The story of opera

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in the English language—solely on Opera is very limited, and from the nature of the case, those that exist soon get out of date.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