Grand Opera is drama done in music instead of spoken words. In a novel the author makes his characters do their own talking; he also describes what they do and how they are dressed, but more than that, he devotes pages to telling you what they thought. He tells you of the mental struggles that caused them to do or to refrain from doing. It might not be amiss to say that this is substantially what the orchestra does in Grand Opera—and so there is much more to listen to besides the “song” itself.
The song itself and the purport of it must be understood if one is to get the greatest amount of enjoyment out of it. Play “Celeste Aïda,” for instance, to someone who knows nothing of the opera. The sheer melody of it will make an unquestionable appeal, but that appeal is ten times more vivid when one knows who “Heavenly” Aïda is and why her heroic lover bursts into song.
Opera is drama—that must always be borne in mind, and the “test” of good operatic music is that the music shall illustrate accurately, forcefully, beautifully, not the facts, but the mental conditions and the emotions of the spirit which are sought to be portrayed. The facts are taken care of by the action of the plot just as they are on the dramatic stage, and over and above the satisfaction derived from listening to the music there is a delightful and limitless exercise for the intellect in seeing with what amazing subtleties of sound the composer has sketched the spiritual struggles of Thaïs or the Toreador.
MELBA
Most people love opera for the “tunes” that are in it and broadly speaking, there are two kinds of tunes used in opera: the dramatic aria, and the bravura aria. A dramatic aria, such as “Un bel di vedremo” from Mme. Butterfly, is a lyric outburst of intensely emotional character, arising naturally from the dramatic situation. A bravura aria is simply a vocal display piece. In the older operas more attention was paid to the singing than to the plot and elaborate display pieces (usually for the coloratura soprano) were invariably included. Compare “Un bel di” with the “Mad Song” from Lucia and you will readily see the difference.
Each individual music-lover will want to make his own selections of operatic records, from the Victor Record Catalog and the Victrola Book of the Opera, which can be obtained from the nearest Victor dealer. In the Victor Record Catalog, which is alphabetically arranged, will be found all the more important selections from practically all the big operas that the world has ever known. These are listed under the name of the opera and specially listed under the name of the artist in the Red Seal (pink sheet) section. In passing, however, we may say that the following are among many operatic numbers which deserve a place of honor in every collection: “Vissi d’arte,” from La Tosca; “Alerte” final trio from Faust; “Soave fanciulla,” from La Bohême; the “Miserere,” from Il Trovatore; “Sextette from Lucia”; “Bel di vedremo,” from Mme. Butterfly; “Vesti la giubba,” from Pagliacci; the Quartette from Rigoletto; the Habanera from Carmen; “Celeste Aïda” from Aïda; “Del tempio al limitar,” from Pearl Fishers.
