Some disturbance, at a concert at Liverpool a few evenings
ago, was caused by the refusal of Mr. Sims Reeves to comply with a demand for an encore." "The song," says the Liverpool Mercury, " was redemanded, and the cheering signifying the wish of the au- dience, was kept up for some time. But no ; Mr. Sims Reeves was not going to condescend to oblige his patrons by singing it a second time, short though it was. He returned to the platform, bowed, and retired. The cheering was kept up for some minutes, until it was mingled with a storm of hisses, but Mr. Reeves did not make his appearance again to sing. It was suggested by a gentleman present that the most sensible thing to do, should the great English tenor again condescend to come to Liverpool, and be paid for singing to its people, would be, that all applause should be withheld so far as he is concerned." Our provincial contemporary judges this matter erroneously. The practice of "encores,' both at the Opera and in the concert-room, has grown to be an absolute nuisance---a nuisance against which Mr. Reeves has taken the lead iu making a resolute stand. In doing so he has obtained the approbation and support of the thinking portion of every London audience; and it was for only doing in the country what he had done successfully in the capital, that Mr. Reeves brought on himself the hisses of an unreflecting multitude, and the censure of an equally unreflecting journal.
Previous page
