New-Yorker Stadt-Theater Opera:La Sonnambula: Bertha Römer Benefit

“The benefit of Miss Bertha Römer, which was given last night at the Stadt Theater, was a veritable triumph in both music and performance. The fair and accomplished beneficiary, who is still in the flush of youth and on the very threshold only of her career, sustained the part of Amina, Die Nachtwänderlin (‘La Sonnambula’), with such power of vocalism and such fire and artistic grace in performance as at once decided her to distinguished rank, not merely as a prima donna, but as an actress of eminent capacity. The celebrated aria ‘Come per me sereno,’ in which many ambitious beginners have failed, was so marked a success with Miss Römer, that the hearty applause which rewarded it gave her the elan for the night, and, from that moment, she controlled alike the stage and the audience. The duet with Elvino, in the fifth scene of the first act, was also charmingly executed. In the seventh scene, ‘Son, mio bene, del zefiro amante,’ was still better, and Amina seemed to gather fresh force and sweetness as she proceeded until, in the first sleep-walking scene, where she enters the apartment of Rodolfo and reclines, she took the house by storm. Her upper notes were pure, thrilling and true, beyond all that we have heard of Miss Römer before, upon several occasions when we have taken pleasure in watching commending the progress of a lady who is already a brilliant acquisition to our lyric stage. In the second somnambulist scene, in the last act (the German’s have divided the original two acts of Bellini’s libretto into three), Miss Romer’s singing and acting both took her warmest friends by surprise. There were melody, taste, feeling and vigor that would have added laurels to the wreath now worn by artists whom the public here and abroad have long been accustomed to extol. She was rewarded with continual applause and many very rich and beautiful floral tokens, one of which was elegantly mounted on a costly terraced stand of silver. Mr. Habelman, as Elvino, was in his best voice, and sang in the duets superbly. His fine aria, ‘Ah Perchè Non Posso Odiarti,’ was a masterpiece. The well known artist Mr. Vierling, as Rodolfo, was good throughout, but in the exquisite ‘Vi ravviso o luoghi ameni,’ in the first act, surpassed himself. Miss Haffner, as Lisa, acquitted herself very creditably, and Mrs. Hülsch, as Teresa, deserves special mention for her quiet and careful rendering of a subordinate, yet essential part. But the crown of the evening reverted to Miss Römer in the enchanting aria at the close, ‘Ah, non giunge,’ which has become classic in the annals of operatic effort. The orchestra, under Mr. Neuendorff’s able and conscientious management and the choruses, one and all, seemed to be specially inspired by the admirable spirit and success of the beneficiary and to share with the audience the genuine gratification they evidently felt in hailing the bright promise of another fair star so steadily and rapidly ascending the horizon of lyric and dramatic art, as last night’s revelation by Miss Römer has entitled the public to believe. The opera was, of course, announced and sung in German but we have made our reference to the Italian original, as the latter is more familiar to the multitude.”