Amateur Operatic Club

“The practice that has sprung up within a few years ago of giving amateur performances of opera is in every way a commendable one. Italian music never finds its right expression in the concert room—it demands the stage. These performances also give young aspirants an opportunity to test their powers, of which, not infrequently, they have an exaggerated idea, and to find out how difficult a thing it is to be a really great lyric artist.

The stage will also be a gainer by this practice, for those who are able to rise superior to the difficulties that beset the novice and who are found to have the ring of the true metal will have no difficulty in entering upon a career that leads to wealth and honor. But the astonishing thing is that there are so few artists.

One of such performances as we now refer to was given on Wednesday evening at Robinson’s Hall. Separate acts from the ‘Favorita,’ ‘Puritani,’ and ‘Trovatore’ were given. The whole was under the direction of Signor Agramonte, and considering the fact that to sing successfully in opera is about as difficult a thing to accomplish as anything in the world, the results were very creditable to those concerned.

The stage is a very small one, and cramped the efforts of the performers. One cannot very well be dramatic in a box twelve feet square, especially in a long train which needs half that space. The consequence was an excess of gesture and too little action of any other kind. Among those who took part in the several acts were Miss Heine, Miss Mendez, and Messrs. Millard, Romeyn, Martinez, and Roe. It would be ungracious to draw comparisons, or, in fact, to enter into critical analysis of the performances. The affair was only experimental, and is to be judged from that point of view; and it certainly seemed to give great pleasure to the large audience assembled to witness it.”