The New York herald., 1869-04-30
MUSICAL.

Adjourned.
MUSICAL.
~~~~>~>>~~~>~-~>>>~o~
R0ssinis "Messe Solennelle''-First Produc.
tiOn In This Country.
IL Is an extremely difncult thing for manager or
director TO give Mass IN q theatre with any kind
OF effect The spirit OF the church must be present
to mbue the hearer with q due appreciation of the
sublime thoughts conveyed in the sacred text, and
the operagoer with his her lorgnette the quartet
OF sooists seated before the fo0tighs, the chorus
ranged on their platform on the stage, and the
conductor in the orchestra beneath, dispel
all idea OF religion. Therefore we must say
that Rossinis Mass, about which such a
great stir has been made in Europe, was not
presented last night at the Academy Of Music
to the same advantage as It would in one of those
grand cathedrals where the soiemnity OF the scene
and occasion would adequately prepare the mind
for such work. Before pronouncing an opinion
on the Mass as work we shall say something about
it in detail, prefacng the subject with thfs remark.
that an Italian opera chorus, no matter how they
may be drilled for special occasion Of this kind,
can never be expected TO sing aught than mechanl-
caly-without that expression and appreciation OF
the sacred text which few choirs are able
to attain. The Kyrte gives a very favorable
Introduction to the work. The agtated bass,
marked last night contrasts beautifully with the
large, pure and rich harmony Of the voices. Even
here at the outset the vocal parts require long prac
tice and study to be given with the expression and
tenderness which they require. The cOntrapuntal
character Is simple enough but beneath 1t Is mine
of expression which was not developed at the per-
formance last evening. The Christie is Oldfasn-
ioned canon which we think would be far more
enectve sung by the solosts instead OF the chorus
Il was utterly lost in the vocal avalanche which was
oo,r,,a,oa On :, ,ro ,,a onnro,,, hoa,, =, a,,rnr.
PIec'p'a'eu on IL from me opera'lc oooy VI s'nsers'
TO the openinc minor theme. The Gloria opens
.,-,no, 80 .,,,.. roo,, r,o.,.,o. .,
Instrumentation savors too much Of brass and .
in some places destroys the vocal beauties of tile
Mass is by no means equal to the vocal parts. The
soprani sing GSoria IL Erce,sis Deo in n common
place strain which is somewhat Compensated Tor by
sncceeainH andantino ~ ,o - ye.ro io1r ia q hass
solo with a very peculiar and efectiye' from rts
pecuaritv1 accompaniment built upon alternate
ionic and snbdominant ,chords which nass rrnrn
Kew TO Sey abrptly but with singular af,ectiveness
The trio for contra,to. tenor ' and id bass GrntiGs
nni,amS byipos nut an 'pnm,stata mendv ~ Pos
sini of the most heautIlui kind and the treatment
Of il is no less beautiful. me tenor SOLO
me welsnown CesDs S,.lnnonp bnt exceednyiv
commonpiace and trivial In an opera It might
move Satisfactorily but n il utterly unsn,ted for the
chnrch. Slgnor 3oetti did moi. however. do n ius
tice The s,si 7olis. a duet for soprano and con-
Ira Ia y "A Inv Mlsa
el"sg and W,ne ct Tosta The harm Observation-Disclosures ~
sets II or 70 advantage We object to fhe trnis
in a mass Antonucci sang the Ouoni0nl. an ambi-
tjons bass SOLO in superb STYLE The Concluding
figure OF this number over which Paris
has zone crazy Is not such a wonderful
thing after ali. II ia made unnecessarily
dinlcult by the singular and we might add
paitry acco,npaniment. which would answer for a
ballad better than for a contrapnntai aIair of such
dimensions The female voices are written so low
that they are at tunes lost IN the -deluge Of the
their extreme limit. In order to make this pigue
successful il will be necessary to train the chorus 60
evening The orchestratlon In the Credo Is particu-
larly Ineffective The piece opens in a massive
Ctwcifrus a soprano SOLO is a true Rossinlan
melody OF rare grace and beauty but inappro-
PIRATE 10 express in music the tremendous nlys.
tery OF the Redemption. AS a purely musical
work, however IL Will compare favorably with any
OF the melodies OF the "Swan OF Pesaro.u Miss
Kellogg brought ont all its beauties 10 the fullest
,tdtus, whch Is hRniy effective illustration OF the
mechamcsi manner in which the nn,sons ~ wor e san
We did not like the manner IN which the Et ResUr-
reru opened II may be choral outburst OF pecn-
az tha an% oT ,he % ,ssdo is No, s me iugue
compcated as its predecessor bu, we like IL better
for ITS more thorough consonance with the
oS echoo, r The ,'c,,s e ' chor,n or cnurcn music
by the voices, without accompaniment: the sooists
and chorus dialogue. in Irresistible strains TO the
contralto falls the two grandest solos OF the Mass
Alboni revived the triumphs OF her early days by
duced in Paris. One IS the % SlIuyorfs: the other
the AJnus Dei. In both Nine. Natalie Tesla rave er.
dences of being thorough artist and sympathetic
points IN the ABRUPT transitions from Kew 10 ke~
many or which are trivial, but there is much dra.
matte power IN the first subject the second heing ~
n widely different ana weaker Character. The Very
best number in the entire mass is the Aoa,e, Dei'
n contrato solo, with chorus IL IL dramatic
in the highest degree and the orchestratlon is really