Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-02
MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC ART.


theatcr will not satisfy tho public during the per-
formance Of play, and to have part only prop.
erly performed will not be accepted tho represent
alton OF o drama
This is the portent of the clouds now gathering on
the dramatic horizon, and sgainst the sky that is
now almost wholly overcast. The two or three little
stars twnklng in the armament will soon set leav-
ing no one to take their places, and only memory
that will show who're and what they were. Tho i'm
mense prices heretofore paid to single performers for
an engagement Of twelve nights will be distributed
| in such manner among the stock companies that
managers afford to have every part In play re-
specially done, instead Of giving but good rep
resentation Of character while all the rest are bat
The drdmatis personaIe like the eharo oscuro in
landscape. They tho light and shade Of the per-
formanoe, and unless each nice distinction Of char
actor be faithfully deneated, the effect Of the entire
| drama is destroyed. II would be as absurd in q
| painter TO the light TO fall upon his picture
| from two three different points, In actor or
actress to represent "Benedlck" as an old man, or
| "ophea" as hoyden; but even this is not much
worse than to represent "orpheus" youth, with
| black moustachc and the "Allcmania" as wearing
| modern boots
This neglect Of dctails-for such incongruites are
nightly seen upon tho stagc-eyinces that there is
carelessness somewhere that is objectionable. The
manager actor Is at fault, and while the affair
seems SO small as to be hardly worth excuAng, II Is
really great violation Of the propreties Of art
aud such an outrage upon the aesthetic Of
audience, that it should not remain unnotced
| There is some difference between barbarism and
civilization; Naples is not in Greece; water.nymphs
and Greek maidcns do not gilt boots and crno-
line; and in the drawing rooms of thu London and
Paris arisocracy persons supposed to understand
the usages Of polite society. Managers who do not
understand these facts, or will not sec that such
things are attended to- deserve not tho patronage Of
the public, and hereafter doubt whether they
will receive it, Actors who have not yet learned the
first lesson in art had better weigh at least portion
Of the advice that is given them through the press
and mend; for the clap-trap of the stage will not
longer, In the public ostimation occupy the place
the true legitimate drama.
| AMUsEMENTs ELsEwHERE.-In the principal cities
of this Continent quite as dull as in
Cincinnati. New York has produced no novelty
lately, and the theaters l.. are now open for the
summer season find it 'vdficut TO attract audi.
ences sufficient to pay the managers for their trouble
CAPITAL CRITICISM ON THE STYLE OF RtoHAnn
WAGNER.-The Deutsche MUsik- -Zetuo of a late date
has long article upon Richard Wagner whose
7dahhaUser and LolSna's' are likely to murder sps
many Voices Verdi's popular operas have done be-
foro them. Both these composers worship their
orchestras apparently disoarding their singers and
unlike Bellini and Mozart regard melody as an ac-
cident begoten by richness Of harmony. In
speaking Of Wagner, the writer who, evidently
knows and feels all that he says, discourses thus
Wagner strives as is well known, to blend the two
historically recognized and we'll settled facts Reci-
tatiye and Cantable into one, and produce unique
stbr ana sb T6%t w BE the sssT An abe. s6SrtOp 10
Cantabile, Cantabile that tries to be Rectatve--
bns % %a sSs d fqf ihe wRsa ad
From Wagner's excessive puritanism also springs
despotism quite as little ipstiaed as The des
potism OF the singers was IN the preceding century
The technical qualification Of the singer has ceased
to be Of any ACCOUNT the capital Of his voice lies
health and long life 4 possible Al this the singer
his tedious nordems this way and that way bur
the melting 1 charm Of Lnds M voice mnst
would divert the public from the composition in favor
, moment be ignored the Art-work might be suliied
In Berlin the back sliding public listens to the se
duetiye sounds of a7Rossni, from the mouths Of
Technically cultiyeted Italian song artists; in Berlin
, Who will wonder II the thrstng people yield them
gushing from What they believed dried up spTns
bma Sm obstinate nat @ riding g & death S
and had humbled the interpreters of his operas Il
the condition of his slaves.
! BoRoHI.MAMo AND HER FAuLrs.-The world i,
, to-day very apt to rely too much upon tradition
What was said of Siddons by her admirers then, 4.
believed by all lovers Of art now, and yet is proba
BILE that her greatest parts have been ably per-
! formed. Lyric artists of to-day are Judged more
from what has been said of their predecessors than
from the ability with which they translate the char
acters and the music Of thoir composers, which Is
excellent evidence that criticisms have been merely
the endeayor to give expression to ideal that has
not yet been attained, by the greatest artists
| the world has seen. The following from the
London A1sneum in regard to Borghi- i-Mamo may
disspate some Of these old traditions and give the
reader an idea of what she is now;
, The admirers of Madame Borghi- Mamo (and SHE
| has many have so commended, not merely her act
Ing southers accent and expression but her exeeu,
to hear her in One Of the msestros operas became
matter Of interest But our account Of her Rosina
not 70 be snatched up in one part-iaid down in
another. The artist who can not execute scale on
completely developed will not grow to 0 compseneS
. In couple Of nights. Madame Borghi. Mamo has
SOUTH quality; but the voice. by fits and starts,
II tas %s. D % S
In the lesson scene, we felt all the charm The
% M 9 ST @SS
finish pass for finish; Thus, for while, iourished
such attempts of ali such simulations mot hypo.
critically meant, we concede, but inevitable as tn
to Art to be passed over Madame Borghi. @ Sia%o,
here, as In Paris, dashes at every thing, grIppei
we have failed to hear true, pass
age from I,h hey lips In SSSal
} stoltz was compared with Madame VIardOt
The PRESENT STATE OF MUSICAL PIrciI.-The En-.
glsh musicians and amateurs have recently met in
Congress- to consider question in which every mu-
sican must feel deep nterest-the present state
musical pitch. The inconvenience universally felt
from the variations Of PITCH have long loudly called
for the establishment of uniform standard. Vari-
Gus observations (nade principally during the last
at the Italian Opera, and at the Philharmonic
and other orchestra concerts have established the