Kellogg English Opera: Le Nozze di Figaro

“Miss Kellogg’s audience last night was neither so large nor so cordial as the assemblages which witnessed ‘Martha,’ ‘Maritana,’ and the ‘Bohemian Girl’ last week, although on this occasion the three stars of the company appeared together in the most perfect comic opera the world has ever seen. The cause of this falling off in public interest—slight but still unmistakable—is not difficult to find. ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ in English requires a much higher order of dramatic talent than most of these singers possess. The spoken dialogue is abundant. The stage business is unusually important. Unless both are well done the opera is always dull ,--and it was certainly a little dull last night. None of the artists, except Mrs. and Mr. Seguin, gave the spoken portions with the requisite ease, distinctness and vivacity. Miss Kellogg herself, when she spoke, lacked the piquancy and sparkle which we look for in Susanna, and seemed perfectly at home only when she sang. Mrs. Van Zandt’s elocution was labored, and the gentlemen of the company, Mr. Seguin excepted, are not entertaining actors. The orchestra moreover was hardly good enough for the delicate and beautiful work it had to do.

There was a great deal however, in the performance that we can heartily praise. The charming airs which Mozart has apportioned with such an impartial hand among the three female characters were all sung with taste, feeling, and correctness; and we can seldom hope to witness a representation of the opera in which the Countess, Susanna, and Cherubino shall be more nicely balanced and more nearly alike in excellence. Well as Miss Kellogg sings this grateful music, she was fairly rivaled last night by Mrs. Van Zandt, who is by far the best Countess we have ever had in New-York. The voices of the two ladies blended charmingly in the famous duet, and were heard to advantage in all the concerted pieces. Mrs. Seguin’s Cherubino is somewhat celebrated as one of her most fascinating personations. We recall nobody just now who sings the ‘Non so piu cosa’ and the ‘Voi che sapete’ with such excellent sentiment. Mr. Peakes was a lively enough Figaro, though he is a slovenly singer. Mr. Carlton appeared as Almaviva, and did little with his recitative and aria for the Third Act, although he bore himself bravely in the solos of the First and Second Acts, and in the various ensembles. Mr. Seguin took his old character of Antonio. The other minor characters were very ill done.”

“The recitals of the second and last week of the Kellogg English Opera Troupe at the Academy promise to be even more successful than their performances heretofore. The attendance thus far has been something remarkable, and the enthusiasm manifested by the audiences has been quite unprecedented. Last evening ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ was recited, with Miss Clara Louise Kellogg, Mme. Van Zandt, and Mrs. Seguin in the cast, and the usual demonstrations of satisfaction were very numerous from the exceedingly crowded audience. The music-loving public have now an opportunity of enjoying English opera such as they many not possess again for a long time to come, and they should not neglect to avail themselves of the chance.”

“An English version of Mozart’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’ was given last evening at the Academy of Music. The principal characters were cast as follows [lists cast].

The attendance, though not so large as at some of the performances of last week, was a very good one. The representation, without being at all a brilliant one, showed in every part the most careful study. It is to the credit of the management that none of the operas so far produced show any marks of hasty or imperfect preparation. The concerted music, of which the greater part of the opera consists, was sung smoothly. The essential lack in the performance was vitality and color. It was somewhat monotonously good. This was doubtless in part due to the music itself, which flows like a lovely river of melody whose current is never broken by rocks or waterfalls. There is scarcely any opera so replete with melody or so destitute of dramatic contrasts. Miss Kellogg’s rendering of Susanna both here and on the London stage has been the theme of frequent praise, and has apparently lost no quality of excellence by its transfer into our language.”

“Mozart’s pleasing melodies were agreeably rendered last night at the Academy of Music by the English Opera company. Miss Kellogg, Mrs. Vanzandt, and Mrs. Seguin quite eclipsed the gentlemen of the Company in the interest they imparted to the performance. It must be confessed, however, that the opera dragged, and the frequent spoken portions were decidedly dull. The performance was not over until a very late hour. Mrs. Seguin, who has made quite a reputation in the part of Cherubino, looked as charming as ever and sang delightfully. The Countess of Madame Vanzandt was a graceful personation, and the Susanna of Miss Kellogg was, of course, admirable. Yet we do not suppose that the ‘Marriage of Figaro’ will be repeated this season.”

“The second week of the Kellogg troupe opened auspiciously last night, at the Academy of Music, with a very fair rendering of Mozart’s comic opera, ‘The Marriage of Figaro,’ presented with the following cast [see above].

The performance was a smooth one, as far as the principal artists were concerned, and fully up to the standard of the Italian representations of the same opera at this house. Miss Kellogg seemed to enter into the spirit of the intriguing and coquettish lady’s maid and gave unalloyed satisfaction in both acting and singing. The Countess of Mme. Van Zandt was no less attractive, the celebrated duet in the third act, ‘The Zephyr’ (su l’aria), being so well rendered by her and Miss Kellogg as to bring with it an overwhelming redemand from the audience. Mrs. Seguin’s best rôle, or the one in which she creates the most pronounced success, is that of the tantalizing page. Mr. Carlton was in better voice than at his début last week, having recovered from his recent illness, and Mr. Peakes acted the part of the married barber admirably, although his deep bass voice was not exactly adapted to the music. The peculiar comic tone of Mr. Tilla’s voice, which would be destructive of other rôles, gave effect to the music of the meddlesome singing master, and the old gardener had an excellent representative in Mr. Seguin.

It may appear a heretical, but it is nevertheless an undeniable assertion, that the two great works of Mozart, ‘Don Juan’ and ‘Figaro,’ do not at present find favor with the American public when presented in a large theatre. They are essentially parlor operas, and as well adapted to the boards of the Academy as would be chamber music works interpreted by the 100 instrumentalists of the Philharmonic Society. The nuances and delicacies of expression, the marquetry, if we may borrow a term from the cabinetmaker’s art, and the ever shifting, and ofttimes scarcely defined changes in the character of the music, are necessarily lost in a big building like the Academy. Suppose Mr. Wallack should quit his cosey little theatre for the opera house many of the finest and most delicately limned features of his acting would be lost on the vast stage of the Academy. So it is with ‘The Marriage of Figaro.’ It is not an opera calculated to be thoroughly appreciated in such a building, and it certainly last evening became tiresome before even the last act was reached. Yet every company, Italian and English, with few exceptions, persists in presenting it and ‘Don Giovanni,’ and the result is anything but satisfactory. It is as unsuitable for grand opera as is a string quartet of Beethoven for grand concert.”