Don Caesar finds his way to a
villa in the outskirts of Madrid, where he not only has the satisfaction
of putting a stop to the King's attentions to Maritana, but performs the
same kind office for the Queen, who is being persecuted by Don Jose. For
the latter performance he receives a free pardon, and is made Governor
of Valentia. 'Lurline,' an opera constructed upon the Rhenish legend of
the Loreley, has perhaps more musical merit than 'Maritana,' but the
libretto is more than usually indefinite.
Wallace rivalled Balfe in the facility and shallowness of his melody.
Yet with all their weaknesses, his operas contain many tunes which have
wound themselves into popular affection, and in the eyes of Bank-Holiday
audiences, 'Maritana' stands second only to 'The Bohemian Girl.'
Sir Julius Benedict (1804-1885), though German by birth, may
conveniently be classed as an Englishman. Trained in the school of
Weber, he was a musician of a very different calibre from Balfe and
Wallace. His earlier works, 'The Gipsy's Warning' and 'The Brides of
Venice,' are now forgotten, but 'The Lily of Killarney,' which was
produced in 1862, is still deservedly popular.
It is founded upon Boucicault's famous drama, 'The Colleen Bawn.'
Hardress Cregan, a young Irish landowner, has married Eily O'Connor, a
beautiful peasant girl of Killarney. The marriage has been kept secret,
and Hardress, finding that an opportunity has arisen of repairing the
fallen fortunes of his house by a rich marriage, contemplates
repudiating Eily.
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