New-York tribune., 1872-03-23
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
Music.
ITALIAN oPERA-HAMLEr.

Miss Nilsson which hardly be oversatcd She saved
his opera in Paris and made il of the marked sue
csses last few years. She gave an almost equal
7opularity London. And last night she persuaded
New-York to accept with enthusiasm n work which
but for her would hardly have kept an audi
epce 70 the end OF the evening We do not
mink the that have reached Of the exraor
binary merit OF her Opheha are at all exaggerated
She has many characteristics which especially 1T her
for the portrayal Of this favore heroine The tender
melancholy. the deep but quiet passion, the grace
of feature form, and action which we instinctiYey
associate with shakespeares fair, sweet maid are all
hers She moves through the scene perfect picture
and embodiment OF the ideal 0phelfa 1t is not the
artist, but Opheas self whom happy in Hdm!efs
love trembling at his changing moods terrified at MS
dncss crazed by his desertiOn. This does not seem
Ike acting but the simple truth OF nature Even In the
last terrible mad scene, We are spared the horTors
oi conventional stage lunacy. Miss Nilsson
L. neither raving maniac nor gpoeiins
IDIOT and therein she differs from all other actresses "e
have parts Of this character Her madness AS
all the pathos OF suffering without the re-
puislve symptoms Of disease. IL Is the oroWh-
Ing grace Of an impersOnatiOn which from nrst
10 last is thoroughly beautiful ana touemhg'
ODteiia Is the one bright image which lrraulates
very sonbcr AZ played last night IN SIX acts OF
theux the Hamlet" OF Ambrose Thomas follows with
hating ana curlousy erratc steps the tragedy from
which the plot is borrowed or we should rather say
adapted In the first act we have the marriage
~ ff4nqius and Gertrude OIL janet ana MISS
Cary, a love duet between Hamlet IN Barre)
and ODbeiiI, and one little air Tor Lo~"S
fNr BrolD who straghtway goes of to the wars ana
il heard OF no more Musicaly there is nothing in TINS
act that need detain The second IS devoted Whony
g. the apparOn the esplanade OF the caSue' the
s;hosf tNr. COiettl) delivering his message from the
grave ID long monotone, with rather impressive ac-
compartments The effect upon the whole was not strong
owing perhaps in great part last night to the weakness
of the performers In act third shows the gar
dens Of the palace, where Hamlet, meeting with OPea,
gives the first evidence Of the perturbation Oh minu
which - TO lead their separation After he mas
left her Oohelia throws away the book she has Deen
rrading and bursts into bitter denuncaton OF iha
inconS;ancy-a passag ge which Miss Nilsson delivered Win
startling dramatic force and rrGsenbIanee 1helels
short uninteresting dialogue among all the cheI
Characters and finally, the arrival Of the players being
ed Hamlct-shadc of Shakespeare, forgive INN
PUSHES tho footlights and trolls drinking song:
La vita breve.
La mOrte wen,
Rider 81 dcve,
Beyer cOnyien!
Ih- fourth act gives the scene of the players very
rear, "a We are accustomed TO zee it, the play acted
in psntOmime by two ladies and gentleman OF the BAL
LET after the usual manner Of those intellectual persons
while Hamlet reclining at the feet Of Ophel0, gives
running commentary upon the drama The famous So
loduy ITO be MOTTO be- Tor as the hbreto has it, To
be or no mysteTyl To diet. To seep!. To
dream - opens the fifth act 1t introduced by solo on
trombone. and perhaps when we have said TINS we
have characterized it sufficiently. scene between
H1pkt Cphelia and the queen, gives opportunity Tor
trio which has with favor nthe concert room,
aud one Of the very few pieces In the opera which can
readily be separated from its place in the whole work.
The apparton Of the Ghost TO Hamlet in his mothers
chamber brings this all to close. Act Sixth Is
devoted 70 a ballet, and the mad The action
takes place by the bank of the river, where Ophed
weayes her garands and distributes rosemary and rue
auid the merry-makng OF the peasanry and at last,
when the dancers have left her and the strains OF dis
aut music heard the water she hides herself
among the rushes and borne off by the stream AS she
floats out OF sight scattering flowers the wave her
diving song upon the and the curtain falls In
the original French version there is another act which
winds up denOuement than the coronation
OF Hamlet King OF Denmark but this thank heaven!
has been omitted.
little OF the grace and melody which are
admired In "Mignon." Is Ingenious without being at
all striking and though it is scholarly II is painfully
and unpoasantly elaborated There Is straning Tor
effects which after all not reached, for Mr. Thomas
great skill in the massng Of either instruments or
voices; his ideas are not fluent and ms
scores are rich. Until the sixth act pro-
found dulness reigns. broken only by the exquisite
art prma donna in the scenes allotted to her. but
IN this closing portion Of the work there is abundance OF
musical grace and freshness What the part Of Hamlet
nil ght the hands OF really great artist we hesitate
to saw It ia the principal role in the opera.
n. Faure created IT in Paris, and Mr. Santiey
did Justice TO it In london. 1t has some
noble though not very pleasing music, aud
sbOunds OF course in magnificent dramatic opportuni-
ties Mr. Barre was severely overweighted by 1t, and
reminded one through the evening OF the spectacle Of
q good man struggling with adversely, for he did his
very best and surpassed hs average mediocrty
without by any means satisfying the exaeuons
OF the occasion. Two three scenes he
acted very well. but he failed TO make the
music interesting and should think his best friends
nat have heen tired of m W. The
other parts-Nss Cary's, NJ Jamets and Mr. Brignols
slight and word OF general cOmmendatiOn is all
fhatis necessary. There Is and good scenery
the has been enlarged and well dressed and the
stage appointments much better than they |
have been at any previous performance during the |
Nilsson season We have only to add that the audience
was enormous and the enthusiasm beyond precedent
Miss Nilsson called out four times at the end of the
opera and nearly smOhered with doves and flowers.
ORPHEoS EASTER FESTIVAL.
The 0rpheOn SOciety's Free Choir Schools |
give their first Eastertde ChurchMusic Service
ChrysostOm's Chapel, the evening Of Easter
Thursday with Eve distinct chors, including Mr. Jerome
Hopkins's Solo Sextel" The Rev DR.. Morgan Dix Of
Trinity Parish is preach the Sermon and the total
number Of singers dncludng choir boys) will be about
300 Of whom the Paterson Branch viii supply large
number phe trustees OF the OrpheOn Choral Society
Am. h Duncan. VIM. I. Blodgett, Charles c. Dodge |
Jerome Hopkins Spencer Coe, Jonn Z. Leingwell, and
- Il. GUhck.
MUSICAL NOTES.
Nr. Whitney, the Boston basso, is singing
very successfully in England.
Mr.. StrakOscb announces the return of Car
lotts Patti next September for series of concerts
The Hess children, Willie, phenomenal vio-
lrisi Joanna q clever pianist, give a concert
oskt Monday evening at 5teiDway Hall.
A performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah" is
iebe gwen in Hartford next Thursday, with Madame
G9aa. Mrs. sesulu Mr.. sanlley and Mr.. Castle, in the
soio parts