'"
And they never would have dreamed of being mythological, if their god,
instead of turning to Scandinavian mythology, had followed his original
intention of dramatizing the exploits of Frederick Barbarossa. In his
youth he was not opposed to historical opera, for he eulogized _La
Musette de Portici_, _La Juive_, and _La Reine de Chypre_. He made some
justifiable criticisms of the libretto of the last work, although he
admitted that the composer had contrived to write beautiful passages.
"We cannot praise Halevy too highly," he wrote, "for the firmness with
which he resists every temptation, to which many of his contemporaries
succumb, to steal easy applause by relying blindly on the talent of the
singers. On the contrary, he demands that his _virtuosi_, even the most
famous of them, shall subordinate themselves to the lofty inspiration
of his Muse. He attains this result by the simplicity and truth he knows
how to stamp on dramatic melodies."
This is what Richard Wagner said about _La Juive_ in 1842.
Fortunately we no longer demand that operas be mythological, for if we
did we should have to condemn the famous Russian operas and that is out
of the question. However, the method of treatment is still in dispute
and this question is involved.
Pages:
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70