Grau French Opera Bouffe: La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein

“Amusements: French Theatre” Preparations at the French Theatre; prospective cast; opening 28 September or 5 October.

Grau will give opera bouffe at the Theatre Francais during the coming season. Next month he will present Offenbach’s Genevieve de Brabant.

Describes theater renovations. “That Mr. Grau has got a good company we are prepared to believe. After the repeated failures of opera bouffe at the Theatre Francaise, where it was first introduced under the most depressing circxumstances, and where its last throes—a few months since—scarcely excited the attention of the public.—after so many mishaps,--relieved only by the brilliant incursion of Mr. Bateman, Mr. Grau is wise enough to know that nothing but excellence in every department can possibly offer him a prospect of success. The consciousness that Mr. Bateman and his company are playing at another establishment will also nerve him to do his best. It is certain that there will be great rivalry not only between managers but between artists, and in this point of view the public will be gainers. The pecuniary changes are in favor of Bateman, whose artists are accepted favorites, and whose forces generally are in first-rate order. But Grau is adroit, and seldom ventures out of his depth. After all it is a pity that two able managers should be in opposition about so small a matter as Offenbach.”

Bateman and Grau (with opera bouffe) will have the opera in New York all to themselves this season. They are successful because they secure first-rate stars and excellent stock companies to support them.

This announcement is part of a much longer article on the upcoming opera season. To read it in full, see event entry of 09/07/68: Articles on canceled season of Mapleson’s troupe and assorted current operatic news.

“Manager Grau is preparing for a stunning season of opera bouffe at the French Theatre. He has engaged a number of celebrated performers in France, and on the 12th inst. [of September] the company embarked at Brest in the steamer St. Laurent for this port. The party comprises forty-eight persons, among the most prominent of whom are Mmes. Rose, Bell, Desclauses, Fontanel, and Messrs. Carrier, Beckers, Gabel, and Bourgoin. They are said to be superior to any bouffers we have yet had in this country.”

The hall has been refurbished and enlarged. Renowned artists have been engaged in Europe for this season. The French opera bouffe will be presented here in a “splendor of mise en scene and a perfection of detail never before attempted.” Subscribers (stockholders and other season subscribers) may apply at the box office of the Theatre Francais only for tickets for the season.

Grau’s company arrived last night by steamer from Brest.

“The artists of Mr. Grau’s company arrived yesterday in the steamer of St. Laurent, and will open the French Theater on the 5th October, probably with the Grande Duchesse. During the passage from Brest to this port the officers and crew of the steamer were entertained by a grand concert by Mr. Grau’s opera troupe. The affair was much enjoyed. The troupe arrived in good health and spirits.”

The company is made up of forty-eight premiere artists from Europe—Mme. Rose Bell, Mlle. Desclauzas, Mlle. Fontanel, Mlle. Villa, Mm. Beckers, Gabel, Genot, Bourgoin, Julien Carrier, Batallie, Emile Petit, Paul Mussay, Jenot, and Goby. Grau has also secured 140 performers for the chorus and orchestra. Grau has paid $30,000 for alterations to the French Theatre and will pay another $30,000 in preparation for opening night. Three prima donnas have been engaged—Mad. Rose Bell, Mlle. Desclauzas, Mlle. Fontaner. Mad. Rose Bell was a favorite at the Paris Grande Opera and is well-known for her roles in Offenbach’s operas. Mlle. Desclauzas is a radiant beauty and an “enchanting comedienne.” Mlle. Fontaner has won praise as La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, La Belle Helene, Eurydice, and Boulotte. M. Julien Carrier hails from the Opera Comique, Paris and will take the lead roles in Barbe Bleue, La Grande Duchesse, and Genovieve de Brabant. M. Beckers is also from the Opera Comique, Paris. M. Gabel is the original Piton, a gendarme in Genevieve de Brabant. Mesdames Maurice, Deschamps, Taillefer, Breton, Ligny, Murter, Messrs. Goby, Bourgoin, Genot, Petit, and Mussay have been chosen from the principal Parisian theaters. Mlle. Clementine Villa is a Parisian star from the Theatre de L’Athenee. Her voice is agreeable, she has good diction, and she delights audiences with her comic talents.

“Two Richmonds in the Field—Manager Grau, being determined that Bateman shall not have all the glory to be achieved—if any—in the production of opera bouffe, announces the opening of the French Theatre on Oct. 12th, with The Grande Duchesse. The same night, Bateman opens at Pike’s and with the same opera. Grau will give us a number of new faces, and for location his establishment is the best. There is one thing certain, Grau has the most money of the two, and intends to place the operas on the stage in a manner that shall wake up all other bouffe opera managers.”

