The Press.
London, England, 1858-07-31 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JULY 31, 1658.

a populous district, the medical practitioner, and the 1
hospital nurse witness it with scarcely an emotion.
The outpouring of blood is a sickening sight ; but
habit makes the most tender-hearted indifferent to it.
The various forms in which death is served up to us
on the stage may, indeed, defer beyond its natural
time the period of satiation, but not for any length of
time. There are only three modes of dying, his-
trionically, recognized on civilized " boards," viz.,
from natural causes, by poison, and by the poniard.

The first is the least in vogue, because, being an
every-day and an unavoidable occurrence, it possesses
little interest as a spectacle. The second, in its
contortions, its writhings, its protracted agony, its
prolonged sighs and upturned eyeballs, has powers

of fascination which render it almost., if not quite,
as fashionable as the last, with its threatening
gestures, its gleaming blade, and rapid result. But,
ring the changes as we ►nay on these three deaths a la
mode, they inevitably and soon pall upon the most
morbid senses. To keep up a relish for witnessing

the representation of man's last struggle for life,
we require not a mere variety in the form of the
struggle itself, but such a complete change in the
modus cperandi as can only be found in the hands
of a new performer. He who has seen Mme. Ristori
die in Phidre, has also seen her die in Octavio,
Adrienne Lecourreur, &c.; but he has not seen the
end of Rachael in Phidre, of Piccolomini in Luisa
Miller, or of Giuglini in Lucrezia Borgia. This
argument applies, to a great extent, to the perfor-
mance even of English tragedy, before an English
audience, but with far less force than in the case
before us. This brings us to, secondly, the
use of a foreign tongue. Under this bead
we may say, at starting, we do not be.
lieve that an English Alfieri, Racine, or Corneille
would be found popular on the stage. These writers
derived the success that has attended their efforts to
that sympathy which, owing to the diversity of
national idiosyncrasies, can only be elicited from
those to whom an author's language is identical with
their being. Our British character is too matter-of-
fact for the due appreciation of that idealism which
is the very essence of dramatic writings a la Phedre.
Nearly all the best of our own tragedies are mere
collections of historical facts and incidents (more or
less closely followed) adapted to the stage; and,
although we may occasionally like to travel in the
region of clouds for a brief period, out of curiosity
and for the love of change, the ethereal is not oar
element ; we can exist therein for a while, but not a
long while. But, unfortunately, nearly all Mme.
Ristori's performances have belonged strictly to the
region of the ideal ; and still more unfortunate is it,
as we have on a former occasion remarked, that pro-
bably not one in ten of the most educated class in
this country is sufficiently master of the Italian
tongue to follow and understand her utterance—so
that even the small amount of visionary capacity
which a British audience may be supposed to pos-
sess is, at these Italian representations, to a great
extent imprisoned within the bosom of its possessors,
by reason cf the defective communication between
their understandings and the actor's words. Under
these circumstances, their interest becomes chiefly,
if not entirely, dependent on looks, gestures, and
actions—in fact, on pantomime. But there is some-
thing so unsubstantial, so unsatisfactory, in this
limited and indirect appeal to the inward senses,
that we cannot wonder if it soon fails to attain its
end, especially in this phlegmatic country. In
gesticulation, sighs and groans, there is after all but
small room for variety; and even were there a greater
choice in deaths by violence, we could not have a
poisoned cup or a flashing blade in every scene. As
for a throat cut from ear to ear, that is out of the
question within a circle whose centre is Charing-
cross and radius half a mile.
All the difficulties ',and we have only enumerated
some of them) arising out of the use of a language
that is only partially known to the audience, are,
we think, greatly aggravated, when pieces placed on
the stage have a nationality different from that of
those who perform in them. We have on a previous
occasion alluded to the depreciatior. of a play by
translation into a foreign tongue ; but we think Vie
injury occasioned to it by foreign actors is still
greater. - To illustrate our messuiug, Ruble's Phicke

731

loses much in Dalt' Ongaro's translation, but mill
mote in the hands of an Italian company of actoes.

