr ,humperdinck found out that he had asked too much of his actors with his pointed and at times intoned declamation1 and ,konigskinder did not have to come to ,america to learn that the compromise was a failure4 ,no doubt ,herr ,humperdinck thought of turning so beautiful a play into an opera then1 but it seems to have required the stimulus which finally came from ,new ,york to persuade him to carry out the operatic idea1 which is more than suggested in the score as it lies before me in its original shape1 into a thorough lyric drama4 ,the set pieces which had lived in the interim in the concert-room were transferred into the opera-score with trifling alterations and condensations and so were the set songs4 ,as for the rest it needed only that note-heads be supplied to some of the portions of the dialogue which ,humperdinck had designed for melodic declamation to have those portions ready for the opera4 ,here an example3-- figure3 a musical score excerpt ,a ,german opera can generally stand severer criticism than one in another language1 because there is a more strict application of principles in ,germany when it comes to writing a lyric drama than in any other country4 ,so in the present instance there is no need to conceal the fact that there are outbreaks of eroticism and offences against the ,german language which are none the less flagrant and censurable because they are1 to some extent1 concealed under the thin veneer of the allegory and symbolism which every reader must have recognized as running through the play4 ,this is1 in a manner1 ,wagnerian1 as so much of the music is ,wagnerian--especially that of the second act1 which because it calls up scenes from the ,meistersinger must also necessarily call up music from the same comedy4 ,but there is little cause here for quarrel with ,professor ,humperdinck4 ,he has applied the poetical principle of ,wagner to the fairy tale which is so closely related to the myth1 and he has with equal consistency applied ,wagner's constructive methods musically and dramatically4 ,it is to his great honor that1 of all of ,wagner's successors1 he has been the only one to do so successfully4 ,the story of ,konigskinder1 though it belongs to the class of fairy tales of which ,hansel und ,gretel is so striking and beautiful an example1 is not to be found as the author presents it in the literature of ,german ,marchen4 ,mme4 ,bernstein has drawn its elements from many sources and blended them with the utmost freedom4 ,to avoid a misunderstanding ,germans will insist that the title be used without the article1 for ,die ,konigskinder or ,zwei ,konigskinder both suggest the simple ,german form of the old tale of ,hero and ,leander1 with which story1 of course1 it has nothing whatever to do4 ,but if literary criticism forbids association between ,humperdinck's two operas1 musical criticism compels it4 ,many of the characters in the operas are close relations1 dramatically as well as musically--the royal children themselves1 the witches1 of course1 and the broom-makers4 ,the rest of the characters have been taken from ,wagner's ,meistersinger picture book2 the citizens of ,hellabrunn are ,nuremberg's burghers1 the city's' councillors1 the old master singers4 ,the musical idiom is ,humperdinck's1 though its method of employment is ,wagner's4 ,but here lies its charm3 ,though the composer hews to a theoretical line1 he does it freely1 naturally1 easily1 and always with the principle of musical beauty as well as that of dramatic truthfulness and propriety in view4 ,his people's voices float on a symphonic stream1 but the voices of the instruments1 while they sing on in endless melody1 use the idiom which nature gave them4 ,there is admirable characterization in the orchestral music1 but it is music for all that2 it never descends to mere noise1 designed to keep up an irritation of the nerves4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,boris ,,godounoff ,from whatever point of view it may be considered ,mossourgsky's opera ,boris ,godounoff is an extraordinary work4 ,it was brought to the notice of the people of the ,united ,states by a first performance at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 in ,new ,york1 on ,march #ai1 #aiac1 but intelligence concerning its character had come to observers of musical doings abroad by reports touching performances in ,paris and ,london4 ,it is possible1 even likely1 that at all the performances of the work outside of ,russia those who listened to it with the least amount of intellectual sophistication derived the greatest pleasure from it1 though to them its artistic deficiencies must also have been most obvious4 ,against these deficiencies1 however1 it presented itself1 first of all1 as a historical play shot through and through with a large theme1 which1 since it belongs to tragedy1 is universal and unhampered by time or place or people4 ,to them it had something of the sweep1 dignity1 and solemnity and also something of the dramatic incongruity and lack of cohesion of a ,shakespearian drama as contradistinguished from the coherence of purpose and manner of a modern drama4 ,to them also it had much strangeness of style1 a style which was not easily reconciled to anything with which the modern stage had made them familiar4 ,they saw and heard the chorus enter into the action1 not for the purpose of spectacular pageantry1 nor as hymners of the achievements of the principal actors in the story1 but as participants4 ,they heard unwonted accents from these actors and saw them behave in conduct which from moment to moment appeared strangely contradictory4 ,there were mutterings of popular discontent1 which1 under threats1 gave way to jubilant acclamation in the first great scenes in the beginning of the opera4 ,there were alternate mockeries and adulations in the next scene in which the people figured2 and running through other scenes from invisible singers came ecclesiastical chants1 against which were projected1 not operatic song in the old conception1 but long passages of heightened speech1 half declamatory1 half musical4 ,a multitude cringed before upraised knouts and fell on its knees before the approach of a man whose agents swung the knotted cords2 anon they acclaimed the man who sought to usurp a throne and overwhelmed with ridicule a village imbecile1 who was yet supposed because of his mental weakness to be possessed of miraculous prescience1 and therefore to have a prevision of what was to follow the usurpation4 ,they saw the incidents of the drama moving past their eyes within a framework of barbaric splendor