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Leader (1850-1860), 7th June 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 543, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      ' Graces au ciel , mes mains ne sont point criminelles , Plut aux Dieux que mon cceur nU innocent comme elles ;' ( which is a beautiful rendering of the line in Euripides , % e / pe $ fA . tv ayvat , ( ppvjv $ ' e £ « fAtaa-fAa n . ) But the whole of this scene was inexpressibly affecting , and in gesture , look , tone , and conception in the very highest style of tragic art . There was but one defect ( the Times considers it a beauty ) , and that was the mode of uttering the famous c ' est toi qui Vas nomme , which we take to have been a misconception of its meaning , the more remarkable from the intense truth with which she gave the hurrying horror of the preceding lines , where with a shiver between each phrase , yet irresistibly impelled to utter her thoughts , she said : —

      ' Tu vas ouir le comble des horreurs .. J ' aime .. a ce nom fatal je tremble , je frissonne . J ' aime .. ( Enone . Qui ? Phedre . Tu connois ce fils de l'Amazone Ce prince si long temps par moi me me opprime .. ( Enone . Hippolyte ! Grand dieux ! Phedre . C-est toi qui Vas nomml !' This she uttered in a sorrowfully reproachful tone , ' which , says the Times , ' was beautifully touching . ' It was so ; but is that Racine ' s meaning ?

      Ought not the line to be uttered with a sort of eager throwing upon ( Enone of all the horror of the thing by naming it ? She has kept her love long a secret ; it is a crime ; to utter it is horrible ; and ( Enone utters it by naming Hippolyte . The meaning is , Tis you , not I , that have dared to mention his name . This meaning we take to be also that of Euripides in the passage from which Racine translated it a-oij t « J' qvk euov Kkvetq . Otherwise a fine dramatic touch is lost ; and instead of a subtle exhibition of the sophistication of passion we have a commonplace line .

      " In the second act , where she declares her passion , Rachel was transcendant . There was a subtle indication of the diseased passion , of its ^ fiery but unhealthy—irresistible and yet odious—character , in the febrile energy with which she portrayed it . It was terrible in its vehemence and abandonment ; eloquent in its horror ; fierce and rapid , as if the thoughts were crowding upon her brain in tumult , of

      and varied with such amazing compas ^ tones , that when she left the scene our nerves were quivering with excitement almost insupportable . The storm of rage , jealousy , and despair lit up the fourth act as with flashes of lightning . Every one who has seen Rachel will remember the intense expression she throws into single words , varying thus the music of her delivery ; but we never remember anything so terrific as her

      ' Miserable ! et jc vis !' Other passages we have been accustomed to hear her deliver with more effect than on Monday—indeed the traces of ill health or of declining power were very visible—but this one passage reached the very height of passionate power . " The other performers were indifFerent . Now , indifferent acting can be put up with in Shakspeare ,

      but in Racine it is fatal . Unless those beautiful verses are spoken with an excellent gusto , a sort of song- —which unhappily those who strive after it mistake for sing-song—and unless this ideal world be represented in anideadmanner , it becomes excessively uninteresting . This is not the poet ' s fault , however . Give Racine to actors of anything like the calibre of Rachel , and what a consummation of delight would result !

      " On Wednesday Rachel performed Roxane in Bajazet . It is in striking contrast with her Phedre . She is a born empress . Her grace , her iUsUnction , her simple dignity , the ineffable majesty of her attitudes and gestures , crowned as they are by that small but singularly intellectual head , make her the most queenly woman nowtobeseenanywhere . Where has she learnt her dignity ? It was given her by Nature ! This little Jewess , picked up from the streets , whose face would be common and insignificant were knot lighted up with an expression which makes it ever memorable , carrieH herself with more queenly grace of deportment than any throned monarch . Her most enchanting quality is after all perhaps ? "tir irrucc .

