The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-12 00:00:00

LABLACHE.

Lablache is the oldest and the best-established fa-
vourite of her Majesty's Theatre. He made his first
appearance in this country some 20 years ago, and
from that time, with the exception, we believe, of one
year's secession, he has returned hither every spring
with increased
,popularity. Twenty years is a long
test applied to public performers ; and be that could
pass such an ordeal of time must possess merits of
the very highest order, which could conquer the
appetite for novelty, and overcome the fickleness of
popular applause. All this Lablache has effected.
The public, so far from being wearied at the
long-continued cry of " Lablache the Great," as were
the Athenians of hearing Aristides everlastingly .
called " the just," elevates him, if possible, into
greater popularity yearly. His place is not to be
supplied ; no other artiste, not even Herr Formes,
could compensate for his loss. Independently of his
powers as an actor and a singer, so great a lover is
he of his art, that he will undertake with delight the
most trifling character in order to ensure the
success of: a piece. From this it follows that no
great singer has, within our recollection, undertaken
such a variety of characters. We find him in
every possible grade of representation ; from
the loftiest tragedy to the most burlesque
comedy he is equally great and efficient. From Bra-
bantio to Don Pasquale—from Marino Faliero to
Dandolo. Through all the gradations of passion and
humour he exhibits a superior insight into humanity,
and, with the finest dramatic artifice and discrimina-
tion, he seizes on the salient points, and strikes
them out into bold relief, giving life and verisi-
militude to his abstractions. In a comic part he fills
up the stage with his acting, no less than with his
voice and size. Every character around him seems
merely subsidiary. He is the sun of humour,
about which the rest, as planets, perform
their revolutions, deriving light and heat from him.
He is the centre of gravity, that attracts all the laugh-
ing humours from his auditory. Yes, we say gravity,
nor therein are we guilty of a bull. In his most whim-
sical efforts his countenance is as serious as that of a
mid-day owl. While all around are convulsed with
cachinations, his face is as composed as a
Chinese mandarin's, or a Spanish hidalgo's sitting
for a genealogical portrait. His comedy is not
sparkling and effervescent like champagne, it
partakes more of the body and flavour of
tokay ; you may sip it—the smallest taste is palatable.
He possesses somewhat of the stolidity of Liston,
with occasionally the raciness of Dowton. His
humour is as rotund as his person, and his person is a
hogshead of wit and mirth. Lablache's voice is an
organ of most extraordinary power. It is impossible
by description to give any notion of his volume of
sound. He is an ophicleide among singers. One
may have some idea of this power of tone, when it
may be truly asserted that with the entire opera
barri and chorus playing and singingforte, his voice
may be as distinctly and separately heard
above them all as a trumpet among violins.
lie is the very Stentor of vocalists. When he
sings he rouses the audience, as the bugle doth the
war-horse, or as the songs of Ty r'mus re-animated
the Spartans. With this prodigious vehicle of sound,
his singing is distinguished by superior softness and
expression. Lablache is a thorough musician, and no
artiste on the stage excels him in the knowledge and
appliances of his art. He has written a work on the
principles of singing, which has been published in
England ; and he was chosen, some years since, as
the vocal instructor of her Most Gracious Majesty
Queen Victoria. This great singer is as great in
person as he is in fame. He is nearly, if not
fully, six feet high. His figure, though exube-
r snt, is portly and commanding; and his entire head
one of the finest that ever decorated a human body.
Notwithstanding the opinions about his age, and the
cognomen of " old," which for many years has at-
tached itself to his name, Lablache is still compara-
tively young. For the space of twenty years has he
been the pride and delight of the frequenters of her
Majesty's Theatre. This season Lablache has been
particularly fine. His Caliban, in Halevy's opera La
Tempesta, has added another wreath to the brow
already groaning with these proofs of popularity. We
believe that Lablache has entered into an engagement
With Mr. Lumley for three years.—Bentley's Mis-
cellany for September.