Produced by Charles Franks Robert Rowe and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team HTML version by Al HainesA SECOND BOOK OF OPERASbyHenry Edward KrehbielCONTENTS AND INDEXCHAPTER IBIBLICAL OPERASEngland and the Lord Chamberlains censorship et Gounods Reine deSaba The transmigrations of Un Ballo in Maschera How composersrevamp their music et seqHandel and Keiser Mozart and BertatiBeethovens readaptations of his own works Rossini and his Barber ofSeville Verdis Nebuchadnezzar Rossinis Moses Samson etDalila Goldmarks Konigin von Saba The Biblical operas ofRubinstein Mehuls Joseph Mendelssohns Elijah in dramatic formOratorios and Lenten operas in Italy Carissimi and Peri Scarlattisoratorios Scenery and costumes in oratorios The passage of the RedSea and Dal tuo stellato Nerves wrecked by beautiful music Peterthe Hermit and refractory mimic troops Mi manca la voce andoperatic amenities Operatic prayers and ballets Goethes criticism ofRossinis MoseCHAPTER IIBIBLE STORIES IN OPERA AND ORATORIODr Chrysanders theory of the undramatic nature of the Hebrew hisliterature and his life Hebrew history and Greek mythology Someparallels Old Testament subjects Adam and Eve Cain and Abel TheKain of Bulthaupt and dAlbert Tote Augen Noah and the DelugeAbraham The Exodus Mehals Joseph Potiphars wife and RichardStrauss Raimondis contrapuntal trilogy Nebuchadnezzar JudasMaccabaeus Jephtha and his Daughter Judith Esther AthaliaCHAPTER IIIRUBINSTEIN AND HIS GEISTLICHE OPERAnton Rubinstein and his ideals An ambition to emulate Wagner TheTower of Babel The composers theories and strivings et seqDeanStanley Die Makkabaer Sulamith Christus Das verloreneParadies Moses Action and stage directions New Testament storiesin opera The Prodigal Son Legendary material and the story of theNativity Christ dramas Hebbel and Wagner ParsifalCHAPTER IVSAMSON ET DALILAThe predecessors of M SaintSaens Voltaire and Rameau Duprez andJoachim Raff History of SaintSaenss opera et seqHenri RegnaultFirst performances As oratorio and opera in New York An inquiry intothe story of Samson Samson and Herakles The Hebrew hero in legend Atrue type for tragedy Mythological interpretations SaintSaenssopera described et seqA choral prologue Local color The characterof Dalila et seqMilton on her wifehood and patriotism Printempsqui commence Mon coeur souvre a ta voix Oriental ballet musicThe catastropheCHAPTER VDIE KONIGIN VON SABAMeritoriousness of the book of Goldmarks opera Its slight connectionwith Biblical story Contents of the drama et seqParallelism withWagners Tannhauser First performance in New York Oriental luxuryin scenic outfit Goldmarks musicCHAPTER VIHERODIADEModern opera and ancient courtesans Transformed morals in Massenetsopera A seachange in England Who and what was Salome Plot of theopera Scenic and musical adornments Performances in New YorkfootnoteCHAPTER VIILAKMEStory of the opera et seqThe Bell Song Some unnecessary Englishladies First performance in New York American history of the operaMadame Patti Miss Van Zandt Madame Sembrich Madame TetrazziniCriticism of the drama The musicCHAPTER VIIIPAGLIACCIThe twin operas Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci Widespreadinfluence of Mascagnis opera It inspires an ambition in LeoncavalloHistory of his opera A tragic ending taken from real life etseqControversy between Leoncavallo and Catulle Mendes et seqLaFemme de Tabarin Tabarin operas The Drama Nuevo of Estebanez andMr Howellss Yoricks Love What is a Pagliaccio First performancesof the opera in Milan and New York The prologue et seqThe operadescribed et seqBagpipes and vesper bells Harlequins serenadeThe Minuet The Gavotte Plaudite amici la commedia finita estPhilip Hale on who should speak the final wordsCHAPTER IXCAVALLERIA RUSTICANAHow Mascagnis opera impressed the author when it was new Attictragedy and Attic decorum The loathsome operatic brood which itspawned Not matched by the composer or his imitators since Mascagnisaccount of how it came to be written et seqVergas story etseqStory and libretto compared The Siciliano The Easter hymnAnalysis of the opera et seqThe prelude Lolas stornello Theintermezzo They have killed Neighbor TuridduCHAPTER XTHE CAREER OF MASCAGNIInfluence of Cavalleria Rusticana on operatic compositionSantuzza a German sequel Cileas Tilda Giordanos Mala VitaTascas A Santa Lucia Mascagnis history et seqComposesSchillers Hymn to Joy Il Filanda Ratcliff LAmico Fritz IRantzau Silvano Zanetto Le Maschere Vistillia ArnicaMascagnis American visitCHAPTER XIIRISThe song of the sun Allegory and drama Story of the opera etseqThe music et seqTurbid orchestration Local color Borrowingsfrom MeyerbeerCHAPTER XIIMADAMA BUTTERFLYThe operas ancestry Lotis Madame Chrysantheme John Luther Longsstory David Belascos play How the failure of Naughty Anthonysuggested Madame Butterfly William Furst and his music Success ofMr Belascos play in New York The success repeated in London Broughtto the attention of Signor Puccini Ricordi and Co and theirlibrettists Madama Butterfly fails in Milan The first casts inMilan Brescia and New York footnote Incidents of the fiascoRossini and Puccini The opera revised Interruption of the vigilStory of the opera et seqThe hiring of wives in Japan Experiencesof Pierre Loti Geishas and mousmes A changed denouement Messagersopera Madame Chrysantheme The end of Lotis romance Japanesemelodies in the score Puccinis method and Wagners TheStarSpangled Banner A tune from The Mikado Some of the themes ofPuccini and William FurstCHAPTER XIIIDER ROSENKAVALIERThe operas predecessors Guntram Feuersnot Salome Oscar Wildemakes a mistaken appeal to France His necrophilism welcomed by RichardStrauss and Berlin Conrieds efforts to produce Salome at theMetropolitan Opera Blouse suppressed Hammerstein produces the workElektra Hugo von Hoffmannsthal and Beaumarchais Strauss and MozartMozarts themes and Strausss waltzes Dancing in Vienna at the time ofMaria Theresa First performance of the opera at New York DerRosenkavalier and Le Nozze di Figaro Criticism of the play and itsmusic et seqUse of a melodic phrase from Die Zauberflote Thelanguage of the libretto The music Cast of the first Americanperformance footnoteCHAPTER XIVKONIGSKINDERStory of the play et seqFirst production of Hummerdincks opera andcast Earlier performance of the work as a melodrama Author andcomposer Opera and melodrama in Germany Wagnerian symbolism andmusic Die Meistersinger recalled Hero and Leander HumperdincksmusicCHAPTER XVBORIS GODOUNOFFFirst performance of Moussorgskys opera in New York Participation ofthe chorus in the tragedy Imported French enthusiasm Vocal melodytextual accents and rhythms Slavicism expressed in an Italiantranslation Moussorgsky and Debussy Political reasons for Frenchenthusiasm RimskyKorsakoffs revision of the score Russian operas inAmerica Nero Pique Dame Eugene Onegin Verstoffekys AskoldsTomb The nationalism of Boris Godounoff The Kolydda song Slavaand Beethoven Lack of the feminine element in the drama The operaslack of coherency Cast of the first American performanceCHAPTER XVIMADAME SANSGENE AND OTHER OPERAS BY GIORDANOFirst performance of Madame SansGene A singing Napoleon Royaltiesin opera Henry the Fowler King