The Washington herald., 1920-07-25

LITTLE KNOWN
Additional Facts Given
Concerning Those Who
Aided Composers.

As a conclusion to the sketches
already presented in the Sunday
Herald, mention will now be made
of the practically unknown libret-
lists of the operas of Norma"
Aida" and other more or less ia
miliar works of the master compos-
ers.
Few operas can boast of as sat
isfactory and as effective a libretto
as that which forms the opera
Norma" or as excellent and as
touching a text as that contained
in the opera La Sonnambula," yet,
while the name of Bellini, their
composer, is world-renowned. the
name of Felice Romani is unknown
by those who hear the words.
Romani, who was the poet OF the
Royal Italian Theater. also penned
the lines for Doaizettis 'Lucrezia
Borgia," one of the first tragic
operas to command great success.
Romani was born in Genoa on
100. anu " me
death at Mongolia on January rs,
1865, wrote nearly a hundred books
for operas which are unknown to
the music-lovers of today.
The text of Verdi's grand roman
tic opera of Aida" was written by
Antonio Ghislanzoni, an Italian
singer and author who was born
at Lecco in 1924. Ghislanzoni was
l.
when he lost his voice he became
paper "L'Uomo di Pietra;" he was
also the editor of the "Ga9etta
Musicale" A number of books for
operas and several novels were
written by him. His death oc-
CURED in 1898.
Johann Friedrich Kind. a German
poet, dramatist and romancer pro-
vided the lines for Der Freischutz," {"
Won Weber's most famous compost
ton and one made imperishable
through the pleasurable music of
the composer. Kind was born in
Leipsig on March 4, 1853, and at the
age of twenty-five began the prac-
tice of law in Dresden, but aban-
doned it in 1914 to> devote himself
exclusively to literary work. His
poems are weakly sentimental, but
his tales and novels appealed to a
large circle of readers. He is,
however, best remembered for his
"Das Nachtlager Won Granada" and
Der Holzdieb." Kind died at
Dresden on June 25, 1S43.
The half fictitious and half allie
gorical text of the opera, The
Magic Flute" by Mozart Was writ
ten by. the actor, manager, and pre-
life librettist Emmanuel Schikan-
eder. His versatility is shown by
the fact that he created the role
of ''Papageno" in that opera.
the Masonic symbolism abounds
throughout the work, which has re-
tanned its popularity Until the
present time despite the manifest
absurdities of the plot. Schikaneder
was born in 1851 and died in 1872
Notwithstanding the fact that
Balfe's "The Bohemian Girl' is one
eras. and that the text is almost as
familiar as the melodies, the nam.
of Alfred Bum. the librettist, is
practically unknown. This English
writer, who was also the manager
of Drury Lane Theater, London,
from 1898 until 1s4s, made a cour-
ageous attempt to establish Eng
lish opera. Bum was born in
1895 and died in 1850.
In considering the operas of later
days we find that the honors Of the
lyric drama "Pelleas and Melisande"
should be divided between Claude
Debussy the musician. and Maurice
Maeterlinck, the writer. While
Richard Strauss was gaining pop
ularity and fame for Der Rosen.
cavalier" and "Elektra," the name
of Hugo Won Hoffmansthal was
nracfically unknnWn