The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-04-23
ANU sEMENTs.


The Academy OF Music.
martha, Flotows sparkling opera, was presented
at the Academy last night and, though the per
formance secured the constant applause OF the ands
ence, we are inclined to think the selection OF this
opera for presentation was mistake on the mart nj
the management The character OF the music is
not calculated to bring out the best points
OF any OF the artists, and the few occasions ON
winch they nave chance to display their powers
are hos suhcient 10 invest the performance with
any very absorbing Interests last night it dragged
visiby. We had formed no very hiph exnectation.
in regard to Wachtel's Monello-the mart "a owl
IDENTITY unsuited to his bravura style or execution
but even we were disappointed or course at mo
ments he was effective and brilliant With a voice
such as he possesses he cannot well avoid being 40
sometimes, were 1t only by accident. But in sDite
OF these undoubtedly brilliant passages his render
ing OF the role was unsatisfactory. He made hs
chief effort in the aria, 'M'appari, tuttamor,n
and, regarded simply as q piece OF vocalixs-
ton, it was certainly wonderful In the
forth. The hnbre OF Wachtel's voice is unrvalled;
but Thought possesses great dexibity, even in the
tenderness. In the rendering OF the stronger
passions his roo'tso style Of singing makes him
approacnable and # Is very evident that he Is
others. Santley sang well In the small part
of Plunkett, but It was not possible to do much
dira" was delightful, and secured him a warm
encore. Madame parepa-Rosa can hardly be-
Voice gives evidence Of the overstraia
which her constant singing puts upon +.
and the celebrated spinning wheel quartet, but she
put forth all her power In the lovely Irish air which
Flotow stole to embellsh his opera. She sang "The
Last Rose OF Summer" with great brlliancy. and
much feeling, and was rewarded by an enthusiastic
recall. Miss Phillips sang In the part OF Nancy,
wh in
poorly rendered, the celebrated 'Spinning Quartet'
being complete failure. The only chorus which was
perdoni iddo," in the finale OF the third act We
hope this opera will not be repeated 1t is really
There are so many other operas in which
can be displayed, and as the time Of departure
draws so near that the company should be careful
to appear only at their best. The orchestral ac-
compartments were marked by a judicious execu-
ton. On Wednesday night civilian Tell" win be
presented with one of the most remarkable casts
that has ever been presented to New York audi
ence. Santley, Wachtel, Carl, Parepa-Rosa and
Doria will appear together.
Niblo's Gnrden-ssBlnck Friday
"Black Friday" to which the town has looked
forward for the past week as its coming sensation,
was produced tor the first time last evening, and
met with a very hattering reception. The
house was full but not very much overcrowded, in
spite of an Eruption Of q couple of hundred Pha-
ing though somewhat unpleasant state of
spirtuous oblivion to decency and good
manners. There had been fears that the
piece would be the occasion OF general
disturbance, owing to its notorious connection with
the life and death of the late Prince of Erie; but
these proved, happily, unfounded, and, with the
exception of q festive howl OF "police" OCCASION
ally, set up by one Of the strangers from the
ssns oy t Sed feeble Of Steme Curtain Il
on the final tableau, the play was permitted to
peacefully succumb to it's inevitable fate of natu-
any feeling stronger than that extreme degree Of
disgust which finds Its most fitting expression in
the silence OF contempt The causes Of its failure are
painfully plain. 1t consists SIMPLY of few de-
tached leaves nom the career Of James Fisk, Jr.,
with here and there daring admixture Of ro-
Stokes committed forgery as well as murder.
No doubt its author would claim that
the chiefain Of the Sa' Erie "n Ring, and
the adoption Of aliases, have lifted the whole piece
on pS 81 Rob IS i
pearance and manners wifully accurate copy OF
Fisk, and every now and then expressions and
phrases are put in his mouth which historic
utterances Of the Prince OF Erie; and so, though
they are revived with scarcely such marked sue
Stokes and Violet spearheart as certain other
notorious actress In that sad drama OF real life
which ended the other day in the cemetery Of
the exciting materials thus seized by tho
playwright have been so clumSily handled that they
have utterly lost their natural cOorng of dramatic
interest. He has therefore outraged decency with
out even the weak excuse of having produced q
sensation. Black Friday Is indeed simply
an inanimate panorama OF certain melancholy
passages In the lives OF and women
who have attained an unenviable notoriety-nOt
drama instinct with that subtle reality sense OF
which 1t Is the province of art to create by display
ing the secret springs Of thought and conduct. We
need say no more to show that 1t must, from
the very nature Of things, be a failure,
and 1t would be absurd to criticse the performance
at further length The parts are too bad to make
good playing even possible, but most OF the actors
did their best to make them endurable Mr..
Collier, as Rob King, at times showed flashes or
really powerful acting, though he evidently Ia
bored under painful sense of constraint. Dash
Holman was passably enacted by Mr. Charles
Th0rne, and Miss Price struggled hard to make
something out OF Violet Spearheart. Miss SudlOw
and Miss Lee were fortunate enough
to have parts growing out OF the subOr-
dinate plot that runs through the piece, and
thus had an opportunity, which they improved, to
secure the respect, II not the sympathy, OF the
audience. In conclusion, we can only say that the
mounting of the piece Is very good and the man
agement deserve credit for liberality which has
for once been utterly wasted.
Musical and Dramatic Notes.
'Humpty Dumpty," VOL w., is bound to achieve
the success which its predecessors met with at the
olympic.