, 1869-07-11
Opera
Another Humbug Considered.
Suicide.
Ill for The Love Of Woods Museum.
Old Letters,
With Some Thoughts Thereon.
Review OF the Weck.

CHICAGO. July II.
To tie Editor ef Tx Chicago Tntune:
The thing that il uppermost In ny mind IL Ett
down to wT!te 3ou today, II the recent season Of
open stEen by Mr.. Bngnoii and his troupe At the
Opera House. ! could not avoid saying something
about 1t II would, and Nhat ! do say propose 10
Say very candldIy.
Tou know do not take very kindly TO humbugs,
especially when End them in fuy world OF amuBe-
ment think 1t is about time for this nonsense
about the prince Of tcnors to stop. II Is all hosh
I3r1rnoll has been great singer In hts day: hut
Hrtgnol has reached that period in Tie, especially
IN operatlc lie, when the Leaves begin to fail aud
notes arc onilawed. Ont Of his many musical re-
sources, he has saved hts trick Of Arzando, which
Is about Nil there is left Of him. To ba sure, be
possesses this power to q remarkable degree.
Tut what merit is there IN his IuumbsnR along
through an opefn and at Rtated intervals, always
when you least expect It, and usually when the
musical text does not require II, believing out
with MI the s1gor Of bis lungs7 Can anybody tell
me Of any other attraction, muNeslly or dramat1.
cally, which he possesses7
There ia another quality which Nj. Dsigno II
possesses, and which, for wnut Of better term,
forll Had the audience h1Ased him from the
stnge on Wednesday, and especially on Thur
day, evening, It would hare served him Just right
New York, Boston or Philadelphia audience
would have done It, and l can only wonder At
the good nature Of the Chicago audiences, which,
On eacn e'eulae' HAAeu ~ tue heaNo, b.laln3
a'tnotpnete u the opeta hoase nea1!5 aa Aou1,
10 su'I LIS so.@' pressure. aao 'nen were t9eateu
10 musical 1alee- Ihh Is not an lsolatea
Instance o. NJ. 1r'soohs 1"puoenee- ne has
done II repeatedly. lie ueEes sa4l8 ID tnis cli5
without occas!onlng more or less delay, and, when
he did appear, never allowed An cTcning TO pass
without, In some manner, snubb!ng the autllence.
lie has !ea toe ponse aoout ~ lhe nose, as nc
"oula leaa nss servant os nis tnaceasoaitooke3.
hna tn.uA u u aooat ti1ae tue popHe oe!eaoeo
liz uDse, II 1t has any respect lot lis nose
Mr.. Br1gnoN knew be couldn't give opera here
when he came. He made up his mind, how
ever, that what would do In kAnkakee aud Paw
nav would do In Chicago. With the exception Of
Miss Duraud and Petrelu, he had nothing to give
opera with. uts conductor wasn't worth the wood
Of which bis baton was made, as witness the fol-
lowing incident; At the rehearsal Of Lucts" III
really was rehears2i} he t1ansposed the solos about
two tqpes lower In one Of them occurred n stutc
obllgato. Poor D.ach was blowing along on his
Dulc a. gelI u he could. and. suddenly. with a
look Of profound a,uazemeut on his face stonned.
AZ II he had been shot. He looyet, at the scnre
He 1oovef, at h,s rute- He 1oolea n, ,h4 cnn.
Iuc,nr. who vas irving In 1n hIs t,lace n1Ee1, :,
said The conductor. Hwhy ,,on,, yon IN m -,
t.W.hy. can't co m, said n-.ch. !. ym, hare
rlven me a who1r measure of tones wb,ch nra mt
In rnr r,ute :. :. On. never mind. RI m nnd n1av
ern,a,,,,nr rsat, thc snnI.1t cont5rr,nr a. ~
NM n,ar sn,ncth,ng in 1peio, shane of non,zD,tt,
II ha;l teen Donizetti I would have cot IN o,,t
~ nv u,-,rc ,r,nd,ny.shect mn, all ami arna.ra,
~ tho, condncror sn ma, na ,.op1,, h,x,, raTnnt,
trrr,I i, MI his dnye.
.Go o,, and Mn, aone.htno .,vns thu ,ca,nra
~ The ent,-e nrrfnr,nauce NJ ..Jucia " rbe or.
,,hc,,r., went On and nlared somefhtnp-tt wo,,d
be difficult 10 tell Whit. The larger mart of thf
amateur chorus twna not right, awhile ago. In
expressing mr. horror Of nnateurs :, got scared
whcn the, found thry bad to wenr tights, and ran
home. The rest went On aud sang somethlng-t
would be difficult 10 tel! what. When they we're
not two measures heh'oo me orchestra, they
were t"o measures Aaeaa' "neie tac iemale
chorus Nent ~ cauno.' ~ 'ae We ., me' Say
AND "oulo oos "aoI 10 saSe my oa'h thas 'ne
hae cAetos aaas III d.. rug pi'nc'pa's ~ent on
anu A1us aoiaetu4uK-l "oalA w uluc0it 10 tcA
Whtt- WAS ever anftIln9 more !hllF1attnX than
the brutal manner In which the Immortal sextette
was sung by the qua1tefie7 7 Was there ever before
Euch Ela8h1rg and cutting and muttlAtlng OF mu-
sic: Poor Durand and Petrellit II ts fair to say,
tried conacIent1ouRly to make sorethtnp art ~
their rots.-hut c1tI bo,4of
The tnalr NJ the opera WAS A fitting tt,mtna,,on
OF tle fascc. HrtgnolI mumbles ,hrouch his c,os.
