There they fall in with an honest farmer of the neighbourhood named
Plunket, and his friend Lionel, who promptly engage them. The two
couples soon fall in love with each other, but various hindrances arise
which serve to prolong the story into four weary acts. Flotow had a
certain gift of melody, and the music of 'Martha' has the merit of a
rather trivial tunefulness, but the score is absolutely devoid of any
real musical interest, and the fact that performances of such a work as
'Martha' are still possible in London gives an unfortunate impression of
the standard of musical taste prevailing in England. Otto Nicolai
(1810-1849) began by imitating Italian music, but in 'Die lustigen
Weiber von Windsor,' a capital adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Merry Wives
of Windsor,' which was only produced a few months before his death, he
returned to the type of comic opera which was popular at that time in
Germany. He was an excellent musician, and the captivating melody of
this genial little work is supplemented by excellent concerted writing
and thoroughly sound orchestration.
To this period belong the operas written by three composers who in other
branches of music have won immortality, although their dramatic works
have failed to win lasting favour.
Mendelssohn's (1809-1847) boyish opera 'Die Hochzeit des Camacho' is too
inexperienced a work to need more than a passing word, and his
Liederspiel 'Heimkehr aus der Fremde' is little more than a collection
of songs; but the finale to his unfinished 'Lorelei' shows that he
possessed genuine dramatic power, and it must be a matter for regret
that his difficulties in fixing on a libretto prevented his giving
anything to the permanent repertory of the stage.
Pages:
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129