typical of a wonderful political past1 an amazing political present1 and possibly prophetic of a still more amazing political future4 ,these happily ingenuous spectators saw an historical personage racked by conscience1 nerve-torn by spectres1 obsessed by superstitions1 strong in position achieved1 yet pathetically sweet and moving in his exhibition of paternal love1 and going to destruction through remorse for crime committed4 ,they were troubled by no curious questionings as to the accuracy of the historical representation4 ,the ,boris ,godounoff before them was a remorse-stricken regicide1 whose good works1 if he did any1 had to be summed up for their imagination in the fact that he loved his son4 ,in all this1 and also in some of its music1 the new opera was of the opera operatic4 ,but to the unhappily disingenuous 7or perhaps it would be better to say1 to the instructed7 there was much more in the new opera2 and it was this more which so often gave judgment pause1 even while it stimulated interest and irritated curiosity4 ,it was a pity that a recent extraordinary outburst of enthusiasm about a composer and an opera should have had the effect of distorting their vision and disturbing their judgment4 ,there was a reason to be suspicious touching this enthusiasm1 because of its origin4 ,it came from ,france and not from the home land of the author of the play or the composer of the music4 ,moreover1 it was largely based upon an element which has as little genuineness in ,france as a basis of judgment 7and which must therefore be set down largely as an affectation7 as in ,america4 ,loud hallelujahs have been raised in praise of ,moussorgsky because1 discarding conventional law1 he vitalized the music of the lyric poem and also the dramatic line1 by making it the emotional flowering of the spoken word4 ,when it became necessary for the precious inner brotherhood of ,frenchmen who hold burning incense sticks under each others' noses to acclaim ,pelleas et ,melisande as a new and beautiful thing in dramatic music1 it was announced that ,moussorgsky was like ,debussy in that he had demonstrated in his songs and his operas that vocal melody should and could be written in accordance with the rhythm and accents of the words4 ,we had supposed that we had learned that lesson not only from ,gluck and ,wagner1 but from every true musical dramatist that ever lived6 ,and when the ,frenchmen 7and their feeble echoers in ,england and ,america7 began to cry out that the world make obeisance to ,moussorgsky on that score1 there was no wonder that those whose eagerness to enjoy led them to absorb too much information should ask how this marvellous psychical assonance between word and tone was to be conveyed to their unfortunate sense and feeling after the original ,russian word had been transmogrified into ,french or ,english4 ,in ,new ,york the opera1 which we know to be saturated in some respects with ,muscovitism1 or ,slavicism1 and which we have every reason to believe is also so saturated in its musico-verbal essence1 was sung in ,italian4 ,with the change some of the character that ought to make it dear to the ,russian heart must have evaporated4 ,it is even likely that vigorous ,english would have been a better vehicle than the soft1 bastard ,latin for the forceful utterances of the operatic people4 ,it is a pity that a suspicion of disingenuousness and affectation should force itself upon one's thoughts in connection with the ,french enthusiasm over ,moussorgsky2 but it cannot be avoided4 ,so far as ,moussorgsky reflects anything in his art1 it is realism or naturalism1 and the latter element is not dominant in ,french music now1 and is not likely to be so long as the present tendency toward sublimated subjectivism prevails4 ,debussy acclaimed ,moussorgsky enthusiastically a dozen years ago1 but for all that ,moussorgsky and ,debussy are antipodes in art--they represent extremes4 ,it is much more likely that outside of its purely literary aspect 7a large aspect in every respect in4 ,france7 the ,moussorgsky cult of the last few years was a mere outgrowth of the political affiliation between ,france and ,russia2 as such it may be looked upon in the same light as the sudden appreciation of ,berlioz which was a product of the ,chauvinism which followed the ,franco-,prussian ,war4 ,it is easy even for young people of the day in which ,i write to remember when a ,wagner opera at the ,academie ,nationale raised a riot1 and when the dances at the ,moulin ,rouge and such places could not begin until the band had played the ,russian national hymn4 ,were it not for considerations of this sort it would be surprising to contemplate the fact that ,moussorgsky has been more written and talked about in ,france than he was in his native ,russia1 and that even his friend ,rimsky-,korsakoff1 to whose revision of the score ,boris ,godounoff owes its continued existence1 has been subjected to much rude criticism because of his work1 though we can only think of it as taken up in a spirit of affection and admiration4 ,he and the ,russians1 with scarcely an exception1 say that his labors were in the line of purification and rectification2 but the modern extremists will have it that by remedying its crudities of harmonization and instrumentation he weakened it--that what he thought its artistic blemishes were its virtues4 ,of that we are in no position to speak1 nor ought any one be rash enough to make the proclamation until the original score is published1 and then only a ,russian or a musician familiar with the ,russian tongue and its genius4 ,the production of the opera outside of ,russia and in a foreign language ought to furnish an occasion to demand a stay of the artistic cant which is all too common just now in every country4 ,we are told that ,boris ,godounoff is the first real ,russian opera that ,america has ever heard4 ,in a sense that may be true4 ,the present generation has heard little operatic music by ,russian composers4 ,rubinstein's ,nero was not ,russian music in any respect4 ,pique ,dame1 by ,tschaikowsky1 also performed at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 had little in it that could be recognized as characteristically ,russian4 ,eugene ,onegin we know only from concert performances1 and its ,muscovitism was a negligible quantity4 ,the excerpts from other ,russian operas have been few and they demonstrated nothing1 though in an intermezzo from ,tschaikowsky's ,mazeppa1 descriptive of the battle of ,poltava1 which has been heard here1 we met with the strong choral tune which gives great animation to