The Express.
London, England, 1857-06-13 00:00:00

LYCEUM: MADAME RISTORI IN " CAMMA."

The scene is Peasinus, in Galatia. The dramatis
prime are Celtic in race, Druidical in creed. The author[
ot the 0408 la Signor Montanelli. Gamma (Madame Rieke%
the printed!, of Codeine (a Celtic goddess), is tho Pik. o
8-ate, a =timid hero to whom the is tenderly attached. let
the first act Comma is informed of the dastardly 100011i124.
don of her heroic husband, and the election in his place of
Siam (Signor Gleck) sa tetrarch of Pembina. Sinoro comae
to 000 dole with her on her lees, end she immediately conceives
the anepicion.—ether arrives intuitively at the conviction—
that the new tetrarch is the assassin of her husband.
In the second act, Sinoro Ina declared himself her lover.
and Gamma devotee herself to the purpose of aasuring be
suspicions and contriving her vengeance. She procures
from Elinor° a confession of his guilt by the notable can-
trivaacs of avowing that her love for Senate was a mere
trensient flame, and that she has never known the reel in-
teasity of an overwhelming passion until she had conceded
it for the man who proved his devotion by turning swamis
for the make of winning her. Sinoro, deluded by this highly
probable avowal, admits hie guilt, and is allowed to suppose
that he le beloved. The third act is the venge-
ance. The marrieds rite among the Galatians con-
sisted, it seems, in drinking out of the Immo cup.
In the Temple of Corivena an altar is deemed for the nup-
tials; a poisoned cup is prepared by Comma, which, after
filet drinking from it herself, 'impasses to Simon. The deadly
venom works its purpose, and the drama doses on the
triumph of Camma's vengeance and the agony of Sinoro's
despair.
That is the tragedy of Caverns ; much is the meagre out-
line, filled up according to the regulation model of the Italian
stage with lay Ovum and melodious iambics. A bard
(Signor Boecomini) an Ovate, or superintendent of religions
ammonia (Signor Borghi) and a confidante (Mdlle. Picchio-
tine) are the walking gentleman and lady of the piece.
Let It be at once admitted that the performance of
these gentlemen and of this lady is highly creditable
that they repeat with very choice pronunciation a
great many exceedingly well•turned verses, and that
the whole affair, as far as they ere concerned, is very
harmonious, very stately, end somewhat dull. The
emcee of the whole thing of course is the acting of Madame
Rioted. She has three things to do. one and all calculated
to strain to the very uttermost the highest histrionic powers.
She bee to receive tho tidings of the measemination of a bur,
band she dearly loves, to make love to that husband's mur-
',
dere; for the sake of satisfying her vengeance—to represent
that vengeance gratified—her bate appeased by the desire.,
tion of the amassin—her love, by the self-murder which is
to unite her with Senate in the unseen world.

Over an these diaculties Madame Ristori triumphed, as no
other performer of the present day, perhape of any day,
could. Where she failed, the fault we. not hers, but the
author's. A greater dramatic mistake has never, perhaps,
been committed, than in endeavouring to tepessmt on the
stage, through the medium of set speeches and studied vend-
Citation, the agony of a wife who hears suddenly the un-
expected murder of a beloved husband. We never felt
strongly the genius of the sntique artist, who bid the We of
Agamemnon before the altar of his daughter's tuerince.
When Macbeth is told on the stage of the death
of his wife, he is in the very whirlwind of that
fateful struggle which leaves him no time except
for the few stern words—. She should have died here.
after." That is how a genius deals with emotions
which art is powerless to depict. Madame Ristorl did all
that could be done, but Signor Montanelli's error in judg-
ment yea here irreparable.
It was different In the other two sets. Even this great
actress has rarely, if ever, displayed more astonishing power
than in the scene where, try masking her hatred under
the forms of passion, she obtains from the man she meet
abhors an avowal that he was the murderer of the man she

mat -loved. When deluded by lie7;;;trlatro;.-the-v7icig
plum his hands in here, there was a terrible conrentration of
deadly hate and sublimely diabolical exultation in the tow
and gesture which accompanied the words " DIM preda
diem" " I grasp my prey." This was one of those
electrifying bursts of intense passion in which Rio-
ter' ham no living rival except Rachel. The
third act was equally great. When Sinoro drinks the
cup the dime exultation of joy which leaps forth in the ex-
clamation, "Ah pegs io ease," is only equalled by the terrille
intensity of the blended morn and hatred with which the
dings off, as though be were so much loathsome carrion, the
detested ammein to the eternal doom, and by the tran-
scendent expeessiatof passionate rapture in which • he pante
away her life in a last loving thought of reunion, amid wham
light and sphere music, with her murdered hero. The hi-
wnph was Madame Risuwi's own, and it was won spinet
all sorts of difficulties. It is much to bo hoped that her next
will be in some piece more worthy of her power.lJC:ranCe ilii, she exercised a linguisr fascination over her
audience, and was recalled at the end of each act. It only
remains to add that Signor Glad's acting in the odious pert
of Sinew, was meritorious, and that the mite m 'the wee
legaistly metiefeetory.