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Musical Courier 1895-01-09: Vol 30 Iss 774, 1895
46 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 29. See the scan on archive.org.
1WEDNESDAY'S performance of "Otello" at the Metropolitan was one of the smoothest Verdi's opera has had since its production this season. All the artists were in good form, and Signor Mancinelli conducted with an equitable division of attention between the singers and the band, an end the Italian leader does not invariably keep in view. The representation was carried forward by Signor Tamagno, M. Maurel, Mme. Eames and Signora Mantelli, than whom a better equipped quartet could scarcely be found.
3Mme. Eames stood forth a little more prominently than usual, for she was not only in admirable voice but in a sympathetic mood, and uncommonly animated and energetic. As for Signor Tamagno and M. Maurel, their work was precisely the same as in the past; that is to say, quite admirable. It is gratifying to note that the proportions of the audience exerted no influence whatever upon the performers. The house was by no means full, but the earnestness and animation with which "Otello" was interpreted could not have been greater had the Metropolitan been crowded with the most coveted of foreign auditors: those designated by the general title of Royalties.
5The second representation of "Gli Ugonotti," Thursday—a special function—was not so numerously attended, either, as some sanguine people may have expected. All things change as the world grows older, and it would appear as if the days when what managers term, an aggregation of imposing stage names, could be depended upon to attract a throng were gone forevermore. If the septet of vocalists concerned in "Gli Ugonotti" cannot crowd the Metropolitan two or three nights in a season, the era of "ideal casts" is indeed vorbei. Those that attended either of the performances of "Gli Ugonotti" will probably have garnered the last memory of the sort, and while in years to come something of the kind may be attempted once more, the present outlook makes it appear unlikely that any similar array of artistic notabilities will ever be brought together again.
7As in the week previous MM. J. and E. de Reszké, M. Maurel, M. Plançon and Mmes. Melba, Nordica and Scalchi were the singers, and Signor Bevignani conducted the proceedings. Mme. Melba's facile, brilliant and technically flawless singing as the "Queen" was the incident of the evening that aroused most enthusiasm; Mme. Scalchi's two numbers were sung with authority and fluency, and Mme. Nordica went through the duett in Act IV. with sincerity and force. The male associates of the prima donnas were all up in their respective tasks, but they did not brighten the picture as vividly as did the artists of the gentler sex. Once again let us note, without going into superfluous detail—as to the efficiency of the singers in their respective rôles there can be no question, while there is no disguising the fact, that the very best work done by each and all in "Gli Ugonotti" is not on a plane with the artists' happiest efforts in other operas—that while it was well worth attending a rendering of Meyerbeer's achievement so as to form an idea of the extraordinary proportions of the company actually in our midst, there are achievements in the répertoire in which the vocalists, individually and collectively, are far more illuminative.
9Friday evening's performance must go upon record as one of the least attractive and impressive functions of the season. "Cavalleria Rusticana" has been sung so frequently by artists of the foremost rank that anything short of an extraordinary exposition must nowadays disappoint an audience, and "I Pagliacci," although done last winter with Mme. Melba and Signor Di Lucia (the tenor finding in "Canio" the one rôle in which he revealed the qualities that explained the reputation he enjoys in Europe) never created anything approaching the excitement the work is understood to have caused abroad.
11On Friday the two operas failed to arouse enthusiasm, and the rendering of Leoncavallo's presumably typical achievement was literally depressing. Signor Ancona was the only artist in the cast that, figuratively, fought his way out of the ruins and came forth into daylight. Signor Ancona sang the prologue with a fine volume of tone, great breadth and sufficient dramatic accent, and its repetition was really desirable. As "Canio" Signor Russitano was hopelessly bad, as any one might have known he would be, for the music of the rôle is by no means grateful enough to enable a lovely voice to make amends for a performer's lack of feeling and imperfect technic in respect of acting. Mlle. de Lussan was quite as inefficient as was Signor Russitano; a more colorless and unfragrant "Nedda"—the songstress, too, imparted to the personage a suspicion of coarseness that we should gladly have missed—we do not recall.
