Scan 30
Musical Courier 1895-12-25: Vol 31 Iss 825, 1895
84 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 31. See the scan on archive.org.
1IZEYL.
3THE drama Izeyl, in four acts and verse, was written in collaboration by Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand, and the music is signed by Gabriel Pierné. Mr. Silvestre, in an interview, described the careful preparation made by him and his colleague. They consulted Hindoo
5"You mean to say," continues the interviewer, "that in spite of that Izeyl ought to be pronounced Izeil not Izel?" Alas, for us who wish to pronounce the name properly neither Silvestre nor Morand gave an answer. In the work there are no complicated intrigues, no startling incidents; all is in grand masses, with simple effects.
7In the first act the city of Kaplavastou is celebrating the coronation of the Prince, but before this ceremony is an introductory scene. Part of the scenery represents the house of the courtesan Izeyl, in front of which three of her lovers are quarreling. Among them is the Prince Sindia, the next heir to the throne, who would gladly surrender his rights for one smile from Izeyl. The dispute waxes furious, and Izeyl comes out and sends the brawlers away. When they have gone she tells in a dolorous lament the miseries of her life, the vanity of pleasure and the void in her heart. She longs for another existence.
9When the throng of people come in the Prince appears, the coronation ceremony begins, one figure alone is silent; he is badly clothed, with the lined and contracted face of the thinker and the ascetic. It is the Yogi, who when the ceremony is nearly ended abruptly turns to the Prince and protests against the festal joy, for "Is not misery eternal? You are king, can you banish suffering? Can you destroy evil? Your kingship is a vain one, the only supreme power is moral power acquired by relinquishing the world's goods and succoring the distressed." The Yogi then presents the Prince three figures, representing human misery, a poor man, a leper and a corpse, and asks: "What can you do for these?" The Prince, already inclined to "renunciation," leaves his throne and follows the prophet to the desert.
11The second act represents the desert, where the Prince is living a life of prayer, from which the Princesses of his former court seek to seduce him. While they are conversing the Yogi enters, and to punish them turns them into old women. The Prince prays heaven to restore their youth and beauty, and touched by his words they resolve to stay and pray with him. Then appears Izeyl, who does not believe that the Prince's conversion will last. She tries all her charms and wiles, but in vain; she is herself converted. The act closes as she falls at the feet of the Prince and declares that at present she is his faithful disciple.
13In the third act the scene is the same as in the first. Izeyl has returned to the city of Kaplavastou for the purpose of selling her house and collecting all her riches in order to bestow them on the poor.
15In the city she sees Prince Sindia, who is now in possession of the crown, and whose love for the fair courtesan has only been increased during her absence. He is in love, madly in love with her, and cannot understand why she rejects his overtures. She tells him that she never will be his, that she has abandoned forever her former life, and that now she acknowledges only one master, the Prince, the ascetic of the desert. Sindia becomes more and more transported with fury, and swears that if she does not yield to him he will take a terrible vengeance. He will kill the man who stands between him and his desires; he will slay her master, the Prince.
17Still Izeyl does not yield, and hurried on by a storm of hate and jealousy Sindia rushes upon the courtesan, who defends herself with energy. Her resistance only angers him the more, and his assaults become more violent, until Izeyl draws a poignard from her girdle. "Take one step nearer," she cries, "and I kill you here like a dog! Justice to-day arms my hand. Who wants me? My name is death. Take it, then!" and stabs him to the heart. Then, as he lies bathed in blood, she remembers the consequences of her act. "By this murder I have forever lost thee, O Master! Master whom I loved, for whom I have slain, who forbiddest crime and makest me criminal!" Then, as she is trying to conceal the traces of the murder, the Mother of Sindia appears, and Izeyl, who does not know her, im-
19plores her pity, and without any mention of the dead man's name relates the terrible scene that has passed, adjuring her to save her.
21The Mother listens to the narrative, and is about to promise support and pardon, when she learns that it is her son Sindia who has been killed. Then all her hate and grief burst forth, and Izeyl would have been torn to pieces by the people if the Prince and the Yogi had not intervened to save her.
