THE OPERA SEASON, '1844.
Tara.season closed on Tuesday, with a measure -heaped up and running over of • pieces, " out-Lumleying Lumley," as one may say ; for the list of performances was even more lengthy than on any previous night, heavily packed as it has been on many occasions. Fragments rif -no fewer than three operas, (II Barbiere, Lucia, and Cenerento/a,) scrag- glinglimbs of three ballets, together-with a divertissement to bringon the Menuet de la Cour—all these were " ranged together to -make up a show" vend eertes, such a show is not to be matched in Europe. Of the repugnance we entertain to this cramming and surfeiting work our readers are aware ; but farther reflections arising out of the subject will be more suitably placed at the end of the remarks we feel called upon to make in reviewing the coarse of the season of 1844,—a task which we shall endeavour to fulfil with strict candour.
Before these lines appear in type, the lighthearted ministers of the operatic stage, with glad unfettered thoughts breaking loose from their toil and obligations, will be scattered over the face of Europe, "dancing in the sunbeams," recounting their infinitesimal scraps of mutual history to one another, and spending at least a part of their gains recklessly, if only to keep up their charter for indifference to the future. We have heard, not without an indulgent sympathy, of the merry but harmless vigils passed on "breaking-up night" by-the artist fraternity, prior to the general good-bye and-the matntinal -em- barkation for foreign lands! Well, they have our cordial good wishes; for we must admit that much delightful music, with much that is cap- tivating in the dancing department, has resulted from their combined efforts this year, under whatmay not unfairly be styled an able manage- ment—although we cannot go the length of some of our contemporaries in the grateful work of laudation. 'Looking -at the ensemble of the season, we should say that as-much was attempted in the way of novelty, in the opera proper, as the-con- dition of modern art permitted. The three newly-produced 'works were Zampa, Don Carlos, and Corrado d'Altamura. The frrst owing to the wilful blunder of the manager in thrusting Signor Franc into the leading part, and thus marring the effect at starting ; a blunder which the talents of FORNASARI were not adequate to efface. More- over, the story was too ferocious, brutal, and " Surrey " like, -for .a refined audience. The 'success of Don Carlos was, somewhat similarly, impaired by the revolting character of the plot, resembling a'Schedoni picture, all blackness and horrors. It was chiefly relished by the cog- noscenti, who pronounced it clever and musician-like : but music for -the public must after all have melody, and a story which does notset the hair on end. Corrado, on the other hand, although fuller of airs, was too late-produced to be fairly judged; but we repeat our 'first opi- nion, that it is incapable of making either a lively or a lasting im- pression. So much for the new experiments in music : those relating to the ballet are not more numerous. Zeila, in an obsolete vein— the mythologic—proved a failure ; and we -grudge the expenditure lavished upon a semi-celestial fiction, convinced that the day is gone by for that class of ballets. The Esmeralda was undeniably effective in the bands of Clamart& GEM., that-most interesting of Nature's pupils —with the appropriate colouring of grace, expression, and 'girlish tenderness. Interpreted after a different manner by FANNY Er.seista, it was necessarily less liked ; though it afforded that unrivalled artist an opportunity of displaying •her rare talents for mute acting, which wasmot allowed to-pass by. The trifles La Vivandiere and La Paysanne Grande Dante were too flimsy to be counted among the creations of the season; whilst the promised "grand ballet d'action " for FANNY ELSSLER evapo- rated in smoke. The choregraphic department, therefore, has exhibiteal.a meagreness the more to be deplored as we have had two first-rate dart- senses on the establishment for eight or nine weeks, dancing worn-nat " pas " or vulgar " pas de genre," together with hacknied ballets óf last year—to the decided disadvantage of both artists and public. Now with regard to the want of novelty in opera, it may justly be observed that the manager had no more operas to produce. Since Italy is barren of original composers of merit, we must perforce shrive him-of the sin of neglect on this plea. Not so with regard to the penury of the ballet department. Here the creative faculty is of far easier attainment ; and we feel persuaded that-a libretto may be had for a ballet at every- corner 'of the playwright-trade. The mishaps which, somehow, befall M. 'PERROT at the critical period of incubation, have become intolerably regular; and we naturally begin to inquire, whether a monopoly of -choregraphic combination belongs to that artist ? In good sooth, then, we must pronounce the management guilty of shortcoming as far as re- lates to the ballet portion of the spectacle for 1844; a fault which, belt remarked en passant, carries with it a disheartening and painful effect on the minds of the great artists, who estimate opportunities of earning-re- putation at scarcely a lower rate than the acquisition of fortune. To FANNY ELSSLER or Ccarro, indeed, a season passed in London Without a grand new ballet is hardly less than a blank in her theatrical life.
