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572 __ ______ T H 3B L EADE E. \^o. 429,...
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DON JUAN AT THE THEA.TRE-FRAN9AIS. The F...
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LUISA MILLER. If anything- can cure the ...
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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.
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. . ¦ ¦ »¦—: . ¦ The Royal Academy. (Thi...
i ts conscientious and careful finish , little can be said beyond the fact of its undoubted value as a portrait . For Mr . Bdckner ' s big-eyed , small-mouthed , vermilion-lipped insipidities , pretending to be likenesses of Englishwomen , -we have always had an invincible repugnance . This season he more than ever provokes us to mention that—Mr . Buckneii is the fashionable portrait-painter of the day . Mr . Thorbuen ' s portraits in oil—in lamp-oil , we might suppose , from the thick , clammy , unwholesome medium , through which the hard outlines show— -are simply failures ; failures alike , whether he dresses a duchess in allegory and surrounds her with symbolical upholstery , or whether he trims a country gentleman ' s family into an uncomfortable set-group of tailors' advertisements .
Two landscapes by Mr . Anthony seem to have been overlooked , as well they may be , by the most observant critics , this year . Both pictures are disgracefully hung , in the North Room , among the architectural plans and elevations . "We do not wonder that Mr . Anthony , after the treatment he has endured for some years at the hands of the Academicians , should have discontinued sending wotks of great pretension . These two landscapes are certainly inferior to his general style . With regard to " The Sweet Spring Time" ( 952 ) , we tiave this to say , that , although a man might do much worse than copy a photograph , he should not copy its accidental blemishes , or such qualities of a photograph as are , at all events , blemishes in a picture . Water in photography is hardly ever lite , water ; that is to say , reflexions of light in photography are not like reflexions as we see them in nature , but rather resemble obliterations . We do not feel safe in speaking of Mr . Anthony ' s "Twilight" ( 1014 ) , as it is so far removed from possibility of inspection that we are unable to tell whether certain appearances belong to the painting , or are derived from the ruinous toplight in which it hangs . - ¦¦
" Past and Present "( 428 ) , by Miss Blcnden , is a picture with much of the pre Raphaelite affectation and some of the pre-Raphaelite excellence . The scene is a lonely , grass-grown patch of ground , that may have been a conventgarden in time *' past ; " and the figures " present" are two girls , children of poor cotters , apparently . One girl is wreathing a chaplet of fresli wild-flowers on her sister ' s head . The picture , as a little poem , may be pronounced almost as rhythmical in execution as it is imaginative in idea . Miss Bmndkn's work , in 6 hort , is one which we are glad to have discovered . How many equally good and promising efforts have escaped us , we almost fear to think . For the third time we find ourselves before Mr . J . CiAttK ' s " Sick Child " ( 89 ) , without being a"ble to refrain from speaking of it once more . It is better than Lesmb ; much better than Webste r ; i mmeasurably better than ITkith . It is all three and a great deal besides . It is the bestpicture , in fact , that a deliberate and final survey of the rooms , this year , has brought to our observation .
572 __ ______ T H 3b L Eade E. \^O. 429,...
572 __ ______ T H 3 B L EADE E . \^ o . , . J . use 12 , 1858 .
Don Juan At The Thea.Tre-Fran9ais. The F...
DON JUAN AT THE THEA . TRE-FRAN 9 AIS . The Festin de Pierre , of all Moliere ' s pieces , is perhaps tlie most difficult to put upon the stage . For this reason managers from time to time make the attempt after careful study ; and , whatever may be the success , the event always creates a sensation in the dramatic world . "We should rather say in the Paris world generally ; for wliat member of it is not interested in theatrical matters ? Who ever heard of a Parisian , between infancy and decrepitude , in whom the theatre Bad not been a passion at some time or other of life ? Accordingly , the revival of this singular drama at the Fkancjus has been as much talked of as many of Mr . Kean's revivals at the Princess ' s . Its chief characteristic , however , is not its new scenery , although that has been carefully executed , nor its effects , which baYe been suffered to be too much trammelled by tradition . The mode of the appearance of the statue , for example , except when first seen upon its pedestal , seems to us a mistake . It is too evidently a muss of plaster , with joints at its neck and knees , so that the incredulity of Don Juan appears natural and estimable , whilst the affright of his followers is ridiculous . Even when the libertine goes somewhere so much before his time , dragged down by this huge puppet , instead of struck feel if he the of
being awe- we as were subject a practical jest , and have no fear for the wages of Sganardle . , How different would be the effect if , instead of slavishly . following the tradition of a time when stage-magic was unknown , an opening of a sombre character were managed between the banquetting' -table , disclosing a vast half-lighted staircase , leading down as if to unknown depths ! Up this the statue should glide , not walk ; and , indeed , in all his appearances it would be perfectly possible to invest him with a special character . Then , again , the skeleton that comes in wrapped in a sheet is simply ridiculous , and inspires no more awe than a child's Old Bogie . In Moukiik ' s time this might be well enough . But now , with the means at our disposal , we should not be satisfied with sucli meagre arrangements . This spectre should make its appearance at the back of the stage , in such a manner as to strike awe into the soul of tile spectator as well as into Don Juan . All those changes would not be in the slightest degree departing from the original conception . Momkke would have been delighted to have the support of such appliances . M . Em pis , who has already shown so much intelligence and taste , and lias succeeded in interesting the French public once more in their national theatre , should take these matters into his consideration .
