A Book of Operas | Page 2

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 a?rial 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 B��low 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
"A?da"
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 Freisch��tz"
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 K?rner--German opera at Dresden--Composition of "Der Freisch��tz"--First performances in New York, (footnote).

Chapter XII
"Tannh?user"
Wagner and Greek ideals--Methods of Wagnerian study--The story of the opera--Poetical and musical contents of the overture--The bacchanale--The Tannh?user legend--The historical Tannh?user--The contest of minstrels in the Wartburg--Mediaeval ballads--Heroes and their charmers--Classical and other parallels--Caves of Venus-- The H?rselberg 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 N��rnberg"
"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 Tannh?user 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 j��ngere 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 "Tannh?user,"--The law of taboo in "Lohengrin"--Jupiter and Semele--Cupid and Psyche--The saga of Sk��af--King Henry, the Fowler.

Chapter XVII
"H?nsel und Gretel"
Wagner's influence and his successors--Engelbert Humperdinck--Myths and fairy tales--Origin of "H?nsel 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"; it may, therefore, fittingly take the first place in these operatic studies. The place was the Park Theatre, then situated in Chambers Street, east of Broadway, and the date November 29, 1825. It was not the first performance of Italian opera music in America, however, nor yet of Rossini's merry work. In the early years of the nineteenth century New York was almost as fully abreast of the times in the matter of dramatic entertainments as London. New works produced in the English capital were heard in New York as soon