Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-04-21
re than a spontanesus outbursting

more than q spontsneS1s outburstine
delight.
In this state of feeling, it was deter.
mined by the management TO bring oui
the opera Of Faust,n and to sssign tht
part Of Margaret to Nilssen. The opera
had already bsen performed at the Lyr-
iqGe, where Nine. Carvaiho had pro-
duced 2 very favorable impression by
her rendering Of the principal female fig
uTe; and Nilssen, with delicacy and
/ generosity that i5 characteristic Of her,
| offered to leave the part to her predeees-
sor. But this the management would
not listen to, and she accordingly under
took the ungrsteful task OF appearing in
part of which another had formed the
| ideal in the public mind. She undertook
| it, however, as she does everything, with
a determination to give it her own way {:
after the models tnst her own artistic
| genius and instincts might dictate, and
| not the accepted formulas. A careful
student Of German literature, she strove
to realize the conception which GG he
had in his own mind, that OF pure, art
less, simple, uns0phisticatsd German
! girl, suddenly dazz.ed and seduced into
crime, and then abandoned herself. to
| remsdiless remOrse and despair; and she
has done il with q wonderful truthful
ness of general form, &s well as fidelity
in detail. Ia person, expression, mien,
dress, every thing, she seems as if she
had juet stepped cut Of one of AIRY Schef-
fer's pictures, or OF Ksulbach's drswiogs.
She is the impsrsOnatiOn Of unsuapsct-
Jog purity g1ileles7, sweet, candid, mod
est snd elf-restrained-bat with a tinge,
perhaps, Of melancholy il her face snd
bearing, ss If the gentle mirror OF her
soul already reflected the dAi & shadows
of evil gathering about her, aud soon to
wrsp her away in storm and darkness
and death.
Iknow not whether the French have
bsen taught to believe that Margaret
was an alert city maiden, with the man
neIs Of q sOubFette, or of o Partisan shop
girl; but this conception Of the charsc.
ter did not please them. Tney accused
Nilssen of celdness, of want OF anlma-
tion, Of mOnotony Of tons; in short, OF
nothing less than signal failure. One Of
the more brutal critics went so fsr ss to
announce her debut in it as I" a spler did
tTiumph-for Nine. CsrvaIhO.n Another
intimated that she ought to be with
drawn after SO tame and lifeless q per-
f0rmance. Even the ordinarily stately
and digniied ReUUe dss DenE Moades
lent itself to the task of depreciation,
and found fault with her voice (which is
incOmpsrably fioe) as we'll as with her
general realiz .tiOn Of the role. Bat the
verdict was by no means unanimous.
TheOphile Gsulier, OF the Journal Off
cieL, one OF the mON competent judges,
wss extremely eUiOgistic, and NJ. Ernst
Feydeau, OF the ReUue NdtiOndle, than
whom there is no more csp2ble and in
dependent writer, bsttled manly ia her
L,A IrNA
an eloquent and discriminating sppreci.
alton of her genius, which l will trans.
late and send you as soon as it appears.
All the Germans and Americans, and
many Of the E9glish-sll those, indeed,
of every nation who appreciate The ere
alton OF G@ .he-upheld and Hauded
the rendering Of the young SWede. Their
opinion was expressed by the critic Of
GIGgnanj, who sverTed that, although
he had seen every prominent singer in !
Europe, who hsd esssysG the part, Nils /
sen alone had reached the spiritual and
lovely conception OF thG poet. This has |
at length become the settled judgment, |
and cous5 qIsDce Of the little upr0sr |
hss been, thEC for half the rem aiming /
nights Of her rgagement-tWentyo or /
more-nOt box, not q stall, hsrdly /
place to stand upon, is TO be had for love /
or money, while NllsseD is IN such de- /
msnd foE private concerts that she has !
night to herself or for rest. A .
triumph over prejudice, iguor- /
ancs and rivalry has never been achieved /
by an artist.
While l am speaking of the subject Of
art, will you allow nae, oy the way, to
commend to your readers ) new pubiica
ton devoted TO the general subject-LG
ReUUe IJ3tsTRdti0Rdls which promises a
more intelligent, disinterested and inde-
pendent consideration of the subject
han is commonly found in that class Of