The opera is marred as a whole by Meyerbeer's invincible
self-consciousness. He seldom had the courage to give his genius full
play. He never lost sight of his audience, and wrote what he thought
would be effective rather than what he knew was right. Thus his finest
moments are marred by lapses from sincerity into the commonplace
conventionality of the day. Yet the dignity and power of 'Les Huguenots'
are undeniable, and it is unfortunate that its excessive length should
prevent it from ever being heard in its entirety.
In 'Le Prophete' Meyerbeer chose a subject which, if less rich in
dramatic possibility than that of 'Les Huguenots,' has a far deeper
psychological interest. Unfortunately, Scribe, with all his cleverness,
was quite the worst man in the world to deal with the story of John of
Leyden. In the libretto which he constructed for Meyerbeer's benefit the
psychological interest is conspicuous only by its absence, and the
character of the young leader of the Anabaptists is degraded to the
level of the merest puppet. John, an innkeeper of Leyden, loves Bertha,
a village maiden who dwells near Dordrecht. Unfortunately, her liege
lord, the Count of Oberthal, has designs upon the girl himself, and
refuses his consent to the marriage. Bertha escapes from his clutches
and flies to the protection of her lover, but Oberthal secures the
person of Fides, John's old mother, and by threats of putting her to
death, compels him to give up Bertha.
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