Speranza
That Mme. Trebelli would sing the music of the part with
fine artistic finish was a foregone conclusion.
That she subjected the dramatic
elements of it to original and intelligent study she made plain early in the
performance.
In realizing her conception however, she did not always give the
hightest degree of satisfaction.
She throws a lurid light over its wickedness,
but finds neither tones nor actions for those amiable qualities in which most of
the artistic force of the character lies.
Her aim seems to be to make Carmen a
beautiful demon, and she leaves no room for either the light heartedness of the
gypsy girl or the capacity which she has for tender attachment.
Now Carmen DOES
love Don José -- for a little while.
Otherwise her seduction of him is wanton
wickedness.
The tragic element in the character takes possession of it early,
and the feeling which follows it through the third and fourth acts has nothing
of sympathy in it.
For this reason it might be argued that there was more
wholesomeness in its moral lesson than that of our familiar Carmen, but Bizet's
opera is NOT one that suggests an inquiry into moral values.
We are quite
content to be charmed by so beautiful a girl though she is a gypsy
cigarette-maker, who wears a dagger in her corset and uses it freely upon her
companions.
The hardness which Mme. Trebelli gives the
character fits it admirabley after the scene in which she learns her fate from
the cards and so grimly and characteristically accpets it.
From that moment its
power grows.
But it needs lightness and grace in the earlier moments.
Signor Italo
Campanini was in bad voice, but acted with telling fervor.
His exhibition of the
growth of his passion and the wreck of his manhood was the most powerful piece
of acting that has been seen on the lyric stage this season.
Signor Del Puente
was the Escamillo of old, and Mlles. Corani and Lablache were efficient gypsies.
The vocal success of the opera was Mme. Valleria, who sang beautifully
throughout and did her best to save a performance which was almost fatally hurt
by poor singing and acting in the subordinate parts and wretched stage
management.
The opera was handsomely set.
-------
The representation of "Carmen" at the Metropolitan
Opera-house last evening rather disappointed expectation, and but for Signor
Campanini's portrayal of Don Jose, would not have stirred the pulses of the
audience.
Many representations at the Metropolitan, which would have produced
a favorable impression in another establishment have failed to please because of
the size and chilliness of the auditorium.
Last night's rendering of Bizet's
pretty and effective work would undoubtedly have fared better had it been given
elsewhere.
It was not, however, a brilliant achievement.
Signor Del Puente's
voice scarcely filled the Metropolitan as it did the Academy; and the labours of
the chorus and orchestra, though earnest, were in many instances misdirected,
and [productive] of unfinished and unimpressive results.
Mme. Trebelli was
not exactly successful.
It was impossible not to compare her delineation of
Carmen with Mme. Hauk's, for it was undoubtedly modeled on the creation -- in the
Italian version -- of the German-American songstress.
Mme. Hauk, who seldom
distinguished herself in other roles-unquestionably presented a very vivid and
real picture of Jose's mistress.
It was vulgar in tone, but it was powerful and
lifelike.
Carmen, as sketched by the librettist, is vulgar - that is to say, as
vulgar as an operatic personage can be.
Mme. Hauk's portrayal was repulsive to
just this extent.
It was also magnetic, and consequently, telling.
Mme.
Trebelli's Carmen is intelligent and inoffensive, but nothing more.
Last night
the singer was disagreeably self-conscious, and much of the music was sung
straight to the audience.
This ad captandum may be borne with in comic opera,
but in a performance in which a dramatic story is unrolled the actor should
give no sign of knowledge that an assemblage is gathered before him.
Vocally
Mme. Trebelli's personation was respectable.
She was in good form and the
highest and lowest tones of her organ sounded well, even in the vast auditorium.
Her execution was musicianly, but her style -- histrionically as well as
lyrically -- was decidedly hard.
We can understand that her steady services as an
artist should have endeared her to the London public, but find it less easy to
discover the grounds upon which her great reputation in England has rested.
The achievements of the orchestra rarely rose above mediocrity.
The scenery and
dresses were fresh and beautiful.
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