Strakosch Italian Opera Farewell Benefit

“A house crowded from the orchestra to the skylights, with the best company of the metropolis; a continual tempest of applause, and rain of bouquets and garlands, signalized the last night among us of the Swedish goddess who during the past year has gained so powerful a hold upon the public heart. The programme of the evening formed one of those scrappy festivals which seem inevitable on benefit nights and charitable performances, and which usually leave no recollection but one of profound tediousness. But last night the succession of pieces was so admirably arranged that the impression of fragmentary selection was lost, and the sympathy of the spectators was carried gradually on from the mingled sadness and gayety of the early portion of La Traviata, through the passionate crisis of the fate of Lucia di Lammermoor, with an episode of excellent acting and singing by Miss Phillipps and Brignoli in the Trovatore, which prepared the audience for the crowning triumph of Miss Nilsson in the final act of Hamlet. She was never in better voice or in finer vein. A few days of rest had restored her strength and spirits. The vast and sympathetic audience infected her with its own enthusiasm. Her dramatic force and insight has never been more clearly displayed than in the scene from Lucia, and in the act from Hamlet she surpassed any former effort in sweetness and power. It seemed as if the thought of all the worship and devotion she has excited during the year was with her last night, and she was moved by a grateful impulse to reward her adorers, once for all, without reserve. When the curtain fell for the last time a quite unusual demonstration took place. The shower of bouquets was more than she could carry away. Four times she was called back to receive the clamorous farewells of the audience. When she appeared finally before the curtain, excited, flushed, and moved by the evident sincerity and warmth of the greetings she was receiving perhaps for the last time, the house rose and cheered. It will be long before the picture of the Northern Prima Donna, as she stood last night behind the footlights, crowned with perfect success and that final grace which comes from deep feeling, will fade from the memories of those who were there.”

“The sad word that ‘has been and must be’ was spoken last night at the Academy to one of the best and fairest, and perhaps the best-loved, of the song birds who have ever flown to us across the Atlantic. Miss Nilsson caroled her farewell song before an assemblage of vast number and distinction, and, as its echoes died away in the spacious auditorium, there was a general sigh of regret, as from those who are about to lose a valued associate. The conventions that establish a distinction between the artist and the individual are wise and salutary; the relation of the public is limited, in strictness to the former, yet there are instances when it is for the good of art that the admiration which is felt for private no less than for public excellence should be freely expressed. Such was the case with this memorable Farewell. Miss Nilsson said good-bye less to the public than to a wide circle of affectionate adquaintances, and the regret felt in parting from the great singer was merged in the sorrow of separating from the dear friend.

The house was splendid last night, and the enthusiasm of a thoroughly honest kind. That Miss Nilsson is weary with her arduous and protracted exertions, and that she needs rest, we know. There was, however, little trace of this in her voice or acting. From the ‘Ah, fors e lui’ of Violetta, at the beginning, to the final mournful, expiring evidence of Ophelia, at the close, all the familiar sweetness and power and execution were there, and enraptured us as of old. The work laid out for the evening was pretty exacting. Four acts from four operas sound as if they were no more than four acts of one opera, but the task of singing them may be very much more. The acts chosen in these mixed bills are commonly the hardest or most exhausting ones; and the total changes of dress demanded add to the physical strain. However, soprano and tenor alike were let off in one of the four works last night—Miss Nilsson escaping from the ‘Trovatore’ act, and Signor Brignoli from the ‘Hamlet.’ The lady went through the first act of the ‘Traviata,’ the second act of ‘Lucia,’ and the fourth act of ‘Hamlet.’ Criticism on these familiar efforts is not now called for. They include what has, we believe, been most generally and most justly admired here among Miss Nilsson’s lyric achievements, and the appreciation of them last night was warmer than ever. The heartiest of applause and the loveliest of flowers greeted the lady at every turn, and the plainly unaffected emotion shown by her met sympathetic response on every side. Signor Brignoli, although by no means in good voice, was inspired by the magnetism of the occasion even to unusual efforts, and sang the numbers falling to him with fire and delicacy. M. Barré was heard to advantage in Ashton, and Miss Cary revived the memory of her previous success in Azucena. Mr. Maretzek, whose popularity with New-Yorkers is totally unaffected by time or anything else, came in for a warm share of cordial recognition and led the band with customary taste and energy. The house, as regards number, was literally enormous, and the final seal of approval was appropriately set to a series of operas which have derived memorable lustre from the genius of Miss Nilsson and the courage and good faith of the Messrs. Strakosch, the managers.”

“Brilliant expectations had been formed of the success likely to attend Miss Nilsson’s farewell performance, and last night they were fulfilled in a manner to content the most enthusiastic admirer of the charming songstress. The attractions furnished by the programme were certainly very great, but had they been considerably less it is evident from the warmth of feeling displayed by the audience that the house would have been equally crowded. Every seat and every space where listeners could congregate were filled, and certainly the discomfort of those whom fortune condemned to standing room must have been very great, for the heat in the boxes was most oppressive. The night was emphatically devoted to Nilsson; she was the great magnet that drew together the numerous and brilliant audience, and the programme showed that the management recognized this fact. Nilsson’s appearance in the most striking scenes of three operas the same night was a concentration of pleasure rarely to be enjoyed. On her appearance she was received with demonstrations of regard, and as the performance proceeded the audience warmed up till, toward the close, the enthusiasm rose to a pitch that has not been witnessed in New York for many years. The first act of ‘Traviata’ was presented, with Nilsson as Violetta. She threw all her natural vivacity into the drinking song, ‘Libiamo, Libiamo,’ which she gave with a dash and an abandon perfectly charming. The cavatina, ‘Ah fors’e lui,’ gave an opportunity for the display of tenderness of feeling of which she availed herself to the utmost. In the aria, ‘Sempre libera degg’io,’ she achieved a triumph of vocalization. It was in the character of Lucia, however, that the best qualities of her voice and her talent as an actress had the fullest play. It would be difficult to imagine anything more full of sweetness, tenderness and true womanly feeling than her rendering of the scene with Edgardo in the second act. The enthusiasm created among the audience by the rendering of the rôle of Lucia, was intense, but was destined to be eclipsed by the mad scene from ‘Hamlet,’ which was par excellence la pièce de resistance. There was a dramatic force in the delightful conception of the rôle of the afflicted Ophelia which gave new value to the delightful singing of the part. It was an effort which required wonderful power of vocalization, combined with tenderness of thought and dramatic ability such as are rarely found combined in any one artist. The rendering of some of the [illegible] passages gave an opportunity for the display of the perfect command which the artist has over her voice. Signor Brignoli, Mons. Barré and Miss Cary supported Mlle. Nilsson with great spirit. Miss Cary sang ‘Stride la Vampa,’ from ‘Trovatore,’ with much dramatic power and expressiveness. As the curtain went down on the willow scene in Hamlet the audience rose to their feet, and Mlle. Nilsson being called before the curtain they tendered her a perfect ovation. Bouquets were literally showered on her, and in their anxiety to express their admiration the audience refused to disperse until Mlle. Nilsson had presented herself four times before the curtain.”