Donizetti wrote from sixty to seventy operas, but his "Don Pasquale" is in a light style as compared to the "Barber of Seville" and does not approach "Semeramide" for melody, nor "William Tell" for dramatic value. Stendhal foretold that the florid music of Rossini would be followed by a master of simple melodies and we find Bellini to be the one. Donizetti's work is not well balanced and he sways from one extreme to the other. His tenor air in "Anne Bolena" is attractive for it possesses more dramatic significance than most of his. He counted on the pure musical effect, which is naturally more effective in spoken drama than in opera, which is sung through out. For instance, the horn of "Hermani" is terrifying when heard in the play, but merely ordinary when heard in the opera. He seldom wrote a tune, or scored a half dozen measures of simple accompaniment, without burying the voice under ponderous chords for the wood winds. "Lucrezia Borgia" contains less recitative than was customary with Rossini. Notice must be taken of the brilliancy of the introduction, the series of dramatic scenes and the large number of tuneful themes distributed judiciously for the four leading personages. "Lucia" is broadly conceived, well constructed and highly dramatic, especially where the chorus informs Lucia of the end of Edgar. In "La Favorita" there is passionate impulsiveness in the final duet, the choruses are impressive, and the music appropriate to the various personages and situations of the piece.
Bellini had true melody and his creative power was more effective than Donizetti's, as was his use of the orchestra. He abandoned trills and for ornamentation delivered simple phrases. "La Somnambula" is an endless flow of melodies full of true emotion and thoroughly dramatic, for he gave attention to the orchestration and concerted melodies. Rossini emphasized the necessity of introducing choruses, which he maintained were indispensable for dramatic effect, and we find his ideas developed by these men. However, these, and Paisiello's form of long scenes of recitative are old now.
Mozart's introduction to "Figaro" first introduces the air by the orchestra, then transcribed for the solo voice and finally sung by the chorus. The melody of his "Zitti Zitti" trio was take I from Hayden's "Seasons". He has adapted also an air from a Russian dance to aid in the dramatic effect. He reached the highest perfection of expression of melody with the strings, woodwinds and voice. His librettos are weak, however, although he rewrote the less important ones himself. His recitative is barren, for in his operas one had only to sing beautifully, while in Wagner one must declaim beautifully. Mozart knew music as the art of expression and gave this in its fullest sense to airs, duets and ensemble pieces, yet he left opera forms as he found them. He spoke of and depicted scenes, animals, etc. in his music. "Magic Flute" is a primma donna opera. Mozart considered first music, then the book and lastly the performance. In "Figaro" the psychological handling of the characters is unconvincing. He has applied one invariable musical formula to every character. He repeats one or two chords ad infinitum in the orchestra. The voice trips along on top of these in semi speed. He sanctioned formulas for cadences used in every situation. Even in "Don Giovanni" the formulas for the cadences are used in this manner. He uses the same method for light scenes as well as tragic situations, depicting indignant heroines and chorus in the same manner. He was more musical but he did not realize the dramatic situations.
Bellini was a pure melodist, but his instrumentation was faulty, and he objected to ornamentation.
The French opera helps to develop the tendency of individual expression while the German crushes it in striving for a whole general effect. Rameau's "Hyppolyte et Aricie" is the most highly developed study of character. Lulli's work is an amplification of Ramean's work. He combined simplicity, natural melody and dramatic intentions. He developed his attention to the orchestra, and employed the chorus as an integral factor in the situation. He invented the overture using a slow movement, followed by a quick fugal style with the third division, a short dance. He developed the style of the French ballet. Both he and Ramean considered accompanied recitative a matter of more importance than a continuous flow of melodies. He reduced music to a minimum in this and did not dominate it in time, rythm nor musical feeling. He characterized it by accentuating the metrical and prosodial elements of the words themselves, and followed closely the accent of the words, changing rapidly from four-four rythm to three-four, and back again.
There is no feeling in his arias for he was restricted to conventional forms, and his melodies are characterless. In his "Comique de la Rayne", arranged by Baltazan de Beaujoyeaux, with dance, tunes, chorus, musical dialogues and ritornelli he exhibits a bold and highly cultivated taste for instrumental music which led him to mold the overture into a more perfect form.
The serious opera, however, was becoming a mass of absurdities, emphasizing the spectacle as superior to the music, with bad libretti, degenerating under aristocratic patronage. The overture was to anticipate the opera and a better recitative was wanted. Gluck wished to minimize the disparity between opera and recitative and protested against the frequent use of the de capo and repetition of words, maintaining that the words should only be repeated where required by circumstances of passion.
Meyerbeer was feeble in harmonic invention with no psychological grip but with a talent for manipulating broad contrasts and climaxes of sound. He is a creator of modern stage technique, merging scenes and music into unity, a school of dramatic effects closely studied by Berlioz and Wagner.
Bizet's "Carmen" is the most brilliant and best to convey the romance of the nomadic desire in the gypsy. The ballets and operas of Delibes are like the fashioning of a piece of Sevres china. Cesar Franck's veil of harmonies envelops a multitude of themes so that the tragic ending almost gives one a sense of peace. Auber was the last to represent the Opera Comique and is noted for his simple melodies, and the rythm and brilliancy of his orchestral effects. Bizet's operas are notable for their abundance of local color, but Meyerbeer was the most influential except Wagner. He opened up a new epoch in French opera.