It would probably suffer less by translation if
per-
formed by Frenchmen. The superiority of Octavia,
as given recently at the St. James's Theatre, over
Phitire is moat manifest, and yet the original of the
latter is at least as fine as the former; but Allleri's

work was rendered in its mother tongue by com-
patriots of the author, whilst Riteine'S beautiful
tragedy, although admirably translated, was but a
translation, and delivered by Italians. Frcm tbis
argument, it will be perceived that we attribute as a
third cause of a failure we so much lament, an in-
jinlicious selection ( f Cie pieces produced by the
Italian Dramatic Company.
It is not our design to thr3w cold water on specu-
lations having the nbject of introducing to English
boards foreign performances. Far from it. We
should like to see Ristoris of any nation welcomed
here Year after year; and it is exactly becau-e we
have this desire that we venture to give a little ad-
vice to such enterprizing dramatic speculators as Mr.
Gye. There is no reason why a foreign company of
actors should not share with their English brethren
the patronage bestowed on thedrama in this country;
but we think the amount of their success will always
depend (I ) on the nation to which they belong, and
(2) on the judicious selection of plays. Under the
first head we would recal to mind the enthu-
siasm that attended Rachel's performances in
London, and then ask our readers to endeavour
to conceive the effect that would be produced by
a star (supposing it possible) of ten times the
magnitude of that great French tragedienne,
appearing with every advantage of locality and other
attractive accessories, but delivering herself in the
Russian language. No result but an empty theatre
could manifestly attend such an event. Well, then,
we say, the French and the Russian—the most and
the least known continental languages in this coun-
try—being taken as the superior and inferior limits
respectively of our European lingual knowledge, that
the success of a foreign dramatic company in this
country will depend on our acquaintance with the
language used 13,-ing nearer to the former or the
latter, and will vary directly from the former to the
latter. Under the second head it flows immediately
from the arguments already used, that the repertory
should be confined as much as possible to original
plays in their original language, having the attrac-
tion of national or historical associations, or involving
matters of every-day life, poetry and idealism being
regarded as suspicious ground on which to tread.
The great success of Elisabetta Regina d'highilterra
confirms the former part of this condition, and the
unmistakeable preference of that vapid trash,
Adrienne Lecouvreur, over such productions as
Phicire, Maria Stuarda, J4c, confirms the latter
part.
We understand that Mme. Ristori is endeavouring
to add to her laurels north of the Tweed. We
heartily wish her better luck than she had here ; and
we trust that Queen Bess may be reproduced for our
enjoyment next season.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.— Mlle. Titiena will
leave London for Vienna on Wednesday next, Tues-
day being her last appearance. The theatre finally
closes on Saturday next, the 7th lost, with La
Traviata, Mlle. Piccolomini and Signor Giuglini
leaving London on the Monday following for Dublin,
where they have been announced to appear in a
series of representations.

CHARACTER OF THE EIFIL.—QURiIIt is the wnra
which best expresses the character of an Eifel
landscape. They say that once in its hot youth it
wag a volcanic region, and on the face of the country
there is abundant evidence of its early excesses. It
has long since reformed and settled down for good;
but still, as is often the case with a steadied rake,
it seems to smile half regretfully. half complacently,
over the recollection of its youthful freaks. Little
streams come :tickling down its hilly cheeks with a
gut gling chuckle, as if they enjoyed the thought of
the jolly times wLen they were lava; while in
the valley below there is a long sigh among the
beechwoods that sounds like the echo of Master
Shallow's "0 ! the mad days that I have spent."
Each of those angular monticles is the record of
sotne juvenile escapade in the way of an eruption, and
even still from a distance they have a defiant perky
look. But if you ascend one of them, instead of a
savage chasm ready to heavo hot stones in your face,
you End nothing but a sort of earthen bowl, from the
bottom of which an Eifel ploughman and a pair of
cows yoked by the horns look up at you with a mild
wonder ; or in some cases a deep blue lakelet,
laughing itself into ripples at the surprise it has
given you. There is a good deal of mock modesty
about these sly little tarns r with a perfect concions-
ness of their own bmintv, they *Mot a anvil
humility, and seem to say, "Ab you should have
seen me when I was an active
Frlgeires:MOsizilie.