more sensuous, his Instrumentation more rich and varied, and his forms more concise, than any that had been previously produced in Italy; it was but natural, therefore, that he should be hailed, at first, as Cimarosa's legitimate successor, or that he should eventually succeed in very nearly supplanting him, notwithstanding his manifest inferiority to that great Master in most, if not all, of those higher qualities which tend to make their possessor immortal. Possibly a greater amount of learning might have dimmed the lustre of his natural gifts. As it was, his country had just reason to be proud of him, for his weakest productions were infinitely stronger than the strongest of those brought forward by the best of his Italian contemporaries. Like Cimarosa and Mozart, he was equally great in Opera Seria and Opera Buffa. His first great triumph in the former style took place in the year 1813, when he produced 'Il Tancredi' at Venice and took the city by storm. This was followed by many other works of the same class; and notably, in 1816, by 'Otello,' which marks an epoch in the history of Serious Opera, inasmuch as it is written in Recitativo strumentato throughout, in place of the ordinary Recitativo secco—a peculiarity extensively adopted in the Grand Operas of a later period. It was in 1816 that he also produced his greatest Opera Buffa, 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia'—a work which, notwithstanding the extraordinary popularity of 'La Cenerentola,' 'La Gazza Ladra,' and some other equally well-appreciated favourites, has always been regarded as his chef d'œuvre. Of his 'Guillaume Tell,' written in 1829, in a style entirely different from anything he had ever previously attempted, this is not the place to speak; but the number of his Italian Operas is prodigious, and though many of them have long since been forgotten, the revival of an old one may always be looked upon as a certain success.
Rossini's greatest contemporaries and successors were Mercadante, Giovanni Pacini, Bellini, and Donizetti. The first of these cultivated a peculiar elegance of style, and won bright laurels by his 'Nitocri,' produced in 1826. In the same [App. p.735 "the previous"] year Pacini produced his best Opera, 'Niobe,' in which Madame Pasta achieved one of her most memorable triumphs. Of the masterpieces of Bellini and Donizetti it is surely unnecessary to speak, since they still hold firm possession of the Stage, and are not likely to be soon replaced by newer favourites. Bellini died in 1835, and Donizetti in 1848; and, as most of their successors are still living, including Verdi (born 1814 [App. p.735 "1813"]), their works do not fall within the compass of the present article.
In enumerating the Composers most celebrated in the history of the Opéra comique, we spoke of some who had attained equal distinction by the production of Grand Operas. To these we must again allude, in narrating the events of our Nineteenth Period.
We have already noticed the invention of the Grand Opera by Lulli, and its thorough reformation by Gluck. Gluck's greatest successors were Cherubini and Spontini; the former of whom, after many splendid successes at the Opéra comique, produced his 'Anacréon' at the Académie in 1803, 'Les Abencérages' in 1813. and 'Ali Baba' in 1833, while the latter achieved a triumph in 1807 with 'La Vestale,' and in 1809 with. Ferdinand Cortez—works which, though now most undeservedly forgotten, exhibit qualities entitling them to a place among the best Operas of their kind that have ever been placed upon the stage. Rossini enriched the répertoire in 1828 with 'Le Comte Ory,' and in 1829 with his matchless 'Guillaume Tell.' Auber produced 'La Muette de Portici' in 1828. These were followed in due time by Halévy's 'La Juive' (1835) and 'Charles VI' (1843), and the 'Benvenuto Cellini' of Hector Berlioz (1838). But though 'Les Abencérages,' 'La Vestale,' and 'Guillaume Tell' are by far the finest examples of the style we possess—so fine that they might well form the glory of any style or any age—the representative Composer of the Grand Opera is unquestionably Meyerbeer. To him it owes its present brilliant reputation, its gorgeous surroundings, its clever mixture of Ballet and Spectacle, so flattering to the national taste. He also it is who has made the most of the one great characteristic by which the style is distinguished from that of the Opéra comique—for it is indispensable that the Voices should be accompanied by the full Orchestra, or at least the full Stringed Band, throughout the entire piece, to the utter exclusion not only of spoken dialogue, but even of Recitative secco; and it is very seldom indeed that the full Stringed Band is sufficient for the expression of his ideas, without the aid of Wind Instruments.[1] His three great works, 'Robert le Diable' (1831), 'Les Huguenots' (1836), and 'Le Prophète' (1849), exhibit in their fullest possible form of development all the most prominent features of the School, more especially those which bring it into antagonism, not only with the Classical Schools of Italy and Germany, as represented by Cimarosa and Mozart, but with the later creations of Rossini, and the imaginative productions of the successors of Weber. Since he first made known the fulness of his power in 'Robert,' no later Composer has ever attempted to rob him of his well-earned fame; and his death would have been an irreparable loss to the Académie, had he not left behind him the Composer of 'La Nonne sanglante' (1854), 'Faust' (1859), 'Mireille' (1864), and 'Polyeucte'(1878).
In approaching the Twentieth Period of our history, the last into which we have thought it necessary to subdivide it, we find ourselves brought face to face with a Master whose earnest devotion to the cause of Art entitles his opinions to a more than ordinary measure of respectful consideration. We have, it is true, expressed our intention of avoiding, as far as may be, the invidious task of criticising the
- ↑ Though Cherubini's 'Medée' and 'Les deux Journées,' are grander than any Grand Operas that ever were imagined, they are classed as Opéras comiques by virtue of their spoken dialogue.
