Other things are necessary; the libretto must have dramatic
situations; but above all, the romantic element must prevail. If it is
difficult for the listener to become interested in an opera with such a
libretto as is Fidelio, it must be doubly so for the composer who
undertakes the task of writing music for it. A dull story hinders the
play of fancy; the imagination remains dormant, and the product under
such conditions has the air of being forced. The musician is in bonds.
Musically, it is a work of surpassing beauty; but there is a dissonance
between music and libretto which gives the impression of something
lacking; there is not the harmony which we expect in a work of this
kind. Wagner has taught us better on these points. The music of Fidelio
has force and grandeur; some of it has a sensuous beauty that reminds us
of Mozart at his best. Had Beethoven's choice fallen to a better
libretto, the result might have been an altogether better opera.
Fidelio affords a good instance of the fact that operatic composition,
considered strictly as music, is not the highest form in which the art
can be portrayed, and that, in itself, it is not so strictly confined to
the domain of music as is the symphony, or the various forms of sacred
music (the oratorio or the mass, for instance).
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