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Leader (1850-1860), 11th November 1854, Edition Country of 2, Page 21, THE DRAJMA IN "WEIMAJJ. Weimar, October ...

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      November .11, 1854] The Leader. 1077

      November . 11 , 1854 ] THE LEADER . 1077

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      We Should Do Our Utmost To Encourage The...

      We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourage itseliT—Goethe .

      The Drajma In "Weimajj. Weimar, October ...

      THE DRAJMA IN "WEIMAJJ . Weimar , October 6 . Ober-Weimar is a little -village , about a mile from this , lying as it were in the park . At the entrance to this village , on the banks of the Urn , they have a Tivoli—a most primitive and German affair—what in England -would be called a barn . The seats were a few rough pl :: nks , not even shaped into benches . The walls were hedges and trees . The canopy was furnished by the bluest of August skies . We sat on the aforesaid planks , in front of a little theatre ; an orchestra , with a conductor ! made ambitious efforts at an overture . Beer , and coffee , were freely enjoyed by the spectators , and every male mouth was occupied with cigar or pipe . Through the hedges peeped several of those who could not afford the few pence of

      entrancemoney ; -while from the branches of the trees hung clusters of adventurous boys , dividing their attention between the interest of the play and the difficulty of their balance . The quiet of a summer evening , the mixture of foliage and scenic preparations , the beer and pipes , all made a most curious impression . The acting , which was witnessed in perfect stillness , was really not so bad as one sees at many a provincial theatre ; it was free from our besetting sin of exaggeration . The dresses , scenery , and properties were also respectable—wonderful , when the prices of admission were considered . In so small a space there was of course no room for scenery , such as a stage furnishes . This was remedied by the scenes being rolled up at each " change . "

      On another occasion I saw Kotzebue ' s Arme Poet ( the original of that Monsieur Jacques ^ which Bouffe and Wigan have made so memorable ) , and our well-known farce of the Lottery Ticket . It was instructive and amusing to observe in Kotzebue ' s piece , as compared with the piece it suggested , the striking difference between the idea of a drama and the drama itself . Nothing can be weaker , dramatically speaking , than Kotzebue's Arme Poet ; but the French authors have turned it into a capital little play . As far as I can judge—and it is fifteen years since my acquaintance with the German stage began—the Germans are utterly incompetent to the production of a really good drama . Except Lessing , I do not know a single writer who has united theatrical with dramatic excellence . When the dramatists "have a good idea , which is rare , they cannot work it out dramatically .

      The only play I have seen during this visit , besides my Tivoli ventures , ¦ was Die Journalisten , by Gustav Preitag , a comedy which has had great success in Germany , but which would be unendurable elsewhere . In it there is some lively writing ( German liveliness , remember !) , and some good " intentions ; " but the whole piece is so gemacht , as they say—so mechanically put together , and with such supreme disregard to the ennui of an audience—that only the patient Germans would sit it out . Yet , although

      that is my critical opinion of the piece , I must confess that never have I seen a German comedy which amused me so much—thanks to the acting . There is an actor here named Genast—interesting as being the son of the Genast mentioned by G 02 the—who played the part of an old -wine merchant ¦ with such colossal bonhomie , with such Jinesse of observation , -with such a play of countenance and gesture , that I can compare it to nothing but laston . I roared , I shrieked with laughter . His face haunted me for a Couple of days afterwards , and I cannot even now write his name without a

      pleasant smile . Yet this Genast is a tragic actor , the leading tragedian of Weimar , and , I am assured , the finest William Tell in Germany . Next to him , I must mention Iltrr Grans ( whom you may remember at the St . James ' s Theatre in 1851 , playing Laertes and Brackenburg to Eurile Devrient ' s Hamlet and Egmont ) . What would we now give for such an actor on our stage I Ho plays the part of a joung journalist full of animal spirits , and plays it with an entrain which never deserts him and never allows gaiety to

      not into exaggeration , with a grace and gentlemanly bearing such asjaunespremurs seldom poasess ; and when the serious pnssagos arrivo , he falls into them with the most faithful truthfulness , touching them lightly , not carelessly , and never committing the too frequent mistake of being iragic . Altogether , this play was remarkably well acted . The ensemble was such . 19 I scarcely remember in a comedy containing so many parts . One and all were free from exaggeration—when the acting wan poor , it was at least inoffensive . The " make-up , " even of the subordinate parts , was excellent .

      If Mr . Mitchell again contemplates German performances , lot me earnestly direct his attention to a comedy troupe . The public which yawns at tragedies ill performed , will appreciate comedy well performed . Hitherto my exporienco of the Weimar Tlieatro 1 ms been confined to one comedy and three operas ; for although I venture on a " hair of tho dog that hit inc , " I have no fancy to lot tho dog bite mo agnin . Tho operas havy been Verdi ' s JSrnani Wagner ' s Tannhauscr , and Flotow's Mar the . To thu student of German literature and German music , who first comes to Germany with his head full of diefs-d'ccuvre , expecting to sec thorn everywhere performed and discussed great and vexatious is tho disappointment . Ho finds tho theatre occupied

