Transcriber’s Notes:
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in the original text.
Equal signs “=” before and after a word or phrase indicate =bold=
in the original text.
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_The Music Story Series_
EDITED BY
FREDERICK J. CROWEST.
THE
STORY OF OPERA
_The Music Story Series._
3/6 net per Volume.
_Already published in this Series._
THE STORY OF ORATORIO. By ANNIE PATTERSON,
B.A., Mus. Doc. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF NOTATION. By C. F. ABDY
WILLIAMS, M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF THE ORGAN. By C. F. ABDY
WILLIAMS, M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF CHAMBER MUSIC. By N. KILBURN,
Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF THE VIOLIN. By PAUL STOEVING.
With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF THE HARP. By W. H. GRATTAN-FLOOD,
Mus. Doc. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF ORGAN MUSIC. By C. F. ABDY WILLIAMS,
M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF ENGLISH MUSIC (1604-1904)—
MUSICIANS’ COMPANY LECTURES.
THE STORY OF MINSTRELSY. By EDMONDSTOUNE DUNCAN.
With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF MUSICAL FORM. By CLARENCE LUCAS.
_This Series, in superior leather bindings,
may be had on application to the Publishers._
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
[Illustration: _Emery Walker Ph. Sc._
_Sir Arthur Sullivan, M.V.O., Mus. Doc._
_Painted by Sir John Everett Millais, Bart., P.R.A._]
[Illustration: MASCAGNI.]
The
Story of Opera
BY
E. MARKHAM LEE
M.A.; Mus. Doc., Cantab.
London
The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons
1909
Preface.
HistorieS of Opera are not very numerous: there have been many articles
and essays in various magazines, dictionaries, and so forth which have
presented more or less concise synopses of the gradual development and
growth of the Operatic Art. Some of these, notably the one in Grove’s
_Dictionary_, are excellent, but a work of such bulk is not for the
everyday reader, nor, generally speaking, for the amateur. Beyond these
magazine and dictionary essays the number of books—at any rate in the
English language—solely on Opera is very limited, and from the nature
of the case, those that exist soon get out of date.
In the present work an attempt has been made, so far as space has
allowed, to give some brief account of every notable School of Opera
of which anything is known. It is not claimed that the advance of
the Art will not necessitate constant additions to or alterations of
these pages. Even in the short space of time that has elapsed since
the body of this book on Opera was written, such features as the
rise in popularity of Puccini’s operas, or of such modern works as
Debussy’s _Pelleas and Melisande_, the permission of the censor to
play Saint-Saëns’ _Samson and Delilah_ on the English stage, and the
slight wane in interest on the part of the English public for Wagner’s
operas, have made imperative the rewriting of many paragraphs and the
modification of others.
Every attempt, however, has been made to bring the book up to date, and
if in the Chapters on Modern Operas and in the Appendices there may be
omitted names which some may consider should have been included, it
must be borne in mind that in the twentieth century opera composers
spring up like mushrooms, and often disappear from public gaze with
equal rapidity. Works of bygone generations can be criticized and
placed as successes or failures, but in these days of strenuous output
one cannot speak with any certainty as to what is ephemeral and what
is enduring. Our own times are too close to us, and must be left for
future historians to pronounce judgment upon. Hence only the most
notable and brilliant successes amongst modern operatic works are,
generally speaking, recorded.
It is hoped that the Chapters on “What is Opera?” and “How to listen
to and enjoy Opera” may touch to some extent on new ground and may be
helpful to the amateur. Appendix A has entailed an enormous amount
of work, and although it contains, of course, nothing that cannot be
gathered from other sources, it is trusted that the information thus
compiled and placed under one heading may be of use and of interest to
the student of Opera. The tabulated State Grants in Appendix B will
show, what is perhaps not generally known, how badly off England is in
this matter as compared with many other countries.
The book is offered in all sincerity to those who care to read it.
There are, possibly, mistakes and errors. If this be so, I will ask
my good friends to point them out to me, in the hope of my having an
opportunity of availing myself of such corrections in a second edition
of this work.
E. M. L.
WOODFORD GREEN,
_November 1909_.
Contents.
CHAPTER I.
WHAT IS OPERA?
PAGE
What is Opera?—Derivation of term—A musical work—An
artificial product—Its justification—Emotional effect
of music—Hybrid opera—Modern taste demands one medium
of expression—A definition—Music an accessory to
opera, but an important one 1
CHAPTER II.
