The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-16 00:00:00

TBE SON, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 16, 1866.

a. wb.o has to inspect three or four hundred

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Madlle. Titiens in "Der Freischutz."
On Saturday night Mademoiselle Titiens returned
to the scene of all her former triumphs, here in
England, we are almost tempted to sav, in finer
voice than ever, certainly in the very fullness of
her superb powers as prima donna. The double
attraction of Madlle. Titiens' returning to the stage
for the first night this season on Saturday, and of
her thus returning amongst us, moreover, in no less
attractive a character than that of the heroine in
Weber's always-attractive opera, Der Freischatz,
otherwise in its Italianised form, II Franco Arciero—
filled the magnificent area of ller Majesty's—boxes,
stalls, pit, slips, gallery, to overflowing. And, be-
yond all doubt of it, with one or two comparatively
trifling drawbacks, the audience were, from the
opening to the close of the performance, rewarded
for their attendance. As a whole, the opera, as a
work of art, has seldom been witnessed to greater
a_dvantage. One serious deficiency there was, how-
ever, which, once or twice during the night became
rather disappointingly apparent, namely the
hoarseness constraining the young tenor Signor
Stagno, to skip the subtler beauties of the music set
down for Rodolpho—nevertheless, passages fami-
liar, and many of them exquisite passages, that we
were eagerly prepared rather to have thus
missed than to run the hazard of having
murdered., Signor Mongini, by the way, was origi-
nally announced in the prospectus, as the Rodolpho
this season, yet again, as last year, the part
has been awarded to Signor Stagno—the Man.:
rico on the opening night, of 1866 at her Majesty's
in Verdi's Trovatore. But for his unlucky huski-
ness on Saturday, we should have had no reason
whatever of any kind for regret in regard to the
entire of that evening's performance of Der
Freischiits, The cast, in point of fact, was, with
one single exception (which was, as it happened,
a very noticeable ireproveiiient), identically the
same as the cast of last year. The solitary change
of parts referred to, being the selection of
Signor Gassier for the impersonation of
Kilian during the absence of Signor Mongini.
A substitution that in the opening scenes proved to
be most satisfactory—more particularly in the
merry consequential solo of the peasant marksman,
Guarda a me qual vincitore? with the-choral taunt
Eh, eh, eh, eh ! to the vanquished huntsman of the
chief Ranger. As for the three -other principal
characters in Der Freischiitz—as that weird and
haunting masterpiece of poor Carl Maria Von
Weber is now put upon the stage at Her Majesty's—
nothing; absolutely nothing, assuredly could be re-
garded as in any way wanting to ensure the fullest
justice being done to all the labyrinthine intricacies
of " linked sweetness," constituting the glory of the
score of Der Frieschiitz. A more triumphant_suc-
cess than that achieved by Madlle Titiuns as the
Ranger Kuno's Daughter Agatha, who could wish
to see or hearken to? Above all, in the grand scena
of act two inaugurated by the tender reci-
tative Come una volta un sonno, followed
by her dulciphulous warbling (with clasped hands
at the balcony) Piano, pianO, canto pio, followed—
after her eager delivery of the Tutto in mote
a it
sangue mia—crowned, perfected we should say far
rather, by her impassioned interview with Rodolpho,
whom she vainly strives to dissuade from carrying
out his design of fulfilling his promise to meet
Caspar by moonlight in the Wolf's Glen, there to
participate with him in the devillish incantations.
Most beautiful of all, however, was Mdlle. Titiens'
rendering of Agatha's lovely romance in E flat at
the very commencement of the final act of this lyric
drama of Der Freischiitz " E se la nube anco it nas-
conde"—the last cadence of which was rewarded by
a shower of bouquets (and one overlooked garland)
—as the grand scena in its turn, earlier in the even-
ng had been followed at its close by a storm, of
bouquets so plentifully scattered upon the stage at
the feet of the songstress that one might have
fancied for the momentthat the season was not that
of Easter hut that of Midsummer. As the cast
of " Der Freischiitz" at her Majesty's is thus manil
festly strong in the Agatha of Titiens, it is, we may go
so 'far as to add, just perfected by the Annetta of
Madlle. Sinico, and by the Caspar of Mr. Santley.
The vivacity, the esprit, the espiglerie, the charming
grace and pretty
_sprightliness of Madlle. Sinico's
Annetta leave nothing to be wished—either in the
second act, in the

