Strakosch Italian Opera: Les Huguenots

At conclusion of review for earlier performance. “This latter noble opera [The Huguenots] has been under careful rehearsal for some time, and there is every reason to believe that we shall have a performance of memorable excellence, for with his large and well-appointed company, the manager has it in his power to fill all the subordinate parts adequately, and it is on the manner in which these lesser parts—none of which in Meyerbeer are insignificant—are filled that the finish and completeness of a performance and the satisfaction to be obtained from it in great part depend.”

Announces date as 11/07/73.

“On Friday evening ‘Les Huguenots’ will be produced, Madame Nilsson appearing as Valentine, a part which she has never sung before. Miss Cary will be the Page and Mlle. Maresi the Queen. As Raoul, it is expected that Campanini will reveal qualities of which his American audiences are as yet unaware. In this splendid rôle he has made eminent successes abroad, and his friends assert that it is his greatest personation. Nannetti, the Marcel of the evening, has sung the part of the stern Huguenot soldier in Poland, and its music seems well fitted to his style. Both of the baritones will take part in this opera, Maurel appearing as St. Bris and del Puente as Nevers. The cast is altogether an excellent one, and the production of the great work will be a marked feature of the present operatic season.”

“This evening the music lovers will bear in mind the production of the ‘Huguenots’ takes place at the Academy of Music. The occasion will be a brilliant one. If artistically successful, as there is every reason to suppose that it will be, it will place Madame Nilsson’s name on a still higher lyric plane than it has yet occupied. Valentine is a part in which prima donnas of the school of Grisi have found scope for the fullest display of their genius. Madame Nilsson’s triumphs have been hitherto associated with the lighter and more graceful phrases of the lyric art. The tender melancholy of Lucia, the piquancy of Mignon, the woes of Violetta, have all found exquisite expression in the genius of Nilsson. To-night will decide whether she has done prudently in essaying to reproduce the passionate intensity of Valentine. Supported by Campanini in his best part, it is easy to imagine what a glorious success awaits her in the fourth act. It will be remembered that Miss Cary, Maurel and Del Puente all take part in this important revival.”

Announces rescheduled date of 11/10/73.

“Grand orchestra, 50. Grand chorus, 60.”

Portions difficult to read owing to black bar running down right side of column. “‘The Huguenots’ drew a very fine audience last night, and the performance may be called good, and in at least one scene, a decidedly brilliant one. The opera is one of those picturesque and mediocre works which rarely fail to impress the public, although it exacts a much more careful preparation and [illeg.] stronger cast than most managers are able to give it. Some of its richest effects depend upon the careful adjustment of the [illeg.], the perfect drill of the orchestra, the discipline and power of the chorus, and a faculty of mutual adaptation among the principals. Lacking any of those things and we know how commonly they are all neglected—the first half of the opera invariably becomes tame. Mr. Strakosch has shown rather more than his usual [illeg.] in mounting this work; he has set the stage with reasonable degree of taste; he has made [illeg., could be “pretty”] good use of the ballet, and Sig. Muzio has certainly taken great pains with his orchestra. The chorus, however, is too important a part of ‘The Huguenots’ to be passed over without criticism, and it must be said that it was not creditable last night, and that there was not a perfect undertaking between the singers and their leader, and [illeg., likely “not”] always an entire agreement among the principal artists. Partly for this reason and partly from other [illeg.] first two acts—or the first three, as the opera was divided on this occasion—were rather dull. Beyond the two favorite airs of Urbain, which were charmingly sung by Miss Cary, and [illeg.] music allotted to Marcel, which Sig. Nannetti delivered with admirable spirit and a fine [illeg.], there was nothing to call for enthusiasm. In the third Act [sic] however the fortunes of the night were deemed. The Benediction of the Poignards, with Maurel in the voice of St. Bris, went off fully, and the Invocation by the Monks was weak, and the [illeg.] was imperfect; but the great [illeg.] between Valentine and Raoul left no opportunity for adverse criticism. Mme. Nilsson invests the [illeg.] scenes with an indeserinable [sic] [illeg…]; but here the grandeur of that [illeg.] and loving character breaks forth with a splendor unsurpassed on our stage. The parting with Raoul is perhaps the most tragical passage in the modern drama, and we have no words to describe the [illeg.] which Mme. Nilsson produces with it. If we say in this scene she displays a deeper emotion [illeg.] than she has generally and the credit of [illeg…] the genius than she has showed in ‘Faust,’ or ‘Mignon,’ or ‘Hamlet,’ we shall [illeg.] imperfectly the impression that she produced last night. We are not sure but it ought to be [illeg.] most brilliant triumph she has achieved in America. The Raoul of Sig. Campanini was worthy to [illeg.] such a Valentine. During the first part of the evening he spared himself, but in this [illeg.] scene he put forth some of his greatest efforts, and stirred [illeg.[ several times to [illeg…] of enthusiasm. [Illeg.], conception, and [illeg.] were [illeg.] admirable; and the high merit of the performance was not in detached passages, but [illeg.] through the whole Act,—the love passages [illeg.] tender, and the passion and despair [illeg.] separation portrayed with splendid force. The Marquise de Valois of Mme. Maresi was not open to any [illeg.]; except that it was totally [illeg.] The Nevers of Del Puente was very [illeg.] indeed.”

