The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-07

The N1arauia Of Lsrnsss Llbrette-'.1e spahtD
Prsaueea IL Parts-Hetes Frsu vieunn.

The fact that tho author OF "DiArmid" bowed
his thanks from tho royal box nj Covent Garden
on the night Of tho operas frat performance
seems to have been the most remarkable inoi-
dent OF the evening. although the critical COM
ment on tho work 10 kindly ms a whole. The
Marquis OF Lornc, who wrote the ibrctto for
Hamtsh McOunn's music, is not, II has been re-
called, the first librettist Of title who ms had q
place In the Covont Garden repertoire.
One OF his predecessors was tho Duke
Of Saxc.Coburg.Go thA and another Prince
Poniatowski. Tho combination OF Celtic
legends which the Marquis of Lorno put to-
gether seems to have produced q result which is
q weak suggestion of tho story Of Launcelot and
Guinevere and Tristan and Isolde. Tho position
OF tho writer made his faults seem much less
striking than they would have boon in tho case
of less highly placed librcttists. But, in spite Of
the fact that they felt 1t their duty to praise
him, the critics give quotations from tho lyrics
which show how poor the quality Of the work
must be. This Is one review, which Is typical Of
tho lot:
Tho story OF 'Diarmid deals mainly with
tho hero's victory over tho invading Vikings
and his love episode with Queen Grania, n leg
end almost identical with that Of Launcclot and
Queen Guinevere. 1t Is q defect of the libretto
that we arc left to imagine why tho Queen falls
in love with Diarmfd, and indeed we have not a
hint Of 1t, until following q hopelessly incon.
gruous ballet of hobGoblins and p~antomime
fairies In muslin skirts dancing round the sleep
ing hero in a Scottish Stonehenge. the Queen,
her royal robes untarnished by the dust Of
travel. bursts upon the astonishcd warrior with
a declaration Of passion. Diarmid. IL is true,
makes only q sort of Dutch defence. and
the two clopo to n forest, where they sing love
duets. and whore tho King wreaks upon tho
guilty pair a quaint vengeance. 1t Is obviously
hopeless to attempt TO kill in open fight q hero
invulnerablo save az to the soles of his feet
Accordingly the King commands the guilty
Low er TO hunt q poisonous boar. which happens
conveniently to 10 passing that way, and after
ward to measure the prickly hide with his bare
feet. MIR. Brozel. the representative of the
hero, II lie true. on Saturday night declined to
take of his boots, and thus tho whole point Of
same. while the people shout Wool woei' and
the opera comes to an end. 1t would I've easy to
point out weak rhymes and haltine lines. to say
ratio as
by giving his comrades and country his all.
His name shall be honored In hut and in hall"
Other amusing specimens Of the verse arc the
following:
See how the beacon res spring forth to answer theei
Tomorrow eve the Norsemen must be Fought
Where the dragon ships its tides aud storms have
fought.
WhiCh shows that the Marquis has no objection
to using the Same word twice.
Gray time. when Loves dreams reign, be Kind. and
Thoughts day and night arc fain to dusk to leave
must have baff1ed any critic trying to explain
what. 1t meant, and most critics will probably
ind these limos equally difficult:
Hoi hol no, for al our tribe
Ever at man must laugh and jibe!
See how vain hts oaths and deedsl
Few are faitnful-most are weeds.
Hamish McCunn. tho composer. is said to
hav IN yriffAn n viQ0r0na. annnH and mnQipinnl "
score which was without brilliancy and strongly
indicative Of Wagners influence. 1t 10 said to
% q great Improvement over Jessie Deans
Paris heard lately, at the Opera Comique a
BY Lucien Lambert, a young composer. to a ii.
bretto drawn from Pierre Lofts story. The
S 81 TIE T ps,i tsi M fTss iU FSt SoTns ,ho .pn rd1z9i i SSS m +
such works. 1t failed when submitted for public
approval. But NJ. Lambert is highly praised
operate form is thus told, Tho piece opens in a !
. rich creole. on the arm Of a naval officer. Who
has spcceed ds the han nd N, spahi. Jeen, be;
Feaitoa ,Gsve mai fails IN love With nt sEe soldier oidxs and and
succeeds in obtaining his love in return By means
enemy Of t6e white RAGS: The lovers meet
t~ractive to her lover. tho little nesress
pieces Of gold Which be was s. about to SEND home
to France. Jean. though greatly annoyed. can:
of na mnas q Gambia nts R Raa. t. S S51ys sTf IA. sh s. shi na
evil eye on tho soldiers camp. 1t is attacked
and and destroyeSf,, , Sna the tn h b nd. p,,,i spahi fills to to
little neRress, in despair. embraces his mani.
mate form for the last, time,
sorbing. and that the passions OF the characters
made little impression on tho audience. Tho
score, while not aocentuating the peculiar
is said to be written with great charm and deli.
cacy, and the Instrumentation in particular is
scsness supplied by the theatre appear I 10 BSve
created q greater effect on ths audience than
certain engshrng phases has; Of the e'n new and uSief the 0elGef Il
might be mentioned that Faust" had its
1,o9sth performance at the Grand Opera in
ances were given for Mile. Ackte. the new Mar
guertte, who was graduated from tho Conserva-
is a native OF Finland and has made a great
popular success In Paris. Nine, !pelnH, who
gs gees Pro ebS 4essr Tor th the yi srst TINE Tni 1 tbe heard Tb In
next novelty at the Opera will be Wagner's
Die Meistersinger,"
great success at Leipsic for The Cricket .
written by johannes Doebber to a libretto made
emphasis is laid on the fact that the composer
has followed his own ideas and written an opera
f %ei g Io IL se wbiie. 70 a Pc ID po sPid to T SaEe S MrItfsS 8
work which will share popularity Of the kind on
toyed by LoertZings operas. Spinellis "a
Brsso Porto" transferred 10 the roper.
toire OF. the ROYAL Opera House In Berlin.
priva Q theatres. In Vienna Director Mnhler
has recently begun the performance Of eWag.
ner trilogy without a cut. and that In the future
will be the rule at Vienna. Lilli Lehman. who
is OF to sing In t Ia country this season. has de-
clined an invitation 10 appear at the opera in
Vienna. md will %coniine her appearance 8 to two
song reci'als. Frances sayille, who went to
Vienna to sing in "Boheine' Mt the Thcater an
der Wien. made a great success as Mint and has
Opera in " Romeo and Juliet "1.ohenRrin"-
an opera in which she never appeared hers-and
appear Mt tho Imperial Opera only "as Ruest. ("
He is frequently too III 10 appear. and II has OF
lato been necessary several times for him ia
dIsappoint. tho audiences. This die not suit
Herr Mailer, and It is said that vnn Dyck
violent quarrel; Hereafter, according to The
Imperial Opera House it will DO "as guest
and not as a member OF the regular company.
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