Opera Books
THE OPERA
EDITED BY
ALBERT HILLERY BERGH
VOLUME IV.
1909
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De Koven.
Reginald De Koven was
born at Middletown, Connecticut, on April 8, 1859. He entered St. John’s
College, Oxford, England, in 1879, and graduated with the degree of
bachelor of arts. While at Oxford, De Koven composed his first song, a
popular hit called “Marjorie Daw.” His first operatic composition was
Cupid, Hymen and Co., which has never been given a performance.
In 1887 Mr. De Koven wrote The Begum, which was produced by
the McCaull Opera Company, and had a long and successful run in New
York. He was so much encouraged by this success that he went to Europe
to study. While a pupil of Richard Genée, at Vienna, he wrote his third
opera, Don Quixote. This was followed in 1890 by the tuneful
Robin Hood, made famous by “The Bostonians.” Robin Hood is
frequently alluded to by critics as the representative American opera,
although the theme is purely English, and the music shows the influence
of the composer’s Viennese schooling.
Mr. De Koven’s other comic operas include, The Fencing Master, The
Knickerbocker, The Algerian, Rob Roy, The Tzigane, The Mandarin, The
Paris Doll, The Highwayman, The Three Dragoons, Foxy Quiller, Maid
{302} Marian, Papa’s Wife, The Little
Duchess, The Red Feather, Elysia, Happyland, The Student King, The Girls
of Holland, and The Beauty Spot.
In addition to having won a wide reputation as an operatic
composer, Mr. De Koven is also well known as a clever musical critic. He
is interested in theatrical management, and he and his wife are joint
owners of the Lyric Theatre, New York. Mrs. De Koven is the daughter of
the late Charles B. Farweil, at one time United States Senator from
Illinois.
Opera in three acts by
De Koven. Libretto by Harry B. Smith.
Characters: Robert of Huntington, known as Robin Hood; Sheriff of
Nottingham; Sir Guy of Gisborne, his ward; Little John; Will Scarlett;
Allan-a-Dale, Friar Tuck, outlaws; Lady Marian Fitzwater, a ward of the
Crown, afterwards Maid Marian; Dame Durden, a widow; Annabel, her
daughter; villagers, milkmaids, outlaws, King’s foresters, archers and
peddlers.
Place, Nottingham, England. Time, the Twelfth Century. First
produced at Chicago in 1890.
The opera opens on a May-day fair at the marketplace in Nottingham,
where a merrymaking is going on. The outlaws of the forest of Sherwood
join the villagers, and finally Robin Hood appears. He is a handsome,
dashing youth, full of audacity and high spirits. Robin Hood declares
that he is Earl of Huntingdon, and demands that the Sheriff shall so
proclaim him. The Sheriff, however, has other plans. He protests that
{303} Robin Hood had been disinherited by
his own father, who before Robin Hood was born had been secretly married
to a peasant girl who died when her child was born. This child he
declares is Sir Guy of Gisborne, the rightful heir to the earldom and
the ward of the Sheriff.
A wedding has been arranged between Sir Guy and Lady Marian
Fitzwater, a ward of the Crown. But Maid Marian’s love is already given
to the fascinating Robin Hood, and she determines to postpone her
wedding until King Richard returns from the Crusades, when she hopes to
obtain the King’s aid in evading marriage with Sir Guy. Robin Hood is
also anxiously awaiting the King’s return, as he hopes to be able to
prove his right to the earldom, with the King’s help. Maid Marian and
Robin Hood, greatly to Sir Guy’s indignation, exchange vows of love and
faith. The outlaws sympathize with the young claimant of the earldom,
and finally invite him to join them, promising that instead of an earl
he may become their king, and rule them under the greenwood tree. Robin
Hood at length agrees, and they place the Sheriff in the stocks, from
which he is rescued by Sir Guy and the royal archers.
In the last act a message opportunely brought by Robin Hood saves
Maid Marian from the hated marriage almost at the door of the church,
and the opera ends amid general rejoicings at the discomfiture of the
plotting Sheriff and his ward, and the triumph of the dashing Robin Hood
and the gentle Lady Marian.
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Opera in three acts by
De Koven. Libretto by Harry B. Smith.
Characters: Rob Roy MacGregor, a Highland chief; Janet, daughter of
the Mayor; Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the young Pretender; Flora
Macdonald, a partisan of the Pretender; Duglad MacWheeble, the Mayor of
Perth; Locheil, otherwise Donald Cameron; Capt. Ralph Sheridan, of the
Grenadiers; Sandy MacSherry, the town-crier; Tammas MacSorlie, the
Mayor’s henchman; Licut. Cornwallis of the Grenadiers; Lieut. Clinton;
Angus MacAllister; Duncan Campbell; Stuart MacPherson; Donald MacAlpine;
Nellie, barmaid of “The Crown and Thistle;” Highianders, Lowlanders,
townsmen, watchmen, drummer-boys, English Grenadiers.
Place, Scotland. Time, that of George II. First produced at New
York in 1894.
