Strakosch Italian Opera: Mignon

“Chorus of 60. Powerful Orchestra of 50.”

“Free list suspended. Press excepted.”

“There is no opera with which Madame Nilsson has more pleasantly identified herself than ‘Mignon.’ In the first place she has been the only one to embody that charming character, and to conceive of Mignon is to conceive of her as she is presented to us by Nilsson.

But further than this, both the character of Goethe’s heroine and the music that Ambroise Thomas has set to the rôle are happily fitted to the singer. Madame Nilsson makes her mark not by great vocal efforts, displays of volume of voice, or conspicuously brilliant singing, but by perfection of detail and the purity of her voice and style. This ‘Mignon’ music lies almost all in the middle register, being written for mezzo-soprano. It is not showy, but it is entirely satisfying, just as pictures in which the tints are subdued and perfectly blended must rest and satisfy the eye.

Mignon is a child of nature, acting spontaneously as a girl would naturally do brought up in the fields and woods and apart from all the trammels of society. Such a character Christine Nilsson is well able to comprehend, sympathize with, and express. For if there ever was an actress unhampered by the traditions of conventionality and acting from the promptings of nature and not from those of family dignity, she is the one. This untamed way that she has is undoubtedly one of her greatest charms for the public at large.

The cast of the opera differed in several essential respects from that we have had in former seasons. The part of Lotario, heretofore so admirably filled by M. Jamet, now of the Maretzek company, was rendered far less efficiently by Signor Nannetti.

The Filina of Miss Kellogg will be remembered as a most finished performance, especially the brilliant polacca in the third act Io son Titania. So completely has this lady set the key to this character that any other presentation of it seems tame. Nevertheless Mlle. Torriani sang the rôle with great care and finish, though she failed to give it that scintillating grace and brightness to the display of which its florid music is so well adapted.

In respect of the characters of Federico and Laerte there was a great gain over the previous representations, for the former of these rôles is for the first time competently and properly sung and acted, it being now intrusted [sic] to Miss Cary. This lady makes as pretty a youthful lover as one could wish to see, though she handles her rapier with the true feminine dread of cold steel. When she learns to fence as well as she sings we shall have a perfect Federico. Signor Scolara also gives us a far better Laerte that we had before in Signor Lyell.

In other essential details under Muzio’s direction there has been a marked improvement. Both orchestra and chorus are doing better and more finished work than we have had from them for years.”

“To Madame Nilsson the American opera-goer is indebted for his acquaintance with the graceful music of Ambroise Thomas. On her previous visits to America her Mignon and Hamlet were among the most attractive features of her repertoire, and they will most probably renew their popularity this [fall? year?]. As Mignon last night Madame Nilsson showed all those charming qualities which we all so well remember as connected with the personation of Goethe’s impulsive heroine. Neither in action nor in vocalization was there anything left to be desired; and, though the opera was not over till near midnight, the audience remained entranced until the last notes fell upon their ears.

Nilsson received on this occasion the support of Capoul, who had sung with her in this opera before, and of Signor Torriani, Miss Cary and Signor Nanetti, all of whom did well. Torrinai was encored in the Polish air, and Miss Cary appeared and sang to excellent advantage.”

“The numerous and fashionable audience which seems to assiduously attend the representations of Mr. Strakosch’s artists at the Academy of Music since the opening night of the season, witnessed last evening the first representation of ‘Mignon’ this year. M. Thomas’ opera has been held a part of the répertoire since its earliest recital in this country, and the fact that it was Mme. Nilsson’s création of Mignon which then commended the work to attention, gave particular interest to yesterday’s entertainment, when the lady reappeared as the protégé of Guglielmo, the rival of Filina, and ultimately, the long-lost daughter of Lortario. Thanks to the familiarity of the public with the score and story, and to the acquaintance of opera-goers with Mme. Nilsson’s achievements in the character originally met with in Goethe’s ‘Wilhelm Meister,’ we are not compelled to devote much consideration to the subject. Mme. Nilsson’s personation of Mignon is still marked by a completeness of conception, and a fullness of detail rarely noticeable when the assumption of rôles in Italian opera is in question; and, as hitherto, it is very chaste, very poetical, and very fascinating. That the music of ‘Mignon’ is freighted with its greatest significance by Mme. Nilsson need scarcely be said. M. Thomas is rarely inspired, but he is a composer of exceeding skill and if the effectiveness of his delicate and elaborate numbers depends largely upon the perfection of their execution, they derive a special charm from the finished execution of a thorough artist. Mme. Nilsson, who is a practiced vocalist as well as an excellent actress, makes good use of her opportunities in ‘Mignon.’ Last night, the ‘Non conosci’ was warmly applauded; the ‘Swallows’ Duet’ was redemanded, and the quaint styrienne, with its ornate vocalises, elicited the accustomed unanimous demonstration of delight. The power as well as the beauty of Mme. Nilsson’s voice was shown in the second tableau of the second act, when Mignon is well-nigh driven to desperation by the triumph of Filina; in act the third, the pretty love-scene with Guglielmo, the touching prayer, and the highly-impressive incidents which precede the close of the opera revealed the sympathetic quality, the variety, and the force of the comedienne’s art. Mme. Nilsson was called before the curtain at the end of each act. She was admirable seconded by Signora Ostava Torriani, Miss Cary, M. Capoul, and Signor Nannetti. Signora Torriani, whose successful début in ‘Lucia’ was duly noticed, last evening as Filina advanced a step further in the favor of the audience of the Academy and won an enthusiastic encore for the ever-popular polonaise. Miss Cary filled creditably the part of Frederico. M. Capoul, as Guglielmo, was at his best, and his fervid delivery of ‘Addio, Mignon,’ in the second act, and of ‘Ah! non credevi tu’ in the third, elicited long-continued plaudits, which resulted, by the way, in the repetition of the romance last cited. Signor Nannetti presented a Lotario of becoming dignity. And it is to be mentioned that Laerte, a personage habitually given to a second tenor, was assigned to Signor Scolara, one of Mr. Strakosch’s bassos. The chorus and orchestra were in capital condition.”