the most stirring scene in ,boris--the acclamation of the ,czar by the populace in the first act4 ,of this something more presently4 ,there were ,american representations1 however1 of a ,russian opera which in its day was more popular than ,boris has ever been2 but that was so long ago that all memories of it have died1 and even the records are difficult to reach4 ,some fifty years ago a ,russian company came to these shores and performed ,verstoffsky's ,askold's ,tomb1 an opera which was republished as late as #ahig and which within the first twenty-five years of its existence had #djj performances in ,moscow and #bjj in ,st4 ,petersburg4 ,some venturesome critics have hailed ,verstoffsky as even more distinctively a predecessor of ,moussorgsky than ,glinka2 but the clamor of those who are preaching loudly that art must not exist for art's sake1 and that the ugly is justified by the beauty of ugliness1 has silenced the voices of these critical historians4 ,this may thus far have seemed a long and discursive disquisition on the significance of the new opera2 but the questions to which the production of ,boris ,godounoff give rise are many and grave1 especially in the present state of our operatic activities4 ,they have a strong bearing on the problem of nationalism in opera1 of which those in charge of our operatic affairs appear to take a careless view4 ,aside from all aesthetic questions1 ,boris ,godounoff bears heavily on that problem4 ,it is a work crude and fragmentary in structure1 but it is tremendously puissant in its preachment of nationalism2 and it is strong there not so much because of its story and the splendid barbarism of its external integument as because of its nationalism1 which is proclaimed in the use of ,russian folk-song4 ,all previous experiments in this line become insignificant in comparison with it1 and it is questionable if any other body of folk-song offers such an opportunity to the operatic composer as does the ,russian4 ,the hero of the opera is in dramatic stature 7or at least in emotional content7 a ,macbeth or a ,richard ,,iii2 his utterances are frequently poignant and heart searching in the extreme2 his dramatic portrayal by ,m4 ,chaliapine in ,europe and ,mr4 ,didur in ,america is so gripping as to call up memories of some of the great ,english tragedians of the past4 ,but we cannot speak of the psychology of the musical setting of his words because we have been warned that it roots deeply in the accents and inflections of a language with which we are unfamiliar and which was not used in the performance4 ,but the music of the choral masses1 the songs sung in the intimacy of the ,czar ,boris's household1 the chants of the monks1 needed not to be strange to any student of folk-song1 nor could their puissance be lost upon the musically unlettered4 ,in the old ,kolyada ,song ,slava ,footnote3 ,lovers of chamber music know this melody from its use in the allegretto in ,beethoven's ,e minor ,quartet dedicated to ,count ,rasoumowski1 where it appears thus3-- with which ,boris is greeted by the populace1 as well as in the wild shoutings of the ,polish vagrom men and women in the scene before the last1 it is impossible not to hear an out-pouring of that spirit of which ,tolstoi wrote3 ,in it is yearning without end1 without hope2 also power invincible1 the fateful stamp of destiny1 iron preordination1 one of the fundamental principles of our nationality with which it is possible to explain much that in ,russian life seems incomprehensible4 ,no other people have such a treasure of folk-song to draw on as that thus characterized1 and it is not likely that any other people will develop a national school of opera on the lines which lie open to the ,russian composer1 and which the ,russian composer has been encouraged to exploit by his government for the last twenty years or more4 ,it is possible that some critics1 actuated by political rather than artistic considerations1 will find reasons figure3 a musical score excerpt for the present condition of ,moussorgsky's score in the attitude of the ,russian government4 ,it is said that court intrigues had much to do with the many changes which the score had to undergo before it became entirely acceptable to the powers that be in the ,czar's empire4 ,possibly4 ,but every change which has come under the notice of this reviewer has been to its betterment and made for its practical presentation4 ,it is said that the popular scenes were curtailed because they represented the voice of the democracy4 ,but there is still so much choral work in the opera that the judgment of the operatic audiences of to-day is likely to pronounce against it measurably on that account4 ,for1 splendid as the choral element in the work is1 a chorus is not looked upon with admiration as a dramatic element by the ordinary opera lover4 ,there was a lack of the feminine element in the opera1 and to remedy this ,moussorgsky had to introduce the ,polish bride of the ,false ,dmitri and give the pair a love scene1 and incidentally a polonaise2 but the love scene is uninteresting until its concluding measures1 and these are too ,meyerbeerian to call for comment beyond the fact that ,meyerbeer1 the much contemned1 would have done better4 ,as for the polonaise1 ,tschaikowsky has written a more brilliant one for his ,eugene ,onegin4 ,the various scores of the opera which have been printed show that ,moussorgsky1 with all his genius1 was at sea even when it came to applying the principles of the ,young ,russian ,school1 of which he is set down as a strong prop1 to dramatic composition4 ,with all his additions1 emendations1 and rearrangements1 his opera still falls much short of being a dramatic unit4 ,it is a more loosely connected series of scenes1 from the drama of ,boris ,godounoff and the false ,dmitri1 than ,boito's ,mefistofele is of ,goethe's ,faust4 ,had he had his own way the opera would have ended with the scene in which ,dmitri proceeds to ,moscow amid the huzzas of a horde of ,polish vagabonds1 and we should have had neither a ,boris nor a ,dmitri opera1 despite the splendid opportunities offered by both characters4 ,it was made a ,boris opera by bringing it to an end with the death of ,boris and leaving everything except the scenes in which the ,czar declines the imperial crown1 then accepts it1 and finally dies of a tortured conscience1 to serve simply as intermezzi1 in which for the moment the tide of tragedy is turned aside4 ,this and the glimpse into the paternal heart of the ,czar is the only and beautiful purpose of the domestic scene1 in which the lighter and