The Complete Opera Book Part 73

But he recognizes them. He looks for _Lodoletta_, only to find her frozen to death in the snow.

It may be that "Lodoletta's" success at its production in Rome was genuine. Whatever acclaim it has received at the Metropolitan Opera House is due to the fine cast with which it has been presented. There is little spontaneity in the score. A spirit of youthfulness is supposed to pervade the first act, but the composer's efforts are so apparent that the result is childish rather than youthful. Moreover, as Henry T. Finck writes in the N.Y. _Evening Post_, "Lodoletta" seems to have revived some of the dramatic inconsistencies of the old-fashioned kind of Italian opera. For instance, in the last act, the scene is laid outside _Flammen's_ villa in Paris on New Year's eve--it is zero weather to all appearances, although there is an intermittent snowstorm--but _Flammen_ and _Franz_, and later all his guests, come out without wraps, and stay for quite awhile. Later _Lodoletta_, well wrapped (though in rags), appears, and is quickly frozen to death.

The scene of the first act is laid in the village in April.

_Lodoletta's_ cottage is seen and the shrine with the picture of the Madonna. It is in order to copy or obtain this that _Flammen_ comes from Paris. In the background is the tree which _Antonio_ climbs and from which, while he is plucking blossom-laden branches for the spring festival, he falls and is killed--a great relief, the character is so dull. There is much running in and out, and singing by boys and girls in this act. The music allotted to them is pretty without being extraordinarily fetching. An interchange of phrases between _Flammen_ and _Lodoletta_ offers opportunity for high notes to the tenor, but there is small dramatic significance in the music.

In the second act the stage setting is the same, except that the season is autumn. There is a song for _Lodoletta_, and, as in Act I, episodes for her and the children, who exclaim delightedly when they see the picture _Flammen_ has been painting, "e Lodoletta viva, com'e bella" (See! Lodoletta, and so pretty!). But there is little progress made in this act. Much of it has the effect of repet.i.tion.

In the third act one sees the exterior of _Flammen's_ villa, and through the open gates of the courtyard Paris in the midst of New Year's gayety. The merriment within the villa is suggested by music and silhouetted figures against the windows. Some of the guests dash out, throw confetti, and indulge in other pranks, which, intended to be bright and lively, only seem silly. As in the previous acts, the sustained measures for _Lodoletta_ and for _Flammen_, while intended to be dramatic, lack that quality--one which cannot be dispensed with in opera. "The spectacle of _Flammen_, in full evening dress and without a hat, singing on his doorstep in a snowstorm, would tickle the funny bone of any but an operatic audience," writes Grenville Vernon in the N.Y. _Tribune_.

ISABEAU

With Rosa Raisa in the t.i.tle role, the Chicago Opera Company produced Mascagni's "Isabeau" at the Auditorium, Chicago, November 12, 1918.

The company repeated it at the Lexington Theatre, New York, February 13, 1918, also with Rosa Raisa as _Isabeau_. The opera had its first performances on any stage at Buenos Aires, June 2, 1911. The libretto, based upon the story of Lady G.o.diva, is in three acts, and is the work of Luigi Illica. The opera has made so little impression that I restrict myself to giving the story.

In Illica's version of the G.o.diva story, the heroine, _Isabeau_, is as renowned for her aversion to marriage as for her beauty. Her father, _King Raimondo_, eager to find for her a husband, arranges a tournament of love, at which she is to award her hand as prize to the knight who wins her favour. She rejects them all. For this obstinacy and because she intercedes in a quarrel, _Raimondo_ dooms her to ride unclad through the town at high noon of the same day. At the urging of the populace he modifies his sentence, but only so far as to announce that, while she rides, no one shall remain in the streets or look out of the windows. The order is disobeyed only by a simpleton, a country lout named _Folco_. Dazed by _Isabeau's_ beauty, he strews flowers for her as she comes riding along. For this the people demand that he suffer the full penalty for violation of the order, which is the loss of eyesight and life. _Isabeau_, horrified by _Folco's_ act, visits him in prison. Her revulsion turns to love. She decides to inform her father that she is ready to marry. But the _Chancellor_ incites the populace to carry out the death sentence. _Isabeau_ commits suicide.

