Arline, daughter of Count Arnheim.
Thaddeus, a Polish exile.
Gypsy Queen.
Devilshoof, Gypsy leader.
Count Arnheim, Governor of Presburg.
Florestein, nephew of the Count.
[Retainers, hunters, soldiers, gypsies, etc.]
The scene is laid at Presburg, Hungary; time, last century.
"The Bohemian Girl," usually designated as grand opera, strictly
speaking, is a ballad opera, and is one of the few English works of its
class which has made a success upon the Continent and in the United
States. The first act opens with the rescue of Arline, daughter of Count
Arnheim, from the attack of a stag by Thaddeus, a Polish fugitive, who
has joined a gypsy band to save himself from arrest. In return for his
timely aid, the Count invites him to a banquet, where he gets into
trouble by refusing to drink the health of the Emperor. Devilshoof, the
leader of the band, saves him from the angry soldiers, but in turn is
himself seized. The Count allows Thaddeus to go, and Devilshoof
subsequently escapes, carrying Arline with him.
Twelve years elapse between the first and second acts. The Count has
received no tidings from Arline and has given her up as lost. The second
act opens in the gypsy camp in the suburbs of Presburg, and discloses
Arline asleep with Thaddeus watching over her. The gypsies themselves
depart in quest of plunder, headed by Devilshoof, and happen upon
Florestein, the Count's nephew, returning in a drunken condition from a
revel. They speedily relieve him of his valuables. After their departure
Arline awakes, and Thaddeus tells her how she received the scar upon her
arm and of her rescue from the stag, at the same time declaring his love
for her. Arline confesses her love for him, and the two are united
according to the laws of the tribe by the Gypsy Queen, who is also in
love with Thaddeus, and vows vengeance upon the pair. The scene now
changes to a street in the city. A fair is in progress, and the gypsies
resort to it with Arline at their head. As they mingle among the people,
Florestein attempts to insult Arline, and an altercation ensues between
them, ending in his repulse. He seeks revenge by having her arrested for
stealing a medallion which belonged to him and which the Gypsy Queen,
knowing it to be his, had maliciously given to her. Arline is brought
before the Count for trial, during which he asks her about the scar on
her arm. She replies by relating the story Thaddeus had told her, and
this leads to his discovery of his daughter.
The last act finds Arline restored to her old position but still
retaining her love for Thaddeus. With Devilshoof's help he secures a
meeting with her. The Gypsy Queen gives information to the Count, and
Thaddeus is ordered to leave. Arline implores her father to relent, and
threatens to go with her lover. The situation happily resolves itself
when Thaddeus proves that he is of noble descent. The Count thereupon
yields and gives his daughter to him. The baffled and furious Gypsy Queen
induces one of the tribe to fire at Thaddeus, but by a timely movement of
Devilshoof the bullet pierces the heart of the Queen.
The principal musical numbers of the first act are the Count's solo, "A
Soldier's Life"; the pathetic song, "'T is sad to leave your Fatherland";
the gypsy chorus, "In the Gypsy's Life you may read," and the prayer in
the finale, "Thou who in Might supreme." The second act contains some of
the most melodious and effective numbers in the work, including the
quaint little chorus, "Silence, Silence, the Lady Moon"; the joyous song,
"I dreamed I dwelt in Marble Halls," which is a universal favorite; the
musical dialogue and ensemble, "The Secret of her Birth"; the gypsy's
song, "Come with the Gypsy Bride"; the beautiful unaccompanied quartette,
"From the Valleys and Hills," and the impressive reverie by the Count,
"The Heart bowed down." The last act has two delightful numbers,--the
tender and impassioned song, "When other Lips and other Hearts," and the
stirring martial song, "When the Fair Land of Poland," in which Thaddeus
avows his noble descent and boasts the deeds of his ancestry in battle.
The Rose of Castile.
[Comic opera, in three acts; text by Harris and Falconer. First
produced at the Lyceum Theatre, London, October 29, 1857.]