Richings English Opera: The Enchantress

“First representation of ‘The Opera Entire in New York,’ with all the original music by Balfe.”

“[W]ith all its beautiful scenery, brilliant effects, delightful music and unexampled strength of cast.”

“Balfe’s musical drama of ‘The Enchantress’ with Dr. Cunnington’s additions—which was produced at the Olympic Theatre last evening by the Richings Troupe—is a good specimen of what an ‘English opera’ is: a collection of pretty airs that seek and generally retain the popular fancy.  ‘Ever be Happy’ has been played oftener, and under a greater variety of circumstances perhaps, than any other piece of music.  ‘The Enchantress’ is also a good specimen of the sort of story which an English opera usually tells.  If a pirate in disguise and a mysterious foundling, a noble lover and a jealous corsair, twenty freebooters, a usurping Duke and a comic doctor are not enough to suggest music and to introduce an effective song and chorus, nothing can.  A distinguishing character of the music, too, is its adaptability—take it out of the opera and it will answer for almost anything else.  The champion bare-back act in the circus is as frequently ridden to the ‘Pirate’s Chorus’ as to the ‘Rosy Morn,’ and the same air is known to be an extremely popular one for target companies on the march to suburban shooting grounds.  In fact, the ballads and choruses in such compositions are like the illustrations in books; the story as a play can survive without them, and the book as a book can survive without the pictures—the opera music having this advantage over the pictures, that it will do as well for another play, while the book illustrations may not fit the scenes in another volume.  ‘The Enchantress,’ also, is famous for a certain reason not altogether pertaining to high art, to wit; because it is sure to draw a crowd, if business happens to have been light. It resembles in this certain dramas: the ‘Naiad Queen,’ for instance, which perhaps the reader may have seen that; is a play which is the hope of forlorn managers who bring it out when they are at their wits end. It may be interesting as a historical fact to note that the managers of the ‘Black Crook’ entertainment, who imported the ballet troupe and scenery, now exhibited at Niblo’s, originally designed producing the ladies, the scenery and the dresses in the ‘Naiad Queen.” They had all the attractions, and they wanted, like Crummies with his real pump and tubs, a piece to display them in; a happy accident averted the revival of the old play, and the fair Bonfanti, the agile Sangali and the serpentine Ryl, escaped making their first appearance as water nymphs of the Lerleiberg. But all this has nothing to do with ‘The Enchantress.’ That musical drama, it may not be out of place to say in this position, had an intelligent and fairly interesting representation last evening, and in the chorus department the performance will be quite as perfect after one or two more public rehearsals. Mr. Seguin showed all the disposition to realize the ideal heroic ‘pirate’ in the role of Ramir, and in acting he was entirely satisfactory; but, like Miss Ritchings [sic], Mr. Seguin’s voice is not what it once was, but then Mr. Seguin conceals by a rare art much of his loss.  Mr. Castle in the part of Sylvio was even more careful than usual, and for the entirely sentimental music which forms much of his duty, he was in proper spirit.  Mr. Campbell was the ‘bad Duke’ and as far as the singing went, left nothing to be desired.  There is one admirable quality about Mr. Campbell’s execution—it is concise; he does not, like too many baritones, drag his ‘oh’s’ and exclamatory notes half over the stage before he will consent to release them.  Mr. Peakes made some mild efforts to be funny as Dr. Mathanasius and the audience accepted them in the spirit in which they were given."

“…The Enchantress was given at the Olympic Monday night before the most crowded house of the season. The most exacting lover of melodrama, red fire, gorgeous scenery, rich dresses, romantic pirates, poisoned goblets, gleaming daggers, protean disguises, destructive conflagrations, trap doors, ballet, angels, demons and poor music will find enough in this monstronsity of Balfe’s to satisy him. It was placed on the stage by Messrs. Grover and Richings in magnificent style and the cast comprised the full strength of the Richings opera troupe, but the music, with the exception of some pretty ballads and one good chorus, is hardly up to mediocrity. Still, the spectacle has popular and taking elements in it and cannot fail thus to draw as it did last night.”

