The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-03-26
ITALIAN OPERA.

Lucca 10 Appear In the Fall.
Inc swedish s0ngstress took leave of the New
| York public last night before an overwhelming
audience, who patiently waited for the only toer.
able scene In the opera OF ''HamIer'-namely, the
last one. In this, despite the meagre surroundings
MISS NILSSON aroused her hearers to unwonted en-
thusiasm, and made them forget, to a
certain extent the ennan consequent on
listening to the dreary, ill-arranged music
tnat preceded this scene. 1t perfectly unaccOunt-
able now any composer occupying a prominent
position In the COnservatoire OF Paris could be
guilty OF such palpabe injustice as to appropriate
without any acknowledgment the ideas OF others
into an illassorted potpourri and call It an OPERA
We have already spoken at length about the rldcu-
lous character OF the lbretto but may be neces.
sary to refer IN detail to the composers share In
the dissertation OF one OF Shakspeare's nODlest
tragedies
The opera or "Hamet' has twenty -four musical
numbers, nineteen OF which were given with con-
siderable pruning In the version presented at the
Academy OF Music. We can summarize them thus
No. prelude, march and chorus, taken in sub
stance from "Le Prophete," Meyerbeer, with very
commonplace ending. a Ia Offenbach. No. Pre-.
citative ana duet Hamlet ana Ophelia. Very incon-
gruous flute and harp passages In the beginning
and theme founded upon the terzetto from
"AtJlla." This Is the nl0tU Of "Hamletn through
Is also an extract from Verdi. No. s-Laertcs' only
solo; melody very undressing and ut only for one
OF Herv6's operas bo,sces. No. 4-UhOrus OF OIL
GERS Gers. and pages; we;xnown Thurlnsian
festive gatherings q any Of our German
singing societies No S-scene on the esplanade,
| appear. Instrumentation founded on the incanta-
ton scene from "Der Freyschutzn IN some phrases.
the cello ana is ' " Thoroughly Seysrbeer ssems
NO. 6-Garden scene and aria, Opheia. II Gounod
Thomas would have been Obliged to seek IDEAS else
where. for this is an exact copy The second mon!
No. 7@AriosS The e Queen founded upon song by
Abt, and occasionally wandering into unknown
paths n the way OF queer instrumentation NO, 8,
! duo, King and Queen. with the song OF Ham.
let repeated at the conclusion Of the scene and
poorly orchestred. Only one short theme OF the
Judging from the 'score, y with judgment. No. .,
chorus Of players. Taken bodily from "L'Airi.
March, No: TO- drinking song, Hamlet. An old
German students drinking song No. Il, Danish
nies very much the .schlIermarsch' Of Meyerbeer
No. y. pantomine and finale, is unworthy Of any
has 4. 10 Oe or not|to die. to sleep, to dream,
only in the ps Meyer
beer has helped n. Thomas again here In the
Instrumentation No. 10, the aria for the bass being
omitted, Is the yrlo between Ophelia. Hamlet and
the King. and No. 10, the scene between Hamlet and
pearance. There are some beautiful Ideas in both
these numbers but they arc like flowers In wilder
loss how to use them. the last numbers Include
the ballet music, Of which there are forty two pages
| OF very commonplace dance themes, with few OF
scandinavian origin and the celebrated mad scene
OF Ophelia In this Nilsson is superb, and her act
| ing and singing will always carry an audience
with her. such was the case last night. Few
artists would have been able to struggle success
fully against the poverty stricken surroundings and
penny wise and pound foolish" management that
endeayored IN every way to KIN the opera, but
Nilsson did II. The last scene was the solitary CLEAN
|
much better would II have been, TO have allowed
eSer 81 her 0S o Hs ua
Vioettap 'Hamlet' should have been brought
er ss M Ss
led people TO suppose that there was something In
Of e o %e
only come to the conclusion that In no other city in
the world IS operate genius more generally recoQ
| niZed and patroniZed, where single prlma donna
carried Off all the honors and commanded homage,
even though surrounded by mediocrity and incom-
Miss Nilsson made her debut In this country N
~ s on s in
asr On the ey eW oT & October e % s
wn Bgno IN Lucia d sh
has sung so far In one hundred operate per
formances. she goes to washington to-day, and
w va, cs'rn on Apr She annaseS a.
oper ans the Summer fr I Inc
fall she makes her debut at the Imperial Opera
st. and ne n E
rul If she return to America before many years
have past. She VIII then reappear under another
name, we suppose, as her marriage takes place In
Paris early IN the fall
Next week ope OF the most remarkable seasons OF
opera ever known In TINS country Will he inaugu-
rated by Mr.. Carl Rosa, who has already achieved
the extraordinary result Of making English opera a
grand success on grand scale in this country.
The opening opera on Monday will be the "TrOva-
tore" with Nine. Parepa. Rosa as Leonora Miss
Manrico and Mr.. Santley as the Count
at Luna: Rgol ct. ,o viii be sung
Nine. Parepa Rosa; Maddelena, Miss Philipps;
the Duke OF Mantua Wachtel; Rigoletto, santley
sparatrecile,, Aynsey Cook. On, on Friday We are
Donna Anna, Miss Clara DORA as Donna Elvra,
Mime. Vanzini as Zerlina, Tom Karl as Don Ottav1o,
santey as Don Giovanni, Aermanns as Leporelo
will number fully one hundred and twenty strong,
and exertions are being made to mount the operas
In superior style. "Ihe iHuguen0ts" tGu UgonoltD
Yesterday a contract was entered into between
the directors OF the Academy Of Music and Messrs.
Maretzek and Jarrett by which the latter are ac-
corded the privilege Of giving Italian opera during
the next season. The principal engagement known
OF so far under this management 10 the celebrated
prma donna, Pauline Lucca VINO VIII make her
number OF other important engagements for
the company to support Mile. Lucca are
ear e ae Sumner Miss TeoHS has 6esn
already engaged, and likely many OF the lead.
ing artists Of Mr.. Maplesons company at Drury
| Lane, London. Never again can the dangerous ex-
pertinent OF attempting to bring @ season to finan-
ciay successful close with prima donna as the
attraction be repeated at the Academy OF Music
! We trust that the new management, which has the
advantage OF long and varied experience, will ell
deavOr to remove the bad impressions OF the season
| Just past and present each opera with due regard
| TO ensemble mise en- scene and appointments.
COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY.