The Press.
London, England, 1854-05-06 00:00:00

glusir.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.
To hear Fidelio for the purpose of discovering cha-
racteristic excellences, or to be astonished by spe-
cial feats from the singers, would be about as sensi-
ble as to attend the symphony in 1) for the purpose
of wondering at Tolbecque or Piatti. In this magni-
ficent production all individuality must be sunk, at
the same time that nothing but finished excellence
on every side will carry it through, as a symphony
will be spoiled by the inefficiency of a single per-
former. What will always be the popular opinion
was well expressed by a couple of sentences we
heard behind our backs, addressed by one friend to
another at a little distance. " What a very superb
opera !" cried one. "It is, indeed," said the other—
who had misheard—" a very heavy opera." " Superb"
and "heavy "—these will be the general impressions
of Fidelio. It is heavy, as other famous works are
heavy, but in a very different way. Oberon is heavy,
from its mannerism. Zauberfibte, from its absurdi
ties. Otello, from its poverty. Guillaume Tell, from
its labour. But Fidelio is heavy from the excess
and exuberance of its wealth. It is overwhelmed,
like the Roman virgin, with the gifts thrown over it.
There never was anything like it. Idea, sentiment,
expression, melody, succeed with such rapidity that
you have no time to breathe. You long to dwell a
little longer on the exquisite movement which has
passed away before you have time to seize it. You
long to repose for a moment in the midst of your
ecstasies. The resources of inferior writers, who,
when conscious of a goad idea, take care to repeat it,
would here be most welcome. For this reason the
second chorus (or third rather, but the first is
nothing), the only thing badly sung in the whole
performance, was, we verily believe, listented to with
the greatest pleasure : its beautiful movements were
, allowed to rest and to be repeated upon the ear.
The vocalisation of Fidelio, as connected with the
instrumentation, forms altogether a vast and wonder-
ful symphony, of which the vocal instruments are
performed by Cruvelli, Tamberlik, etc. That most
magnificent instrument of God's own making, the
human throat, is used, in accordance with the others,
with the power of a giant. But it is not, as in other
operas, an accompanied song or an accompanied
quartet, but the voice nobly and gloriously instru-
mented, forming a part of a huge instrumental
whole. The singers are kept perforce in their
places. Cruvelli adventured, if we recollect right, but
one roulade. which had been much better let alone ;
and Tamberlik never made the faintest attempt to
sing C sharp, losing thereby the applause of some
eminent critics, and of various others who believe
that, as no authors ever wrote with the expectation of
such a vocalism, it must be peculiarly consonant to
the intention of their airs.
With the acting it is different. Here alone you
perceive that you are assisting at a dramatic per-
formance. But even here the actor is tied and
circumscribed. A simple tale of love and fortitude,
it admits but of one mode of dealing with it, and
forcibly excludes what are vulgarly called interpreta-
tions. In short, the opera in every way requires
finished artists perfectly under the influence, not of
themselves—as is elsewhere the rule now-a-daya--
but of the scene. And this it most assuredly found.
Cruvelli, the Leonora, made no display ; but the
perfect education of her acting and the noble tones
of her voice gave everything to the part it required.
Her firm, sustained, melancholy character—always
on the stage. always on the watch—is assuredly a
terrible task for the physical powers; but it is so
completely suggested and kept up by the absorbing
nature of the story and the music that so gifted an
artist could not fail in her duty. Susini, the old
gaoler, did his part perfectly. It was feared that
his would be the weak part of the performance. It

427

was quite equal to his predecessors. Tamberlik was
the Florestan (Ferdinand° they now call Lim). He
could nut do otherwise than well, and sang nobly ;
but he scarcely looked at home in his part, and, we
fear, had a hankering after the C sharp. The little
part of Margarita was excellently managed by Mlle.
Marai. Sugelli, Tagliatico, and Poloniui were the

other performers.
It tells well for English taste that the house was
crowded in every part to hear a performance which
less than any work ever written appeals to vulgar
sympathies. The difficult piece of instrumentation
known as the overture to Leonora was given between
the first and second acts in true Philharmonic style.
It is quite easy to see why Beethoven should have
rejected it as the overture to his opera. With all its
manifold beauties, nothing can be less operatic.
This and the quartet in the first act were the only
encores; and the opera was over at a quarter to
eleven, with nothing to follow. The curtain was
certainly not up for two hours on the whole.
We are speaking of Thursday night. Fideflo will
be repeated this evening. L'Elisir was given again
on Tuesday.
NEW PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY. _ _

