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Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, July 9, 1887. By: Various |
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OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. VOLUME 93. JULY 9, 1887. [Illustration] OPERATIC CONFUSION. I went on Saturday to hear the three operatic novelties so liberally
provided for us on the same night by Messrs. MAPLESON, LAGO and HARRIS.
I do not mix my liquors, and I endeavour, as a rule, to keep to the same
lyrical drama throughout the evening; nor is it my fault if a good dose
of strong BEETHOVEN, sweetened with GOUNOD and flavoured with MEYERBEER
had, on the occasion in question, a somewhat confusing effect on my
brain. At Her Majesty's, LILLI LEHMANN was all right as Leonora : not
Leonora of La Favorita , but Leonora the favourite wife of
Manrico no, not of Manrico , but of another personage who, like the
unfortunate Trovatore , has to be rescued by his loving spouse from the
tyranny of a powerful baritone; whether VERDI'S Count di Luna or
SHERIDAN'S Pizarro , I cannot just now call to mind. Mlle. LEHMANN is
not only a fine singer, but also a serious dramatic artist; and the
public was deeply impressed by her performance. She is a LEHMANN with
all the earnestness of a good clergyman; not that she had taken orders
as I (Box No. 70) had done. From Her Majesty's Theatre, I drove in a rapid Hansom to Drury Lane. I
had told the cabman to take me to the Royal Italian Opera, and I was
about to remonstrate with him for conveying me to the wrong house, when
he promptly explained that there were now two Royal Italian Operas, one
at Covent Garden, the other at Drury Lane. New source of confusion!
"Confusion worse confounded!" as MILTON observes. "How far have they got?" I inquired as I entered the theatre. " Valentine's death scene," replied my friend. " Valentine does not die, my dear fellow; Valentine only faints," I
answered, I was thinking of course, of the new dramatic soprano, Mlle.
SANDRA, in Les Huguenots . "You are evidently not an Opera goer," I continued, "or you would know
that no one dies in this work, except, of course, in the last Act. But
that is always left out." "Wrong again!" exclaimed JONES, with an amused look. "AUGUSTUS HARRIS
restores the last Act. See his prospectus." "Well, never mind that. Is Ella Russell singing the part of Queen
Margaret as well as ever?" "I did not know that Margaret was a Queen. I always thought she was of
humble origin. The part in any case is being played by Mlle. NORDICA." Determined to be no longer the victim of mystification, I wished JONES
good bye, and hurrying in, found the curtain down. Afraid now to ask
what was being played, I waited patiently for the next Act, and when at
last the curtain went up, I found to my astonishment that some
representation entirely new to me was taking place. Will o' the Wisps on
a dark back ground. That was all I saw. I asked myself whether I had
gone mad, or whether the Drury Lane Pantomime was being played a little
earlier than usual. Then the dark scene gave place to a scene of great
brilliancy. There was a throne at the back of the stage, and again my
thoughts reverted to the Huguenots , and I fancied I could recognise
Queen Margaret . But her features were not the features of ELLA
RUSSELL. Besides, ELLA RUSSELL does not dance, not at least on the
Operatic stage; and this lady did. "This is HELEN," said a gentleman in a stall on my right to a lady by
his side. Here was at least a clue; and when at the same moment the
baritone DE RESZKE stepped out of a group attired in the garb of
Mephistopheles , I said to myself that the performance had been
changed, and this was the last Act of BOÏTO'S Mefistofele , with new
details, or at least details that I had not noticed when the work was
performed at Her Majesty's Theatre and at Covent Garden. Now dancing
began in earnest, and I wondered much at the never failing ingenuity of
Mr. AUGUSTUS HARRIS, who with a score of first rate singers in his
Company, had nevertheless found himself compelled (probably at five
minutes' notice,) to change an Opera into a ballet ... Continue reading book >>
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