To 'passto the second article, of individual performance, we must confess that a more effective company than has been on foot during the greater part of the season—with a more faultless orchestra through- out— it were difficult to put together. GRIST never commanded more rapturous and well-merited admiration in her life. LARLACHE has maintained his supremacy by his talents, good faith, and =- deviating attention to the business of the stage, and is unquestion- ably the colossus of dramatic art. Madame PERSIANI also added to her deservedly bright fame in her favourite parts, though we could have wished an opening had been afforded her 13f creating a new one : she has worked entirely upon her ancient themes from first to last. Memo has improved in his acting ; and, a certain amount of caprice an& coquetry excepted, (inseparable perhaps from the role of "first tencr,') has acquitted himself agreeably of his share in the general effect. FORNASARI has made no advance this season, and we prophesy that he will never win much farther upon the favour of the audience. Thus much for the habitual and chief members of the troupe. The two new , one EaLVA.N22 and .Caaluaa, may be briefly aliaposed of .by: remarkiog, -that the lady seems wholly indifferent whether she please or not; and that the secondtenor.has made.a.good beginning, consideriugthe rarity, „of the occasions .furnished toltim. Mademoiselle Ewalt= exhibits' ;symptoms of ennui when o.0 the-stage,wholly incompatablemith its due illusion,—as, for example, her fanning herself with a white cambric handkerchief in the belfry-scene of La Gazza Ladra, when'she ought to have been-shoaling with joy.and gladness at the discovery of the lost Nayothe even carried her listlessness so far as to ring the bell by.proxy, an inferior choriste being made to " jow " for her, as well as ,sing and act that Beene. When we have added the invincible proposition -that she has no ear, we may take our leave of this ill-advised young lady, 'and pass to Signor Mortisiti ; whose impressive and sonorous voice *bunt upon the Londoners so unexpectedly towards the end of the sea- son,* and formed a kind of meteoric episode in the march of the regular ,planets. This remarkable tenor produced a 'singular surprise within _the walls of Her Majesty's Theatre, by the introduction of a style at once new and antique, if one may venture to conjoin these epithets : ,new, as divested of those ornate embellishments for many a year con- Laddered inseparable from Italian song ; antique, as depending for its charm on the simple, expressive, and firm delivery of his music—now tender, now impassioned, or tinctured 'with the melancholy languor of the "vocal South." Few organs, indeed, could be found fitted to -recommend this method of singing like the rich, genuine, chest-voice of 'Monism; so that we scarcely suppose it calculated to attract imitators. 'The objection to his performance, in which we ourselves concurred to . some extent, being plainly stated, is that he sings thus for want of capa- city to sing otherwise. It may be so ; yet, when painting is in question, who ever disparaged RAPHAEL because he could not paint like Palm VERONESE ? MORIANI may have but a limited range of parts : depend- , ing for success upon his rare natural gins, he has, likely enough, shrank from 'that toilsome discipline which alone can confer extensive powers on a singer : but we shall nevertheless accept the combination of dra- matic and vocal merit offered in his person as a capital accession to our resources, should our manager succeed in tempting the Italian tenor hither for a few weeks next year.