“The representation of ‘Gli Ugonotti’ at the Academy of Music, last evening, offered the strongest proof yet afforded of the strength of the company formed at the outset of the present season. Few managers care to cope with the difficulties of Meyerbeer’s admirable work, and when they venture upon its performance the results seldom correspond with the excellence of the intention. Although ‘Gli Ugonotti’ is not nearly so well known in this country as in France and England, the frequenters of the opera do not require much information as to the nature and magnitude of those difficulties. Written for the Académie Royale de Musique, and brought out at a period at which no outlay of time and money was thought too great to insure [sic] a perfect interpretation, ‘Gli Ugonotti’ makes immense demands upon the resources of an impresario. No less than seven artists of the first order are needed for the principal rôles, and these artists must be possessed not merely of voice and culture, but of uncommon histrionic talent. The choral and orchestral departments are more heavily taxed by the music of ‘Gli Ugonotti’ than by that of any other modern works, and ought to be unusually numerous. Scenery combining historic accuracy with picturesqueness is wanted, and provision is made for an amount of pageantry which no Italian composer, wisely or unwisely, ever counted upon. But the requirements that the performers should be conspicuously good as singers and actors are, after all, most stringent, and compliance with these necessities of ‘Gli Ugonotti’—the best known out of France, where the score is never rendered in its entirety—is really most to be considered. With the methods of production of an author the public has nothing to do, and hence we will not go over the ground so often traversed in discussions as to whether Meyerbeer’s achievements in general, and whether ‘Gli Ugonotti’ in particular, were the offspring of patient labor, or of a succession of happy inspirations. That they result from calculation rather than from genius does not seem doubtful, but when the strains of ‘Gli Ugonotti’ are as captivating, and its concerted passages as forceful, as if written a year ago, while the efforts of contemporary composers pale before the later glory of Gounod and Wagner, it is worth debating whether talent is not more to be prized than genius. And how lavishly Meyerbeer has illustrated the highly dramatic story with which Scribe provided him the reader will admit. First comes the delicate romance in which Raoul, to a delicious accompaniment intended for delivery by the viole d’amour, describes his vision. Following directly, and contrasting with the bright and courtly music of the banquet-board, is heard the sever Lutheran chant of the Huguenot Marcello, and the weirdly accompanied song of menace to the priests. The sombreness [sic] of this scene is quickly dispelled by the light aria d’entrata of the page Urbano, soon after which the act closes. In the second act are gathered the graceful introductory air of Margurita, the melodious chorus by the brookside, the merry song of Urbano, the duet between Margarita and Raoul, and the last incidents, during which the determined utterances of the Catholic noblemen, the plaints of Valentina, and the accusations of Raoul, while perfectly distinct in themselves, are blended with consummate art into a superb finale. In act the third the same skilled distribution of light and shade is to be observed. Concerted passages, in which deep religious feeling and a festal spirit are alternately expressed, precede the superb duet between Valentina and Marcello, which is colored with equal breadth of touch and command of effect; and further on are the impulsive septet, the meeting of the Catholics and Huguenots—one of those remarkable scenes of confusion regulated, if we may use the word, with the utmost nicety—and the gay themes and sparkling instrumentation attending the departure of the nuptial cortége. The fourth act would suffice to make ‘Gli Ugonotti’ immortal. There are no ‘points’ to dwell upon, for it must be regarded in its completeness. The splendid treatment of the conspiracy scene cannot be declared outdone by the grandiose ‘Benediction of the Swords;’ and although it appears hardly possible