, 1877-11-18

THE OPERA SEASON.
The first week Of the opera scasan has closed
upon a lair business aud partial musical SUCCESS
Six operas have been giyen,-" The Hugucnots,' ~
"Flying Dutchman,'' 't Faust {: Lohcugrir' II
Ct Rober, IL Dablc,' and I. Fra Diayulo.', The
performance Of these have been sufficient to
thoroughly develop the capabilities OF the
troupe. Iu fact, any one Of these operas, cx-
cept Fra Diayolo," would test the capabilities
OF any troupe. 1t is perhaps the misfortune Of
this company that it is so constituted that it
cannot vary its performances with light operas,
its principal people being better adapted for the
serious aud heavy operas. The result has been
that Its repertoire, especially with change Of
Opera every evening, has severely taxed the re-
sources Of the troupe, aud Of necessity has cn-
tailed IN uuevcnness Of representation.
Some operas hare been done much
better than others. Some portions Of each
opera have been given better than the remain
der. For instance the success OF the .* Huguc-
nots laid in the duet Of the fourth act; of
Lohcngrin," in the quintctte Of the first act:
OF the "Flying Dntchtnan," in the duet of the
second act. These morceaux were superb In
conception and execution: while the remainder
Of each opera was weak. The troupe, as q
whole, is better than some which have bccn
here, and worse than some. It is not sucb
troupe as might be ideally organized, butt is per-
maps as strong troupe Us could be got togctll--
cr IRON disengaeed material, especially for the
performance Of such heavy work. Leaving out
Nine. Pappcnheim: Mr.. Adams, and Mr..
Fritsch, we tind only a low average Of talent.
Air. Blum Is conscientious, earnest and pains-
taxing, but not great artist. His dramatic
ability is mediocre, his vocal only good. Miss
Heumann Is but girl upon the stage,
and yet very promising. There is no reason why,
With her fresh and quite flexible voice,
and with stage experience and dramatic
study, she should not take prominent posi-
Iion on the lyric stage but she has not reached
It ret. The troupe is without an alto, for Miss
GrInmingcr is only mczzo-soprano, aud not
a very effective Que, SO that the important roles
lhc two basses, Wiegand and Ado1phe, have
very strong voices, aud can make u great deal
OF sound in filling out ensembles, but that is
az: Both their voices are hard and unmaunge-
trcssiusly ont of tune. As VIC have not lad !:
good operatlc chorus here in the last eight or
ten years, perhaps we ought not TO complain OF
The present chorus, which is. BETTER though
quite rs ancient, than many we have had. Ncy-
erthecss, it is lar from being wt1at it ought to
pc. The tenors and basscs evidently try very
hard to perform their duties, but too
frequently ,are out OF tune. while the So
pranos and altos are deficient in almost
every respect. It is and always will be
useless to expect much from operatic orc,les-
tras Until managers can afford to carry their |
own with them. What may be termed n |
scratch orchestra can never have sufficient re- |
ne ncaTsa t5 10 10 luStles to operas especially those
ncdlocrity, it is refreshing to turn to the three
exceptions We have named. Both Mme Pan
penheinl and Mr. Adams are excellent dramatic
artists. a '1hc 1ormer has never been heard here
I11f Tn1rtr &At
has made herself fayorite BIZ her great dra-
matte ability and fine singing, and Mr. Adams
!who, by the way, sang here eighteen years ago
IL IL Inc MESSIAH J, notwithstanding his evident
reservation OF voice where the emergencies Of
ns roles might strain it, is an ACCOMPLISHED art-
lst, WHO has been disciplined iu ap excellent
school. Mr FritscE also has shown himself to
1e ! an earnest, conscientious, and refined artist
ooth THESE singers arc deserving Of credit
1or the rare taste, Judgment, and intcIjl-
gehce which have characterized their impcrson-
atiof}s. taken as whole, the troupe cannot |
compare tcdl' 1aSoraoly with tue great German
] Jonannseu, Frederic, Dzinba, Canissa, Hcrmanns.
Habclmant', thinner, and Formcs were mem
ncrs, pnt as Herman troupes bare become rari- |
lles, and Italian troupes almost defunct, while
English tronpcs are still plenty and opera
ooufte troupes too much so, let us be thankful
[or operas in German dress, though it be spnn
plainly.
:, II, This y, week there will be change Of operas
. Dcr Frct6cLuetz,' Will be given this evening, |
= sTrovatore on Monday, ''Massanicllo'' On
Tuesday, and Fiaelio +" on Wednesday.
THE HAYDN SOCIETY CONCERT
The Haydn Musical Society gave its first con-
ert Of the season last Thursday evening at Nc
cormiek's Hail, the instrumental numbers be-
ng the overture to s'Thc Bohemian Gfrlu:
>oelling's "Sonnenblick, - violin solo; Havdn's
econd symphony in D; an overture BY
fercadantc on themes from Rosslni's
stabat Alater"; the march tempo from