The Complete Opera Book Part 4

But this ruse fails to deceive any one. _Donna Anna_, _Donna Elvira_, and _Don Ottavio_ unmask and accuse _Don Giovanni_ of the murder of the _Commandant_, "Tutto gia si sa" (Everything is known and you are recognized). Taken aback, at first, _Don Giovanni_ soon recovers himself. Turning, at bay, he defies the enraged crowd. A storm is rising without. A storm sweeps over the orchestra. Thunder growls in the ba.s.ses, lightning plays on the fiddles. _Don Giovanni_, cool, intrepid, cuts a pa.s.sage through the crowd upon which, at the same time, he hurls his contempt. (In a performance at the Academy of Music, New York, about 1872, I saw _Don Giovanni_ stand off the crowd with a pistol.)

The second act opens with a brief duet between _Don Giovanni_ and _Leporello_. The trio which follows: "Ah! taci, ingiusto core" (Ah, silence, heart rebellious), for _Donna Elvira_, _Leporello_, and _Don Giovanni_, is an exquisite pa.s.sage. _Donna Elvira_, leaning sadly on a balcony, allows her melancholy regrets to wander in the pale moonlight which envelops her figure in a semi-transparent gloom. In spite of the scene which she has recently witnessed, in spite of wrongs she herself has endured, she cannot hate _Don Giovanni_ or efface his image from her heart. Her reward is that her recreant lover in the darkness below, changes costume with his servant and while _Leporello_, disguised as the _Don_, attracts _Donna Elvira_ into the garden, the cavalier himself addresses to _Zerlina_, who has been taken under _Donna Elvira's_ protection, the charming serenade: "Deh! vieni alla finestra" (Appear, love at thy window), which he accompanies on the mandolin, or should so accompany, for usually the accompaniment is played pizzicato by the orchestra.

As the result of complications, which I shall not attempt to follow, _Masetto_, who is seeking to administer physical chastis.e.m.e.nt to _Don Giovanni_, receives instead a drubbing from the latter.

_Zerlina_, while by no means indifferent to the attentions of the dashing _Don_, is at heart faithful to _Masetto_ and, while I fancy she is by no means obtuse to the humorous aspect of his chastis.e.m.e.nt by _Don Giovanni_, she comes trippingly out of the house and consoles the poor fellow with the graceful measures of "Vedrai carino, se sei buonino" (List, and I'll find love, if you are kind love).

Shortly after this episode comes _Don Ottavio's_ famous air, the solo number which makes the role worth while, "Il mio tesoro intanto" (Fly then, my love, entreating). Upon this air praise has been exhausted.

It has been called the "pietra di paragone" of tenors--the touchstone, the supreme test of cla.s.sic song.

[Music]

Retribution upon _Don Giovanni_ is not to be too long deferred. After the escapade of the serenade and the drubbing of _Masetto_, the _Don_, who has made off, chances to meet in the churchyard (or in the public square) with _Leporello_, who meanwhile has gotten rid of _Donna Elvira_. It is about two in the morning. They see the newly erected statue to the murdered _Commandant_. _Don Giovanni_ bids it, through _Leporello_, to supper with him in his palace. Will it accept? The statue answers, "Yea!" _Leporello_ is terrified. And _Don Giovanni_?

"In truth the scene is bizarre. The old boy comes to supper. Now hasten and bestir yourself to spread a royal feast."

Such is the sole reflection that the fateful miracle, to which he has just been a witness, draws from this miscreant, who, whatever else he may be, is brave.

Back in his palace, _Don Giovanni_ seats himself at table and sings of the pleasures of life. An orchestra on the stage plays airs from Vincente Martino's "Una Cosa Rara" (A Rare Thing); Sarti's "Fra Due Litiganti" (Between Two Litigants), and Mozart's own "Nozze di Figaro," _Leporello_ announcing the selections. The "Figaro" air is "Non piu andrai" (Play no more, boy, the part of a lover).

