The last act opens upon a desolate sunburned plain. Mirella appears toiling across the hot sands to keep her appointment with her lover at the Chapel of the Virgin, accompanied by Andreluno, the shepherd boy, singing to the accompaniment of his pipe. Tavena meets them, and assures Mirella that Vincenzo will keep his appointment, and then returns to Arles to plead with the father in Mirella’s behalf. The poor girl arrives at the chapel nearly prostrated with the burning heat. Vincenzo soon appears, and is shortly followed by Raimondo, who is so affected by the pitiable condition of his daughter, that he gives his consent to their union. A biographer of Gounod has condensed the story of the opera into these few words: “A rich young girl, a poor young man, an ill-fated love; and death of the young girl by sunstroke.” In the revised version the dénouement is happy instead of tragic.
The first act opens with the pretty and graceful pastoral chorus of the maidens under the mulberry-trees, “Sing, Happy Maidens, as we gather.” The second act also opens with an equally graceful chorus and farandole, “The Gay Farandole never fails to delight,” followed by a beautiful Provençal folk song, “Evening is Sweet with Summer Flowers,” which is full of local color. Tavena sings a quaint fortune-teller’s roundelay, “’Tis the Season of the Year,” and in the next scene Mirella has a number of rare beauty, “The Frowns of Fortune I fear no longer,” in which she declares her unalterable love for Vincenzo. The finale of this act with its vigorous aria for Mirella, “At your Feet, behold, I remain,” is the only really dramatic episode in the opera. The third act opens with the quaint little song of Andreluno with oboe accompaniment, “The Day awakes,” and also contains a plaintive song for tenor, “Angels of Paradise.” It closes with a waltz song, “Gentle Bird of the Morning,” which is most lavishly embellished and ends the quiet, naïve, little pastoral opera with a brilliant vocal pyrotechnical display.
HUMPERDINCK, ENGELBERT.
Hansel and Gretel.
[Fairy opera, in three acts; text by Wette. First produced, in Germany in 1894.]
PERSONAGES.
Peter, a broom-maker. Gertrude, his wife. Witch. Hansel. Gretel. Sandman, the sleep fairy. Dewman, the dawn fairy.
[Angels, witches, and fairies.]
The scene is laid in a German forest; time, the present.
The story of “Hansel and Gretel” is based upon one of Grimm’s fairy tales. The first act opens at the house of Peter, the broom-maker, who with his wife is away seeking food. The children, Hansel and Gretel, have been left with injunctions to knit and make brooms. Instead of working they indulge in a childish romp, which is interrupted by the mother, who has returned. In her anger she upsets a pitcher of milk, which was the only hope of supper in the house. Thereupon she sends them into the forest, and bids them not to come home until they have filled their basket with strawberries. When Peter returns he brings provisions with him, but breaks out in a fit of rage when he is informed the children have been sent away, telling his wife of the witch who haunts the woods, entices children to her honey-cake house, bakes them into gingerbread, and devours them.
The second act opens with a characteristic instrumental number, “The Witches’ Ride.” The children are disclosed near the Ilsenstein, making garlands and mocking the cuckoos in a beautiful duet with echo accompaniment. At last they realize that they are lost, and their distress is heightened by strange sights and sounds. In the midst of their trouble the Sandman approaches, strews sand in their eyes, and sings them to sleep with a charming lullaby, after they have recited their prayer, “When at Night I go to sleep, Fourteen Angels Watch do keep.” As they go to sleep, the fourteen angels come down and surround them, while other angels perform a stately dance.
The third act is called “The Witch’s House.” The angels have disappeared, and the Dawn Fairy wakens the children, singing a delightful song, “I’m up with Early Dawning.” Gretel wakes first, and rouses Hansel by tickling him with a leaf, accompanying the act with a tickling song. When fairly aroused, they discover the witch’s house, with an oven on one side and a cage on the other. The house is made of sweets and creams. Enticed by its sweetness, the hungry children break off fragments, and are surprised at their work by the old witch within. She comes out, and, after a series of invocations, accompanied with characteristic music, prepares to bake Gretel in the oven; but while she is looking into it the children push her into the fire. Then they dance a witch waltz, and meanwhile the oven falls into bits. Swarms of children rush round them, released from their gingerbread disguise, and sing a song of gratitude as two of the boys drag out the witch from the ruins in the form of a big cake. The father and mother at last find the children, and all join in the pious little hymn, “When past bearing is our Grief, God, the Lord, will send Relief.” It is only a little child’s tale, but it is accompanied by music of the highest order, and built up on the same plan of motives which Wagner has used in his imposing Nibelung Trilogy.