The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-09 00:00:00

eer
to
Thanks' to the spirt-rand liberehty. :
niont, weehave- had another; ".inua-'ae.o
the Theatre Royal this Week. - Barely aerint*Ts
hai elapsed game -it was our duty to neree,
•
approbation, the psrformance: of a a 4ties of operas
from the Lyceum repertoire, 'in which several cf •
the leading artistes of Mi.. Gete'S corps operat,i,pe
sustained the leadittge parte, ...Thla waael;..*P.ltavo
to record the successes of the- principal members of
Mr. lumley's cortipeny-'—aueCeSSEis-whichi, we are
glAd to say, have at least partially redeemed.theete-
putetion of the people of Liverpool from the impu-
tation ofindifferenee to good mu -de, which a who'e
week of miserably bad houses had not unreasonably
brought upou it. We dealt, at the time, with the
shabby_ excuse. which wee put - forward, in some
quarters; in extenuation of t 1 ()le scanty attendances,.
and which sought to shift the responsibility from the
public to the manager, by grumbling at. the prices
charged; • and we showed that, while those prices
were considerably lower than would be paid fur the
same eatertainateet, end the same accommodation, in
London, they were not more than sufficient, even if
the experiment were moderately successful, to meet
the necessary expenses of bringing a corps'of first-
rate artistes, with band, chorus, wardrobe, and pro
potties from London, and to indemnify the manager -
for the groat cost to which hemust.be put in putting . •
a series of operas upon the stage. We. Were glad, at
the, time, to see that those anonymous grumblers -
were generally repudiated by writers whe felt with
us that the chat acter of the town was comproeiised
by their complaints; and are still more glad to see
that those complaints have not been repeated. On
two occasions, at least, the house has ba.n. crowded
to exec=s; and upon the other evenings the attend-
`auses have been so much better than they were-a
ter;might- since; as fully to justify the explanation •
iriliCh accounted f ir the empty beeches, by the ex-
CO AX() I eat, aid the absence a or great number of
our leading -families from town.'
. On Monday evening "Il Treetatore " was per-
formed; the part of Leonora being assigned to Mine.
Spezia, and that of Azucena to Mine. Poma, while
Mimeo was represented by Signor Giuglini, and
Conte de Luna by • Signor Beneventene. As a, - -
whole, the performance was eaceedingly satisfac-
•tery. Mme. Spezia is a consummate actress and
'an accomplished singer, and she played with s
much spirit, !yet with so Much feeling, 'and sang
with BQ much care, that—in spite of some defects
of voice, which it required, on more than one
sion obviouely painfulefforts to overcome—she won
golden opinions, and was warmly and enthusiastically
applOde,d. The " Miserere"- scene, espeeially, was
admirably rendered, and the house enthralled until
its close, when the audience testified, in a marked
and unmistakeable manner, the _warmth of its ad-
miration. Signor Giuglin's Maurice was everything
'that (could be wished, and, while he charmod and
deli4hted us by the sweetness of his voice, ho gave
us almost equal pleasure, in the more impressive
passi,ges of the opera, especially by the chastened
propriety of his acting. In the beautiful air, "Ahl
si, ben mio," he was rapturously encored ; and be
was called before the curtain at the close of the
first; third, and fourth acts—the recall at the end
of the third act being repeated. Madame Poma
was far from an adequate substitute for Alboni, in
the character of Azucena, to do justice to which re-
quires qualities, vocal and dramatic, with which
she is not gifted, and in which she acquitted herself
but indifferently. Signor Benevantano's Coute di
Luna was a very creditable performance, and was
exceedingly well sustained.
" La Traviata" was the opera of Tnesday even-
ing: We do not intend inflicting upon our readers
a dissertation upon the moral or immoral tenden-
cies of this production, for upon this subjeA enough
has:already been said. Suffice it that Piccolotniui
created quite a sensation by her powerful delinea,-
tioti of Violetta. Site was ably supported by Giuglini
as Alfred; though Beneventano wastoo violent and
aUtir gin the character of Germont. There is
some palliation, however, to be found in the fact
that the false writing of the composer has a ten-
dency to force up the voices to a pitch unnatural
to the singer, and disagreeable to the audience.
Th 4 constant recurrence, too, of female melody, in
triple time, is another defect of this opera. The
minor parts were respectably fu:filled, and, on the -
whole, the performance wont off well, the house
being crammed—the fair sex, of course, vastly pre-
ponderating.