The first act of Rob Roy is laid in Perth. Lochiel and his Highland
followers have stolen a large sum of money to be placed at the disposal
of the Pretender, and have left it in the keeping of the Provost (Mayor)
of the town. Flora MacDonald, an ardent partisan of the Pretender,
appears, and induces the Mayor to permit a gathering of the clans in
Perth. Hearing of a Scotch victory the Provost forces his daughter,
Janet, to marry the town-crier, who claims relationship with the Stuarts
of the royal line. Meanwhile English Grenadiers enter Perth, and the
Captain, Ralph Sheridan, falls in love with Janet. The Provost, who
wishes always to be on the winning side, now forces Janet to
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declare herself to be the Captain’s wife, and he then accuses Sandy of
stealing Lochiel’s money. Janet obeys her father, but immediately after
Rob Roy captures Perth, and the Provost, in order to rid himself of his
English son-in-law, causes the Captain’s arrest. It turns out that the
crafty Janet has all the while been secretly married to Rob Roy. To
escape her two extra husbands Janet enters Rob Roy’s llighlanders as an
orderly.
The second act begins with the defeat of the Scotch at Culloden.
The Pretender takes refuge with the MacGregors, and a reward is offered
for his capture. The Provost and his henchmen, upon hearing of the
English victory, at once assume the dress of Englishmen, and determine
to secure the reward offered for the Prince. The Pretender is at last
captured by the English, but as he is about to be led away Flora
MacDonald appears in his costume, declares that the captive is merely
her servant, and that she is the real Pretender. She is led away in
spite of the efforts of the Prince and Rob Roy to rescue her.
The third act opens near Stirling Castle, where Flora is confined
under sentence of death. Lochiel aids her to escape, and she goes to the
mountain stronghold of the MacGregors. Meanwhile, Lochiel, who is now
turnkey, places Sandy in the empty cell. The Provost, now an English
corporal, brings a disguise to Flora’s cell, and Sandy, assuming it, is
able to escape. Flora is taken by the English and brought back to the
camp, but she is saved from execution by the timely arrival of the
Prince, who surrenders himself. As he is about to be shot the
surrounding Lowlanders throw off their cloaks
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and reveal themselves as Highianders. They hold the English Grenadiers
at bay, and Flora and the Prince are seen escaping to the friendly
shores of France.
Opera by De Koven.
Libretto by Harry B. Smith.
Characters: The Emperor of China; the Mandarin of Foo-Chow; Fan
Tan; Hop-Sing; Jesso; Ting; Ling; Sing-Lo; Ping-Tee; Kwei-Tso; Jasamine;
Lotos ;Lily; Turnkey; Win-Wing.
Place, the “Middle Kingdom,” a region in China. Time, the
Nineteenth Century. First produced at New York in 1896.
The story concerns the confusion of the identities of a Mandarin
and a plain workingman, who is fond of the glass that cheers, no matter
what else it does. The Mandarin, in the disguise of a workingman, is
making love to the real workingman’s wife. For some trifling infraction
of the law, committed by the man he is impersonating, the potentate is
arrested. While he is in durance vile his double is conducted to the
palace, and there is set up as the Mandarin. An extraordinary experience
for the workman ensues. For an unpretentions laborer to learn suddenly
that he has twelve wives, even if they all happen to be pretty, is a
decided shock, and when twelve babies are displayed for him to dandle,
as the fond papa, he is quite aghast. As cleverly as possible he hides
his feelings while his bevy of wives and the attendant babies circle
about him, and envy of a past state, less exalted but more secure,
gleams tantalizingly before him.
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The masquerading Mandarin, meantime, pursues his way with no less
uncertainty and embarrassment. It happens at last that the workingman’s
turn comes to fall under the displeasure of the law. He is arrested as
was the Mandarin for a trifle. But his case is worse, for he is
condemned to torture. Being, as is supposed, a Mandarin, his punishment
must be equal in magnitude to his rank. His crime is having incurred the
Emperor’s displeasure for having thirteen wives. This number has fallen
to him because his own wife, no longer sought by the real Mandarin (and
how could she be, that gentleman not being at liberty), has joined the
twelve that her husband’s grand estate has foisted on him, making the
number an even baker’s dozen. In the end all the mixture of
personalities and intentions get properly straightened out with
impressive pomp and bewitching tunefulness. The lively plot, as well as
the setting, gives opportunity for as much color in staging as there is
variety in the music, and libretto and score fit each other admirably.
Opera in three acts by
De Koven. Libretto by Harry B. Smith.
Characters: Sheriff of Nottingham; Little John; Robin Hood; Will
Scarlet; Friar Tuck; Allan-a-Dale; Guy of Gisborne; Dame Durden; Giles,
Geoffrey, gamekeepers; Yussuf, a slave merchant; Sir H. Vere de Vere,
Sir Hugh Montford, Knights of St. George; Amina, a snake-charmer; Lady
Vivian; Maid Marian; huntsmen, men-at-arms, Saracen warriors, mummers,
Crusaders, and others.
