Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 3rd July 1852, Edition Country of 1, Page 22

Page 22
Page 22
22 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Grisi In The Prophete. In The Segraisian...

      IL BARBIERE . Oh , these elections ! If it were not for the intense interest I feel in tieo of them , I should fly away from every circle where the subject was named . People can't understand my feelings on this subject . My uncle could not , or else he would not have urged me to go down and " support the county member "—an appeal which I answered with the characteristic—he thought impertinent—remark— " My dear uncle , as I am neither a first nor a second son , T shall go in for the Deluge . " This election talk is odious : it buzzed around me as I sat lonely , yet supremely happy , in my stall at Her Majesty ' s on Thursday , listening

      to Rossini ' s divine melodies , and weaving delicious fancies into air-palaces , instead of fretting myself about elections . By the way , Thursday saw the d _6 but of tbe long-promised singer , De Bassini , and I shall be expected to ' tell you something of him . What can I say ? He is handsome , and knows it ; sings indifferently , and does not know it . His voice Avas , I suspect , a line one once , for it has fine notes still ; but this " modern school , " which ruins all the voices , has Avorn his into inefficiency . As a singer , he has almost everything to learn , and his voice is gone before he can learn it ! As an actor , he is fussy and puffy : his Figaro was a sort of Paul Bedford version of the restless , lying , inventive barber . In serious parts he may be more effective , but his Figaro certainly roused no enthusiasm .

      Madame de la Grange played Mosina . A woman more thoroughly deficient in charm of all kind for me does not exist upon the stage ; and her traits of bravura are of the species dear old Johnson wished " impossible , m ' am I" When you haA _^ e once heard her famous staccato passage , imitating a violin , you have heard all . May I never hear it again ! Lablache was more exuberant in fat gaiety , more abounding in " gag , " and more magnificent in voice than eA er . What a voice it is ! Shut your eyes , and you would say Lablache is the youngest singer on that stage ; so fresh and unworn is the glorious voice compared with those remanets of screams Ayhich the " modern school" present us with . Calzolari sang with charming taste and expression ; and not like one of the " modern school . " The orchestra and chorus exhibited a high spirit of independence : they were not the dogs to creep servilely after time !

      Ar02204

      German Plays And Actors. The Season Clos...

      GERMAN PLAYS AND ACTORS . The season closed with the second representation of Faust on Tuesday last . Whatever deductions criticism may have made , the public has nothing but gratitude to Mr . Mitchell for his venture in this direction . _As'the Times truly said , These performances were not regarded in the light of dramatic entertainments so much as of literary entertainments . People wanted to see on the stage the Avorks they were familiar with in the study . Now as I , personally , had no such desire , having lived five times m Germany , and seen there much finer acting than that at the St . James ' s Theatre , you may perhaps understand how my criticisms Avere naturally of a less enthusiastic tone than that of my brothers , and hoAV my enioyment being mitigated by mediocrity of acting , I did not blaze away in fireworks of cnthusymusj / . I was considerably bored ; and only the natural meekness of my disposition prevented me from a fierce onslaught .

      Nevertheless , to you , Lector JBenevole , I owe some explanation of the attitude taken in this matter . The press generally sided with the public , and proclaimed that to be fine acting which I emphatically declared to bo mediocre . There is a strong prima facie presumption that I was Avrong . And yet of course I think the other side was wrong . Can this be reconciled ? It is not an insult to the public to say that appreciation of good acting is very rare , owing to the difficulty of separating the pleasure derived from the play itself , and the pleasure derived from the actor ' s share . The public , is pleased , and cares not Avhy . Hence it is that no man altogether fails in JIamlet . The character so interests the audience that they credit

      the actor with the pleasure they receive . But critics whose business it is to understand the technical part , and to separate from the character what belongs to the actor , —in other words , to judge of the means employed by the actor to represent , Avhat the dramatist has written , —are bound not to accept the will for tho deed , conventionalisms for truths , traditions for ideas . When Faust says to _Gretclten , " Let this look arid this handpressure express what is inexpressible , " the public hearing Emil Devrient utter the words , think only of what is meant , and take ; expression for granted ; but the critic whose eyes are open sees that Emil Devrient , in uttering the words , does not press ber hand , and instead of looking into the depths of her eyes with love ' s searching tenderness , looks calmly over her bead ; and the open-eyed critic , pronounces that bad acting .