13Things went somewhat better with "Cavalleria Rusticana," for in Mascagni's opera Signor Tamagno was "Turridu." The virility of this tenor and his ringing voice infused vitality into a good part of the representation, and when he was heard the proceedings never dragged. Signor Tamagno sang the "Sicilienne," the duet with "Alfio" and the final measures with "Lucia" exceedingly well, and his portrayal was characterized by a rough earnestness that accorded with one's ideal of the personage depicted. Mlle. Mira Heller contributed an intelligent delineation of "Santuzza" and once more disclosed the possession of a voice that only needs judicious culture to become valuable. She did not, however, rise above the plane of conventionalism at any stage of the story that unfolds itself to Mascagni's measures. Signor Bevignani conducted both operas, and the two intermezzi were so eloquently played that both were redeemed.
15The second hearing of "Elaine," Saturday afternoon, revealed no characteristics of M. Bemberg's opera that had not been discerned on its first presentation. The lack of originality that disclosed itself on the work's production could not well become more apparent on closer acquaintance, but its flimsiness, so to say, was clearer, as familiarity with the garb of the thoughts led one to look through them to the attenuated frame within. We still were impressed, withal, by the composer's dexterity as a writer for the modern orchestra, and are inclined the more sincerely to deplore the penury of ideas underlying his technical cleverness and "savoir faire." If ever M. Bemberg is inspired with any message worth delivering he will surely not be deficient in ability to clothe it in the "right form."
17And what a rare chance, too, has good fortune given him in the matter of making known "Elaine" to the world! Such performances as have occurred at Covent Garden and at the Metropolitan Opera House would have dignified the veriest dross, and endowed anything "viable"—to use an untranslatable French term—with vitality. Saturday, as before, M. Jean de Reszké was "Launcelot," M. Edouard de Reszké "The Friar," M. Plançon "Astolat," Mme. Melba "Elaine" and Signora Mantelli "Guinevere."
19With such interpreters one might be content to bear with even less inspired measures and less smooth harmonies than M. Bemberg's, and the fact remains that not only was the audience in attendance a very large one, but that its attention never flagged, and that it was liberal of applause. No one bore away very illuminative memories of M. Bemberg's score, but who that beheld the picturesque representation of "Launcelot," and sat under the spell of the tenor's varied, earnest and persuasive delivery, or lent an ear to the pure and brilliant tone of the soprano's matchless voice, fretted for the time being over the vacuousness of the composer's measures? Signor Mancinelli conducted.
21For the Saturday evening performance at "popular prices" "Carmen" was the opera, with Mlle. de Lussan as "Carmen," Miss Lucille Hill as "Micaëla," Signor Russitano as "José" and Signor Ancona as "Escamillo." There was no reason to expect that a representation furnished for $2.50 per stall should be equal to one rated at $5, and from this standpoint the latest exposition of "Carmen" can have caused no disappointment. Mlle. de Lussan's "Carmen," indeed, was the same article offered at the higher figure, so that the spectator that benefited by the reduced tariff had considerably the best of it.
23On Saturday Mlle. de Lussan was quite as satisfactory as on the evening of her emergence, although her small and unemotional voice, and her utter want of magnetism prompted once more a feeling of regret that the prima donna should have left on the other side of the ocean the extraordinary gifts and attainments that are understood to have stirred to the depths the Queen, the royal family and the profoundly musical British public, so highly eulogized by the late Anton Rubinstein.
25Miss Lucille Hill sang "Micaëla's" music intelligently and correctly, but the singer's voice is hard and her style equally ligneous. Signor Russitano was sufficiently animated as "José," whom he depicted as a sort of "rageur" individual—we know of no word in the vernacular that will quite express the schoolboy irascibleness that pervaded the tenor's portrayal of the character. Signor Russitano's voice, of course, sounded well, and he used his organ with his wonted surety. Signor Ancona was a conventional but efficient "Escamillo," and the remaining rôles were in the hands of their familiar interpreters. Signor Bevignani conducted.
27Monday's performance of "Faust" calls for no special comment. It was carried forward by Messrs. Jean and Edouard de Reszké, Mme. Melba, Mme. Scalchi and Signor Campanari, the artist last mentioned taking Signor Ancona's place and sustaining the rôle of "Valentin" with efficiency. Gounod's opera still draws, and, as the same composer's "Romeo et Juliette," is also to be cited as one of the elements of the répertoire that can be depended upon with the sterling singers concerned in its representation to attract at least an average audience. A review of the season will probably show that Gounod has held the boards more persistently than any of his contemporaries or predecessors. On Monday Signor Mancinelli conducted.
