Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

plot having been evolved by the librettist. Assad, chief courtier of King Solomon, has been
despatched by his royal master to escort his beautiful and celebrated visitor, the Queen of Sheba,
to the palace; and on returning to announce the approach of the gorgeous Princess, he appears so
disturbed that King Solomon, and also his betrothed sweetheart, Sulamith, daughter of the High
Priest, inquire the cause. Assad tells his master that on his journey he met a mysterious nymph
bathing in a well, who, by her alluring beauty and magic spells, won his adoration. The King is
greatly disturbed, and he makes arrangements for the wedding of the young man with Sulamith on
the morrow. The Queen of Sheba is now announced, and received with great pomp and state; and
when she presently unveils, Assad is amazed and horrified to discover that she is the enchantress
he met in the desert. At first the Queen affects not to know or be interested in Assad; but on
learning that he is to wed Sulamith on the morrow a sudden jealous passion for him springs up
within her, and she endeavours to lure him away from his devoted sweet-heart and secure him as
her own lover. When night falls, she comes into the palace gardens with her chief slave, Astaroth,
with whose sweet singing she entices the sleepless Assad to come forth; then, meeting him, she
uses all her best arts to captivate the young man, who finds himself unable to resist her wiles, even
though he struggles against his passion. In the next act the marriage of Assad and Sulamith is
about to take place in the Temple; and here again the Queen of Sheba, who is present, exercises
her arts upon her victim, luring him to her side by tenderly whispering his name in accents of love;
and Assad, forgetful of his fair bride, flings himself at the feet of the siren and madly declares his
passion for her. The High Priest upbraids him for thus desecrating the Temple, and the infatuated
young man is condemned to death. Both the Queen of Sheba and Sulamith, however, plead for
him, and finally the King changes the sentence to banishment. In the last act Assad is found in the
desert, whither he has retired in despair, having now realised and repented of his foolish and guilty
passion for the heathen woman; and he is overcome with remorse for his cruel treatment of the
gentle Sulamith, whom he has always loved. As these thoughts pass through his mind, the
enchantress again visits him, and tries her witching arts on him once more; but Assad this time
scornfully repulses her advances, and after a passionate struggle between the two opposing wills,
the young man finally con-quers, and the Queen departs, crestfallen. Exposure to many days of
burning heat has by this time utterly exhausted the weary Assad, who is dying, when Sulamith
presently appears, having taken the long and perilous journey, heedless of danger and discomfort,
that she may be near at hand to comfort the exile; but she has no sooner appeared than a terrible
simoon suddenly sweeps down upon them, and as the blinding sand gradually clears away, and the
daylight once more appears, the lovers are seen dead in each other's arms.
63. ESMERALDA
Opera in Four Acts By A. Goring Thomas
Libretto based on Victor Hugo's "Hunchback of Notre Dame," by Alberto Randegger
First Produced Drury Lane, March, 1883
Chief Characters Esmeralda, Fleur-de-Lys, Phoebus de Chateaupers, Claude Frollo, Quasimodo,
Gringoire, Clopin
THE story of this charming opera is founded upon Victor Hugo's romance, "The Hunchback of
Notre Dame," which it follows pretty closely in its main outlines, although, in order to fulfil the
demands of opera comique, the tragic and dramatic dénouement of the original tale is converted