that anything but an anti-climax should be looked for in the subsequent proceedings, Meyerbeer has contrived to rivet attention, and to fitly terminate with the matchless duo between Raoul and Valentina. The field has been left almost wholly to the playwright in the last act, the musician showing himself more intent upon preserving the symmetry of the drama than upon self assertion. There is in it, notwithstanding its slighter holder upon an audience, testimony as to clearness in the appreciation of effect, and the same careful writing discernible at previous stages of the story, and it is only because of the hurry and din of the action that it escapes prominence. If we look as we have done, but at the numbers of the score, it will be plain that a record of the success of yesterday’s recital implies something more than a like mention in relation to most elements of the répertoire. From a musical and dramatic stand-point, ‘Gli Ugonotti’ was last night very finely rendered. Mme. Nilsson essayed herself in Valentina, a character she had never assumed, and Mr. Strakosch’s company divided among itself the remaining rôles. We should not like to proclaim Valentina one of Mme. Nilsson’s best parts, but in the fourth act her duet with Raoul will unquestionably rank with her most impressive efforts. The lady’s interpretation of the earlier duo with Marcello was, of course, not to be slighted; it was, however, in the trying situation when the daughter of St. Bris is face to face with the Huguenot nobleman, that her art as an actress was especially conspicuous. Mme. Nilsson’s performance throughout this portion of ‘Gli Ugonotti’ was very eloquent in respect alike of song, facial expression, and attitude. Her Valentina has less tragic grandeur than most prima donnas invest the personage with, but it is an impersonation consistent, touching, and, where the events command, powerful in no ordinary degree. Signor Campanini’s portrayal of Raoul is, on the other hand, to be cited as the most striking he has yet accomplished. From his début, Signor Campanini’s ownership of a delicious voice, and his mastery of a method becoming rarer from day to day, were recognized. Since his appearance the tenor has continually advanced in the favor of the public, and it is pleasant to note that the fulfillment of his freshest task is likely to add largely to his laurels. Signor Campanini, last evening, first elicited applause by his tasteful rendering of ‘Più bianca.’ Afterwards he sang with much sentiment and grace in the duet ‘Beltà divin,’ and, later on, the beauty of his tones was marked in the ever-welcome septet. Signor Campanini’s triumph was won in the fourth act. Acting more varied than that of Raoul, yesterday, cannot well be imagined; and in the difficult duo with Valentina, singing fraught with the charm of a voice so exquisite, and distinguished in the same measure by the artist’s style, has not been listened to here in our recollection. Signor Campnini and Mme. Nilsson were called before the curtain four times after the act was ended. The other characters, as hinted already, were worthy of association with the Raoul and Valentina. No contralto can give with more sweetness ‘Nobil donna’ and ‘No, no, no, no,’ than Miss Cary, who, as Urbano, was loudly applauded after each of these tuneful pieces. Mlle. Maresi recited the florid music of Margarita with ease, and to general acceptance. Signor Nannetti, although Marcello’s notes are rather low for him, pictured the old solider very cleverly in the matter of looks, and sang ‘Finita è pei frati’ well, and his share of the duo in the third act quite finely. M. Maurel bestowed their fullest significance upon the lines of St. Bris, whose recitatives he declaimed as only an artist pur sang can do, and Signor Del Puente lent his agreeable voice and comely presence to De Nevers. We would gladly enter upon a mere lengthened review of the representation, had it not concluded at midnight. We have to say, though, before finishing, that the work of orchestra and chorus was extremely satisfactory, and that the stage-setting was more than creditable. ‘Gli Ugonotti’ will be repeated on Wednesday, and we reserve until then further comments, which the lateness of the hour precludes us now from offering.”

