Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-11-04
The Pfccolomini Furore-A Novelty
nj Last.

History is full of contradictions. Rules
long established, cannons sanctifed by the
dust of ages. are swept away in a moment by
the force of individual power. Sixty years
ago, when all Europe was in f.rment. when
great armies were marshallfd under the
banners of illustrious veterans, young
Italian. soldier who had sought in vain for
his swords employment. appeared upon the
scene, and changed toe destinies of the nation.
The Little Corporal carried terror and
devastation into the racks Of old fogyisn and
annihiated at once ali the old systems brought
down from Turenne and Marlborough and
Charles the Twelfth. He thrashed the
Austrains out of Italy, whipped the allied
Powers on every q Id and carried his eagles
in triumph from the Tuilleries to the
Pyramids. He defied the old rules of fight
ing. and, according to the art Of war. he
should have lost all his battles. The mouldy
strategists were lost in wonder, while the
masses of the people worsbpped the new
Cesar as god. His laurels are as green to-
day as when he wrote TO Talnla, 'come to
Olmutz. and you shall play before pit full
of kingsT .fLt eBB 20 Hf1ft
AS with war or with politics. so it is with
art And now we see in our midst a July,
piquaut rioaadiere. also native Of bright
Iiaiia-a little corporal in crinoline, Pe,de
Napoleon in petticoats--in the person OF
Piccolomni, walking boldly mp to the
lannon's mouth and carrying the popu lar
affections by storm. in spite of the opposition
OF all the oyster house critics. They say. ike
the old Generals who poot-poohcd at Napo-
leon the First that she knows little OF her
art--tlIat she has not much voice, and does
not always sing correctly and that, altogether
she bias been exceeded by artists who have
not gained great success with us. These
pundits argue and storm and split hairs upon
the merits Of the new singer, and make the
saloons resOund with their denunciations,
while the public, which has will OF its own,
crowds the house every night. Piccolomlni
has in fact routed the critics as the Little
Corporal thrashed the Austrains and the
Prussians. She has fought her campaign
upon entirely novel principles; and by a
combination of qualities, personal and artistic
| rarely seen. she has carried away the d. fences
of the oyster house critics by storm. and 81
| far as the opinion of the public is concerned.
| has routed their forces, horse, foot ana
| dragons.
The triumph of Piccolom:ni contains a
| lesson which the presumed trainers OF public
| opinion would do well to mark. learn and
| inwardly digest We have had here Grlsi.
| who came flushed with a thousand victories.
won upon holly contested fields; and sh'
| fall with u.s. Sontag and AlbOni were great
| artists with first class European; regulations:
| but they only achieved moderate degree OF
| success in the United States. The only
| parallel to the triumph ofPiccolomine was that
| of Jenny Lind. who was also out of favor
with the critics; she was called a bad artist,
who relied on ventriloquial tricks to tickle
the ears of the groundlings. Bosio and La
Grange, both perfect artists, and both crowned
with laurel by the critics, failed to awaken
any great amount of public enthusiasm, while
| this little PiccOlomini walks upon the stage
| of the Academy and cOnquers the people Win
| a look. She cannot sing so the critics say;
and yet the theatre is filled nightly as it ha'
never been filed before. Decidedly, some
body is in he wrong: and as in all democratic
communities the majority rules, it follows
that the public must he right At any rate,
| Piccolomini has beaten the critics out OF the
field. They have found their Waterloo, and
she ha gained her Austerlitz. Viue! PIC
| colomin IN y Herald.