I have continually called attention to Gounod's idealism. There are some
to-day who might find the works of Gounod artificial in comparison with
the works of some very modern writers. To them I can only say that the
works of the great master gave a great deal of joy to audiences fully as
competent to judge of their artistic and aesthetic beauty as any of the
present day. Indeed, their flavor is so delicate and sublimated that the
subsequent attempts at interpreting them with more realistic methods
only succeeds in destroying their charm.
It may be difficult for some who are saturated with the ultra-modern
tendencies in music to look upon Gounod as a modernist, but thus he was
regarded by his own friends. One of my most amusing recollections of
Gounod was his telling me--himself much amused thereby--of the first
performance of _Faust_. His friends had attended in large numbers to
assist at the expected "success," only to be witnesses of a huge
failure. Gounod told me that the only numbers to have any success
whatsoever were the "Soldiers' Chorus," and that of the old men in the
second part of the first act. He said that all his friends avoided him
and disappeared or went on the other side of the street. Some of the
more intimate told him that he must change his manner of writing as it
was so "unmelodious" and "advanced." This seems to me a most interesting
recollection, in view of the "cubist" music of Stravinsky and Co. of
to-day.
In thinking of Gounod we must not forget his period and his public. We
must realize that his operatic heroes and heroines must be approached
from an altogether idealistic attitude--never a materialistic one. See
the manner in which Gounod has taken Shakespeare's _Juliette_ and
translated her into an atmosphere of poetry. Nevertheless he constantly
intensifies his dramatic situations as the dramatic nature of the
composition demands.
His _Juliette_, though consistent with his idea of her throughout, is
not the _Juliet_ of Shakespeare. As also his _Marguerite_ is that of
Kaulbach and not the Gretchen of Goethe.
Of course, a great deal depends upon the training and school of the
artist interpreting the role. In my own interpretations I am governed by
certain art principles which seem very vital indeed to me. The figure of
the Mediaeval Princess _Elsa_ has to be represented with a restraint
quite opposed to that of the panting savage _Aida_. Also, the
palpitating, elemental _Tosca_ calls for another type of character
painting than, for instance, the modest, gestureless, timid and womanly
Japanese girl in Mascagni's _Iris_. These things are not taught in
schools by teachers. They come only after the prolonged study which
every conscientious artist must give to her roles. Gounod felt this very
strongly and impressed it upon me. All music had a meaning to him--an
inner meaning which the great mind invariably divines through a kind of
artistic intuition difficult to define. I remember his playing to me the
last act of _Don Giovanni_, which in his hands gained the grandeur and
depth of Greek tragedy. He had in his hands the power to thrill one to
the very utmost. Again he was keenly delighted with the most joyous
passages in music. He was exceptionally fond of Mozart. _Le Nozze di
Figaro_ was especially appreciated. He used to say, after accompanying
himself in the aria of Cherubino the Page, from the 1st act, "Isn't that
Spring? Isn't that youth? Isn't that the joy of life? How marvelously
Mozart has crystallized this wonderful exuberant spirit in his music!"