Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

already wedded, he refuses to listen to her plea, and sternly commands her to make ready. Juliet,
in despair, seeks the counsel of friendly Friar Laurence, who gives her a potion, which he bids her
to take just before the ceremony, and the effect of which will be that she will fall into a trance and
appear as one dead. Her friends will then lay her in the vault of the Capulets; and in the early dawn
she will awaken, and be rescued from her temporary prison by Romeo, who will return for the
purpose and bear her away with him into exile. Juliet agrees to follow out these directions, whilst
the Friar sends off a messenger to acquaint Romeo with the plan. The next scene is the wedding
festival, at which the guests are presently horrified at seeing Juliet (who has taken the potion) fall
to the ground, apparently dead; and the scene ends in confusion and dismay and the grief of the
bereaved parents. The final act takes place in the vault of the Capulets, where Juliet has been laid,
being deemed dead by her friends. Thither comes Romeo, full of woe; for the news of Juliet's
death has reached him on his journey, and he has hastened back to Verona, before Friar Laurence's
servant has arrived with the message giving him the true facts of the case. On entering the vault,
therefore, he believes that Juliet is indeed dead, and gives vent to a passionate outburst of grief;
then, determining that he will not live without his beloved one, he swallows the contents of a phial
of poison he has purchased for the purpose. As he falls dying beside the bier, however, Juliet
awakens from her trance, and is full of joy on beholding her husband, thinking he has come to take
her away, as arranged by the old Friar; but when she grasps the terrible truth she also determines
to live no longer, and, seizing a dagger she had concealed upon her before taking the potion, she
stabs herself. Thus the devoted lovers die in each other's arms, and are united in death.
67. MELUSINE
Opera in Three Acts By Carl Gramman
Libretto Adapted from the Poem of C. Camp
First Produced Wiesbaden, 1874
Chief Characters Melusine, Duchess de Lusignan, Raymond, Bertram, Peter the Hermit
THE scene is laid in the Rhine-land country during the Crusade period. In a forest of the Duchy of
Lusignan dwells Melusine, Queen of the River Nymphs and Fairies; and during one of the fairy
revels by moonlight the bugles of a hunting-party are heard, and the young Count Raymond, son
of the Duke de Lusignan, appears with his half-brother, Bertram, both of them seeking their father
who has got separated from the party. Bertram is jealous of his brother, and plots for his ruin. He
presently hides in the forest; and Raymond, hearing a loud cry for help, hastens to the bushes from
whence it comes, thinking it is his father's voice. Melusine, however, issues from her grotto to
warn him not to go, knowing that he is fated to slay his father unwittingly; but Raymond heeds her
not and rushes off. He soon returns in wildest grief; for, in trying to save his father from the attack
of a4 wild boar, his weapon entered the heart of the old Duke, instead of that of the savage beast.
As the distraught young man gazes around him, he beholds the lovely nymph, who comes forward
to offer him comfort and sympathy; and the pair fall in love with one another. Then Melusine
offers the Count a magic draught, which, when he has swallowed it, causes him to forget what has
recently happened, and to think only of his newly-born love. He implores the beautiful Fairy to be
his wife; and Melusine consents on condition that he will never pry upon her should she ever leave
him on the nights of full-moon. He agrees; and when the hunters presently appear he intro-duces
the nymph as his chosen bride. On beholding the loveliness of his envied brother's sweetheart,