Ballo in Maschera

Indisposition of Mme. Czillag; role of Amelia to be sung by Mme. Viardi Marti.

On the appearance of Carolina Viardi.

Carolina Viardi will substitute for Rosa Czillag in the role of Amelia.

“Italian opera collapsed suddenly last night at the Fourteenth-st. Theater, after a performance of ‘Il Ballo in Maschera,’ which, having been arranged ex improviso, is hardly a fair subject for severe criticism. Our chief duty at present is to record the failure of this attempt to make an opera company without material and without preparation. The season has consisted of three evenings and one matinée, and there has been little opportunity for praise at any of these representations. Last night a new prima donna, Mme. Viardi Marti, made her first appearance—taking the role of Amelia in place of Mme. Czillag. She has a voice of fair quality, but imperfect culture and uncertain intonation, and we cannot say that she made a very distinct impression of any kind. The most successful impersonation of the evening was that of Oscar, the Page, by Miss Rosa Cooke, who disguised herself for this occasion under the stage name Roselli. In the first act she suffered from nervousness, but later in the evening she did very nicely, and her Saper vorreste was encored. Le Franc was in pretty good voice; Reyna was even worse than usual; Mme. De Gebele was the sorceress, Ulrica, and Signor Nicolao, and the propter between them, made more noise than all the rest of the company. In the breaking up of the enterprise we have at least the comfort of knowing that these two gentlemen will, for a season, be quiet.”

“‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ was sung last evening at the Fourteenth-street Theatre by Signori Lefranc and Reyna, and Mmes. Viardi, Rosetti and De Gebele. The performance was a very satisfactory one. Signor Lefranc’s rendering of Ricardo has been a frequent theme of comment in these columns. His singing and acting throughout the opera are deserving of the highest praise. His delivery of the opening aria, commencing ‘La rivedra nell’ estasi,’ is broad and fluent; his execution of the light couplets, ‘E scherzo ed follia’ is as full of delicacy as though his voice were the most slender of tenors, and his interpretation of the impassioned parts of the third act is as vehement as the texture of the music and the violence of the situation allow. The familiar and best appreciated point of his performance, last evening, had ample attention and approval. Signor Reyna sung well, and acted with unusual earnestness and power in the highly dramatic rôle assigned to him. Mme. Viardi is a prima donna of the French school, who uses to the best advantage a rather worn and tremulous soprano, and who portrays the character she takes with an intelligence and an animation which Italian artists have not accustomed us to. Mme. Viardi was especially fortunate in the finale of the third act, and in the aria—very rarely given, by the way—in the fourth. Oscar was represented by Mlle. Rosetti, whom we have heard on the English stage, as Miss Cook. Mlle. Rosetti has a fresh contralto, and a fair knowledge of singing. Her first appearance in opera was successful, and especially so in respect of promise of future utility. Mme. De Gebele has often been Ulrica at the Academy. The whole rendering, we may repeat, afforded great enjoyment. We are sorry, therefore, to hear that with it the present season came to at least a temporary close.”

“Last night was wrecked another of those ill-starred craft that are periodically launched on the stormy sea of Italian opera, without a pilot or one on board capable of navigating them, with an incompetent and mutinous crew, and leaking from the very moment they touch the financial waters. Such rash, ill-advised enterprises deserve the fate they invariably meet. Italian opera is the highest form of the lyric drama, and nowhere in the world, we confidently assert, is it better appreciated than in this city. The New York public crave for it, and are willing to support it if only the people who pretend to the name of impresarii will give anything that deserves the name of Italian opera. Such an affair as that which closed last night (the third) is calculated only to bring discredit on the name of Italian opera and discourage real responsible managers who may attempt it. It was similar to the fiasco of Mora and Draper some years ago at the same theatre. Last night Verdi’s opera was given with the following cast:—Ricardo, Lefranc; Renato, Reyna; Oscar, Mlle. Boselli; Amelia, Mme. Viardi Marti; Ulrica, Mme. De Gebele; Sam, Bacelli; Tom, Locatelli. Mme. Czillag’s illness was the cause, likely, of the announcement on the bill, ‘Last night of the opera,’ as she is one of the principal managers. The selection of ‘Un ballo’ was an unfortunate one. We have not seen the opera properly placed on the stage in this city within the last six years. At Covent Garden as a spectacle alone it is worth seeing. The masked ball there on the stage would be worthy a Liederkranz or Arion bal masqué at our Academy. Here a half dozen choristers put on ragged dominos and decayed scenery represents the ball room. Again last night Lefranc did not know his rôle, and it was absolutely painful to witness the struggles of the prompter to help him through. Even if he was perfect in the part as far as rehearsal is concerned it is not suitable for his voice. The want of a thorough musical education is partially concealed in bustling rôles like those of Manrico, the tenor part in ‘Tell’ and Poliuto, where there is much action and less complicated music than there is in ‘Un Ballo in Maschera.’ Lefranc has a voice of rare power, expression and sweetness, and in rôles familiar to him, he is inimitable. But Ricardo is a sealed book as far as he is concerned. Reyna’s hard metallic baritone grates discordantly on the ear and never more than when he sang the beautiful aria ‘E sei tu che macchiavi quell’anima,’ in which he inveighs against the treachery of the governor. Mme. Viardi Marti’s voice is good and well schooled, but possesses little color or expression. She has but a limited idea of acting and less of a proper impersonation of the rôle of Amelia, as far as appearance and dress are concerned. Mme. De Gebele’s thin, weak contralto voice failed to give even an intelligent idea of the music of the astrologer, and that part might as well have been omitted for all the effect it made in her hands. Miss Rosa Cooke was an exception to the general incompetency of the cast, and she sang and acted the rôle of the page, Oscar, in a very commendable manner. This young lady has made considerable progress in her profession, and when her voice acquires more strength and familiarity with the operatic stage she will be a valuable auxiliary to any Italian Opera Company. As for the chorus and orchestra, they were beneath criticism. It is a shame that in the metropolis of America such an exhibition should be placed before an intelligent public under the name of Italian opera. We want opera sadly, but no such arrangement as the above.”

“We think the location of the theatre contributed largely to the failure of this season. Not within our recollection has a single enterprise been carried through here with pecuniary success. Experienced managers who have been accustomed to succeed elsewhere, have here, notwithstanding the exercise of energy and fact [tact?], ever met with failure.”