Rather
a mixed affair to start with when you have a French _libretto_,
set by an English Composer, and played at the Royal Italian Opera,
Covent Garden. No matter. A big success for everyone concerned,
from DRURIOLANUS downwards. No one could have wished for a better
_Esmeralda_ than Madame MELBA, though she did not make the most of
that first charming song, "_L'Hirondelle_." One Swallow, however,
doesn't make an Opera, and Madame MELBA soon pulled herself together,
and threw herself into the work when she saw Mons. JEAN DE RESZKE, as
_Phoebus_, winning fresh laurels.
The _Quasimodo_ of M. DUFRICHE, of the Vibrato school, was
dramatically good, but not great; but _Claude Frollo_ was both
great and good. These two have been defrauded of their rights by the
undramatic Librettist, who has done about as little as possible with
the excellent materials at his command. What a scene might have been
the final one between _Quasimodo_ and _Claude_, when _Claude Frollo_
is pitched over the battlements. I forget what becomes of _Quasi_; but
if he stabs himself, or is stabbed, that would be quite sufficient
for dramatic justice and effect. Then, of course, the absurd ceremony
used by _Clopin_, and the real unwillingness of _Esmeralda_ to become
_Gringoire's_ wife, would dispose of the marriage, unless _Gringoire_
were previously got rid of (for I don't remember how the novel ends)
and _Esmeralda_ would be united to _Phoebus_, while _Fleur-de-Lys_
could marry _De Chevreuse_, or anybody else.
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