Subscriptions for this season at the French Theatre are selling rapidly. The excitement generated by these performances equals that of Ristori’s first engagements in New York. Subscription sales close today, and tickets for single performances go on sale tomorrow. Tickets may be purchased at Schirmer’s music store (701 Broadway).

“The musical season will begin next Monday evening, when Mr. Grau’s opera bouffe company will make their first appearance at the French Theatre in ‘Genevieve de Brabant.’ The reopening of this fashionable theatre will be, of itself, an interesting and important occasion. Of the merits of the company which Mr. Grau has engaged we do not propose now to speak. The reputation of the leading rtists has preceded them. Even Offenbach, in a published letter, congratulates America on the accession of such interpreters of his works. He says:

‘I am in receipt of the letter in which you notify me that Mr. J. Grau has engaged for the Theatre Francais in New York Mlles. Desclauzas and Fontanel. I feel very happy of it. I knew already of the engagement of Madame Rose Bell, and have written her a letter of congratulation. There is, indeed, a beautiful trio of talent.

‘I have heard through friend Carrier of the engagement of Messrs. Beckers, Bourgoin, Gabel, Genat [sic] and Goby, who have all been the interpreters of my works. I say not to them adieu, but au revoir.

‘I see that my works will be mounted in royal manner by M. Grau. I know by experience how difficult it is to obtain, even in Paris, a similar array of talent, and I feel flattered to see that my works will be interpreted in America by artists whose success cannot be doubtful. New York becomes thus a second Paris, and the Atlantic exists no more.’”

“Grau’s Opera Bouffe Troupe arrived from Brest on Sept. 22d.”

The French Theatre opens tomorrow night with Jacob Grau’s Parisian opera bouffe company. The hall has been reconstructed and beautified. The headliners are all new to this country and make their debuts here.  The first opera will be La Grande Duchesse. Mlle. Rose Bell will perform the role of the Duchesse, Mlle. Fontanei will perform Wanda, Mons. Carrier will appear as Fritz, Mons. Beckers will appear as General Boum, Mons. Gabel will appear as Prince Paul, and Mons. Genot will appear as Baron Puck. They have been rehearsing this past week. The first few nights are sold out. Future performances are selling out quickly.

“The French theatre [sic] opens for the season this evening with the newly imported opéra bouffe troupe of Manager Grau, and as every seat in the house has already been taken for this evening’s performance it looks as though there would be a rush and a crush of beauty and fashion on hand upon this occasion to pronounce judgment upon the relative merits of the new artists. The ‘Grande Duchess’—personated by Madame Rose Bell—and her large army of opéra bouffers under the command of General Boum and Private Fritz, will be present to receive their friends, and should they bear out the estimation that the public have already formed of them, they will most assuredly be accorded a hearty and a generous welcome to the American stage. Of the success of Mr. Grau’s grand undertaking there is scarcely the shadow of a doubt, and entrenched within the renovated Théâtre Français, the Disraeli of managers opens vocal fire upon the public this evening, and as he is said to possess some heavy soprano, contralto, alto, tenor, bass, and baritone pieces of ordnance it is expected that the city will succumb at once and acknowledge itself completely ‘bouffed.’”

Company will open with The Grand Duchess, rather than Genevieve de Brabrant (as previously announced).

“The Grand Duchess has certainly transferred her Duchy from Gerolstein to New York, for never did a monarch reign with a more absolute sway than she does in the realm of music. Mr. Grau in all his repertoire finds nothing that he thinks will take better than this opera, and has accordingly selected it for the first appearance of his new artists this evening. Mr. Bateman is of the same mind, and Barbe-Bleue runs but four more nights. The new season at Pike’s Opera House is also to open with ‘La Grande Duchesse,’ a week from Wednesday. Whether her Highness is firm enough upon her throne to reign over two kingdoms remains to be seen. Meantime the public, having nothing new to expect from the music, has everything to expect from the new artists whom Mr. Grau has brought out, and is full of curiosity to hear them. The new company will provoke comparison with the old one at every point. Madame Rose Bell must be prepared to measure her strength against the brilliant Tostée, for everyone will ask, ‘Is she as pretty? does she make love to Fritz with the same abandon? does she fling herself into the cancan with the same rollicking humor and grace?’ All of which can be better answered this evening than now.”

“On this occasion, the new and brilliant TROUPE OF ARTISTS engaged in Europe expressly for this theater will inangurate the season WITH THE POPULAR OPERA-BOUFFE OF OFFENBACH, LA GRANDE DUCHESSE, magnificently mounted, all the accessories and costumes having been constructed in Paris.