29The announcements are as follows: This evening, "Lohengrin," with M. Jean de Reszké, M. Plançon, M. Maurel—his first appearance as "Telramond"—and Mmes. Nordica and Mantelli; Friday evening, "Don Giovanni," with the same cast as last week; Saturday afternoon, "Gli Ugonotti," with last week's cast, except in respect of "De Nevers," in which rôle Signor Ancona will appear instead of M. Maurel; Saturday evening, "Pagliacci" and "Cavalleria Rusticana," with Signor Tamagno as "Turiddu," will be performed. It has not yet been determined what opera shall be given Monday; but on Wednesday Massenet's "Manon" is to be brought out, and Miss Sybil Sanderson will make her New York début, with the invaluable co-operation of M. Jean de Reszké as the "Chevalier Des Grieux."
31"Falstaff" is in rehearsal, but the opera is a troublesome one to bring forth in regard to the "business" of the stage, and an imperfect performance would ruin its chances of success. A revival of "Lakmé," with M. Jean de Reszké and Mme. Melba, is among the possibilities, and there is a likelihood that Signor Tamagno will be heard in "L'Africaine" before the season ends.
33Liszt's Princess.
35PARIS, December 28.
37WHILE press and public alike have been railing against Germany in connection with the Captain Dreyfus scandal to an extent that has called forth a greater degree of resentment on the part of the Berlin Government than has been expressed at any time since the war, the wife of the German Chancellor, Princess Clovis Hohenlohe, has been quietly living here in the Rue de l'Université, unknown to the general public. She has been staying with her stepmother, the aged Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein, who is some six or seven years older than Queen Victoria, and almost as many times a great-grandmother as that august lady. The Chancellor's wife was only five years old when her father married the beautiful Leonille Bariatinski, and the latter has by her always been considered as a mother. The old Princess is one of those numerous Russian aristocrats who spend their entire existence abroad, and I do not think that she has ever set foot in Russia since she forfeited her place as maid of honor to the consort of Czar Nicholas, some sixty years ago, by becoming a convert to Catholicism.
39Her marriage to the widowed Prince Sayn-Wittgenstein cannot be regarded as having been an altogether happy union, as she soon left him, and they lived apart, the Princess retaining the charge, however, of his children by his first wife, including Princess Clovis Hohenlohe. Princess Chigi Albani, Count Altenkirchen and that Prince Louis Sayn-Wittgenstein who died at Rome and whose bourgeois born widow, now married to Baron Hans Reischach, spent so many years in sensational litigation with her husband's relatives endeavoring to obtain recognition of her rights to his title and to the inheritance of his fortune, instead of being treated merely as a morganatic spouse.
41Passionately devoted to music, Princess Leonille soon became the chief of that cohort of blue blooded ladies who constituted themselves into a sort of court of the great composer, Liszt, first of all at Weimar and subsequently at Rome. It was thoroughly understood that as soon as her husband departed for another world she would become Liszt's wife, and when in 1865 the Prince died she at once announced her readiness to become Mme. Liszt. Unfortunately the composer had made a similar promise of marriage to the Comtesse d'Agoult, who had even far greater claims upon him than the Princess, since not only had she secured a divorce from the Count in order to marry the composer, but was also the mother of two of his children, one of whom became the wife of the great French statesman, Emile Olivier, Prime Minister of Napoleon III. at the outbreak of the war, while the other is now the widow of Richard Wagner, the composer of "Lohengrin" and of the "Niebelungen."
43Countess d'Agoult, by the bye, was quite celebrated as an author, her pen name being "Daniel Stern;" and it was by her, too, that Mme. Adam, the proprietress and editress of "La Nouvelle Revue," was brought up. Liszt thus found himself on the horns of a dilemma, and in his despair appealed for advice to his great friend and patron, Cardinal Prince Hohenlohe, brother of the present Chancellor. The Cardinal, being only too glad to find a means of preventing a mésalliance on the part of a lady so closely related to his house, suggested that Liszt should enter holy orders as the only means to extricate himself from the difficulty. The Comtesse d'Agoult never forgave the composer for following the advice of the prelate, but Princess Wittgenstein did, and actually went so far as to establish her residence permanently at Rome, so as to be able to offer him a home and a centre where she might assemble his friends.
45Her salon in the Eternal City soon became one of the most famous in Europe, statesmen, diplomats, royal visi-
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