" Vien un giovin di bol taglie,
Con i ricci biondi oneri ?"
or in the last act when she sings her dream-song—
" Nonna mia sognb una, sera
Cho l'uscio apiivasi da se."
A piece of vocalisation so charming that it
was only not redem waded at the close of
prolonged applause out of consideration for the late-
ness of the hour. As for Mr. Santley's Caspar, it
was pronounced by all who heard it last season as
beyond all doubt the very finest Caspar anywhere
discoverable—an estimate confirmed in that densely
crowded house on Saturday—by acclamation !
Never has this accomplished singer poured forth the
magnificent resources at once of his art and of his
organ, of his noble voice and of his skill in manag-
ing it—never has he accomplished this with more
verve, passion, enthusiasm, than he did on Saturday
—now, more especially, in the drinking song, the
irresistible drinking-dancing song—
" Quaggiu in questa val di peno
Non sariavi un solo bone
Sonza Bacco it suo liquor :"
now, in the impassioned aria at the close of that
very same scene and act, " Taci taci, onde
niuno t'avveta ! " ending with the clarion
like cry of exultation " Oh! trios fo vendetta otterro
si !" soaring above the harmonious tumult of the
accompaniment. As the phrase is, it brought the
house down, as the act drop descended. Every-
thing that could be accomplished by the most
lavish regard being paid at every turn to
all' the various stage appliances in putting this
wonderful opera of Weber's once more upon the
boards at her Majesty's has been done, as
everyone will remember, who witnessed it dur-
ing the summer of last season. Insomuch
is this the case, that the old-fashioned stage
directions still retained in the libretto in act the
third, the whole scene of which is that goblin, ghastly,
ghostly, grimly scene of the speetral illusions wit-
nessed, nay, for that matter, invoked by Caspar
and Rudolpho in the Wolf's Glen at midnight, by
moonlight, and, at the close, alternately in utter
darkness and blood-red flashes of as lurid light
as if from hell—reads now-a-days very much
indeed like an anachronism ! Added to the birds
of night, the demons, the phantom horsemen, and
the ghostly apparitions, then come swarming upon
the stage gigantic serpents, skeleton's, and devils,
green-limbed, and scarlet-eyed, and in every con-
ceivable respect detestable to look upon, abhor-
rent to the very imagination when remembered—such
as Weber in his wildest musings over the score of
this his last and greatest opera, never by any chance
we may be certain could have ever dreamt of !
The Overture—before the rising of the cur-
tain could be tolerated by the audience—was
encored with a burst of enthusiasm. Not so—
rather to our surprise—the famous hunting chorus,
in the fourth scene of the fourth act, where Prince
Ottocar for the first time makes his appearance.
Both Chorus and Orchestra, under the skilled conduct
of Signor Arditi's baton of magic, it should be
said,acquitting themselves throughout the night to
ad admiration.

Among the noble and distinguished persons,
honouring Her Majesty's Theatre with their pre-
sence during the past week were the following :
Their Grace's the Duke and D uchess of Wellington,
the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle, and Lady
Susan Vane, the Duchess of Cleveland, his Excel-
lency the French Ambassador, tulle Prince de la
Tour d'Auvergne, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the
Baron de Bande, the Marchioness of Downshire, the
Earl and Countess Dudley, Maria Countess of Har-
rington,the Baroness Ferdinand De Rothschild, the
Marquis of Sligo, the'Countess of Wilton, the Earl
and Countess Mountcharles, the Earl of Caithness,
the Earl and Countess De Grey, the Marquis of
Blandford, the Earl of Ellenborough, the Earl and
Countess Cowper, the Earl of Clonmel, the Earl
Bective, the Viscount and Viscountess Exmouth, the
Viscount Parker, the Viscount and Viscountess
Amberley, the YifiCOULltess Dilloll, the Yißount

Newport, the Hon. George Barrington, the Coun-
tess of Sefton, and the Ladies of Sefton, the Hon.
Spencer Ponsonby and Mrs. Ponsonby, the
Honourable Otway Toler, Lady Willoughby de
Broke, Lord Arthur Hill, Lady Charlotte
Schruber, Lady Townsend, Lady Johnson,
Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, Bart., and Lady Guest, Lady
Gore Langton, General Sir George Bowles, K. C.B . ,
the Hon. Mrs. Gore Langton, Lady Smith, Mr.
Alderman- Salomons, the Baroness Hambro, Sir
Ralph Howard, Bart., M.P., Lady Howard and
party, Lady Annesley, Lady Hervey, Lady Sarah
Lindsay, Lord Hillsborough, Sir Frederick Rowe,
Mrs. Holford, Colonel Marshall, Mr. Montague
Guest, Mr. Forbes Campbell, Lady Stracey, Mr. T.
Urelli, Mr. L. Brooke, Mr. C. Caiendish, Mr.
Saunders, Mr. Waring, Mr. Baring, Mr. F. Cooper,
the Hon. Mr. Dudley Ward, Mr. A. Montgomery,
Captain Brereton Trelawney, Mr. B. Trelawney,
Mr. and Mrs. Currie, Captain Bligh, Colonel Fraser,
Captain Keith Fraser, Mrs. Ricardo, Mrs. Gardner,
the Viscount Exmouth, the Hon. T. Calthorpe, Mr.
Petrie, Colonel Tyrrwhitt, Major Lyon, Mr. Watte,
&c., &c.