AMERICAN DEBUT OF Mme ROSE BELL, in the role of THE GRAND DUCHESS. Mlle FONTANEL, with the goal of rendering the production as attractive as possible, has graciously accepted the role of Wanda.

M. CARRIER, Fritz; M. BECKERS, General Boum; M. GOBY, Prince Paul; M. GENOT, Baron Puck; M. BOURGOIN, Baron Grog; M. MUSSAY, Nepomuc.”

“Last night the ‘Grand Duchess of Gerolstein’ was presented at this establishment with éclat more splendid than anything hitherto known in her history this side the Atlantic. It was an occasion in which all the delights and gayeties of city life came together, the best foot foremost, the best bow ready and the best pair of gloves drawn tight, buttoned and worn with utter indifference to expense. There was the choicest piece of theatrical nonsense ever penned to laugh at; there was music so rich with the spirit of gayety that nothing could resist the inspiration; there were boxes and parterre; there was every corner of the house radiant with the beauty of this city of beautiful women, made a little bit more killing than natural by the inexhaustible coquetries of dress, and there was Manager Grau’s new company—Rose Bell, Carrier, Becker, Goby, Genot—lifted perhaps rather above commonplace theatrical fun by the generous enthusiasm of their reception. The great interest of the occasion centred around the new troupe—the new Duchess, new Fritz, new Boum and the rest. Madame Rose Bell presents to the eye the very personality that the Duchess seems in thought; she meets the true ideal of the part. Handsome, refined, with a grace whose accidents are elegancies, her whole person, style, manner replete with expression of that taste of woman and artist combined that is equal to any theatrical miracle, the new prima donna was accepted with the fullest measure of public favor from her first entrée. Our lot with Duchesses hitherto has been to have them of very small vocal capacity, so that if we desired to be amiable our only chance was to praise their fun, their sentiment, their vivacity, and observe a judicious silence as to their dealings with the music. This is a restraint from which criticism is set free in the case of Rose Bell, who has a voice equal to all the requirements of the score, and is well trained in its use. Mr. Carrier, the new tenor, is a comic actor of unqualified excellence. His Fritz is a study of impudent innocence and pert stupidity, and presents the maladroit hero with a richer humor than has before been associated with the part. M. Carrier is particularly admirable in the characteristic music of his rôle, to which the peculiar quality and simple volume of his voice gave full effect. Beckers, the General Boum of the new troupe, developes [sic] forcibly the extravagance and bombast of his part, and sings the music capitally. The minor parts were well filled also. The chorus was strong and well trained and the ladies of the court, expecially in the letter scene of the second act, were pleasant to look upon. Such a fact ought to pass for the ultimate triumph of opera bouffe. Altogether, as we have said above, the Duchess never appeared to such advantage here before or with such evident promise of being indefinitely attractive. The theatre has been beautifully refitted, and the changes in its construction are such as to give every possible advantage of the space. The changes in the box tier are particularly adapted to the accommodation of that large class of the play-going public that drops in for half an hour. There is indeed something in a house. Wordsworth has deliberately committed himself to the opinion that there is ‘something in a flying horse and something in a big balloon.’ How that may be we cannot say; but there is something in a house. This the public feel in the French theatre. It is the true house of opera bouffe, and though larger establishments may give a greater spectacular development, the people only appreciate the true, dainty, exquisite spirit of this delightful entertainment in the little temple in Fourteenth Street.”

“The French Theatre reopened last evening most brilliantly. Nothing was lacking to the interest of the occasion—the revival of the most popular of Offenbach’s operas, with new singers, new scenery and new costumes; the pleasure afforded by the enlarged, reconstructed, and beautified auditorium, and the gathering together—for the first time this season—of an audience fairly representing the culture and fashion of the city, united to distinguish the opening of Mr. Grau’s season of opera bouffe and to make it memorable in the annals of our lyric stage.

The theatre itself deserves the first attention, as it received that of the very large audience which last night tested its utmost capacity [rest of paragraph describes alterations].

The looks of pleased satisfaction which passed around the theatre before the curtain first rose showed that the audience was in good humor for the expected performance—a satisfactory state of mind, which was not only not disturbed during the evening, but was frequently developed into genuine enthusiasm. The leading artists labored under the disadvantage that the opera chosen for the opening, ‘The Grand Duchess,’ had already lost the charm of novelty; and many of the little absurdities which, when first seen, provoked ‘inextinguishable laughter,’ were simply pleasing and enjoyed critically. It is one thing to provoke the mirth of an audience in which the humors of the ‘Grand Duchess’ are wholly or comparatively new, and another to produce as much of an effect when every one knows just when Fritz will carry his chair and chapeau to the Duchess, when General Boum will use his explosive snuff box, when Prince Paul will faint, and when the conspirators will join hands with the Duchess for a can-can.     

Performing under the latter conditions, the success of the new company was, on the whole, decided. There is no occasion for comparisons which in this as in other instances, are odious and unprofitable. Every one knows how handsomely the ‘Grand Duchess’ has been presented here by Mr. Bateman’s company. It is sufficient then, to say that an audience which, through Mr. Bateman’s enterprise, has been permitted to enjoy the ‘Grand Duchess’ so often that every song, chorus, dance, funny gesture and burlesque grimace has been learned by heart, was thoroughly satisfied and often enthusiastic over the same jolly opera. The new prima donna, Madame Rose Bell, made an easy conquest by her first appearance on the stage. Her presence is stately, and her carriage full of easy dignity when she does not abandon herself to the humor of ther part. She has a face which readily lights up; pleasant always, and always expressive, showing delicately the minutest changes of feeling. It is not a face which in repose suggests the probability of a spirited performance of the cancan; it is too refined for that, and even in the play of features required in some of the grosser parts of the opera the expression is of a more delicate humor than that which we have commonly associated with the part of the rollicking Duchess. Her personation, however, never fails for lack of easy, jaunty and genuine humor. She acts the part of a cultivated artist, and gives to it all of its zest without all of its occasional coarseness. Her voice, although sometimes deficient in fullness and power, is sympathetic, clear, well modulated, and evidently trained in the best schools. It is rich in the lower tones and clear in the upper, and always managed with the skill of a genuine artist.

Next to Madame Bell the decided favorite last evening was M. Carrier, whose conception of the character of Fritz differed somewhat from that ordinarily, and as we think erroneously, held. Instead of being a mere stupid, awkward, good-natured dolt, of whom the Grand Duchess would have tired on her first interview, he is a fellow of keen native wit, who blunders mainly because of his carelessness of the social requirements of a rank far above his own. Mr. Carrier, acting on this conception, accordingly makes a new and more interesting character of the plebian General, and gives to it far stronger lights and shadows, greater importance and deeper humor. He is never so silly that the real instinctive shrewdness of his nature is wholly lost sight of.  He has a strong, rich, mellow and effective voice, which he knows how to use superbly. He is destined to be a universal favorite. M. Beckers ‘made up’ excellently as General Brown. He has the figure, the ‘swash’buckler’ style, the sonorous voice, and the broadly comical aspect needed for his part. His dancing in the can-can, ending with his ascent of one of the stage pillars, was superfluously absurd. M. Genot, the Baron Puck, is short, pursy, and otherwise well suited to his character. Of the Prince Paul, M. Goby, we cannot speak so highly. We defer criticism on the Wanda until the part is filled by the lady to which it belongs.       

The chorus, with the exception of one or two little disagreements as to time with the orchestra, sang with admirable spirit and vigor; and the orchestra, under Mr. Stoepel’s able direction, performed its part extremely well. The scenery and costumes—all made in Paris expressly for Mr. Grau—excited universal praise, and deserved it. As a whole, the opening was auspicious of a long-continued success for Mr. Grau’s new enterprise. Encores were frequent and hearty, especially that of the Dites Lui, which was given by Madame Bell with a delicate intensity of expression worthy of the choicest numbers in the best grand operas.”

“Mr. Grau commenced his season yesterday evening. The house was well attended, and the excellent changes which have been made in it showed the audience to advantage. These changes are surprisingly good, but last night they did not work well, so far as accommodation was concerned. It was difficult to get into or from the parquet, simply because one door only was opened. There are two, and both should be used on occasions when many people desire to move around to see their friends. It is necessary also as a matter of precaution against alarms. The house has been vastly enlarged, and is now unquestionably a valuble property—which before it was not.

La Grande Duchesse was played. The work is known here, and its production by Mr. Grau was a challenge. There can be no battle. Mr. Grau's company is not likely to interfere with any impressions which already exist concerning the opera. Nevertheless, his artists have merit. Mlle. Rose Belle possesses the best French voice we have ever had in New-York. Her bearing is dignified, and her appearance prepossessing. She sings skillfully and with spirit, but she is not in the slightest degree funny. M. Carrier is an artist already known in this country. His voice naturally is strong and good, but he perverts it for opera bouffe, and the result is the usual one—failure. M. Beckers, the basso, seems to have a voice, but distinguished himself mostly as a dancer in the can-can of the second act. Of the remaining two of the trio of conspirators we prefer not to speak. An excuse was made for Wanda, and it was necessary.

The opera has been placed on the stage in an extremely creditable manner. The costumes, scenery and appointments are all good, as also were the chorus and orchestra. La Grande Duchesse will be repeated to-night, and until further notice.”