      " Roxane in a fine part , but not one of her finest . AVlio ever will forget , the tone in which she utters the words ' unc rivulc' a tone so pregnant Avith the exasperation of jealous scorn ? Or the inteiiHity of her reproach : 4 Lrfc / ia , indignc < lu jour que jc t ' avaiH luisse " . ' Or the calm settled irony , making one ' s blood run cold , of her reply to Atalide's uhsiu'uiu-u tliat he lovtfM her utill ,

      • II y va de sa vie , au moins , que je le croie . ' " The famous point—* Sortez /'—was given with incomparable dignity ; and equally fine in its way her handling of the letter which is brought to her as found upon Atalide and written by Bajazet . She shadowed out the marvellous tampering with the heart , the irritable sophistication of one dreading to be undeceived yet unable to shut her eyes to the horrible fact , crumpling the letter , trying to despise it , yet irresistibly attracted towards it . "

      I have little to add to the foregoing , except that Rachel seems in weak health , and that she has become more careless in her delivery of level passages than was her wont . Performing in modern dramas has perhaps induced this carelessness of the beauty of verse . She spoiled the music and confused the meaning of several passages on Monday night by the rapidity with which she delivered them . Racine should not be " pattered . " But the great points were made as effective as ever , and my pulses quivered as if I had never seen her before . The false move , C ' est toi qui I ' as nomme , was rendered less glaring than before because the tones of her voice were less pathetic , but the mistake of conception remains . How can Rachel make such a mistake ? How can the French critics suffer her to continue it ?

      Untitled Article

      CRTJYELLI'S NORMA . On Saturday Cruvelli essayed her second part , and by it completely settled , in my mind , the question of her excellence . To have played Fidelio , as she played it , was evidence of unusual power and even of dramatic genius ; but I said that I had my doubts about her singing , which I reserved till another opportunity had given me a fairer chance

      of deciding : the music of Fidelio is so trying , so torturing to the voice , that even a great singer might be excused if she failed to satisfy the ear in it . But no one can say that of Norma . Bellini is as vocal as Beethoven is unvocal . If , therefore , the prima donna fail to satisfy us in Norma , it must be from her deficiencies ; and I cannot be wrong in assuming that Cruvelli ' s performance of Norma was the real touchstone of her qualifications as a

      singer . So much by way of preface . The hyperboles which distend the language of criticism in the morning papers make any sober appreciation seem like ungenerous coldness . Pasta , Malibran , Grisi , Viardot are not to be mentioned in the same breath with Cruvelli—if some critics are to be believed—Rachel is not a finer actress , Alboni not a more perfect singer ! . All which I take to be about as near the mark as the American enthusiasm for Parodi . In the first place , I cannot accept Cruvelli as a first-rate singer : she has a noble voice , of

      astonishing compass , and flings it forth with a vehemence which is often startling ; but she screams at times , and her execution is far from irreproachable , the fiorituri being more remarkable for dash than for distinctness , and her shake imperfect . In her execution of the music I noticed several novelties , almost all admirable—felicitous in invention , and showing that she is no mechanical singer following traditions . But although she seems to me a woman of genius , I say without hesitation that she has an immense deal yet to learn before she

      grows into an artist worthy to take her place beside Pasta , Malibran , Grisi , Viardot , or Alboni . At present there is more trick than art in her singing . In her acting , again , I see the same fault . She has fire , intelligence , but no grace , no harmonious blending of details : she works hard , but you see her working . The intention is more obvious than the result : you see the strings which pull the puppets : instead of admiring the statue , you are thinking of the sculptor . Crisi is Norina ; Cruvelli acts it . () n the whole , it was a striking performance , uproariously applauded ; and if her critics could but have tamed their official enthusiasm into something less extravagant , the public would have accepted her as a remarkable prima donna ; but these praises will ruin her : they will lead her to imagine that she has finished her education , and lead the public to form expectations which will he altogether disappointed . London has seen ( irisi in Norma tor some sixteen years ; yet , with all the attraction of novelty , and : til the hyperboles of the press to hack her , Cruvelli will Mend every one away with the conviction that she cannot approach Orisi in the part . Pardini was a mediocre Pollione . 1 suspect his voice is naturally a barytone , and that in forcing it upwards he . has ruined its Mtiuniua . Madame (« uiliuni is an excellent Adalgiwa , und JLablache utill

      manages to give weight and significance to the concerted pieces by his grand style . The house was crammed .

