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Leader (1850-1860), 24th May 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 493, Untitled Article

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      bad one ; the utmost stretch of your musical appreciation is " a tune . " When Titania asks Bottom if he will have sweet music , the self-sufficient clown sublimely answers , "I have a reasonable good ear for music : let us have the tongs and bones ! " The opera has its Bottoms . Still there are lovers of music among that crowd : men who know and men who feel . These have been nobly treated of late : Donna del Lago—Der

      Freischutz— Don Giovanni—and Fidelio—thus in an ascending scale of excellence , until the opera is given which appeals more to the musician and less to the tunelover than any known work , andthanks to the numerous genuine lovers of genuine art , aided by the profound hypocrisy of that large class which knowing nothing of art , affects rapture as it swallows the caviare—Fidelio was triumphant , entirely , unreservedly triumphant !

      If you are unacquainted with this opera let me urge you to become forthwith acquainted with iton the supposition , of course , that you care for something besides warbling and waltz tunes ; and , in order that you may go fitly prepared , let me hint where the beauty lies . It is not tuneful , it is not vocal . Singers complain cruelly of it , and with justice . But , if instead of placing singers in the foreground , and allowing the symphonies and accompaniments to play the subsidiary part , you transpose the general order , and consider the voices almost as a subsidiary accompaniment to the orchestral grandeur and significance , then you will

      feel how great a work it is , how true in its dramatic expression , how matchless in melodic invention and intricate harmonies . It is the complete contrast to a ballad opera , —and ballad lovers will have nothing to say to it . Written at the period when Beethoven was most blissfully unhappy , when he was tormented by his passion for Julia , and when the deepening shadows of his coming misfortune—deafness—rendered him more gloomy and more irritable than ever—this single opera , which the grand Titan of harmony composed with sublime indifference to the demands of managers , singers , or public , but with absolute and absorbed devotion to his own instinct of dramatic

      art , remains one of the marvels of composition , to be studied and to be reverenced . If I ask you to throw the voices somewhat into the background , it is from no indifference to the noble expression Beethoven has confided to them , it is simply because I think if you do not pay unusual attention to the orchestral part the peculiar magic of the work will escape you . I am somewhat of a

      fanatic about Beethoven . He moves the heights and depths of my soul as no other artist—poet , painter , or musician—ever moved them ; and I warn you , therefore , to take my enthusiasm with due allowance for the fanaticism of love . I will not swear that you do not find Fidelio heavy , perhaps " slow . " But if you care for anything except simple melodies , do attend to the accompaniments of this opera , and then decide .

      But I have other business than to criticise Fidelio . On Tuesday it was produced at Her Majesty ' s for the debut of Sophie Cruvelli . The overtures—for there are two—were played with a delicacy and expression surprising at this house . Since Balfe has held his baton he never wielded it so effectively in my hearing . There were points to which I should take exception , but on the whole his orchestra did him credit . Let me also add a word of praise for the way in which he supplied tin- - recitatives . But the chorusses were uncertain and comparatively ineffective : singularly enough , that wondrous piece of choral writing , where the prisoners arc allowed for a moment to breathe the fresh air , was so inadequately sung as to secure its encore only after great opposition .

      Now for the singers : tho opera has but one great part , Fidelio herself , and Mr . Lumley has been fortunate in securing one of the very few living wingers who can fill it Mademoiselle Cruvelli makes ample amends for the feebleness of Balanchi , who in totally ineffective as the gaoler , and for tho mediocrity of Siuik Reeves as Florestau . It wa . s a bold thing for a debutante to select so trying a part ; but the greater the stake the greater tho

      triumph , and Mademoiselle Ouvelli unquestionably played the part with immense spirit and intelligence . She never let the character slip through her fingers ; from first to last she w « s absorbed , and absorbing . She in an actress pf genius , and being still very yquny ;—only three-and-twenty I nt ; arwill probably become a great actress in time . Ah a singer she ; is gifted with an astonishing voice , having a compass of three octaves : rich and sympathetic in tha lower register , weak and indifferent

