New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-09-27
THE DRAMA-MUSIC.
SALYINrS CONRAD.
ACADEMY OF MUsc-LA MoRTE CrvnE.

ard
- ana at the close OF this and of each succeeding act
:. as called ont with an applause that can only DC
,...,,bed "A really rapturous When he came before
~ rtain at the end OF the performance ne was greeted
,,h shouts OF delight such q triumph OF dramatic
,us has seldom been seen and 1t was all the more
iant since attained OF the dullest plays that
ever were exhibited
ia Morte Cyile" Is q 1ve-act drama. written by
mar Paoio Giaconetti. Persons who recall Rstorf's
sr,ormsnce this city possess asia matter OF course
most distinct Renaissance Of signor Giacometh ana
a,.matio productions. He Is the most long winded
ever inflicted himself mortal patience. His
- of a play makes 1t TO consist OF haDDy
-. OF dialogues. They tell the story, In
S.a but they tell 1t very much as Fitzgerald
,.,.ording 10 sherdan) described his PhenX-
.th separate and distinct comment upon each par
,-alsx feather. They might be cut Shorthand we de-
ally wish they were-Or they might be indefinitely
oopsed without either case affecting the form OF
,s drama that they constitute In one word they are
- and tho best that they show for their author is
~ b.et that his mind Is respectable and industrious
nv dipt OF indefatgabe boring however, signor Gaco
tn does sometimes strike tears He did 50 IN Marie
,stOuette" where the subject was made 10 his hand'
and be does so IN La Morte CIVIC
-. enc subject is invented. The action
:, this play-greatly Overfrelghted with talk
o...a, in two country houses, in Calabria, at the
s,s.apt time, and is carried on by eight persons Its
,ts Civil DEATH" Is opposite, from the fact that
a.. individual TO whom chiefly it relates has
,,mmtted homicide been condemned TO imprisonment
life and is thus dead to society This individual,
oonrod by name, has wife and daughter; and the
orv of tho play relates certain very pathetic incidents
oposrning his escape from prison and his subsequent
sdesyors TO reesabsh his domestic relations and the
haopness Of his home. II is an exceedingly sad story
"a. current flows through vale of shadow and empties
,,to the black waters Of death. Its meaning is
,ha old Old fact that there is no escape
,,,m the consequences Of sin or, we might
ADD from the consequences Of mortality; since
an human life is seen TO be tragic, the moment
vsu brush of its tinse The design though, we fancy
va rather TO present Of immitigabe suffering
nan 70 place any stress moral significance. Conrad
3, a man of many woes; and the contemplation Of
tbenas they are encountered, opposed accepted, suf
f,red, and succumoed TO by signor salwni-almost
bresks the sensitive heart. ia Morte Clyile" engen
Sers pity and since TO engender pity is 10 benefit
tbose whose bOsOms narrowed, the play should be
accepted as good in it's spirit and tendency. how
ever undramac In construction and tedious IN por-
tons Of Its movement.
salyni was easily the master Of the situation, last
aght and long before the final fall of the curtain he
held his audience in the hollow of his hand Conrad is
no. oello To the Moor Of Shakespeare, as We under
eand the character this actor-great though he be
rss Dot entirely adequate. Twothrds Of the embod-
rent indeed was perfection; but the other third was
partial disappointment We have before indicated this
opinion and the for holding it. To dwell on the
point would be useless and might be ungracous. IT
germane to the immediate Subject, however, TO say
that the actor who undertakes to mpers0nate
either OF the great characters in Shakes
pare undertakes TO accomplish work of art
within certain fixed and positive limits. He must re-
produce-not in part hut in althe hero OF poem. He
must embody parsonage who has been entirely and
perfectly conceived aud thoroughly described-whose
every mental process and emotional condition is indi-
ested, whose every action is prescribed, and whose
every word is set down: and 1t may be added that there
of danger that any actor letting himself out TO
sy extent IN any direction will ever 90 further than
Shakespeare has gone before him. No player that We
Ae ever yet Shakespeare has shown himself to
TOO large for the The best Shakesperean actor
q no VINO proves the best medium for the
display OF the character. We will not ask HIM 10 tran
scend It, With many parts outside Of Shakespeare and
certainly with this part Of Conrad, the is changed.
Conrad devised especially for sayini, and devised
5y oOunTyman who had studied his temperament and
harmed the springs Of his wonderful sympathy and
splendid power; aud it is character that is best EN-
bodied when made the medium for the display of the
nan sayni is in it, around it. and above it, He flows
through the work like fe-blood in the veins. He fills
aud be magnhes every situation He does not need
ihs words. His presence and his action - in the
,0Oching relations suggested - are enough. He does
not attain the lofty altitude OF terrific passion that
be reaches in the last three acts Of Othelo - but he
atans lOftier hight Of magnanimity and pathos-and
there Is not flaw the symmetry Of the work. We
know not where we are 10 ook-whether in memory of
The past or through observation Of the preseutfor such
another picture of mortal agony greatly borne. and such
snotber type Of desOae grief Salyi presents in the
last act Of Ia Morte Cive" The mere portrayal of
DEATH perhaps. was not ruer or more affecting than
Rsor's in the last of Elizabeth" or Charles
Kean's the last Of Louis XII; but there was
ndescribable halo the interior light
Of genius that made 10 holy.
The steps that conduct this calamitOus result
simple and some OF them. as we have intimated,
tame Conrad and ROsalie have been married. and
ROsae has borne daughter. Conrad. in fit Of furious
resentment has killed RoSdiies brother and thereupon
las been ncarceraed under sentence OF imprisonment
for life. His bereaved wife, with their daughter, has
found shelter in the home OF benevolent gentleman
il bereft Of wife and infant daughter-who has EN-
pOyed the one as his housekeeper, and adopted the
other as his own child Fourteen years have
passed away. Conrad has escaped from prison
-emaciated with disease and with grief
has accidently upon the asylum Of his wife.
She Is then enduring the prosecutions OF licentious
priest. whom she has repused, and who has thereupOn
determined drive her away from the place. Conrad
hss fallen the hands Of this priest who has then
vany tried 10 make him instrument 81 revenge The
,rSs is now rapidly precpltated Husband and wife
Are confronted. Father and daughter meet. The
yecLed learns history OF the past apprehends
be Of existing facts, and perceves that to
esclose himself 10 his daughter will be to blight her
present happiness and future welfare He determines
Oepres his affections bow to his destiny, and accept
Toe fun measure Of punishment for his slns. He
Yields fate, and dies brokenhearted in the presence
Of hs child The play dwells with much proxiy upon
Preliminary explanations, and fingers long upon the
sonber tints Of the gloomy closing picture. In the
snes betwxt Conra ROsalie and the daughter, every
aeAil sorrow afforded. Step by step the spec
stor approaches the catastrophe Of broken heart.
slyni-who acts every word that he speaks so that
hose who cannot his language neverthe-
10 ~ his