The first is a picturesque story of Rome in Carnival time. The
interest centres in the casting of the sculptor's mighty Perseus, which
wins him the hand of the fair Teresa. The Carnival scenes are gay and
brilliant, but the form of the work belongs to a bygone age, and it is
scarcely possible that a revival of it would meet with wide acceptance.
'Beatrice et Benedict' is a graceful setting of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado
about Nothing.' It is a work of the utmost delicacy and refinement.
Though humour is not absent from the score, the prevailing impression is
one of romantic charm, passing even to melancholy. Very different is the
double drama 'Les Troyens.' Here Berlioz drew his inspiration directly
from Gluck, and the result is a work of large simplicity and austere
grandeur, which it is not too much to hope will some day take its place
in the world's repertory side by side with the masterpieces of Wagner.
The first part, 'La Prise de Troie,' describes the manner in which the
city of Priam fell into the hands of the Greeks. The drama is dominated
by the form of the sad virgin Cassandra. In vain she warns her people of
their doom. They persist in dragging up the wooden horse from the
sea-beach, where it was left by the Greeks. The climax of the last act
is terrific. AEneas, warned by the ghost of Hector of the approaching
doom of Troy, escapes; but the rest of the Trojans fall victims to the
swords of the Greeks in a scene of indescribable carnage and terror.
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