      Any one accustomed to criticise acting , not _wimply to enjoy if but , to itndcrsfand it , and also accustomed to German acting , would I believe agree with me iu the estimate I have formed of F . mil Devrient . And there is more in the second clause than at , once meets the eye . To those unfamiliar with German acting nil the conventionalisms of fhe stage arc fresh , and pass for truths . Doubtless a Gorman who first sees on our stage the rollicking Irishman press his walking-stick on the gouty toe ol the humorous Father , or playfully digging his elbow into the intercostal spaces of the jocose Uncle , thinks ihe fun immense ! To us the joke is worn out . How much this operates , aided by the inevitable ignorance of national expression which foreigners must labour under , may be seen in the absurd estimation in which" bad French actors are held here and in

      Germany . That , the French haven number of admirable , inimitable actors ' , Ave all {( now ; but , that they have also deplorably bad actors is equally certain , aud many of these bad _ui'tors I have beard the frequenters of flic St . James ' s theatre pronounce superior fo our really good actors . It is the same with the German . Had the troop gathered together by M r . Mitchell been _Knglish actors , their mediocrity would have been apparent from fhe _lii'Hf . Of Ihnil . Devrient I have so often expressed my opinion that I need not revert to it . Herr JOihn is decidedly an excellent actor ol villains—the artist of the troop . . 11 err Schrader is the best fop I have seen _Itnnd his " lirst , netor" in JIamlet was a remarkable hit . ilerr Limbach is N a good quiet humourist . The comic actors have decidedly fhe superiority ; \ _u they always have , for Laughter m not critical . ' . . _**» - *

      Notes Theatrical I Am Only Able To Recor...

      NOTES THEATRICAL I am only able to record the fact that the Olympic Theatre has re-opened for the summer season with a new drama , The Sag of Gold , and a new farce by the author of Ganem ; and that the Lyceum , which closed on Wednesday , re-opens on Monday also for a short summer season ; that the new ballet at Her Majesty ' s Theatre is said to be the best that has been produced for years , and that Charles Selby , the comedian , has brought to London the entertainment he has so successfully been giving in the provinces , illustrating by tableaux vivans and lecturing a series of Remarkable Events in the History of JEngland . But to this , as to all other places of amusement , I have been prevented from going , and , therefore , only chronicle where I should criticise . _VivrAN .

      The Quartett Association. Fixal Performa...

      THE QUARTETT ASSOCIATION . _FIXAL PERFORMANCE OF MADAME PLEYEL . It has been not so much a duty as a delight to record my impressions of the first season of the Quartett Association . My only difficulty has been to satisfy the jealousy of readers who think eulogy , however conscientious , a proof of weakness , and criticism nothing if not carping and cruel . We are expected to be " severe : " and for a critic to simply thank those whose genius has elevated , refreshed , consoled him , is quite unpardonable . Yet , with all the best ( or worst ) disposition in the world , I have had nothing but approA'al to record , nothing but satisfaction to express , in reference to this Association . The names of the artists were rich in promise ,

      and no promise remains unfulfilled . I was prepared to hear the best quartett playing in Europe , and allow me to express my persuasion that I have heard it w hen MM . Sainton , Piatti , Hdl and Cooper , were the executants . I felt that the fact of their constantly playing together was an immense advantage . Let those Avho have heard them , compare the result with quartetts played by any other artists , however eminent , but strangers to each other . My only excuse , then , for language that may haA e seemed exaggeration , is that I have written as I felt . We have had an original piece at every performance ; we have had an eminent pianist at every meeting . Delicious Clauss , sparkling and brilliant Emile Prudent : Pleyel , queenly and supreme in finished excellence ,

