The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-05-03
NITSIC AND THE DRAMA

Tonight, Miss CusHMAN begins engage
ment for another week, in the great role of Neg
Werrdies in Guy lHdnnering. If not her best per-
Torrance, it is that at all events by which she is
best known. 1t is part which she has made pecu-
liary and exclusively her own, with which, in fact,
her name is identified, and to which she owes a
large measure of her reputation. 1t is altogether
better suited to her style of acting and to her dra-
matte genius, which is essentially tragic,
than were the characters of ,Jaljana in the
" Honey Moon, " or of Rosolind in GAS You
Like It," in which she appeared on Thursday
and Friday nights. On Saturday night, she repeated
Lody Macbeth, which she had played to a crowded
house, on the Wednesday night previous. In the
performance of the part, there steady and mark
ed improvement in Miss CUsHMAN's acting, in each
successive scene of the play, in which she appears,
until she reaches her browning point of excellence
in her impersonation of the sleep-walking Queen,
in the fifth act. In the fifth of the first act
where she first comes upon the stage, we thought
her acting somewhat over-strained and exaggerated,
and her style of reading the letter, which she has
just received from Macbeth, altogether too decama-
tory. The same fault of OVERRIDING her part, which
in Miss CUsHMANs case, think may sometimes
arise from the very earnestness of her nature,
the business of the scene, characterizes her
acting in the next scene, the sixth of the same act
in which Lody Macbeth receives Duncan before the
mar the perfect effect of her performance, until the
the fourth of the third act. Then, Miss CUSHMAN
begins to be composed more subdued, and to
exhibit in her manner less of action and more of
repose. 1t is the Banquet-scene, in which the
To-, of l.;t. -, al,
Lady Macbeth seeks to divert the attention of the
guests from the fright in which the appaItion has
put her husband and to recall the latter to a
sense of the danger which he runs of betraying
his secret by his agitation. This idea Miss CusHmAx
completely realized, and most happily carried out
and in her next scene and last the first of the fifth
act, her acting almost beyond criticism. The
':sumbry agitation" of the guilty Queen, and the
workings of her ''infected mind discharging its
secret to her deaf pillow" were all represent
ed with terrible distinctness and reality, and we
not surprised therefore, at the demand for the
repetition of the play on Saturday night This
single scene was worth the whole performance, and
more than repaid the audience for the WEAKNESS
and vexation of listening to the rant
full of sound and fury
Signfying nothing,
of the ''poor players" who filed the other parts
Tomorrow night, at the New Assembly Rooms
will be given the third of AHRENDs subscription
concerts. On Saturday night, at a late hour, by
merest accident, we "happened in" at well known
lagerbier house in Frederick street. In an ."upper
chamber" called by courtesy the ''concert room,"
we found assembled an audience which not even
Jcnkyns could have described as either clash
ionable'' 'brilliant." Some fifty or sixty per-
Sop "
their hats on their heads, cigars in their mouths,
and mugs of beer in their hands-all ntently
listening to the musical performances of four in
dividuals, one Of whom, as the aforesaid Jenkyns
would say, "presded" at the piano, another played
on the violin, third on the violonceo and fourth
on the ''double bass" We paid cents ''admis
sion" to a small boy of Teutonc extraction, who
olciated as the Cerberus of the place. entered the
room, and, in obedience to the rule, ''whcn in
Rome, &c" We conformed to the customs of the
place, and initiated, to the best of our ability, the
actions of our neighbors. As the music seemed to
be the chief attraction, than the beer-we
listencd and then and there, in that berry, smoky
place, we were repaid for the pecunary investment
above mentioned, by hearing music which we do
not hesitate to pronounce equal, if not superior to
that of the famous 'Germania," of former DAYS.
first piece we heard solo on the vooncello
by Ahrcnd. 1t was the Souvenir de Spa by
Servais, and was exquistey performed; then
the four together gave with perfect orchestral
effect, the overture to "NIassanielo Next followed
a charming little waltz, by Lanner, the ''Liebes-
traumen," and finally, the concert closed with the
military overture to ''Gazza Ladra.' This, though
all that we heard, of course, but part of the
evenings entertainment. Yet, these four pieces
were enough to satisfy us that the artists who
cuted them were no ordinary musicians, but were
as perfect masters of their respective instruments,
as any performers, perhaps that we had ever heard.
Their execution was in fact, marvellous, and the
orchestral effect, admirable. These four perform
ers, with another, compose the 'Quintette Club"
by whom the concert tomorrow night will be
given, and in the programme will be found the
identical solo which we heard.