New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-02-09
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
SALVINI AS KING LEAR.

The renowned Italian tragedian appeared in the
Brooklyn Academy of Music last night in the char
acter of King Lear, and his performance was greeted
with reclamation by o numerous and sympathetic
audience. 1t remarkable manifestation OF
physical resources and of professional skill, ana as
such could not fail to the response of popu-
Jar admiration. The lofty stature, the ample anu
resonant voice, the copious animal excitement, the
fluent elocutiOn and the vigorous, picturesque anu
ofton meodTamatic movements, gestures anu posoo
of Signor SavIni unite to animate ana eih"el'!Sn
q personality such as naturally ahsoros d''o"'ioii
and difiuses excitement In whatever he presents
himself tins actO, must nece 'sarily make uS'i0'
and profound impression. lie is n remarkable man.
It does not follow however that his dramatic Ell
forts are invariably either truthful or admiraoie'
Every man. no matter what his pursuit may nap
men IN he works with certain specific ana POSITIVE
limit mental and physical! no ac-
Tor can he equal to every kind of character Slgnor
Salyni when he acted Hamlet, was unspliltual,
md even WOO en, giving no effect TO the haunted
tone OF that character or 10 its weird surroundings
Again, when he acted Macbeth he was unimaC gina
tive obscure, burly and common, and therefore
manifesty inadequate to the task. The
only; Sbakeasperian part that he has
exceled in is Othelo. and even here his Ideal dis
plays neither the magnanimty nor the sublime
tenderness that are enwrapt in Shakespearcs
ception The chief attributes of the Moor that he
interprets are physical and the Hottest heights that
he reaches are terror aud distracted grief; but he
works with a pictorial method and magnetic
vgOr that enthral and dazzle tho feelings even
while they do not always command the Judgment.
His performance of King Lear gave new evidence
of his peculiar limitations. During the first two
nets he made the King merely restless, choerlc
and dsa Ireeahe old man, deficient in dignity. des-
L.. a1lx- atit fa Of in
hercnt personal fascination--of suggestiveness of
ever having BEEN a really great man. Lear Is ruin
but he has been a Titan the delight of all hearts
no less than tie monarch Of all minds. The GctOr
who ,es not invest him with this inherent, interior
and overwhelming personal fascination dos not
attain to his altitude The cruel incidents that oc-
cur IN the tragedy do nos of themselves signify,
and the pity is only that they should occur
to him. There is the spring of all the
pathos. In Salvinls Lear there were beautiful
moments and magnificent bits of action. IL gave
YOU ALL and I'm cold myself" might be
mentioned as exquisite points. He missed
al 0g ther however the more subtle significance OF
the reminiscent reference to Corde'ia-as i'll I" No
more OF tIat--I have noted it well and he gave
no intima ion, at the start, of the impending mad
ness. In fact he introduced no element of lunacy
at all till he reached the lines about "red-ho'
spite" in Edga,'s first ma scene. This however,
he touched with wond riul power and beauty. The
mad scenes are his bes efforts in the character-as
was the case when he acted RiHG SAUL
Much of his mechanism III Lear will no doubt
undergo great changes. He puts the King be lad
n table. now, ia the first scene-vhch has the effect
OF the Lyceum lecture; and il pleaseS him 10 speak
the storm speech away back at the sixth entrance
with his body almost wholly concealed behind
painted crags. A wiser treatment of detail may OF
course be anticipated; perhaps also higher ideal
AS the work now stands, with all lis moments OF
power and of tend erness 1t Is not royal 1t is not
lovable, it Is not great. II may b. a good Italian
Lear but is not the Lear of Shake .peare. Savlni
was particularly out of the character in the curse
scene and in the frantic parting from the two
daughters because here the quality Of the
man behind the action seemed especially Com
mon. The ion, though, was theatrical
and had its due effect Most of the actors
VINO surrounded TINS Lear last night would have
driven anybody mad they wel-nigh did as much
for the audience. 1t is sacli eye 10 give such
play with such persons. he TOOL, i'll particular,
was bal full. This Is the cast: