Armand returns in
disguise, on his way to join the Royalists in Vendee. He and Therese
were boy-and-girl lovers in old days, and their old passion revives.
Armand entreats her to fly with him, which after the usual conflict of
emotions she consents to do. But meanwhile Thorel, who has been amiably
harbouring the emigre, is arrested and dragged to the scaffold. This
brings about a change in Therese's feelings. She sends Armand about his
business and throws in her lot with Thorel, defying the mob and
presumably sharing her husband's fate. Massenet's music is to a certain
extent thrust into the background by the exciting incidents of the plot.
The cries of the crowd, the songs of the soldiers and the roll of the
drums leave but little space for musical development. Still 'Therese'
contains many passages of charming melody and grace, though it will
certainly not rank among the composer's masterpieces, Massenet is one of
the most interesting of modern French musicians. On the one hand, he
traces his musical descent from Gounod, whose sensuous charm he has
inherited to the full; on the other he has proved himself more
susceptible to the influence of Wagner than any other French composer
of his generation. The combination is extremely piquant, and it says
much for Massenet's individuality that he has contrived to blend such
differing elements into a fabric of undeniable beauty.
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