The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-11 00:00:00

HER. MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
At length we have a worthy successor to Madame
Thista ; and those characters, such as 2:ledea, which
re(pire for their perfect emba,liment a rare combina-
tion of miji!sty, and passion, and tenderness, and for
their proper vocalization a voice of great compass and
equally perfect in the middle as in the
upper and lower regh;t:-..r, and capable of expressing
every phase of passion, from the most pathetic tenderness
and the most heartrending anguish to the furious bursts
of anger, of hatred, and of revenge, may twain resume
their place:, in the operatic repertoire. Mademoiselle
i-he pupil and adopted daughter of Pasta, made
her dt'bi7t here last evening in the character of
orma, and we certainly are no longer surprised at
the furore she created at Palermo and at the anxiety
of the Palermitans to retain her among them. such

an netres3 and singer has not appeared since the days
of Pasta. Mademoiselle Parodi is somevdiat above

the lriddle height, with features of great mobility,
and capable of every variety of expression. Ihr
eyes arc magnificent, and her mouth full of expres-
sion, her figure is commaniing, her manners dignified
and nwjestic—dignity and majesty are with her
the prevailing characteri!ties of the. part,
and thertfure when, as in the scenes with

Pcllio, with Adalgi.=:a and with her children, passion

bursts through till those restraints by which her
strong will has hitherto kept it down, and the priestess
is overcome by the woman, the intensity of the
passion i 3 ineresed tenfold by the contrast, and
Norma is all the inor, ace inspiring in these impas-

sioned scenes, from the contrast vv•hich they present
with the usual majesVc dignity which on other occa-
sions she preserves. It was impossible to behold her
for an instant without feeling that at length we had

discovered a great actress. vln the opening scene,
in which she appears with her long jet black hair
escaping from unnerneath her tiara and flowing over
her shoulders, her majestic mien, her dignified step,
her features bearing an expression of the most intense

devotion, and yet with an under-current of human

passion ready to burst forth, she seemed the very
priestess of that strange and mysterious religion whose
temples wcre the cromlechs aod whose bible was the

stirs. The Carta Diva was given with the intensity
of davotion of one who believed in the faith

hich she professed. There was no attempt
t the introduction of any mere ornamental

vueAlizAtion, but it was the heartfelt address of

3 true believer to the deity of her worship. The
chirige of expre6sion of her features and of her
manntr in the cabaletta which immediately follows,
"Ah bell° a me ritorna," was most admirable, and

stamped her at once as an artiste not only of the
gt,atest genius, but as one possessed of the power of
fully embodying and developing the conceptions of
that genius; her features were lit up with an al-
most girl-like joy, and nothing could exceed the
beauty and delicacy of her manner of render-

ing this exquisite air: The applause was rapturous;
an. encore was demanded, and on her quitting the
stage she was again called for and again greeted with
t•.e.gre,Atest enthusiasm. In the concluding scene of
the first act, in which denounces Pollio. never have
we seen the expression of mingled indignation and
scorn more admirably delineated. The expression of
concentrated rage and contempt with which she
rushes towards him ; the peculiar tone of the voice,

almost choked by the intensity of the emotion,
trembling and hoarse as it were with passion, were
effects which, since the days of Edmund Kean, no
artiste has dared attempt until they were at-
tempted last night by Parodi ; and Edmund
Kean, in his most palmy days, was never
morn true to nature, never more effective,
never more successful. The effect was electric.

Of living artistes one, and only one, could have acted
this magnificent scene as Parodi acted it last night—
and that one is Pasta. The scene in which she con-

templates the murder of her children was also a
perfect triumph of histrionic art. There was some-
thing horribly fascinating in the manner in which
she screwed her courage to the sticking place ; and
then the sudden revulsion of feeling, the tremor of terror
that came over that maddened mother as she started
back in horror on beholding those sleeping children and
recollecting that she was their mother, was a perfect
triumph of histrionic art. Again were we reminded

of tile glorious triumphs of (Edmund Kean ; again
were we reminded of the equally glorious triumphs of
Pasts, and it is but justice to Parodi to say, that she
did not suffer one jot by the reminiscences which she
hal evoked, and the comparison which those reminis-

cences had excited. We have been so carried away
by our adiniradon of the transcendent powers of

