THE OPERA , SEASON.
The struggle between our two great Italian Theatresemposed by many to have been ended, but really only suspended for a. time—. -has been renewed this season. The lessee of the older house, beaten from the field that once was all his own, has returned to it again, and the contest for its possession promises to be earriedsm with greater vigour than ever. Whether the result will be a drawn battle and a divided possession' or victory to the one or the other, is an unrevealed mystery of the future. When the battle began, nine years ago, with the formidable combination against Mr. Lumley in his own camp, in which the Royal Italian Opera originated, it reminded us of the 'Warfare engendered, more than a century ago, by a similar combination against Handel, which ended both in his ruin for the time and in that of his assailants. The-upshot of the new battle was like that of the old. Mr. Lumley was defeated, though not till he had made good his ground against a successionof adversaries-‘-" one down, Vother come on " ; his earlier opponents, one after another, having been put hors de combat. Whether the resemblance will continue we shall not venture to conjecture. We have been inclined to think that even London itself i8 insufficient for the support of two establishments of such :magnitude, unless diversity of object should accommodate them to different classes of the population. IS 'e such diversity has hitherto been sought, nor does it seem llicely that it will ; so that the means of maintaining two great Italian operahouses must be found (if found) in the still increasing immensity of our already vast metropolis. Mr. Lumley's resolution to reopen his house has been evinced during the whole period of its remaining closed. He-said, in his prospectus of the season now ended, that, "from the period when he -was reluctantly compelled to retire from the contest to the present time, his efforts had been unremitting to reopen Her Majesty's Theatre upon a permanent basis, and to. restore the opera to its ancient home." This is prolved, first by -the arduous battle he fought in the courts of law for the vindication of his right of possession ; and secondly by the complete state of preservation and order in which the theatre and everything belonging to it were kept, so that, when the time came' he had little more to do than 'to open its doors. It cannot be doubted, however, that his proceedings were precipitated by an unexpected event, the destruction of Covent Garden-Theatre, on the 5th of March, when the season of: the Royal Italian Opera was on the eve of commencing. • Let us turn, in the first place to the effects of this disaster on the Royal Italian Opera itself. When the ealamitybefel him, Mr. Gye's establishment for the season was completely organized and ready for action. If ever there wan any danger of, its being broken up, that danger was quickly surmounted. A few days only had elapsed when he was able to announce that all the members of his company, his orchestra, chorus, and: all beloaging to his -theatre, were ready not only to stand by him but to make generous sacrifices for his Bake. Unable to obtain a better domicile 'than. the Ly'cenni, he adapted it to his establishment, and his establishment to it, with great ability and judgment. Eking out its inadequate returns by his subsidy from the Crystal Palace concerts and the engagement of Madame Ristori he found means to keep his whole body ofperformers 'and employes together,' and to remunerate them in a manner with which we have never heard let there was any dissatisfaction. He accommodated his repertory to the dimensions of the house : he laid aside all the great melodramatic spectacles for which Covent Garden had been renowned, and brought forward those operas which depended upon singing .and acting, not upon imposing masses of sound or grand scenic display. He reduced his orchestra and chorus to the requisite strength, not by dismissing a single individual, but by employing all in turn. In this manner he gave a series of operas, not one of them new, but all of them excellent, all of the Italian school, and performed almost exelusively-by Italian irtists. From this there were only two exceptions of any note : Madame Ney, who had a very short engagement at the beginning of the season and Formes, who appeared seldom, his principal parts being in Meyerbeer's operas. Grin and Mario, as heretofore were ..the great attractions ; and they have-not for years exerted then:201vcs with greaterenergy or success. In Norma' Lwresia Borgia, Elvira in the Puritanic' and Leonora in the Favorite, axial has continued to stand alone and unapproachable ; and the power and beauty of Mario's voice have been remarkable during the whole season. Next to them in public favour has been Bosio, who has sung as charmingly as ever, and, shown a versatility of dramatic talent which she was not supposed to possess. Bonconi redeemed a failure in Don Giovanni by triumphs in .F1garo, Duleamara, the Duke of .Ferrara, and Rigektte. Gardoni, of course, has taken a prominent share in the business of the season : and altogether, Mr. Gye has given a series of pure Italian performances of a highly delightful and interesting character.
