Parepa-Rosa English Opera: Rose Hersee Benefit

“A medium sized house attended the first representation of Auber’s sparkling opera last night, which was given for the benefit of Miss Rose Hersee. It was preceded by the first act of the ‘Trovatore,’ which might have been profitably omitted. Mme. Parepa-Rosa is a truly great Leonora, and she sang her cavatina with all her wonted power and brilliancy; but the tenor and baritone are wholly incapable of interpreting Verdi. The plot of the ‘Black Domino’ is familiar to all who have seen it on the metropolitan stage as a drama. The music is sparkling and champagne like, and adapted solely to French voices and French acting. It loses much in its English shape. Again, it is an opera totally unsuited to such a large building and stage as the Academy, and the froth and sparkle of its instrumentation and the rattling nature of its vocalism became lost in the vast void which surrounds them there. Miss Rose Hersee added fresh laurels to her high reputation in the title rôle and sang the romance of the first act and the aria in the last in exquisite style. Mrs. Seguin again proved herself an accomplished artist as Brigitte, the coquettish companion of the truant Abbess, and Messrs. Castle, Lawrence, Hall and Seguin did the best they could with their respective rôles. But the opera is essentially French, and without the Gallic fire and dash it cannot be made a success.”

“After several postponement this opera—one of Auber’s earlier works—was last night produced at the Academy of Music for the benefit of Rose Hersee, who took the leading part in it. She was supported by Mrs. Seguin and Miss Warden, and by Messrs. Castle, Lawrence and Hall.

“The music of the ‘Black Domino’ being by Auber, is necessarily light, graceful and melodious. A trio in the first act, a romance for the soprano, a long solo for the contralto or mezzo-soprano, and a chorus of nuns in the last act are, perhaps, the most notable features of the work. The tenor has no great salient melody, as is the case in ‘Fra Diavolo’ and ‘Masaniello,’ nor is the baritone more liberally treated, though last night Mr. Lawrence sought to overcome the defect by introducing and singing in good style Robaudi’s admired song, ‘La stella confidante [confidente].”

“Miss Hersee and Mrs. Seguin were very frequently applauded, the latter securing an encore for her convent song, in which the nun Brigetta treats of the scandals and gossips of life in a nunnery. In the last act there is a great deal of music for female voices alone, and it is specially graceful and attractive. The overture is well known as a popular work for concert room selection.

“The opera was preceded by the first act of ‘Trovatore,’ in which Parepa, Castle, Lawrence and Hall took part.” 

“Anna Thillon gave great popularity, some years ago, in this country, to ‘Le Domino Noir,’ as well as to ‘Les Diamants de la Couronne,’ and other of Auber’s bright and fluent comic operas, and they have always retained the hold which, for most of us, they then gained on first acquaintance. Auber wrote for Paris, and the taste of Paris in his day was very like the taste of New-York in ours. Dashing melody and plenty of it, concerted pieces with plenty of showy ornaments, inversions and repetitions, a spice, when possible, of military effect, or, lacking that, of rattling dance music, are sure to please New-Yorkers as they once captivated Paris—and still do in most cases—especially when a remarkably stylish and fascinating woman sings the principal part. Miss Rose Hersee, save that she is a blonde instead of a brunette, and is still more petite, reminds one not a little of Mme. Thillon, and the resemblance, with old opera goers at least, is of service to her. She sings Angela with buoyancy, tenderness and precision, and her execution is at times better than we have previously heard it. In the trio and duet of the first act Miss Hersee’s delicate voice was displayed to excellent purpose, and showed itself quite equal to exigencies that demand flexibility and sweetness rather than physical power. Mrs. Seguin is joyous and zealous, as usual, to please in Brigette, and with her beauty, good singing and sprightliness, aided greatly in keeping the audience in good humor. Mr. Castle is languid and ineffective as Horace—like most tenors, his dramatic capacity is limited—but his vocal efforts in the character are unexceptionable, so that he may be forgiven for other shortcomings. The minor parts and the chorus of the occasion were satisfactory, and the opera might well bear repetition. The ‘Black Domino’ was preceded last night by a spirited performance of the first act of ‘Il Trovatore,’ wherein Mme. Parepa Rosa, Mr. Laurence and Mr. Castle covered themselves with honor, and, for their pains, were called forward with loud acclamations on the fall of the curtain.”