      Untitled Article

      DON GIOVANNI . On Thursday we had a real treat at Covent Garden : Don Giovanni performed as that theatre only can give it , with the additional attraction of Tamberlik in lieu of Mario , whose cold prevented his singing the part of Ottavio . If any one doubts that Tamberlik is an accomplished singer , no less than the possessor of an incomparable voice , this performance is enough to set that doubt at rest , for he is throughout unequalled in it . Not by Rubini , not by Mario , was that enchanting II mio tesoro ever more enchantingly sung ! It moved me to the heights of rapture ; but I must reserve criticism on the whole performance till next week .

      Untitled Article

      THE DUKE'S WAGER . I cannot understand what induced the author of The Templar to make his second venture with the comedy of Mademoiselle de Belle Isle , written by Dumas for Mademoiselle Mars ; but I suppose he had some " exquisite reason , " and he will point to the success on Wednesday night as a proof that his reason was excellent . The original is a sprightly dissolute comedy , full of the life which animates the Memoires of the time , and complicated in its construction with the skill of a Lope de Vega . Mademoiselle Plessy took the part when Mars resigned it , and Rachel has recently taken it to herself ; and Mr . Mitchell promises to let us see her in it during the present season .

      As a play it is more ingenious than interesting . You cannot sympathize with sorrows rising out of an equivoque so slight that a word might dispel it ; and all the art here employed is but a throwing of dust in your eyes , which after all does not prevent your seeing that the word would be spoken . But if you once accept the situation , your interest in the dramatic treatment never flags for a moment ; and this is the triumph of good construction , that with it all other faults are overlooked by the audience .

      The defect above noted , however , removes the play from out the region of moral sympathy , and restricts it almost exclusively to the region of intellectual gratification—by which I mean that your feelings are not touched—but your intellect only is appealed to by the cleverness of the work . Clever the work assuredly is ; so clever , that we sometimes question the propriety of the alterations introduced by Mr . SJous , who has , however , an excellent eye for dramatic effect , though his dialogue is without brilliancy or beauty .

      To act such a play in anything like a satisfactory style would require a , consummate elegance moving amidst the traditions of les belles manures which it ; is in vain to expect on the English stage ; but , without being critical , I must protest most emphatically against such a representation as Mrs . Winstanley ' s of La Marquise de St . Prie . She was more a joyous laundress than theelegant frivolous Marquise . The best bit of acting in the piece is that between Charles Kean and Wigan where they throw dice together—death the stake . The concentrated calmness of deep-seated resolution was as finely represented by Charles Kean , as the good-natured

      anxiety , carelessness , and well-veiled vexation at his victory by Wigan : the one reckless of consequence , eager only for his vengeance ; the other painfully aware of the absurdity of the game , yet too well-bred to refuse the challenge , and very grave when the ( lice told him he had won . The play was quite successful . Immense pains have been taken with the mise en scene . The management ., always lavish , always tasteful in the " getting up " of pieces , has surpassed itself on this occasion ; and never on the English stage was there seen ; i more splendid decoration than that of the salon of Madame de St . I ' rie , so artistically disposed , and so lifelike in its moving groups .

      Untitled Article

      T II K A K C T I O K l : ( i I <) N S - The nearch after Sir John Franklin gives a very peculiar intercut to tin * excellent panorama which Mr . ( Jompcrtz Ihih painted of the Arctic Regions , wherein Home of the leading features of previous expeditions i . ic brought , visibly before iih , and we are led as it were to make the Arctic journey ««> d assist at . its advcnliiioiiH varieties while co ' infortnbly housed in St . Martin ' s-lauc .

      The scenes are painted in a broad free style , the figures being specially remarkable for the vigour and animation with which they an ; drawn ; but . one inaccuracy of detail in worth mentioning , viz ., the men are represented with naked hands instead of in fur gloves . Considering tlie monotony of the region , Mr . ( iompertz has been peculiarly Huccch . sfiil in giving variety to the soencnof his panorama , und altogether it , in au exhibition of greut intercut .

      Untitled Article

      June 7 , 1851 . ] . GEfK ULtbitt X * 543

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 7, 1851, page 543, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1886/page/19/