The San Francisco call., 1899-09-05
NIGHTMARE OF
A MURDERER'S
GUILTY SOUL
Clay Clement Hears
the Bells.

|
profitable stage difficulties man can
! handle for since there is no parallel IN
human experience, the tone Of treatment
| must be purely the imaginative, bulll
! from a conception rather than model
and there is always the possibility tnat
! the intelligence of an audience Is pelh8
! cajoled into believing the impersonatlon
far more wonderful than it is. This is
! especially true of The Bells for the
! last act is what fingers in the memory,
the dream Of a murderer's. guilty con-
| science; murderer, too, who couid use
| an ak and then burn the body or MS VIC
! tim in lime kln-and "ho snail say
| what degree of awful agoniZed STRIVING
may or may not fill the sleep OF such
Let a telling note of terror be struck anu
! held and an audience is carried lneVltaply
on, wide-eyed TO approval and applause
1t is rather dangerous ground FOR the
! not-too-sure footed to tread upon, but the
| man who does not come to II groplngiy
may win half his reputation in single
night This Is rather neg negaMIve Nv IeP5ents aPP}9atfg
| fondness for the single hgure mas maze T. d
! specially wise choice in Matthias. Inc
habit of thought brings him to the char
acter we'll equipped; not that his work
! in the first two acts is especially con
vincing, for in the early scenes he Is the
! atrical, and his unsympathetic voice often
makes void his designs. Not until the
dream does he bring the needed tempera-
ment. Here long familiarity with the role
seems TO have MADE 1t plastic IN ms
hands; he might alter its details with
absolute conviction that he would not
alter it's essential CHARACTERISTICS, ana
ness beyond the thought 1t has TO con-
vey Mr.. Clement is a tremendously sin
cere actor, and this has, been the saving
salt of many a lesser light With his
dream scene he makes permanent mark
on the character Mr.. Cooks Father wal
ter was the performance one expects from
an artist. He was from the beginning in
stinct with the mood OF the old gossip,
and his disguise was so successful that
him. Miss O'Malley was good Sozel and
a picturesquely funny one, and those who
conducted the trial worked unostenta-
tipusly and well: The others inclined to
the habitual in their parts as being safer,
and will add nothing TO their regulations
by the result. The lights were not well
too strong, making the dying away
through shadow to darkness an impossi.
bility. Irving is certainly a master OF
light. The scenery, though pleasant to
the eye, was suggestive of neither period
nor place. The second act was very pret-
tily set, but inexcusably Incorrect in de-
tail. Properties, however decorative,
should not be put upon the stage to dis
cord with a knowledge of the fitness OF
things. CHARLOTTE THOMPSON
What the prologue is to 'I Pagliacci''
the Toreador song is to Carmen there
fore a barytone who possesses any
musical judgment at all and understands
how to enhance his solo with dramatic
color never fails to create enthusiasm.
When this success may be attained by
vocalist Of fairly good reputation and
passable voice, 1t may easily be under
stood what man like Salassa can make
out of it with barytone of big resonance
and dramatic timbre. Naturally enough
the Toreador song was the great feature
OF the performance OF carmen at the
Tivoli last evening. And throughout the
play Mr.. Salassa never for a moment lost
any of the intensity of action and the
bravado which the part requires.
In order to essay the role OF Don Jose
creditably dramatic temperament is re-
quired and while AvedanO did not always
prove to be possessed of that gift, he
surprised every one by giving quite dra-
matte representation of that part. Both
the finale of the third and fourth acts
were rendered with the necessary adher-
ence to the climax. Although AVedano
was somewhat hOarse, the general excel
lence of his work was not much marred.
OF course Michaela is there to sing the
grand aria in the third act, and II she
succeeds in rendering this well she mas
done her duty. Miss Prossnitz sang that
aria with much taste and sincerity. She
fmbued 1t with all the romantic color that
il requires, and proved herSelI once more
a thorough artist.
Many contralto has tried her luck on
Carmen, but few have succeeded IN max
| ing a success of ii. In fact, 1t is no mis-
take to assert that there are to-day not
( more than two or three really good Car
mems on the stage. Not because of the
vocal responsibilities, but more particu-
larly because of the dramatic execution,
I and especia!ly because of the personal ap-
pearance Of the character. Let Carmen
/ look a Carmen, and you have foundation
whereon you may easily build the dra-
matte edifice, and good contralto-lt
need not be phenomena-Wlll complete
the ideal Carmen. Miss Linck makes
very honest effort to portray the part,
but, while her elocutionary actions may
not lack vigor neither her appearance
nor her voice comes up to the require
ments There runs throughout the
| strains sung by Carmen an undsrcurrentt
| Of nassion which necessitates a solid
! lower register. Miss Linck does not pos
sess that solid lower register, and hence
/ she falls short Tonight Romeo and
Juliet ALE RED ME AA0i4iN'