Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-12-09
AMUSEMENTs

A large audience greeted the Mcneil
Club last evening at the Metropolitan The.
aser, when the opera of mariana" was
sung. The lateness of the hour when the
performance concluded p,ecludes any ex-
tended analysis of the manner in which
the opera was presented or the respective
merits and dement's of the singers in all
leading parts. 1t must suffice to saw that
Mrs Dr. Bcune in the title role sang the
score with creditable precision and grea.
sweetness, but with some timidiiy until
the last act was reached, when, having
gained confidence, her sympathetic and
llmpld soprano was heard in its full
strength aud with the feeling essential TO
the part. She Was deserveily and warmly
encored. Mr.. kinros<as Don Jose proved
that he has not forgotten the art with
which be assumed the same role in proie5-
slonal walks. His tine solo in the second
act won hearty encore. Mr.. Wilkie was
good Don Cesar and Was in excellent voice
and Miss ThuIston, though at loss what
TO do with her hands, acted the part of
Lszarillo creditably. sang with surprising
sweetness and feeling, ana was awarded a
warm encore in the second act The other
characters were taken acceptably, and the
chorus was even, strong and uniformly
good, and certainly mora precise and in
better drill than there Yves reason to ex-
pect. The handling of grand opera by
an amateur singing club is an ambitious
and heavy task; that the ladies and gen.
tlemen in the opera last night succeeded as
well as they did YVES in excess O. anticipa-
ton. Amateur entertainment Of this
order at least, must not be Judged
by comparison with trained and profess
sional troupes, but by a standard OF wholly
different level. With all the long act waits,
few stage waits land which sometimes
occor with professionally and the natural
timidi'y of the non professional taken into
account the performance last evening was
meritorious. 1t is, of course, very difficult
for old opera gosrs to place themselves in
an attitude OF Judgment that will remove
memories OF the opera as produced by pro-
fessionsl troupes, and hence comparison
will intrude itself. Impartial judgment,
however, we think will find cause for pridein
local ability to sing Mariana" so smooth
ly as II was sung by the McNeill Club.
The curtain rose late last night and the
waits were veiy much too long between
acts, all which tried the audience and un.
mistakably delayed it. The management
WILL certslaly avoid these errors tonight,
and thus conserve the good will of the
audience. The theater should be warmed
also. Whether it is the duty of the lessee
OF the house, who gets his price, or of the
rentees-that being the issue-the furnaces
should be fired uD this evening, and we are
assured that they will be. The orchestra
last evening came in for a full share
of credit; it YVES strong and played
with precision, if we except some little
wavering in some of the tinales. G. A
Neale was the musical conductor of the
evening and welded the baton with skill.
An amusing episode Of the evening was
the special favor shown Mr.. Phinney.
Thirty freads showered him with as many
bouquets in the second get, to the great
amusement of the audience, though he had
but solitary measure to sing. Probably
the long wait that followed the act was
occasioned by the labor involved in SHOW
cling the flowers from the stage. The
opera will be given again tonight for the
last time.
The engagement OF the distinguished