The Saint Paul globe., 1899-04-12
DE- LJI%ANI THE STAR
AND CARMEN THE OPERA THAT
FURNISHED LAST NIGHTS
MUsIcAfa TREAT
GADsKI SHARED THE HoNoRs

The second Night of Grand Opera "a
Repetition OF the Success of the
Opcning-Fau3Itless Rendition Of
nixet's Friliiannat and Tuneful Pro-
duction-Each Part of the Per-
formance Delights.
carmen, the allurlng. with its pas
sionate, sensuous music. its frank ma
teriailsm, its subtle wickedness! Car
men, with its fierce humor and its sud-
den tragedy. But. above all, Carmen" {"
with Its fascinating. It's beautiful and
most diabolica1 heroine, was presented
last evening on the stage of the Metro
politan as 1t has never before, perhaps.
been presented before a st. Paul audi
ence. For never before has there been
singer here who put herself so entirely
In touch with the creators conception
OF the heartless Spanish coquette as did
Mile. de Lussan last night.
Ihere have been actresses who have
essayed the part Of Carmen and tried to
put little Of the true woman into the
creation; others who have seen in Car
men only the light-hearted. empty-head-
ed coquette. with no great depth, either
good or bad. But Mile. de Lussan por-
trays only the splendid animal that Car
men really Is. with animal passions ami
NAL herceneSs and animal heartlesSness
She staggered up and down the stage
last evening, her svelte figure, as we'll
as her piquant face, expressing her alb
soiute content with her charms and the
attainment of her desires.
In the card scene alone, when she re-
celves warning of her approaching death,
is this sublime content shaken, and then
she shows plainly the deep-set supersti-
ton that marks her.. more plainly, per-
haps than anything else, as the daughter
of the people.
In the presentation of the opera last
evening the company detracted nothing
from the superb record it made for it
self on the opening night. Orchestra,
chorus. ballet. everything down to the
smallest detail Of stage setting. was in
Keeping with the fine presentation of the
leading roles.
The audience was, perhaps. a trffle
smaller than that which greeted the COM
pany on the opening night, but society
was well represented in the boxes, and,
on the whole. the house presented more
brilliant appearance than it did on Mon
day night, a larger. number of women
appearing i'll evening Dress
1t was an audience, too, supremely con-
tent with the musical feast set before it,
if one could judge from the freqent ova-
tons rendered the singers. the repeated
oravos that echoed through the house
and the tremendous cheering Recalls
were frequent AT the end Of every act
the principals were compelled to bow
their appreciation again and again.
Mime. Gadski easily shared the honors of
the evening with Mile. de Lussan. In the
duet with Bonnard Don JOSEF. in the
first act, Mia Madre 10 la Rivedo," the
two were rendered a regular ovation, and
in the smugglers' den scene, when She
audience again broke loose
M. Bonnard made satisfactory Don
Jose, and sang with spirit and fine ex-
preston. The famous 'Toreador" song.
sung by M. Bensaude as Escamillo, was
one of the gems of the evening.
In their smaller parts. Nine. Van eau
teren as Frasquita and Nine. Mattfeld as
Mercedes both sang and acted their lines
In manner that left little to be desired
The quintette in scene 8 Of the second
act, by Carmen, Frasquita; Remendado.
Dancairo and Den; sJose, was one of the
most spirited and most perfectly rendered
things of the kind ever heard In ST. Paul.
But why specify where everything was
excellent? One, other thing, however,
deserves especial mention, and that was
the solo and ballet dancing that prefaced
the last. act. The dainty costumes, the
pretty faces Of the dancers and their
graceful whirls made an exceedingly -ef-
fective opening for the brilliant scene
that followed. And 1t was In this scene
that Mile. de Lussan proved her extraor-
d1nary ability as an actress. In her strug-
gle for life with Don Jose, when she
knows and shows 1t In her face that every
moment may be her last, the triumphant
strains outside that tell her of her lovers
victory render her in a moment the care
less, joyous, insolent Carmen, with every
trace of fear gone.
The conductor. Sgr. Seppilli, won fresh
honors for himself last night. Orchestra
and chorus were in complete unison, and
helped to make the opera the finished
production that 1t was.