more cheerful element of ,russian folk-song is introduced4 ,at the first ,american performance of ,boris ,godounoff the cast was as follows3-- ,boris4444444444444444444444444444444444 444,adamo ,didur ,theodore4444444444444444444444444444444 44444,anna ,case ,xenia4444444444444444444444444444444444 ,lenora ,sparkes ,the ,nurse4444444444444444444444444444444,ma ria ,duchene ,marina444444444444444444444444444444444 44,louise ,homer ,schouisky444444444444444444444444444444 444,angelo ,bada ,tchelkaloff4444444444444444444444,vince nzo ,reschiglian ,pimenn444444444444444444444444444444444 44,leon ,rothier ,dmitri4444444444444444444444,paul ,althouse 7his debut7 ,varlaam44444444444444444444444 4444,andrea de ,segurola ,missail4444444444444444444444444444444 ,pietro ,audisio ,the ,innkeeper444444444444444444444444 ,jeanne ,maubourg ,the ,simpleton4444444444444444444444444444,a lbert ,reiss ,a ,police ,officer4444444444444444444444444,giulio ,rossi ,a ,court ,officer444444444444444444444 ,leopoldo ,mariani ,lovitzky44444474,two ,jesuits44444444447 ,v4 ,reschiglian ,tcerniakowsky17 7 ,louis ,kreidler ,conductor3 ,arturo ,toscanini ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,madame ,,sans-,,gene ,,and ,,other ,,operas ,,by ,,giordano ,the opera-goers of ,new ,york enjoyed a novel experience when ,giordano's ,madame ,sans-,gene had its first performance on any stage in their presence at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house on ,january #be1 #aiae4 ,it was the first time that a royal and imperial personage who may be said to live freshly and vividly in the minds of the people of this generation as well as in their imaginations appeared before them to sing his thoughts and feelings in operatic fashion4 ,at first blush it seemed as if a singing ,bonaparte was better calculated to stir their risibilities than their interest or sympathies2 and this may1 indeed1 have been the case2 but at any rate they had an opportunity to make the acquaintance of ,napoleon before he rose to imperial estate4 ,but1 in all seriousness1 it is easier to imagine the figure which ,william ,,ii of ,germany would cut on the operatic stage than the grand1 gloomy1 and peculiar ,corsican4 ,the royal people with whom the operatic public is familiar as a rule are sufficiently surrounded by the mists of antiquity and obscurity that the contemplation of them arouse little thought of the incongruity which their appearance as operatic heroes ought to create4 ,henry the ,fowler in ,lohengrin1 ,mark in ,tristan und ,isolde1 the unnumbered ,pharaoh in ,aida1 ,herod in ,salome and ,herodiade1 and the few other kings1 if there are any more with whom the present generation of opera-goers have a personal acquaintance1 so to speak1 are more or less merely poetical creations whom we seldom if ever think of in connection with veritable history4 ,even ,boris ,godounoff is to us more a picture out of a book1 like the ,macbeth whom he so strongly resembles from a theatrical point of view1 than the monarch who had a large part in the making of the ,russian people4 ,the ,roman censorship prevented us long ago from making the acquaintance of the ,gustavus of ,sweden whom ,ankerstrom stabbed to death at a masked ball1 by transmogrifying him into the absurdly impossible figure of a ,governor of ,boston2 and the ,claudius of ,ambroise ,thomas's opera is as much a ghost as ,hamlet's father1 while ,debussy's blind ,king is as much an abstraction as is ,melisande herself4 ,operatic dukes we know in plenty1 though most of them have come out of the pages of romance and are more or less acceptable according to the vocal ability of their representatives4 ,when ,caruso sings ,la donna e mobile we care little for the profligacy of ,verdi's ,duke of ,mantua and do not inquire whether or not such an individual ever lived4 ,moussorgsky's ,czar ,boris ought to interest us more1 however4 ,the great bell-tower in the ,kremlin which he built1 and the great bell--a shattered monument of one of his futile ambitions--have been seen by thousands of travellers who never took the trouble to learn that the tyrant who had the bell cast laid a serfdom upon the ,russian people which endured down to our day4 ,boris1 by the way1 picturesque and dramatic figure that he is as presented to us in history1 never got upon the operatic stage until ,moussorgsky took him in hand4 ,two hundred years ago a great ,german musician1 ,mattheson1 as much scholar as composer if not more1 set him to music1 but the opera was never performed4 ,peter the ,great1 who came a century after ,boris1 lived a life more calculated to invite the attention of opera writers1 but even he escaped the clutches of dramatic composers except ,lortzing1 who took advantage of the romantic episode of ,peter's service as ship carpenter in ,holland to make him the hero of one of the most sparkling of ,german comic operas4 ,lortzing had a successor in the ,irishman ,t4 ,s4 ,cooke1 but his opera found its way into the limbo of forgotten things more than a generation ago1 while ,lortzing's still lives on the stage of ,germany4 ,peter deserved to be celebrated in music1 for it was in his reign that polyphonic music1 albeit of the ,italian order1 was introduced into the ,russian church and modern instrumental music effected an entrance into his empire4 ,but ,i doubt if ,peter was sincerely musical2 in his youth he heard only music of the rudest kind4 ,he was partial to the bagpipes and1 like ,nero1 played upon that instrument4 ,to come back to ,bonaparte and music4 ,madame ,sans-,gene is an operatic version of the drama which ,sardou developed out of a little one-act play dealing with a partly fictitious1 partly historical story in which ,napoleon1 his marshal ,lefebvre1 and a laundress were the principal figures4 ,whether or not the great ,corsican could be justified as a character in a lyric drama was a mooted question when ,giordano conceived the idea of making an opera out of the play4 ,it is said that ,verdi remarked something to the effect that the question depended upon what he would be called upon to sing1 and how he would be expected to sing it4 ,the problem was really not a very large or difficult one1 for all great people are turned into marionettes when transformed into operatic heroes4 ,in the palmy days of bel canto no one would have raised the question at all1 for then the greatest characters in history moved about the stage in stately robes and sang conventional arias in the conventional manner4 ,the change from old-fashioned opera to regenerated lyric drama might have simplified the problem for ,giordano1 