The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-28 00:00:00

witched them into admiration. From first to last
it was as genuine an artistic triumph as we can call
to our remembrance. Upon it we may with reason
congratulate, not merely the gifted songstress,
but—as he so admirably well deserves—Mr. Maple-
son himself, to whose enterprising management
we are indebted for this superb revival of the ope-
ratic masterpiece of Beethoven.
It is significant of the affluence of genial lavished
upon that extraordinary chef-d' otuvr by its com-
poser, that for "Fidelio,'" his one opera, his only
opera, and such an opera! the Opera of Operas!
Beethoven wrote and has left to the world no less
than Four Grand Overtures ! Of these four overtures,
Signor Arditi's orchestra on the first night of the
revival performed twe—the fourth (in E) before
the commencement of the first act, the third (in C)
between the first and tie second act, this last-
mentioned of the four overtures being popularly
known as the grand "Leonora." With the latter,
however—the grandest of all the four overtures,
the conductor at Her Majesty's contented himself
on Saturday. Foregoing the temptation to give at
any time during thenight the radiant composition in
E written by Beethoven in 1814 for the then revival
of " Fidelio,"—Signor Arditi prefaced the Opera on
Saturday with the great composer's own favourite
among his four 0 vertures, the glorious "Leonora."
And superbly was it given on Saturday at Her Ma•
jesty's—so superbly that it necessitated an encore.
Who that has never heard it can be afforded by any
mere written description the faintest notion of the
effect of that whirling concord of sounds, symboliz-
ing so much of the coming passion, anguish,
love, despair, and pathetic enthusiasm of the
soul-stirring incidents of "Fidelio"—that marvel-
lous overture, in the midst of all whose crashing
harmonies—suddenly I—there comes a pause—
through the startling silence of which echoes the
far off signal trumpet that, in the opera itself, gives
a solution to all the enigma of difficulties tangled
into the plot of "Fidelio !" Bringing despair to
the ruthless Pizirro—relief to Rocco—salvation at
once to Leonora and to Florestan. Since the depars
tare of Staudigl we have had no such Pizirro as that
of Signor Gassier. As the rough-mannered, but
kind-hearted jailor Rocco, Signor Marcello lance
appears to excellent advantage. Disappointed with
him (as we were) as Falstaff, we are, according to
that oddest idiom perhaps of all odd idioms in the
language," agreeably disappointed" with his Rocco.
It was the Rocco of Beethoven. The ,?risoner
Florestan is impersonated, in this reOival of
" Fidelio" at Her Majesty's, by Dr. Ctanz, an
eminent primo tenors from the Opera at ilk,nover.
Evidently a thorough artist, Dr. Gunz hardly ap-
peared to do himself justice, even on Saturday upon
the repetition of the performance, and this by reason
apparently of excessive nervousness. Tne Jaquino
and Marcellina in the present cast, are respectively
Signor Bettini and Mademoiselle Louise Liebhardt,
both of whom acquitted themselves adm;rably
throughout. Even the subordinate character of II
Ministro— who, as may be remembered, does nut
make his appearance until the very close of the
opera—was not disdained by Mr. Santley,
that eminent artist, thus contributing very con-
siderably to the brilliant rendering of the grand
finale—the wonderful effect produced by which
upon the audience on Saturday it would be difficult
to exaggerate. But, the Leonora Florestan, the
Fidelio—in this revival of Beethoven's great lyrical
masterpiece—Mademoiselle Titiens, to wit 1 What
shall be said of her ? What can be said of her beyond
what has here already been remarked by us—
that her performance of that most picturesque
and most pathetic creation on the operatic stage is
worthy to take rank, side by side, with the perform-
ance of Fidelio, by the greatest of her predecessors,
by Schroeder-Devrient, by Sophie Cravelli, even
by Malibran-de-Beriot. An analytical commentary
might be written, with intense gratification to our-
selves in the writing of it, were such either requisite
or desirable. It was the manifestation through-
out of the true artist, of the true genius
of the true woman I And no marvel that,
as such, that as all this, it excited the
audience, as we have shown, to a pitch of enthu-
siasm. The grave-digging scene in the dungeon is,
as a matter of course, the grandest scene of all, the
manifestation of the noblest powers of Madlle.
Titiens, both vocal and histrionic. The whole
house seemed to watch and listen breathlessly,
tearfully, down to the very close. To watch and
to listen unmoved during such a performance would
have been an impossibility. But one exceptional
deficiency seems to us, as in any way noticeable in
the whole of this noble revival of "Fidelio," and
that a deficiency that will probably have disap-
peared altogether this evening on the occasion of
the third performance. We allude simply to a cer-
tain lack of aplomb, of completeness, of rhythmic
unison in the immortal " Prisoner's Chorus.'
Enough, however, when we have said that, in the
way of any exception to a revival that is about the
most memorable event in the operatic season of
1864, a triumph to Madlle. Titiens, and one among
the most notable among the incidents that will have
to be recorded in the annals of Mr. Mapleson's
management.