When "Isabeau" had its American production in Chicago, more than twenty-seven years had elapsed since the first performance of "Cavalleria Rusticana." A long list of operas by Mascagni lies between. But he still remains a one-opera man, that opera, however, a masterpiece.

Ruggiero Leoncavallo

(1858- )

Leoncavallo, born March 8, 1858, at Naples, is a dramatic composer, a pianist, and a man of letters. He is the composer of the successful opera "Pagliacci," has made concert tours as a pianoforte virtuoso, is his own librettist, and has received the degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Bologna.

He studied at the Naples Conservatory. His first opera, "Tommaso Chatterton," was a failure, but was successfully revived in 1896, in Rome. An admirer of Wagner and personally encouraged by him, he wrote and set to music a trilogy, "Crepusculum" (Twilight): I. "I Medici"; II. "Gerolamo Savonarola"; III. "Cesare Borgia." The performing rights to Part I were acquired by the Ricordi publishing house, but, no preparations being made for its production, he set off again on his travels as a pianist; officiating also as a repet.i.teur for opera singers, among them Maurel, in Paris, where he remained several years.

His friendship with that singer bore unexpected fruit. Despairing of ever seeing "I Medici" performed, and inspired by the success of "Cavalleria Rusticana," Leoncavallo wrote and composed "Pagliacci,"

and sent it to Ricordi's rival, the music publisher Sonzogno. The latter accepted "Pagliacci" immediately after reading the libretto.

Maurel then not only threw his influence in favour of the work, but even offered to create the role of _Tonio_; and in that character he was in the original cast (1892). "I Medici" was now produced (La Scala, Milan, 1893), but failed of success. Later operas by Leoncavallo, "La Boheme" (La Fenice Theatre, Venice, 1897) and "Zaza"

(Milan, 1900), fared somewhat better, and the latter is played both in Italy and Germany. But "Roland of Berlin," commissioned by the German Emperor and performed December 13, 1904, was a complete failure. In fact Leoncavallo's name is so identified with "Pagliacci" that, like Mascagni, he may be called a one-opera composer.

PAGLIACCI

CLOWNS

Opera in two acts, words and music by Ruggiero Leoncavallo.

Produced, Teatro dal Verme, Milan, May 17, 1892. Grand Opera House, New York, June 15, 1893, under the direction of Gustav Hinrichs, with Selma Kronold (_Nedda_), Montegriffo (_Canio_), and Campanari (_Tonio_). Metropolitan Opera House, December 11, 1893, with Melba as _Nedda_, De Lucia as _Canio_, and Ancona as _Tonio_.

CHARACTERS

CANIO (in the play _Pagliaccio_), head of a troupe of strolling players _Tenor_ NEDDA (in the play _Columbine_), wife of _Canio_ _Soprano_ TONIO (in the play _Taddeo_, a clown) _Baritone_ BEPPE (in the play _Harlequin_) _Tenor_ SILVIO, a villager _Baritone_

Villagers.

_Time_--The Feast of the a.s.sumption, about 1865-70.

_Place_--Montalto, in Calabria.

"Pagliacci" opens with a prologue. There is an instrumental introduction. Then _Tonio_ pokes his head through the curtains,--"Si pu? Signore, Signori" (By your leave, Ladies and Gentlemen),--comes out, and sings. The prologue rehea.r.s.es, or at least hints at, the story of the opera, and does so in musical phrases, which we shall hear again as the work progresses--the bustle of the players as they make ready for the performance; _Canio's_ lament that he must be merry before his audiences, though his heart be breaking; part of the love-making music between _Nedda_ and _Silvio_; and the theme of the intermezzo, to the broad measures of which _Tonio_ sings, "E voi, piuttosto che le nostre povere gabbane" (Ah, think then, sweet people, when you behold us clad in our motley).

[Music]

The prologue, in spite of ancient prototypes, was a bold stroke on the part of Leoncavallo, and, as the result proved, a successful one.

Besides its effectiveness in the opera, it has made a good concert number. Moreover, it is quite unlikely that without it Maurel would have offered to play _Tonio_ at the production of the work in Milan.

