THE WORLD'S GREAT OPERAS.

Wagner's Rienzi—No. 1.

This is the first of a series of articles upon the great operas of the world offered to the readers of The Scrap Book. To the out-of-town devotees the echoes from stageland sound only remotely as they are given forth by the press. Moreover, the critics deal with the specific production, not with the opera itself in relation to the history of music, or the conceptions of the composers. It is our purpose in these articles to look at the opera from a different point of view, and to glimpse the minds of the great men who have developed the art of the music drama. Even those familiar with the subject may find new light here.

Rienzi.

The fourth opera written by Wagner. The first three, "The Wedding," "The Fairies," and "The Novice of Palermo" are scarcely known to-day. The music of "The Wedding" was never completed; "The Fairies," although finished in 1833, was first produced in 1888, five years after Wagner's death, when the theater at Munich obtained sole rights for its production. During the tour season it is still frequently placed on the boards of that theater, with all the scenic appurtenances of an operetta. Neither Wagner himself nor the admirers of his later work could claim for it any strong originality or power.

"The Novice of Palermo" had only one performance. That was conducted under Wagner's own direction, in 1836, in Magdeburg. The best comment upon this occasion was made by the succeeding performance, when the audience consisted of three persons—Wagner's housekeeper, her husband, and one Polish Jew!

After this discouraging event, Wagner abandoned Germany for Paris, and there wrote his five-act opera, "Rienzi," which was shortly afterward accepted by the Dresden Theater. Its success was immediate and brilliant, and this notwithstanding the fact that its performance lasted six hours.

The opera is still occasionally produced in Germany, but it is practically unknown to the lyric stage in the English-speaking countries.

Wagner.

Born in Leipsic, in 1813. He was a child of tastes and enthusiasms, but of no apparent genius. He loved philology, history, and mythology; but, most of all, he loved the drama. His early associations were musical, and at the age of sixteen he resolved to become a musician.

During his period of apprenticeship he wrote a few concert pieces, but his love of drama led almost at once to his real vocation—the opera. In 1836 he married an actress, Minna Planer, who, despite beauty and a talent for her art, and despite a faithful nature, failed to comprehend Wagner's genius, or to make him happy.

For twenty-five years they struggled to appreciate each other, then separated. Wagner subsequently married Cosima, daughter of Liszt, and divorced wife of Von Bülow. The union was one of ideal happiness.

Argument.

The scene is laid in Rome of the fourteenth century, when the patriot, Rienzi, is leading his insurrection against the nobles. The first act represents a street riot, occasioned by the patricians, under Orsini, who have scaled Rienzi's house by a ladder and are seeking to abduct his sister, Irene.

While Irene struggles for freedom, a rival faction of patricians arrives, led by Colonna, whose son, Adriano, is in love with Irene. Adriano fights his way to her side and protects her. Then, in the midst of the disturbance, Rienzi appears and the crowd scatters.

A prelate, Cardinal Raimondo, asks Rienzi how soon he is going to begin his warfare upon the nobles, and Rienzi replies that when he hears a long trumpet-note sound across the city the hour will have come. He turns to Adriano Colonna, and fervently beseeches him to forsake his party and to join the popular cause of Roman freedom. Remembering Irene, Adriano pledges his loyalty to Rienzi.

He is then left alone with the beautiful girl, and they sink into the tender ecstasies of love, till they are roused by the ominous sound of the trumpet-call which heralds the uprising. The day dawns, and within the church the organ and chorus simultaneously break out to greet it.

Borne in by the populace, Rienzi arrives. The people seek to crown him king of Rome, but the only title he will accept is that of tribune. A great composite voice rises from the piazza, swearing vengeance on the nobles.

Rienzi's cause triumphs, and in the hall of the capitol the patricians are forced to do homage to the victor. Goaded by wounded pride, Orsini forms a conspiracy to stab Rienzi during the festivities which are in preparation.

Adriano hears the plot, and warns Rienzi, who consequently wears, when he appears at the festa, a steel breastplate.

This scene commences in an abandon of joyousness. The crowd cheers a pantomime, and knights fight in tourney.

Suddenly Orsini presses his way to Rienzi's side, and draws his knife. But Rienzi is saved by his breastplate. He sentences all the nobles to death, and the festa ends in tragedy. But Adriano pleads for his father's life, and finally Rienzi pardons all the conspirators on their oath of submission.

The third act is ushered in by alarm-bells. The nobles are again in insurrection; the people clamor for Rienzi, who appears, swearing to exterminate the faithless patricians. He goes out to victory, and presently the body of Colonna is borne past his son, Adriano, who forthwith deserts Rienzi's cause.

Adriano finds his opportunity for revenge in confirming a story which gains credence with the fickle Roman populace; he declares that Rienzi is a traitor to his country, and meant himself to become a noble through the marriage of his sister with Adriano.

Rienzi appears in a procession, marching toward church. As he places his foot on the steps, a malediction sounds from within the sanctuary. Cardinal Raimondo steps to the door and pronounces upon him the ban of excommunication. The nobles have won victory for their cause by an alliance with the Church.

In the hall of the capitol, Rienzi prays that his work for freedom may not be undone. Irene and Adriano enter, and Rienzi begs them to flee together from danger. But Irene refuses to desert her brother's cause. The noise outside the besieged capitol increases.

The scene shifts to the open square, where the populace, deaf to Rienzi, who from a balcony seeks to address them, sets fire to the capitol. Adriano, darting in and out among the mob, sees Irene arm in arm with her brother, within a huge flower of flame which curls about them.

Through the fire he rushes toward her; at that moment the capitol collapses, and he is caught with Rienzi and Irene in its ruins. The nobles turn upon the people, and with drawn swords cut them down like blades of grass.