On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (4)
-
¦j j^'^i^/i;:: - ' , ,;.. --; ;;;; ' -,:...
-
€tyt Mb. . ".
-
THE OPERAS. The great "Wagner ease" has ...
-
FRENCH PLAYS. It was a treat to see' Reg...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Mb. Disraeli's Cabinet Dinnee. The Follo...
? Wit the land is overtaxed . TTe will relieve the fend—if yte can ; arid that will do as ^ f as Protection . We'll trust that to him—he is worthy of confidence , particularly as He'll ' tell us npthiittg . ( Cneers . ) vFor the rest , office is very pleasant a 3 an excitement and Ve want excitement . We are getting on very well . I think I have managed Sbout ' Maynooth , arid without pledging myself . I have encouraged agitat ion , —with the aid of proper managemerit- ^ -you know what I mean- —will give us a working majority At the ceneral elecndti . This country is a Conservative coimtry : the " old nobility , " as mv rotog f 4 end * her ( 9 Jjoetically calls us , is trusted by the people , more than the manu-Scturers ^ re trusted ; the Queen , our gracious mistress , is with us ; the church is with us and if we dont have a long innings , it will be the fault of our own battling . Of co urse we'll have to run away in time ; But the day is distant , for ripbody wants Reform : and unless the Budget is a very bad one , which I am sure it won't be , we are safe . ¦ Russell is used Up , —rseo the Times— --Paimeraton will join us soon ( ahem from Lord
Jlalmesbury )—arid we ore a match for the rest . So " sans changer ' - —" charge ! " ( Great Mr . Disraeli—Gentlemen , your confidence in me overwhelms me . Your declarations are indistinct , but their general tenor is quite worthy of you . I understand you to ex-Dress an inclii » ationr--natural to your chivalric and honourable minds—to keep . office . ( Cheers . ) That is a great policy . It also is an easy policy to accomplish . The political system is in confusion . No other party knows its policy ; hence our advantage " We will maintain that adraritage . We have been two months in office , and that has been our only policy : obviously it is adequate to the national conceptions . The country needs administrators—not theorists . Nothing is so unwise as—as—ahr— 'bad management . Ours . is a radical system . Government consists in getting votes . We should therefore do nothing to provoke a hostile majority j arid if we get a friendly majority , we must riot be tyrannical over a minority . At present our great object is to kill time : that is our principal owupatiori . . Difficulties will come by-and-bye , and we must meet them in a— -ali ^—sagacious spirit . The question of the emancipation of the Jews is . one ¦ upon which I flunk it decent to be firm . I cannot expect your co-operation ; we will
therefore make it an open auestionV ( Cheers . ) So when I dmer trom you—that is to say you from me- ^ there is that catastrophe of a compronuse—excuse my favourite phrase an op ^ n questipriv We'll be beaten pri the Militia Bill—we'll bow to the decision of Parlianiierit- ^ and respectfully Withdraw it * ( Oh , from . Mr- Walpole . ) Reform is jn our own hands . Russell can no longer be a leader of Reformers . ( Clheers . ) As tcfrour foreign policy , I hstye no fears . Let us thank God that our noble friend , the Secretary for Foreigri Affairs , has such a cook ! ( Gheers >) Ireland is no difficulty : it ' s getting busy and flourishing , and therefore content ; and if we should find it necessary to withdraw the Mayriooih grant , why we're sure of a majority . ( Oh !) Invasion , as we all know , is nonsense ; and we'll d ? $ j > the Malitia Bill by-arid-bye . Then , as fo the Budget , a little clever adjustment will satisfy all and offend none . The incidence of taxation
is an interesting study , and I hope on Friday to be able to hit upon an idea . At present I am deeply engaged in searchirig for , and bringing up , all the copies extant of Alroy . When I have leisure I will arrange a Tory policy For the half century . Let me entreat you all to look to the elections . ( Cheers . ) Frail will do the business for us very well , I have no ' doubt . . ' 'Itehas a genius for a ^ cry , " and everything depends on that . Youth is a blunder , marihood a struggle , and okfage a regret . But office is pleasant Let us keep it . ( Cheers , ) LordLonsdale ( rismg arid leaning with his hands on the table )—I think that the eloquence of my ri g ht hori . friend is most convincing . I feel satisfied . I feel that we are doing our dutyto our sovereign " and the country ; and I propose that we now go and see an act or two of the *' Chain of Events . "
Lord Derby—Bravo ! Yoil are a splendid President of the Council , Lonsdale : you sum up after tte jury ~ has decided . -I like men to act up to their mottos;—yours is , isn ' t it , " Magistfq . tus indicat VirumT' _ Mr . Disraeli—mine is , " Plus Parte" —Vide Lucretius . On , Stanley , on!—to the Lyceum ! , . : The company accordingly broke up .
