Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-01-27
FAUST PLEASESDESPITE RAGGED
STAGING; KR|STOFFY SCORES AGAIN

| solemnity OF his great scene with
| Mephistopheles To make matters
worse, at the end OF that same scene
| Poggi and WanreIl were caught in
| front of the curtain as 1t descended
and had to make hurried and ungrace-
| full exit by the small door at the left,
after trying in vain to get back of the
drop.
| On top of this inauspicious begin
ming Poggi wore a sword too long for
him. which clanked and seraped on the
! floor In the garden scene he left the
jewel box on the chair which Marguer
lite had to occupy during her spinning
wheel song, and that hapless maid
en- had to move the jewel box to a
nearby bench-a bit of stage business
which took the edge from her pretend
ed surprise when she discovered the
casket on the bench some eight min
utes later.
Mannish Boots on Martha.
Further open laughter spread over
the audience when Bernice Holmes,
! who doubled and essayed Siebel as
well as Martha, sang the latter role
in English, while all the others were
using Italian. As Siebel, Nine Holmes
wore handsome boots of a light brown
leather, and these same boots we're
all too visible under her skirt when
she played Martha They gave conf
cally mannish and military effect to
the walk OF the old lady as she CO
quetted with Mephistopheles.
The performances of the last two
evenings suggest that many members
of the company are losing their grip"
or getting discouraged and careless in
view of the small houses and appar.
ent indifference Of Honolulu to grand
opera
Not up to Standard.
There is markedly less of that fine
attention to detail which was so
praiseworthy during the first week,
and there Is becoming evident what
seems to be an emulation of Englands
efforts to "muddle through somehow"
This is not to be wondered at, in the
face Of disheartening lack of sup
port from the public, but ragged per-
formances will not serve to draw larg.
er houses.
Johanna Kristoffy as Marguerite,
Poggi as Faust, Wanrell as Mephisto-
pheles and GalazZi as Valentine did
good work, and their efforts alone re-
deemed the performance from medi-
ocrity.
Kristoffy, as was to be expected
from one Of her temperament and dra-
| matte gifts, was not SO uniformly sue
cessful as Marguerite as she was with
Santuzza and Aida. Frankly, she does
better in the parts which have a spice
of the devil in them than she does
as the innocent maiden, though she
! was so i'll as to be scarcely able to
sing last night, and judgment is UNI
| fair. Her garden scene with Faust
was well done-she was obviously the
dreaming maiden ripe for love, and at
Valentines death she played up SPLEEN
didly to Galazzi's very fine perform
ance. 1t was in the last act-the pris-
on scene-that she was at her. best,
1 however.
Great Finale Well Done.
In her madness she was appealingly
soft and tender, whereas most so
pranos make the mistake of being VIC
lent. Throughout the opera her voice
was more than adequate, and in the
finale was really superb.
4 As II to recall the contretemps of
| the early part Of the evening, part of
the scenery stuck at the very last min
! uate, and SO spoiled temporarily the
/ effect of the angel scene with which
the opera closes. When the heavenly
vision was at last disclosed it was
roundly applauded.
Poggi was in better voice last night
than on Tuesday and his Faust was
very we'll liked Wanrell, as Mephi-
stopheles, shared honors with Galazzi
as Valentine. His really splendid bass
was used without effort and without
stint, and he was always impressive
! without trying to over-act the part of
| the fiend.
Tonight, with all the seats on sale
at the uniform price of 81 each, la
Gioconda" will be repeated with the
following cast:
La Gioconda, ballad singer
Emilia Vergeri
La Cieca, her blind mother. Bella Fay
EMO ............. Poggi or de Folco
Advise, head of state inquisition.
announcement. Joachino Wanrell
Laura, his wife -. .Bernice Holmes
Barnaba, spy of the inquisition 49,.
................ Paul Galazzi
Zuane, boatman -. .Umberto Revere
Isepo. public letter writer. ...
.................. William Giuliani
a plioI FellX Bell
Orchestra Improving.
The orchestra, under the leadership
oil Chevalier di Roccia. shows an i'm
provement each night, and the con-
ductor's appearance each evening is
greeted with growing applause. Some
thing went wrong with the yiolins
during Kristoffys Jewel Song last
night but otherwise the orchestration
was good.
There were no very long waits be.
tween acts last evening, and the audi.
ence was filing out at HIS. Parts
of the opera we're omitted, to the dis.
appointment Of those familiar with the
score.
In spite of the frequent complaints