THE GERMAN OPERA.

THERE needs no other proof of the present incompetency of the Eng,- lish people to appreciate the merits of a musical work of high eminence than the fate of WEBER'S Oberon. Whenever we hear empty vaunts of our taste, we say," Remember the fate of Oberon." The production of this work was almost the only liberal and well 'directed effort on the part of London managers to give an opera a full and fair chance of suc- cess. They applied to an eminent dramatist, who produced a libretto, not only admirably adapted for music, but abounding in poetic beauty ; they engaged WEBER to set it to music, and to produce it under his own direction ; they had Miss PATON, Madame VESTRIS, Miss Go WARD, and BRAHAM, as their principal singers ; the opera was dili- gently rehearsed, and brought out under its author's superintendence; splendid scenery added its charm to the representation : and the result was—that the managers were losers by the speculation, that the opera was soon shelved, and has never been revived! This was in the year 1826. The Germans, with a due appreciation of their immortal coun- tryman's work—his last bequest to his art—translated and produced it-; and from that time to the present, Oberon has been a stock-piece in every German theatre. We have frequently revived our delightfal recollections of it in different German towns; but in England, its native place, this pleasure has been, till now, denied us : and even now, in place of PLANCHE'S glowing and gorgeous poem, we have it only with a translated and therefore enfeebled text. But the reappearance of this delightful opera, if deprived of one of its charms, has brought us more acquainted with WEBER. To the libretto printed for the German com- pany on the present occasion,* are prefixed a letter by Mr. PLasiceri and three letters addressed to him by WEBER. We could have wished that the entire correspondence was printed ; for the interchange of opinion by two such men on the relative position, employment, and power of their respective arts, must be highly interesting and instructive. It is not often in this spirit of friendly union and admitted equality that poets and musicians work ; and deeply has music been made to suffer by the jealousy of her rival sister. No such sympathy has existed in the construction of an opera for the EngIih stage since the time when PURCELL and DRYDEN united to produce King Arthur. Mutato nom* Mr. PLANcnk might have appended these words of DRYDEN to his It. bretto—" The music has passed through the artful hands of Mr. Pur- cell; who has composed it with so great a genius, that he has nothing to fear but an ignorant, ill-judging audience. I have had no reason to repent me of having attended to his suggestions ; for in this sort of en- tertainment my art ought to be subservient to his." This was no little for DRYDEN to have said, and perhaps to no other man would he have said it. Certain it is that musicians and poets in this country have ndt habitually realized WEBER'S description of their state ; their union has generally been any thing but "an angel's marriage." Would it were

otherwise. •

• One of the series published in German and English, by Mr. Salmon& Bernere Street. The letters form so interesting an addition to the revived Oberon, that we lay them entire before our readers; many of whom, at least in the country, will not see this libretto.

" Brompton Crescent, 13th April 1841.

" Dear Sir—I regret that you cannot make use of the words of my opera of Oberon, with the German translation of it ; as it would of course be more gra- tifying to me than to have the mere literal meaning appended to Herr Theo- dore Hell's adaptation of my original work. "With respect to the interesting letters written to me in English by my la- mented friend during the composition of my opera, and of which I may be justly proud, they are at your service; and I agree with you in believing that the fine feeling and acute crit:cism displayed in them will contribute to in- crease, if it be possible, the high estimation in which their amiable writer is held by the musical world.

"I should suggest their being printed precisely as they are written, suppress • log only such passages in the two last as relate to private individuals and cir- cumstances unconnected with the opera.

"I am, dear Sir, your obedient servant, J. R. PLANCHE. "To Mr. Albert Schloss, 12, Berners Street, Oxford Street."

"TO J. R. PLANCECE, ESQ.

•• Dresden. 6th January 18'25.

" Sir—I am most obliged to you for all the kind things you are pleased to honour me with. I can only congratulate myself to share in toils of an author who displays so much feeling and genius in his fluent verses. The cut of an English opera is certainly very different from a German one : the English is more a drama with songs. But in the first act of Oberon there is nothing I could wish to see changed, except the finale. The chorus is conducted to its place, I think rather forcibly, and cannot excite the interesse of the public which is linked to the sentiment of Reiza. I would wish, consequently, for some more verses, full of the greatest joy and hope for Reiza, which I might unite with the chorus, and treat the latter as subordinate to Reiza's sentiments. Pardon my making use of your condescending permission. "I thank you obligingly for your goodness of having translated the verses in French ; but it was not so necessary, because I am, though yet a weak, how- ever a diligent student of the English language.

"I am, with esteem, Sir, your most obedient servant,

"C. M. M. DE WEBER."

