The Press. — London, England, 1857-06-06 00:00:00

Sunk 6,1857. usir. ITER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. Vi.nois opera of Nebueodonosor was produced in )lilan in 184'2. Its success was immense. It was followed by the Lombardi, Ernani, Giovanna 1 1%4re°, the Due Foscari, Attila, and Alzira, with amazing rapidity; but of these works only Ernani and the Due Foscari may be stated to survive. Lombardi, altered and adapted for the French Grand Opera, could not be saved even by Duprez's musical anti histrionic genius. Since the productions cited above, Verdi has, like Rossini and Donizetti and Meyerbeer, modified his style ; and to this transformation we are indebted for the masterpieces Rigoktto and the Trovatore, for Luisa Miller and La Traviata are trivialities compared with the two former lyric gems. nbiteco in its original form— that is, with Solera's libretto—is essentially a religious dramatic oratorio ; the facts are drawn from Holy Writ, like Rossini's Nosh. In the first act there is the siege of Jerusalem, the sacking of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, amidst the remon i,trances of Zechariah the High Priest and the Levites. In the second act 'is the conversion of Fenena, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, to the Jewish faith, and return of the Bing, who has left ber Regent, and who impiously calls upon his subjects to worship her as a god, and who is punished for his blasphemous pretensions by being deprived of his intellect. In his idiotic state the slave Abigail (an elder daughter of Nebuchadnezzar) plots the death of the neophyte Fenena, because the latter is beloved by Idaspe, once Abigail's lover. Fenena's execution is prevented by the return of the King's reason, after his repentance and his conversion ; the finale being 9 thanksgiving to the true God of the Hebrews, " Immenso Jehova." Whatever objections may be very properly enter• tained in this country against the treatment of scrip tural subjects on the stage, it cannot be denied that we lose by our conscientious scruples two fine works; for the Mosi of Rossini, both under the title of Peter the Hermit, produced so many years since at the King's Theatre, and of Zora, when brought out at the Royal Italian Opera, and Verdi's Nabucco, when done at her Majesty's Theatre in 1846, under the title of Nino, and at the Royal Italian Opera in 1830, under the designation of Anato, have both proved signally financial failures. The religious link in the chain of communication between the opera and the oratorio being broken by the inter polation of antagonistic paganism, the scores of boll composers are weakened, and in many points nullified. Between the two works there is, however, an immeasureable distance. The Mosi is a grand conception, in every respect worthy of the genius of Rossini. Nabucco is the dawn of a dramatic intel lect, which has gradually ripened into the maturity of a lyric genius. No ordinary mind conceived the score of the Nabucco; poor as the forms may be, the ideas are rich in inspiration. Given, that the choral portions are in many instances, from their unisonous artifices, puerile; admitted, that the or chestration is too often boisterous and common place ; acknowledged, that the incessant indulgence in the criard school for the leading vocalists is repul sive; still not the less do the fancy, imagination, impulse, and energy of the composer predominate over all defects and drawbacks, and the vivid per ception of dramatic colouring so frequently shown proved that Verdi was an exceptional and original 'writer for the operatic stage. No amount of abuse and vituperation both in France, Germany, and England could stop his progressive career. To glance over the criticisms of 1845 and 1846 in the London journal; is not a little curious now in 1857, when the) affiches of the two Italian Opera-houses scarcely exhibit the name of any other composer but Verdi. Singularly enough, he has even triumphed over the opposition of leading singers ; for, as his works imperatively exact artistes of great power of physical endurance as well as of histrionic abilities, no new composer ever met with more strenuous resistance than Verdi, and many prime donne and " tender tenors " were in the habit of having inserted in their engagements clauses that they should not be called upon to sing in his operas. Certainly, in his later productions, he has attended more to the pure art of vocalisation, but lie still clings to his theory of obtaining violent contrasts in declamatory phrases on the extreme notes of the register. This absence of scale passages causes too often fatigue in listening to such a vicious and monotonous style. Finished vocalists will become more and more rare should his operas maintain a permanent ascendancy. The advent of another Rossini or Bellini +could of course effect a reaction. En attendant, opera fre quenters must have excitement, and Verdi is super abundant in his supply of sensations, for no one of his works can be heard without some thrilling moments. THE PttESS. Nabucco, under