Act I. The edge of the village of Montalto, Calabria. People are celebrating the Feast of the a.s.sumption. In the background is the tent of the strolling players. These players, _Canio_, _Nedda_, _Tonio_, and _Beppe_, in the costume of their characters in the play they are to enact, are parading through the village.

The opening chorus, "Son qua" (They're here), proclaims the innocent joy with which the village hails the arrival of the players. The beating of a drum, the blare of a trumpet are heard. The players, having finished their parade through the village, are returning to their tent. _Beppe_, in his _Harlequin_ costume, enters leading a donkey drawing a gaudily painted cart, in which _Nedda_ is reclining.

Behind her, in his _Pagliaccio_ costume, is _Canio_, beating the big drum and blowing the trumpet. _Tonio_, dressed as _Taddeo_, the clown, brings up the rear. The scene is full of life and gayety.

Men, women, and boys, singing sometimes in separate groups, sometimes together, form the chorus. The rising inflection in their oft-repeated greeting to _Canio_ as "il principe sei dei Pagliacci" (the prince of Pagliaccios), adds materially to the lilt of joy in their greeting to the players whose coming performance they evidently regard as the climax to the festival.

_Canio_ addresses the crowd. At seven o'clock the play will begin.

They will witness the troubles of poor _Pagliaccio_, and the vengeance he wreaked on the _Clown_, a treacherous fellow. 'Twill be a strange combination of love and of hate.

Again the crowd acclaims its joy at the prospect of seeing the players on the stage behind the flaps of the tent.

_Tonio_ comes forward to help _Nedda_ out of the cart. _Canio_ boxes his ears, and lifts _Nedda_ down himself. _Tonio_, jeered at by the women and boys, angrily shakes his fists at the youngsters, and goes off muttering that _Canio_ will have to pay high for what he has done.

_Beppe_ leads off the donkey with the cart, comes back, and throws down his whip in front of the tent. A villager asks _Canio_ to drink at the tavern. _Beppe_ joins them. _Canio_ calls to _Tonio_. Is he coming with them? _Tonio_ replies that he must stay behind to groom the donkey. A villager suggests that _Tonio_ is remaining in order to make love to _Nedda_. _Canio_ takes the intended humour of this sally rather grimly. He says that in the play, when he interferes with _Tonio's_ love-making, he lays himself open to a beating. But in real life--let any one, who would try to rob him of _Nedda's_ love, beware.

The emphasis with which he speaks causes comment.

"What can he mean?" asks _Nedda_ in an aside.

"Surely you don't suspect her?" question the villagers of _Canio_.

Of course not, protests _Canio_, and kisses _Nedda_ on the forehead.

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

Caruso as Canio in "I Pagliacci"]

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

Farrar as Nedda in "I Pagliacci"]

Just then the bagpipers from a neighbouring village are heard approaching. The musicians, followed by the people of their village, arrive to join in the festival. All are made welcome, and the villagers, save a few who are waiting for _Canio_ and _Beppe_, go off down the road toward the village. The church bells ring. The villagers sing the pretty chorus, "Din, don--suona vespero" (Ding, dong--the vespers bell). _Canio_ nods good-bye to _Nedda_. He and _Beppe_ go toward the village.

_Nedda_ is alone. _Canio's_ words and manner worry her. "How fierce he looked and watched me!--Heavens, if he should suspect me!" But the birds are singing, the birds, whose voices her mother understood. Her thoughts go back to her childhood. She sings, "Oh! che volo d'augelli"

(Ah, ye beautiful song-birds), which leads up to her vivacious _ballatella_, "Stridono la.s.su, liberamente" (Forever flying through the boundless sky).

_Tonio_ comes on from behind the theatre. He makes violent love to _Nedda_. The more pa.s.sionately the clown pleads, the more she mocks him, and the more angry he grows. He seeks forcibly to grasp and kiss her. She backs away from him. Spying the whip where _Beppe_ threw it down, she seizes it, and with it strikes _Tonio_ across the face.

Infuriated, he threatens, as he leaves her, that he will yet be avenged on her.