The Complete Opera Book Part 67

Act I. Courtyard of a German inn. Chorus of townspeople and travellers. _Lothario_, a wandering minstrel, sings, accompanying himself on his harp, "Fugitif et tremblant" (A lonely wanderer).

_Filina_ and _Laertes_, on the way with their troupe to give a theatrical performance in a neighbouring castle, appear on a balcony.

_Mignon_ is sleeping on straw in the back of a gypsy cart. _Giarno_, chief of the gypsy band, rouses her. She refuses to dance. He threatens her with a stick. _Lothario_ and _Wilhelm_ protect her.

_Mignon_ divides a bouquet of wild flowers between them.

_Laertes_, who has come down from the balcony, engages _Wilhelm_ in conversation. _Filina_ joins them. _Wilhelm_ is greatly impressed with her blonde beauty. He does not protest when _Laertes_ takes from him the wild flowers he has received from _Mignon_ and hands them to _Filina_.

When _Filina_ and _Laertes_ have gone, there is a scene between _Wilhelm_ and _Mignon_. The girl tells him of dim memories of her childhood--the land from which she was abducted. It is at this point she sings "Connais-tu le pays" (Knowest thou the land). _Wilhelm_ decides to purchase her freedom, and enters the inn with _Giarno_ to conclude the negotiations. _Lothario_, who is about to wander on, has been attracted to her, and, before leaving, bids her farewell. They have the charming duet, "Legeres hirondelles" (O swallows, lightly gliding). There is a scene for _Filina_ and _Frederic_, a b.o.o.by, who is in love with her. _Filina_ is after better game. She is setting her cap for _Wilhelm_. _Lothario_ wishes to take _Mignon_ with him. But _Wilhelm_ fears for her safety with the old man, whose mind sometimes appears to wander. Moreover _Mignon_ ardently desires to remain in the service of _Wilhelm_ who has freed her from bondage to the gypsies, and, when _Wilhelm_ declines to let her go with _Lothario_, is enraptured, until she sees her wild flowers in _Filina's_ hand. For already she is pa.s.sionately in love with _Wilhelm_, and jealous when _Filina_ invites him to attend the theatricals at the castle.

_Wilhelm_ waves adieu to _Filina_, as she drives away. _Lothario_, pensive, remains seated. _Mignon's_ gaze is directed toward _Wilhelm_.

Act II. _Filina's_ boudoir at the castle. The actress sings of her pleasure in these elegant surroundings and of _Wilhelm_. _Laertes_ is heard without, singing a madrigal to _Filina_, "Belle, ayez pitie de nous" (Fair one, pity take on us).

He ushers in _Wilhelm_ and _Mignon_, then withdraws. _Mignon_, pretending to fall asleep, watches _Wilhelm_ and _Filina_. While _Wilhelm_ hands to the actress various toilet accessories, they sing a graceful duet, "Je crois entendre les doux compliments" (Pray, let me hear now the sweetest of phrases). Meanwhile _Mignon's_ heart is tormented with jealousy. When _Wilhelm_ and _Filina_ leave the boudoir the girl dons one of _Filina's_ costumes, seats herself at the mirror and puts on rouge and other cosmetics, as she has seen _Filina_ do. In a spirit of abandon she sings a "Styrienne," "Je connais un pauvre enfant" (A gypsy lad I well do know). She then withdraws into an adjoining room. _Frederic_ enters the boudoir in search of _Filina_.

He sings the gavotte, "Me voici dans son boudoir" (Here am I in her boudoir). _Wilhelm_ comes in, in search of _Mignon_. The men meet.

There is an exchange of jealous accusations. They are about to fight, when _Mignon_ rushes between them. _Frederic_ recognizes _Filina's_ costume on her, and goes off laughing. _Wilhelm_, realizing the awkward situation that may arise from the girl's following him about, tells her they must part. "Adieu, Mignon, courage" (Farewell, Mignon, have courage). She bids him a sad farewell. _Filina_ re-enters. Her sarcastic references to _Mignon's_ attire wound the girl to the quick.

When _Wilhelm_ leads out the actress on his arm, _Mignon_ exclaims: "That woman! I loathe her!"

The second scene of this act is laid in the castle park. _Mignon_, driven to distraction, is about to throw herself into the lake, when she hears the strains of a harp. _Lothario_, who has wandered into the park, is playing. There is an exchange of affection, almost paternal on his part, almost filial on hers, in their duet, "As-tu souffert?

As-tu pleuree?" (Hast thou known sorrow? Hast thou wept?). _Mignon_ hears applause and acclaim from the conservatory for _Filina's_ acting. In jealous rage she cries out that she wishes the building might be struck by lightning and destroyed by fire; then runs off and disappears among the trees. _Lothario_ vaguely repeats her words.

