The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-11-24
NINE. CALVE AS CARMEN.
SIR HENRY JRvfyG LECTURES At
COLUMBIA COLLEGE LAST WEEK.
Nine. Frances saviile Makes Her Debut ns
JuIiette- Ondricek the Niolinist TO
Make His Debut Here.

other that Sir Henry irNiH5 ~ i'N'"'N'
as well as actor .
Speaking of Calves recent appearance
In Carmen the Herald says:
The second night OF the current opera
season was devoted to the temperance
OF Mime. Emma Calve. that wonderful
genre singer whose first appearance here
set all tongues a.-Wdgsing ABOUT TWO
years since.
Needless TO say that the Metropolitan
Opera House was densely crowded win
gorgeous and oxpectant audience ana that
the opera was-"Carmen.
Mile Calves repertoire IS inlnitesimally
small. Paris and London know her IN
but three roles, and New York-for how
many OF US remember her a. charming
Suzcl, in 'IAmi Fritzy'-have heard her
in nothing more than in Carmen ana
"Cavaleria Rusficana."
In those operas, however she is hers
ligne. For my own part / think that
Calves Santuzza compares with her Car
men, as, say Sarah Bernhardts Fedora
compares with her Phedre. OF course,
people will rush 10 see these artists in
their sensational. not their finely felt en-
bodiments.
This is a pity. for. take my word for IL.
that where Sarah and Calve simply star
tie you as Fedora or Carmen. they haunt
you for days together after seeing them
as Phcdre or Santuzza.
BY saying this / do not for a moment
wish to reflect on Calves Carmen. On
the contrary, its charm. its power, its
picturesque attributes, its splendid ori-
ginality impressed me even more pro
foundly than when | first saw her IN that
character. And not without good reason.
Il. . b.. MIA
better voice than formerly You remem-
Der the singers tendency TO flatten when
attacking high notes?
Her intonation now IS as pure as the
most fastidiOus ear could possibly wish.
Her dramatic taste. too, has become
purer ! heard no "tu me fails NAL" no
"lalssc-moi" interspersed between tho
bars of the music. and no one, / am
sure regretted the absence Of these par
lando effects. SO that on the whole II
may be said that she has chastenod her
methods has returned to US finer and
more conscientious artist than ever be-
fore.
The same wealth OF vocal nuances, the
same impctuosity. the same fire and the
same amazing animal spirits characterize
this startling impcrsonauon now as be
fore.
The eyes. too, ard the Countenance are
alive with shifting expression, and al
some points the impersonation is match
less in voluptuous grace.
Speaking Of Sir Henry Irving's address
on "The Character Of Macbeth" before
the students OF Columbia College the
Herald says:
"The generally received opinion OF 'Alac
beth" said the great actor, "has been
that of a good man who has gone wrong
under the influence OF wisked and dom
inant wife; in the words OF the writer
OF Biographies, a man OF honor led astray
by his wife who murders his benefactOr
and becomes a monster Of wickedness.
This conception, i'm force for many
years i'm England, was mainly due 20 the
rendering Of Lady Macbeth by Mrs. Sid
dons, whose personality lent color TO the
view of an essentially dominant Woman.
Now. / should like 10 examine briefly
this proposition. We shall find that
Shakespeare has i'm his text given Mae
beth the character of one Of the most
bloody minded and hyporcltical villains OF
all the gallery of portraits i'm literature
Irving recitei many extracts from
Shakespeare's text 10 show that Macbeth
was villain through and through from
the start. II was he who first preached
the subject Of the murder of Duncan 10
his wife. and while all through he plays
with conscience his resolution never
Stacked.
Shakespeare. he said derived his facts
from Holinshed's Chronicles and the
story of the chronicles throws great
light on the central conception of the
play.
Before the curtain rises Macbeth has al
ready conceived the idea Of murder. That
idea turks in his mind and he broOds over
it more and more. \ new shock and inn
pulse are given TO him by the prophecy
of the witches.
Macbeth was a thorough hypocrite His
hypocrisy runs all through the play. In
the presence Of his wife he pictures the
appearance OF the King he has killed.
Lady Macbeth couldn't stand it, she
tainted and was carried away. Moreover
Macbeth must have been an atheist and
poet.
Macbeth" continued Irving. conveys
the same idea as Lewis Carols 'Walrus
and the oysters The carpenter sought
out the largest oysters. all the while hold
ing out his pocket handkerchief before
his greedy eyes. All through the play
the worst deeds are heralded by high
ideas. That Macbeth was very magma
tive IL seen strkingly in the Oft quoted
simile of pity lkcnod 10 a naked new
born babe 81.
1T is sometimes said that Shakespeare
did not intend 10 make Macbeth a psy-
Geological study. He did make him So
and II is sufficient that we ind his intent
i'm the result. for Shakespeare was not
only ithe greatest dramatist and the
great poet OF all time. but ne was also
a psychologist of every phase Of human
character and human thought, from the
loftiest 10 the basest'"
In his peroration Irving thus summed
up the character of Macbeth:
"a poetic mind. on which the passages
and suggestions Of supernatural things
could work. a. nature sensitive TO intel
lectual emotions 30 that one can imagine
him even IN his contemplation Of coming
crimes 70 weep FOR the pain OF the de-
stned victims, self-torturing, scll-exam-
lining. playing with conscience so that
acton AMI reaction of poetic Wrought
might send emotional waves through the
brain. while tho resolution was as GRIM
~ fixed as steel and the heart as cold
as ice: a poet supreme in the power Of
words, with vivid imagination and quick
sympathy OF intellect. a villain. cold
blooled selfish, remorseless. with a true
villains nerve and callOusness when brac-
ell 10 evil work, and the physical heroism
Of those who are born 20 kill; moral
nature. with only sufficient weakness 10
quake momentarly before superstitious
terrors: a man of sentiment and not Of
feeling. Such was the mighty dramatic
character which Shakespeare gave 10
the world-Alacbeth."
All the professors of the college and
many distinguished visitors were present.