The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-09-18

nho RIohnRn Opern Troupe.


The RIchInRs Opera Troupe.
The new Richings English opera combination coli-
,,ao ,I,o,r nref season OF twelve performances at
,nc Acodonov of Music this afternoon, Without nav
inc achieved that pecunary success that the lends
and admirers OF the esteemed directress woulu nave
raon well pleased with AS for Mrs Bernard, she
roe cortainy exerted herself to the utmost 10 make
,,o errornances attractive, and nearly every even
nc she has sustained the burden OF the leading
roles singing and acting with as much spirit as II she
were unannoyed by any other cares tnan those at
tending the proper performance OF her duties on the
.tooe she has been in excellent voice and never
sang better The reasons for the non-success OF
tbjs FIRST venture OF the new com binaton are nume-
rons and some of them we know will be
removed as the season advances, and
as the company gets into better
training The artists have scarcely yet learned to
,yorp well together and the chorus in particular
needs considerable training to bring it up to proper
state Of efficiency Mrs. Bernard, too % GommenGea
has been sutry and many of the best patrons Of the
opera have not yet returned 1rom tnelr summer
iannts The absence of many faces familiar as
yyeSuisr opera-goers was very noticeable, and it
would probably have made number OF dollars diff
tSe first of October than the first of September.
BESIDES these considerations there are elements In
degree against success Some OF the blame of fail
ure has been laid upon the shoulders of Mr.. Henry
Drayton, the new baritone This gentleman was
accTsed of exhibiting panorama in England during
the Rebellion, in which he TOOK decidedly Rebel
and British view OF our Stuason auog ing 10 otbar e
wise paving the way for an unpleasant greeting in
case ne should ever revisit his native shores. The
charge against Mr. Drayton appears to be pretty well
founded and his rather awkward denials have only
made the matter worse. Mr.. Drayton has proved
himself to be q competent artist and we doubt
whether this dsagreeable affair has in any great
degree contributed w 4tDir, tae aed we nohsTe 6asvc
that the majority Of operagoers think that Mr. Ora
ton is not person Of sufficient consequence to max
such hubbub over. His political opinions are Of no
mn
to his business on the stage, there are Few persons
whose Sy Is OF 80 G m ac WSeber ss m 70
Drayton has any political opinions He exhibited
Rebel panorama in England, ana spiGed 1t with anti
Union sentiments and abuse of the Northern people
because his auditors liked that sort of thing and he
came here and sang the ''StarSpangled Banner and
charity concert for exactly the same reason. All
this is not at all credable to Drayton; but, as
before remarked, his political opinions are not oil the
More disastrous than the disloyalty of Mr.. Dray-
ton was the failure of Mr. Haigh the leading tenor
The plea of illness was made in favor Of this gem
tleman, but after repeated hearings we are obliged
TO come to the conclusion that he is unequal to the
task he has undertaken. Within limited range his
voice is remarkably fine but his range is very
limited, and both in low and high notes he is ded-
cient to degree that certainly units him for any
thing more than ballad singer Mr.. Haigh ap
proaches high note with evident effort and appre-
hension and he invariably breaks into peculiarly
tisagreeable falsetto. This has been eXtenuated
an English practice that could he obviated but we
doubt whether Mr. Haign is capable Of
voice. Mr.. Haigh, too, like many
tenors, and particularly tenors of porty presence, is
egregiousy bad actor, and he lounges about the
stage in that unpleasantly lazy manner that is so
Objectionable in Brgnoli A better artist in every
way than Mr.. Hagh is Mr.. Bowler. This gentleman
has good tenor rObuStO voice. OF considerable power
and compass but lacking sweetness to some degree.
He has it well under control, however, and sings
with spirit and expression Mr. Bowler is rather too
'swaggery"-f we may the term-in hts aching
but he appears to be painstaking and enthusiastic
and he will undoubtedly improve and become one OF
the most valuable and reliable members of the COM
pany.
Mrs. Bowler, too, has also proved herself compe-
tent artist, and she probably is acceptable sub
stitute for Mrs. Seguin as could be found Miss
Ellermann, on the contrary, is not a success, and
severe course of training. At present she has
leading roles Her bearing on the stage is crude In
the extreme and the total lack OF expression in her
singing is a defect that will prevent her from be-
coming favorite. The balance of the company is
made up for the most part of members of the old
organization, and the Messrs. Peakes, Miss Mischka,
and others are reasonably efficient in the lines Of
business entrusted to them.
or course the troupe has appeared under numer-
disadvantages during the past two weeks, and il
will take time to make them work together in perfect
harmony. With the exception of Mr.. Haigh and
Miss Elermann, the combination appears to be rea
sonably strong one and after it has well settled
down to its work, we do not doubt that it will be
able to render any of the works in Mrs. Bernards
repertoire with good effect.