Another meritorious composer of the same school was Alfredo Catalani
(1854-93), whose 'Lorelei' (1890) and 'La Wally' (1892) still hold the
stage.
The most important of the younger men is Giacomo Puccini, a composer who
during the last decade has come to the front in a decisive manner. His
first opera, 'Le Villi,' was produced in 1884. The subject is a strange
one to have taken the fancy of a southern composer. It is founded upon
one of those weird traditions which seem essentially the property of
Northern Europe. Villi, or in English, Wilis, are the spirits of
affianced damsels, whose lovers have proved untrue. They rise from the
earth at midnight, and assemble upon the highway attired in all their
bridal finery. From midnight until dawn they wheel their wild dances and
watch for their faithless lovers. If one of the latter happen to pass,
he is beguiled into the magic circle, and in the grasp of the relentless
Wilis is whirled round and round until he sinks expiring upon the
ground. In Puccini's opera, the scene is laid in the Black Forest. The
characters are three in number--- Anna, her _fiance_ Robert, and her
father Wilhelm Wulf. The first act opens with the betrothal of the
lovers. After the usual festivities Robert departs for Mayence, whither
he has to go to claim an inheritance. Six months elapse between the
first and second acts. Robert has fallen into the toils of an abandoned
woman, and is still at Mayence; Anna has died of a broken heart.
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