"'Fire,' she said! Ah, 'fire! fire!'" Through the trees he wanders off in the direction of the conservatory, just as its doors are thrown open and the guests and actors issue forth.

They have been playing "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and _Filina_, flushed with success, sings the brilliant "Polonaise," "Je suis t.i.tania" (Behold t.i.tania, fair and gay). _Mignon_ appears. _Wilhelm_, who has sadly missed her, greets her with so much joy that _Filina_ sends her into the conservatory in search of the wild flowers given to _Wilhelm_ the day before. Soon after _Mignon_ has entered the conservatory it is seen to be in flames. _Lothario_, obedient to her jealous wish, has set it on fire. At the risk of his life _Wilhelm_ rushes into the burning building and reappears with _Mignon's_ fainting form in his arms. He places her on a gra.s.sy bank. Her hand still holds a bunch of withered flowers.

Act III. Gallery in an Italian castle, to which _Wilhelm_ has brought _Mignon_ and _Lothario_. _Mignon_ has been dangerously ill. A boating chorus is heard from the direction of a lake below. _Lothario_, standing by the door of _Mignon's_ sick-room, sings a lullaby, "De son coeur j'ai calme la fievre" (I've soothed the throbbing of her aching heart). _Wilhelm_ tells _Lothario_ that they are in the Cipriani castle, which he intends to buy for _Mignon_. At the name of the castle _Lothario_ is strangely agitated.

_Wilhelm_ has heard _Mignon_ utter his own name in her aberrations during her illness. He sings, "Elle ne croyait pas" (She does not know). When she enters the gallery from her sick-room and looks out on the landscape, she is haunted by memories. There is a duet for _Mignon_ and _Wilhelm_, "Je suis heureuse, l'air m'enivre" (Now I rejoice, life reawakens). _Filina's_ voice is heard outside. The girl is violently agitated. But _Wilhelm_ rea.s.sures her.

In the scenes that follow, _Lothario_, his reason restored by being again in familiar surroundings, recognizes in the place his own castle and in _Mignon_ his daughter, whose loss had unsettled his mind and sent him, in minstrel's disguise, wandering in search of her. The opera closes with a trio for _Mignon_, _Wilhelm_, and _Lothario_. In it is heard the refrain of "Connais-tu le pays."

"Hamlet," the words by Barbier and Carre, based on Shakespeare's tragedy, is another opera by Ambroise Thomas. It ranks high in France, where it was produced at the Grand Opera, March 9, 1868, with Nilsson as _Ophelia_ and Faure in the t.i.tle role; but outside of France it never secured any approach to the popularity that "Mignon" at one time enjoyed. It was produced in London, in Italian, as "Amleto," Covent Garden, June 19, 1869, with Nilsson and Santley. In America, where it was produced in the Academy of Music, March 22, 1872, with Nilsson, Cary, Brignoli, Barre, and Jamet, it has met the fate of practically all operas in which the princ.i.p.al character is a baritone--esteem from musicians, but indifference on the part of the public. It was revived in 1892 for Lasalle, and by the Chicago Opera Company for Ruffo.

The opera contains in Act I, a love duet for _Hamlet_ and _Ophelia_, and the scene between _Hamlet_ and his father's _Ghost_; in Act II, the scene with the players, with a drinking song for _Hamlet_; in Act III, the soliloquy, "To be or not to be," and the scene between _Hamlet_ and the _Queen_; in Act IV, _Ophelia's_ mad scene and suicide by drowning; in Act V, the scene in the graveyard, with a totally different ending to the opera from that to the play. _Hamlet_ voices a touching song to _Ophelia's_ memory; then, stung by the _Ghost's_ reproachful look, stabs the _King_, as whose successor he is proclaimed by the people.

Following is the distribution of voices: _Hamlet_, baritone; _Claudius_, King of Denmark, ba.s.s; _Laertes_, Polonius's son, tenor; _Ghost_ of the dead King, ba.s.s; _Polonius_, ba.s.s; _Gertrude_, Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, mezzo-soprano; and _Ophelia_, Polonius's daughter, soprano.

Ambroise Thomas was born at Metz, August 5, 1811; died at Paris, February 12, 1896. He studied at the Paris Conservatory, where, in 1832, he won the grand prix de Rome. In 1871 he became director of the Conservatory, being considered Auber's immediate successor, although the post was held for a few days by the communist Salvador Daniel, who was killed in battle, May 23d.

Georges Bizet

CARMEN

Opera in four acts by Georges Bizet; words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy, founded on the novel by Prosper Merimee.

