Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-03-02

As Viewed by q KnaxviIlian Who
Took 1t In.


noticed and complimented in the daily
prints. There are no criliclsms. They
would not be Ia order, aud by the peo-
pie of this city would be considered in
very bad t,ste and quasi acknowl-
edgment that the festival opera
was not the grandest and most
perfect opera ever seen or 1T emIt-
ed in this country. Every thing
is praise, and it il very swee to The in
habitants of the queen city of the
west, because it is self praise. Well,
it is grand. There is no question about
it and its very hard to hold them to
str ct Or impartial judgment Oh this
subject OF their own enterprise. The
crowds are perfectly enormous. The
grand music hall seats. should guess,
at least 5000 or 5000 people, and last
night It Was packed from footlights to
dome. Every seat seemed To be taken,
and very many people were standing
up, many If them ladies. I am 10
formed that the crowd of last night
was not so large as on Monday
aud Tuesday night. TIE spectacle Of
SO large number of auditors and SO
magnificent chorus and orchestra is
very thrilling. the perfect sea of C lor
and life, as one looks down upon it
fir m thu dress circle, as I did las
night, has an inspiring, swelling effect
upon tue heart aud imaginst on. Doe
feels like the wagner who discovered
his whole load of apples, after ascend
ing long and tedious hill. scattered
promiscu0usiy along the hillside. The
thought so filled him with emotion
that he Just COULDN'T do the subject
Justice" II il hard to say what
the effect produced by tn" sight ana
observance of such an audience is.
We know it is thrilling. Why, it is
d fficult to say. Life, instinct with
pleasure and excitement, surround,
by magnificent music, grand archi-
lecture, and contagious feeling, is GER
t,inly exquisitely iuteresting. So it
looked last night. By As the eDt re
audience was ready and expectant, and
at about that hour the mutterings OF
chaos musically rendered) began to
be heard. The opening scene in the
opera of Mephist Jfele is an attemp
to convey, by musical sounds and ap-
propriate scenery, the dOipgs and
appearance of heaven-"in toe be.
gIuniug." The scenic effect was
'grand, gloomy and peculiar but very
impressive. No sooner had tae cur
tain been rolled back than there was g
murmur of applause, ts-t flying an ap-
probation of the scenery. All the
scenery. except the curtain. is very
fine, and does great credit 10 the artist
producing it. The drop curtain. l au
| sorry to say, in my opinion, is very in
feriOr. It Is rather tame representa-
ton of grand stairway in some feu'
| dal castle. The perspective is very
| good. but the figures are stiff, uDgrace
Iui and out of all proportion for ordi'
nary human beings. They would d,
v-ry well as representations of Captain
B and wife.
The opera last night was heavy, and
evidently proposed 10 make al ever
lasting impression by being eveIl .st
| ingly long IL was very n-arly, if n,'
quite, IL O'Clock before the curtain fei
on the lat seem. This is too much o
q good thing, even of a grand IestIva
| opera. The announcement on the pro
gram mes that Carriages may be or.
uered at 10 As" is delusion and
snare, aud gross inhumanity Il
| hackmen these cold nights. Thes'
faithful and modest (?) servants of tt.
people, and imposters upon the Yer
dancy of the country cousin who viz
its the cry invariably when rate
are low, ought to See 10 it that the,
should be allowed to be as comfortab
as possible while seeking whom the,
may devour.
The solo singers last night were
Campanini, tenor; Novara, base; Val
leria, soprano, and Cary, contraIt'.
l am no musical critic. aud there
| fore b ave no criticisms to L ffsr on tn Ell
singing. 1 can tell you. however, how
| their singing affected me. MISS Cary
lad very little to do, and, excepting il
one Duet and one quartetts. her voic
was not heard. So far as she Wa
heard her voice was sweet, full, pur,
and round. Valleria sang very beau
tlfully and perfectly, but one of IN
cultivated ear had t. be Satisfied wit.
the sweetness of the voice; there wa
none In the music generally. Their
were one or two exceptions. Cam
p1nini's is voice Of great power ant
smoothness, and he sings without any
apparent ef',rt or firing. reaching tn
| vi IO~CL hOttS VI LIS ISRlSlS
with equal ease and putty. [ must cay
however, that Novara made a deepe
impression on me than any of them
He has the richest and mo melodiou
| bass voice [ ever heard, and il
deciamatory parts it is wonderfully,
pow erful and distinct. II sound
more like the unfathonable depths o
an organ pipe than hu
man He wQa fhn moi
and life OF the play. and i
MS par was taken by an inferior ar
list, I've no wonder that this opera
was missed at the La Scala at dian
Ii is entirely too heavy As il is. Their,
ls one thing which seems to be "bred
| in the bone" with opera singers that
! should like to see eradicated-thls
| eternal and senseless ltltudlniZing;
these positions, la boxing-master
this constant stalking with a wide
It ge stride; this throwing back over
the shoulders the inevitable Italian
cloak, 50 as to expose the eatin lining;
Chis clasping Of hands and shifting oil
the breast, and, when high nots il
struck, this wild, huzza gesture, as
if man were going 10 give three
cheers for Hancock, is simply absurd,
such scenes In the ordinary drama,
and yet. no mat er VIA. the opera is
about, no matter what the sentiment,
We invariably see these regulation at i
tudes and gesticula.ions. Reform is
Democratic phrase. There are enough
IF natural obstacles In the way OF rep
esenting a play in music without al,
. @sSa -