The New York herald., 1879-11-01
ADJUSTMENTS.
ACADEMY OF Mus1c-"LucIA.


Rain o ndo - slunnr Mnnti
Normanho .Signor urazzi
1t not until the "standees" had occupied
many of the reserved places. after the first act of
the opera last evening" that the parquet the Acad
emy much more than half full the alb
sence of larger audience being due prob
ably to the fact that the change of opera neces-
STATED in brooklyn yesterday, and the threatened
trouble with the orchestra to-day. affected the sale
of seats during the afternoon. The opera am
nounced and the cast selected for "Luca certainly
had nothing to do with the lessening of the
audience the music is popular. Valleria and
Calassi are favorites and Aramburo is sure of
heavy representation from the Spanish and Cuban
residents of the city. Whatever the fears or
anticipations may have been. Signor Arditi
raised his baton the orchestra promptly
at eight o'clock, and few minutes later-with
commendable promptitude-the opera was begun.
1t was sung throughout in u creditable style.
and was acceptable to the entire audience and
most satisfactory to nearly all present Regarded
from the popular standpoint it effective and
enjoyable; to the musical critics present there was
but little lacking in the performance to mar the
ensemble. The well known melodies wero heartily
applauded. and the famous sestetto in the second
act was redemanded with most enthusiastic demon
strations.
Mile. valleria made an excellent impression as
Lucia established herself decidedly the
good opinion of her audience. She has steadily
proved each appearance, and while fault noticed
at first may still intrude itself observation. her
better qualities Of voice are becoming manifest
and the errors in method less frequently ap-
parent. The patural sweetness OF her tones
pleasing to the and her stage presence is pre-
possessing While still fails to be actually brill.
liant in vocalzation, she constantly effects
impression Of general excellence in all she does that
she is fast becoming greater favorte than her
actual merits technical singer warrant but
not greater than her natural talents of voice and
a
charming. but the attentive listener she still occa
sionally ofends in uttering false tone or by con-
cludinQ o phrase careessly.
Signer Aramburo is unsuited sor such part as
Edgardo; he is q tenore rotusto while the
am0r0sO Signor Aramburo's force and power
and strength Of the upper register can be utilized
Lucia he lacks sympathetic quality of tone that is
indispensable. and the absence OF sweet, clear tenor
ssts ring Of Which, the score capable IS
serious drawback. The noticeable lack Of sweetness
in his singing is not alone due to his vocal tone:
the imp resson is in part produced by the distinct
aud hard pronunciation Of his vowels, which is an
exaggeration OF the "tim6re clair" This is most
| apparent when he is called Oh to sustain note
| on ''Ah." which he pronounces so badly
and with such hardness OF accent that all sweet
| ness dies out of the accompanying note. He is
! careless of time occasionally. and in concerted
| music this lessons. to say the least. the musi-
| down radical and serious faults. and it may
| seem strange that tenor possessing such demer-
its could produce pleasant impressions. But
has power and ease in emitting the notes above the
staff that produce great effect. and the nat that
he sang last night drought down the house" on its
delivery One never fears for the delivery OF his
notes; there is healthy robustness about all he
manly and prepcssessing. II he lacks sweetness he
does not lack power and in parts suited to his voice
| he has given grand results.
or aassi there is little to say but repetition of
| what has already been written of him-that he is
always reliable. painstakng and artistic, finished
Tue "Cruda funesta smania" in act first was given
with both force and spirit In the scena and cav
atina Mile. valleria was heard to great advantage
singing the "Regnava mel silenzio" remark
ably well. The fortures which she added
ticulariy well executed. the descending being
better, however, than the ascending scales. The
concluding cadenza Of the andante little weak.
but the result of the whole a thorough
and abundant applause The duo in act second
sung. In the andante, '.soffri va mel pianto,;'
| the diminuendos were very beautiful and the music
was given most delicate treatment by Mile;
have received a more plaintive and melancholy
shading. The famous ''sestetto" was the hit OF
| it, with loud bravos. The first part of it
was little msrred by signor Aramburo failing to
| mirable throughout. Under the encore a better
| rendering given. all the voices blending ad-
the "Aialedetto sia l'instante." Though it was a
tre deficient in depth Of passion 1t was given with
great power, and the following srefd was well done.
The duo opening the third act cut as is some
| times the case in giving Lucia. and Mile Vale
ria's test approached III the grand scend. AS
piece of acting 1t good-not great-but the COM
binaton of good acting and sweet quality of voice
held the attention of the house we'll Those who
pected a triumph were disappointed; those who felt
| sure she would do well were pleasantly surprised.
| The "Alfin tua was not quite satisfactory. be
cause she hatted twice. though the general
| phrasing was correct and excellent; the 'Spargi
| damoro pianto" was thoroughly good. In the
| recitative of the final Signor Aramburo did
capital work in phrasing the passages immedi-
| ately preceding ERA POGO me ricovero. In the
| last named he fatted trihe the sharp. but
the Anal passage given with an effect that
| brought out most hearty round of applause.
| There were grand notes in his 'Tu che pio,"
and he made nearer approach to genuine sweetness
tone. the of the mcsso roce than he has yet
| accomplished. The finale was all well and carefully
| DONE and concluded performance of Lucia that
| was far above average.
The orchestra generally excellent, though
rather loud at times-once, in act first, quite
! powering Mlle Valleria The members may be for
given however they were perhaps anxious TO give
| an extra allowance of music to Colonel Mapleson,
| now that their troubles settled-as 1t
rumored at the Academy last evening-at least for
the present. The chorus work was very well done
| and quite feature Of the evening.
PARK THEATRR-THE FAREWELL BENEFIT OF