"P& Being ignorant if the rest of your opera has been sent already, before the arrival of those letter, I cannot but repeating you that it is vastly (a word illegible] to get the sight of the whole as soon as possible."

" Dresden, Februar the 19th 18e5.

"My dear Sir—I have received the second act of Oberon, the 18th January, and the third act and your very amiable letter in one and the same day, the 1st February.

"These two acts are also filled with the greatest beauties. I embrace the whole in love, and will endeavour not to remain behind you. To this acknow- ledgment of your work you can give credit the more, as I must repeat that the cut of the whole is very foreign to all my ideas and maxims. The inter- mixing of so many principal actors who do not sing, the omission of the music in the most important moments—all these things deprive our Oberon the title of an opera, and will make him unfit for all other theatres in Europe ; which is a very bad thing for me ; but—possess in dessus. "You have so well construed my first prayers, that I continue with pro- posals in confidence to your kindness.

"The scene between Sherasmin and Fatima, in the second act, and the (very pretty) arietta of the latter, must necessarily be omitted, and the quartetto follow immediately. Also the chorus of the pirates. But the time which we gain thereby we must spare for a duetto between Huon and Reiss. The absence of this piece of music would be very much regretted; and the scene upon the desert shore seems the most convenient place for it, though my musical heart sighs that the first moment when the loving pair find each other passes without music: but the opera appears too long already.

"Now I wish I yet a mad aria for Sherasmin (when he discovers the horn,) in which Fatinia's lamentations unite and close the scene with a beautiful contrast. Oh! dear Sir, what would not we produce if we were living in the same town.

a StiLl, I beg leave to observe, that the composer looks more for the expres- sion of feelings than the figurative : the former he may repeat and develop in all their graduations ; but verses like

• Like the spot the tulip weareth Deep within its dew 3. urn,' Or, in Huon's song, • Like hopes that deceive us Or false friends who leave us Soon as deseudeth prosperity's sun,'

must be said only once. "You see that I speak to you as to an old acquaintance, and I hope at least that you will consider it so. "Mr. — has not honoured me till now with an answer to my letter of the 6th January. I conclude from this, that he is convinced of the necessity to retard the opera, and that, consequently, we have time to regulate our affairs. The same reason has also withheld me from replying to his letter of the 4th January, which has crossed mine of the 6th January. Yet I must own the wish to see the affair decided at last, because all sort of uncertainty puzzles me and disturbs me in working. 4' • • • • but I would neither appear indiscreet nor suffer injury ; the latter of which I have too frequently experienced. Russia, Sweden, Poland, France, Scotland, and England, have brought on the boards my performances without their being entitled to it, for my works have not been printed. And though I do not value money, to take notice of it, the world forces me at last. "Pardon, dear Sir, that I am molesting you with things you cannot be interested in ; but poets and composers strive together in a sort of angels' marriage, which demands reciprocal trust. And now it is truly time to end my very chequered epistle.

"1 am, with the greatest esteem and regard, your most obedient servant,

"C. M. VON WEBER."

"Dresden, 34 December 1825.

"My dear Sir—I am very ashamed to be your debtor for those amiable letters. But you must have indulgence with a very much toiled and moiled poor man as I am. I have now to give you an account of our Oberon. Two acts are ended. The first is in its total stats as you have written it. In the second I have yet fulfilled your wish to compose a 'lonely Arab maid '; but I would have omitted '0, Araby, my native land,' in the third act, because I fear that the opera will be too long already. This song, however, shall not disunite us; and I will compose it, perhaps, first in England.

"The duo for Reiza and Ikon, which you was so kind as to send me, I have not composed, because, beautiful as it is, it cannot be placed in that situa- tion with effect. Little changements which I have permitted myself, shall, as I hope, be ratified by you.

"My health is yet weak indeed, but much better than last winter ; and if Oberon is yet fixed to be played on Easter Monday 1826, I hope surely to be in London the first days of March. • • • Not enough can I express the pleasure in hoeing to make your personell acquaintance: and till then, and ever, believe roe, my dear Sir, "Most sincerely yours, C. M. v. WEBER."

We regret, with Mr. Prastean, that the original words were not reprinted instead of the translation of a translation. Such a substitution can only be excused on the plea of necessity ; which we don't believe on the present occasion existed.