even if his librettist had not already done so by reducing ,napoleon to his lowest terms from a dramatic as well as historical point of view4 ,the heroes of eighteenth-century opera were generally feeble-minded lovers and nothing more2 ,giordano's ,napoleon is only a jealous husband who helps out in the denouement of a play which is concerned chiefly with other people4 ,in turning ,sardou's dramatic personages into operatic puppets a great deal of bloodletting was necessary and a great deal of the characteristic charm of the comedy was lost1 especially in the cases of ,madame ,sans-,gene herself and ,napoleon's sister2 but enough was left to make a practicable opera4 ,there were the pictures of all the plebeians who became great folk later concerned in the historical incidents which lifted them up4 ,there were also the contrasted pictures which resulted from the great transformation1 and it was also the ingratiating incident of the devotion of ,lefebvre to the stout-hearted1 honest little woman of the people who had to try to be a duchess4 ,all this was fair operatic material1 though music has a strange capacity for refining stage characters as well as for making them colorless4 ,giordano could not do himself justice as a composer without refining the expression of ,caterina ,huebscher1 and so his ,duchess of ,dantzic talks a musical language at least which ,sardou's washerwoman could not talk and remain within the dramatic verities4 ,therefore we have ,madame ,sans-,gene with a difference1 but not one that gave any more offence than operatic treatment of other fine plays have accustomed us to4 ,to dispose of the artistic merits of the opera as briefly as possible1 it may be said that in more ways than one ,giordano has in this work harked back to ,andrea ,chenier1 the first of his operas which had a hearing in ,america4 ,the parallel extends to some of the political elements of the book as well as its musical investiture with its echoes of the popular airs of the period of the ,french ,revolution4 ,the style of writing is also there1 though applied1 possibly1 with more mature and refined skill4 ,i cannot say with as much ingenuousness and freshness of invention1 however4 ,its spirit in the first act1 and largely in the second1 is that of the opera bouffe1 but there are many pages of ,madame ,sans-,gene which ,i would gladly exchange for any one of the melodies of ,lecocq1 let us say in ,la ,fille de ,mme4 ,angot4 ,like all good ,french music which uses and imitates them1 it is full of crisp rhythms largely developed from the old dances which1 originally innocent1 were degraded to base uses by the sans-culottes2 and so there is an abundance of life and energy in the score though little of the distinction1 elegance1 and grace that have always been characteristic of ,french music1 whether high-born or low4 ,the best melody in the modern ,italian vein flows in the second act when the genuine affection and fidelity of ,caterina find expression and where a light touch is combined with considerable warmth of feeling and a delightful daintiness of orchestral color4 ,much of this is out of harmony with the fundamental character of ,sardou's woman1 but music cannot deny its nature4 ,only a ,moussorgsky could make a drunken monk talk truthfully in music4 ,if ,giordano's opera failed to make a profound impression on the ,new ,york public1 it was not because that public had not had opportunity to learn the quality of his music4 ,his ,andrea ,chenier had been produced at the ,academy of ,music as long before as ,november #ac1 #ahif4 ,with it the redoubtable ,colonel ,mapleson went down to his destruction in ,america4 ,it was one of the many strange incidents in the career of ,mr4 ,oscar ,hammerstein as ,i have related them in my book entitled ,chapters of ,opera ,footnote3 ,new ,york1 ,henry ,holt ,co4 that it should have been brought back by him twelve years later for a single performance at the ,manhattan ,opera ,house4 ,in the season of #aiaf-aiag it was incorporated in the repertory of the ,boston-,national ,opera ,company and carried to the principal cities of the country4 ,on ,december #af1 #aijf1 ,mr4 ,heinrich ,conried thought that the peculiar charms of ,madame ,cavalieri1 combined with the popularity of ,signor ,caruso1 might give habitation to ,giordano's setting of an opera book made out of ,sardou's ,fedora2 but it endured for only four performances in the season of #aijf-aijg and three in the next1 in which ,conried's career came to an end4 ,in reviving ,andrea ,chenier ,mr4 ,hammerstein may have had visions of future triumphs for its composer1 for a few weeks before 7on ,february #e1 #aijh7 he had brought forward the same composer's ,siberia1 which gave some promise of life1 though it died with the season that saw its birth4 ,the critical mind seems disposed to look with kindness upon new works in proportion as they fall back in the corridors of memory2 and so ,i am inclined to think that of the four operas by ,giordano which ,i have heard ,andrea ,chenier gives greatest promise of a long life4 ,the attempt to put music to ,fedora seemed to me utterly futile4 ,only those moments were musical in the accepted sense of the word when the action of the drama ceased1 as in the case of the intermezzo1 or when the old principles of operatic construction waked into life again as in the confession of the hero-lover4 ,here1 moreover1 there comes into the score an element of novelty1 for the confession is extorted from ,lorris while a virtuoso is entertaining a drawing-roomful of people with a set pianoforte solo4 ,as for the rest of the opera1 it seems sadly deficient in melody beautiful either in itself or as an expression of passion4 ,andrea ,chenier has more to commend it4 ,to start with1 there is a good play back of it1 though the verities of history were not permitted to hamper the imagination of ,signor ,illica1 the author of the book4 ,the hero of the opera is the patriotic poet who fell under the guillotine in #agid at the age of thirty-two4 ,the place which ,saint-,beuve gave him in ,french letters is that of the greatest writer of classic verse after ,racine and ,boileau4 ,the operatic story is all fiction1 more so1 indeed1 than that of ,madame ,sans-,gene4 ,as a matter of fact1 the veritable ,chenier was thrown into prison on the accusation of having sheltered a political criminal1 and was beheaded together with twenty-three others on a charge of having engaged in a conspiracy while in prison4 ,in the opera he does not die for political reasons1 though they are alleged as a pretext1 but because he has