23The fourth set shows the Place of Execution in the city of Kaplavastou. Izeyl has been subject to all forms of torture, and is dying of hunger and pain. By her side stands the Master, the Prince, whom she cannot see, for her eyes have been torn out, except with the eyes of the soul. He says: "Izeyl, I love thee!" and she exclaims "What care I for any tortures now, I bless the death that has elicited such words from thee. Come, kindly Death, lay thy lips on mine and drink my soul in one last kiss!"
25Then the Prince feels that he is still a man. "I love thee! O Faith that I betray, O Faith that I blaspheme. O Faith, let me be but a man like other men; let me be meek and suffer like them. Let the world look elsewhere if it needs an apostle! I am but clay. Die not, Izeyl; be reborn in thy carnal and despised beauty! Thy voice restores me to myself, to the immortal duties I have for a moment deserted." "O Master!" she sighs, "press me in thy arms, lay thy hand on my heart, give me thy lips, there is time, I die," and Izeyl then feeling that she is beloved ends in the rapture of eternal love. In this glorification of annihilation in supreme happiness the piece ends.
27In these days when the world is full of all kinds of students of Buddhism, esoteric and exoteric, it is almost need-
29SARAH BERNHARDT IN IZEYL.
31From Photo by REUTLINGER, Paris.
33books for the religion, and appealed to fervent Buddhists, like M. de Rosny, for details of exegesis, and when they had finished two acts intrusted them to Sarah Bernhardt, who at once accepted the piece.
35At first they intended to have it performed at the Comédie Française, but the house of Molière moves very slowly, and as they would have to wait three or four years before it saw the footlights they preferred to give it to the Théâtre de la Renaissance. The text differs in form somewhat from the ordinary form of lyric drama, frequent use being made of the strophe of four or five verses in order to avoid monotony. The idea of an Indian piece came from Morand, who mentioned the matter to Silvestre, and was referred by him to Burnouf's Introduction to Buddhism, in which is narrated the touching story of the disciple of Buddha Oupagoutpa and the courtesan Vasavadatta. But as this disciple was a secondary figure in Buddhism, the authors blended with the story from Burnouf a legend respecting Buddha himself, which has a remarkable analogy with the legend of Christ and Mary Magdalen.
37Nor did the name Vasavadatta please them, and it was changed to one which they considered more harmonious, Izeyl. Properly the word ought to have a diaresis over the Y, but as such a type does not exist in newspaper offices, it is never printed as it was written by the author.
39… SIGNOR GIUSEPPE …
41DEL PUENTE,
42The Baritone.
43OPERA AND CONCERTS.
44Vocal School: 1726 Spring Garden, Philadelphia, Pa.
46AUGUST GEMÜNDER & SONS,
47-MAKERS OF THE-
48"Gemünder Art" Violins,
49"Gemünder Solo" Mandolins and Guitars.
50Rare Old Violins, Bows, Strings and Repairing.
51Send for new Catalogue. 13 East 16th St., New York.
53NEW CHICAGO MUSIC HOUSE.
54THE STRAUSS MUSIC CO.,
55267-269 WABASH AVENUE.
56Around the corner from STEINWAY HALL.
57Half a block from the AUDITORIUM.
58ALL STANDARD PUBLICATIONS. ALL EDITIONS.
59COMPLETE STOCK OF EVERYTHING.
61COLUMNS OF PREPARED NOTICES HERALD THE COMING OF OTHER VIOLINISTS.
63SAURET
64IS SO GREAT IT IS NECESSARY ONLY TO MENTION HIS NAME. JOHNSTON & ARTHUR, THIRTY-THREE UNION SQ., N. Y. CITY.
66ANOTHER PORTRAIT.
68From Photo by REUTLINGER, Paris.
70SEASON 1895-1896.
71All inquiries regarding dates and terms for
72PIANO RECITALS
73By Mr. E. A. MacDOWELL
74SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO
75BREITKOPF & HÄRTEL, NEW YORK.
76Complete assortment of his own compositions and revised editions of selected Piano compositions of modern composers. Catalogues free of charge on application. Selections sent to Teachers and Music Schools of good standing. Correspondence solicited.
78NEW SONGS BY SEBASTIAN B. SCHLESINGER.
79Love Haunted. There, Little Girl, Don't Cry.
80Little Boy Blue. Love, I Shall Know It All.
81Phil's Secret. Hark to My Lute.
82Published by J. H. SCHROEDER.
8312 EAST 16TH STREET, NEW YORK.
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