The Press.
London, England, 1855-07-21 00:00:00

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

IT was on the 16th of February,lBs4, in the presence of
the Emperor and Empress of the French and of the
literary and artistic celebrities of the French capital,
that L'Etoile du Nord was originally produced. The
event was remarkable in lyric annals, inasmuch as it
introduced the composer to the Parisian Opera
Comique. Leaving the Academie, the great theatre
of his fame—based on those imperishable works
Robert Le Diable, the Huguenots, and Le Prophite—
Meyerbeer crossed the Boulevards—which in matters
musical and theatrical form as complete a boundary
in Art's domain as seas, rivers, and mountains mark
the limits of nationalities—and entered the lists with
Gretry,Boieldieu, Auber, and Halevey with as much
daring as he had before contended with the giants of
the lyric drama, Gluck, Mozart, Weber, and Rossini.
One of the greatest triumphs of his career attended
the gifted composer. The " Northern Star " shone
brightly, and its light was soon extended in every
direction, except that of the London Italian Opera.
How was it that the season of 1854 passed
without the representation of L'Etoile du Nord
at Covent Garden ? Some curious facts might
be given to the world on this question, but
" better late than never," and the work has at
length been presented with a success which puts au
end to all consideration of the past. On Thursday

night, eves with certain reservations to be presently
referred to, Meyerbeer must have been convinced
that he had seen and heard L'Etoile du Nord for the
first time. A more magnificent mounting has never
been witnessed i.i this or any other country. A finer
execution in its ensemble hai never been listened to.
A greater reception of a composer, by an English
audience, is not within any one's recollection. A
deeper impression on the minds of amateurs and
artists of almost all nations, assembled within the
Covent Garden walls, has never been made. " What
a scene!" " What an opera!" " What a success!'
Such were the exclamations saluting the ear, after
the curtain fell, lung past midnight, and the stage
had been strewn with flowers, as the composer finally
crossed the stage, accompanied by the leading
singers. Whilst recording these exciting ovations,
the considerations of art progress must not be lost
sight of. The opera of L'Etoile du Nord was noticed
in THE PRESS (February 25th, 1A454) at the period of
its production in Paris. There is no reason, after
hearing the Italian version, to modify the opinion
expressed in that article, that the subject of the
drama is not a happy one—at least for Eng-
lish audiences. Scribe's skill cannot make Cathe•
rine an interesting character, and with all his tact
there still remains a repulsiveness for Peter, the
Czar. Perhaps the present position with Russia may
operate on the mind, but it is doubtful whether at
any time Peter or Catherine can successfully figure
on the stage. So much the greater the triumph of
Meyerbeer to have conquered the evident detects of
the story, which, however, it must be admitted, has
been most ingeniously wrought up. The tent scene
in the second act is capitally contrived. The situa
tion in which the intoxicated Peter, after having
unknowingly given the order to shoot Catherine
(who is disguised as a young recruit, having taken
her brother's place for a short period), tries to recover
his self-possession in order to stop the execution, is
superb. The great "creation" of the opera is the
Corporal Gritsenko, a Cossack of the Ukraine, in the
first act, with an orthodox beard, and a stolid soldier
of the Imperial Guard in the subsequent acts. This
part was very cleverly embodied in Paris by Her-
mann Leon, but here it has been vivified by Lablache
with mirth•stiri•ing skill, and the Titan of basses
sings it with artistic tact and energy worthy of his
best days. The fragmentary passages of the music
enable Lablache to vocalise with unparalleled effect,
and his facile execution of the intricate phrases

