It is hardly necessary to point out to the student of opera the steady
influence which Mozart's music exercised upon Beethoven's development.
Yet although Beethoven learnt much from the composer of 'Don Giovanni,'
there is a great deal in 'Fidelio' with which Mozart had nothing to do.
The attitude of Beethoven towards opera--to go no deeper than questions
of form--was radically different from that of Mozart. Beethoven's talent
was essentially symphonic rather than dramatic, and magnificent as
'Fidelio' is, it has many passages in which it is impossible to avoid
feeling that the composer is forcing his talent into an unfamiliar if
not uncongenial channel. This is especially noticeable in the concerted
pieces, in which Beethoven sometimes seems to forget all about opera,
characters, dramatic situation and everything else in the sheer delight
of writing music. No one with an ounce of musical taste in his
composition would wish the canon-quartet, the two trios or the two
finales, to take a few instances at random, any shorter or less
developed than they are, but one can imagine how Mozart would have
smiled at the lack of dramatic feeling displayed in their construction.
'Fidelio,' as has already been said, is the only opera produced in
Germany at this period which is deserving of special mention. Mozart's
success had raised up a crop of imitators, of whom the most meritorious
were Suessmayer, his own pupil; Winter, who had the audacity to write a
sequel to 'Die Zauberfloete'; Weigl, the composer of the popular
'Schweizerfamilie' the Abbe Vogler, who, though now known chiefly by his
organ music, was a prolific writer for the stage; and Dittersdorf, a
writer of genuine humour, whose spirited Singspiel, 'Doktor und
Apotheker,' carried on the traditions of Hiller successfully.
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