the title of Nino, was first beard in London in 1846, the cast at that time including Fornasari (an artist who, like single speech Hamilton, was famed for one part only, viz., Bclisario) as Nino; Botelli, the High Priest; Corelli, Idaspe; Mlle. Corbari, Fenena ; and Mlle. Sanchioli, Abigail. In 1847, the cast in &uded Coletti as Nino, M. Boucbe as the High Priest, and Mlle. Fagiani as Fenena. In 1848, there were Signora Abbadia as Abigail, Mlle. Vera as Fenena, Signor Cuzzoni as Idaspe, and Belletti as the High Priest. This last cast was the coup-de grace to Nino; it disappeared from the bills until last Tuesday, when we had Mlle. Spezia as Abigail, Mlle. Ramos as Fenena, Charles Braham as Idaspe, Vialetti as the High Priest, and Signor Corsi as Nino. At the Royal Italian Opera in 1850, it was superbly mounted under the title of Anato, with Ronconi as Nabucco ( Anato Nino), Tamberlik as Idaspe (Dario), Tagliafico, Rodiaro (the High Priest), Mlle. Castellan Abigail, and Mlle. Vera Fenena. The sublime acting of Ronconi, and the general strength in the cast, with a magnificent ensemble, could not save the work, which fell as at the other house, under the absurdity of the libretto. How, then, could it be expected that with seedy scenery, dingy decorations, and cosmopolite cos tumes, superadded to a curious cast and an ineffi cient and imperfect ensemble, Nino would command the sympathies of the house, coupled with all the absurd monstrosities of the poem, in which Isis is made a male god by the High Priest, scriptural words being mixed up in confusion dire with pro fanely Pagan attributes? Corsi, who made his first appearance in England, had indeed uphill work, besides the cold under which he laboured ; hut he is not the less a genuine artist, who will be more and more appreciated as he is known. He has not much voice, but his style is unexceptionable, and his acting unaffected and dramatic. He was hideously dressed, ant', as his figure is short and corpulent, there was at first a mistaken estimation of his undeniably dra matic powers. Charles Braham was the concen trated essence of stick-ism, and he had a lady-love equally as remarkable as a nonentity ; the two com bined rendered the love-scenes a mere burlesque, and their singing was of too insignificant a character to be a set-off to the acting. Vialetti, without being equal either to Taglisfico or to Belletti, made some good vocal points; but his dramatic action—either pointing and shaking his finger at the pit, or raising his forefinger extended above his head perpetually— requires amendment. Mlle. Spezia has taken her revenge for her shortcomings in the Traviata and in the Trocatore. She is the best Abigail who has yet been heard in this country. Free from the grotesque exaggeration of Sanchioli, she is infinitely more energetic than Castellan ; and the screamy passages Verdi has so liberally assigned to Abigail were deli vered by Spezia with unshrinking vigour. The choral combinations were coarsely accomplished ; the gem of the opera, the "Va pensiero," that deli. thus melody which the captive Hebrews sing by the " Euphrates' stream," lacked colouring ; and Bonetti failed to realise the varied dramatic por- traiture in which Verdi so eminently excels. If, therefore, Nino should be no more heard of, this season, let it be recorded, at least, that it will not be the fault of either Spezia or Corsi, who were quite up to the mark ; but the failure must be ascribed to an ineffective rendering of the ensemble, to marked neglect in the »title en scene, and, above all, to the ridiculous changes in the libretto, whereby the antagonistic elements intended by the composer are rendered absurd and unintelligible. CONCERTS OF THE WEEK. Srvoitrs playing of Mendelssohn's violin concerto in E minor was the prominent attraction in the fourth Philharmoni programme. It was a masterly effort, accomplished apparently with the greatest ease, and distinguished for a certainty of intonation, refine ment of stlle, and polish of execution almost unprecedented. Sterndale Bennett's overture to the Naiades, a composition in:fancy, imagination, and treatment worthy of any master, was a most ac ceptable orchestral item. Madame Comte Bor chardt, a Belgian prima donna, distinguished herself by a vigorous reading of Beethoven's great scene, "Ab perfido," one exacting an extended register and executive powers of the highest order and first rate musical declamation. Her voice is metallic in the higher notes, and her school is essentially French, but she is not the less an animated vocalist, who will make her Aforts tell. At the fourth Musical Union, there was a most finished interpretation by Mine. Schumann of Men delssobn's "Rondo Capriccios° " in E minor, op. 14. Her touch was fairy-like, her execution brilliant and finished ; it excited a prodigious sensation amongst even the artistes, and loudest in the applause was Rubinstein. Ernst was in his most poetic mood ; everybody can therefore guess how he rendered the 563 andante in Mozart's quartet No. 4, in E flat, and the portion