SATURDAY,

quite astounded his admirers, who bad latterly
watched with anxiety his failures in parts re-
quiting sustaining power. And it may be here
the proper place to mention that Meyerbeer has
been eminently fortunate in the recitatives he
has substituted for the original spoken dialogue.
Delicious and masterly as the instrumentation
of the Etoile du Nord is, thescoring of the recitatives
in the Stella del Nord will still more provoke the
unqualified admiration of the most critical analyzer.
The felicitous mode in which the composer intro-
duces and reiterates a theme, thereby giving, so to
speak, a clue to the character or situation, would
exact detailed specimens impossible to be given
except in a purely musical organ. But, to generalise,
it may be safely stated that in no former opera has
Meyerbeer more strongly displayed his individuality.
The general tone of the Stella is consistent and
coherent, the " couleur locale" is preserved admi-
rably. How far the musician may be allowed in
achieving this important object to venture into the
descriptive cannot here be discussed. If operatic
music be intended to be suggestive of the situation,
then must Meyerbeer's characteristics be essentially
true and piquant. The new music allotted to the
Corporal in the second act is quaint and of the
highest merit, evincing the extraordinary versatility
of the composer's resources. The style ..f the Etoile,
it must be borne in mind, is of a mixed character,
like the libretto. In the main, the story is that of a
comic opera, but here and there it assumes the larger
proportions of the grand lyric drama. It was no novelty
that Meyerbeer's genius should soar into sublimity in
points exacting large ideas and bold treatment, like
in the " Conjuration " scene of the Huguenots, or the
" Coronation" scene of the Prophete, and in the
glorious scene of the Czar's appeal to arms in the
second act of the Etoile du Nord; but it is a novelty

in Meyerbeer'3 career to find that to him no schoOl
was closed, and that he was as capable of giving
lightness to the comic parts as he is in supplying
massiveness to the elevated traits.
If the music of Gritzenko has so much gained in
importance by the Italian adaptation, the part of the
leading tenor, Danilowitz the pastrycook, receives
further development by the addition of an arioso in
the last act. Gardoni far eclipses the French tenor,

Mocker, in this character. The melody of the arioso
is lovely, almost equal, in fact, in its ear-haunting
subject, to the exquisite air running through the opera
descriptive of the tuture destiny of Catherine, whose
star shines towards the North. The instrumental
undercurrent to Gardoni's air is in Meyerbeer's
best vein of elegance. It will, however, be gathered
from the preceding remarks that the two principal
parts are those of Catherine and the Czar. In Paris
Mlle. Caroline Duprez and M. Battaille were the
representatives. Here it is Mme. Bosio and Herr
Formes. The fair Milanese prima donna will gather
such a harvest of glory for her finished vocalisation
that she can afford to be told her acting has not at all
given a notion of Scribe's Catherine. Mlle. Duprez
acted the part as if she was a soubrette ; but the
reading had its piquancy, and it, was attractive to
watch the fragile form of the clever artiste in domi-
neering over the brutal Peter. Mme. Bosio, on the
contrary, walks through the part like a fine lady, list
less and inanimate. But Mme. Bosio made ample

amends by her singing. The "!tondo Bohernienn-e,"
in which Catherine charms the Cossacks, was given
to perfection, and the celebrated trio with two flutes
surpassed in executive display that of Mille. Jenny
Lind. Beginning well and ending thus well, Mme.
Bosio's star will be in the ascendant, leaving only
the fact on record that the character of Catherine
is yet to be created. Formes' extraordinary and
anything but choice Italian, and his coarse and
exaggerated energy, may pass muster for a tolerable
impersonation of the ferocious Czar with those who
have not seen Battaille, who made such an immense
sensation in the tent scene by the gradual recovery
from intoxication, and who sung the romance in the
last act with such true feeling. The Bacchanalian
air of Peter in the second act could only have been
done justice to by Ronconi, or Tamburini in his best
days. It the score admitted of transposition in the
music of Peter for Ronconi, what fine acting would
he not display! In the meanwhile the roughness
of Formes must be submitted to. Whilst on the
mention of the weak portion of the cast, its must be
owned that the cavalry couplets, as rendered by
Albicini, were most inefficient, and that Mme.
Rudersdortf, albeit very painstaking, was not a
Vivandiere to have tempted the Czar to forget
Catherine. Mlle. Bauer, on the other hand, as the
second Vivandiere, sang and acted with such spirit
and intelligence, and looked so provokingly pretty, as
to secure the encore bestowed on the marvelously
clever and original couplets for two voices. There is
nothing but praise to be awarded to Mlle. Marai as Pras-
covia, and Lucchesi as Giorgio. Herein the Covent
Garden cast had the palm of superiority over the
Parisian one. And in the secondary parts immea-
surably better were Tagliafico, Zelger, Polooin4
Gregorio, Soldi, dm. In numbers, in quality as well
as quantity, the chorus and orchestra tar transcends

JULY 21, 1855.