“The second performance of ‘Gli Ugonotti,’ at the Academy, last evening, passed off to the gratification of a large audience. The earliest representation of Meyerbeer’s admirable work was referred to in this place on Tuesday, and yesterday’s recital only differed from its predecessor by an increase of smoothness. Signor Campanini, who, after conquering his position on the night of his début, has kept on strengthening it ever since, is at his best as Raoul, and Mme. Nilsson, as Valentina, contributes a personation by which, perhaps, the artist will not be so clearly remembered as by her Lucia, her Mignon, or her Violetta, but which nevertheless claims attention as a highly intelligent and dramatic effort. Both performers last night distinguished themselves at the stages of the opera referred to heretofore. Signor Campanini’s pretty romance, delivered with the utmost delicacy, was liberally applauded; in the second act his singing and acting in the duet with Margarita were faultless; in the third he phrased the tenor share of the music following the settimino with an art and a wealth of voice rarely combined. It was, however, in the fourth act that Signor Campanini’s exertions were most forceful. In this portion of the opera, too, Mme. Nilsson, who had already sung with marked expression the exceedingly emotional duet between Valentina and Marcello, in the third act, won her greatest laurels, and the swoon of the heroine and the flight of the Huguenot were followed by three calls before the curtain. Nothing finer than Signor Campanini’s singing in the fourth act of ‘Gli Ugonotti,’ is to be listened to here or abroad. Signor Campanini is, of course, richly endowed by nature, but he has studied with a master of song—Francesco Lamperti, of Milan—and the seed of the maestro has fallen upon no barren soil. There is abundant opportunity for a show of tones and culture in the grand duo in the fourth act of ‘Gli Ugonotti,’ and the tenor, losing none of his changes, displayed in turn the might and the tenderness of his voice; the ability he has to bestow upon each of his notes a ‘linked sweetness long drawn out,’ and a tastefulness in declamation denoting possession of something besides natural gifts. Signor Campanini’s histrionic achievements were on a plane with his vocal triumphs, last evening, and Mme. Nilsson, who recited with unimpeachable purity of style and great significance the music allotted to Valentina, was mainly conspicuous throughout the scenes in St. Bris’ house for acting which, by eloquence of face and gesture, rose to the dignity of tragedy. The other performers in ‘Gli Ugonotti’ were, as on Monday, Mlle. Maresi, Miss Cary, M. Maurel, Signor Nannetti, and Signor Del Puente. Miss Cary interpreted Urbano’s two airs exquisitely, and her associate artists acquitted themselves of their respective tasks in a most creditable manner.”

“The second performance of Meyerbeer’s chef d’œuvre last evening was superior in many respects to the first one. The chorus seemed to be more at ease and the orchestra more lenient toward the voices. The ‘Rataplan’ was given with brilliancy and effect, unmarred by the slightest mistake in tone or tempo. The ‘Blessing of the Poliards’ was another triumph for the chorus and was a gratifying indication of the admirable training this important department received from Signor Muzio, whose exertions are unceasing and discipline severe. The septet of the duel also went better than at the first performance. The triumph of Madame Nilsson and Signor Campanini in the grand duet of the fourth act was greater than before, the entire house being convulsed with applause and excitement such as no artists ever drew forth during any previous season at the Academy of Music. Madame Nilsson has eclipsed all those operatic rôles with which her name has been so long and so intimately associated by the grandeur of her Valentine. The entire scene, from the departure of the murderers on their bloody mission to the frenzied parting of Valentine and Raoul, is of the most thrilling and absorbing nature, and shines the more through the lustre [sic] thrown upon it by two such remarkable interpreters. Our stage has been long a stranger to such a display of lyric genius. The excellence of the ensemble of this company is shown in the fact that they have given the best representation of the most difficult opera of the Italian repertoire that New York opera-goers have witnessed here for nearly twenty years.”