Gazzaniga Matinee Concert: 1st

For Oct. 30 performance.

Postponed until Thursday, the 1st.

The performance was very well received.

Postponed [from the 30^th] to Nov. 1

The concert, postponed from Tuesday, will take place today.

“Postponing a concert is a dangerous thing in regard to securing a large audience, and the postponement of the first matinee of the above celebrated prima donna from Tuesday to yesterday afternoon had the effect of thinning the number that would otherwise have attended.  Still the ladies turned out in respectable force to welcome the great artiste back from her provincial tour.  She was assisted by Signor Anastasi, Miss Adelaide Phillips, and Messrs. Henry Mollenhauer and G. W. Colby. We heard her for the second time in the grand duet between Sappho and Climene, in Pacini’s Saffo. There was the same dramatic power, fullness and rotundity of tone and rare execution as of old, and in ‘Ah! Mon fils,’ from the prophet, and a romanza, ‘L’amor funesto,’ by Donizetti, she was enthusiastically and deservedly encored. Therese’s chansonette, ‘On y va’ gave Madame Gazzaniga an opportunity to display her versatility, and one could hardly recognize in her arch, coquettish voice and manner the same regal organ that thrilled the audience in the rôle of the ill fated Sapho or in La Juive. Miss Phillips sang Kathleen Mavoureen and a laughing song by Bendelari. Her pure, well balanced contralto voice gave the beautiful lush ballad with sweetness and rich expression.  Signor Anastasi’s fine tenor voice was in pretty good condition, and in the romanza from Louisa [sic] Miller and M’appari from Martha he was very successful.  The duet, I Bevitori,  which he sang with Miss Philips and another duet from Ernani, in which Madame Gazzaniga took part, were deficient in ensemble of tone, character, and expression.  The tenor seemed to lack the power of assimilating his voice to the soprano or alto with which he sang, and the duets seemed as if each voice was quite independent of the other.  Mr. Henry Mollenhauer played his Ernani fantasia and Allard’s [sic] ‘Sounds from the Alps’ in excellent style.  He spoiled the accompaniment to Gazzaniga’s romanza by too much breadth of tone and want of ensemble.”

“The first concert announced by Mme Gazzaniga took place Thursday in the charming, stylish hall at Wallack’s. The attendees that hastened to greet the return of the excellent artist were numerous, especially if one has consideration for the difficulty many people had to go through to rearrange their affairs in broad daylight on a weekday. We had the good fortune to hear, at this matinée, the great duet between Sapho and Climene, from Pacini’s opera [Saffo], which is one of Mme Gazzaniga’s triumphs. This singer’s technique isn’t only admirable; further, she has the fire that alone gives inspiration, and which all effort to nourish artificially is powerless; for it belongs only to exceptionally gifted natures. Mme Gazzaniga’s success was no less grand in the air Ah mon fils,  from Prophète, and in a romance by Donizetti, the Amore funesto. What is singular to Mme Gazzaniga is the extreme flexibility of her art. She sang a French chansonette, On y va, with an elegance and an intimate spirit that couldn’t help putting the audience in good humor.

M. Anastasi, with whom Mme Gazzaniga sang a duet from Ernani, was also warmly applauded, as was Mme Phillips. M. Henry Mollenhauer distinguished himself in a piece by Alard entitled Bruits des Alpes.”