“The three notable operatic revivals which have honorably distinguished the short season of the Parepa Rosa company in New-York have certainly satisfied a great variety of tastes. Lovers of classical music alike in its modern and its older forms, have found new delights in the neglected master-works of Weber and Mozart; and last night the modern French school was represented in Auber’s sparkling era of ‘The Black Domino,’ so long unheard in this city that to the present generation it is almost a new work. It holds a high place in the class of comic opera to which it belongs, though that class is not, of course the greatest. Light and fluent melodies, choruses so lively that they make one’s feet almost instinctively move [to?] the measure of the dance, gayety, laughter, and perpetual variety and freshness are its characteristics. In a small house it is, if well performed, one of the most amusing of works. At the Academy of Music it loses a great deal of its effervescence, as a bottle of champagne might if one tried to drink it from a bucket. The libretto is bright and comical, and contains a pretty large proportion of sparking dialogue, which in such a large house was often inaudible. The representation, therefore, as a whole, lacked spirit. Merely as a musical performance, however, it was excellent. The cast—as usual in this company—was well-balanced, the artists were all in good [voice?], the concerted pieces went well, and the chorus was nearly always firm. Miss Hersee, for whose benefit the performance was given, sang with more life and interest than she has previously shown this season, and acted with unusual spirit. Mrs. Seguin, a conscientious and unaffected actress and a true artist, was pleasing as she always is; and the other characters were well represented by Miss Warden, and Messrs. Castle, Laurence, Seguin, and Hall. Miss Warden made a more favorable impression than she had produced as the Gypsy Queen in the ‘Bohemian Girl,’ and Mr. Laurence appeared to better advantage as an actor than we have ever seen him before, besides singing with great taste and at time with brilliancy. In the Second Act he interpolated Robaudi’s ‘La Stella,’ giving it in Italian. It was hardly an improvement to the opera, though it is a good song, and redounded much to Mr. Laurence’s own glory. Of the other members the most pleasing were the trio in the First Act, ‘O might so enchanting,’ by Miss Hersee, Mrs. Seguin, and Mr. Castle; the duet, ‘Meanwhile for dancing,’ by Miss Hersee and Mr. Castle; Miss Hersee’s song of ‘Ines the gay;’ the final chorus of the Second Act; Mrs. Seguin’s beautiful ballad, ‘Even at the hour of matin,’ which was encored; and the excellent buffo song of the Deo gratius, excellently given by Mr. Seguin.

“Before the curtain rose for ‘The Black Domino’ the First Act of ‘Trovatore’ was sung, Madame Parepa Rosa appearing as Leonora, Mr. Castle as Manrico, Mr. Laurence as Di Luna, and Mr. G. F. Hall as Ferrando. We have said so much, heretofore, in praise of Madame Rosa’s Leonora that anything further now would be superfluous. Mr. Castle gave his serenade with a delicacy and softness which he is too apt to miss, and joined in the final trio with all his wonted fire. Mr. Laurence sang so well as to make everyone regret that he could not be heard in the whole opera. He had promised to introduce Il balen, but he did not do it.”

“We have but one regret in this matter, and that is that nothing has been done by this company for American art. In place of the ‘Domino Noir,’ if the work of some American composer had been selected, we believe it would have been with a happier result, for the English text that was set to Auber’s French music, was wretched doggerel. Music must be made for the words and not words patched on the music. There are several American operas that have had decided success in their day, among them Fry’s ‘Leonora’ and ‘Notre Dame’ and Bristow’s ‘Rip Van Winkle,’ and we believe it would have been a graceful return for the constant favor that has been shown to Madame Rosa during her career in this country, but also a profitable venture, for her to have produced one or other of these works.”

“’The Black Domino’ was produced for the first time in this city, by this troupe, on Wednesday, March 30^th, the occasion being the benefit of Miss Hersee. The attendance, though numerous and fashionable, was not as large as the merits of this young artist deserved. A drawback to the full success of the opera was the fact that the Academy is too large a building for the performance of a majority of the English operas, and especially so for the presentation of a light comic opera like ‘Le Domino Noir,’ for not only is it difficult to hear the dialogues, but much of the beauty of the instrumentation and also of some of the vocal music is lost. In a smaller house this opera would be one of the most attractive of the Parepa-Rosa repertoire. To do the dramatic features of the opera full justice, undoubtedly French artists are requisite, but two of the English opera company being equal to the task, and those two are Miss Hersee and Mrs. Seguin, who both bore off the palm. The former rendered the aria, ‘Inez the Gay,’ in charming style, and the latter sang ‘Even at the hour of Matin’ with great expression. The trio in the first act was also rendered well by Miss Hersee, Mrs. Seguin and Castle. Miss Warden acquitted herself creditably, and Mr. Lawrence appeared to better advantage than ordinarily. Messrs. Hall and Seguin also sang their parts effectively the latter [illegible] his song [remainder of sentence illegible]. Previous to the performance of the ‘Black Domino,’ the first act of ‘Trovatore’ was given, with Madame Rosa as Leonora, and Castle as Maurice. The feature was the serenade, in which Castle fairly divided the honors with Parepa.”