country, one which perhaps displays the peculiar nature of his talent to
the greatest advantage. "Manon," that very fascinating musical setting
of the Abbé Prévost's romance, was first played at the Opéra Comique in
1884. For twelve years no new opera by Massenet had been produced at
this theatre, and he had since then conquered celebrity as a dramatic
composer and as an orchestral writer. The famous novel of the Abbé
Prévost had already previously been utilised for operatic purposes by
Auber, and has since been used as an opera text by the Italian composer
Puccini. It furnished Massenet with a subject particularly suited to his
muse.
Apropos of Auber's setting, the following story is related:
Auber did not enjoy the reputation of being a great reader. One day he
received a visit from a friend, who found him at his writing-table. Upon
inquiring what he was working at, Auber replied: "I am busy with the
first act of my new opera."--"By whom is the book?"--"By
Scribe."--"Might I ask its title and subject?"--"Manon Lescaut."--"Manon!
that splendid masterpiece?"--"The romance; do you mean a romance?" asked
Auber.--"Yes, certainly."--"Mon Dieu! I have never read that," said
Auber.--"What! you write an opera on the subject of Manon, and have not
read the story?"--"True; I have not got it in my library, for I have
just been looking for it."--"Well, borrow it from Scribe."--"But I don't
think Scribe has read it either," said Auber, "he may have glanced at it
to get the situations, but Scribe never wastes his time if he can help
it."
Massenet's opera contains an innovation which has a certain importance
and deserves to be noted. It is well known that the old-fashioned _opéra
comique_ comprised spoken dialogue. The tendency of late years has been
to abandon this illogical custom, and the ideas of most composers
nowadays tend in this direction. Certain ingrained habits are hard to
get rid of, and even now there are composers of eminence who either have
not the courage or inclination to break with a custom so antagonistic to
the principles of the lyrical drama.
Massenet, a musician of compromise, imagined a method which he doubtless
thought would give musical continuity to his work without departing
absolutely from the customs of the theatre. This was to retain the
spoken dialogue, but to accompany it with an orchestral commentary in
keeping with the words. A similar method has been employed with success
in dramas for which incidental music has been written. It is not a
course that can be recommended for operatic purposes, although the
effect in "Manon" is not unpleasing. The analogy existing between the
stories of "Manon" and "La Traviata," or rather "La Dame aux Camélias,"
is sufficiently striking. Several situations are almost identical. In
both cases we have a heroine for whom it is difficult to feel much
sympathy, a weak young man, and a heavy father given to singing
long-winded _cantilenas_. The subject is essentially French, or rather
Parisian, and the music of Massenet fits it like a glove. The composer's
mannerisms seem less out of place in the mouth of Manon than they do in
that of Mary Magdalen. Massenet is essentially a colourist, and even as
he had succeeded in imparting an Eastern _cachet_ to his "Roi de
Lahore," and giving a tinge of the antique to his music for "Les
Erinnyes," so in "Manon" he has felicitously caught the spirit of the
last century. This delicately perfumed score is in many places
suggestive of the boudoir of a _petite maítresse_. There are plenty of
accents of genuine passion noticeable in the course of the work, such as
those in the great duet between Manon and Des Grieux; also in the fine
monologue of the latter. It is in what might be termed operas _de demi
caractère_ that Massenet excels, and he would do well in future to
confine himself to this and eschew works of larger calibre, such as "Le
Cid" and "Le Mage," the two latest operas that he has produced upon the
stage of the Grand Opéra.
"Manon" has been successful on the Continent, but curiously enough, does
not appear to have taken much in London, despite the superb
interpretation of the hero by M. Van Dyck. An English version was
produced by the Carl Rosa Company in 1885, and it has remained in the
_répertoire_.
The year after the production of "Manon" Massenet reappeared as the
musical delineator of another French classic. This time he sought
inspiration from Corneille, undeterred by the failure of Gounod over
"Polyeucte."
