Preface
HistorieS of Opera are not very numerous: there have been many articles and essays in various magazines, dictionaries, and so forth which have presented more or less concise synopses of the gradual development and growth of the Operatic Art. Some of these, notably the one in Grove’s Dictionary, are excellent, but a work of such bulk is not for the everyday reader, nor, generally speaking, for the amateur. Beyond these magazine and dictionary essays the number of books—at any rate in the English language—solely on Opera is very limited, and from the nature of the case, those that exist soon get out of date.
In the present work an attempt has been made, so far as space has allowed, to give some brief account of every notable School of Opera of which anything is known. It is not claimed that the advance of the Art will not necessitate constant additions to or alterations of these pages. Even in the short space of time that has elapsed since the body of this book on Opera was written, such features as the rise in popularity of Puccini’s operas, or of such modern works as Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande, the permission of the censor to play Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah on the English stage, and the slight wane in interest on the part of the English public for Wagner’s operas, have made imperative the rewriting of many paragraphs and the modification of others.
Every attempt, however, has been made to bring the book up to date, and if in the Chapters on Modern Operas and in the Appendices there may be omitted names which some may consider should have been included, it must be borne in mind that in the twentieth century opera composers spring up like mushrooms, and often disappear from public gaze with equal rapidity. Works of bygone generations can be criticized and placed as successes or failures, but in these days of strenuous output one cannot speak with any certainty as to what is ephemeral and what is enduring. Our own times are too close to us, and must be left for future historians to pronounce judgment upon. Hence only the most notable and brilliant successes amongst modern operatic works are, generally speaking, recorded.
It is hoped that the Chapters on “What is Opera?” and “How to listen to and enjoy Opera” may touch to some extent on new ground and may be helpful to the amateur. Appendix A has entailed an enormous amount of work, and although it contains, of course, nothing that cannot be gathered from other sources, it is trusted that the information thus compiled and placed under one heading may be of use and of interest to the student of Opera. The tabulated State Grants in Appendix B will show, what is perhaps not generally known, how badly off England is in this matter as compared with many other countries.
The book is offered in all sincerity to those who care to read it. There are, possibly, mistakes and errors. If this be so, I will ask my good friends to point them out to me, in the hope of my having an opportunity of availing myself of such corrections in a second edition of this work.
E. M. L.
Woodford Green,
November 1909.