Speranza
'Carmen' is always popular in Boston.
With the cast of characters given by Mr.
Abbey last evening, on the occasion of the closing performance of his brilliant
season, it is not strange that a very large audience should have assembled.
It
was the first performance of Bizet's "Carmen" by the Metropolitan Opera Company.
There
were some slight hesitancies on the part of the chorus, and the situations were
not always seen to the best advantage, nor the corps of auxiliaries perfectly
familiar with their duties, but it was a surprisingly good 'first night' of so
exacting an opera as "Carmen," and on the success of the representation the
impresario, the conductor, the chorus director and all who wield lyric authority
under the Abbey banner are to be congratulated.
Sig. Cleofonte Campanini led the
orchestra admirably.
Very rarely was its work so powerful as to mar the effect
of the singing, and the young conductor seems to have the great corps of
musicians under remarkable control, while his manner of leadership is never
excited or over-demonstrative.
The special event of the evening in anticipation
was the operatic debut in Boston in the title character of the opera of Mme. Zelia
Trebelli, an artist of great repute, who has been heard during Mr. Abbey's
season of opera in New York only we believe in 'Il Trovatore,' when she appeared
as Azucena.
Trebelli's singing in concert last Sunday evening at the Boston was
sufficient to give assurance of her abilities.
Her performance of Carmen - a
role which she has impersonated abroad with much success - proved in every
respect to be remarkable.
Trebelli's voice is in truth phenomenal.
It is a full,
rich, resonant, contralto, very powerful in the lower notes, yet able to easily
accomplish all that is required in mezzo soprano music, such as the role of
Carmen requires.
There is a fine, sympathetic quality in Trebelli's singing that
is noteworthy.
It would be difficult to voice more perfectly the thought and
sentiment of the heartless gypsy, whose so-called love is as fickle as the
breeze, and who has no conception of the depth of real passion till the very
moment when she meets her death at the hands of the soldier whose heart she has
made her sport.
Something of the witchery with which Minnie Hauk invests Carmen
seems to be wanting in Trebelli's performance.
Yet it is a very strong piece of
acting.
The love passages with the toreador at the gypsy camp and at the
entrance of the Plaza de Toros were managed very finely, and the scene with the
cards was made more impressive than we can recall.
The performance evoked
general admiration.
Still, it was not Trebelli who won the
greatest plaudits of the evening.
These were the tributes to Italo Campanini who
fairly surpassed himself and gave a most superb impersonation of "Don Jose."
As a
piece of acting it would take high rank indeed anywhere, this performance.
The
tenor sang with unusual power and spirit and at the close of the third act was
recalled again and again. D
el Puente was as ever the ideal Toreador.
He, too,
gained utmost favor, and the famous song was enthusiastically redemanded.
Valleria sang with delightful purity the 'Io dico' and other numbers assigned
Michaela, making a charming heroine.
The roles of Paquita [sic] and Mercedes
were admirably taken by Mlles. Corani and Lablanche.
Cavalazzi led the ballet
with her usual grace, but the coryphées were even less acceptable than usual.
Carmen closed her career about 11.40 o'clock, which was not a bad record,
'considering' for Mr. Abbey's first representation of Bizet's great
work.
No comments:
Post a Comment