A Book of Operas | Page 2

Polish Faust--The devil refuses to marry
Madame Twardowska--History of Gounod's opera--The first
performance-- Popularity of the opera--First productions in London and
New York-- The story--Marguerite and Gretchen--The jewel song--The
ballet.

Chapter VII
"Mefistofele"

Music in the mediaeval Faust plays--Early operas on the subject--
Meyerbeer and Goethe's poem--Composers of Faust
music--Beethoven-- Boito's reverence for Goethe's poem--His work as
a poet--A man of mixed blood--"Mefistofele" a fiasco in Milan--The
opera revised-- Boito's early ambitions--Disconnected
episodes--Philosophy of the opera--Its scope--Use of a typical
phrase--The plot--Humors of the English translation--Music of the
prologue--The Book of Job--Boito's metrical schemes--The poodle and
the friar--A Polish dance in the Rhine country--Gluck and Vestris--The
scene on the Brocken--The Classical Sabbath--Helen of Troy--A union
of classic and romantic art--First performance of Boito's opera in
America, (footnote).

Chapter VIII
"La Damnation de Faust"
Berlioz's dramatic legend--"A thing of shreds and patches"--Turned
into an opera by Raoul Gunsbourg--The composer's "Scenes from
Faust" --History of the composition--The Rakoczy March--Concert
performances in New York--Scheme of the work--The dance of the
sylphs and the aërial ballet--Dance of the will-o'-the-wisps--The ride to
hell.

Chapter IX
"La Traviata"
Familiarity with music and its effects--An experience of the
author's--Prelude to Verdi's last act--Expressiveness of some
melodies--Verdi, the dramatist--Von Bülow and Mascagni--How
"Traviata" came to be written--Piave, the librettist--Composed
simultaneously with "Il Trovatore,"--Failure of "La Traviata," --The
causes--The style of the music--Dr. Basevi's view--Changes in

costuming--The opera succeeds--First performance in New York, --A
criticism by W. H. Fry--Story of the opera--Dumas's story and harles
Dickens--Controversy as a help to popular success.

Chapter X
"Aïda"
Popular misconceptions concerning the origin of Verdi's opera--The
Suez Canal and Cairo Opera-house--A pageant opera--Local color--
The entombment scene--The commission for the opera--The plot and
its author, Mariette Bey--His archaeological discoveries at Memphis
--Camille du Locle and Antonio Ghislanzoni--First performance of the
opera--Unpleasant experiences in Paris--The plot--Ancient
Memphis--Oriental melodies and local color--An exotic scale--The
antique trumpets and their march.

Chapter XI
"Der Freischütz"
The overture--The plot--A Leitmotif before Wagner--Berlioz and
Agathe's air--The song of the Bridesmaids--Wagner and his dying
stepfather--The Teutonism of the opera--Facts from a court record
--Folklore of the subject--Holda, Wotan, and the Wild Hint--How
magical bullets may be obtained--Wagner's description of the Wolf's
Glen--Romanticism and classicism--Weber and Theodor
Körner--German opera at Dresden--Composition of "Der
Freischütz"--First performances in New York, (footnote).

Chapter XII

"Tannhäuser"
Wagner and Greek ideals--Methods of Wagnerian study--The story of
the opera--Poetical and musical contents of the overture--The
bacchanale--The Tannhäuser legend--The historical Tannhäuser--The
contest of minstrels in the Wartburg--Mediaeval ballads--Heroes and
their charmers--Classical and other parallels--Caves of Venus-- The
Hörselberg in Thuringia--Dame Holda--The tale of Sir Adelbert.

Chapter XIII
"Tristan und Isolde"
The old legend of Tristram and Iseult--Its literary history--Ancient
elements--Wagner's ethical changes--How the drama came to be
written --Frau Wesendonck--Wagner and Dom Pedro of Brazil--First
performances in Munich and New York--The prelude--Wagner's
poetical exposition-- The song of the Sailor--A symbol of
suffering--The Death Phrase--The Shepherd's mournful melody--His
merry tune--Tristan's death.

Chapter XIV
"Parsifal"
The story--The oracle--The musical symbol of Parsifal--Herzeleide--
Kundry--Suffering and lamentation--The bells and march--The
eucharistic hymn--The love-feast formula--Faith--Unveiling of the
Grail--Klingsor's incantation--The Flower Maidens--The quest of the
Holy Grail--Personages and elements of the legend--Ethical idea of
Wagner's drama--Biblical and liturgical elements--Wagner's aim--The
Knights Templars--John the Baptist, Herodias, and the bloody head--
Relics of Christ's sufferings--The Holy Grail at Genoa--The sacred
lances at Nuremberg and Rome--Ancient and mediaeval parallels of

personages, apparatuses, and scenes--Wagner's
philosophy--Buddhism-- First performances of "Parsifal" in Bayreuth
and New York, (footnote).

Chapter XV
"Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg"
"Ridendo castigat mores"--Wagner's adherence to classical ideals of
tragedy and comedy--The subject of the satire in "Die Meistersinger"
--Wagenseil's book on Nuremberg--Plot of the comedy--The Church of
St. Catherine in Nuremberg--A relic of the mastersingers--Mastersongs
in the Municipal Library--Wagner's chorus of mastersingers, (footnote)
--A poem by Sixtus Beckmesser--The German drama in
Nuremberg--Hans Sachs's plays--His Tannhäuser tragedy--"Tristram
and Iseult"--"The Wittenberg Nightingale" and "Wach' auf!"--Wagner's
quotation from an authentic mastersong melody--Romanticism and
classicism--The prelude to "Die Meistersinger."

Chapter XVI
"Lohengrin"
Wolfram von Eschenbach's story of Loherangrin--Other sources of the
Lohengrin legend--"Der jüngere Titurel" and "Le Chevalier au Cygne"
--The plot of Wagner's opera--A mixture of myths--Relationship of the
Figaro operas--Contradictions between "Lohengrin" and "Parsifal"
--The forbidden question--Wagner's love of theatrical effect--The finale
of "Tannhäuser,"--The law of taboo in "Lohengrin"--Jupiter and
Semele--Cupid and Psyche--The saga of Skéaf--King Henry, the
Fowler.

Chapter XVII
"Hänsel und Gretel"
Wagner's influence and his successors--Engelbert
Humperdinck--Myths and fairy tales--Origin of "Hänsel und
Gretel"--First performances-- An application of Wagnerian
principles--The prelude--The Prayer Theme --The
Counter-charm--Theme of Fulfilment--Story of the opera--A relic of an
old Christmas song--Theme of the Witch--The Theme of Promise--
"Ring around a Rosy"--The "Knusperwalzer."

CHAPTER I
"IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA"
The history of what is popularly called Italian opera begins in the
United States with a performance of Rossini's lyrical comedy "Il
Barbiere di Siviglia";