Act V. The three Anabaptists, _Jonas_, _Matthisen_, and _Zacharias_,

had intended to use _John_ only as an instrument to attain power for themselves. The German Emperor, who is moving on Münster with a large force, has promised them pardon if they will betray the _Prophet_ and usurper into his hands. To this they have agreed, and are ready on his coronation day to betray him.

At _John's_ secret command _Fides_ has been brought to the palace. Here her son meets her. He, whom she has seen in the hour of his triumph and who still is all-powerful, implores her pardon, but in vain, until she, in the belief that he has been impelled to his usurpation of power and bloody deeds only by thirst for vengeance for _Bertha's_ wrongs, forgives him, on condition that he return to Leyden. This he promises in full repentance.

They are joined by _Bertha_. She has sworn to kill the _Prophet_ whom she blames for the supposed murder of her lover. To accomplish her purpose, she has set a slow fire to the palace. It will blaze up near the powder magazine, when the _Prophet_ and his henchmen are at banquet in the great hall of the palace, and blow up the edifice.

She recognizes her lover. Her joy, however, is short-lived, for at the moment a captain comes to _John_ with the announcement that he has been betrayed and that the Emperor's forces are at the palace gates. Thus _Bertha_ learns that her lover and the bloodstained _Prophet_ are one. Horrified, she plunges a dagger into her heart.

_John_ determines to die, a victim to the catastrophe which _Bertha_ has planned, and which is impending. He joins the banqueters at their orgy. At the moment when all his open and secret enemies are at the table and pledge him in a riotous bacchanale, smoke rises from the floor. Tongues of fire shoot up. _Fides_, in the general uproar and confusion, calmly joins her son, to die with him, as the powder magazine blows up, and, with a fearful crash the edifice collapses in smoke and flame.

_John of Leyden's_ name was Jan Beuckelszoon. He was born in 1509. In business he was successively a tailor, a small merchant, and an innkeeper. After he had had himself crowned in Münster, that city became a scene of orgy and cruelty. It was captured by the imperial forces June 24, 1535. The following January the "prophet" was put to death by torture. The same fate was meted out to Knipperdölling, his henchman, who had conveniently rid him of one of his wives by cutting off her head.

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The music of the first act of "Le Prophète" contains a cheerful chorus for peasants, a cavatina for _Bertha_, "Mon coeur s'élance" (My heart throbs wildly), in which she voices her joy over her expected union with _John_; the Latin chant of the three Anabaptists, gloomy yet stirring; the music of the brief revolt of the peasantry against _Oberthal_; the plea of _Fides_ and _Bertha_ to _Oberthal_ for his sanction of _Bertha's_ marriage to _John_, "Un jour, dans les flots de la Meuse" (One day in the waves of the Meuse); _Oberthal's_ refusal, and his abduction of _Bertha_; the reappearance of the three Anabaptists and the renewal of their efforts to impress the people with a sense of the tyranny by which they are oppressed.

Opening the second act, in _John's_ tavern, in the suburbs of Leyden, are the chorus and dance of _John's_ friends, who are rejoicing over his prospective wedding. When the three Anabaptists have recognized his resemblance to the picture of David in the cathedral at Münster, _John_, observing their sombre yet impressive bearing, tells them of his dream, and asks them to interpret it: "Sous les vastes arceaux d'un temple magnifique" (Under the great dome of a splendid temple). They promise him a throne. But he knows a sweeter empire than the one they promise, that which will be created by his coming union with _Bertha_. Her arrival in flight from _Oberthal_ and _John's_ sacrifice of her in order to save his mother from death, lead to _Fides's_ solo, "Ah, mon fils" (Ah, my son), one of the great airs for mezzo-soprano.

