The Press.
London, England, 1858-05-15 00:00:00

Itusit.

AT HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE the great feature of the
pas t week has been the production, for the first time
this season, of Don Giovanni. The new cast of this
opera, which assigned to Mlle. Titiens the part of
Donna Anna, had created an interest in the per-
formance of Tuesday last far beyond what, under or-
dinary circumstances, could have been expected—
and there was, consequently, a very full house.
Respecting the miss en scene and accessories, it will
be sufficient to say that they were fully equal to any-
thing before produced at Her Majesty's Theatre.
The parts were so well sustained that it seems
almost invidious to find fault with any, even in the
slightest degree. Still, without laying ourselves
open to the charge of being hypercritical, we may 7-
mark of Mlle. Ortolani that her acting was not quite
equal to her singing, and that she exhibited far less
emotion knd vehemence than would naturally be ex•
pected in the betrayed and forsaken Elrira; and of
Signor Beneventano that he was not as tender s
Giovanni as we could desire, either in action or vocal
.expression. Belletti as Leporello was admirable; and
It woull scarcely be possible to speak too highly in
praise of Mlle. Piccolomini's impersonation of
Zeriina. The arias " Batti, batti, o hel Masetto,"
the 4th scene of the Ist act, and " Vedrai carino," at
the end of the Ist scene of god act, were rendered by
this deservedly popular artiste with the most touch-
ing truthfulness and simplicity. The part of. Don
Ottavio was done complete justice to by S. ignor
Giuglini, and be was most deservedly encored 111 the
but
. not
delicious aria, " mio tesoro intanto." Last,
least, we have to notice Mlle. Titiens, who, we thin
I{k,
has achieved her greatest success as Donna 114,
It might have been expected that the music of
Mozart would be found more fitted to the genius of
this lady than that of the other composers in w.hor
works she had before been heard : and so it 3.
She seemed, also, to feel this herself, and to sing

with a proportionate increase of confidence. The
part assigned to her on this occasion, too, is singu-
larly well adapted to her great tragic powers. Any-
thing mere real, more painfully soul-stirring than
her representation in the Ist scene of Ist act of
Donna Anna's anguish on discovering the dead body
of her father cannot well be imagined. Her shrieks
of " Padre mio ! ram taro padre !" were quite over-
whelming with the depth and intensity of the grief
from which they apparently sprung. Her delivery of
the aria " r sai chi Vonore," in the 3rd scene of
Ist act, elicited the most rapturous applause; but an
attempt to encore it failed—the singer was, evidently,
unprepared for an immediate repetition of so
fatiguing an effort. We may sincerely congratulate
Titiens on the success achieved by her on
Tuesday ; and whilst so doing, we hope she will for-
give us if we suggest a little increased attention to
the modulation of her fine voice, and the suppression
of a disagreeable noise when she inhales her breath
—a defect only when exaggerated in anguish or
when introduced indiscriminately into every form of
enunciation.

MADAME SZABVADY, better known as Wilhelmini
Clauss, gave her first matinee this season at Willis's-
rooms last Monday. The programme included
Mendelssohn's trio in C minor, for pianoforte, violin,
and violoncello ; Bach's chromatic fantasia and fugue
in D minor; Beethoven's sonata in U; and three or
four small pieces by Chopin and Heller. In the trio
she was assisted by M. Sainton and Signor Piatti.
Mine. Szarvady comes back to us in some respects a
more accomplished pianists than before ; her tone is
fuller and richer, her execution more perfect, her touch
more even, her phrasing rounder, her accent more
decided. This progress is the natural result of further
practice and experience, and deserves the warmest
acknowledgment ; but it is not upon the possession
of these qualities that her reputation mainly rests.
Her highest gifts are an active mind and a singularly
delicate and sensitive frame. She never seeks to
display her mechanical skill ; she uses it for a pur-
pose, and appears to use it almost unconsciously.
She bail thoughts to communicate—not her own
thoughts, but the composer's—which, through her
acute sensibility, have powerfully seized upon her,
and with these thoughts her mind seems always
occupied. She has vast resources of commu-
nication, a wonderful power of expressing herself,
but she uses them as such, and no more. The
machinery is beautiful and admirable in itself, but
the work done by it is the great thing ; and the
work that Mine. Szarvady does is to breathe a spirit
into everything she touches. An automaton piano-
forte might be constructed which would play a sonata
of Beethoven with perfect accuracy ; the machine-
work would perhaps be more accurate than any
hand-work, but yet it would be utterly dead. The
sonata would be no more than a lifeless body, draw-
ing attention only by its still beauty, looking at no
one, speaking to no one, motionless and voiceless.
But let this music pass through the mind of
an artist like Mine. Szarvady, and it is no
longer deed ; it lives, and moves, sod speaks. It
does not perhaps say all that Beethoven meant it to
say, but the interpreter makes us know as much of
the composer's meaning as she understands herself,
and that is not a little. We need not go into the
details of the programme. Various as was the music
selected, Mine. Szariady's performance was admirable
throughout. Enthusiasm is not to be expected from
these afternoon audi,inces in the West end, but her
playing was listened to with evident delight.

Miss AR &BELLA GODDARD gave a soiree of classical
pianoforte music at Willis's-rooms on Wednesday
evening, the last of her second series this season.
The selection was only too good. An air with varia-
tions, for pianoforte and violoncello, by Mendelssohn;
three sonatas by Weber, Mozart, and Beethoven; and
three fugues by Scarlatti, Bach, and Mendelssohn—
this is not a feast, but a debauch. And yet so seduc-
tive was each successive dish, and so well were the
courses arranged, that the appetite of the audience
never failed. First, Mendelssohn's air with varia-
tions, all tenderness and melancholy; then the wild
spirit of Weber's last sonata; then the quaint fugues
of Sculatti and Bach, giving all the more relish for
the luscious melody of Mozart's sonata in B flat;
and then Mendelssohn's stately fugue in 117) major.
What second part could tempt people after such a
first' Nothing but Beethoven's posthumous sonata
in B flat, that wonderful and almost impossible No.
106, which no one but Miss Goddard in London, at
least, has ever ventured to attempt. Like the choral
symphony and the mass in D, the very announce
ment of this sonata is enough to bring together a
crowd of musicians; and while these are lost in wonder
at. the miracles of execution achieved by the young
maniste, the extraordinary beauty of the music is
acknowledged by all. The absence of warmth which
we sosometimes regret in Miss Goddard is probably
in this instance the condition of success ; in the
midst of such unheard-of difficulties the slightest
nervous agitation would be fatal. Miss Goddard