Last Nilsson Concert

“Perhaps during the entire grand successful season of Nilsson there never was a house more crowded and more fashionable than that which received her with the warmest appreciation at Steinway Hall last night. The representatives of the highest class of New York society were there to endorse by their presence the great esteem in which the delicious cantatrice is held. Nilsson was in excellent voice; the symptoms of fatigue which were noticeable since her return from the West, where she had to struggle a little against hard travel and a temporary illness, were not noticeable last night. She looked more lovely than ever, and as happy as a cheerful mind and a congenial audience could make her. She rendered the favorite cavatina from ‘Traviata,’ ‘Fors’ e lui,’ with her usual tenderness and delicacy of expression. The ‘Miserere,’ from ‘Trovatore,’ with Brignoli, brought the enthusiasm of the audience to a point which led to an encore. Miss Carey, whose delightful voice and ease of execution carry a charm with them, sustained herself splendidly in the aria from ‘Dinorah,’ ‘Kathleen Mavourneen,’ which she sang in response to an encore, and the duet from ‘Trovatore,’ with the accomplished tenor, who, although not in as good voice as we have sometimes heard him, sang divinely, as he was in duty bound to do to such a house. To say that Vieuxtemps, the great master of the violin, kept the audience entranced by the exquisite playing of his own compositions would be but to repeat what must be said of him upon all occasions.”

“The interest in the charming Swedish singer remains unabated. Last night’s concert was one of the best yet given, and awakened as hearty enthusiasm as any in which Nilsson has yet taken part. The programme was unusually attractive. The prima donna herself sang the cavatina in the first act of ‘Traviata’ with exquisite grace and finish; Mozart’s Voi che sapete, and the soprano part in the ‘Miserere’ scene from ‘Trovatore.’ For encores she gave two Swedish melodies and ‘Old Folks at Home.’ In everything she was applauded to the echo which doth applaud again.

Miss Cary was in excellent voice, singing an elaborate aria from Mercadante’s ‘Giuramento,’ an opera mis-spelled on the programme, and falsely attributed to Verdi; another from Meyerbeer’s ‘Dinorah,’ and taking part in a duet with Brignoli. Verger and Vieuxtemps were both listened to with satisfaction, and the orchestra played overtures to ‘The Child of the Regiment’ and Tannhauser,’ and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. The composers represented at this most admirable concert were Donizetti, Verdi, Mercadante, Wagner, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini and Vieuxtemps.”

“There was another Nilsson concert last night at Steinway Hall, with the usual crowd, the usual display, and the usual enthusiasm. The fair artist has recovered in a measure from the lassitude and weakness which we noticed in her performance last week, though her voice has not yet regained its natural clearness and purity. There is no lack of power (except in certain of the lower notes), but the lower register is still veiled, and the upper is produced with visible effort. She sang last night [see above]. All were effective in their way, and were wildly applauded; yet the sensation of the evening was undoubtedly produced by ‘The Old Folks at Home,’ and two other encore pieces—eccentric little chansons, which Miss Nilsson delivered with a charm exclusively her own. In pieces such as these, the simple melodies of our own country, or the echoes of her own distant clime, she thinks less of an artistic interpretation of the music than of expressing, and we may even say acting, its sentiment as the average popular mind would understand it. Criticism has no place here. We cannot pull such a performance to pieces to find out what its faults are; we must give ourselves up to the spell of the moment, and save our sober judgment for the singer’s more serious labors, where, truth to say, there is just now great need of it.

Miss Cary was even better than she commonly is. She gave us Mercadante’s Or la sur l’onda, the well-known aria of Corentin’s in Meyerbeer’s ‘Dinorah,’ ‘Kathleen Mavourneen,’ and the Si la stanchezza duet from ‘Trovatore’ with Mr. Brignoli. We hardly know which to select for special commendation where all were rendered with such sweetness, simplicity, feeling, and artistic finish. Mr. Brignoli was in excellent voice and was cordially welcomed, and M. Verger did what little he could with Figaro’s great aria from the ‘Barber.’ M. Verger’s capacity for buffo singing certainly is not great. Mr. Vieuxtemps had only one piece on the programme, his own ‘Introduction and Rondo,’ but he played so delightfully that he was warmly encored. The orchestra, under Mr. Maretzek, played the overtures to ‘Tannhäuser’ and the ‘Daughter of the Regiment.’ Both were good.

We have several times had occasion to notice the programmes of these concerts. It may be interesting for the gentleman who makes them to know that ‘Il Giuramento’ was written by Mercadante and not by Verdi, and that the Largo al factotum occurs in an opera called ‘The Barber of Seville,’ which composed by a man named Rossini.”

“The two farewell Nilsson concerts were the only concerts of interest during the past week. They took place at Steinway Hall on Wednesday evening and Saturday afternoon. She was assisted as usual by Miss Cary, M. Vieuxtemps, Signor Brignoli, and a poor orchestra under the direction of Max Maretzek. The audience at each one was very large. It is reported here that Miss Nilsson is to remain in this country all next summer and winter, and sing in opera in the fall. Her engagement with Mr. Strakosch expires very soon.”