The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-12

! style OF musical entertainment, the Opera
| Bouffe; and, as is the case with most new
things, the Opera Bouffe was extravaganty
| praised and savagely attacked The public
however, were tcked the thing was q success
| ana IL promises to become q permanent add
| tion to our usual round OF winter amusem ents
| We see In this nothing to deplore. and no occa-
| sion for fault finding. With the most sincere
| admiration for the best forms of musical ex-
| preston we yet confess that we like fen bach,
| Tor change. La Grdnde DucheSse de GerOtStetn
| and La Belle Helene cannot properly be put in
| comparison with La Prophetic, The Hit0uenots.
! Don GioUdnnf, or many others tnat could
be named, for the reason that they be-
long to an entirely different grade In
! art, and In all fairness and justice they are en-
! titled to critical valuation on their own
merits, and according to q standard of good
TASTE which will admit OF various degrees Of
excellence, and which will acknowledge that
art, like nature is Unlimited in the variety of
! It's forms and means of expression, The painter
OF some little genre picture representing scene
from everyday life, with dash of humor, and
appealing TO the most superficial emotions of
human nature, may be as true an artist in his
way, as Raphael or Michael Angelo were in
theirs, and thousands will experience delight
In locking at his work, and will carry away
with them new ideas of grace and beauty, VINO
would turn away unimpressed and unmoved
is a point worthy of intelligent consideration
from the writers of crit icism.
We like onenbach's music, however, aud we
consider the Opera Bouffe as worthy of dlstinct
and emphatic recognition, not merely because
they give pleasure TO people who would not b.
pleased with something better, but because they
are essentially good In themselves. 1t will not
do at the present day to attempt to circumscrlbe
the field of art with dogmatic rules. or To fetter
It with the conventional of Academic prece-
dents. Individual tastes, of course, Will have
their preferences, bu critic If he is fit for his
business, should be catholic In his tastes or at
least he ought not to allow his tastes to run
away with his judgment, but should be able to
look with an equal degree Of impartiality
on all forms of art, and to decide
apon their merits with judicial spirit
Now, the grotesque and the burlesque are
recognized forms Of art as well as the beautiful
and the sublime. Clarke's major Wellington
de Boots" OVENS "Solon Shingle," and Jetfer.
sons RIP Van Wjnkle' are as truly artistic
performances Forests "Lear," RIstori's
marie Antoinette," or Booths "Hamlet."
Dore's widest fantasies aud most outrageous
distortions of nature. are rs truly works of art
as the carefully studied and photographically
elaborated pictures OF Gerome That Homer
has given us the "Illad," Dante the "Divine
Comedy" Shakespeare Hamlet" and Milton
paradise Lost" would be misfortunes instead
of blessings If we were. in consequence of
their greatness Obliged to deuy our
selves from perusing books which
did not approach the same standard;
decided misfortune. for the fact is that many
well informed persons of more than average
mental ability find Homer, Dante. Milton, and
even the "Divine William" emphatically dull
reading. Therefore, we approve of Offenbach,
Notwithstanding the fact that Handel Haydn
Beethoven Mozart, Mendessohn and their COM
peers, not to mention Verdi, Flotow, Dont-
zetti, Auber, Balf, and other lesser lights, have
written immortal works that will be remem.
bered long after La Grdnde Duchssse and La
Belle Helene have ceased to live even in tradi-
tion.
Ofenbach's music has the merit of being ex-
actly adapted to its subject; the man is not q
great genius, but what he undertakes to do he
does well. The principal airs in both Of his
operas which have been performed in this city
are lively, graceful, and sparkling, and they
will lose nothing by being put in comparison
with nine-tenths of the selections from operas
which bear the critical stamp of legitimacy,
which are TO be found in the repertoire OF every
young lady in the city who strums upon the
plano. Besides the leading airs, there are to
found, particularly in La Belle Helene pas
sages of delicious tenderness and rare beauty:
suggestions of themes which we long to hear
elaborated into something more perfect but
which, even in their crude state, cannot fail
to impress upon the uncrltical hearer who
does not care toss OF button for high art or
low art. There is no danger whatever, as some
seem to think, If we recognize or admit any but
the best and most per iect forms of art--that the
public taste will be deteriorated, and the
highest class of works be utterly set aside, and
contemned except by few devoted admirers.
Let the writers of criticism by all means en-
deavor to inspire an appreciation OF all that Is
nobest and best in art, but let them not for
get that the surest way to cultivate the
artistic tastes which exist In q greater or less
degree In the minds of almost every man
and woman, is to discourse in truly critical
spirit, and not in one OF captious fault finding
about matters that the average man and
WON'T N incline to. and are capable of under
standing. The dramatic merits and demerts
Of the nbrettos OF La Gra,lde DucheSse de
of the actors who personate the characters in
them are not necessarily bound up In the
question OF Ofenbach's standing as a musical
composer, but as much virtuous indignation
has been expended in regard to alleged inde-
cencies and improprieties, of which the music
is at least innocent, IL may be as well to say
word or two on these points There some
persons in this world-and unfortunately
they are not few In number-who
have a natural affinity for nastiness,
but who seek To hide their proclivitles under a
mask of virtue, taking care all the time to keep
the peephoes large enough to see all that is
going on around In the world. Charles Reade
hit off this class exactly when he invented the
phrase "prurient prudes." These individuals