crossed the love-path of a leader of the revolution4 ,when ,giordano composed ,siberia1 he followed the example of ,mascagni and ,puccini 7if he did not set the example for them7 by seeking local color and melodic material in the folk-songs of the country in which his scene was laid4 ,puccini went to ,japan for musical ideas and devices to trick out his ,madama ,butterfly as ,mascagni had done in ,iris4 ,giordano1 illustrating a story of political oppression in ,siberia1 called in the aid of ,russian melodies4 ,his exiles sing the heavy-hearted measures of the bargemen of the ,volga1 ,ay ouchnem1 the forceful charm of which few ,russian composers have been able to resist4 ,he introduced also strains of ,easter music from the ,greek church1 the popular song known among the ,germans as ,schone ,minka and the ,glory song 7,slava7 which ,moussorgsky had forged into a choral thunderbolt in his ,boris ,godounoff4 ,it is a stranger coincidence that the ,slava melody should have cropped up in the operas of ,giordano and ,moussorgsky than that the same revolutionary airs should pepper the pages of ,madame ,sans-,gene and ,andrea ,chenier4 ,these operas are allied in subject and period and the same style of composition is followed in both4 ,chenier goes to his death in the opera to the tune of the ,marseillaise and the men march past the windows of ,caterina ,huebscher's laundry singing the refrain of ,roget de ,lisle's hymn4 ,but ,giordano does not make extensive use of the tune in ,madame ,sans-,gene4 ,it appears literally at the place mentioned and surges up with fine effect in a speech in which the ,duchess of ,dantzic overwhelms the proud sisters of ,napoleon2 but that is practically all4 ,the case is different with two other revolutionary airs4 ,the first crash of the orchestra launches us into ,la ,carmagnole1 whose melody provides the thematic orchestral substratum for nearly the entire first scene4 ,it is an innocent enough tune1 differing little from hundreds of ,french vaudeville melodies of its period1 but ,giordano injects vitriol into its veins by his harmonies and orchestration4 ,with all its innocence this was the tune which came from the raucous throats of politically crazed men and women while noble heads tumbled into the bloody sawdust1 while the spoils of the churches were carried into the ,national ,convention in #agic1 and to which several members1 quitting their curule chairs1 took the hands of girls flaunting in priests' vestures and danced a wild rout1 as did other mad wretches when a dancer was worshipped as the ,goddess of ,reason in the ,cathedral of ,notre ,dame4 ,caterina's account of the rude familiarity with which she is treated by the soldiery 7,i must assume a knowledge of ,sardou's play which the opera follows7 is set to a melody of a ,russian folk-song cast in the treatment of which ,russian influences may also be felt2 but with the first shouts of the mob attacking the ,tuileries in the distance the characteristic rhythmical motif of the ,ca ira is heard muttering in the basses4 ,again a harmless tune which in its time was perverted to a horrible use2 a lively little contradance which graced many a cotillion in its early days1 but which was roared and howled by the mob as it carried the beauteous head of the ,lamballe through the streets of ,paris on a pike and thrust it almost into the face of ,marie ,antoinette4 ,of such material and a pretty little dance 7,la ,fricassee7 is the music of the first act1 punctuated by cannon shots1 made4 ,it is all rhythmically stirring1 it flows spiritedly1 energetically along with the current of the play1 never retarding it for a moment1 but1 unhappily1 never sweetening it with a grain of pretty sentiment or adorning it with a really graceful contour4 ,there is some graciousness in the court scene1 some archness and humor in the scene in which the ,duchess of ,dantzic submits to the adornment of her person1 some dramatically strong declamation in the speeches of ,napoleon1 some simulation of passion in the love passages of ,lefebvre and of ,neipperg2 but as a rule the melodic flood never reaches high tide4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,two ,,operas ,,by ,,wolf-,,ferrari ,when the operas of ,ermanno ,wolf-,ferrari came to ,america 7his beautiful setting of the ,vita ,nuova was already quite widely known at the time71 it was thought singular and somewhat significant that though the operas had all been composed to ,italian texts they should have their first ,italian performances in this country4 ,this was the case with ,le ,donne ,curiose1 heard at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 ,new ,york1 on ,january #c1 #aiab2 of ,il ,segreto di ,susanna1 which the ,chicago-,philadelphia ,opera ,company brought to ,new ,york after giving it a hearing in its home cities1 in ,february1 #aiab2 of ,i ,giojelli della ,madonna first produced in ,berlin in ,december1 #aiaa1 and in ,chicago a few weeks later4 ,a fourth opera1 ,l',amore ,medico1 had its first representation at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house1 ,new ,york1 on ,march #be1 #aiad4 ,the circumstance to which ,i have alluded as worthy of comment was due1 ,i fancy1 more to the business methods of modern publishers than to a want of appreciation of the operas in ,italy1 though figure3 a musical score excerpt4 ,a page of the ,score of the ,german ,donne ,curiose ,signor ,wolf-,ferrari sought to meet the taste of his countrymen 7assuming that the son of a ,german father and a ,venetian mother is to be set down as an ,italian7 when he betrayed the true bent of his genius and sought to join the ranks of the ,italian veritists in his ,giojelli della ,madonna4 ,however1 that is not the question ,i am desirous to discuss just now when the first impressions of ,le ,donne ,curiose come flocking back to my memory4 ,the book is a paraphrase of ,goldoni's comedy of the same name1 made 7and very deftly made7 for the composer by ,count ,luigi ,sugana4 ,it turns on the curiosity of a group of women concerning the doings of their husbands and sweethearts at a club from which they are excluded4 ,the action is merely a series of incidents in which the women 7the wives by rifling the pockets of their husbands1 the maidens by wheedling1 cajoling1 and playing upon the feelings of their sweethearts7 obtain the keys of the club-room1 and effect an entrance only to find that instead of gambling1 harboring mistresses1 seeking the philosopher's stone1 or digging for treasure1 as is variously suspected1 the men are enjoying an innocent supper4 ,in their eagerness to see