The Portland daily press., 1875-03-03
Art Musie and the Drama.

William HINTS portrait OF General Dix, paint
al for Albany. represents him in the uniform
of major general, standing with his right
Eond unon table, and the left upon the hill. of
his sword. 1t is pronounced an excellent like
ness.
The Kolniscbe Zeitupg announces that on
March II, the first part of Wagner's "Wal-
kure" will be given at Cologne, under the d.
rection of the Wagner Verein, who are at pres
ent busily engaged in completing the necessary
preliminary arrangements.
Mr.. Lytton Sothern plays BERTHE Thompson
in Home,'' at the Haymarket, London, to his
fathers Alfred Dorrison.
Nearly all the Richmond (Va.) artists have
received orders from Philadelphia to paint por-
traits of one or more of the Virginia sgners OF
the Declaration of Independence, and are now
engaged in searching old libraries and ancient
homesteads throughout the Commonwealth tor
authentic prints of portraits of their subjects.
Mr.. L. Alma Tadema the distinguished Ed
glish artist, has just completed two important
works. The first is cleopatra meeting Mark
ANTONY" The picture is oval, and contains on
ly the life-size head and bust of the Egyptian
queen ia profile She lies, propped up with
robe of yellow silk, but neck, throat and arm
are bare. With the intense fire OF her eye, con-
strainipg herself to be calm, she follows the eye
of Mark Antony, whom she is supposed to have
lust fascinated. The other picture, ga Peep
through the Trees" is an English landscape in
July; a woman robed in long soft garment of
blue-gray, with pale brown drapery rolled I'M
der her head, lies on her back in beech-wOod,
gazing up between the holes of the trees to
catch glimpse of the sky between the leaves.
Annite Liable, twelve-year-old French girl
Kankakee, ILL.,, sings in English, French,
German, italian, and Spanish. Mile. Albari
has heard her, and recommends study in Eu-
rope: and the folks next door have echoed Al
bani's recommendation increasingly.
Mrs. Charles Calvert. who plays "Rumor"
in "Henry "" at Booths Theatre, is the sis
ter of Mrs. Thomas Barry, now leading lady
in the company of the Boston Theatre, but
formerly of Wallack's.
Tietiens, the great singer, has been seriously
ill, but by last advces was said to be recover
ing rapidly. 1t is said we are to have hearing
of this wonder of song.
In Boston, recently, one j. Rogers Rich has
fitted up rooms in imitation of the Hotel Gu
nv of Paris, and exhibits there great num-
Der of sculptures, apparently in bronze. which
are really plaster casts, made perfect likenesses
of bronze originals by means of a new French
process known, after the inventor, as the Met
allzaton Caussinus
Two brothers, one banker and one philos-
opher, lay down the basis OF the plot OF the
sBig Bonanza" produced at Days Theatre
The philosopher argues that money makes
money and that the bankers brains have moth
ing to do with his success. The banker re-
torts by giving the philosopher $4,000 and in
viting him to speculate and make his fortune.
The incidents of this race between brains and
money are said to be irresistlbly comical The
philosopher transformed into bull and then
into a bear, grows gray in his struggles with
the clever spectators OF Wall street. His
family, imagining him rich, complicate his
troubles by extravagant expenditures. OF
curse there are several young people in love,
who enlist the sympathies of the laughing au-
dience.
Tttian's "Dan@" has been sold to the Empe
Tor of Russia for $4,000. The last owner was
Prince Buoncompagni, Of Boulogne, for one of
whose ancestors it was painted.
Norton is soon to delight us with marine
showing a noble ship passing through cy-
clone, full of power and sympathy. He has an
October sunset sea-view, with an incoming YES
sci finely contrasted. He is also working up
some of his English-coast sketches.
'.Lohengrin' is to be performed at the Gin
cinnati musical festival in May, from score
prepared under the personal supervision of
Theodore Thomas, the director; with Miss Ca
ry and Whitney engaged as two of the soloists.
Lansil is working ON marine wherein sky
and sea unite in an almost indistinguishable
line, soft, mellow and warm, in which he will
place one of his favorite craft.
Writing of the performance of "The Tails
man. by the Kellogg Company, the critic of
Appletons Journal sums up the beauties of
the opera in these general terms: "A narrative
of sustained and picturesque interest, though
in no case intensely dramatic; remarkable fit
ness of verbal and musical phrase; graceful and
fluent melody, sometimes colorod by memories.
which always pleases, though rarely conducive
to enthusiasm; superb concerted and orches-
trail effects; and, lastly, fine spectacular dis
play. In spite of the lack of anything like
great strength, and the not infrequent careless
ness of workmanship, the above-named quail
ties will not fail to give the opera an important
rank in the operate repertory."
The Tribune has this to say of the beautiful
Mrs. Rousby:
SIT is not usually safe to indulge in generali-
cations based on considerations of ethnology
but we may say for once that Mrs. Rousby is
pre-emnently and exclusively English in all
her exquisite qualities and in all her defects.
For this reason alone, if for no other, the part
of the young English princess, surrounded by
characters as British as the constitution, is
far better adapted to her capacity than that of
the Partisan courtesan immortalized by Dumas
and Verdi La Traviata]. All that there is of
winning and delicate in the person and tenn
permanent Of such an actress as Mrs. Rousby
removes her SO much from the proper Tor
rather Improperly personation of a heroine who
could not exist except ia a state of things
which is as yet unknown to societies of the
Anglo-Saxon race. We do not mean to say
that London or New York are more moral
than Paris. But it canrot be denied that vice
is coarser and more repulsive in the former
towns, and is thus far, at least, much less
mixed up with sentiment and literary hys-
teria''
Patti and Capoul recently sang together in
st. Petersburg for the first time, Capoul was
in fine voice and looked more like an Ameri.
can barber than ever.
Offenbach's daughter was lately married in
Paris, and her fond papa composed mass to
be sung in the church on the wedding day.
The priest refused to allow Its performance on
the ground that she didn't want any comedy
in his church, whereupon NJ. Offenbach
threatened to incorporate the mass in a fam
dango medley and have it sung in an opera
bouffe. The trouble was finally smoothed over.
Thomas Moran's painting of the Mountain
of the Holy Cross, in Colorado, will be finished
in week or so. We are told that the cross is
not $50 prominent as to appear obtrusve," and
that the rest of the picture is painted sat least
as we'll" as the Falls of the Yellowstone and
the Grand Chasm of the Colorado, which
Congress has paid $4,000 apiece for. This is
queer praise-if it is meant for that.
News and Other Items.