“The first appearance of a totally new troupe at a theater so elaborately reconstructed as to be about as good as new, and in a style of performance to which New York seems for the hour to have devoted all its affections, was the principal sensation of the merry world last evening, and the French Theater was resplendent of course with gay silks and fluttering ribbons, with rouge and diamonds, and swinging curls, while the aisles and lobbies were crowded with fashionable loungers, wearied critics, stray actors and managers, and the few scores of dilettante, whose faces are as well known at every theater and concert room as those of the ushers themselves. The house has been wonderfully improved during the Summer. It is easy to enter and to quit; it is light and cheerful. It is so arranged that those who come more to see the audience than to hear the music, have full opportunity to gratify their taste; and its capacity has, moreover, been enlarged. Thus it is so pleasant by contrast with its former aspect, that it instantly puts an audience into a good humor. What the house may have failed to effect last night the actors undoubtedly supplied, for a merrier company of spectators has seldom laughed over Offenbach in New-York than that which greeted Madame Rose Bell, M. Carrier, M. Beckers, and the rest of Mr. Grau’s Company on their first public appearance in this country. A cast of the Grande Duchesse which pleases a people who still yearn for the bold Tostee and remember the inimitable foolishness of Leduc and the humor of the gallant Duchesne, must be a fine one indeed. Well, the cast last night gave almost universal satisfaction, and in many respects was superior to anything we have ever had in opera bouffe. The chorus was moreover good and strong, the dresses were particularly rich, and the orchestra, under the efficient management of Mr. Robert Stoepel, deserved warm praise. The principal artists labored under one obvious disadvantage. Conscious of the excellence of those who had gone before them, they one and all seemed to feel constrained to be as funny as they could, so the fun was sometimes forced, and the gay absurdity which is the proper characteristic of opera bouffe occasionally degenerated into a species of sturdy farce, to which the French genius is altogether alien. This however will soon wear off, and meanwhile it is the motive cause of a great deal of capital stage business, and of some new points which will always bring down the house; witness various capital antics in the conjuration scene, the vigorous gesticulation which accompanies the Sabre song, and the tableau at the end of the Cancan, where General Boum, not content with mounting armchair, climbs up the door post and from that picturesque elevation sheds a blessing upon the virtuous trio beneath him.

Madame Rose Bell, in whom the interest of the evening centered, has been endowed by nature with a beautiful face upon which the [?] women have exhausted their mysterious arts with a marvelous effect. Her first appearance therefore is singularly prepossessing. She has an excellent voice, sweet and true and strong, well cultivated, and not much worn. As a singer she is superior both to Tostée and Irma. She is a vivacious actress, lacking, it is true, both the rampant animation of our first representative of the amorous sovereign of Gerolstein, and the rollicking manner of the irrepressible damsel who is now personating the sixth wife of Blue Beard at Niblo’s Garden, but nevertheless lively and amusing. Of humor, indeed, she has very little. Her fun is not spontaneous as Tostée’s and Irma’s seems to be, and therefore she never enters fully into her part, but we are constantly reminded that the fun is learned by rote, just as the words are. We do not mention this altogether as an objection. For ourselves, we greatly prefer an actress who does not enter freely and heartily into such characters as the heroines of Offenbach, believing that there are things which had better not be done perfectly well. There are portions of Madame Rose Bell’s performance which are far from agreeable to persons who cherish a respect for feminine delicacy; but, generally speaking, she strives merely to be arch where her predecessor was sensuous. Which of the two the public will prefer remains to be seen. Fritz in the hands of M. Carrier is raised from his old subordinate position to the very foremost role in the opera, and must henceforth assume a new popularity.  Comparison with the former easy in this case is superfluous, for Carrier is an excellent singer, with a clear, strong, ringing voice, and moreover a lively and indefatigable actor—the exact opposite, in a word, of M. Guffroy. He has made a decided hit. He represents the young soldier as rude and deliciously awkward, but not a mere stolid dolt. He has remarkable powers of facial contortion. His make-up, if rather more extravagant than that to which we are accustomed, and the same thing may be said of his general behaviour. M. Beckers, as Gen. Boum, promises, if we are not mistaken, to eclipse the fame of his formidable rival Duchesne. He too has a noble voice, which he understands how to use and in his ‘Puff, puff, pouf,’ he produces a marked sensation, no less by the vocalization than by his action. He is a German rather than a French Boum, with a puffy mein, and chin high in air but with a very active pair of legs, and great fertility in the invention of ridiculous situations. In the conspiracy he was immensely funny. Mr. Goby plays Prince Pause only pretty well, being no more silly than a hundred young men whom one meets every day, and far too graceful and good-looking for his part.  He did not sing so well last night as we have heard him sing at rehearsal. The Baron Puck of M. Genoe was entirely satisfactlry. This gentleman has the advantage of being [?] and very short, with a face which a little paint makes intensely ludicrous, with a good voice, and with an excellent knowledge of stage business he will be a great favorite. The Wandu of Madame Guoretti, who took the place of Mdlle. Fontanel, reported on the sick-list, the Baron Grog of M. Bourgois, and the Neponime of M. Massay, require no special mention.  As a whole, the performance was remarkably good, though the principal male characters yet lack a little unity of action, which will come with a few nights’ practice. The chorus will not go notably astray, except in the letter scene, with the maids of honor, at the beginning of the second act, where the voices and the orchestra were at cross purposes. But then there were very many of the young ladies, and it was the first night. Mr. Grau, therefore, has done a great deal to fasten opera bouffe upon us, and we are not at all obliged to him. The essence of it is the degradation of two of the most lovely works of the divine Creator—woman and music; and the growth of a public taste for this species of entertainment is a misfortune for any community. The first effect of it is already seen in the ruin of a more legitimate style of art; the second must soon become apparent, if the infatuation last, in a weakening of private morality and a blunting of the sense of social decency. The Grand Duchesse is infinitely preferable to the beastly pieces which have been presented since it was first brought out by Mr. Bateman, but even the Grand Duchesse is lascivious enough to be a public evil, and we cannot ovserve its popularity without profound sorrow.”

