Anna, an orphan, who had been befriended by the Laird, determines to frustrate the designs of Gaveston, and appears in the village disguised as the White Lady. She writes to Dikson, a farmer who is indebted to her, to meet her at midnight in the castle of Avenel. His superstitious fears lead him to decline the invitation, but George Brown, a young British soldier on furlough, who is sharing the farmer’s hospitality, volunteers in his stead. He encounters the White Lady at the castle, and is informed by her that he will speedily meet a young lady who has saved his life by her careful nursing, Anna recognizing him as her recent patient. When the day of sale comes, George and Anna are present, and the former buys the castle in obedience to Anna’s instructions, though he has not a shilling to his name. When the time for payment comes, Anna produces the treasure which had been concealed in the statue, and still in the disguise of the White Lady reveals to him the secret of his birth during the exile of his parents, and informs him he is Julius of Avenel. Gaveston approaches the spectre, and tears off her veil, revealing Anna. Moved by the zeal and fidelity of his father’s ward, George offers her his hand, which after some maidenly scruples she accepts.
In the first act the principal numbers are the opening song of George, “Ah! what Pleasure a Soldier to be”; the characteristic ballad of the White Lady with choral responses, “Where yon Trees your Eye discovers”; and the graceful trio in the finale, “Heavens! what do I hear.” The second act opens with a plaintive romanza, “Poor Margaret, spin away,” sung by Margaret, Anna’s old nurse, at her spinning-wheel, as she thinks of the absent Laird, followed in the fifth scene by a beautiful cavatina for tenor, “Come, O Gentle Lady.” In the seventh scene there is a charming duet, “From these Halls,” and the act closes with an ensemble for seven voices and chorus which is extremely effective. The third act opens with a sentimental air for Anna, “With what Delight I behold,” followed in the third scene by a stirring chorus of mountaineers, “Hail to our Gallant, our New-made Lord,” and leading up to “The Lay ever sung by the Clan of Avenel”—set to the familiar melody of “Robin Adair.” Though somewhat old-fashioned, the opera still retains its freshness, and its refined sentiment finds charming musical expression.
CELLIER, ALFRED.
Dorothy.
[Comic opera, in three acts; text by Stephenson. First produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London, September 25, 1886.]
PERSONAGES.
Dorothy Bantam, Squire Bantam’s daughter. Lydia Hawthorne, her cousin. Priscilla Privett, a widow. Phyllis, Tuppet’s daughter. Geoffrey Wilder, Bantam’s nephew. Harry Sherwood, Wilder’s chum. Squire Bantam, of Chanticleer Hall. Lurcher, a sheriff’s officer. Tuppet, the village landlord. Tom Grass, in love with Phyllis.
[Farm hands, hop-pickers, and ballet.]
The scene is laid in Kent, England; time, a hundred years ago.
The story of “Dorothy” is a simple one, but affords much scope for humor. The first act opens in a hop-field, introducing a chorus and dance of the hop-pickers. Afterward appears Dorothy, daughter of a wealthy squire, who is masquerading in a peasant’s dress, and while serving the landlord’s customers falls in love with a gentleman whose horse has lost a shoe. Her cousin, Lydia Hawthorne, who is with her in disguise, also falls in love with a customer. Each girl gives her lover a ring, and each lover vows he will never part with it; but that same evening at a ball the faithless swains give the rings to two fine ladies, who are none other than Dorothy and Lydia as their proper selves. After they have parted, the two lovers, Wilder and Sherwood, play the part of burglars and rob Squire Bantam. Dorothy, disguised in male attire, then challenges her lover, who, though he accepts, displays arrant cowardice, which leads up to the inevitable explanations. Incidentally there is much fun growing out of the efforts of Lurcher, the sheriff’s officer, who has followed Wilder and Sherwood down from London to collect a bill against the former. In the end Wilder and Sherwood are united to Dorothy and Lydia amid great rejoicing at Chanticleer Hall.
The principal numbers are the ballad, “With such a Dainty Dame”; the song of “The Sheriff’s Man” by Lurcher, Wilder, and Sherwood; the quartette “You swear to be Good,” and the jolly chorus “Under the Pump,” in the first act; the introduction and country dance, the bass song by Bantam, “Contentment I give you,” and the ballad, “I stand at your Threshold,” sung by Sherwood, in the second act; and the chorus of old women, “Dancing is not what it used to be,” Phyllis’ ballad, “The Time has come when I must yield” and the septette and chorus, “What Joy untold,” leading up to the elaborate finale of the last act.
CHASSAIQUE, F.
Falka.
[Comic opera, in three acts; text by Letterier and Vanloo.]
PERSONAGES.
Kolbach, military governor of Montgratz. Tancred, his nephew. Arthur, student, son of a rich Hungarian farmer. Lay Brother Pelican, doorkeeper of the convent. Konrad, captain of the governor’s pages. Tekeli, sergeant of the patrol. Boboky, gypsy scout. Boleslas, chief of the gypsies. The Seneschal, Kolbach’s steward. Falka, niece of Kolbach, at the convent school. Edwige, sister of Boleslas. Alexina de Kelkirsch, a young heiress. Minna, her maid. Janotha, landlady of the inn.
[Military pages, soldiers of the watch, maids of honor, peasants, Bohemians, etc.]
The scene is laid in Hungary; time, the middle of the eighteenth century.