THE programme of the third concert was as fol-
lows
PART I.—Overture, " Sehauspiel•Director,"
No.l, pianoforte, Mlle. Claure, eudelseohu—N
"Paradise Lost.," Wyttle.
PART 11.—Symphony, No. 4, rteethoven—Aria, " Zauberfhite,"
?died iv l'yne, Mozart—Overture, " Tanutiauser," Wagner.

tu Itilwn's

After a second hearing of Dr. Wylde's music we see
no reason to change the opinion we expressed last
year (vide PRESS, vol. i., p. 45). We by no means
deny the composer's talent, but we deem it wholly
insufficient to enable him to contend in the same
arena with musical intellect.' of a high order; added
to this, the form in which his work is presented to the
public operates much in its disfavour; the prepon-
derance of recitative, the almost comic effects of certain

uncouth noises, and last, but not least, its extreme
length, confirm us in the position before enunciated,
that its success can never be either complete or lasting.
Beethoven's symphony in B flat was well performed,
but it lost much of its effect by the repetition of the
slow movement. The directors seem determined to put
an end to the existence of these concerts this year,
not only by open rivalry of the Philharmonic Society,
but by studiously imitating its defects. We should
like to see a set of directors bold enough to do
honour to art by forbidding all " encores," as it is
the fashiou to style them. Mile. Clause, who was
received with great applause, rendered Mendelssohn's
concerto with much effect. We confess we are not
amongst the number of this young lady's enthusi •
astic admirers; but, as we are in a decided minority,
we shall not venture to state the particular grounds
of our opinion until the musical season is further
advanced. Mozart's overture, an early work of the
composer, n. spirited and admirably written. But
we cannot extend our commendation to M. Wagner's
overture, which is in our judgment neither more nor
less than complete rubbish. Miss L. Pyne, the
most charming concert-singer of the day, gave much
assistance to the vocal portion of the concert. She
was ably seconded by Messrs. Belletti, Formes, and
Weiss.

ate pram.

OLYMPIC THEATRE.

WE owe Mr. Wigan many apologies for having omit-
ted to notice the performances at his charming little
theatre on Easter Monday. Ever since that national
holiday Buckstone's The Happiest Day of My Life
has been the first piece of the evening, and the re-
vival of this pleasant and agreeable farce has
met with the most complete and deserved sue-
cest,. It has always been a favourite theory of ours
that an evening performance of three hours or three
hours and a half's duration, consisting of light one
or two act pieces, well put upon the stage, would be
successful with the general as well as with the spe-
cial public; and we feel indebted to Mr. Wigan for
having transformed our crotchet into an established
fact. But our readers must not run away with the
notion that this happy result can be effected without
trouble. To do the deed, good and carefully-trained
artists are required, and the accesscries must be pro-
vided and kept in their proper places by some judi-
cious ruling power. Thus, in The Happiest Day of
My Life, Mr. Robson, as Mr.GiUmen, is exceedingly
diverting in the comic scenes, and,when the situation
demands of him, exhibits qualities of a very high
order. Still, to the eyes and ears of the spectator,
the piece by no means depends upon him alone.
Mrs. Chatterley, Miss Horton, Miss Stephens, Miss
Marston—in fact, everybody employed—contribute
to present a perfect picture, and without their assist-
nice the success would only be one half of what it is.
On Monday last Mr. Horace Wigan, a brother of the
manager, appeared as Paddy Murphy in The Happy
Man, a worthless extravaganza of the days of Power.
Mr. H. Wigan, though a young actor, is of consider•