DIFFERENT SCHOOLS CORRESPONDING WITH THE
GROWTH OF MUSICAL ART.
The centuries see little change in the elements of the
drama—Growth of opera concurrent with the progress
of the art of music—Points of difference between
early operas (Monteverde, etc.) and those of Scarlatti
and later writers—Birth of the aria—England and
France of the same date—Opera buffa—Musical
empiricism—Gluck—His followers—Varying subjects
treated—Italian opera—Abuses by the singers—Wagner
and modern opera 7
CHAPTER III.
THE REFORMERS OF OPERA: MONTEVERDE, GLUCK,
AND WAGNER.
Reforms, and the reasons thereof—Monteverde’s
influence—Musical innovations—The stage discards music
of the ecclesiastical order—The beauty of Scarlatti’s
arias—Their weakness—Gluck—Gluck’s explanation of his
reforms—Triumph of his methods—Another retrogression—
Rossini—Wagner—The leit-motif—Influence on subsequent
composers—Will further reforms become necessary, and
what shape will they take? 18
CHAPTER IV.
THE BEGINNINGS OF OPERA.
Early commencement of opera—The Bardi enthusiasts—What
they achieved—Peri and Caccini—A logical
commencement—Its imperfections 32
CHAPTER V.
EARLY ITALIAN, FRENCH, GERMAN, AND ENGLISH
OPERA.
Monteverde—Scarlatti—Cambert—Lully—Keiser—Purcell—Handel
in London—Handel’s rival, Buononcini—Handel’s operas
now obsolete by reason of their lack of dramatic truth 39
CHAPTER VI.
THE OPERAS OF GLUCK AND THE GREAT COMPOSERS.
Gluck and his masterpieces—Mozart—Beethoven—Weber
and romantic opera—_Der Freischütz_—Other
operas—Schubert—Opera writing a distinct form of
composition—The small influence of the really great
composers upon opera 48
CHAPTER VII.
SOME LESSER STARS IN THE OPERATIC FIRMAMENT.
(_a_) THE ITALIAN SCHOOL (CIMAROSA TO VERDI).
The Italian school—Opera buffa—The Neapolitan
school—Piccini—A notable contest—Cimarosa—Rossini:
his _Barber of Seville_—Recitative and its
significance—_William Tell_—Bellini and
Donizetti—Verdi: his early and later operas 63
CHAPTER VIII.
SOME LESSER STARS IN THE OPERATIC FIRMAMENT.
(_b_) THE GERMAN SCHOOL (KEISER TO NICOLAI).
Keiser and his successors—Hiller—Real German
opera—Spohr—Marschner—Operatic interest not centred
in Germany at this time 76
CHAPTER IX.
SOME LESSER STARS IN THE OPERATIC FIRMAMENT.
(_c_) THE FRENCH SCHOOL (RAMEAU TO AMBROISE THOMAS).
Rameau—Divergence of methods—The successors
of Gluck and Piccinni—Méhul—Cherubini and
Spontini—Meyerbeer—Auber—Gounod—Bizet—Reasons
for the popularity of _Faust_ and
_Carmen_—Offenbach—Délibes and Lalo—Thomas 81
CHAPTER X.
ENGLISH OPERA OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND PART OF
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
_The Beggar’s Opera_—Arne—Bishop—Balfe—Wallace—Goring
Thomas—Sullivan—Living writers 91
CHAPTER XI.
WAGNER AND HIS OPERAS.
Wagner’s early days—At Würzburg—At Königsberg—At Riga—At
Paris—_Rienzi_—Dresden—Zurich—Munich—Triebschen
—Bayreuth—Death—Wagner’s methods—_The Flying Dutchman_
—_Tannhäuser_—_Lohengrin_—_Tristan and Isolde_—_Die
Meistersinger_—_The Ring_—_Parsifal_—Wagner’s continued
development 98
CHAPTER XII.
MODERN OPERA SINCE WAGNER’S REFORMS.
Wagner’s influence—No mere copying—Modern “Melos”—Use
of the orchestra—His harmony—Men of a younger
generation—The Slavs 116
CHAPTER XIII.
SLAVONIC OPERA.
Early Russian composers—Glinka—Dargomijsky—Borodin—César
Cui—Tchaïkovsky—Polish opera—Bohemian opera—Dvôrák
—Other European countries 122
CHAPTER XIV.
OPERA TO-DAY IN ITALY, GERMANY, FRANCE, AND
ENGLAND.