¦J J^'^I^/I;:: - ' , ,;.. --; ;;;; ' -,:...
¦ j j ^ ' ^ i ^/ i ; :: - ' , , ; .. -- ; ;;;; ' -,:: . \ ^ ,: ; : t « % ' - ; ' ¦ 3 ^ M . A-l > -jBrfe ! : . ' ,. ¦¦ . . . ¦ ¦ - . / W
€Tyt Mb. . ".
€ tyt Mb . . " .
The Operas. The Great "Wagner Ease" Has ...
THE OPERAS . The great " Wagner ease" has occupied the town too much this week to allow of any other novelty ( an irreverent wit , alluding to the want of fulness in the figure of Madlle . Wagner , calls her the lone of contention ) , unless I am . to consider the performances " first time this season" of Norma and Fidelio & b novelties . I dd not profess to know which way the Wagner case will be decided ; an ignorance the more humiliating , because every one around me is so confident he knows . But this I do know , that never has singing more rapturously excited me than Tamberlik ' s third and fourth acts oil Martiri . From the first moment I heard Tamberlik I pronounced him a magnificent singer , and now I find even his former detractors proclaiming him the greatest singer of the day . How that may bo I know not ; but except Pasta , Kean , Paganini , and Rachel , there has been no artist in my time who produced such thrilling ,
overpowering excitement in me . As that incomparable voice ascends in its passionate exaltation to altitudes other voices only reach in screams , I feel an electric fire run quivering through me , and spasmodic laughter bursts forth as my tribute of applause All through the day , busy with its many cares , I hear the triumphant glory or that note which , in the duet with Paulina ( O Santa Melodia !) ho sustains above the orchestra , till pleasure becomes almost pain . It is not because Tamberlik Bings the ut de poitrine ( and when encored sings half a note higher , C sharp ) that he produces such a stormy delight ; other men have sung C in alt , and , except for the rarity , no one cared for it ; but ramberlilc ' s C is one of the most delicious notes ever heard from a man , and as lie sustains it , and swells on it , the effect becomes perfectly indescribable . Moreover , how tender he is ! what beauty in his recitative 1 what vigour and earnestness in his style ! and all this splendour
" * p ower is unabated by any sigji ot enorfc or tatigvie . Let mo say that the general impression is , that if I Martiri only bo performed a few times more it will become a stock piece ; bad and ureary as are the two first acts , tho last two transcend anything Donififi as written ; not as music , but as opportunity for two singers . J-he sestott in tho third act , and the whole of tho music for Tamborlik in 1 TJ" ! ' * . ^ d fourth , are enough to make any opora popular . On Thursday GIrisi—the only Norma—made her first appearance this season , and was welcomed as Grisi must ever be by a public that adores her . Formes too , who improves , and gains frosh favour with overy now effort , roiippoarod as Oroveso . Tamberlik was tho Pollio . It is somothing to hoar ta » a and Tamberlik sintr tho final duet Qual cor tradisti ! at
Hbb Majesty ' s , Cruvelli has repeated Mosina in II JBarbiere , and co nnrmea hor success in it . On Thursday she played Fidelio , which tiu remains her greatest part ; it is to her what Norma is to Grisi . I was not able to be present at this performance , and must reserve for
another occasion any criticism that may be necessary . The report of Jenny Lind being about to return to Her Majesty ' s is flung from club to coterie , with what weight of probability I cannot say . But people have such extraordinary omniscience in operatic matters , tnat I who have no acquaintance *' with the parties , " supposed to speak authoritatively , retire into meek insignificance ; limiting my opinion in this last instance to something more tnan doubt .
French Plays. It Was A Treat To See' Reg...
