Maretzek Italian Opera: Faust

“The cast advertised for ‘Faust’ last night was not an attractive one except in a singular particular. The promise of Miss Kellogg, however, as Margherita, was sufficient to fill the house. There is no other character in which Miss Kellogg is so uniformly and invariably excellent as this, and there has been no other Margherita on our stage who has approached so nearly the ideal Gretchen of Goethe, and interpreted with so much delicacy the poetry of Gounod’s exquisite and romantic music. Praise has been exhausted on this favorite personation of our favorite prima donna, and hardly any of the praise has been too high. It is only necessary to say, so far as she is concerned, that the representation last night was fully equal to the expectations of the audience. For the rest of the characters we have happily much more praise than we expected to be able to give. We have said that the cast was not specially attractive, but nearly all the male singers rose considerably above the dead level of respectability which we were prepared to look for. The principal and most grateful surprise was the Mefistofele of Signor Reyna. It has not often been our good fortune to commend this painstaking gentleman, but we must honestly say that he makes a lovely devil. He was little out of tune, and that little rarely; he acted with unflagging spirit and intelligence and a perfect knowledge of the business of the part; he delivered most of his music with excellent phrasing, intelligence, and voice; and his drinking song received the well-earned compliment of an encore. Signor Lotti is no stranger in the part of Faust. He has all the necessary sweetness of voice and delicacy of comprehension for that fine role, and in the more tender portions of the music he is quite at home; his defect is a lack of force. Mrs. Lumley made a sufficiently good Siebel, and M. Haeseller, a relic of the unfortunate Grand French Opera Company which made a short a disastrous campaign at the Academy early in the season, impressed the audience very favorably in the small part of Valentine. The chorus was notably unsteady, and in the tenor and bass duet of the first act and the quartet of the third a want of rehearsal was conspicuous. Upon the whole, however, the performance, though inferior to many previous representations of ‘Faust’ at the Academy of Music, was a pleasant one, and should be repeated.”

“The performance of ‘Faust’ last night was one of those agreeable disappointments that sometimes occur to compensate for occasions when greater things are expected but not forthcoming. There were hazardous indications about the cast which, results being what they were, we prefer not to point out in detail. It is enough to say that, the prima donna aside, the public would not have been greatly surprised had this representation achieved very moderate success. The satisfaction was therefore quite general and freely expressed by the crowded audience when a really sterling performance was given which, if it seldom rose to superlative merit, was in most respects even and careful, and in some instances ascended considerably above mediocrity. Miss Kellogg’s exceedingly sweet and loveable Margherita is so familiar here as to call for no lengthened eulogium; but it is always just to record this charming young singer’s improvement in firmness and purity of tone, in feeling and precision, and in the histrionic breadth and executive power that are so essential to the great lyric artist. Signor Lotti is hardly strong enough for Faust, but he is a smooth and conscientious tenor, whose chief preventive from achieving excellence, besides the delicacy of his voice, consists in the curious immobility of his features. With some improvement here, and a trifle more dash and fire in his action, Signor Lotti might take higher rank than at present can be accorded him. Signor Reyna fairly outdid all we have seen him do as Mephistopheles. He was in good voice last night, singing false very rarely; he has clearly made a close study of the part, and his acting and singing last night deserved and got warm commendation. Signor Reyna’s song in the second act was honored by a hearty encore. The opera was in other regards tolerably well sung, but in no other particulars calls for special mention.”

“Maretzek’s season of Italian opera is making steady progress, though it presents no features of novelty. ‘Faust’ was given last night in fair style, Miss Kellogg in her best part of Marguerite, appealing to marked advantage, and winning the usual cordial applause which she always secures in this opera. Lotti was the Faust of the evening, Reyna the Mephistopheles, and Madame Lumley the Siebel.”