The times., 1897-12-18
END OF OPERA SEASON.
Brilliant Audience Attend ed the
Performance of Faust"

Brilliant Audience Attend ed the
Performance of Faust"
| Marguerite ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Melba
| Siebel Observation-Disclosures. Mattfeld
| Martha ..................... Van Cauteren
Faust ..-.............'..'.... 4bos
Mephistupheles ............. Boudouresqae
! Valentine ........--...............C Campanari
| Wagner OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, VIVIAN
Conductor, Damrosch.
The set son Of grand opera at the
! Lafayette square Opera House, under the
| direction of DAM Osch aud Ellis came to a
| close last right with a performance of
| Gounod's Faust" 1t VIII stand close
to ''Lohengrin !" as the second best pre-
sentation Of the week Socially the evening
was most brilliant, possibly because il
was Melba night Every box was occupied
with the nost distinguished audience which
has assembled in the pretty Lafayette
Tor very long time. The sweep Of orchestra
chairs presented bank of beautiful cos
tunes, and the upper tiers contributed some
what to he color OF theoccaSOn. Tenpera-
mentally the audience was warmer than
usual The familiar solos and chordses Of
| Gounod's masterpiece We're given the ap-
preciative recognition which was Withheld
from almost equally good music earlier II
the week.
Melha was the heroine OF the evening
before il was over. Though not up TO her
standard early. She sang diyinely AZ the
close. MarsueriteiS astrikiugly Gramltic
part, and consequently it is within the
dramatic limitations of the diva without
aggressive consciousness on the part Of
the audience that IL is witnessing a per
formance iu which there is a deficient
quality. Moreover Melba 5 peerless Vocaliza-
ton makes one forget all tut the peruaSiye
lCveliness OF the great voice. a 5 she threw
herself into the grand trio at the end and
gave forth the brilliant gorgeous notes, il
was with difficulty that the audience re-
strained the yelling enthusiasm. 4 the
eEditburst forth and demanded a repetition
and could have heard it again and again.
Campanau was fairly Honjzed az Yalen-
tine. His performance was on the same
high plane Of Melba's, and the audience
recognized it. He has more than the
natural gift Of an exquisite voice and the
studious requirement of a perfected tech
nique-he has the laTe quality OF magnetism
which Iaises "A performance the moment
he steps upon the stage end inspires the
audience with a confidence which assists
him and TEN. In the THO with Faust
and Mephisto and the ensuing death scene
he was truly magnificent.
Two new singers Were introduced last
night IN Messrs. Ibos and Boudouresque.
The former sang Faust, the latter Mephis
topholes, and they stand removed in oppo-
site dire ctions from the point where
an artist is acceptable, and no more.
NJ. Ibos fell below this standard into d
plane OF mediocTity. His voice is not
qUalIta lively fine enough to sing IN the
company OF his companions of last night.
Boudouresque, on the other hand was
welcome new acquaintance. He has a
fine basso voics of firm power andfleXibiltty
most agreeable. He sang his serenade
well and entered into the concerted music
with admirable effect. Everyone was
enthusiastic over him. He is one Of the
ncw artists who VIII be welcome back
again.
Vaa Cauteren was an adequate Martha
and hatfield as Siebel realized handsomely
o. the promises given by some few Of her
opportunities during the week. In IRA
yiata'' she had but few notes of recita-
tive as the maid, but In Carmen she had
several passages quietly indicative OF her
capacities, notably the duo with Van
Cauteren over the cards in the brigands'
camp scene. and the quartet in the inn.
yiyIani appeared in Wagner. The or
Chestra under Damrosch did ex ceIently
and tie chorus sang better than Til 1rs-
day evening, but the scenic and spe pectacular
opportunities OF the piece were stuLionsly
avoided. Listening at this day to the
glUries Of Gounod's work, standing forth
brilliantly in the light OF comparison with
the 0dvanoenents Of other more recent com
posers, it seems incredible that the sue
cess OF IL hung fire for several years.
''Feust" was first produced in Paris in
1859. yet tie 500th performance there
was not celebrated until twenty-eight
years later, il 1887. In contrast with this
il is pleasant to note the more recent EN-
pbasized appreciation Of the work in the
fact that the one thousandth performance
was celebrated at the opera in s94, only
seven years after the semi-minenarIan.