FRENCH PLAYS . It was a treat to see' Regnier in the restless , chattering , dancing , lyi p # > intriguing , levelling , scoffing , cold , brilliant , witty , heartless , diverting " Figaro ! Such verve ! such animal spirits ! such minuteness and felicity of detail ! such glowing vitality of ensemble ' . Figaro here , Figaro there , Figaro everywhere ! The factotum of intrigue—the incarnation of l y ing ! The lie pure and simple , for its own sake , for the mere intellectual gratification of that perverted superiority which consists in deceit—a , superiority that can only raise itself above you by tripping you up ! For this , be it ever remembered , is the boasted superiority gained aeceii / tne is not dui nailers nis witn
oy : nar xauer , priae ueing aoove youj because you are sprawling in the marsh he led you into ! Figaro is swift , keen , unscrupulous , inventive : the ready laugh answers to his ready wit ; but how cold it leaves us ! how poor and contemptible all that brilliancy really is ; its sparkle coming from no central heat ! The fact is , that although Beaumarchais produced an immense , an enduring impression in corrupt France by his daring onslaught upon the decrepit sanctities of society , although , as he said , " If anything is madder than my play , it is its success , " it lives now only in virtue of having once produced that impression—its life is an echo , and fades away gradually into silence . . ¦
Our echoes roll from soul to soul , And roll for ever and for ever . It is a blessed consolation that lies will not last , be they never so bril liant . It is not intellect that vivifies the world . Without the strong pulses of the healthy heart no work can live , no work deserves to live . And see how music , with its genial charm , confers immortality upon this Barber ofSeville , by embalming it in beauty ! Rossini has taken up Beaumarchais , and the heartless comedy becomes an exquisite delight . Rossini's Figaro is as bright , clear , witty , and inventive ; Almaviva is as gay and careless ; JBosina is as arch and rebellious : but a breath of the sweet South runs through the work— -a hearty sense of beauty and enjoyment , a pulse of passion , and an ebullience of young and thoughtless love !
It was , then , a treat to see Regnier , the accomplished comedian , but Le Sarbier de Seville itself was not a treat . Scribe ' s amusing comedy of Bataille des Dames , though it has little wit , only one character , and old situations , was far more enjoyable—and enjoyed , let me add . The character of Grignon- —that daring coward , whose mother had the heart of a lioness , whose father had tnat of an Spicier— Grignon , the impetuously prudent , is a part Regnier revels in . Moreover , we had Lafont in the difficult part of the young gentleman persecuted by the love of a woman who is aunt to the girl he loves ¦; and we had Mdlle . Denain in the part last year murdered by Mdlle . Judith ; so that on the
whole we had reason to be pleased , and pleased we were . If anything could soften our regret at Regnier ' s leaving us—which he does next week—it is that in his place we are to have Rose Cheri , the rose of the stage , the darling of darlings , to whom I am prepared , at any moment , to make a formal offer of my hand- —and copyrights . It is true she has already committed the rash act of marriage . I know it . But is there not arsenic P After that very natural , but somewhat libertine sentiment , you will not be surprised if I express my curiosity as to Mr . Orgrave ' s method of assailing the sex , vaguely intimated in Mark Lemon ' s new
drama—MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS , ( produced last Saturday at tho Haymarkot ) . This Mr . Orgrave is one of those incomprehensible lady-killers whom we so often meet in comedy ; and who , while telling us that " women have nover baffled them , " yet are nevertheless , always distinctly , oasily , absurdly baffled by the virtue in white muslin , representing female purity for the nonce . ]^ ot only are they baffled , but they make love in such a clumsy , conventional , insolent , and smtender fashion , that the mystery always is how they could expect to succeed . When a man says no woman cvor baffled him , I prick up my ears . " Secrets worth knowing" may escape him . I listen , eager . Think of a man never baffled by those tricksy , coquettish , wicked , knowing , perverse , divine croatures ! What an immense being ! All my faculties arc on the stretch to comprehoud him ; and lo ! he turns out to be a noodle who would have his faco smacked by the mitigated virtue of Primroso Hill , or tho Green Park with a baby in its arms !
Really , my dear Mark , you havo paid virtue a poor compliment in opposing 3 ? anny to such temptations us Mr . Orgravo . But I suppose you wiU plead tho difficulties of representing a lady-killer ; and in truth when one sees tho animals women wile idolize ( and that too with us handsome dogs to be had for tho asking!)—tho mystery of fascination—wherein it consists , how it operates , and upon what qualities it dopends—becomes inscrutable . Therefore I will not pester you with criticisms on your rou 6 Orgravo , the nioro bo as ho was admirably porjbrinod by Leigh Murray ( though I except ;
from this pvaiso tho sudden and unseemly burst pt violence in his scono with Fanny ) and merely say , in passing , that lie was totally unnecessary in your drama . So , for that matter , aro sovoral of tho characters . They Jiungloosely togothor . And this is the defect of tho piece : it is constructed on the oxtromely inartistic principle of our " good old English comedies , " which , ono is thankful to say , arc doomed for ever . Tho object sooma to havo been to introduco as many " parts" as possiblo ; and these must ull have their " sconos ; " tho scones aro good scenes , amusing scenes , but the piece moves heavily , because it wants that vitality which organization alono con , flTlVC jfj ^ Having said so imioh in tho way of objection , lot mo emphatically praiso
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1852, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01051852/page/19/
-