“The English Opera has invited the public to a revival of The Enchantress. This is an old spangled, spectacular favorite of a popular class of hearers, who enjoy as much as possible such a balladized extravaganza told out in the mother tongue. It is an elderly work of the composer of The Bohemian Girl and The Rose of Castile, both of which have been ambitiously rendered here by the Richings company. One of these stories takes its human tone from gypsies, and the other is devoted to muleteers and kindred spirits; and similarly, The Enchantress is loyal to the black flag, and is chorused by pirates. A Queen of outlaws, who is supposed to be an enchantress; a trio of desperate fellows who sing baritone and bass; a semi-buffo conjurer; a harmless, necessary ballet, and a family of needless demons disporting their brick-colored tightnesses in grottoes pendant with rosete stalactite or dripping, as it were, with hues of thick amber and plum-tree, gum—these contribute helter-skelter to the dazzling hodge-podge which we know as The Enchantress. A respectable orchestra conductor in Philadelphia has added a preposterous prologue to the original score, and the opera is accordingly advertised as the production of Balfe and Cunnington. Who is Cunnington? the people have been asking each other, and we repeat that he is a very worthy man, the leader of some busy musicians for this score of years, but nowise competent to invent a moving strain, or to amend a tolerable opera like The Enchantress. Hence, Mr. Cunnington’s mobile but emotionless prologue has made Balfe not better, but worse. The alliance is, of course, a great deal more honorable than the Shakesperean association with Naham Tate; for there are no end of Balfish ballads to remind us that their sentimental creator is no many-sided genius. There is at least one of Balfe’s airs which Cunnington might have written, though we hesitate to subscribe to the reverse of this proposition. Lest its striking commponplace should not be at once recalled by the reader, we present it in the shivering prose of the libretto. Sings the Enchantress with a cacophony for which we shall not hold her responsible:

“My presence still in calm or storm

Shall aid thee to impart.

And learn that if I change my form

I never change my heart.”

As without much impropriety Flotow’s chef d’oeuvre might be better described as Martha, or the Last Rose of Summer, so Balfe’s piratical romance might be explained as The Enchantress, or Ever be Happy. This easiest of clever choruses permeates the work, and is its ready and abiding spirit. It can be sung again and again on the slightest provocation of encore, for where is the chorus that would not venture to sing it, and sing it with a sort of bass conviction, and a hilarious defiance. In fact, remembering the somber bloodthirstiness of pirates in general, we are astonished at the amount of Ever-be-Happiness which pervades The Enchantress.

We doubt if there is any part of this operatic spectacle more satisfactory than its first act. There occurs the sempiternal ‘Ever be Happy’ (well sung, of course, last evening), but that is by no means so good a composition as the finely original ballad which Mr. Seguin degrades by a bad style—‘She is seen where the vapors of morn arise.’ To be positively unmusical is the one unpardonable sin in a singer. It was not so exactly with that good man and actor, but poor singer, Mr. Peter Richings. Yet, altogether, we are astonished that this capital song has of late years been committed to no better voices than those of Mr. Richings and Mr. Seguin. The prayer in this act is ably harmonized. A piece of recitative is very flippantly done by Mr. Castle; but the concert-hall air, ‘When this Enchantment I behold,’ receives keener expression. In only one number of the opera is there a touch of real ideality, and this occurs in the grotto chorus, which, at first, we think might have been written by a contemporary of Dr. Arne, some true musical illustrator of the preternatural, until subsequently the Balfe ‘of the stage stagey,’ recalls us to himself. Excepting the skillful variations which accompany the final Ever-be-Happy in this act, Miss Richings has little to tax her powers, until the well-known song of ‘Woman’s Heart,’ in the second act. This is a fair specimen [sic] of musical Brummagem, and it is not worth while to record any fault of Miss Riching’s spirited rendering. For the rest of the opera, part of it is good, and part of it is mere musical [filling?] of all sorts. It is popular for many reasons, and will be repeated.”    

“Notwithstanding the mediocracy of the music of the Enchantress, the costly and splendid style in which it is put on the stage at the Olympic was quite sufficient to attract a crowded house last night. The piece affords many opportunities for scenic effectual display which are fully availed of. Miss Richings filled the leading rôle admirably, and the few morceaux in the opera were well sung.”