top ar1a. then s,rivea an attitude and amer mn nj,
yifutte nnIr HFD1a1I run atrtt4. %hau s,ddo1lr
Iuca ont bIs .rr.oud, and o,rcs ona n-o1nn No.,
hou1. tben drnxa h,a awnr, and t,,hs h,,nse,,.
then rntctiy u,aces one n.nd m h,s for.haa ~ ~
wntt.. fev n,nn,ca IN or.,ort ~ $500 ~
,har hor I,.uta,1t h.a w, ttn,.4,, ,,sI - ~
i'm fnr ,,r,c,,om ~ M c,hsrc,i c-es,n,o NJ t".ra
~, ~ ~, ,nu, M. HI. 80. .h,, a.s.a,.
trIes ~ ro,. him b,r. ,.htns ~, m. =, ~
tain wh,c,, ia rnrc dnrn. ,ncn ther,, ,s ,,an,-a,
,hat the dead gtoardo NAV f,na himself s,,lI IN
front of rho foo,,yohts. ,n,; ,hen ,,,~ .,r.. ~
,..,', ,sz1s,a tho n,so-,,r-da,., osa,"m
.c,,,t, In, ~ soontsn aaoa n,,r.n ~ ~. w.
,o,n r,,ncs ,Ior, ,,,n,, ~. ,s,.o 0@e 49,
- :, !. ,,,,a ,,s,, s.sos-ss
49," , - 80 ~. osea tvosuos t,,..' - s'opp.H'
W. ~. 1"v" ~" ~ ~'.aso ouu4see ~ ~
~ a.. - .,.,1 s,.,a ~ 49,. ,ah ,,,,,ta -. u.
VI w. ~. :. "'N h.ana' ~ ~" uo.u ."postl'oa IL
W. ~ uln ~ n,e tuAt o!s1oh -
',. ""nt -. ~ W ..se Aapr.. .'et. w. ~ -
Ns.s-t ~ 49, 800 ~. ~. 80 49,. ,,;s =,
80 n.t.nnrn a face oTer Il The nnhj;c shoy1h
take hold of this man and make him understand
Thai he Is their servant, and that they don't want
my more Of bis whls, bts nonsense, or hla sn,no-
sittons- II ho cannot will not do ~hns Is prop
CT. tnen qa1e1!s give MIN ticket OF leave.
lou mas think am pfe)udieed against the
prince VI teno's- -Hot e!t o. H. an no more
pic!uuNeo asnuat "'iu enau ap1 1sa'nst 1aa5 le-
uae, ueuuouea ~ sout cototnns 'e" us5s a9o.
""o t!ieu ~ so1n'. sae'uet pee0use aes ousoana
"oo1on ! lei ue1 ~ ~ "ooo MUSEUM:
CONFESS tnat mere ate occasionally cases OF
suicide with which rtmpa:hize. 1t has many q
unc teuenca ne 10 ahe near 1eaaia8 u the
aca'n oi some poof tesu'ta " nel DIVE naau. oe-
uaSeu Auu suiheo ~ a'1n "aoul sne uao ionu'5
"usseu' W "ho" ene oaa eeaoeo Het "no'e iue'
nHn AL .s eaieetaoons aao nopest Ael sk5' 10.
aa' so ur,Rns-'o-m mot9o" 1u!l o. angJ olheR
e'oous' aaotaue oot etc!s ny VI ptoa'ss' VAL
oe1lns aione III 'ae Sess: Eforing aooht III
s0lu 1oI eo!aethluR upon WHICH she 1a5 !ean cry
!ue' ~ het ason5 u epfa1, iof se"e aAnu 10 rescue
Aet-aooe'eH' uouseieas' hne"ei'ess' rennness.
ana !o'c1es,-nnen sae tnos neI mlsety, ana
soes % " uoa 4o1 .ae ose A.u netes .ue poos SOU
eoa'au uaa ~"Au's ~ eJllpI.u]s "l'u
M 'ee1 ,nat rue Nui nno an lne0aole slos5 Iae!e
" UaNc eon' n'ptaaastoa ~ Lug aAtAness t'efe. II
al 'e19 "ea tul etone eoia 1iofnAsAs ~ eApause
upon INC "lcAsaaess oi suea deea' IN whose
VEINS Inc oiooa fans IKE ice-"ates; whose heart
oeas AEe penanlans: VINO Ha mcasufc tner
setions VIII tape"l line; who never !elt passion
and aeFcr Knew tie n5stsrtes and ASonies OF the
Inner world Of lose-lts lava tides3And their con-
sum!og, aeSoussng heats They Belong to Tue
crowd who would have stoned the Aa1dafen,
when the Great Father Of rs all loved and plt!ed
and saved.
And there IL something rather pretty and fanct-
iul about suicide when Fanchette, who gets tired
OF Inc world; who has drained the cup clear 10 Its
u1eRa "nose Walte snou!Aers and nefJ eyes have
uten lne aann a..oa oi Ing satons; VINO aas had
tu.oss " ~ 'ieu ~ ner snoso eo1iao1 Haeels
~ "ao nes Va ~ 4ae pe.sales VI tue "on'1,
onsu ao1ains ous Tue po"es Aele!tf aAes iass
iook Al nersen IN her mirror shFass her shoulders
ueuie iAs ue IL ue2 Ah'te euA-Io1l VI 'a&1es' "ltes
~, " net "soH es'e' otls aaal sne eannot .one 70
hsl 1eeep!son, 80 she LIS au enSaeetocat u eae
olnel RoIlot tn1pWa neIseH upon Iue ottoman