Let us now notice what has been done in the way of revivals. Since nothing new was to be gotten, have we had the best of what was not inew ? Almost every familiar or known opera has been done vihich could dispense with a high-priced contralto. For want .of one, (or of a competent third treble,) no Linda, no Tancredi, no Figaro, no Cosi fan Tutli, Orazi e Curiazi, could be mounted ; sad omissions, _it must be owned! Such operas as Mademoiselle FAVANTI, the make- shift contralto, has appeared in, have unquestionably suffered from her participation ; witness 11 Matrimonio, which, though an established favourite, obviously lost by her spiritless and inaudible Fidalma; witness La Gazza Ladra, the Lucrezia Borgia, the Semiramide. Don Giovanni, the masterpiece of its author, was given (on Thursday nights alone, we believe) with a tolerably strong cast; but no work of PAER'S, -whose vein of composition is perhaps among the most agreeable of the second-rate modern authors.
Having disposed of theretrospect as connected with novelties, revi- ,vals, and performer, we naturally arrive at the question, Could better things have been done ; and is the lessee censurable for sins of omis- „slim ? On the whole, we consider the management entitled to commen- dation rather than censure. Mr. LUMLEY'S position is that of a person . engaged in a commercial enterprise ; and to conduct it profitably, re- Attires a supervision, a personal sacrifice of time, talent, and all recrea- • tiou, which can scarcely be paralleled even in our overwrought English existence. To suppose-that this one man could pile on to these count- less burdens 'that of ransacking the shelves of foreign musical reper- tories, shaping old-fashioned dramas to modern taste, praying, coaxing, .-and besieging the ” stars " to help him, and to take the pains to adapt ,Ibeir-style to the forgotten modes of musical phrasing—to suppose all ,.this,-'we say, were futile. Could better be done, then, by any other system of management ? Not in connexion with profit. Our Italian 1)pera could be carried on more advantageously for the art, the corps itself, and the public, supposing a public provision to be made, (equiva- lent perhaps to a sum annually voted for some obscure job in Ireland or the Colonies,) in order to sustain experiments in the true spirit of a lyric theatre, regardless of immediate success, and aiming at a renova- lion of pure principles of art, as well as a return to a more wholesome tappetite on the part of our audiences. We should then witness no more "soirees monstres," with three times as much matter stuffed into a single night as we can enjoy : sending the jaded, satiated spectator ihome at one in the morning, with a headache; whilst the relays of .high and rare talent have been pouting and chafing in the "wings," And comparing the drudgery of London with the easy work of Con- .tinental theatres. Fancy the unapproachable vocalists we have been speaking of, kept waiting, after perhaps two hours work, between ,the acts of a serious opera demanding their most complete powers -to render effectively, whilst a divertissement is interpolated of three quarters of an hour long S— the nerves strung up, pulse quickened, larynx flexibly disposed, all the faculties ripe for the scene ; but forcibly compressed, and exposed to such casualties as currents of .cold air, drowsiness from physical reaction, or faintness from fast- ing I—the dancers, again, paraded at nine, put by at ten, to stiffen in -their pens till midnight, when the ballet comes on I Can any (fteatment be more unsuitable to the female constitution ? Only An England are these severe and exigent practices prevalent ; and „all because, in England, the rent and profits of the capitalist must both be wrung out of the subjects, and the trader-principle therefore be ap- pealed to of the English playgoer, who, while yawning and nodding to ,sleep under the interminable exhibition set before him, still chuckles over "the quantity he is getting for his money." The sad truth is, that the system of spicing the programme with provocative tit-bits saps the healthy public taste, till at last it will want "an apple-pie all -quinces." Audiences will ever be prone to take such vulgar baits ; and whilst an enormous outlay is to be overtaken, one must not deal :hardly with a manager so circumstanced. Shall we ever see, in our lifetime, some approach made to nationalize the management of our ,truly splendid Italian Opera? Who shall say? If none be made, then arill first-rate artists become yet more rare than it is obvious , they are It*conimg, even in this our time.
* Atodur.tra did not appear till the .27th of, Jtuie.
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