THE MAID OF JUDAH.
THE junction of Italian music and English words forms .eferierally most unhappy mesalliance. The intractable hardness of the sounds: and the baldness of the ideas, are rendered unpleasantly conspicuous by the very beauties of the melody with which they are in forced as- sociation. Our language is not euphonous, but its expression in con- nexion with simple native airs is not displeasing. The songs of the Beggar's Opera are full of the grace of appropriateness and ; the music is level to the sentiment. In Comm; the' style of which is ambitious, we have something of the halt of the lant, guage to the lyre. But to • take the examples of our own: day e listen to any bravura, the words of which are English, and say whether an effect is not constantly produced on the sense like- the setting of a saw, or the grating of a slate pencil to the ear. There is a mechanical offence, besides that to the understanding. Oar words are especially indocile and unaccommodating. The come- nants are too strong in the verbal constitution, and refuse to sub- mit themselves to the convenience of the composer who requires their adjustment to divisions, turns, or flourishes.
Singing a piece with English words to fine and intricate correpoy . sitions, must be extremely like the operation of driving a flock of pigs through Seven Dials,—a squeaking or grunting mob, now too forward, now hanging all back ; now bolting for one passage, now recalcitrating from another,—always either riding over each other, or obstinately resisting congregation.
The words of much of the Italian music which we hear with delight, are, it is true, sufficiently nonsensical ; but the nonsense is wholly disguised from those not conversant with the language, and it is decently veiled even to the linguist. Dwelling an a word, or on an unmeaning expression, is the sore trial, such as the repetition which we heard in Oberon of " the good sword" at least twenty times in two minutes. Now this is not so afflicting in an unfa- miliar language. We bear it as we bear in a foreign tongue the slow speaking which marks the syllables, than which nothing can be more fatiguing in our own. At the French Play they cannot articulate too leisurely for the English ear ; and at the Italian Opera, we care not how often they repeat a sound on one word ; but when the same music requires the same iteration at an English theatre, and on a familiar term, we weary of it most impatiently. The English version,too, never runs smoothly with the Italian notes; it is as a heavy waggon at the heels of a team of blood horses, or as a canister tied to a greyhound's tall. Euphonous as the Italian uniformly sounds to us, the performers are not always satisfied with the words set down for them, and re- sist any which they deem unsuited to music, peremptorily requiring others which have obtained a prescriptional right to place in all operas no matter what may be the subject. Thus a prima donna refuSed to perform in the first representation of one of Rossien's operas, because she had not a single felicita in her part ! The omission was supplied, and a piece was written for her as full of felicitits as the tongue of singer could desire. Felicifit is a sound which a vocalist may delight to caress, but render it Anglice—sub- stitute happiness, and with what different effect the music will fall on the and p and the two ses, hissing at the tail of it like serpents, and stinging us in the ear as one of the race was reported to have stung King Hamlet. Joy indeed is one of our best words, but it does not allow of sustentation.
Disliking adaptations as we do from melancholy experience, we went to see the Maid of Judah, the music of which is a compilation from ROSSINI'S works, with considerable apprehension of vexation : but liable to objection as the version undoubtedly is, the selection is so good, and so much skill has been exercised, that our expecta- tions were agreeably disappointed, and the performance proved an the whole extremely effective. Now and then there wa a little hanging fire, and a little halting ; but speaking in the general, the Opera does great credit to the arranger and to the theatre. Having said that the piece is taken from SCOTT'S Ivanhoe, it is unnecessary to describe the plot, the more especially as it has been before dramatized at Covent Garden Theatre ; a fact which has escaped some of our critics, who have accordingly marvelled I hat a theatrical use had not sooner been made of a story which is already pageant on paper. It is satisfactory, however, to observe that such things can be forgotten. We saw the old Ivanhoe; and as we could not sleep by reason of the inconvenience of the benches, its dulness has made an indelible impression on our memories. Miss PATON is the Rebecca of the present piece ; and she looks beautiful—acts with feeling and spirit—and sings as no English singer but Miss PATON can sing. She is in this part perfect at all points, even down to her millinery, for her dress is one on which a painter's eye would love to dwell. The pride of her beauty, and the splendour of her attire, contrast admirably with the abject mien and squalid habit of the Jew father, who, like the earth to which he bends, shows all his richness and glory in his fruit. EGERTON played Isaac of York, and preserved the features of the character extremely well. Mr. WARDE, who personated Boi:sguilbert, looked an ancient Knight and spouted like a modern Templar. KEELEY'S Fool was KEELEY. We know not what else to say of a performer who, clever as he is, is precisely the same cha- ratter in all parts. Mr. PHILLIPS, in Cedric, was an uncommonly good miniature copy of a Gog. in Guildhall. He had not much to do vocally, but what was allotted to him he did well. Mr. WooD made a very substantial, but rather inanimate Ivanhoe: of his singing we decline saying anything, as we are not sufficiently ac- quainted with him to know whether it was worse than usual. The music is chiefly taken from the Semiramide of ROSSINI, the great Used and Abused. The first act is decidedly the most effec- tive. Miss PAroer particularly excelled in a piece narrating her adventures when purStted by the Knights Templar, and also in the solemn chant of Semiramide on the appearance of the spectre of Nimes, which is adapted to Rebecca's dirge on her appointed death.
Previous page