The Lyceum opened on the 15th of April, and Her Majesty's Theatre within three weeks afterwards—on the 10th of May. Mr. Lumley had by far the more arduous task to encounter. He had a beautiful theatre provided ; but he had, on the spur of the occasion, to create and organize, from the very foundation, a great establishment, complete in all its complicated departments and details. The most renowned talents in the world were engrossed by his rival, and he had to search for' the few remaining stars still scattered over Europe. That he should succeed in bringing together such a company as that which had by the gradual work of years been assembled within the walls of Covent Garden—a company so constructed and balanced as to be able' to meet every exigency—was impossible. But his activity, his fertility in resource, his decision, achieved wonders ; and, as Fortune favours the bravo, some of his measures were attended with a degree of success which he could scarcely have looked for. The engagement of Mademoiselle Piccolomini, as the event has shown, was sufficient of itself to insure the success of the season ; but, from all that was then known of her, neither Mr. Lumley nor any one else could have foreseen that this would be the case. She was very young, and had only begun to be heard of in Italy, where her reputation was still limited to a narrow circle, and what was said of her related more to her attractions and natural gifts of mind and person than to her artistic-Ill attainments. She proved less of a musical artist than could have been expected. Every competent critic concurred in thinking that she was uninstructed even in the rudiments of the vocal art : but this opinion had no effect on the public—nay, not even on the critics themselves, who were just as ready as their neighbours to confess the fascination of the young stranger. It was difficult to define its elements, or discover precisely where it lay. It was the nameless spell, "the provoking. charm Of Celia altogether." It was fresh and ingenuous youth, simplicity, intelligence, fire, sweetness' purity, and feeling, all moulded into the form of a beautiful girl. 'Whitt years and experience may make her we know not ; but it is almost pain to think of her as an older woman or a greater artist, for then she will be something different from what she is now.
Tli2 engagement of Johanna, Wagner, at the time it was made mast have seemed still more hopeful than that of Piceolomini. The Prussian prima donna was an artist of European renown, who held the supreme place on the German lyric stage' and had been the Helen of a modern Trojan war. To have at length carried off the prize' must have been regarded by Mr. Lumley as the most triumphant of his achievements. But the result was somewhat different. The over-excited expectations of the public were partly disappointed ; and the disappointment has led to an unjust depreciation. Johanna Wagner showed from the very first that she was not conversant with the Italian vocal school ; that she lacked the smooth, round, polished execution which belongs to that school ; and that her singing, with all its Teutonic earnestness had a Teutonic roughness, at variance with the style of Rossini, Bellini andDonizetti. This was accounted for at once by the simple fact that she was a German not an Italian artist, and was entitled, in justice to herself; to be heard in the music of her own country. But another charge was brought against her, which more nearly touched her genius. As an actress she was described, by ourselves and others as constrained. and artificial ; possessed of art, but not of art sufficient for the concealment of art. The criticism was not unfounded ; but those who made it did not, perhaps, sufficiently consider that the very same cause which injured her singing on the Italian stage also affected her acting. She is a German actress, as she is a German singer. The Germans, be it observed, are not as we are : they have, what we have not, their own strong, racy, national opera, supported by their own illustrious composers, and acted and sung by their greatest performers in their own native tongue. Even when Italian operas are produced on the modern German stage, it is in the German language that they are given. We doubt whether the Schrceders, the Heinefetters, Unghers, ever sang an opera in Italian ; and, though Mozart wrote operas to Italian words, you may travel from one end of Germany to the other and never hear one of them in the Italian language. If Sontag is cited as an accomplished Italian singer, her case is exceptional and almost solitary. At Berlin Johanna Wagner is at home ; and we have been told by those who have known her there, and, in particular, by a most eminent and intelligent Italian member of her own profession, that she hardly seemed the same person while struggling with the embarrassments of an unfamiliar tongue. We wish, therefore, that London had a German theatre to receive such a performer. as Mademoiselle Wagner ; but, if she come again to Her Majesty's Theatre, let her at all events appear in the great operan of her own country, of which there are many on our Italian stage. Another hopeful engagement was attended with disappointment. Madame lilbertini, chosen, like Piceolomini, on the strength of her Italian reputation, appeared early in the season, and had a favourable reception : but she is said to have been dissatisfied with its degree of warmth ; and, with her husband, Signor Baucarde, she withdrew from the theatre, contrary to the wish of the manager. Taken as a whole, the company at Her Majesty's Theatre, though it has embraced much individual talent, and enabled the manager to carrythrough a successful season, has not been such a body as we shall expect to see deliberately brought together another year. Its chief membmsAlboni, Piceolomini, Wagner, Calzolari, Reichardt, Belletti, Beneventano, and Rossi—have not been calculated for combined action : it would have been impossible by their means to get up a single opera requiring to be strongly cast. But for this no blame is to be imputed to Mr. Lumley. His theatre this season has been of the nature of a "provisional government," hastily and rapidly organized ; and, all circumstances considered, he has certainly done wonders.
Previous page
