Richard Strauss reflects the tendency of the times away from all ideal things. Physical, moral, and mental degeneracy are the subjects which he has attempted to glorify in “Salomé” and “Elektra,” and shameless immorality in “Rosenkavalier” (ro´-zen-kahv-ah-leer´). To the celebration of such things and to the promotion of his material interests he is prostituting the finest musical gifts possessed by any composer known to the present day.
Not all the men who deserve to be called makers of modern opera have been mentioned as yet. There are Frenchmen whose works have shown more vitality than those of Charpentier and Debussy, though these two, representing a more individual tendency, are generally singled out for comment when the talk is of latter-day men.
There is still a strong feeling among the lovers of French opera for Ambroise Thomas because of his “Mignon,” and Delibes because of his “Lakmé” and his ballets. The dramatic, or pantomimic, dance is getting a stronger hold on the stage every day, and nothing has yet been produced in this line more graceful or in all artistic elements more elegant than “Coppélia.” Saint-Saëns’s “Samson et Delilah,” though better fitted for the concert-room than the theater, has also won its way to recognition in America and England; while Germany, forgetting that Berlioz was pitted against Wagner by the characteristic spirit after the Franco-Prussian War, continues to pay deep respect to “Benvenuto Cellini.” Wolf-Ferrari, half German, half Italian, has fought his way to the fore with two works in which his genius shows at its best (“Il Segreto di Susanna” and “Le Donne Curiose”), and lately a Russian, Moussorgsky, has come crashing through the veneer of conventional art with his “Boris Godounov” in a way which justifies the cry raised long ago by this writer in the concert-room: “Beware of the Muscovite!”
Mr. Krehbiel’s books are admirable commentaries, written with authority and in a most readable style.
MEMOIRS OF THE OPERA _By George Hogarth._
HISTORY OF THE OPERA _By Sutherland Edwards._
THE LYRICAL DRAMA _By H. Sutherland Edwards._
THE OPERA, PAST AND PRESENT _By W. F. Apthorp._
Brilliant writing and critical taste characterize Mr. Apthorp’s work.