"Le Cid" is one of the great dramatic poet's finest works, and one with
which I will not do my readers the injustice to suppose them
unacquainted. The music of this opera contains much that is excellent,
but fails in many respects to do justice to the heroic subject. In his
efforts to be powerful the composer is often merely noisy. The best
portions are certain _hors d'oeuvre_, such as the delightfully
characteristic ballet music. "Le Cid" has apparently proved to the taste
of the _habitués_ of the Opéra, and has been successfully performed on
the Continent.
A work which I should from many points of view be disposed to prefer is
"Esclarmonde," produced at the Opéra Comique in 1889, the year of the
International Exhibition. In this opera Massenet has taken a step in
advance as regards the musical form he has adopted. "Esclarmonde" is
constructed more according to the lines of the modern "lyrical drama,"
and the composer has made use of "representative themes" to a great
extent. One of these indeed bears a certain affinity to a motive in the
"Meistersinger." This apparent adherence to the principles of the
Bayreuth master caused some waggishly disposed critic to allude to
Massenet as "Mlle. Wagner." "Esclarmonde" is really a remarkable opera,
and should be given in London. The story, which is taken from an old
romance of chivalry, is a species of fairy tale and has this peculiarity
about it that, reversing the ordinary order of things, it is the heroine
who falls in love with the hero, who, it must be owned, does not seem
inclined to repel her advances. The lady in question being gifted with
magic powers, causes the object of her flame to be transported to an
enchanted island, where she visits him every night without his being
allowed to contemplate her features. The love duet between the two is
one of the most passionate and voluptuous examples of amorous music
that has been heard on the stage. A species of orchestral interlude,
played whilst the lovers are gradually surrounded by the trees and
boughs of the enchanted island, is remarkably expressive, impregnated as
it is with a peculiar sensuousness of utterance and exuberance of
passionate feeling. This perhaps is the finest page in an opera that
must count as one of its author's best works. Mons. Adolphe Jullien,
whom I have had occasion to quote more than once in the course of this
volume, remarks that Massenet's great fault is that he alternately
attempts every style and perseveres in none. Certain it is that "Le Cid"
was a distinct falling off after "Manon," and that "Le Mage," produced
at the Grand Opéra in 1891, was absolutely inferior to "Esclarmonde." It
is of course impossible for any musician to command inspiration. Certain
subjects have the power of appealing to a composer more than others.
With Massenet, as I have previously remarked, these rather pertain to
the _genre intime_.
"Le Mage" is a spectacular opera upon a large scale, the action of which
takes place in the time of Zoroaster.
It furnished grand opportunities for the scenic artists to display their
skill, but was admittedly a disappointment from a musical point of view.
The composer was destined to take his _revanche_ with "Werther,"
performed for the first time in Vienna on the 16th of February 1892. The
composition of this work dates already some years back. It was in 1885,
the master relates himself, when he had just terminated "Le Cid," that
Mons. Hartmann, his publisher, suggested to him the idea of setting
Goethe's story to music. Pleased with the notion, Massenet entered into
communication on the subject with Messrs. Milliet and Blau, the authors
of the libretto. The book having been supplied, Massenet set to work in
the spring of 1885, and the opera was completed at the end of the winter
of 1886.
When he was asked for a new opera by the director of the Opéra Comique,
to be played during the International Exhibition of 1889, the composer
preferred to let him have "Esclarmonde," deeming this to be more fitted
for the occasion.
Having had to go to Vienna to superintend the rehearsals of "Manon," a
proposition was made to produce his "Werther" at the Imperial Opera
House.
Massenet, in the course of a conversation published in the _Echo de
Paris_, gives some interesting details concerning the administration of
the two imperial theatres in Vienna.
"Hierarchically, and in the first rank, Prince Hohenlohe, the direct
representative of His Majesty, dominates. After him come first a high
official personage bearing the title of General Intendant, and then in
the third place the director, Mons. Jahn. The artists, including the
ballet-dancers, are looked upon as accomplishing a service of State.
Each day official carriages take them to the rehearsals. These take
place from ten o'clock to half-past twelve, in the most absolute _huis
clos_. In the evening equally, during the performance, no one is
admitted either behind the scenes or in the boxes, and this from the
point of view of the strictest morality. They play, sing, and dance
without any stranger being allowed to be present. The archdukes
themselves are not admitted."