“Have you noticed that the grand preoccupation of today’s chroniclers is to find the last word, a sensational word that seizes the reader, and, like the finale of a dancer with her arms rounded like the handles of an urn, compels the bravos?

It’s to the search for this unfortunate word that our literary scholars of whipped cream devote all their genius. An article without the final word is an arrow without a point; it’s the Parthenon without Phidias’s Minerva. This ultimate word, in a word, is the capstone of the edifice. [A long discussion follows about various literary and historical figures, then a metaphor about cooking, all leading up to. . .]

But, excuse me! I’ll come back another time to my grievances against today’s writers whom I reproach for wasting the splendid French wit in order to reduce it to the role of entertainment, for you could believe that I only persist so much about the searchers for the last word because I can’t find the first word.

If you like that well enough, I’ll tell you that yesterday evening the inauguration of the new hall of the French Theater took place at Fourteenth Street. One could well say new hall in good conscience, because the alterations executed in the interior of that building have completely modified its appearance. You can’t recognize it any more: you never would have believed it possible to bring about such a radical metamorphosis and to find so many resources in a space that appeared so limited. One astonishing thing is that the original architect hadn’t drawn up a better resolution from his plot of land when he had free rein [to do so].

You must have a firm will and the manner of a shrewd administrator: one needs a synonym to replace the old cliché “hors d’age” [beyond his years] if you please—and also not a bad [amount of] capital to put such a transformation into operation [which is] a bit more pleasant that that of the brochure of not long ago.

The new hall appears almost twice as big as the former one. The parquet was drawn back almost to the bottom, which gives seven to eight more rows of stalls; as for breadth, it extends now from one wall to the other.

The first loges, so scanty before and so frightfully divided up, expand now over three very open rows.

The gallery called dress circle has been lowered by four feet and in addition drawn back by as much, which permits the spectators to see the loges and the parquet clearly. Besides, the sharply inclined plan that made the sight-lines of these seats so disagreeable has been replaced by a gentle and better-contrived slope, for, like the parquet, the last seats of the gallery will lean on the wall of the façade.

The family circle has undergone analogous modifications and is now found in its turn drawn back over the first gallery.

Briefly, from all points in the hall, from the first row of orchestra stalls to the last row of the second gallery, the spectator turns out to be in the best optical and auditory circumstances.

The interior decoration is in a simple style, of very good taste, a white background with gold fillets with some deep blue touches, soberly disposed on the cornices. The boxes in front of the stage are upholstered like veritable boudoirs. It makes many fashionable circles that believe themselves worthy of first-class panaches pale with jealousy. The uncovered boxes and the first gallery are draped in crimson material and the interior walls are of a green shade—or perhaps blue—very soft in any case, with pretty frescoes in gray on the panels. [For remainder of description, see Post or Times of 10/05/68.] . . . .

You know that I have only the most limited fondness for operetta bouffe [sic] and the Offenbach genre. Not that I criticize it with predetermined, ridiculous, exaggerated puritanism; I’m only angry at its errors. I don’t want them to unnerve us by dint of provoking laughts that are sometimes unwholesome. I’ll talk about that more another time; today let’s draw in our claws, for everything invites us there and you have to have neither taste nor ears to not frankly avow the pleasure that such an outstanding, remarkable production as that which we’ve just attended gives rise to. Operetta performed like this isn’t just more than operetta; it’s comic opera, it’s music, it’s the singing, it’s the skill.

