The Complete Opera Book Part 35

CHARACTERS

LORD GAUTIER WALTON of the Puritans _Ba.s.s_ SIR GEORGE WALTON, his brother, of the Puritans _Ba.s.s_ LORD ARTHUR TALBOT, of the Cavaliers _Tenor_ SIR RICHARD FORTH, of the Puritans _Baritone_ SIR BENNO ROBERTSON, of the Puritans _Tenor_ HENRIETTA, of France, widow of Charles I. _Soprano_ ELVIRA, daughter of Lord Walton _Soprano_

Puritans, Soldiers of the Commonwealth, Men-at-Arms, Women, Pages, etc.

_Time_--During the Wars between Cromwell and the Stuarts.

_Place_--Near Plymouth, England.

Act I is laid in a fortress near Plymouth, held by _Lord Walton_ for Cromwell. _Lord Walton's_ daughter, _Elvira_, is in love with _Lord Arthur Talbot_, a cavalier and adherent of the Stuarts, but her father has promised her hand to _Sir Richard Forth_, like himself a follower of Cromwell. He relents, however, and _Elvira_ is bidden by her uncle, _Sir George Walton_, to prepare for her nuptials with _Arthur_, for whom a safe-conduct to the fortress has been provided.

_Queen Henrietta_, widow of Charles I., is a prisoner in the fortress.

On discovering that she is under sentence of death, _Arthur_, loyal to the Stuarts, enables her to escape by draping her in _Elvira's_ bridal veil and conducting her past the guards, as if she were the bride.

There is one critical moment. They are met by _Sir Richard_, who had hoped to marry _Elvira_. The men draw their swords, but a disarrangement of the veil shows _Sir Richard_ that the woman he supposes to be _Lord Arthur's_ bride is not _Elvira_. He permits them to pa.s.s. When the escape is discovered, _Elvira_, believing herself deserted, loses her reason. Those who had gathered for the nuptials, now, in a stirring chorus, invoke maledictions upon _Arthur's_ head.

Act II plays in another part of the fortress. It concerns itself chiefly with the exhibition of _Elvira's_ madness. But it has also the famous martial duet, "Suoni la tromba" (Sound the trumpet), in which _Sir George_ and _Sir Richard_ announce their readiness to meet _Arthur_ in battle and strive to avenge _Elvira's_ sad plight.

Act III is laid in a grove near the fortress. _Arthur_, although proscribed, seeks out _Elvira_. Her joy at seeing him again temporarily lifts the clouds from her mind, but renewed evidence of her disturbed mental state alarms her lover. He hears men, whom he knows to be in pursuit of him, approaching, and is aware that capture means death, but he will not leave _Elvira_. He is apprehended and is about to be executed when a messenger arrives with news of the defeat of the Stuarts and a pardon for all prisoners. _Arthur_ is freed. The sudden shock of joy restores _Elvira's_ reason. The lovers are united.

As an opera "I Puritani" lacks the navete of "La Sonnambula," nor has it any one number of the serene beauty of the "Casta diva" in "Norma."

Occasionally, however, it is revived for a tenor like Bonci, whose elegance of phrasing finds exceptional opportunity in the role of _Arthur_; or for some renowned prima donna of the brilliant coloratura type, for whom _Elvira_ is a grateful part.

The princ.i.p.al musical numbers are, in act first, _Sir Richard Forth's_ cavatina, "Ah! per sempre io ti perdei" (Ah! forever have I lost thee); _Arthur's_ romance, "A te o cara" (To thee, beloved);

[Music: A te o cara, amor talora,]

and _Elvira's_ sparkling polacca, "Son vergin vezzosa" (I am a blithesome maiden).

[Music: Son vergin vezzosa, in vesto di sposa,]

In the second act we have _Elvira's_ mad scene, "Qui la voce sua soave" (It was here in sweetest accents).

[Music: Qui la voce sua soave]

For _Elvira_ there also is in this act the beautiful air, "Vien, diletto" (Come, dearest love).

The act closes with the duet for baritone and ba.s.s, between _Sir Richard_ and _Sir George_, "Suoni la tromba," a fine proclamation of martial ardour, which "in sonorousness, majesty and dramatic intensity," as Mr. Upton writes, "hardly has an equal in Italian opera."

[Music:

Suoni la tromba, e intrepido Io pugner da forte;]

"A una fonte afflitto e solo" (Sad and lonely by a fountain), a beautiful number for _Elvira_ occurs in the third act.

There also is in this act the impa.s.sioned "Star teco ognor" (Still to abide), for _Arthur_, with _Elvira's_ reply, "Caro, non ho parola"

(All words, dear love are wanting).

It was in the duet at the end of Act II, on the occasion of the opera's revival for Gerster, that I heard break and go to pieces the voice of Antonio Gala.s.si, the great baritone of the heyday of Italian opera at the Academy of Music. "Suoni la tromba!"--He could sound it no more. The career of a great artist was at an end.

"I Puritani" usually is given in Italian, several of the characters having Italian equivalents for English names--_Arturo_, _Riccardo_, _Giorgio_, _Enrichetta_, etc.