Massenet also gives an account of the trying ordeal he underwent when
playing through his score for the first time before the director and all
the artists. He was admitted into an immense and luxuriously furnished
room, capable of containing over 200 people. "All the artists," he
relates, "were seated there, grouped in a charming but imposing
_ensemble_. At my entrance they all got up and bowed. The director
approached me and said a few amiable and too flattering words of
welcome. All this was assuming the intimidating aspect of an official
reception. I felt much moved. With the exception of my two old
interpreters, Mdlle. Renard and Vandyck, I knew no one. Meanwhile the
director led me to the piano, on the desk of which my yet unpublished
score was placed, open at the first page. I sat down on the stool and
was about to strike the first chord.... At this moment I must tell you
an intense feeling of emotion came over me.... My heart was beating as
if it would burst.... In one second, with a really painful intensity, I
felt the vivid notion of the artistic responsibility which I was
incurring.... What a terrible game I was about to play.... This score of
'Werther' was six years old.... I scarcely had it in my memory.... How
many works by me had not been played since.... I was finding myself,
alone, far from my country, representing by the force of circumstances
French musical art.... On the other hand, I had full conscience of the
undeserved honour that was being conferred on me.... Was I not in
Vienna, the guest of the Emperor, invited at the expense of the State,
and remembering that alone two masters before me--both above
criticism--Verdi and Wagner, had been the objects of such a high and
such a precious distinction?... All these thoughts suddenly came into
my brain; tears rose to my eyes, and stupidly, like a weak woman, I
began to weep. Then what kindness and delicate attention was shown all
around me. 'Courage, courage,' was said to me from all sides. I made an
immense effort, and still trembling with emotion I played through the
entire score. This was in Vienna the first hearing of 'Werther.'"
In Goethe's sadly pathetic story, Massenet has found a subject eminently
suited to the peculiar nature of his talent. The idyllic charm of the
sad tale has inspired him to write pages full of poetry and refinement.
"Werther" was a distinct success in Vienna, and this success was
repeated when the opera was produced in Paris at the Opéra Comique.
Massenet has seemingly been desirous in this work of writing a "lyrical
drama" rather than an ordinary opera. He has kept his music well within
the bounds of a subject so simple yet so interesting and so human. We do
not find set duets, choruses, or _ensembles_ in this delicate and
artistic score, and we need not regret their absence.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "WERTHER"]
Long before Massenet's time, "Werther" had been set to music by Pugnani,
musical director to the King of Sardinia. It was played at the Burg
Theatre in Vienna in 1796. Pugnani's work was described as a symphony,
which the composer sought to make as realistic as possible. On one
occasion it was performed at Turin before a party of invited guests.
Pugnani conducted in his shirt sleeves. At the moment when Werther dies,
Pugnani pulled a pistol out of his pocket and fired it.
Blangini also wrote a cantata upon the same subject, which he entitled
"Werther's Swan Song, half an hour before his death." At that time
Werther's Lotte (Frau von Kestner) was still living in Hanover, and she
journeyed to Cassel on purpose to hear Blangini's work.
A curious thing happened when Massenet's "Werther" was given at Weimar
in 1892. Giessen, the Weimar tenor, was deputed to sing the title
_rôle_. His real name happens to be Buff, and he is a grand-nephew of
Lotte, whose name was also Buff. When the Weimar performance took place
it was therefore discovered that Giessen had to make love to his own
great-aunt. In the German version of the opera Goethe's text is
faithfully followed. Both Lotte and Werther are drawn from life.
A few days after the first performance of "Werther" at Vienna a ballet,
entitled "Le Carillon," by the same composer, to a _scenario_ furnished
by M. Van Dyck, was successfully produced upon the same boards. Massenet
has another opera in readiness, which has not yet been presented to the
public--"Thaïs," a lyrical drama in three acts, words by Louis Gallet.