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      in the middle , exquisitely sweet and bell-like in the upper tones . I suspect she had originally a contralto , and that it has been forced upwards , like so many other voices ; in which case it will soon give way , for Nature is inexorable , and , womanlike , permits no caprices but her own ! About her proficiency as a singer I have some doubts which I reserve till another hearing or so clear them up . Meanwhile , I will say this of her , that she does seem

      to me . a woman of genius of whom the hi ghest hopes may be entertained . You know the story , perhaps , of the young actress who was excusing her coldness to Voltaire , and wound up with remarking that if she acted as he wished her people would say the devil was in her . "Precisely ! " replied the poet ; " you must have the devil in you to play properly . " Mademoiselle Cruvelli is not unacquainted with the gentleman in black .

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      ONLY A CLOD . Did you ever read Charles de Bernard ' s novelet , Un Gendrti ? Not * Then do so , if you care to see the tables lurried upon the dandy lover , who , on the strength of well-oiled whiskers and irreproachable boots , utterly despises the plain unpretending- husband—a inert' clod , not . worthy to be mentioned . It is not often in French literature that tiie husband plays the heroic part . After all one must admit , that a husband is awfully prosaic ? Legal happiness is so utterly respectable ! It is that keeps me a bachelor ! But , prosaic or not , the poor devil is a husband , and doesn't like Ins domestic arrangements multiplied by well-oiled whiskers and . scented manners : and I have enough

      compassion in me to feel rejoiced when I see him rise out of tile , prosaism of his part and turn the laughter against the lover . This you may see done in Charles de Henmrd ' s talc ; this you may see still more pleasantly done in I ' algmve Simpson ' s little comedy at l [ m Lyceum , ( July a ( Hod , which gives Charles Mat hews a new opportunity of showing what a perfect comedian tie is—how , with dress , tone , vesture , anil smallest details , he fills uj > his conception of a part , till it becomes something entire , living , la tht ? gcnlleinun fannerquiet , manly , hearty without , coarseness , accomplished without afl ' ecta , Uou- —tie i » really lov <' - able . Indeed 1 overheard a lmly exclaim— " ¦ I should like to kiss him ! " and I applauded

      her desire . Nothing can be more life-like and unexaggerated than his fencing scene with Roxby—the sort of careless unswaggering confidence of his bearing , the left hand dangling in his breeches pockets , his whole attitude disdaining the salle d ' armes elegance . Only those who compare Charles Mathews with all other actors on the stage , or who know the art which is implied in natural acting , can form an idea of his peculiar excellence . It is what we see in all French comedians of eminence , but rarely get a glimpse of in England .

      Only a Clod is essentially an agreeable piece . The subject is amusing , the dialogue sprightly and neatly turned , the tone healthy and unforced . Miss Oliver makes a charming farmer ' s wile . Koxby is an excellent actor , but is not sufficiently the man of fashion to bring out in contrast the rusticity of the " clod ; " still less so is Mr . Beilingham . This want of due proportion injures the picture . As a foil to Charles Mathews * s rustic one ought to have consummate elegance .

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      THE CHEVALIER BOSCO . I have seen some wonderful conjuring in my time , but never anything equal to that of Bosco , whom I met at a small breakfast the other day . la the first place , the wonder was enhanced by the improvised nature of the materials he used ; instead of the conjuror ' s apparatus , he took the knives and forks , the cups , the eggs , the bread , and the radishes that came on the breakfast table , and while we sat opposite and beside him , he

      accomplished his tricks under our very noses . In the next place he had no accomplice , no mechanism . Sleight of hand enabled him to do all but tha clairvoyant tricks . He was among strangers , his only friend present being the greatest living violinist . If you imagine the difficulties under which he laboured in being thus deprived of all ordinary means of deceit , you will see at once that Bosco is not of the ordinary race of conjurors . I will relate one or two of his tricks .

