LISZT’S ONE OPERA.
A German correspondent of the Harmonicon sent that paper the following account of the performance of Liszt’s Opera, “Don Sancho,” on Oct. 18, 1825, at the Academie Royale de Musique, Paris:
“The extraordinary youth, the composer of this opera, has but just entered his thirteenth year. He has been acknowledged by some of the first connoisseurs of Germany and France to merit a place among the principal pianists of Europe; nay, some have gone so far as to say that he yields the palm to Hummel only, whose immense talent as an improvisatore undoubtedly stands as yet alone and unrivaled. But the youthful Liszt is also a composer and gifted with the talent of improvisation in a high degree. Aware of this, and wishing early—we trust not too soon—to develop his talents, the admirers of the youthful compatriot of Mozart desired him to try his strength on a wider field; they procured a poem adapted, as they supposed, to his powers. He has for some time been diligently engaged upon it, and the present is the result of his labors. * * * *
“The subject of the opera is taken from a tale of Florian, entitled ‘Don Sancho,’ one of the feeblest of all this author’s works. It is a kind of allegory, in which Love appears in person, armed with his bow and arrows. The little god is the lord and master of an almost inaccessible castle, the gate of which can be entered only by two and two at a time. The drawbridge is never let down, save to a knight accompanied by his lady. Elvira, persecuted by one whom she detests, and who is attempted to be forced upon her as a husband, disguises herself as a knight, and finding a favorable moment for escape, sallies forth alone from the castle of the King, her father. In the midst of a forest she meets with Don Sancho, who, being in quest of adventures, is desirous of entering into conversation with the unknown. Piqued at being answered only in monosyllables, he finds means to excite a quarrel. A combat ensues. Elvira, as every child could have foreseen, is vanquished. She sinks to the earth and her helmet falling off discovers the features of a beauteous female. The victor is on his knees before his lovely foe; Elvira no longer merits that title. She also is in love with Don Sancho at first sight. But a fearful storm comes on, and they hasten to the Castle of Love (Le Chateau d’ Amour) which is seen in the distance. On the way they are encountered by Rostubalde—for such is the name of the odious rival—who wishes to prevent their entrance into the castle. Don Sancho rushes upon him but is wounded; Elvira avenges the wound of her lover by the death of Rostubalde. At length the two lovers are at the gates of the castle. The winged god appears upon one of the towers. ‘Open to us,’ cries Elvira, ‘we are two faithful ones who love, and will love forever.’ At this magic word ‘ever,’ the gates fly open. Cupid with a single touch heals the wound of Don Sancho. Elvira returns with him to the court of the good-natured King, her father, who asks not a word of explanation relative to the absence of his blooming daughter from her home, but hastens to unite the two lovers.
“In the outline here given of this dull and insipid pastoral, will, with a very few exceptions, be found the general story of the opera in question. The principal change is that of the person of Rostubalde into an enchanter, of the name of Alidor; but even this resource, such as it is, the authors have turned but to little account. In a word, we consider our young artist as dragged to the earth by the dead weight of this mass, which he has attempted in vain to leaven by his genius.
“But we must now speak of the music. The overture contains many happy motives, and passages of great beauty and effect. If it fails in being strongly characteristic, we should impute the fault in a great measure to the subject. An overture should be the preface to the work, but what must be the preface to a work without interest! Among the airs, the most admired was that of the Magician, and above all, two romances, one sung by Don Sancho and the other by the Page. Many of the orchestral parts are treated with a vigor and intelligence which would do honor to composers long disciplined in their art.
“Upon a cool and dispassionate view of the whole composition, we must remark, that the young Liszt ought to view this, his first dramatic work, only in the light of an experiment on the extent of his powers. Mozart was only twelve years of age when he composed his ‘Finta Semplice’ for the theater of Vienna. The distance is immense indeed between that essay and his ‘Don Giovanni’; but the question is whether he would ever have created the latter wondrous opera, if his first steps in the career of excellence had been inhumanly arrested.”