“A most charming pastoral is the ‘Wilhlem Meister’ of Goethe, with its delicately limned characters, any one of which might inspire a lyric author with ideas sufficient to sketch out an entire opera. The story of ‘Mignon’ is an idyl of beauty and poetry, admirably suited to the operatic or dramatic stage, and, where the heroine has such a representative as Mme. Nilsson and the other characters are likewise fittingly distributed in Mr. Strakosch’s splendid company, success must necessarily follow such a performance. Such was the cast last night at the Academy of Music. The Mignon of Mme. Nilsson would be a dramatic triumph, even without the additional charm of her pure, fresh, crystal-like voice, the tones of which are penetrating, because they are always electrical in their expressive effect. She looks and sets the character so charmingly that the heroine of Goethe is ever before the eyes of the audience and when M. Thomas affords her an opportunity to make use of her lyric powers, she breathes such expression into the music as elevates it far above its true value. Without Mme. Nilsson, ‘Mignon’ would, indeed, be a very stupid affair. Messrs. Carre and Barbier, the librettists of the opera, have done better than the composer. There is nothing dull or uninteresting in their work. The action never flags, and the interest is, consequently, sustained from beginning to end. Mignon makes her first appearance in the most picturesque manner. The gypsies file in procession across the stage, and in their queer looking wagon, a real curiosity in itself, the form of Mignon, so childlike and beautiful, is seen, coiled up among the blankets and bundles of her Romany protectors. When her master orders her to prance before the haughty Filina and the strolling players, at the village tavern, in the ludicrous measure of the egg dance, the spirit of the daughter of sunny Italy rises in rebellion, and little barefoot stamps on the ground her indignation at such humiliation. All through this first act Mme. Nilsson is superb in acting and singing. It were a tale twice told to speak of the exquisite address to her native land in the aria, ‘Kennst du das Land,’ and when she apostrophises [sic] the scene in the duet of the ‘Swallows,’ with the harper, Lothario, her charming interpretation of the scene brought immediate and deserved applause.

In the next act the well known Styrienne and the miscellaneous music that diversifies the coquetry and jealousy prevalent in the boudoir of Filina gave ample scope for the exercise of Mme. Nilsson’s wonderful talent, and she was called out again and again after the fall of the curtain. The grand scene of jealousy and despair before the theatre in which Filina and her company are the main attractions, and where the placid waters of a lake invite to the repose that a suicide demands, was magnificently interpreted by Nilsson. Her dire resolve to fire the theatre of her rival’s triumph was expressed with the power of a Ristori or Rachel. In the last act nothing could be more beautiful or effective than her recognition of her father and her home. Madame Nilsson’s Mignon is an idyl of beauty, and it occupies deservedly the first position among her poetic representations. She has done more for the composer than ever the composer can do for her.

Next to Nilsson the voice and acting of Miss Cary demanded attention. The rôle of Frederico is very small, but Miss Cary made it a prominent feature of the opera. She has shown this season such a degree of improvement in every rôle she has essayed, that nothing short of hearty, unreserved praise must be accorded to her. Mr. Strakosch cannot boast of a more talented, conscientious or painstaking artist in his company than Miss Annie Louise Cary. The rôle of Filina serves as a foil to that of Mignon, and calls for bravura singing of a high order. Mlle. Torriani achieved quite a success in this rôle last night. She had one long, trying scena, the Polonaise, and she far surpassed all her predecessors in her brilliant rendering of this tasking scene. A unanimous encore caused her to repeat a portion of it. Mlle. Torriani, throughout, gave the audience an entirely new idea of the character of Filina. Her success was of the most emphatic kind, and never before in this country has the grand Poloniase been sung with such brilliancy and effect.

Capoul is the only true Wilhelm Meister that we have seen in this opera. It requires a true French artist to interpret such a rôle, and Capoul fulfills all its requirements. His acting and singing were of a character that one would not expect to find in modern opera. Applause and encore followed his ever effort. Nannetti eclipsed even James in his admirable rendering of the rôle of Lothario. He sunk his individuality in the requirements of the character.

A word of praise is due to Signor Muzio, the chef d’orchestre, for his admirable management in the representation of this opera. Now a word or two about M. Ambroise. Thomas and his music will not be out of place. The French school of music, by many brilliant representatives—Bolidiere, Herold, Auber, Gounod and Adam—have shed lustre [sic] on it. Halévy’s ‘La Juive’ is worthy of a place among the grand works of the German school. The present great representative of French music is M. Ambroise Thomas. They have made him President of the Conservatoire of Paris, and his word is law in musical France to-day. Yet his sole merit consists of theft from every source, in which he is not so skilful [sic] as Offenbach, Hervé or Lecocq. His three principal works, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ ‘Hamlet,’ and ‘Mignon,’ are like a Dolly Varden pattern of the thoughts of abler men. ‘Mignon,’ in a musical point of view, is a continued series of thefts, clumsy ones at that, and musical France was never more degraded than by the placing of the name of Thomas as its chief representative. His orchestration is only fit for a variety theatre, and his choruses are not worthy to be placed beside those of Offenbach and Hervé. The less we hear of M. Thomas’ music the better for the advancement of true art. He is a charlatan who has usurped the place to which Gounod, the greatest of all French masters to-day, is entitled. The tawdry clothing of stolen ideas which characterises [sic] M. Thomas’ music cannot pass current with the true musician.”