“Here the struggle begins between the unseen powers and the only human being who has the fire of hell in his veins to enable him to resist them; and to make this quite clear, as Bertram comes on, the great musician has given the orchestra a passage introducing a reminiscence of Raimbaut’s ballad.  What a stroke of art!  What cohesion of all the parts!  What solidity of structure!

“The devil is there, in hiding, but restless.  The conflict of the antagonistic powers opens with Alice’s terror; she recognizes the devil of the image of Saint Michael in her village.  The musical subject is worked out through an endless variety of phases.  The antithesis indispensable in opera is emphatically presented in a noble recitative, such as a Gluck might have composed, between Bertram and Robert: 

  “Tu se sauras jamais a quel exces je t’aime.

“In that diabolical C minor, Bertram, with his terrible bass, begins his work of undermining which will overthrow every effort of the vehement, passionate man.

“Here, everything is appalling.  Will the crime get possession of the criminal?  Will the executioner seize his victim?  Will sorrow consume the artist’s genius?  Will the disease kill the patient? or, will the guardian angel save the Christian?

“Then comes the finale, the gambling scene in which Bertram tortures his son by rousing him to tremendous emotions.  Robert, beggared, frenzied, searching everything, eager for blood, fire, and sword, is his own son; in this mood he is exactly like his father.  What hideous glee we hear in Bertram’s words:  ‘Je ris de tes coups!’ And how perfectly the Venetian barcarole comes in here.  Through what wonderful transitions the diabolical parent is brought on to the stage once more to make Robert throw the dice.

“This first act is overwhelming to any one capable of working out the subjects in his very heart, and lending them the breadth of development which the composer intended them to call forth.

“Nothing but love could now be contrasted with this noble symphony of song, in which you will detect no monotony, no repetitions of means and effects.  It is one, but many; the characteristic of all that is truly great and natural.

“I breathe more freely; I find myself in the elegant circle of a gallant court; I hear Isabella’s charming phrases, fresh, but almost melancholy, and the female chorus in two divisions, and in imitation, with a suggestion of the Moorish coloring of Spain.  Here the terrifying music is softened to gentler hues, like a storm dying away, and ends in the florid prettiness of a duet wholly unlike anything that has come before it.  After the turmoil of a camp full of errant heroes, we have a picture of love.  Poet!  I thank thee!  My heart could not have borne much more.  If I could not here and there pluck the daisies of a French light opera, if I could not hear the gentle wit of a woman able to love and to charm, I could not endure the terrible deep note on which Bertram comes in, saying to his son:  ’Si je la permets!’ when Robert had promised the princess he adores that he will conquer with the arms she has bestowed on him.