The audience that’s quick to judge—which doesn’t keep them from often judging not too well—already has its favorites. Which ones? Oh! It’s not a mystery; their names were on everyone’s lips yesterday evening; they’ll be celebrated by all the press today and will pass into posterity before the end of the week! I’ve named the trio Rose-Bell, Carrier, Beckers.

We’ll have occasion often enough to come back to an accounting of these excellent artists; may then excuse me, then, but the pressure of time—for I don’t want to leave for tomorrow the testimony of fellow-feeling that they’re owed—forces me to be succinct today.

For some time now, public rumor has been busy with the new troupe. They name the names, they sing praises in advance and they predict immense success. Contrary to what usually happens to things that are extolled too much, the [actual] event didn’t refute the favorable forecasts.

Madame Rose Bell—we don’t want to be more indiscreet than the poster and write a name, glorious in the domain of art, that many lips were murmuring yesterday—Mme Rose Bell is an artist beyond compare. I strongly believe that Offenbach should make her acquaintance! Has he often found equal interpreters for his music? From the opening number J’aime les militaires, the audience was conquered. Magnificent voice, extended range, pearly timbre, exquisite technique, proper production, there’s the summary of Mme Rose Bell’s qualities. The romance Dites-lui was a proper occasion to launch the [new] hall. Luckily it’s been freshly rebuilt! The legend of the Verre is perhaps the piece in which Mme Rose Bell (inasmuch as there’s a Rose Bell) deployed the most masterly vocal qualities and skill. As a comedienne, the new Grand Duchess has incontestable value; she plays the role with a bit of semi-bashful timorousness which isn’t at all unpleasant. She has some gracefulness, and her stunts, amusing enough, aren’t too flashy, for which I congratulate her.

What should I say about M. Carrier? Which devil is he built like? He must have lungs of steel and muscles of India-rubber. I’ve never seen a comic role played in a more amusing way. M. Carrier would dispel the spleen of an assembly of undertakers at work. And with this devilish liveliness, a powerful voice which, like Guzman, doesn’t recognize any obstacles. The notes come out full, large, powerful, altogether in flight. Carrier-Guzman juggles with his voice, he commands it, he overworks it, and always falls back into equilibrium; it takes his fancy and he attacks a piece an octave higher which he doubtless finds notated too low. And how much of a comedian is this singer? The scene in the second act between the Grand Duchess and Fritz was played by Carrier and Rose Bell like a scene of a true high comedy. They say that M. Carrier has already come to America. It appears that they let him leave; I don’t agree that he’s the same this time.

All the qualities that distinguish M. Carrier we find again in M. Beckers, outstanding comic actor and prime singer. You ask yourself why that [man] who’s gifted with this beautiful and sonorous bass voice with a ringing timbre doesn’t sing Bertram or Marcel. It’s because without a doubt he prefers to sing General Boum, La Palisse [Famous 15th-16th century French general] would say. Well and good, everyone has his tastes, and you can like his panache when he carries it off with such merit.

The role of Wanda should have been played by Mme Fontanel. This artist, whom the trip has tired out a lot and who keeps to her bed, had nevertheless offered to appear in that role knowing that she had been announced; but M. Grau didn’t want a worthy artist such as Mme Fontanel to risk aggravating her situation through an excess of zeal, in appearing under conditions that could have been unfavorable to the judgment the audience would have been called upon to make. They had recourse to the obligingness of Mme Guerette, who played the role, so to speak, without warning, and who was, really! [sic] very well received.

The rest of the personnel is of the same order as the big stars. M. Génot is very good as Puck; he gives the right comic note and sings very agreeably. M. Goby pleased as Prince Paul; if he’d like to permit me to submit to him a single observation, I’d tell him that he sings the verses of la Gazette de Hollande with too much spirit; in certain parts of his role, there are also too many underlined meanings. You mustn’t forget that Prince Paul is only a simpleton; a titled simpleton, that’s all. The too-short role of Baron Grog was beneath the genuine talent of M. Bourgoin; which nevertheless proves that there aren’t bad roles for a good artist. M. Mussay did Nepomuc well, and Mesdames Clémentine, Rosa Taillefer, Villiers and Briot were strongly vaued both for their beauty and for their singing in the verses of the letters. We only mention those who sing solos, but justice demands that we declare that they were surrounded by a flying squadron of lovely girls so gaily smart and so prettily costumed in their blooming attire that you would have said that as many little Watteaus had alighted in their ranks. The sultan Saladin would have passed a happy quarter-hour there!