_Donna Elvira_ enters. On her knees she begs the man who has betrayed her to mend his ways. Her plea falls on deaf ears. She leaves. Her shriek is heard from the corridor. She re-enters and flees the palace by another door.

"Va a veder che cos'e stato" (Go, and see what it is) _Don Giovanni_ commands _Leporello_.

The latter returns trembling with fright. He has seen in the corridor "l'uom di sa.s.so, l'uomo bianco"--the man of stone, the big white man.

Seizing a candle, drawing his sword, _Don Giovanni_ boldly goes into the corridor. A few moments later he backs into the room, receding before the statue of the _Commandant_. The lights go out. All is dark save for the flame of the candle in _Don Giovanni's_ hand. Slowly, with heavy footsteps that re-echo, the statue enters. It speaks.

"Don Giovanni, you have invited me to sit at table with you. Lo! I am here."

Well knowing the fate in store for him, yet, with unebbing courage, _Don Giovanni_ nonchalantly commands _Leporello_ to serve supper.

"Desist!" exclaims the statue. "He who has sat at a heavenly banquet, does not break the bread of mortals.... Don Giovanni, will you come to sup with me?"

"I will," fearlessly answers the _Don_.

"Give me your hand in gage thereof."

"Here it is."

_Don Giovanni_ extends his hand. The statue's huge hand of stone closes upon it.

"Huh! what an icy grasp!"--"Repent! Change your course at your last hour."--"No, far from me such a thought."--"Repent, O miscreant!"--"No, you old fool."--"Repent!"--"No!"

Nothing daunts him. A fiery pit opens. Demons seize him--unrepentant to the end--and drag him down.

The music of the scene is gripping, yet accomplished without an addition to the ordinary orchestra of Mozart's day, without straining after effect, without any means save those commonly to his hand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Copyright photo by Dupont

Scotti as Don Giovanni]

In the modern opera house the final curtain falls upon this scene.

In the work, however, there is another scene in which the other characters moralize upon _Don Giovanni's_ end. There is one accusation, however, none can urge against him. He was not a coward.

Therein lies the appeal of the character. His is a brilliant, impetuous figure, with a dash of philosophy, which is that, sometime, somewhere, in the course of his amours, he will discover the perfect woman from whose lips he will be able to draw the sweetness of all women. Moreover he is a villain with a keen sense of humour.

Inexcusable in real life, he is a debonair, fascinating figure on the stage, whereas _Donna Anna_, _Donna Elvira_, and _Don Ottavio_ are mere hinges in the drama and as creations purely musical. _Zerlina_, on the other hand, is one of Mozart's most delectable characters.

_Leporello_, too, is clearly drawn, dramatically and musically; a coward, yet loyal to the master who appeals to a strain of the humorous in him and whose courage he admires.

For the Vienna production Mozart wrote three new vocal numbers, which are printed in the score as additions. Caterina Cavalieri, the _Elvira_, had complained to Mozart, that the Viennese public did not appreciate her as did audiences of other cities and begged him for something that would give her voice full scope. The result was the fine aria: "Mi trad quell'alma ingrata." The _Ottavio_, Signor Morello, was considered unequal to "Il mio tesoro," so Mozart wrote the less exacting "Dalla sua pace," for him. To amuse the public he inserted a comic duet, "Per queste tue manine," for _Zerlina_ and _Leporello_. This usually is omitted. The other two inserts were interpolated in the second act of the opera before the finale. In the Metropolitan Opera House version, however, _Donna Elvira_ sings "Mi trad" to express her rage after the "Madamina" of Leporello; and _Don Ottavio_ sings "Dalla sua pace" before the scene in _Don Giovanni's_ chateau.

The first performance of "Don Giovanni" in America took place in the Park Theatre, New York, on Tuesday evening, May 23, 1826. I have verified the date in the file of the New York _Evening Post_. "This evening for the first time in America, the semi-serious opera of 'Il Don Giovanni,'" reads the advertis.e.m.e.nt of that date. Then follows the cast. Manuel Garcia played the t.i.tle role; Manuel Garcia, Jr., afterwards inventor of the laryngoscope, who reached the age of 101, dying in London in 1906, was _Leporello_; Mme. Barbieri, _Donna Anna_; Mme. Garcia, _Donna Elvira_; Signorina Maria Garcia (afterwards famous under her married name of Malibran), _Zerlina_; Milon, whom Mr.