“If the ‘Enchantress,’ judged purely by its merits as an opera, does not come up to the high standard that public taste has been accustomed to look for in works of this kind, certainly as an opera and spectacle combined it is a production well worth attention, and is deserving of the success that has attended its performance by the Richings company at the Olympic. Balfe’s music has such a tendency to run into the simple ballad style, of which the ‘Bohemian Girl’ is a notable example, that one does not expect to hear in his works brilliant concerted pieces of any length, choruses of particular merit, or beautiful passages of recitative, accompanied by delicate and graceful music, expressing no fixed air, but embracing a mere succession of pleasing chords. We were therefore surprised and delighted to find in the ‘Enchantress,’ which is now for the first time presented entire in this country, a number of choruses of very decided merit, and several little pieces of recitative that in their way were gems. There is a noticeable absence of ‘ballad’ airs, so much so, in fact, that last evening both Miss Richings and Mr. Campbell introduced several airs not in the opera in order more completely to fill out their parts. We are unaware how much of the merit of the ‘Enchantress’ belongs to Balfe and how much to Cunnington, but together they have certainly succeeded in producing a very agreeable work, and one that will always be a favorite with the admirers of this excellent company. The music of the prologue consists almost entirely, if we except an aria sung very weakly by Mr. Wylie, of choruses and recitative. To our mind the best music of the opera was there given; the prayer of the pirates especially was a splendid combination of rich chords, sung with a tempo that brought each note out in relief, and made a chorus of marked power. The bass notes were particularly fine. The first act was not noticeable, a good deal of the music being rather weak; the second and last acts, however, redeemed the defects of the first. The greater part of the ‘spectacle’ occurred in the first act, and consisted of a ballet, procession, illuminated grotto, red and blue fire and tableau, with demons in red completely overcome, and angels in white triumphant. This was strictly in règle, and what was to be expected. Happily there was very little more of it in the rest of the opera. Neither demons nor angels reappeared, which was a subject of rejoicing. The scenery of the second act was excellent, a military tent with its hangings in particular being one of the best scenes of the opera. The music here was good, Castle singing a charming aria to the entire satisfaction of the audience. The third act gave us a fine sea scene, with a ship under full sail, some fine music, including a repetition of the popular ‘Ever be Happy,’ and a well-arranged chorus concluding the opera. The parts were generally well taken. The cast is so large that it is impossible to particularize. We may say, however, that Miss Richings was, as usual, careful and exact, both in singing and acting. Mr. Seguin made a fine brigand chief, and acted his part to perfection. Castle and Campbell are such acknowledged favorites, that it is enough to say that they were fully up to their usual standard. Mr. Henry Peakes, as Forte Brachia, found several opportunities for the display of a rich and full bass voice, contrasting very strongly with Mr. Wylie, who failed to interpret his part with success. His voice was weak, and he did not seem to catch the spirit of the character at all. Mlle. Theresa Wood danced several times very well indeed, and succeeded in winning the applause of the house.” 

“The many imperfections which characterize the Enchantress as one of Balfe’s early efforts are entirely overlooked by the large audiences who have been present during the week at the Olympic Theatre, and who lose sight of the defective orchestration of the work in the admirable manner in which it has been put on the stage. Miss Richings should not, with the excellent company she has, be content with the success which has attended her up to this time, but should bring out other operas, in which the excellent musical abilities of her troupe would have fitting opportunity for display.”

‘The Enchantress’ was produced at the Olympic on the 8^th inst. by the Richings Opera Troupe. The opera was placed upon the stage in magnificent style, the cast being good, the costumes and stage appointments handsome, the chorus large and effective, and the music excellent. With the exception of the exceedingly long waits between the acts, everything went off well and the audience was highly pleased with the performance. The house was very crowded, every seat being occupied, and the aisles filled with camp stools. Stella, the Enchantress, is the principal part of the piece, and she is an Enchantress in the person of Miss Richings—bewitching and captivating all hearts. This lady possesses a voice full of melody, highly cultivated, under most excellent control, of remarkable flexibility, and withal founded on fine natural taste. Mr. Castle was excellent as Sylvio, and his singing was loudly applauded. Mr. S. C. Campbell had little to do as the Duke, but that little was enthusiastically encored. It is a pity that Balfe did not give the baritone a little more to do.   E. Seguin appeared as Ramir, formerly played by Peter Richings, to advantage. The rest of the characters were in good hands. The spectacle attracted excellent houses all the week, and is on for this week.”