Benefit of Victor Maurel

Includes program.

“A large audience enjoyed the very varied entertainment arranged for the benefit night of M. Maurel. M. Maurel is one of the most gifted and thorough artists ever listened to in this country, and the tribute paid him by the presence of a numerous gathering yesterday, was but a fitting reward for his labors this season. The part of the performance which pleased us most was the third act of ‘Ernani.’ The pictorial impressiveness of M. Maurel’s Carlo Quinto, the expressiveness and effectiveness of the music allotted to him, and the completeness of the episode brought before the public were the chief points in its favor. To our thinking, the bénéficiare’s singing and acting in ‘Ernani’ are simply perfection, and the third act being the most impressive of the opera, its interest was exceptional. M. Maurel was in fine voice last night, and hence his work was at all points satisfactory. In tender pathos nothing could surpass the opening bars of the air, ‘Oh! de’ verd’ anni miei,’ while the delivery of the lines prefatory to the finale (‘Oh, sommo Carlo’) gave speech within its narrow limits, to the wrath of the offended sovereign, to the struggle between their desire for revenge and a growing sense of the grandeur of clemency, and, at last, to the noble resolve to emulate the virtues of the monarch whose tomb is a solemn reminder of the fleeting character of worldly honors. A spirited recital of Ernani’s music by M. Capoul. (Mlle. Torriani being, as usual, the Elvira), and the co-operation of the well-trained chorus and orchestra, under the bâton of Mr. Behrens, elicited an enthusiastic encore, and, subsequently, the reappearance before the curtain of the principal performers. A brief concert followed, M. Wieniawski playing deliciously his fantasia on ‘Faust’ and his ‘Russian Airs,’ and Mme. Nilsson singing with extreme delicacy of coloring ‘Assisa ai piè d’un salice,’ Rossini’s setting of Shakespeare’s ‘Willow Song,’ and a composition worthy of its theme. Mme. Nilsson had to come forth again after her air, and thereupon she gratefully added to the bill Gounod’s ‘Ave Maria,’ the spirit of which she certainly did not catch, although quite a loud demonstration of delight may be thought to have proved the contrary. During the concert, Signor Scolara, in female attire, figured in an Italian comic scena. The third act of Rigoletto was next, M. Maurel personating Rigoletto and Mlle. Torriani Gilda. The act loses much by separation from the opera, and on this account we cannot form an opinion of what M. Maurel’s complete picture of the jester may be. A master of recitative no less than cantabile, and an actor of intelligence, experience, and unflagging earnestness, his Rigoletto must be possessed of rare merits. As hinted at, however, ex pede Herculem is inapplicable to the present case. Nevertheless the interview with the courtiers was very touching, the contrast of anger and grief in the duet with Gilda very well defined, and the gradations up to ‘Vendetta, tremenda vendetta!’—which passage was declaimed with a concentrated power, the genuineness of which was not to be mistaken—were treated with the nicest art. The representation terminated with ‘Les Deux Aveugles,’ a tiny operette by Offenbach. There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and that one step, when causing harmless merriment was in view, was almost pardonable and especially on a benefit night, when the house is supposed to be tenanted mainly by the friends of the actors. These words are not superfluous by way of introduction to a record of the fact that M. Capoul acted Giraffler, and M. Maurel, Patachon. Twenty minutes of hearty laughter were the results of the efforts of the two performers. Their ‘make up’ as sham blind men was marvelous, that of M. Capoul being notably elaborate. M. Maurel and his associate were once more summoned before the footlights, and then the assemblage dispersed.”

“M. Maurel had a good house for his benefit last night, quite a number of the boxes being occupied and the floor nearly filled. The programme was long and miscellaneous. First came the famous third Act of ‘Ernani,’ in which the popular baritone first made a decided sensation in New-York, and it was given with all due effect, Mlle. Torriani appearing as the heroine and M. Capoul as Ernani. Then followed several concert selections. M. Wieniawski played his ‘Faust’ fantasia and his arrangement of a well-known Russian air. Mme. Nilsson sang the favorite aria from Rossini’s ‘Otello’—‘Assisa al pie d’un salice,’ and for an encore gave the Bach-Gounod ‘Ave Maria,’ M. Wieniawski supplying the violin part, with that admirable accompanist M. Rembielinski at the piano. This was the most charming piece of the evening, except that in the closing passage Mme. Nilsson was betrayed into a bit of bravura singing, which elicited a great deal of applause, though it was not in good taste. Sig. Scolara had a buffo song, disporting himself in female costume; but we cannot conscientiously say that we found it funny. The third act of ‘Rigoletto’ showed M. Maurel at his best, Mlle. Torriani as Gilda giving him competent support; and the long evening closed with Offenbach’s amusing musical farce ‘Les Deux Aveugles,’ in which Capoul and Maurel, as the two blind men, surprised the public by disclosing a vein ot broad humor. This performance was almost perfect of its kind, and kept the house in continual laughter.”

Baritone’s departure for London on the steamer Pereire.