      have charmed and surprised us by turns ; and , bring me what names you may , will you forbid me being content with Piatti , with Sainton , with Cooper , with Hill ? whether taken singly or in concert ? The sixth and last concert nobly croAvned the series . The room was crowded with an audience at once discriminating and enthusiastic ; and from the first to the last note the attention and the enthusiasm were sustained by the quality of the music and of its performance . Mr . Macfarren ' s Quartett in G minor , which had been given at a former meeting , was repeated with increased effect ; its frequent glimpses of grace and tenderness were greeted with general murmurs ol _welcome ; and , as a composition , it secured the respect of the most exacting ears . But the Kreutzer Sonata of Beethoven , by M . Sainton and Madame Pleyel , w as the culminating point of the concert . It would be impossible to exceed the intensity , the grace ,

      the " affection , " bestowed upon this masterpiece of the greatest master . Haydn ' s Quartett proved ( if it did nothing more ) that in Cooper we have the best of our native violinists . In _Hummel's Sepluor , Madame Pleyel revelled to excess in her infinite variety of strength and grace , and seemed to spellbind her _accompanyists ; and , as if that were not enough to make her the despair of all Avho seek to snatch the _laurelg from her broAV , she sat down after all this exertion to play Kalkbrenner ' s Fantasia on Tu Vedrai ; and so after lingering to pay this graceful tribute of sympathy to the modest , genius of her brother artists , she vanished amidst a tumult of applause , Avith which perhaps a sadder feeling mingled ; for she was bidding us farewell ; and her place is not to be filled . I cannot help extracting this last , testimony from the Times : —

      " The pianoforte-playing of Madame Pleyel has been the prominent feature of the musical season , when an almost unprecedented number of eminent foreign artists have been attracted fo London . This gifted lady has fully maintained the position she enjoys on the Continent , as the first of pianists . In the fantasia style she has long been without a rival—since , to the energy and _prodigious execution of Lis' / t she adds an _elegance of stylo and a perfection of mechanism which can hardly lu ' accorded to that bold and original pianist . Hut in what , happily , still more deeply interests tbe _Kurdish publio—the ' classical ' school—Madame Heyel bus equally

      distanced competition . Her performance of the ConcertsfUck of Weber ( at the New Philharmonic Society ) , of the concerto in C minor of Ueefhoven , that in << minor of Mendelssohn , and the quartet in li minor of the last-named composer ( at her own concerts ) , of the sonata , in l' \ for violin anil piano , of Beethoven , and the first trio of Mendelssohn ( at , the Musical Union ) , and of Hcefhoven ' s trio in 15 ilat ul , the Quartet Association ) , bave made an impression that no true amateur ol sterling pianoforte music can readily _forget . Such wonderful executive power , united to a fancy af once m > graceful and impulsive , is granted fo few—perhaps , at the present , moment , to no other than Madame Pleyel . "

      And 1 shall but pay my debt of thanks to the Quarfotf Association by endorsing , as I do most , cordially in every letter , the highest authority in their favour : — " ' [' he first season of flic Quartet Association , " says the critic of the . Times , " has been so successful , flint the directors have announced a renewal oi the performances next season . The design of the institution in excellent , and the _promises of the prospectus have been carried out fo the letter . The novelties have been two quartets of ( Mierub ' _nii ( never before attempted in this country ) , fhe new quartet

      of Macfarren , a quartet of Mr . bodge lOllcrton , and a trio of Mr . I aiders . A society based upon such principles as fhe Quartet _Assucinfioii deserves fhe support _, of fhe musical public ; and we heartily wish il , success . The analytical programmes of Mr . Macfarren , which are distributed af each concert , add instruction to flic amusement derived from the performances ; and by the eloquent sty le in which they are written , and their candid and masterly criticisms , arc calculated to advance materially the general comprehension of the art to which they are dedicated . "

      Till next year , then , with all _]> enl wishes , I bid the QunH _. off Association heartily farewell . If bus well won fhe very highest position among our best musical _institutionM . j . _i-. _iw-1-iumnt .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 3, 1852, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03071852/page/22/