Combination Italian Opera: Don Giovanni

“There was a notable performance of ‘Don Giovanni’ at the Academy of Music last night, in which Madame Rosa as Donna Anna, Mrs. Van Zandt as Zerlina and Santley as the Don carried off the honors. Each of these three was perfect, and elicited the warmest admiration and applause. Wachtel does not find in Mozart’s music that declamatory power in which lies his forte, but he sang well and was specially satisfactory in Il mio Tesoro. Ronconi afforded much amusement as Leporello. The house was again over-crowded.”

“’Don Giovanni’ was sung at the Academy of Music, last evening, in presence of a large and brilliant audience. The best features of the representation are already familiar to most opera-goers. Mme. Parepa-Rosa’s personation of Donna Anna will be remembered as one of her finest efforts, both in point of singing and of acting, and Signor Ronconi’s Leporello will always be borne in mind as worthy of association with the most felicitous performances of that gifted and experienced artist. The novel points of the entertainment were Mr. Santley’s picture of Don Giovanni and Herr Wachtel’s Don Ottavio. We cannot in justice say that Mr. Santley is the ideal Don Giovanni, but we can, as usual, commend his vocal work for its faultlessness, and mention his interpretation of ‘Deh vieni’ among the most delicious specimens of his talent and taste he has yet afforded. Herr Wachtel’s Don Ottavio was, last night, of rather uneven merit. It is needless to note that his superb voice was wonderfully effective in the numerous concerted passages of the opera, but the gentleman was not always in tune, and the recital of ‘Il mio tesoro’ was not so conspicuous for sentiment and elegance of phrasing as less impressive performers have often contrived to make it. The contributions of the remaining singers were quite creditable. We cannot, however, enter into details. Mme. Van Zandt embodied Zerlina, Miss Doria Donna Elvira, and M. Dubreuil Masetto. The chorus was exceedingly strong and proficient, and the stage-setting of ‘Don Giovanni’ capital. The finale of act the first has never been done with more animation and effectiveness.”

“If the performance of ‘Don Giovanni’ last night was not as thorough and elegant a piece of work as the ‘Rigoletto’ or the ‘Trovatore’ of the earlier part of the week, it was nevertheless very far superior to all recent interpretations in New-York of Mozart’s masterpiece, and in many respects highly creditable to the company. It was given without material curtailment and with more than ordinary attention to minor details; it went smoothly, with one or two significant exceptions, and it was generally spirited. The characters were not all well cast—indeed they never are in ‘Don Giovanni’—but the principal ones were as good as to leave no room for unfavorable criticism. Madame Rosa’s Donna Anna is always [illegible], and last night she was in her very [illegible], the Letter Aria especially being equal to the [illegible] of her former efforts in the grand dramatic style of which this composition is such a famous example. Wachtel was such a Don Ottavio as we have not seen for many years. In this character he lays aside the brilliancy and glowing fire which we instinctively associate with his name, and develops a rich sympathetic quality, especially in the middle register, for which so much of the music of Don Ottavio is written. He restored the ‘Dalla sua pace’ in the First Act, which was written for the second production of the opera at Vienna, but is generally omitted here, and he sang it with very charming effect, though not so well as the ‘Il mio Tesoro.’ Mr. Santley’s Don Giovanni is perhaps somewhat lacking in vivacity, yet it is well acted, and musically it is, of course, like all his personations, thoroughly admirable. His easy and beautiful delivery concealed the difficulties of the ‘Fin ch’han dal vino’ and lent a new grace to the serenade. Mrs. Van Zandt’s Zerlina was a pretty piece of acting and a neat and satisfactory exercise of vocalization; but Miss Doria in Donna Elvira had a part beyond the range of her voice. Signor Ronconi as Leporello reveled in his customary low comedy, and was in unusually good trim vocally. Mr. Ryse was the Commendatore, and Mr. Dubreuil Masetto. The concerted pieces were all finely given, and the choruses call for nothing but praise. The audience was about as large as on either of the previous nights.”