The New York herald., 1879-12-02
MIGNoN" AT BOOTHS THEATRE.
Ambroise Thomas work, "Mignon.

M. AMBROSE Thomas work, "Mgnon, so wei
known here in its Italian form. was produceo iAS'
evening at Booths Theatre by Mr.. dran's com
pany in French-that is to say. III the of,s
inal opera comique version of 1866, when i's
author had not yet scared into the armament
of grand opera. In the subsequent transfer u 'ne
work to the italian stage it naturally underwens
compression losing something of its dramatic SYM
metry yet leaving oil the strong points OF the story
As SO much has been said of the 'mutiiar
ton" it may be as well to recall tnat M.
Thomas superintended the operation and II ne LETT
less Of the airy Laertes he preserved all that was
vital The performance last night cannot be styled
a great success although it was enjoyable In
many portions and was frequently applauded.
There was q daring in the undertaking which would
have required little short of the miraculous to have
reached o triumph. 1t must not. however. be for
gotten to the credit> Of Mr.. Grau that
in NJ Capoul he had the creator Of the
role Of Wilhelm Meister. whose capital per-
formances here in Italian need scarcely to be re-
called. Furthermore he imported lady specially to
but outside of these two his plan was audacity
itself. That the little queen or at least
th o the
should quench the flaming fun in her eyes. and
droop their lids to the sorrows OF Goethes heroine.
should repress her skirts and lift her soul up to the
heights OF passion was risk. TO Paola-Marie then
be given all the more praise for what she
little Lucca's form aud recalled last night
that twice here she gave delightful bits OF
comedy, and there were moments when Paola-Marie
tho genius of bouffe recalled the passion of the Ger
dird. But both in acting and singing Mlle Mares
performance was unfinished. yet it was dramatic
in the particular and strong in the other
The music is easily within her compass. but 1t was
not nicely shaded. In 'Connais-tu lei paysY'
for instance, the delicate pathos which had
been sustained through the stanza suddenly
sacrificed to a note given with all her lung power
for the sake of emphasis. To be intense without
being loud is the first lesson for Mlle Marie In the
duo with Lothurio ''Legeres hirondeles" she did
better and called on to repeat tho number
In the "Styrienne" she was naturally at home
and received less for her grace than her
was good. In the third act would instance an
other case of exaggerated emphasis, the. 'Elle
aimee! il raime!" but she really strong In the
i'm predatory passage "Ah que Ia main de dieu."
Without further detail would say that Mlle
Nariae last night indicated capacity for dramatic
singing that may be yet trained into splendid execu
ton.
Mlie Leroux-Bouvard, the Philine made her first
appearance America and proved to have soprano
voice high range but wanting much in volume
almost equivalent carrying power-in the middle and
lower registers Even close to the stage these notes
sounded III uffied and weak, while she was sing
ing above the staff her tones were round
and full. Her highest notes when attacked
were loud but not clear. In bravura passages
she was heard at her best This will indicate that
isfying. The lady's stage presence was effective
but her acting was weak. She was undoubtedly
nervous and may. perhaps, be heard TO better ad-
vantage later.
Nj. Gapoul's 'Romanza" in the last act was loudly
redemanded. M. Jouard's Lothario was careful
performance. NJ. Juteau's Laertes was amusing.
The chorus was very poor in most Of its oppor-
tunties.