CHAPTER XII.

THREE UNFAMILIAR WORKS.

When Rossini was thirty-seven years of age he had written thirty-seven operas, without counting those enlarged editions of former works, "Moïse" and "Le Siège de Corinthe." Of this number a good many are forgotten, many too were never known out of Italy at all. The best, and not merely the best, but the most typical, have remained. Admirable works, which might have made the reputation of another composer, have been overshadowed by masterpieces from the same hand. Repetitions too have perished by the side of originals, and the time will no doubt come when people will judge of Rossini almost entirely by the "Barber of Seville"--the best proportioned, the most characteristic, and certainly the most fortunate in regard to a libretto, of all his works.

Everything that relates to Rossini's earliest works is interesting; indeed at one time "L'Inganno Felice" was his very best opera--which it is evident that "Ricciardo e Zoraide," the thirtieth on the list, never could have been. This last production, written in the year 1818 for the San Carlo, must have been admirably executed, the chief parts being entrusted to Mademoiselle Colbran, Benedetti the basso, and the two tenors, Nozzare and Davide; but it had the misfortune to be produced immediately after "Mosè," and was crushed by the greater work.

Of "Ermione" little seems now to be known, except that the libretto was based on Racine's "Andromaque," that in addition to Mademoiselle Colbran and the two tenors, Davide and Nozzare, the celebrated contralto Pisarone (for whom Rossini, a few months afterwards, wrote the part of _Malcolm Graeme_) was included in the cast, and that the work, though presented on the stage with all possible advantages, made no lasting impression. It is not even certain that it made a very favourable impression in the first instance; and if "Ricciardo e Zoraide" lost by coming just after "Mosè," "Ermione" can scarcely have gained by coming just before "La Donna del Lago."

Stendhal--an untrustworthy guide, the more so as he makes no distinction between his own personal opinions and those of Carpani, from whom he so constantly borrows--informs us that the music of "Ermione" is composed in the declamatory style of Gluck. M. Azevedo says that it is written in the simple, vigorous style adopted by Rossini for treating the subject of "Guillaume Tell." The two statements may be reconciled, if indeed (which is quite probable) one has not been suggested by the other. It may be said generally, that in "Ermione" the composer studied the dramatic requirements of his subject more than the vocal capabilities of his singers. The experiment does not seem to have been successful as far as the public taste was concerned.

But between "Ermione" and "La Donna del Lago," both produced at the San Carlo at Naples, Rossini brought out "Eduardo e Cristina" at Venice.

According to the author of Le Rossiniane, "Eduardo e Cristina" was little more than Rossini's two previous operas, "Ricciardo e Zoraide" and "Ermione," in another shape. The manager of the San Benedetto Theatre at Venice had engaged Rossini to furnish him with a work for the Spring season. But urgent private affairs detained the composer at Naples, which he could not prevail upon himself to quit until about ten days before the day fixed for the production of his new and original work.

It is true that Rossini had in the meanwhile forwarded a good many pieces of music to the expectant manager. The words were not always the same as those which the manager had forwarded to him, but no one, not even the manager, pays much attention to the words of an opera, and the Venetian impresario was only too glad to get the music.

Nine days before the day of performance Rossini arrived in Venice to give the finishing touches to his work, see it through the rehearsals, and direct the first representation.

The opera was immensely applauded; but after the first two or three pieces the audience all remarked a Neapolitan merchant in the pit who seemed to know the work by heart, and anticipated the vocalists in singing the principal melodies.

His neighbours asked him how he came to have heard the new music.

"New music?" replied the merchant; "it is a mixture of 'Ricciardo e Zoraide' and 'Ermione,' produced at Naples six months ago. The only thing new is the title. Rossini has taken the most beautiful phrase from the duet in 'Ricciardo,' and turned it into a cavatina for your new opera. Even the words are the same. 'Ah nati in ver noi siamo.'"

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During the entre-acte, and while the ballet was going on, the story of the Neapolitan merchant, after being told in the theatrical café, soon spread in the theatre itself. The local _dilettanti_, who had been vying with one another in sounding the praises of the work, were disgusted to find that it had not been written for them at all, but had been composed for Naples.

However, the public liked the music, and yielding only to their own impressions, applauded it. The impresario on the other hand was bound to be seriously annoyed, and said that Rossini had shamefully deceived him, had ruined him, and so on. Rossini answered that he had promised the manager music which would be applauded; that his music had been and would continue to be applauded, and that applause, above all from the managerial point of view, was the one thing to be considered.

The manager's reply to this sophism has not been preserved.