Krehbiel identifies as a violoncellist later with the Philharmonic Society, _Don Ottavio_; and Carlo Angrisani, _Masetto_, a role he had sung at the first London performance of the work.

Da Ponte, the librettist of the work, who had become Professor of Italian at Columbia College, had induced Garcia to put on the opera.

At the first performance during the finale of the first act everything went at sixes and sevens, in spite of the efforts of Garcia, in the t.i.tle role, to keep things together. Finally, sword in hand, he stepped to the front of the stage, ordered the performance stopped, and, exhorting the singers not to commit the crime of ruining a masterwork, started the finale over again, which now went all right.

It is related by da Ponte that "my 'Don Giovanni,'" as he called it, made such a success that a friend of his who always fell asleep at operatic performances, not only remained awake during the whole of "Don Giovanni," but told him he couldn't sleep a wink the rest of the night for excitement.

Pauline Viardot-Garcia, sister of Signorina Garcia (afterwards Mme.

Malibran), the _Zerlina_ of the first New York performance, owned the original autograph score of "Don Giovanni." She bequeathed it to the Paris Conservatoire.

The opera has engaged the services of famous artists. Faure and Maurel were great _Don Giovannis_, Jean de Reszke sang the role, while he was still a baritone; Scotti made his _debut_ at the Metropolitan Opera House, December 27, 1899, in the role, with Nordica as _Donna Anna_, Suzanne Adams, as _Donna Elvira_, Sembrich as _Zerlina_, and edouard de Reszke as _Leporello_. Renaud appeared as _Don Giovanni_ at the Manhattan Opera House. Lablache was accounted the greatest of _Leporellos_. The role of _Don Ottavio_ has been sung by Rubini and Mario. At the Mozart Festival, Salzburg, 1914, the opera was given with Lilli Lehmann, Farrar, and McCormack in the cast.

A curious aside in the history of the work was an "adaptation,"

produced by Kalkbrenner in Paris, 1805. How greatly this differed from the original may be judged from the fact that the trio of the masks was sung, not by _Donna Anna_, _Donna Elvira_, and _Don Ottavio_, but by three policemen!

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photo by White

Alten and Goritz as Papagena and Papageno in "The Magic Flute"]

THE MAGIC FLUTE

DIE ZAUBERFLoTE

Opera in two acts by Mozart; words by Emanuel Schikaneder and Gieseke. Produced, September 30, 1791, in Vienna, in the Theatre auf der Wieden; Paris, 1801, as "Les Mysteres d'Isis"; London, King's Theatre, June 6, 1811 (Italian); Covent Garden, May 27, 1833 (German); Drury Lane, March 10, 1838 (English); New York, Park Theatre, April 17, 1833 (English). The role of _Astrofiammante, Queen of the Night_, has been sung here by Carlotta Patti, Ilma di Murska, Gerster, Sembrich, and Hempel.

CHARACTERS

SARASTRO, High Priest of Isis _Ba.s.s_ TAMINO, an Egyptian Prince _Tenor_ PAPAGENO, a bird-catcher _Baritone_ ASTROFIAMMANTE, Queen of the Night _Soprano_ PAMINA, her daughter _Soprano_ MONOSTATOS, a Moor, chief slave of the Temple _Baritone_ PAPAGENA _Soprano_

Three Ladies-in-Waiting to the Queen; Three Youths of the Temple; Priests, Priestesses, Slaves, etc.

_Time_--Egypt, about the reign of Rameses I.

_Place_--Near and at the Temple of Isis, Memphis.

The libretto to "The Magic Flute" is considered such a jumble of nonsense that it is as well to endeavour to extract some sense from it.