all that is going on1 the women betray their presence4 ,then there follow scoldings1 contrition1 forgiveness1 a graceful minuet1 and the merriment runs out in a wild furlana4 ,book and score of the opera hark back a century or more in their methods of expression4 ,the incidents of the old comedy are as loosely strung together as those of ,le ,nozze di ,figaro1 and the parallel is carried further by the similarity between the instrumental apparatus of ,mozart and ,wolf-,ferrari and the dependence of both on melody1 rather than orchestral or harmonic device1 as the life-blood of the music upon which the comedy floats4 ,it is ,mozart's orchestra that the modern composer uses 7the only proper orchestra for comedy1 as ,berlioz said71 eschewing even those epical instruments1 the trombones4 ,it would not do to push the parallel too far1 though a keen listener might feel tempted also to see a point of semblance in the ,teutonism which tinctures the ,italian music of both men2 a ,teutonism which adds an ingredient more to the taste of other peoples than that of the people whose language is employed4 ,but while the ,italianism of ,mozart was wholly the product of the art-spirit of his time1 the ,teutonism of ,wolf-,ferrari is a heritage from his ,german father and its ,italianism partakes somewhat of the nature of a reversion to old ideals from which even his mother's countrymen have departed4 ,there is an almost amusing illustration of this in the paraphrase of ,goldoni's comedy which the composer took as a libretto4 ,the ,leporello of ,da ,ponte and ,mozart has his prototype in the ,arlecchino of the classic ,italian comedy1 but he has had to submit to so great a metamorphosis as to make him scarcely recognizable4 ,but in the modern ,donne ,curiose we have not only the old figure down to his conventional dress and antics1 but also his companions ,pantaloon and ,columbine4 ,all this1 however1 may be better enjoyed by those who observe them in the representation than those who will only read about them1 no matter how deftly the analysis may be made4 ,it is ,mozart's media and ,mozart's style which ,wolf-,ferrari adopts1 but there are traces also of the idioms of others who have been universal musicians rather than specifically ,italian4 ,like ,nicolai's ,o susse ,anna6 7,shakespeare's ,oh1 ,sweet ,anne ,page71 ,wolf-,ferrari's ,florindo breathes out his languishing ,ah1 ,rosaura6 ,and in the lively chatter of the women there is frequently more than a suggestion of the lively gossip of ,verdi's merry wives in his incomparable ,falstaff4 ,wolf-,ferrari is neither a ,mozart nor a ,verdi1 not even a ,nicolai1 as a melodist1 but he is worthy of being bracketed with them1 because as frankly as they he has spoken the musical language which to him seemed a proper investiture of his comedy1 and like them has made that language characteristic of the comedy's personages and illustrative of its incidents4 ,he has been brave enough not to fear being called a reactionary1 knowing that there is always progress in the successful pursuit of beauty4 ,the advocates of opera sung in the language native to the hearers may find an eloquent argument in ,le ,donne ,curiose1 much of whose humor lies in the text and is lost to those who cannot understand it despite the obviousness of its farcical action4 ,on the other hand1 a feeling of gratitude must have been felt by many others that they were not compelled to hear the awkward commonplaces of the ,english translation of the libretto4 ,the ,german version1 in which the opera had its first hearing in ,munich six years before1 is in a vastly different case--neither uncouth nor halting1 even though it lacks the characteristic fluency essential to ,italian opera buffa2 yet no more than did the speech of most of the singers at the ,metropolitan performance4 ,the ripple and rattle of the ,italian parlando seem to be possible only to ,italian tongues4 ,the ,mozartian type of music is illustrated not only in the character of many of its melodies1 but also in the use of motivi in what may be called the dramatic portions--the fleet flood upon which the dialogue dances with a light buoyancy that is delightfully refreshing4 ,these motivi are not used in the ,wagnerian manner1 but as every change of situation or emotion is characterized in ,mozart's marvellous ensembles by the introduction of a new musical idea1 so they are in his modern disciple's4 ,all of them are finely characteristic1 none more so than the comical cackle so often heard from the oboe in the scenes wherein the women gossip about the imaginary doings of the men--an intentional echo1 it would almost seem1 of the theme out of which ,rameau made his dainty harpsichord piece known as ,la ,poule4 ,the motto of the club1 ,bandie xe le done1 is frequently proclaimed with more or less pomposity2 ,florindo's ,ah1 ,rosaura1 with its dramatic descent1 lends sentimental feeling to the love music1 and the sprightly rhythm which accompanies the pranks of ,colombina keeps much of the music bubbling with merriment4 ,in the beginning of the third act1 not only the instrumental introduction1 but much of the delightful music which follows1 is permeated with atmosphere and local color derived from a familiar ,venetian barcarolle 7,la biondina in gondoleta71 but the musical loveliness reaches its climax in the sentimental scenes--a quartet1 a solo by ,rosaura1 and a duet1 in which there breathes the sympathetic spirit of ,smetana as well as ,mozart4 ,footnote3 ,the cast at the first performance at the ,metropolitan ,opera ,house was as follows3-- ,ottavio44444444444444444444444444444444 4,adamo ,dfdur ,beatrice444444444444444444444444444 ,jeanne ,maubourg ,rosaura4444444444444444444444444444,ger aldine ,farrar ,florindo4444444444444444444444444 ,hermann ,jadlowker ,pantalone44444444444444444444444 ,antonio ,pini-,corso ,lelio4444444444444444444444444444444 ,antonio ,scotti ,leandro44444444444444444444444444444444 ,angelo ,bada ,colombina444444444444444444444444444444 4,bella ,alten ,eleonora4444444444444444444444444444444 4,rita ,fornia ,arlechino44444444444444444444444 ,andrea de ,segurola ,asdrubale444444444444444444444444444 ,pietro ,audisio ,almoro444444444444444444444444444444 ,lambert ,murphy ,alviso44444444444444444444444444 ,charles ,hargreaves ,lunardo44444444444444444444444 ,vincenzo ,reschiglian ,momolo4444444444444444444444444444444 ,paolo ,ananian ,menego44444444444444444444444444444444 ,giulio ,rossi ,un ,servitore44444444444444444444444 ,stefen ,buckreus ,conductor--,arturo ,toscanini4 ,in ,le ,donne ,curiose1 the gondoliers sing their