[Music]

Most attractive in the next act is the ballet of the skaters on the frozen lake near the camp of the Anabaptists. The scene is brilliant in conception, the music delightfully rhythmic and graceful. There is a stirring battle song for _Zacharias_, in which he sings of the enemy "as numerous as the stars," yet defeated. Another striking number is the fantastic trio for _Jonas_, _Zacharias_, and _Oberthal_, especially in the descriptive passage in which in rhythm with the music, _Jonas_ strikes flint and steel, ignites a lantern and by its light recognizes _Oberthal_. When _John_ rallies the Anabaptists, who have been driven back from under the walls of Münster and promises to lead them to victory, the act reaches a superb climax in a "Hymne Triomphal" for _John_ and chorus, "Roi du Ciel et des Anges" (Ruler of Heaven and the Angels). At the most stirring moment of this finale, as _John_ is being acclaimed by his followers, mists that have been hanging over the lake are dispelled. The sun bursts forth in glory.

[Music]

In the next act there is a scene for _Fides_ in the streets of Münster, in which, reduced to penury, she begs for alms. There also is the scene at the meeting of _Fides_ and _Bertha_. The latter believing, like _Fides_, that _John_ has been slain by the Anabaptists, vows vengeance upon the _Prophet_.

The great procession in the cathedral with its march and chorus has been, since the production of "Le Prophète" in 1849, a model of construction for striking spectacular scenes in opera. The march is famous. Highly dramatic is the scene in which _Fides_ first proclaims and then denies that John is her son. The climax of the fifth act is the drinking song, "Versez, que tout respire l'ivresse et le délire" (Quaff, quaff, in joyous measure; breathe, breathe delirious pleasure), in the midst of which the building is blown up, and _John_ perishes with those who would betray him.

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During the season of opera which Dr. Leopold Damrosch conducted at the Metropolitan Opera House, 1884-85, when this work of Meyerbeer's led the repertoire in number of performances, the stage management produced a fine effect in the scene at the end of Act III, when the _Prophet_ rallies his followers. Instead of soldiers tamely marching past, as _John_ chanted his battle hymn, he was acclaimed by a rabble, wrought up to a high pitch of excitement, and brandishing cudgels, scythes, pitchforks, and other implements that would serve as weapons. The following season, another stage manager, wishing to outdo his predecessor, brought with him an electric sun from Germany, a horrid thing that almost blinded the audience when it was turned on.

L'AFRICAINE

THE AFRICAN

Opera in five acts, by Meyerbeer; words by Scribe. Produced Grand Opéra, Paris, April 28, 1865. London, in Italian, Covent Garden, July 22, 1865; in English, Covent Garden, October 21, 1865. New York, Academy of Music, December 1, 1865, with Mazzoleni as _Vasco_, and Zucchi as _Selika_; September 30, 1872, with Lucca as _Selika_; Metropolitan Opera House, January 15, 1892, Nordica (_Selika_), Pettigiani (_Inez_), Jean de Reszke (_Vasco_), Édouard de Reszke (_Don Pedro_), Lasalle (_Nelusko_).

CHARACTERS

SELIKA, a slave _Soprano_ INEZ, daughter of Don Diego _Soprano_ ANNA, her attendant _Contralto_ VASCO DA GAMA, an officer in the Portuguese Navy _Tenor_ NELUSKO, a slave _Baritone_ DON PEDRO, President of the Royal Council _Bass_ DON DIEGO } Members of the Council { _Bass_ DON ALVAR } { _Tenor_ GRAND INQUISITOR _Bass_

Priests, inquisitors, councillors, sailors, Indians, attendants, ladies, soldiers.

_Time_--Early sixteenth century.

_Place_--Lisbon; on a ship at sea; and India.

In 1838 Scribe submitted to Meyerbeer two librettos: that of "Le Prophète" and that of "L'Africaine." For the purposes of immediate composition he gave "Le Prophète" the preference, but worked simultaneously on the scores of both. As a result, in 1849, soon after the production of "Le Prophète," a score of "L'Africaine" was finished.

The libretto, however, never had been entirely satisfactory to the composer. Scribe was asked to retouch it. In 1852 he delivered an amended version to Meyerbeer who, so far as his score had gone, adapted it to the revised book, and finished the entire work in 1860. "Thus," says the _Dictionnaire des Opéras_, "the process of creating 'L'Africaine' lasted some twenty years and its birth appears to have cost the life of its composer, for he died, in the midst of preparations for its production, on Monday, May 2, 1864, the day after a copy of his score was finished in his own house in the Rue Montaigne and under his eyes."

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