the Opera Comique forces. The finale of the second
act, combining the " Dessauer," or sacred march, the
oath, the pas redouble, and the fanfare of the military
bands, was prodigi, usly well done. Despite of its
intricate combinations, Costa managed to secure an
ensemble, the plaudits for which at the close were
tremendous, and insured for the conductor his
appearance before the curtain at the end of the
opera. That some disappointment was felt at the
nonappearance of Meyerbeer in the orchestra to
conduct his work there can be no doubt. As he has
been in town to superintend the rehearsals, it was
naturally anticipated he would follow the example of
Spohr when Jessonda and Faust were produced, and
direct the three first performances. Meyerbeer,
however, entertained such high confidence in the
ability of Costa, and being of a nervous temperament,
that he paid the Covent Garden conductor the high
compliment of requesting him to retain the bdton.
The overture, with its stately march and animated
coda, in which the military band on the stage co-
operates, was redemanded. The mounting of the
entire work, so far as regards the stage action, was
intrusted to the experienced hands of Mr. A. Harris,
who enlisted a phalanx of our soldiers of the line,
some of whom had been at Alma and Inkermann, for
the military movements of the camp scene. The
stern realities of war might be guessed at by the
groups formed on the stage in battle array. The
horse artillery, the batteries with their gabions, the
infantry thrown forward as skirmishers and in line
on the heights, the costume of the various divisions,
combined a coup &mil which the oldest frequenters
of theatres recognised as unparalleled. Beverly's
scenes of the coast of Finland, and the rocky defile,
are gems of art in their way. In short, nothing had
been neglected by the management, no outlay had
been spared, to do honour to the remarkable occasion
of Meyerbeer's visit to the metropolis, after an
absence of twenty two years. It must have been a
proud moment to this great composer as he stood on
the stage receiving, with evident diffidence, the
ovation of the public and artists, to know that he had
outlived all prejudices against his works, and to be
enabled to feel that his hesitation for so many years
to venture to this country had been a mistake. By
the production of the Etoile du Nord the seal
has been set of Meyerbeer's supremacy for
operatic composition. He must, indeed, marvel
that in an establishment without any financial
aid from the Government, dependent for its
. .

resources solely on the support of amateurs, his
works have been produced with such effectiveness;
but he must be still more surprised, after the repre•
sentations he has heard as to the Royal Italian
Opera, and as to the state of art in the country, at
Thursday night's performance. It' the result should
lead to his appearance in a domain of art which he
has not yet essayed, that of the soul-moving oratorio,
then, indeed, will his advent here prove of mighty
consequence.

THE PRINCESS CZARTORYSKA'S MATINEE MUSICALE.
—A performance of vocal and instrumental music was
given on Tuesday morning at the town house of the
Marquis and Marchioness of Breadalbane in aid of the
Polish Literary Association. Her Highness the Prin-
cess Czartoryska, und'.r whose auspices the concert
was arranged, was assisted by several aristocratic
amateurs, as well as by Mme. Anichini, Mme.
Rudersdo4, Signor Ciabatta, and Signor Belletti.
Signor Piaui on the violoncello, Herr Eller on the
violin, and Mr. Lindsey Sloper at the piano,
were also present. The great feature of the concert
was the performance on the piano of the Princess
Czartoryska, par excellence one of the most brilliant
amateur performers and accomplished pianists we
have ever heard. Her principal selections consisted
of the trio in C minor of Beethoven, and the sonata
in A, for violin and pianoforte, by Mozart. In the
*election of such music her Highness evinced a taste
which was only equalled by her admirably artistic
execution of these morceaux. Her fine tone, light
touch, and exquisite purity of style, combined with
remarkable fluency of execution, called forth the most
rapturous applause ; and the correct and finished
manner with which the illustrious amateur rendered
the presto which concluded the sonata evinced a
style incomparably clear and articulate. Her High-
ness, in the second part of the concert, performed
one of Chopin's nocturnes, and also one of his
mazurkas, as well as an unpublised MS., in a
style so florid, expressive, and graceful that
Chopin himself could have desired nothing more.
Herr Louis Eller, who made his debut upon this occa-
sion, took the violin part in both trio and sonata, and
afterwards performed three solos of his own—Minuet
Sentimentale, Yalu Diabolique, and a Corrente—in
which his execution, particularly in the latter, was
marked by singular purity of tone, accurate expres-
sion, and great power of rapid manipulation. His
success was undeniable, and the reputation which he
has lately achieved in Paris fully borne out at this
his first appearance here. A solo on the violoncello
by Piatti, and a number of vocal morceaux, in addi-
tion to the famous songs of "Bonlomme,"