The Opera: A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions of all Works in the Modern Repertory.Streatfeild, R. A. (Richard Alexander)
History
The Opera: A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions of all Works in the Modern Repertory.
Streatfeild, R. A. (Richard Alexander)
Opera
'Tristan und Isolde.' 'Ghiselle,' a work left unfinished by the composer
and completed by several of his pupils, was produced in 1896 at Monte
Carlo. Although by no means upon the same level as 'Hulda,' 'Ghiselle'
also contains much fine music, and will doubtless be heard of again.
Leo Delibes (1836-1891) made no pretensions to the dignity and solidity
of Cesar Franck's style. He shone principally in ballet-music, but
'Lakme' (1883), his best-known opera, is a work of much charm and
tenderness. It tells the story of a Hindoo damsel who loves an English
officer. Her father, a priest, discovering the state of her affections,
tries to assassinate the Englishman, but Lakme saves his life, and
conveys him to a place of concealment in the jungle. There she find that
his heart is set upon a beautiful English 'miss,' and, in despair,
poisons herself with the flowers of the Datura. Delibes's music never
rises to passion, but it is unfailingly tender and graceful, and is
scored with consummate dexterity. He has a pretty feeling too for local
colour, and the scene in Lakme's garden is full of a dreamy sensuous
charm. 'Le Roi l'a dit' (1873) is a dainty little work upon an old
French subject, as graceful and fragile as a piece of Sevres porcelain.
'Kassya,' which the composer left unfinished, was orchestrated by
Massenet, and produced in 1893. In this work Delibes attempted a tragic
story to which his delicate talent was ill suited, and the opera
achieved little success. Delibes is a typically French musician. Slight
as his works often are, the exquisite skill of the workmanship saves
them from triviality. He made no pretensions to advanced views, and
though he occasionally trifles with guiding themes, the interest of his
works rests almost entirely upon his dainty vein of melody and the
finish of his orchestration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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