The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1876-04-27
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s9tGE FU
pidity Of the white man H. ytembodied
in Cortes completed the work sofi the
savages.
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Our friends ,at Ii scala were highly
jealous Of thettriumph at the rival
house they went with ho:. haste to
Bellini and o40T6d f6inkA 90 ,OOEcducats,
with Pasta and Grisi-a name yet I'M
known-for Interpreting IL he would
renew his allegiance to their banner.
ss'!.@ te, aa Ssaat 1 tslt1asl Haf
was the habilue of the groom.room at
La Scala in tho5e days 'FheresWas to
be met the regal Pasta, of whom Talma
had said .ip her, youth; II This child
has found what have, sought in vain
for twenty years-in the;full plentitude
of her powers, There ALSO was Giu-
lietta Grisi, nealehie IN Chat perfect
grace and beauty of face and form
which were destined to become indeli-
bly, as1oci6tedsHithls hlsfhossScredw wreath
and crescent of the Druidic priestess,
now borne by the elder artist who broke
into cries Of generous admiration as
she discerned the budding talents of
her youthful rival. ''Tu .irus loin
Tu prendras ma place! Tu seras Pasta!
exclaimed the Siddons of Song, with
all unselfsh enthusiasm of true genius.
In the last rehearsal Pasta kept up q
running commentary in her droll
Franco-ltalian lpatoes on Giulietta's 3
impersonatlon of Adalgisa. "Benis-
sima bene tres sbien-pas. NAL, la
piccola," " said she, addressing herself
to the maestro. t'How-I should love
to play Norma! Cried Giulietta.
Wait twenty years and we shall see. -
replied Bellini. 81. ~ will play Norma in
spite of you, and in less than twenty
years." answered the petulant sixteen
.year-old beauty. Bellini said, incredu-
lously, "a POGO, q poco;' but hardly
two years after, Giulietta,) true to- her
word, took possession Of the role, and,
as we have said, so5strongly identified
it with her personality that even. now
that she has passed away, and many
other and some distinguished artists
have assayed it., the mere mention of
the part calls to mind her name; and
the fame Grisi. in s'NOrma" has be-
come almost legend which gray-hair-
ed operargoers still fondly rehearse
whenever. the younger generations
praise ssome xfaXorite of the day in
their hearing. ~. Wonderful to relate,
the first performance of 'Norma' felt
fiat. Hereris what poor Bellini. wrote
to an old fellow student of his at the
Conservatorie Of Naples:
.~': - MILAN, Dec. 20, 1881
VERY DEAR FLoR1xo: write to you
in grief, bitter grief, which I i cannot
find words to express, but which you,
and you alone, will be able to under
stand. have just come home from
the Scala, First performance of ''Nor.
ma" Will you believe it! fiasco! fias.
co! solemn fiasco! To say the truth,
the public was severe; it seems pos
itively to have come with the express
purpose of Judging and condemning
me; and precipitatively-at least, so
l think-it has consigned my poor
Norma to the doom of the Druidess
herself. IcOuld no longer recognize
those dear Milanese who received en-
Enthusiastically, and with joyful faces
and warm. hearts, I'll Pirata,'' ''La
Straniera," and La Sonambula, and
yet I thought had given these works
worthy sister in ''Norma!" Unhap.
lily it has not been so. Twas deceived;
I have committed blunder; my fore.
cast has proved false, and my hopes
illusionary. Well. in spite of it all, if
perchance I am not led astray by pas
sion, the introduction, the sortie, Nor
mas cavalina, the duet of the two wo-
men, with the trio that follows, and
then the other duet of the women, and
the whole of. the second act, which be.
gins with tho war. hymn, are peices Of
music Of askind which pleases me 80
| we'll (mod destly) that confess I shall
be glad IS through my artistic career I
am able To scompo tho like IT, Bas-
ia! /! of4heatrical works the public
is Judge9apreme. Nevertheless, Ire
[lyson appealing against its sentence
in thiSper ttcl1ar:: Instance; and II ct
last it owns 1t was wrong, u shall have
won mySsuit, and, I.shall proclaim
"NornAn, tosbe my best opera. 1fnot;
must resign myself to- my sad fate ;
and by4way of consolation I shall: say
Did 1.-THE Romans hiss the ".Olympi.
ade'' oftthe divine -Pergolese |! leave
! by the mail, and I hope to reach Ma.
pies ere this. is in your hands. But
one orsthe other---either / or the let.
ter-will ,makesyou aware Of the mel
zancholy fste Of: .'Norma'' Kissed
Don't WokIy yourself too much about it
my good Florimo; I am young, and ]
feel within me the power to revenge
this terrible disaster. Read this letter
to all our friends; like the truth to
be known in bad as we'll as good for.
tune. Farewell; we shall soon, meet.
Till then take a kiss from your affec.
tionate -, BELL1xr
Norma was always Bellini' s favor.
ite among his own compositions. Once,
when asked which of his works he
would save first if they were imperil
ed by shipwreck, he answered with
out hesitation, "Ah !! my dear sNor
maj" No wonder, therefore, 9, that
we should hear of his we0ninp bitter