New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-06
Music AND THE DRAMA.
S1cN1op Rossps PERFORMANCES.


his trained talents in wildly picturesque style 30
90 IN Clint much Italian enthusiasm. His Otheo is
a carnal frrocious and prosaic performance anu III
@bis STRAIN a highly effective one Ills romeo may
have been admirable at earlier period OIL hiS me-
INT at nresept the same objection holds against "
that held AGAINST Mr. Tupmans assumption VI tho
oreen velvet Jacket with the two-lncD tall. iou
ors ton old sir" said Mr.. Pickwlck' ana 100 ia''
A robust and elderly gentleman may oe %
earnest in his love: but the spectacIe ne presents
- rrder the influence of that amiable passion
90, never be edfying. There comes time when
+bose invenile characters ought to be lald aslue
The public cannot go on forever adinHlhg IN acti
;; RI ontumnal maturity for what he used TO be in
his youth. With the character OF Hd@tef Slshior
Rossi on the Italian stage has long been identified;
and. since Hamlet is a man prcmatureiy ola at
thirty detected grief stricken and gloomy the actor
Is better fitted than in Romeo to fulfil the conditions
of the part Yet here his success is little more
than that OF singularity and or PROFESSIONAL
routine.
There is warrant in the text for making HGmfd
fat the Queen his mother employs TINS luen'ic"l
word 10 describe HIM; and she ADDS an lhtiha'!oh
that he is short in the wind-a pecuilarlly witch
nrotracted vigilance has thus far failed 10 detect III
anv of his representatives Yet somehow, STOUT
Prince of Denmark is less poetic and charming thaha
lean one-probablv because certain suggeStWeheSS
of good feeding gets mixed up with that other sug-
gestiveness of spiritualized thought ana haunted
;ntrospecIion which is the fragrance of this ex-
allied character Most persons, inly-whateVer
NAV be the reason-prefer their Melancholy Dane
without snpera bundance of adiposc tissue. Sgnior
Rossi. like the late Mr.. Fechter presents him IN
state of bulk that is almost rubicund; and, also
like the late Mr.. Fechter, he invests him with
prodipiOus impetuosty of temperament, such as
mnst have terminated the dynasty Of uncle CtdnauS
in considerably less time than it takes to read the
play, Aside. from these qualiiicaions--whlch mean
that he neither looks like Hamlet nor assumes the
shirt of Hamlet-SigniOr ROssi gives, under this
name piece of melodramatic acting which is re-
markably brilliant, and which. TO an audience OF
Italians must be at least useuty suggestive OF the
great and wonderful original OF Shakespeare
The student of dramatic performance, who
wishes to form a round Judgment OF the actor De-
hind the work, will of course, observe two things
first what it is that the actor does and, secondly
the manner i'll which he does it. The character OF
Hamlet as it stands in the English language, is an
ideal of mournful beauty type of perfect noble
ne IS in man, and OF supreme eXaltatlon III state,
but bliehted by alf1ictIon and grief, dazed and
partly demented by the strong and terrible shock
of a supernatural visitation and overwhelmed by
the stern pressure of fearful duty-to which not
only distressing experience but innate ncertltude
and purr oseless tful. bewIldered. agonized spirit
render the faculties inadequate. Such personality
is easily imagined, but it is not easily embodied
Good Hamlets, if it were would be as thick on the
stage as bananas on the stem and, happily, there
would be no further call for the discussion OF a
tiresome subject But the problem for the actor Is
here unspeakably difficult. lie must conquer not
by deed but by condition: not by what he does, but
by what he is. The Hamlet sprit-the introspec-
tive broodng. infinitely detected pathetic spirit
of a great mind overwhelmed by the mystery OF the
universe and by the strange forlorn state OF man.
and contemplative of suicide before yet anything
has occurred that is at all unusual in human expert
ence-musi shine through him, to dominate and
enthrall That being present, the rest is natural
sentence That being absent, the rest is mere soul
less mechanics. The observer of SignIor RosSis
Hamlet sees in the thing that is done. not man of
dreams and visions, but q man of resoute VIII ana
spirited activity This may be an excellent Italian
ideal, but it is not English. and it is not Shake
speare nor is the essential faseness of the ideal
redeemed for an English speaking audience, by
Siguior RossPs ncontestably brilliant display of
technical proficiency.
1t is not without significance that retrospect OF
this performance should invOuntarly itself
more with the execution than the substance.
Sgnior Rossi apart from all question of true Shake
spearoan conception. is very eloquent and very
expressive actor. On hearing OF the apparltlon
his Haale was almost much affected as on see
ing it-missing to be sure. the subtlety of Saw
who 2" which is calm wonder but making :hcatri-
cal effect On seeing the ghost lie fell backward
with a wild cry like that of the startled sca-bird
and although the only subsequent remark made by
the lime-ghted spectre that seemed TO affect him
was the command not to assail his mother his
demeanor toward that visitant steadily repete
with fearful reverence; and the act abruptly and
improperly closed with the oath business-so rs 10
make picture. In act second it was quite impos
sible TO tell whether the actors intention was TO
depict the madness real or assumed; but either |
way it was depicted with fidelity to truth, and |
with much beauty Of detail, throughout the colo
quies with the two courtiers and PoiORius. Signor
RossPs management of mis- eyes is here notably fine
and the misery underlying an air Of grotesque mys-
terry and sardonic humor had an effect OF rare /
pathos. The application of Look ii he have not |
changed color" to Hamlet instead Of t. the Player
in this scene, though entirely uDjusiiiable and |
wrong aided in making up still another stagepOint
for the Prince-in one of those quick transitions !
which foreign actors practice and which surprise |
often mistakes for genius. :" The plays the thing" |
being wrongly but powerfully spoken with the |
violence of an Italian bravo, gave still another !
electric shock. The suicide speech said with |
perfect elocutlon and Signlor ROssi was more like
Hamlet in the saying of it than at any other moment
in the entire performance.
The drift of the ensuing scene with Ophelio was
confused, as to the element OF madness, by having
Polonias momentarily discovered in the middle of |
it, instead of showing him at the beginning
Either the paroxysm is real. and is brought on by
Opbes repuse, or it is assumed, out OF a conscious
ness OF the treacherous ambuscade. 1t cannot be |
both at once. The telling quality here the de-
spairing tenderness toward Opheiia. In the play |
scene Hamlet was very full of theatrical antics;
offensive to PolOHias insolent to the King turbu-
lent to Ophela; o5streperous; manifestly to all