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Place, England and Palestine. Time of Richard the First. First
produced at Philadelphia in 1901.
In Maid Marian are introduced most of the familiar
characters of Robin Hood, and it is in fact a sequel to the
latter opera. The plot begins at the point where Robin Hood and Marian
are betrothed. On the eve of the wedding Robin has joined the Crusaders,
and is about to leave his bride. He departs, leaving in Little John’s
care a letter directing her to send to him for help in case she is in
trouble. The letter is stolen by the Sheriff of Nottingham, who
substitutes for it one which is intended to lead the Maid to believe her
lover false to her. The act closes with the arrival of Little John and
the band of Robin Hood’s men, who are also going to the Holy War. Maid
Marian determines to join them and go in search of Robin.
The second act takes place in the camp of the Crusaders near the
city of Acre. Maid Marian, captured by the Saracens, has been sold into
slavery, but she is rescued by Robin. The Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy
of Gisborne, the latter still desirous of marrying Maid Marian, appear,
disguised as merchants, and they betray the Crusader’s camp to the
Saracens.
In the last act all the principals of the story are back in England,
and the curtain rises on a scene of revelry in the great hall of
Huntington Castle. Robin Hood foils the wicked Sheriff and his friend,
Guy of Gisborne, and is reunited to his patient bride, Maid Marian.
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Opera by De Koven.
Libretto by Frederic Ranken and Stanislaus Strange.
Characters: Francis, the student King; Rudolph, King of Bohemia;
Grumblekoff; Merrilac, cousin of Rudolph; Lisa, Princess of Tyrol; Lady
Ann, a Tyrolean noblewoman.
Place, Prague, Bohemia. Time, the Seventeenth Century. First
produced at New Haven, Conn., in 1906.
In Bohemia it was the custom of the reigning monarch to abdicate
for twelve hours every year and permit a student, elected by his fellows
in Prague University, to reign in his stead. When the opera opens
Francis is the selection made by the students for that year. The Student
King is the real King’s own son, who was stolen from his cradle when an
infant by one of the King’s designing councillors, Grumblekoff, who was
the next in line for the throne with the infant out of the way. At this
moment Princess Lisa of Tyrol, who was betrothed without acquaintance to
the real King, Rudolph, arrives in Prague, incognito, and falls in love
with the reigning Student King, Francis. Her cousin, Lady Ann, consents
to impersonate the Princess.
The King of Bohemia takes part in the carnival, which is part of
the annual frolic, and meets both the Princess incognito and the real
Lady Ann. The King and the Student King are present at the same
masquerade, and as the Princess and Lady Ann are also there numerous
complications naturally result. Eventually the Student King finds
himself a prisoner. Then it develops that Francis is the son of the real
King. Rudolph
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thereupon abdicates in favor of his son, Francis, and orders the bans of
the lovers to be celebrated by the populace.
Opera by Reginald De
Koven. Libretto by Joseph W. Herbert.
Characters: General Samovar; Nikolas; Kromeski; Baron Lecocq;
Jacques Baccarel; Cluckoree, his valet; Victor; Gurtane; Jean; Paul;
Commissionna ire; waiter; Nichette; Counters; Nitsky; Pomare; Nadine.
Place, France. Time, the present. First produced at New York in
1909.
A most cosmopolitan company go to the development of the plot of
this opera. The story has to do with people of many climes and is laid
in that meeting ground of the nations, France. Nadine, the lovely
daughter of General Samovar, has since infancy been betrothed to her
cousin, Nikolas, who has dwelt in distant Borneo. Now she has lost her
heart to Jacques Baccarel, a young artist, who is madly in love with her.
The girl’s father, the great General Samovar, sternly refuses his
daughter permission to even see Jacques, declaring that the young man’s
art is too bad to allow him any sort of recognition. Jacques has’
painted a picture which he has called “The Beauty Spot.” It is a
remarkable canvas. The model for it was Nichette, who followed the
profession until she became the wife of this same General Samovar.
At this time there comes to France the long absent Nikolas,
Nadine’s betrothed husband. But Nikolas does not come alone; he brings
with him Pomare, his Borneo wife. Now Jacques has an opportunity he
embraces
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at once. He plays a trick to confuse the General, passes himself off as
Nikolas, while the real man from Borneo has to pretend to be Jacques.
This confusion is increased when Jacques’ valet, who is from New Orleans,
masquerades as a Borneo prince. Presently Lecocq, a police detective,
finds the picture, “The Beauty Spot,” and sends word to the General
where it can be seen. But before the General can arrive to examine it,
some of Jacques’ artist friends get there and put upon the figure, which,
it is remembered is that of the General’s wife, the proper amount of
clothes. Consequently when the General at last sees it he is entirely
delighted and buys it at once. Then, finding that the artist is none
other than Jacques, the admirer of Nadine, he graciously accepts the
situation, allows the girl to have her chosen lover and leaves Nikolas
to enjoy the society of his oriental pearl, Pomare of Borneo.
Last updated April 20, 2007