Parepa-Rosa English Opera: Bohemian Girl

“The first week of the English opera season at the Academy of Music has been unprecedentedly successful. It opened with a subscription list numerically as large as that of the last Italian opera season, and, although Mr. Rosa tried the dangerous experiment of giving opera every night, by a constant change of bill and judicious sandwiching of novelties between old favorites he kept the house full during the week. This success is all the more remarkable when we consider that English opera is practically dead in the country that gave it birth, and that the Richings troupe once played ‘The Lily of Killarney’ (a complete novelty), at the Academy, before two hundred people. Although English opera cannot compete with Italian in attracting the haute monde and dressing the boxes, yet the strength of the company brought together by Mr. Rosa and the completeness and excellence of each performance drew, in spite of themselves, the fashionables of the Avenue. Six operas were presented last week, two of them entirely new to this city. On Friday night Mrs. Van Zandt won a signal triumph by her exquisite impersonation of Maritana, in Wallace’s opera. On Saturday afternoon ‘The Bohemian Girl’ was given with an unusually strong cast [see above]. Of course Castle, Campbell and Seguin sustained the old rôles, with which their names are inseparably connected. The house was literally packed, every seat occupied, the family circle crowded with ladies, and even the stairs leading from the lobbies filled. It was the largest matinée audience ever seen in the Academy since that building was opened. It is remarkable how, under all circumstances, Balfe’s opera retains its popularity.”

“’The Bohemian Girl,’ with the unusually strong cast of Mesdames Rosa and Seguin, and Messrs. Castle, Campbell, Seguin, and Whiffin in the principal characters, brought together a concourse of people at the Academy, on Saturday afternoon, which may well be called phenomenal even among matinée audiences. The house was literally ‘packed from pit to dome.’ The miscalled Family Circle presented, for this occasion only, a merried phalanx of bonnets and gay toilettes, and the unfortunate late comer, cut off by the dense wedges of standing spectators which blocked the gangways downstairs, was fain to wander about in musical starvation and discomfiture through the echoing gloom of the corridors. It would be superfluous to comment on a piece so well known, except to note that Madame Rosa threw into the role of Arline the same dash, energy, and bright, merry humor which we have had occasion to admire in ‘Susanna’ and the ‘Figlia,’ and that Mrs. Seguin gained new honors by her spirited rendering of the Gypsy Queen. Mr. Seguin, as Devilshoof, sings little, but makes up for it by the broad and expressive humor of his acting. The dresses, as in all the productions of this company, were really admirable for taste, richness, and propriety.”

Brief. “Madame Parepa-Rosa does not look the character of Arline, in the ‘Bohemian Girl,’ however well she may sing the role. The idea of such a delicate Thadeus as Mr. Castle making love to the fat Parepa is a little too much out of harmony for general enjoyment.”