Kolbach, military governor of Montgratz.
Tancred, his nephew.
Arthur, student, son of a rich Hungarian farmer.
Lay Brother Pelican, doorkeeper of the convent.
Konrad, captain of the governor's pages.
Tekeli, sergeant of the patrol.
Boboky, gypsy scout.
Boleslas, chief of the gypsies.
The Seneschal, Kolbach's steward.
Falka, niece of Kolbach, at the convent school.
Edwige, sister of Boleslas.
Alexina de Kelkirsch, a young heiress.
Minna, her maid.
Janotha, landlady of the inn.
[Military pages, soldiers of the watch, maids of honor, peasants,
Bohemians, etc.]
The scene is laid in Hungary; time, the middle of the eighteenth
century.
The first act of "Falka" opens with the announcement that Kolbach, the
military governor of Hungary, has been promised a patent of nobility by
the Emperor upon the condition that he can establish the succession with
a male heir, either direct or collateral. He is childless himself, but he
has a niece, Falka, who is in a convent, and a nephew, Tancred, who is
usher in a village school. The brother of Kolbach is dead. His hopes for
the heir rest upon Tancred, whom he has never seen. He summons him to
take a place in his house as the heir presumptive. On his way, Tancred is
captured by a band of gypsies, led by Boleslas, but is released by
Edwige, Boleslas' sister, on condition that he marries her. All this has
happened in the night, and Edwige has not even seen Tancred's face. The
latter, when he learns who Edwige is, flies, and is pursued to the city
where Kolbach lives by Boleslas and Edwige. From a pocket-book he has
dropped they discover he is the nephew of the governor, and plot to
identify him at the meeting, but Tancred, overhearing them, decides to
baffle them by not appearing, and writes to his uncle that he is detained
by illness. In the mean time Falka, the niece, has eloped with a young
man named Arthur. Closely pursued by Brother Pelican, the convent
doorkeeper, the fugitives arrive at the inn where Kolbach and Tancred
were to have met. To foil Brother Pelican, Falka arrays herself in a suit
of Arthur's, and then boldly decides to personate her brother. Kolbach is
easily deceived, but new complications ensue. Brother Pelican, finding
Falka's convent dress, suspects she has disguised herself as a boy and
arrests Arthur for her. Boleslas and Edwige, witnessing the meeting of
Falka and Kolbach, are certain Falka is the missing Tancred. For Falka's
sake Arthur is silent, and the cortège sets out for the castle where the
heir presumptive is to be engaged, by the Emperor's order, to the rich
young Alexina de Kelkirsch.
In the second act Brother Pelican takes Arthur to the convent in Falka's
dress, and Falka remains in a soldier's uniform to win the consent of her
uncle to their union. Her plans are now disturbed by the arrival of
Tancred, disguised as a footman, to watch his own interests and thwart
the schemes of the young soldier, who he little dreams is his own sister.
He is afraid to reveal himself because he knows Boleslas is on his track.
He contrives that Falka shall be accused of broken vows before Kolbach,
and she is challenged by Boleslas, but escapes by revealing her sex to
Edwige. Arthur, who has been brought back from the convent, confesses the
interchange of dresses with Falka, whereupon Kolbach orders them both out
of his presence. Tancred displays unusual satisfaction, and thus
discloses his identity to Edwige. Thus the act closes with Kolbach's
discovery that Tancred is betrothed to a gypsy and that the pseudo
Tancred is his niece Falka.
In the last act Kolbach reluctantly prepares for the marriage of Tancred
to Alexina, as the Emperor desires. Falka is shut up in a tower, whence
she is to be sent back to the convent. At this point Boleslas appears
with Edwige. An interview between the two brides leads to the
substitution of Edwige for Alexina, and Tancred marries the gypsy. Falka
escapes from the tower, but is caught and brought before her uncle, who
at last pardons her various follies, all the more willingly because he
has received a despatch from the Emperor that he may adopt her as his
heiress, the succession having been settled in the female line.
The principal numbers in the first act are the stirring air and refrain,
"I'm the Captain," sung by Edwige, Tancred, and Boleslas, preluded by a
short march movement; a taking little nocturne, "There was no Ray of
Light," sung by Edwige; a rondo duet, "For your Indulgence"; and the long
and elaborate finale, which closes with an octette and full chorus.
The second act opens with a charming chorus, "Tap, tap," sung by the
maids of honor, followed by couplets, "Perhaps you will excuse." Falka
has a pretty air, "Yon Life it seems," followed by the exit chorus, "Ah!
is she not a Beauty?" This in turn is followed by a characteristic
Bohemian chorus, "Tra-la-la," with a gypsy air, "Cradled upon the
Heather," coming in as a kind of vocal intermezzo. After a long ensemble,
"It was Tancred," a trio, "Oh Joy! oh Rapture!" is sung, in the course of
which there is an ingenious passage burlesquing Italian opera, followed
by a quintette, "His Aspect's not so overpowering," and leading up to an
elaborately concerted finale.
The last act, though short, contains many brilliant numbers; among them
the bridal chorus, "Rampart and Bastian Gray," followed by a lively
Hungarian rondo and dance, "Catchee, catchee"; a romanza "At Eventide,"
which literally passes "from grave to gay, from lively to severe," as it
begins with an andante agitato, changing to an andante religioso, and
ending with a waltz tempo, and repeating with the same abrupt changes; a
charming duo Berceuse, "Slumber, O Sentinel"; and the bell chorus, "There
the Bells go," preceding a short finale.