Paredi as an actress that we have nut as yet paid
honour due to her vocal merits. her voice is of great
power, great flexibility, and extraordinary compass,
bearing a very great resemblance, in all points, to the
voice of Pasta. In her lower tones her voice is a
contralto of great power and richness. There is,
about her lower tones that peculiar gushing quality
hich constitutes the great charm of a contralto voice,
while her ti,i.idle and upper note i are clear, silver-
like, powerful, and capable of every variety and
shale of expression, from the soft sound, " there's
nothing lives 'twixt it and silence," to the most
powerful tones of the most brilliant bravura. Parodi
can sing whatever Pasta could sing, whatever Mali•
bran could sing, and she possesses this advantage over
Malibran, there is no deCect in the middle tones of
her voice. Throughout the whole compass of her,
register there is neitli.d. break or detect, and the
,naldle notes are as perfect as are the upper or the
lower. .1_ he exquisite quality and the great 11,-xibi-
lity of her voice, and the delicate taste and cliscrimi-
nal-ing judgment by which she directs the perfect
command which she has attained over it, were de-
Ilgiitfully manifested by the admirable manner in
which she gave the far•famed " Deh ! con te." Never
have we heard this delicious niorceau more exqui-
sitely given than it was given last night by Mantle.
Paredt and Madame Guiliani. It was one
of the most tasteful, delicate, perfect pieces of voca-
lization ever heard. The last scene, " the crowning
act of the tragedy," was also the crowning act of the
triumph of Mademoiselle Parodi. To fully appre-
ciate this marvellous piece of perfect tragic aciing,
the eye should be kept constantly fixed on the artiste,
so that not the slightest change of expression of fea-
ture should be missed. With Mademoiselle Parodi
it is the countenance that tells the tale. The voice, the
music, aye, we may almost say the gestures, are
but auxiliaries (most important auxiliaries, we admit,
but still only auxiliaries) to the mind mirrored in
the features. Never was that mind more clearly ex •
pressed than it was by Parodi in " Quest ora
orrenda"—it was indeed " ora orrenda." The whole
scene with Pollio was one of the most heartrending
pathos. There was something terrific about the
impassioned, operatic energy with which she sum-
mons the priests to hear her confession, which con-
trasted most effectually with the soft despairing pa-
thetic tone and utter prostration of pride and
energy and strength with which she utters her self-
denuuciation "F. Norma." The pathetic pleading
with Oroveso which follows was agonising, and when
the curtain fell, all present felt that they had assisted
at the debut of one who is destined henceforth to reign
the Queen of lyrical tragedy, and to revive that
school of dignified, yet impassioned acting,
which left the Italian stage with Pasta.
Great as she is as a. vocalist, it is
as a lyric tragedian rather than as a mere vocalist,
that farodi should be regarded. She possesses the mar-
vellous faculty of producing great effects by easy and
natural means. She gives full effect to every phrase
and every word ; every attitude is classical and
dignified ; every pose is finished and graceful, and
every gesture has meaning in it. She was called for,
as we have mentioned, at the conclusion of her open-
ing scene. She was again called for at the conclusion
of the first act, and three times at the conclusion of
the opera, and bouquets innumerable were showered
on her. Lableche was the Oroveso, and he was as
great (in every sense of the word) as ever. Madame
Giuliani was the Adalgisa, and never have we seen
the part of Adalgisa nearly so well sustained, either
vocally or histrionically, as it was by Madame
Guiliani. I3ordas was the Pollio, and sang and acted
excellently. The music of this part is within the
compass of his voice, and he gave it therefore with cor-
rect intonation and with great sweetness. The
choruses were pethetion, and the orchestra, under the
able direction of Balfe, did lull justice to the beauti-
fully expressive music of Bellini. Taken, as a whole,
the opera of Norma has never been more perfectly re-
presented. The house was crowded.
His Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar
was present. In his )toyat Highness's
party, which
occupied her Majesty the Queen Adelaide's box, were
the Earl and Countess Howe, the Hon. Miss Mitchell,
and Lady Leveson Gower. Her Majesty's box was
occupied by the Dowager Countess of Morley, Lady
Wharticlille, the Earl f St. Germans, and the Earl
Morley and party. His Royal Highness the Prince
of Naples Count of Syracuse,
by the Chevalier
Colon :a, also honoured the theatre
attended
tre with his presence.
were his Excellency the Rus-
sian g
Minister,'t the
company
the)liaroness Brunnow, and Mdlle.
Olga Lechner; his
E-cellency the Pt ruvian Minister,
his I' Usectl ,c ri
his i 4 xe 1;
d',
the French
_h Minister and the Baroness
Ainuu
blissiti
A !in!) a sLanesad
the Marquis of Donegal, the Marquiso r
, the
- and Duchess of Lveds and
ofcy
Abercorn, the
the
Earl and Countess of Kilmorey, the Earl of Mountcharles,d
he Earl and Countess of Wilton n party, the Earl of
Baroness h.l ord
,
Cardigan, the Baron and B
B 1 Pruce, Lord ild
William
Hubert de Burgh, Lord Ernest
a Lord Gerard Fitz.
Lennox, Lord IL llill, Lord Sandel',
1 Talleyrand, Lord A.
eerald, the Baron and Baroness
Maeclonaid, Lady
Lady .",tacdonald and Miss
Lennox,
Bart., M.P., and Lady
Flower, Sir Ralph Howard,
Howard, Sir William Abdy, Bart., Major-
General Weod-
ford, Bart., Lady and the Misses Woodford, Sir Robert
IVilmott, Bart., and Lady Wilmott,
Sir W. Frrzer, Lady
Caroline San-
HLake, Sir Seymour Sadler, Bart., Lady
San-
Lord and Mr. Sanford, Gen. the Hon. H.
M Cavendish, Mr.
road •
Palmer, Mr. B. Tre!awney, Mr. Panl, r.
H. B
Burgh,
Colonel
ley, M .P., Mr. and Mrs. Hubert de _
Mr. Nor-
Dixon, Mr. W. Delafield, Colonel
de Thornton,lioudriaff-
man Macdonald, Major Buckley, M. C. de
Stevenson,
sky, M. de Berg, Lady Mary Ross,
_Thcbeil.
_op
Mrs. Barton, Hoe, Mrs. lierbert, Lady Yt t)