The orchestra and chorus went along well, which isn’t astonishing if you reflect that they were under the direction of the valiant Stoepel. Again an artist of good stock, that one. Ah! If the heads of the orchestra had the right to be decorated!. . . .

In sum, the first impression is good, excellent; the bravos, the encores were awarded in perfectly justified profusion. Nothing appeared mediocre and many, if not most, things deserved sincere praise. The perfectly regulated mise-en scène, the costumes of an incontestable richness and freshness, attest to the vigilant care of a serious management.

The audience knows how to appreciate all the merits and impart the right portion [of praise] to each one. M. Juignet is an able manager and M. Grau a director gifted with great artistic sensibility. They gave us Ristori’ they’ll give us the Opéra Comique.

That’s my aim; I won’t give up on it!

                                                                                    Ch. V.”

“Mr. Grau marshaled his new forces Monday evening at this theatre, and it is safe to say that they made fast friends with the public. This is no easy thing to do on the basis of the ‘Grande Duchesse.’ That charming bit of musical nonsense has been done to death and everybody has grown blasé and critical in regard to it. It has not only been done to death, but the doing has been accomplished by artists quite perfect in their parts, who have identified themselves with these parts, and so thoroughly accustomed us to their way of rendering them, that any new way seems almost an impertinence. If, in the face of these facts, Mr. Grau’s new company has succeeded in satisfying a fastidious public, it has done well. Mr. Carrier and Mr. Beckers at once assert themselves as buffo artist of the first merit, and in the singing as well as in the acting of their parts were all that could be wished. They will certainly assure success to any rôles they undertake, as they did last evening unequivocally to those of Fritz and General Boum. The characters of Prince Paul and the Barons Puck and Grog, though excellent, hardly reach the point of finish, and, expecially of humor, that Mr. Bateman’s artists brought them to. As to Mme. Rose-Bell, she is charmingly pretty, of fine height and graceful figure and action, and has a clear delicate, and sweet voice, not of great power, a mezzo-soprano in quality, and very pleasing to listen to. She is young, has been well instructed musically, sings in tune, and has a quiet, easy manner. To compare her with Tostée, we should say that she was a better vocal artist, having a freshcer voice, and one under better control, certainly a prettier woman, acting her part with more reserve and delicacy, and lacking that fine riot and fire and dash with which Tostée dashes into the part of the Duchess, and puts into it all the mischief that Offenbach intended it to hold. Certainly Tostée has the keenest sense of the ludicrous, and makes more of all the little points by those quiet gestures, looks, and actions, that constant by-play and filling in of the part, that mark the fine actor or actress. The chorus was excellent and effective. The artists were called before the curtain and repetitions of the best known airs and concerted pieces demanded. Especially Madame Rose-Bell won favor in the ‘Dites Lui’ which she sang with much grace, naivete and sweetness. The audience was cordial, appreciative, satisfied indeed, but not carried away by enthusiasm which in fact as we have intimated could not be expected with an opera so hackneyed as this one.

The theatre has been improved, especially the mode of entrance, but why is only one small passageway left open by which to leave the parquet? It was crowded and insufficient. There appeared to be another on the other side which was locked, to the discomfort of many people. The new drop curtain, painted by the Messrs. Calyo, is artistic in design and excellent in execution, and adds much to the attractiveness of the theatre. A drop curtain is not an easy thing to paint, as the many dreadful ones to be seen at the theatres of this city bear witness. The mythological subjects are apt to be especially wearisome. The new one we refer to has no straining after effect either in design or color, but is natural in grouping, and brilliant without being gaudy in tone.”

“The ‘Grand Duchess,’ as presented at the French theatre, grows in favor by repetition. The personal beauty and attractiveness, the exquisite acting and the fine singing of Madame Bell, are irresistibly winning. Beckers displays great histrionic resources and a magnificent voice in his part of Fritz, and the other characters are well represented.”

“The house was crowded and the opera was exceedingly well rendered—better in many respects than any previous production of the same opera in this city. The chorus was quite large—larger than ever before seen in this city—and sang with great spirit. The orchestra was full and gave satisfaction. Rose Bell is a fine, stately lady, and rather prepossessing. She made a decidedly favorable impression, and all her songs were loudly encored. She sang the Sabre song with consummate skill, was encored three times and it was repeated in the same exquisite style. Rose Bell has a splendid voice—now high and thrilling and anon low, soft and voluptuous. M. Carrier as Fritz elicited considerable laughter by his actions. Beckus as General Boum was only fair. With regard to the execution and manner with which the opera was brought out, we can only say that it has far surpassed the expectations which had been formed. Of course, here and there a slight blemish might be found, but as a whole the opera was a success.”