of the romantic quartet in C minor, No. 4, op. 18, of Beethoven, having for ablo coad jutors Goffrie, H. Blagrove, and Piatti. At the third Royal Academy of Music, at which there was a marked assemblage of royalty, rank, and fashion, there were some highly creditable displays on the part of the pupils ; amongst whom may be finalised those of Miss Bignall, Miss Van Noorden, Miss Whyte, Miss Lucia Fosbrooke, Miss Emily Spiller, Miss Mackenzie, Miss J. Whitehead, &c. A manuscript overture by Mr. Cusins was per formed, and Maurer's concertante for four violins was played by Messrs. Isaac, Amor, White, and Haynes. The fancy-ball in aid of the funds of this excellent institution has been definitively fixed to take place on Thursday the 2nd of July, under the patronage of her Majesty. The Royal Society of Musicians had their annual performance of The Messiah, at Exeter-hall, on the :3rd inst., under the direction of Professor Bennett, with Mme. Novell°, Mme. Itudersdorff, Mrs. Weiss, Mrs. Lackey, Miss Dolby; Messrs. Sims Reeves, Lockey, Thomas, and Weiss, as principal singers. Dr. Wylde terminated his New Philharmonic concerts last Wednesday. A new pianiste of merit, Mlle. Staudach, played Beethoven's concerto in C minor; Mme. Gassier was the vocalist. Mozart's serenade in C minor, for wind instruments, known here chiefly as a stringed quintet, was the chief feature of the programme. Of the " annuals " there is just now an avalanche. That of Miss Dolby and Mr. Lindsay Sloper is al ways attractive—such is the great respect enter tained for the eminent English contralto, and the estimation in which the abilities of Mr. Sloper are held both as a pianist and composer. Mr. Redfearn, who is a rising tenor, has also gathered his admirers together. Mrs. John Macfarren, the pianiste, and Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert have also entertained their friends this week. Mr. Blagrove, one of the original founders of the Chamber Concerts, has again entered the field for a series of quartet performances, with the co-operation of Molique, Sainton, Piatti, R. Blagrove, Bottesini, Mme. Oury, Miss Arabella Goddard, Mlle. Anna Molique, Herr W. Ganz, Sc. Miss Chatterton gave her first concert on the 3r3 at Willis's-rooms. At the Crystal Palace yesterday afternoon the Royal Italian Opera company had another grand concert under Costa's direction ; and yesterday evening at Exeter•hall was a rehearsal of 1,500 metropolitan choralists who are to take a part in the Handel Festival the week after next. The assem blage of all the chorus singers for a general trial will be next Friday at Exeter-hall, and the rehearsal with orchestra will be on the Saturday at the Crystal Palace. A plan of the orche s tra has been published; nothing can be more complete and business-like than the arrangements. Every singer and every instrumentalist have their numbered seats. HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.—The production of Don Giovanni is now positively fixed for Thursday next. For many years the idolaters of Mozart have felt that the chef-d'mivre of the great master has never been treated with a re.pect adequate to its high deserts, owing to the omissions from the score. The production of Don Giovanni is to be an event in the history of Her Majesty's Theatre. The greatest care has been taken with the details of scenery and costume, and the music as originally composed by Mozart has received an equal degree of attention. Elvira's air, "Ah, fuggi ii traditor," hitherto omitted, will be restored, so also will Masetto's air, " Ho capito," and Don Ottavio's air, " Della sus pace." The cast includes the names of Piccolomini, Spezia, Ortolani, Giuglini, Beneventano, Belletti, Corsi, and Vialettit CARDINAL WISEMAN delivered his second lecture at the Marylebone Literary Institution, " On the Collection and Arrangement of a National Gallery of Paintings," on Wednesday. Having in the first lecture explained the principles which should guide the formation of a national gallery of paintings in this country, he now chiefly directed attention to the mode of collecting the specimens required and to the many neglected opportunities of procuring such specimens. The cardinal mentioned many instances of collections of paintings offered for sale on the Comment, containing specimens which would have been particularly valuable for our national gallery, but which were either altogether disregarded or the commissions for the purcbase were on too niggardly a scale : for instance, the refusal to purchase the collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, offered to the country for 20,0001., and afterwards purchased by a dealer for 60,0001. He said that there are few indi cations at the present time of endeavours to repair the effects of the omissions of former days, and he noticed several late instances of valuable paintings which the nation might have possessed at low prices, but which had been allowed either to pass into other hands or had been subsequently purchased at greatly enhanced prices. He rejoiced that the commence•