The first performance in New York of "I Puritani," which opened Palmo's Opera House, was preceded by a "public rehearsal," which was attended by "a large audience composed of the Boards of Aldermen, editors, police officers, and musical people," etc. Signora Borghese and Signor Antognini "received vehement plaudits." Antognini, however, does not appear in the advertised cast of the opera. Signora Borghese was _Elvira_, Signor Perozzi _Arturo_, and Signor Valtellino _Giorgio_. The performance took place Friday, February 2, 1844.

Gaetano Donizetti

(1797-1848)

The composer of "Lucia di Lammermoor," an opera produced in 1835, but seemingly with a long lease of life yet ahead of it, was born at Bergamo, November 29, 1797. He composed nearly seventy operas.

His first real success, "Anna Bolena," was brought out in Rome, in 1830. Even before that, however, thirty-one operas by him had been performed. Of his many works, the comparatively few still heard nowadays are, in the order of their production, "L'Elisire d'Amore,"

"Lucrezia Borgia," "Lucia di Lammermoor," "La Figlia del Reggimento,"

"La Favorita," "Linda di Chamounix," and "Don Pasquale." A clever little one-act comedy opera, "Il Campanello di Notte" (The Night Bell) was revived in New York in the spring of 1917.

With a gift for melody as facile as Bellini's, Donizetti is more dramatic, his harmonization less monotonous, and his orchestration more careful. This is shown by his choice of instruments for special effects, like the harp solo preceding the appearance of _Lucia_, the flute obligato in the mad scene in the opera of which she is the heroine, and the ba.s.soons introducing "Una furtiva lagrima," in "L'Elisire d'Amore." He is a distinct factor in the evolution of Italian opera from Rossini to and including Verdi, from whom, in turn, the living Italian opera composers of note derive.

Donizetti's father was a weaver, who wished his son to become a lawyer. But he finally was permitted to enter the conservatory at Bergamo, where, among other teachers, he had J.H. Mayr in harmony. He studied further, on Mayr's recommendation, with Padre Martini.

As his father wanted him to teach so that he would be self-supporting, he enlisted in the army, and was ordered to Venice. There in his leisure moments he composed his first opera, "Enrico di Borgogna,"

produced, Venice, 1818. In 1845 he was stricken with paralysis. He died at Bergamo, April 8, 1848.

L'ELISIRE D'AMORE

THE ELIXIR OF LOVE

Opera, in two acts. Music by Donizetti; words by Felice Romani. Produced, Milan, May 12, 1832; London, December 10, 1836; New Orleans, March 30, 1842; New York, Academy of Music, 1883-84, with Gerster; Metropolitan Opera House, 1904, with Sembrich, Caruso, Scotti, and Rossi.

CHARACTERS

NEMORINO, a young peasant _Tenor_ ADINA, wealthy, and owner of a farm _Soprano_ BELCORE, a sergeant _Baritone_ DULCAMARA, a quack doctor _Ba.s.s_ GIANNETTA, a peasant girl _Soprano_

_Time_--Nineteenth Century.

_Place_--A small Italian village.

Act I. Beauty and riches have made the young peasant woman, _Adina_, exacting. She laughs at the embarra.s.sed courting of the true-hearted peasant lad, _Nemorino_; she laughs at the story of "Tristan and Isolde," and rejoices that there are now no more elixirs to bring the merry heart of woman into slavish dependence on love. Yet she does not seem so much indifferent to _Nemorino_ as piqued over his lack of courage to come to the point.

_Sergeant Belcore_ arrives in the village at the head of a troop of soldiers. He seeks to win _Adina's_ heart by storm. The villagers tease _Nemorino_ about his soldier rival. The young peasant is almost driven to despair by their raillery. Enter the peripatetic quack, _Dr.

Dulcamara_. For a ducat _Nemorino_ eagerly buys of him a flask of cheap Bordeaux, which the quack a.s.sures him is an elixir of love, and that, within twenty-four hours, it will enable him to win _Adina_.

_Nemorino_ empties the flask at a draught. A certain effect shows itself at once. Under the influence of the Bordeaux he falls into extravagant mirth, sings, dances--and grieves no more about _Adina_, who becomes piqued and, to vex _Nemorino_, engages herself to marry _Sergeant Belcore_. An order comes to the troops to move. The _Sergeant_ presses for an immediate marriage. To this _Adina_, still under the influence of pique, consents. _Nemorino_ seeks to console himself by louder singing and livelier dancing.

Act II. The village is a.s.sembled on _Adina's_ farm to celebrate her marriage with the _Sergeant_. But it is noticeable that she keeps putting off signing the marriage contract. _Nemorino_ awaits the effect of the elixir. To make sure of it, he buys from _Dulcamara_ a second bottle. Not having the money to pay for it, and _Belcore_ being on the lookout for recruits, _Nemorino_ enlists and, with the money he receives, pays _Dulcamara_. The fresh dose of the supposed elixir makes _Nemorino_ livelier than ever. He pictures to himself the glory of a soldier's career. He also finds himself greatly admired by the village girls, for enlisting. _Adina_ also realizes that he has joined the army out of devotion to her, and indicates that she favours him rather than _Belcore_. But he now has the exalted pleasure of treating her with indifference, so that she goes away very sad. He attributes his luck to the elixir.