The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-10-24
The Fer,ui opera Season.

The Farim Chamber Opera and Con
cert Company made their first appear
ance before a Honolulu audience at the
Music Hall last evening. The attendance |
was large, although there were many /
seats vacant, but for first night of a /
new and untried company it was as good /
as might reasonably be expected in this /
city. In fact, the season tickets We're !
almost exclusively represented last night, |
the sales Of individual tickets not having |
been very numerous, partly because of |
the hesitancy which many people feel |
about patrOnizing a new entertainment !
before a popular verdict has been
passed upon it. For this reason, we an
ticipate very much fuller and more en-
thusiastic houses during the balance of
the season than the one which greeted
this really talented company OF artists
on their opening night. They passed the
crucial test OF a crtiCa musical audience
/ successfully, and the general judgment is
highly favorable TO them. OF course
there were degrees of excellence, taking
! the performance OF the artists individu-
ally, but speaking generally the result
more than redeemed the pledge which
SignOr Farini made to the subscribers to
the guarantee fund. His Majesty the
King occupied the royal box during the
performance, and his hearty applause
manifested his appreciation OF it. n
beautiful and artistically worked silken
banner, presented to the King by Signor
Farini, was prominently displayed on the
front of the royal box, and attracted con
siderable attention. The house presented
gay and attractive scene from the
beauty and variety OF the ladies' COS
tunes and gentlemen III full dress.
The performance was divided into two
parts. The first part consisted OF CON
cert of six numbers The first number
was quartette from Verdis opera of
''Rigoletto," and was admirably rem
dered by Mile VI. Fora and Hopf, and
Mr.. G.. Thrower and Signor Farini. The
house showed unmistakable sympathy
with the artists, judging from the APP
plause which followed. Miss Helen
Avery next sang Tosti's Goodbye"
This young lady besides having grace
full presence, possesses a very pleasing
soprano voice. Her singing was character
lied by delicate refinement, sweetness
marred by the piano accompaniment,
which was too loud Indeed, other mem
bers of the company suffered somewhat
from the same cause during the evening,
and we would suggest that i'll future the
lid of the piano be kept closed, to lessen
the sound. 1t was removed altogether
last evening.
Signor Farini executed fantasia from
"Faust'' on the piano of his own arrange
ment The execution was brilliant, and
the SignOr was recalled and bowed his
= acknowledgements to the audience The
next number was an aria, "Postillion de
Lonjumeaun, by Adams, magnificently
sung by Mr.. c.. Thrower. This was I'M
questionably the gem of the evening, anC
VICE; airG G5mbeifed fm TO r;esdbond b
:, singing another verse. Mr.. Thrower un
! doubtedly maintained the high reputa
ton he has earned with Madame Fabr
:, as the finest tenor on the Pacific Coast
' and it is not too much to say that Ma
: pleson himself might be proud to have
. such tenor in his company. This aria
. has never been successfully attempted
: by any other singer except the great Ger
p man tenor, Wachtel.
Mile. Emma Hopf sang Penelope
from Max Bruch's Odyssey, - and was APP
: plauded at the close. She is a very
a clever artist, having pure contralto Of
= good range and well voiced. The quality
e is good and tone full. The last number
\ of the concert was a piano solo, 'Marche
t Hongroise," by Kowalsky, played by
= Mr.. \. Marchand with brilliancy and
| dash of execution which was very en-
joyable. Mr.. Marchand was pupil OF
the famous Parisian pianist Mons. De-
lamport.
The second part consisted of the garden
and duel scene from the first act of Ell
TrOvatore," and the entire last act OF
this great opera. The costumes were fine,
: and the stage settings effective As
''LeOnOra,' Mile. Fora was heard to great
advantage. Her voice is high soprano
of brilliant power and large compass.
Her notes in altissimo are clear and
musical. Her worldwide reputation as
a dramatic prima donna was fully sus-
tanned, her acting throughout being of
high order Miss Avery as 'Inez" had
little to do, but created a good impress
sion. Miss Emma Hopf as ''Azucena''
rendered the part with much feeling and
dramatic effect. As ''Manrico'' Mr..
Thrower sustained the favorable inn
preston created by his concert
singing, and evidently gained on
the audience. He is an admirable actor
as well as a singer. Mr. w Morse as
Ruiz" had minor part in the piece
Signor Farini took the part of Count di
Luna, in which he has earned great
reputation for himself in Europe and
America; but it was evident that he was
suffering from a severe cold although his
finished acting carried himself success
fully through. The trio at the close of
the last act was Il magnificent piece of
vocalization, and the curtain fell to