Few eminent musicians have attained due and deserved estimation in this country during their lives. It is a long while before a new candi- date for fame fights his way into the front rank and succeeds in drawing

towards him the approving gaze of the multitude. A very few years before his death, WEBER'S name was hardly known in England: who-

ever bad ventured to use the laudatory epithets now generally applied to him, would have been accounted a fool or a madman. He knew and felt this ; finding his solace and his reward, as he said, " in the con- sciousness of having emp'oyed his talents to the best of his power, and in resignation to the will of Providence amidst all the difficulties thrown in the way of well-meant exertions, and amidst the neglect and oppo- sition he had to encounter." We can look at him now from a distance, with no partisan feelings, and without the excitement of personal inter- course and individual regard. The glare of novelty is passed from his

works, and we measure them as we would those of Rica or HAYDN.

Had they not been what they are, they would have been forgotten. ROSSINI, who was the idol as WEBER was the scorn of the London aristocratic mob when they both visited England at the same time, is now regarded as an antique—that is, be is shelved : WEBER has risen into his proper elevation. This is the best commentary on the works of the two men.

WEBER was eminently distinguished for originality of style. He imitated no particular master, he was the slave of no particular schooL He walked in a path altogether his own, and with a manner so essentially individual that he never can be mistaken. His melodies are cha- racterized by boldness and freedom, and they are always natural. They are laid out in the most captivating variety—at one time resembling a rich and luxuriant garden, at another a dark and tangled forest—now opening to us, as in Oberon, glimpses of fairy-land, or breaking upon us in the gorgeous magnificence of Eastern grandeur. The more we know of WEBER, the more we shall admire the fertility of his genius, his immense creative power, and the consummate skill with which his bright and original thoughts are embodied in his score.

In his correspondence with Mr. PLANCIA, WEBER assumes that "an English opera is only a drama with songs " : and some of our daily

critics have repeated and confirmed the assertion. It is, however, only true of individual operas, and not of the species. Even the father of the English lyric drama employed music in every form, and wherever it could effectively carry on the business of the stage. These kind of

raidom assertions arise from want of correct information ; which many a eritit thinks it unnecessary to acquire. King Arthur and Love in a Village are both English operas : so are the Griselda of Buo- Noszcnir and the Otello of Rossim both Italian operas ; and yet the operas of the same country are not more unlike in structure as well as style than those of the different countries. Neither is it true that, in Oberon, "many of the principal actors do not sing." The original cast included BRAHAM, BLAND, ISAACS, DURUSET ; Miss PATON, Madame VESTRIS, MSS H. CAMSE, and Miss GOWARD, now MIS. KEELEY ; all of whom had principal business to sustain, and there are no other prin- cipal characters in the opera than those which they performed.

This brings us to the comparative merits of the English and the Ger- man representation. In some respects the palm of excellence must be yielded to the latter, but in some we must claim it for the former. The

merits of BRAHAM and HarrziNcra are not of the same kind. To the former, the national style of German music was new : his training had

been Italian, his fame was acquired in Italy ; his school was that of

PAISIELLO, Seccarm, and CIMAROSA ; and the style of WEBER was altogether alien to his notions of dramatic vocal writing. But he

brought to his aid his splendid and then unimpaired powers ; and

in many respects surpassed HAITZINGER'S performance, although the German was, on the whole, the more satisfactory representative of Sir Huon. HAITZINGER sang like a native; BrAmsal like a foreigner— better than any other contemporary foreigner could have sung, but still like a foreigner. It is well known that the celebrated song "0 'tis a glorious sight" was written by WEBER, reluctantly, at Baasteat's wish. The Germans have always censured Enemas,' for this change ; but we think that, for an English audience at least, he was right. The sub- stituted song is one of WEBER'S happiest efforts ; and is, altogether, more graphic, more varied, more animating, than the original one. The remarks we have made as to the comparative merits of BRA■ HAM'S performance with that of HAITZINGER, will apply very closely to those of Miss PierosT and Madame HEINEFETTER, as well as of Madame VESTRIS and Madame SCHUMANN. In the part of Seherasmin, the superiority was altogether so decided in favour of STAUDIGL, that we almost believed we were listening to some of the pieces for the first time. In truth, STAUDIGL is a singer of the very first rank : his voice is splendid, and his style pure and finished.

The choruses, we hardly need to state, were admirably sung, and the important business of the orchestra very ably sustained. Herr Germ

mistook the time of several movements, (we say this with a very vivid recollection of the time as given by the composer) : the allegro of the overture was so rapid as to be ()Len inarticulate, and there was an attempt to accelerate even this tempo at its close,—a Rossiniism in which WEBER never indulged. The Mermaid's song was too slow. The scenery, though not deficient in splendour, was far inferior to that of Covent Garden, and was often unadroitly managed : the sun and moon moved by fits and starts, and the clouds sometimes wanted oiling. The house was crowded on Monday, and well filled on Wednesday and last night. Now that WEBER is dead, we may safely acknowledge his eminence. Better late than never.