Strakosch Italian Opera: La Traviata

“The announcement of the last night of Madame Nilsson’s appearance during the present season and the rumors that have spread about of a possibility that her operatic career in this country might not be as prolonged as had been generally expected, were quite sufficient to draw together a very large audience last evening at the performance of the ‘Traviata.’

 

This, with Madame Nilsson, seems to be a talismanic opera. With it she began her professional career at Paris, with it she commenced her first London season, and the first and last evenings of the present season are marked by its performance. Certainly the character of Violetta is one that she never fails to make moving and effective, and last evening a performance was an entirely satisfactory one.”

“There was an unusually brilliant performance of ‘Traviata’ at the Academy of Music last night. The cast was a familiar one. Madame Nilsson, who seems to have a special partiality for the part of Violetta, rendered it last night with her customary grace and tenderness, her voice seeming to be unusually fresh and powerful. The support was good. The Alfredo of M. Capoul was marked by all the fervor which characterizes this gentlemen’s [sic] personations, and in the last act he was particularly successful. Signor Del Puente also sang well in his Para siccome un angelo, winning, as it deserved, warm applause—a compliment extended also to the Di Provenza with which the set is brought to an end.

 

We are glad to learn that the clouds which have of late lowered over the Strakosch horizon have been dispelled. Rumors have been afloat that Madame Nilsson thought of withdrawing from the company and returning to Europe; but we are authorized to say that, by a new arrangement made with Mr. Strakosch, Madame Nilsson will remain in this country and will accompany the troupe on its western trip.”

“The Violetta of Mme. Nilsson is an irresistible magnet and it was not surprising that it crowded the Academy of Music last evening. In her hands ‘La Dame aux Camelias’ becomes spiritualized and her naughtiness assumes the form of evil destiny and misfortune. The impersonation last night was superior in some respects to Mme. Nilsson’s previous efforts in this rôle. The finale of the first act, commencing with ‘Ah, fors’è lui,’ an idyl of the heart and a tone poem of passionate love, was interpreted by the Swedish Nightingale with such earnestness and fire that the audience broke forth in an outburst of spontaneous applause. The heartrending parting with Alfredo in the second act, after the cruel scene with his father, brought out the grand dramatic qualities of Mme. Nilsson in their brightest colors. When Violetta went over to bid farewell to her lover, with the words, ‘Amami, Alfredo, quant io t’amo,’ it seemed as if the heart had become a lyre and each string was wrought to its utmost tension. The dramatic genius of the prima donna was again shown in the third act, when Alfredo accuses her with deserting him, and flings, as a deadly insult, the purse of gold at her feet. But in the last act Mme. Nilsson rose to a pitch of grandeur, excelled only by her wonderful interpretation of the scene with Raoul in ‘Les Huguenots.’ The death scene became a species of apotheosis, the tragedy of a broken heart. The beautiful melody, ‘Parigi, o cara,’ and the last despairing cry, in which her very soul seemed to fling aside its moral barriers, ‘Gran Dio! Morir si giovane,’ were such soul utterances as Sappho might have spoken on the brink of the fatal cliff.

 

Signor Del Puente is one of the best representatives of the elder Germont we have had here for many seasons. He sang ‘Para siccome un angelo’ and ‘Di Provenza il mar il suol’ with an expression and effect that those two incomparable melodies demanded. M. Capoul’s impersonation of Alfred Germont is one of the happiest efforts of this accomplished artist. He is en rapport with the character from beginning to end. The care and discipline of Signor Muzio were shown in the admirable performance of the chorus and orchestra.”