The composer of "Werther" is an indefatigable worker, and being in the
full force of his maturity, may yet be counted upon to further enrich
the operatic _répertoire_. Concerning his powers of work the following
story is related: The director of one of the French operas, in speaking
with the composer, said, "My dear Master, give me the secret of your
abnormal creative ability. Every day you listen to a crowd of singers,
you attend every rehearsal, and, besides, you are professor at the
Conservatoire. When do you find time to work?" "When you are asleep,"
replied Massenet, quickly. It is true that Massenet rises every day at
five, and works incessantly until midday.
In the Supplement to the "Biographie des Musiciens" of Fétis, edited by
M. Arthur Pougin, published in 1880, mention is made of two "lyrical
dramas," entitled "Robert de France" and "Les Girondins," upon which the
composer was supposed to be engaged at the time. I am not aware whether
these have been finished or not. Recently he has terminated the
orchestration of Léo Delibes' "Kassya," left unfinished.
Whatever the composer's defects may be (and who is free from them?),
there can be no doubt that Massenet has indisputably a style of writing
peculiar to himself, which is more than can be said of all of his
"confrères." His individuality may not be so marked as that of Gounod,
whose influence, by the way, can be traced in some of his compositions,
but it is none the less existent, and has been reflected in the works of
many of his pupils.
Few musicians can touch him in the art of handling the orchestra. At the
time when he was studying at the Conservatoire he astonished every one
by the prodigious amount of work he got through, and the ease with which
he was able to compose. This facility of production does not seem to
have deserted him, and the danger lies, not in his composing too little,
but in producing too much.
Massenet's position is so well established that he can now afford to
concentrate his mind upon his work without troubling himself as to
whether or not it pleases the superficial portion of the public. What he
now requires is a good subject and a well-written libretto. I trust he
may find both.
Although necessarily absorbed by his multifarious labours, Massenet
finds time occasionally to attend to his social duties. A story is told
of how one evening, when he was dining out, the mistress of the house
insisted upon making him listen to her daughter's playing. At the end of
the performance, upon being asked his opinion, Massenet gravely remarked
that it was quite evident that the young lady had received a Christian
education. "Why?" ejaculated the surprised parent. "Because she so
scrupulously observes the precept of the evangelist--her right hand
knoweth not what her left hand doeth."
[Illustration: Ernest Reyer portrait, signed]
ERNEST REYER
"Nowadays, more than ever, musicians have the leisure to occupy
themselves with other things than music."
These bitter words, savouring of disappointed expectations, occur in the
preface to the volume entitled _Notes de Musique_, written by Ernest
Reyer and published in 1875.
Since that time the author of the above lines has received a tardy
compensation for a somewhat unaccountable neglect, and his operas
"Sigurd" and "Salammbô" have achieved what promises to be a permanent
success at the Paris Opera.
Although the composer of these works is but little known in this
country, yet he none the less occupies an honourable position in the
front rank of modern musicians. His "Sigurd," which was given at Covent
Garden some few years since, did not meet with the success due to its
unquestionable merits.
A man of strong convictions, imbued with a high ideal and averse to
anything approaching the spirit of compromise, Ernest Reyer had to wait
longer before receiving due recognition than if he had been disposed to
pander to the taste of the public at the cost of his artistic
principles. This he has never done but he has been satisfied to work
quietly and wait patiently until his hour should arrive, careless of
popularity, and content to devote his talents to the sole cause of art.
Born on Dec. 1, 1823, at Marseilles, Ernest Reyer at the age of sixteen
went to Algeria, where he spent some time, living with his uncle, who
had an appointment in the province of Constantine.
It may be that the early influences of the _milieu_ in which he was
thrown may have had something to do with developing a tendency he
exhibited later on of setting Oriental subjects to music. His first
important work was an eastern symphonic ode, entitled "Le Sélam," the
words of which were by Théophile Gautier, produced in 1850. This
composition had the misfortune to come a little too late. Félicien
David, in his "Désert," had already musically illustrated a subject in
many ways similar, and the success of his work proved detrimental to
that of his younger colleague.
Many years later (in 1876), Ernest Reyer was destined, curiously enough,
to succeed Félicien David as a member of the Institute.