      ¦ with Scribe , Dumas , or Birch Pfeiffer , and not in the least anxious about Goethe , Schiller , or Lessinj ?; he finds the opera supplied by Donizetti , Bellini , Verdi , Auber , Adam , even Flotow and Balfe—the public having had enough of Beethoven , Mozart , Gluck , Rossini , Weber . The chefs-d ' ornvre are well enough to swear by , but a public demands amusement , and amusement must be novel . To be candid , how many of us spend our lives with chefs-d ' azuvre ? When -we are young we study them with great eagerness ; but once studied , do we not place them on our shelves , content with reverence , and an occasional regret that we haven't time to read them again ? When I first learned German , my reading was of nothing but masterpieces . It is twelve years at least since I read a line of Schiller ; and if Goethe is a

      constant companion , that lies less in the fact of his works being masterpieces than in the fact of his being , like Shakspeare , inexhaustible , and , above all writers , the modern writer . Yet , whatever deductions one may have to make from Schiller , he is assuredly of infinite value compared with the German poems , plays , and criticisms ( Goethe excepted ) I have read since ; still he is old , and the novelty of the day attracts the daily reader . Thnt is my confession . How fares it with you , dear reader ? Are you incessantly , are you even occasionally occupied with Homer , Sophocles , Lucretius , Dante . Ariosto , Moliere , Racine , Shakspeare , Spenser , Milton , Pope , Byron , Wordsworth ? It would be better for you to read them than Loose Thoughts by a Lady , or Random Rhymesor The Bandit of the Abruzzu Yet do

      , you not . I should like to have the statistics of Readers and Buyers , setting forth the relation between those who buy Montesquieu and those -who read him . When I enter Bonus's library , and see the shelves graced with serious authors side by side , with all those works " which every gentleman ' s library should be without "—when I see the gravity and learning silently beckoning to Bobus , I am tempted to envy him the possession of such wealth , until my eye glances at the table , and there detects the literature with which B . is actually occupied—a new novel , the last quarterly , the magazines of the month , Biggs on the " Crimea , " and Timbs on the " Turks . " With a contemptuous shrug , I seat myself in his study-chair , and take up the novel , which lasts till lunch .

      Besides the Tivoli Theatre and the Court Theatre ( Hof TJieater ) , I have been delighted with an original and very charming Natur 'Theater , which Goethe arranged at Belvidere , one of the Duke ' s summer palaces . Imagine a garden arranged into a theatre , the walls of which , the flats ( or side entrances ) and the proscenium , are trees in full foliage , but trimmed into high hedges . A sunk fence forms the division of orchestra and audience . The performances took place during the summer nights before the Court , and the performers were all amateurs belonging to the Court circle ; a more enchanting form of private theatricals one cannot conceive . Private theatricals , formerly " all the rage" in German Courts , and in Weimar carried to an extraordinary pitch , now scarcely exist in Germany , and this Natur Theater has been silent for many years . Dreary as we usually find the performance of amateurs , I think we shoul dall enjoy a play in such a theatre .

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      The Theatrical News Of The Week Conies T...

      The theatrical news of the week conies to us from Paris . Madame George Sand ' s Flaminio has been produced at the Gymnase with a success of reputation and curiosity rather than of dramatic interest . Flaminio is nothing more than an adaptation of lier charming story , Teverino , published some two years ago , but with the darling : of that story , Madeleine MSleze , the bird-fancier aiid protege of Teverino , reduced to the proportions of a figurante 1 For the rest , Flaminio is another , version of that cteriial artist-vagabond ideal whose apotheosis Madame Sand seems never tired of celebrating . ' This exceptional creation of poet , painter , tenor , marioneltist , contrabandist , engineer , all embraced in one magnificent organisation , is suirounded by the most fantastic and impossible personages , and the " artist" does nothing but come , see , and conquer through the four acts . Jules Jainin ¦ writes one of his most savage feuilktuns on Fiuminio , in his subtlest style of malicious banter ; and the more friendly critics speak with ovident regret of the sacrifice of so great a reputation to the / stage . Madame Sand , we know , speaks of tho drama as the art comprehending all other arts ; but we fear she has lost her way in committing the glowing and tender grace of her genius to the withering ordeal of the foot-lamps .

      Mademoiselle Sophie Cruvelli has , it seems , made her peace with tho Imperial Opera . Tho semi-official Patrie otters tho following rather lame explanation ot the capricious lady's defection ;—" It was in consequence of a misunderstanding thnt ftlndenioisollo Cruvolli ' s aljsonci caused a disappointment us to hor performance * at tho Opera . Thu jtorson charged t < inform tho management of her rlojmrttiro did not exeouto hi . s commiHHion . Mademoiaolle Cruvclli , terrUiod at the e fleet which ensued , hud not dared to make hor reappcurnnco boforo tho public . Comprehending now that the prolongation of hoi absence might aggravate hor involuntary fault , » he hm requested ixml obtained leave to resume * immediately hor duties nt the Opera . " No doubt the loss of Mademoiselle Cruvolli would bo difficult to replace under tho present circumstances of tlie Imperial Academy of Munic ; but it may bo doubted whether this eaisy victory of a singer , who threw all engagements to tho winds in 11 ( It of passion , is not a dangerous precedent in that operatic world which is already too muuli « dynasty oi spoiled children .

      Mr. Charles Kcan's Manipulator Of French...

      Mr . Charles Kcan ' s manipulator of French plnya appears to have done his worst , to turn l * aul Maurice ' s imaginative and ingenious drninu of Schamyl into a disjointed compromise of balderdash and bluo fire . All tho weakness of the company of thu I ' imnckhh ' s—excepting Mr . Charles Koaii himself , who reserves hie genius for thu villains in the early part of tho evening—is lavished on this sneotuolo ; there is abundance of patriotic declamation , of quusi-Cauoaiainn deanery , of water more or less real , and properties more or leas new . Tho dancing is oflectivc , and the acting equal to tho occasion , It may do an nn afterpiece , but it is an elaborate mistake .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 11, 1854, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11111854/page/21/