      He gave our host a cup to hold m which the green end of a radish was placed ; this cup had a cover which our host was told to place on the cup , having satisfied himself that the radish was there . Bosco , observe , stood at a distance of two or three yards , and did not touch the cup . When it was covered he asked if the radish were positively in the cup ; then—still preserving his distance , he bade us remark a large ring on his finger . No sooner had we done so , than presto ! the ring way invisible—the radish was in his hand , and when our host lifted the cover off the cup there was the ring ! A burst of astonishment greeted this ; and we begged him to repeat it , which he did—this time with a hall instead of a radish .

      He then went up to our host ' s portrait ; looked steadily at it for some time , wrote something on a piece of paper , gave the paper folded up to our host , and desired him to put it in his pocket . He then took a pack of cards , requesting our host to tell him when to cease dealing the cards on the table . At the ninth card the word " stop" arrested him . He then bade us read what was written on the paper , and we found , Monsieur will slop me at the ninth card ! Talk of clairvoyance after that Another sample of thought-reading was given .

      He told four of us to think of any number we pleased , but not to name it . 1 thought of seven ; my neighbour of ten ; the other two of numbers which 1 forget , but they were not the same as ours . lloseo then took a pack of cards , and made each of us select one , and each selected a card having the number each had chosen ! Many other wonderful tricks he showed us , for some of which we could imagine a process , but these three were completely beyond even the scope

      of guessing ; and we were told b y his friend that when he exhibits in public we shall sec things still more striking . What , peculiarly delighted us wan the elegance and ease with which tho adroitest sleights of hand were accomplished , hi that quality he is formidable . At Vienna the waitors in the cafe refused to take his money unless he placed it on the table , for he paid them and whipped the money from their hands without their being aware of lk , till they looked and found their hands empty .

      I have given this lmsty notice of the Chevalier Bosco to direct attention to him when ho appears in public . Had he been a Kobin or a Hondo . I should not liuvo gone out of rny way ; but at a timo when there aro bu many Wizards in the field , * man to gain attention must have a peculiar talent , and such a talent Bosco has . Vivian .

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      May 24 , 1851 . ] f ^^ t & *« & *? . 403

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      IL BARBIERE . At last we have crowded houses , and so genuine are the crowds that Mr . Lumley announces his intention of opening the theatre Jive nights a week . Not the best news for us unfortunate critics ! On Thursday—a very " long Thursday " —we had the second and third acts of Masaniello—coldly received , as fragments necessarily are , though well executed . Pardini sang the barcarole and the duet with Pietro in a manner that made me hope he would fulfil the expectations he raised by his

      first appearance ; but his voice was fatigued at the close of the act , showing that his failure really is , as I suspected , owing to want of stamina . II Barbiere followed , and set one ' s blood in a gallop with its joyous , animated , impulsive , graceful music . Sontag sings Rossini almost to perfection—the grace and playfulness of the part could hardly be better . She gives a German , not a southern version , of the character : a blonde , careless , coquettish Rosina , very

      unlike the Spanish maiden with eyes of languor and pulses of fire , whom Rossini created ; but taking her view of the part , and allowing for that ambition of being a human fiageolette , which seems the apex of Sontag's artistic imagination , I must say she was altogether charming . " Una voce " was a triumph of vocalization ; "Dunque io son , " of coquettishness and grace ; the singing lesson , of tours de force . She was in excellent voice , and seemed to play with it like a young lark rising from the waving corn fields .

      Ferranti is hard , impudent , and ineffective ; nothing can make him more than a third-rate singer , but if he would attend somewhat more closely to his music and somewhat less to the stalls it would be agreeable . For Figaro he lacks every qualification . The censure is sweeping ; I believe it deserved . Calzolari sang charmingly in the great sestett of the finale , but he shouted the serenade , JiJcco rideute il del , so as completely to mar its effect . Hasilio was ludicrously misrepresented . Bartolo , in the person of the great Lablache , was the most amiable and admirable of domestic tyrants . He omitted , however , the grand air Siynorina un ' altra volta but omitted no opportunity for fun . Altogether it was a delightful performance .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1851, page 493, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1884/page/17/