The _début_ of Reyer as a dramatic composer dates from the year 1854,
when "Maître Wolfram," a one-act opera, was produced at the Opéra
Comique. This was followed in 1858 by "Sacuntala," a ballet, at the
Opéra; and in 1861 by "La Statue," at the Théâtre Lyrique. It was this
last work which brought the composer's name in a prominent manner before
the public. The distrust that existed at that period against all
musicians holding so-called "advanced" ideas naturally affected Ernest
Reyer, who was known to be an intimate friend of Berlioz, and to hold
unorthodox views with regard to the nature of dramatic music. "Le Sélam"
had come too late, "La Statue" arrived too soon. At a time when the
beauties of "Tannhaüser" were unrecognised and this work had been hissed
off the stage, when even Gounod's "Faust" was looked upon with
suspicion, it is not surprising that a work exhibiting qualities of so
serious a nature as "La Statue" should have met with only a partial
success. At the same time the qualities abounding in this work were
recognised by the press, and its author was by common consent classed
among the most rising composers and looked upon as one from whom much
was to be expected.
"La Statue," in its original form, included spoken dialogue. On the
occasion of its revival at the Opéra Comique in 1878, the composer set
this to music, to the great advantage of his work, thereby insuring that
continuity which nowadays is rightly regarded as essential in operas of
serious import.
The music to this work is impregnated with an indefinable Oriental
colouring which imparts to it an undoubted measure of charm.
To Félicien David must be accorded the credit of being perhaps the first
to employ distinctively Eastern characteristics. It was doubtless this
that helped to ensure the prodigious success that attended "Le Désert."
Without in any way laying himself open to the charge of plagiarism,
Reyer may be said to have followed in his footsteps with conspicuous
success. Since then many composers have treated Oriental subjects, and
have endeavoured to invest their music with the peculiar "cachet"
associated with the East. Amongst these may be mentioned Bizet, in his
"Pêcheurs de Perles" and "Djamileh," Rubinstein in "Feramors," Goldmark
in "The Queen of Sheba," Saint-Saëns in "Samson et Dalila," Massenet in
"Le Roi de Lahore," Bruneau in "Kérim," and Villiers Stanford in "The
Veiled Prophet."
Bizet considered "La Statue" as the most remarkable opera that had been
given in France for twenty years. It is sad that this, in company with
many other works of value, should never have been offered to the
judgment of the British public.
The composer's next operatic venture took place on German soil. It was
at Baden-Baden, at that period in the prime of its glory and the chosen
playground of Europe, that "Erostrate," a two act opera, was brought out
in the summer of 1862.
Nothing at that moment seemed to presage any strained relations between
France and Germany. French tourists came in crowds to the gay
watering-place and deposited their offerings with a light heart in the
temple of chance presided over by Mons. Bénazet; that very same year a
cantata, the words of which were by Méry and the music by Reyer, given
at Baden-Baden, celebrated the praises of "The Rhine, symbol of peace."
_Quantum mutatus ab illis._ The French element disappeared with the war
of 1870, and the suppression of the tables has long since brought
Baden-Baden down to the same level of respectability as many another
"Kurort."
Musical amateurs sojourning in the picturesque valley of the Grand Duchy
of Baden at this epoch seem to have had a good time of it.
Berlioz was in the habit of directing every year a grand festival at
which were performed extracts from his orchestral works. Reyer states
that each concert given by Berlioz used to cost a matter of 20,000
francs to Mons. Bénazet the energetic head of the "Kurhaus." Certain it
is that this enterprising director must have had strong musical
proclivities, for it is to his initiative that the production of
Berlioz's "Béatrice et Benédict" is due. This work served to inaugurate
the opening of the new theatre at Baden. Two days later witnessed the
first performance of Reyer's "Erostrate," which was shortly afterwards
followed by another new work, "Nahel," by Henry Litolff. "Erostrate"
seems to have pleased the cosmopolitan public of Baden better than it
did Parisian amateurs when it was transferred to the Grand Opéra ten
years later, where it was only accorded two representations. The
composer was reproached at this time for having dedicated his score to
the Queen of Prussia. As if it were possible for any one, in 1862, to
foresee the course of events that were destined to happen in 1870.
Patriotism occasionally seems to have the effect of deadening the
intelligence.