Boito—His interesting personality—Puccini—Mascagni—
Leoncavallo—Cilea—German composers—Goldmark and
Humperdinck—The French school—Saint-Saëns—Massenet
—Bruneau—English composers—Stanford—Mackenzie—
Cowen—Corder—Bunning, etc. 130
CHAPTER XV.
OPERATIC ENTERPRISE IN ENGLAND.
Subsidized opera—Opera an educative factor—Objections
to subsidies—Advantages—English opera—Opera companies
—Covent Garden—The Royal Opera Syndicate—History of
opera in this country—Travelling companies—The Carl Rosa
Company—The Moody-Manners Company—The outlook 150
CHAPTER XVI.
HOW TO LISTEN TO AND ENJOY OPERA.
Feelings of disappointment—Expectations—The language
difficulty—Why the story is hard to follow—What we go
to the opera to hear—Some suggestions—To grasp the
story—To realize the style of the music—Re-hearing
necessary—How to begin to study opera—What is
necessary for its enjoyment 163
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CHIEF OPERA HOUSES OF THE WORLD.
Covent Garden—La Scala—San Carlo—Venice—Rome—Paris and
the Grand Opera—Vienna—Budapest—Prague—Berlin—Dresden
—Munich—Bayreuth—Russia—Other European countries—
Egypt—America 172
CHAPTER XVIII.
OFFSHOOTS AND CURIOSITIES OF OPERA.
Operetta—Musical comedy—Ballad opera—Masque—Ballet—
Objections thereto—Curiosities of construction—
Pasticcio—Mixed language—Stereotyped casts—Curiosities
of stage requirements—Wagner’s supernatural requirements
—Curiosities of the music—Vocal cadenzas 185
CHAPTER XIX.
A CHAPTER OF CHATTER.
Opera and politics—_Lohengrin_ in Paris—Opera non-lucrative
to the composer—Jenny Lind’s contract—Modern fees—
Royalties—Librettists—Metastasio and Scribe— The
prima donna—Stories of singers and composers 199
APPENDIX A.—Chronological List of Composers of
Opera, Great Singers, Conductors, etc. 215
APPENDIX B.—Financial Aid Granted to Operatic
Schemes from State or Municipal Funds 248
APPENDIX C.—Glossary of Terms mainly used in Opera 255
APPENDIX D.—List of Instruments used in the
Orchestras of Composers of Different Periods of Opera 260
APPENDIX E.—Bibliography of Opera 263
List of Illustrations.
PAGE
SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN _Frontispiece_
Photogravure from the Painting
by Sir John Everett Millais, P.R.A.
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI 20
RICHARD WAGNER 26
JEAN BAPTISTE LULLY 42
DOMENICO CIMAROSA 64
GUISEPPE VERDI 72
JOHANN ADAM HILLER 78
NICOLA PICCINI 82
J. OFFENBACH 88
GIACOMO PUCCINI 130
PIETRO MASCAGNI 132
RUGGIERO LEONCAVALLO 136
SIR A. C. MACKENZIE 146
BAYREUTH THEATRE 181
MADAME MELBA 200
CHAPTER I.
WHAT IS OPERA?
What is Opera?—Derivation of term—A musical work—An
artificial product—Its justification—Emotional
effect of music—Hybrid opera—Modern taste demands
one medium of expression—A definition—Music an
accessory to opera, but an important one.
[Sidenote: =What is Opera?=]
What is Opera? A question easy to ask, but one that by no means finds
so ready an answer; the definitions, “A drama set to music,” “A musical
play,” and so forth, being but loose and inaccurate, and not conveying
any real idea as to that which they seek to define.
[Sidenote: =Derivation of Term=]
The term “Opera,” derived, or rather abbreviated from the words “Opera
in Musica” (Works in music—_i.e._, a musical work), may be at once
seen to be only a convenient title that has found favour by its brevity
and through lack of a better: translate it and read “works,” and we may
see that it is a meaningless term in all else than that it is something
created.
And what is this “something” that has been created, that is in people’s
mouths so often, and that we designate by the word “Opera”? The least
cultured will be able to answer that it is a work for the stage, in
which music plays a prominent part: that it is this, and something
more, must be shown as we study its rise and development.
[Sidenote: =A Musical Work=]
Let us go a little deeper in our search for a definition. In studying
real opera we shall find that not only is it a dramatic production,
and that music plays an important part in it, but that any spoken
dialogue is foreign to its nature. It is therefore a continuous musical
work, uninterrupted by speeches or sentences spoken by the natural
voice—sung throughout, the music being illustrative of the story that
is being unfolded, and accompanied by appropriate gesture and action.