Produced, Opera Comique, Paris, March 3, 1875, the t.i.tle role being created by Galli-Marie. Her Majesty's Theatre, London, in Italian, June 22, 1878; same theatre, February 5, 1879, in English; same theatre, November 8, 1886, in French, with Galli-Marie. Minnie Hauck, who created _Carmen_, in London, also created the role in America, October 23, 1879, at the Academy of Music, New York, with Campanini (_Don Jose_), Del Puente (_Escamillo_), and Mme. Sinico (_Micaela_). The first New Orleans _Carmen_, January 14, 1881, was Mme. Ambre. Calve made her New York debut as _Carmen_ at the Metropolitan Opera House, December 20, 1893, with Jean de Reszke (_Don Jose_), and Eames (_Micaela_).

Bressler-Gianoli, and afterwards Calve, sang the role at the Manhattan Opera House. Farrar made her first appearance as _Carmen_ at the Metropolitan Opera House, November 19, 1914. Campanini, Jean de Reszke, and Caruso are the most famous _Don Joses_ who have appeared in this country; but the role also has been admirably interpreted by Saleza and Dalmores. No singer has approached Emma Eames as _Micaela_; nor has any interpreter of _Escamillo_ equalled Del Puente, who had the range and quality of voice and buoyancy of action which the role requires. Gala.s.si, Campanari, Plancon, and Amato should be mentioned as other interpreters of the role.

February 13, 1912, Mary Garden appeared as _Carmen_ at the Metropolitan Opera House, with the Chicago Opera Company.

"Carmen" is an opera of world-wide popularity, and as highly esteemed by musicians as by the public.

CHARACTERS

DON JOSe, a corporal of dragoons _Tenor_ ESCAMILLO, a toreador _Baritone_ EL DANCAIRO } smugglers { _Baritone_ EL REMENDADO } { _Tenor_ ZUNIGA, a captain _Ba.s.s_ MORALES, an officer _Ba.s.s_ MICAELA, a peasant girl _Soprano_ FRASQUITA } gypsies, { _Mezzo-Soprano_ MERCEDES } friends of Carmen { _Mezzo-Soprano_ CARMEN, a cigarette girl and gypsy _Soprano_

Innkeeper, guide, officers, dragoons, boys, cigarette girls, gypsies, smugglers, etc.

_Time_--About 1820.

_Place_--Seville, Spain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photo by White

Calve as Carmen with Sparkes as Frasquita and Braslau as Mercedes]

Act I. A square in Seville. On the right the gate of a cigarette factory. At the back, facing the audience, is a practicable bridge from one side of the stage to the other, and reached from the stage by a winding staircase on the right beyond the factory gate. The bridge also is practicable underneath. People from a higher level of the city can cross it and descend by the stairway to the square. Others can pa.s.s under it. In front, on the left, is a guard-house. Above it three steps lead to a covered pa.s.sage. In a rack, close to the door, are the lances of the dragoons of Almanza, with their little red and yellow flags.

_Morales_ and soldiers are near the guard-house. People are coming and going. There is a brisk chorus, "Sur la place" (O'er this square).

_Micaela_ comes forward, as if looking for someone.

"And for whom are you looking?" _Morales_ asks of the pretty girl, who shyly has approached the soldiers lounging outside the guard-house.

"I am looking for a corporal," she answers.

"I am one," _Morales_ says, gallantly.

"But not _the_ one. His name is Jose."

The soldiers, scenting amus.e.m.e.nt in trying to flirt with a pretty creature, whose innocence is as apparent as her charm, urge her to remain until _Don Jose_ comes at change of guard. But, saying she will return then, she runs away like a frightened deer, past the cigarette factory, across the square, and down one of the side streets.

A fascinating little march for fifes and trumpets is heard, at first in the distance, then gradually nearer.

The change of guard arrives, preceded by a band of street lads, imitating the step of the dragoons. After the lads come _Captain Zuniga_ and _Corporal Jose_; then dragoons, armed with lances. The ceremony of changing guard is gone through with, to the accompaniment of a chorus of gamins and grown-up spectators. It is a lively scene.

"It must have been Micaela," says _Don Jose_, when they tell him of the girl with tresses of fair hair and dress of blue, who was looking for him. "Nor do I mind saying," he adds, "that I love her." And indeed, although there are some sprightly girls in the crowd that have gathered in the square to see the guard changed, he has no eyes for them, but, straddling a chair out in the open, busies himself trying to join the links of a small chain that has come apart.

The bell of the cigarette factory strikes the work hour, and the cigarette girls push their way through the crowd, stopping to make eyes at the soldiers and young men, or lingering to laugh and chat, before pa.s.sing through the factory gates.

A shout goes up:

"Carmen!"

A girl, dark as a gypsy and lithe as a panther, darts across the bridge and down the steps into the square, the crowd parting and making way for her.