barcarolle and compel even the cynic of the drama to break out into an enthusiastic exclamation3 ,oh1 beautiful ,venice6 ,the world has heard more of the natural beauties of ,naples than of the artificial ones of ,venice1 but when ,naples is made the scene of a drama of any kind it seems that its attractions for librettist and composer lie in the vulgarity and vice1 libertinism and lust1 the wickedness and wantonness1 of a portion of its people rather than in the loveliness of character which such a place might or ought to inspire4 ,perhaps it was not altogether surprising that when ,wolf-,ferrari turned from ,venice and ,le ,donne ,curiose to ,i ,giojelli della ,madonna with ,naples as a theatre for his drama he should not only change the style of his music1 but also revert to the kind of tale which his predecessors in the field seem to have thought appropriate to the place which we have been told all of us should see once and die out of sheer ecstasy over its beauty4 ,but why are only the slums of ,naples deemed appropriate for dramatic treatment8 ,how many stories of ,neapolitan life have been told in operas since ,auber wrote his ,la ,muette di ,portici ,i do not know2 doubtless many whose existence ended with the stagione for which they were composed4 ,but it is a singular fact bearing on the present discussion that when the young veritists of ,italy broke loose after the success of ,mascagni's ,cavalleria rusticana there came almost a universal desire to rush to the ,neapolitan shambles for subjects4 ,new ,york has been spared all of these operas which ,i have described in an earlier chapter of this book1 except the delectable ,a ,basso ,porto which ,mr4 ,savage's company gave to us in ,english sixteen years ago2 but never since4 ,whether or not ,wolf-,ferrari got the subject of ,i ,giojelli della ,madonna from the sources drawn on by his predecessors1 ,i do not know4 ,i believe that1 like ,leoncavallo1 he has said that the story of his opera has a basis of fact4 ,be this as it may1 it is certain that the composer called on two versifiers to help him out in making the book of the opera and that the story in its essence is not far removed from that of the ,french opera ,aphrodite1 by ,baron ,erlanger4 ,in that opera there is a rape of the adornments of a statue of ,venus2 in ,wolf-,ferrari's work of the jewels enriching an effigy of the ,virgin ,mary4 ,the story is not as filthy as the other plots rehearsed elsewhere1 but in it there is the same striving after sharp 7piquant1 some will say7 contrasts1 the blending of things sacred and profane1 the mixture of ecclesiastical music and dances1 and--what is most significant--the generous use of the style of melody which came in with ,ponchielli and his pupils4 ,in ,i ,giojelli della ,madonna a young woman discards the love of an honest-hearted man to throw herself1 out of sheer wantonness1 into the arms of a blackguard dandy4 ,to win her heart through her love of personal adornment the man of faithful mind 7the suggestion having come from his rival7 does the desperate deed of stealing for her the jewels of the ,madonna4 ,it is to be assumed that she rewards him for the sacrilegious act1 but without turning away from the blackguard1 to whom she grants a stolen interview during the time when her true love is committing the crime4 ,but even the vulgar and wicked companions of the dandy1 who is a leader among the ,camorristi1 turn from her with horror when they discover the stolen jewels around her neck1 and she gives herself to death in the sea4 ,then the poor lover1 placing the jewels on the altar1 invokes forgiveness1 and1 seeing it in a ray of light which illumines them1 thrusts a dagger into his heart and dies at the feet of the effigy of the goddess whom he had profaned4 ,the story would not take long in the telling were it not tricked out with a multitude of incidents designed to illustrate the popular life of ,naples during a festival4 ,such things are old1 familiar1 and unnecessary elements1 in many cases not even understood by the audience4 ,but with them ,signor ,wolf-,ferrari manages to introduce most successfully the atmosphere which he preserves even throughout his tragical moments--the atmosphere of ,neapolitan life and feeling4 ,the score is saturated with ,neapolitan folk-song4 ,i say ,neapolitan rather than ,italian1 because the mixed population of ,naples has introduced the elements which it would be rash to define as always ,italian1 or even ,latin4 ,while doing this the composer surrendered himself unreservedly and frankly to other influences4 ,that is one of the things which make him admirable in the estimation of latter-day critics4 ,in ,le ,donne ,curiose he is most lovingly frank in his companionship with ,mozart4 ,in ,,ii ,segreto there is a combination of all the styles that prevailed from ,mozart to ,donizetti4 ,in ,i ,giojelli no attempt seems to have been made by him to avoid comparison with the composer who has made the most successful attempt at giving musical expression to a drama which fifty years ago the most farsighted of critics would have set down as too rapid of movement to admit of adequate musical expression8 ,mascagni and his ,cavalleria rusticana1 of course4 ,but ,i am tempted to say that the most marvellous faculty of ,wolf-,ferrari is to do all these things without sacrifice of his individuality4 ,he has gone further4 ,in ,la ,vita ,nuova there is again an entirely different man4 ,nothing in his operas seems half so daring as everything in this cantata4 ,how he could produce a feeling of mediaevalism in the setting of ,dante's sonnets and yet make use of the most modern means of harmonization and orchestration is still a mystery to this reviewer4 ,yet1 having done it long ago1 he takes up the modern style of ,italian melody and blends it with the old church song1 so that while you are made to think one moment of ,mascagni1 you are set back a couple of centuries by the cadences and harmonies of the hymns which find their way into the merrymakings of the festa4 ,but everything appeals to the ear8 nothing offends it1 and for that1 whatever our philosophical notions1 we ought to be grateful to the melodiousness1 the euphony1 and the rich orchestration of the new opera4 ,the performances of ,i ,giojelli della ,madonna by the ,chicago-,philadelphia ,opera ,company1 as it was called in ,chicago1 the ,philadelphia-,chicago ,opera ,company1 as it was called in ,philadelphia1 were conducted by ,cleofonte ,campanini and the principal parts were in the hands of ,carolina ,white1 ,louisa ,barat1 ,amadeo ,bassi1 and ,mario ,sammarco4