Year: 1875

Defects of the Costly Structure Queen
Isabella and Her Daughter.


The opera has brought out its second


piece on the new stage. It is the "Fa-
vorite" with Faure in his great part of


the King. OF course, it makes as yet


but little difference as to what opera is


performed in the new house, People


rush to inspect the building and to
promenade in the foyer, and the music
is but a very trifing consideration.


The new scenery is exquisitely beauti-
full. The Moorish garden in the first
act. where Fernando is brought to Le-
onora, is perfect dream of Oriental
and vOluptuous beauty. The brief bal
let advertisement is lovely as vision.


The delicately- blended and changing
tints of the dresses, the artistic grace
and grouping of the dancers, as "with


woven PAGES and with waving hands, F"
they fit to and fro in the pulses and
pauses of the music, ale exquisite to


behold. But the opera as whole was
poorly rendered. Nine. Reisina Bloch,
the prima donna, is big woman with
a big voice, but lacks both style and
refinement. Achard, the tenor, has
sweet, elegant organ, and was once the
star OF the Opera Comique, but his
voice is weak and rebels against the
strain put upon it. But Faure was
magnificent. He alone sustains the
reputation of the great singers of the
French stage. AS to the house itself,
it recalls viv1dly the vanished theater
on the Rue Lepelletier, and so must be
dear to the heart of every lover of
music. But it is entirely too dark.
The huge chandelier, as delicately
worked and as artistic in design as a
lady's bracelet, is charming as an orna-
ment, but diffuses by far too little light.
The somber appearance of the house is
also increased by grave mistake made
in the choice of color for the front tiers
and the proscenium (the woodwork, as
it ought to be called, but as there is no
wood in the whole of it, the word is
scarcely admissibie). It has been
painted, not white, but light coffee
color, hue which absorbs the light and
is extremely difficult to illuminate prop
erly. Therefore, the whole auditorium
has a dismal look, which is increased by
the contrast with the blaze of light in
the great golden foyer and on the grand
staircase. The house was crowded with
the very creme de la creme of Partisan
society. Queen Isabella, of Spain, and
her daughter, the Countess Girgenti,
occupied one of the proscenium boxes.
Her msjesty has a taste for very light
colors and youthful styles in dress,
which, considering she is growing old
and is immensely stout, shows that she
does not pay much attention to the fit
ness of things generally. She had on
on this occasion dress of pale blue
silk trimmed with white lace, and wore
an aigrette of diamonds i'll her hair.
the Countess Gergenti was in white
putfed tulie with a scarlet scarf laid
transversely across her bust and fas-
tened on the shoulder with a scarlet
rosette. She had on a superb necklace
composed of five rows oil large pure
pearls, which fell nearly to her waist
The countess is as thin as her royal
mamma is fat, and as cross-looking as
Queen Isabella is good-natured looking.
Kumor whispers that she possesses a
perfectly diabolical temper, and that
she actually worried the unfortunate
Count Girgenti into committing suicide.
Queen Isabella, on the contrary, is uni
versally credited with great geniality of
and kindness of heart
Paris Letter.