New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-09-20

music surcharged with passion. to body forth the
growth of the dramatic personases and make US
blind to paucity Of incident. When that cannot De
had then pictures and functions Of all KINDS
solemn and festive. must be relied on 10 holo the
interest Boito built up such pictures ana groupeu
such functions about his simple tale with d great
deal Of ingenuity. The eye is charmed at once
with his classic Landscapes IN the first act-the
expresses myrtles and blooming oleanders' tne
temple portico the statues anu altar Win us
offerings the kneeling chorus or prleslesses anu
sailors Hero with her ravishfng robes Uhink Oh
49, Ean,es IN the partD the gallant Leander and
the stately archon Ariofarno 1t Is the scene OF
the lovers meeting at the festival, and 10 nelshIeh
IT'S interest and provide something else lhan hymns
ard rites Boito has turned Leander into VICTOR
u the Aphrosian games, both as swordsnan anu
cvtbarisr Hero crowns him with laurel, and ne
sings two odes which Boito cleverly oorroWs from
Anacreon the first without. the second with I'M
p,.d but not expressed credit. The odes are the
most familiar OF Anacreon's odes however, ana no
one could think of moral obliquity IN connection
with F,otos use OF them. They are the address 10
the Tyre which the poet wishes TO attune 10 heroc
measures but which answers only IN accents Oh
love. and the tale Of how the poet took Eros slV-
ering out of the cold night and received a heart
-round in return Charmingly, indeed. do the odes
Ar into the dramatic scheme and offer two set
n,eces as contrast to the solemn announcements
or the archon and the excessive hymnlng or the
chorus.
The DEVELOPMENT of the plot is now begun Boito
has created Arofarno to fill the place Of the wicked
nun of the German folktales- He IS obsesSed with
vutv love for Hero and seeks to divert her service
from the celestial Venus to the earthly She scorns
his offers love. and he leaves her with threats
of vengeance Filled with forebodings, she seeks
an omen in the voice of a shell which had been
placed on the altar Of Aphrodte. the Sea-born
The words are charming. and the occasion pref
tiIy prepared for a vocal show piece She 1nvokes
the shell the cradle of Aphrodite, hears IN Its
murmurs the song OF the sea nymphs' the num-
ming Of bees amid the oleander's aeollan whlS-
ners and the soft confessions of mermaid. Then
the sounds grow wild, and stimulate her fancy TO
picture of rushing waters flying foam and wrath
full surge-the vision which is realized in the last
act Here the suggestion for musical deneation is
obvious and Signor Mancineli has utilized 1t in
such a manner as to make his song (Which, for
sons that shall not pursue. awakened memories
of the baIlatela in "PagliacciO the first really
triumphant thing in the opera The rest of the act
is chiefly devoted to love duet. at the close of
which Hero kneeing before the statue Of the sod.
invokes Apollo to admonish her OF her fate.
Ariofarno in concealment, answers for the god:
Death
In the second act. which plays in the part of
the temple of Aphrodite devoted to the mysteries.
Arofarno carries out his plan of vengeance against
Hero Processing to have received oracular
command to that effect. he restores service in
an ancient town by the sea and TO 1t consecrates
Hero who is powerless to resist his will. The duty
storms so that by priestly rites the angry waters
may be pacated. While pronouncing her sentence
he in an aside offers TO her IL she will accept
his love- Again he is spurned. and when he utters
the words which condemn her to the vigil Lean
der seeks attack him For this he is seized
and banished 10 the Asian shore. Hero takes
: the oath, the dancers rush in and begin bac-
chanalian, Aphrodesian. orgy, while the chorus
sings the 10 pecan Here Sgnor MancineIH has
really written with a pen of fire. The music is
ht-ilf f6a
forms. and there is the happiest union OF purpose
and achievement In the last act. somewhat clunl-
silly and unnecessarily ambitious in its strtv-
ings for spectacular realism. the denouement is
reached. Songs of sailors up from the sea:
Hero sings her love and longing and lights her
lover to his fate. Their love duet is interrupted
by the bursting OF the tempest. which had come
upon them without being observed The warning
trumpet which she should have sounded is heard
from the vaults below. and the chant OF the ap-
preaching priests. Leander throws himself into thu
sea; the archon upbraids Hero for neglect OF duty
and discovers its cause. Her punishment death
will be his vengeance. but the NfeIess body of
Leander is hurled upon the rocks and comes into
view when thunderbolt tears away a portion of
the tower wall Hero sinks dead TO the ground.
the archon RACES at the escape of his victim and
invisible choir sings of a reunion Of the lovers
In death.
AS composer Signor Mancineni Is an eclectic
1t would not be easy to specify any particular
master a model He admires Wagner and has
proper appreciation of the dramatic values the
continuity OF idea and the effect OF deveIopment
which flow from the recurrent use of significant
phrases. but his manner is not at all that of the
later Wagner whose influence. if found at all must
be sought in a few harmonic progressions and in a
belief in the potency of orchestral color. Nearer
TO him than the master poet-muscian are Verdi
Ponchielli. Boito and the eager spirits of Young
Italy. His music is as free as the later yerdFs
from the shackes OF set forms. but he is never
theess at his best when the book permits an ex-
tended piece OF lyric writing This being So IL ia
disappointing that he has done little that Is