On Wednesday, "La Figlia del Reggimento "
again commanded an overflowing audience. The
heroine of the piece—Maria, the foundling, and the
adOpted "Daugh er of the Regiment "Peas, of
cotarsee represented by Mademoiselle Piccolomini,
and a very admirable represent dive she proved.
filer conception of the character was good ; and,
throwing her whole soul into it—identifying herself
Completely with the lively and light-hearted, yet
grateful and affectionate girl, -whose heart, even in
the midst .of ham y and grandeur, was constantly
reverting to her early friends, of "The Twentieth"
—she carried the audience with her, from her first
appearance to the fall of the curtain. Her command
of countenance is marvellous, and there is a fresh-
ness, a liveliness, a piquancy_ in her style, which
will never fail to charm. The critics, by common
consent, have placed Madllo. Piccolomini higher es
an actress than as a singer, and with good reason.
Nevertheless, she sings well—always intelligently,
and with feeling, if not always as carefully as she
inight ; -and although it might be easy to select
from among her competitors those who would be
admitted to be superior to her, both in voice- and
execution, we doubt whether, taking her for all in
ail—actress and singer together—she is not, in her
own line, without a rival.: The Torii° of Signor
*kat was most successful. With a very fine
voice, exceedingly well managed, this gentleman
promises to las a great acquisition to the lyric stage,
and Mr. Lumley is lucky, in having been able to
strengthen his company with two such tenors as
Giuglini and Belait. Of the Sulpiz;o of Signor
Belletti we need say very little, for he is an old
favourite. - He always sings well, and acts -
With spirit ; and we may pay him the highest
compliment in our power, when we say that,
linen this' occasion he- was worthy of himself.
Madame Poma, as La Marchese and Signor
Aldi, as Ortensio, were of grotesque and absurd as
anybody could desire ; and altogether the opera
was most successful. Mademoiselle Piccolomini
was, of course, enthusiastically recalled at the end
Of each act, and she and her audience parted upon
mutually good terms with each other. In the last
scene of " Lucia di Lammermoor," which followed,
Signor Giuglini, as , Edgardo, strengthened the
favourable impression produced by his previous
achievements. The music was exquisitely rendered,
and warmly applauded.
" La Nozze di Figaro", was played 08. Thursflay;
and we regret, for the credit of the town,, to have
to record that Mozart's exquisite music failed to
draw a full house. It is a tepraach to the musical
taste of the age, that while a performance of the
Traviata" proved so attractive, that hundreds, .
with their money in their hands, were unable to
obtain admission, "La Nozza di Figaro " was
played to half empty boxes, although the other
parts of the house were tolerably well filed.
Madame Piccolomini, as Susanna, and Signor Bel-
letti, as Figaro, shared the honours of the evening
between them. They were the life of the piece,
and, understanding each other thoroughly, they
played up to'each other admirably, and kept the
'attention of the audience constantly fixed. Benet-
ti's masterly singing of "Now piu an/kat" elicited
an enthusiastic encore. Madame Spezia, as Cheru-
bim), and Signor Belait, as Don B. asilio, left noth-
ing to be desired.. Madlle. Or tolaer's impersonation
of the Countess was marked by much good taste, al-.
passages
though the tremulousness of her voice marred
The Mar-
and the Bartel° of Signor
Rossi
Creditableof the music.
ditable performances. and
t e r
Ce f
o'aotlowitefh Madame
finest
teaead highlylmaamveiePta Ponca,
f Signor Beneventano mode-
rately good.
Last night, " Don Giovanni" was represented
ithi the following cast :—Zerlina, Madlle. Piccolo-,
mini; Donna Anna,
some
n
Madlle. Spezia; Donna Elvira,
Madllo. Ortolani • Don Ottavio, Signor Giuglini ;
Meseta), Signor Rossi; Leporello, Signor Belletti;
Don Giovanni, Signor Beneventano. We have nei-
ther time nor space for detailed criticism. Suffice
it to say that the opera went well, and that there
was a large and enthusiastic house. Piccolo-
mini both sung and anted with a vivacity, feeling,
and taste which drew forth loud plaudits. The
duet, "La ci darem," was encored, as was also
the solo by Zerlina, " Batti, Batts," the bye-
play of which was as excellent as the singing.
Though somewhat too heavy in person, and too vio-
lent in tone, Beneventano made a fair Giovanni,
While Belletti, as Leporello, was most amusing and
effective throughout. Madlle Spezia and Madlle.
Ortolaii performed the parts allotted to them
with great ability. Giuglini was particularly happy
its thsicharacter of Ottavio, and in thesplendid song,
"Il min tesoro," he excited a perfect furore of
applause, and was, of course,
We cannot conclude our notce of these operas
encored.
i
of Sig. Viaschetti,
without giving deserved credit to the orchestra,
which, under the conductorship
• and the leadership of Sig. Fievelli, boa performed
a very arduous duty in a most satisfactory and able
manner. Tho chorus, too, has done its share of
the work well, and, on the whole Mr. Lumley
whose name is imperishably associated
with the
history of the opera in England—is to be congra-
tulated on the success which has attended his re-
newed efforts to cater for the musical public.--
Liverpoyt Paper,