Juignet and Drivet’s French Opera Company: Mousquetaires de la Reine

Includes cast list.

Includes cast list.

“Halevy’s excellent work, Les Mousquetaires de la Reine, was repeated last night at the French theatre before a large and fashionable audience. This brilliant episode of the court of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria recommends itself more and more on repetition. The music is delicious and abounds in melodies and harmonies that imprint themselves indelibly on the memory, when mere classical and less intelligible music has failed to produce a lasting impression. Then the piquant, sparkling dialogue which introduces us to the reckless dissipated body guard of the Queen serves as a pleasing variety to the music. In the first act we have a hunting chorus, an air descriptive of the pleasures of the chase, a boisterous meeting of musketeers, a choleric old officer of the days of Henry IV, and a love intrigue set on foot by the involuntary Mephistopheles of the opera, Hector de Biron. The love-sick Olivier, the coquettish little Berthe and the sentimental Athenias pass before us. Everywhere the dialogue is enfolded with dashing choruses, plaintive airs and beautiful duets and trios. Berthe (Mlle. Laurentes) quells a threatened quarrel among the musketeers by a cavatina, ‘Ah! Messieurs!’ which she sung with archness and dramatic expression. The recitative and aria of Athenais, with the accompanying cabaletta, ‘Ah! Puis-je Encore,’ in which she declares her passion for the handsome and noble musketeer, gave Mlle. Naddie an opportunity of displaying her remarkable voice and finished method of singing. The chorus ‘En Preux Chevaliers,’ in which the officers of the Queen present themselves before her ladies of honor to pay their devoirs, is spirited and soul-stirring. In the chorus in particular French opera is more intelligible and less complicated than Italian opera. 

The attempt of Olivier to come to an explanation with his offended lady love in the second act leads to one of the most delicious quartettes that the prolific school of French opera can furnish. Athenais, Berthe, Olivier and Hector again at the masquerade ball in the ‘Nuit charmante’ were excellent. The agitation displayed by Athenais at the arrest of her lover, and her resolve to save him even at the risk of exposure to shame, showed that Mlle. Naddie was an actress of a high order. The most beautiful air for Olivier in the entire opera is the romance in the third act, where he hails with joy the sudden change in his condition from a dungeon to the altar. These are only a few flowers culled from the opera. Instead of heavy, dreary recitatives, grand scenas, extravagant displays of voice and the other unmistakable failures of Italian opera, everything in Les Mousquetaires passed off agreeably – never tiresome, monotonous or unintelligible. Chorus and orchestra combined to render full justice to the delightful work of Halevy.  The applause bestowed upon them and the other artists was a genuine proof of the appreciation of the audience. Opéra comique, commenced under such favorable auspices, will undoubtedly form one of the most brilliant features during the present brilliant musical season.”

“The second performance of the Mousquetaires de la Reine, at the Théâtre Francais, was superior to the first. The tenor, M. Anthelme, has developed all his possibilities, in the same way as M. Surmont. M. Vert was acceptable—he certainly doesn’t lack either sentiment or [illegible], and one has to take his good will into consideration. Mlles Naddie and Laurentis only had to do what they had done the first evening to be charming.

M. Juignet lowered the price of seats, and we believe he’s done well: he will amply recover the difference by the bigger number of spectators who will go to his theatre. He proposes to give four performances per week, of which one is a matinée. We hope that the public won’t remain indifferent to these efforts. We have to sustain our national theater and make it prosper at any price.”