Evidently, then, Opera is a very artificial production; for although
under some circumstances one may indeed burst forth into spontaneous
song, it is difficult to imagine any considerable number of connected
incidents or episodes in one’s life which would naturally suggest
music, to which music would be a fitting accompaniment, or which would
demand vocalized words for the adequate expression of the sentiments
aroused by them.
[Sidenote: =An Artificial Product=]
Fierce rage, passion, death agonies, jealousy, quarrelling on the one
hand, and wit, humour, ordinary dialogue on the other—instances of
these are more or less commonly met with in our ordinary experiences,
and as such they are frequently and naturally reproduced on the stage.
But feelings or emotions called up by such events are by no means
naturally expressed by musical sounds; and yet in opera we find such
emotions, such conditions frequently constituting some considerable
portion of the subject-matter of the piece; and since all is sung, it
follows that musical expression of these emotions must necessarily be
rendered.
Opera, then, must be admitted to be a thing of artificiality. Some
will say, “Since the introduction of music into a dramatic work admits
an unreal element into that which might otherwise receive a natural
interpretation, how can its existence be justified?”
[Sidenote: =Additional Emotional Effect of Music=]
The answer to this is, that whatever may be the feelings or actions to
be expressed by the stage characters, proper and suitable music will
express them with far greater intensity and far greater power than will
spoken words or mere gesture. Such are the emotional qualities of the
art of music that a phrase of quite ordinary significance in words may
become, if wedded to expressive music, a thing of beauty and life; an
emotional feeling may be roused in the auditor that the mere spoken
word could never have touched. In the case of words that may themselves
contain beautiful ideas, their loveliness can be greatly enhanced by
the addition of music, their meaning intensified, their impressiveness
doubled.
Artificial, then, as Opera is, and must be, it can justify its
artificiality: a drama is put upon the stage, and in order that
its situations, its sentiments, and its meaning may be more fully
expounded, music is called in to elucidate, to express, and to
beautify. Admitting the possibility of this—which no one who has the
least feeling for music, or who is at all moved emotionally by the art
of sweet sounds, can deny—we find that Opera justifies its existence,
despite its unreality and its unlikeness to life.
[Sidenote: =Hybrid Opera=]
But all Opera is not sung throughout: there is a large number of
musical works under this name having spoken dialogue. Justification for
these is more difficult, for it may be readily understood that one form
of expression should be used throughout, and that this modified form of
Opera (known as Singspiel), being neither one thing nor the other, is
a hybrid form, which really has no right of admission to the title of
Opera at all. The fact that it is often effective and highly popular
hardly excuses its violation of art form. Of this more anon, for so
many plays of this kind with musical numbers were written at a certain
period of the history of the art and were classed as operas, that their
claims cannot be overlooked. But modern taste in opera demands that one
medium of expression be made use of throughout, and thus a return has
been made to the early and more artistic form of “Opera in Musica”—the
true form, of which the Singspiel is only an offshoot.
[Sidenote: =A Definition=]
We may answer our question, then, “What is opera?” in some such manner
as this: An opera is a play designed for the stage, with scenery,
costumes, and action used as accessories as in all stage plays, but
with the additional use of music to intensify the meanings of the lines
which are uttered by the characters, to generally heighten the effect
produced by the other combined arts, and to add an emotional element
that might otherwise be lacking.
[Sidenote: =Music an Accessory, but an Important One=]
Let us notice that music is only an accessory to the play: an important
one, it may be granted, but yet only an accessory. It has been through
failure to recognize this limited position of music in opera that
accounts for thousands of operas never being heard now. The exaltation
of the music at the expense of plot, action, and dramatic fitness has
caused the downfall of many a promising operatic composer. Public taste
has been to blame, but in the long run it has always veered round to a
proper appreciation of the truly artistic; it has made many mistakes,
but sooner or later, guided by some master mind, it has discarded the
false and taken to the true and real form of opera, with the result
that most operas written to-day are consistent wholes, dominated by one
general idea, and written upon one fixed governing principle.
Opera, then, generally speaking, is an Art form, in which a stage
play is presented with all usual accessories, but with the important
addition of continuous music: this is a general definition, but one
of which there are so many modifications that we must turn aside for
a moment to trace how it happens that so many forms and varieties of
opera as there seem to be have sprung into existence.