In every other respect we can give almost unlimited praise to the manner in which this piece has been brought out . There was something to object to in Mademoiselle Judith's interpretation of the character of Elvire ; but Mademoiselle Favaut has since attempted a new interpretation witli success . This is part of the new system of M . Empis . He sets the various members of his company to try their hands successively at the same characters , so that though a piece may romain a long time in the bills , there is constantly something new to attract at any rate the amateur . Mademoiselle Fix , however , remains perseveringly in the part of Matkurine ; and certainly a more delightful creation cannot be imagined . With reverence be it spoken , the character itself , and the scene in which it is developed are , as Monisms left them , of comparatively little value . Mathurine is n stupid country coquette , led away from an old lover in an instant by a gaudy coat , and is placed on the stage simply to say a few amusing naivete ' s . Mademoiselle Fix nmkca her a perfect gem . No wonder Don Juan was charmed by her fresh , innocent face and candid manners .
The Don Juan of M . Brkssant i s a remarkable study . We cannot say that the part is perfectly suited to lurn . Neither his person nor his voice is sufficiently clastic , and ho wants a sp-ico of devilry . Still , the accomplished actor triumphs over all these difficulties , and although in . constant contact with perhaps the first actor of the day , does not allow himself to be thrown into the background . If Moufcaic had ventured to exhibit hi » hero—for Don Juan is the horo despite his end amidst combustibles—untieing use of his seductive qualities M . JB & kbsant would have had a fi . no Hold for the display of his great . and peculiar talents . But all his grand seductions nro over before lie is introduced to U 8 . The affairs with Mathurine and her comrade are mere vulgar amourettes , in which he triumphs by means of his fine figure , encased in Bilk , over more inno-
Don Juan At The Thea.Tre-Fran9ais. The F...
cents . Elvire has fallen nail been betrayed before the curtain rises , and com in to scold . As ^ interpreted , by Mademoiselle Judith , who is not by any mea a contemptible actress , ^ though this time she made a mistake , this lady ' s hp haviour almost justifies—theatrically at least— -Don Juan in cutting her W think of the Abbess ' s conclusionin the Comedy of Errors : — - ' e
\ . ¦ ' " And therefore came it that the man was vnad . " If that was the way she talked during the honeymoon , no wonder the gav D Juan packed ivp his carpet-bag . When she enumerates the false excuses h " might have given for deserting her , she should gradually melt into tenderness and , as an audience hates a libertine who is insensible to a woman ' s tears tli final combustion of Don J-uan would be looked forward to at once with delijrbff "By George 1 " we once heard an Englishman exclaim on some similar occasion , " I only wish such a fine woman would goon her knees tome ! " Tk " Donis obdurate ; and his obduracy is well painted by Buessant better tlnn his gaiety , except perhaps when he flirts with the village beauties , in which situation , despite the false and formal system on which the scene is written he is perfect . As a hypocrite , in the last act ]> e succeeds in making us shudder and in preparing us for the melodramatic closing , which is probably a reminiscence of the old mysteries and moralities .
The great success of the revival seems , however , due to the marvellous manner in which M . Kkguier plays Sganarelle . That character is one of the most original painted by Molieue . It is a pity he has a conventional name He is a * sort of Sancho Panza , gone astray into the service of a false krdght . We have no doubt that Moli & re had a deep meaning in this creation , although ve are far from disposed to accept all liis minor characters as types and symbolsfor we admire and love , but do not adore him . Sganarelleseems to us the incarnation of the ordinary man of the world , who has been brought up with due respect to religion , and maintains that respect , though in contact with the world because he . lms an innate religious sentiment , but whose ideas on the subject are so , confused , and his knowledge so limited , that the semblance of an argument staggers him , and all hostile facts lie is obliged to gulp down without question . He sometimes breaks his nose , sometimes gets into tfae middle of a crowd of dilemmas which nip him as he scuds along ; so that at first sight Moliere seems
to be making a covert attack on faith . This is not the case , however . Though Sganarelle ' s intellect is not very clear , or rather not well furnished with formal arguments , his moral instincts are always in the right—except once , when , as a concession to human nature , he makes common ouse with his master in doing a tailor with -whom he has a little private account of iiis own . He is humane and pious ; and , if fortune had not placed him in a subordinate position , would have been a better gentleman than his master . All these points , and many more which we canuot stop to indicate , are exquisitely brought out by Regnier , who never studied a part more profoundly or with more success . From the moment he appears on the stase the real interest of the play centres in him—so much so that certain Fre nch critics have accused him of being too active and of unduly attracting attention . This is because the audience sometimes watches his by-play with , such profound attention , to the neglect of the regular business of the piece .
The fault , liowever , is not Regnier's—neither is it that of the other actors . The fault is in the play itself . We shall take another opportunity of discussing this matter minutely , in the hope of elucidating what may be called one of the unknown adventures of the drama in France . When MoIiere wrote his Don Juan , there was a possibility that dramatic France would follow in the steps of Shaksi'eabb . As an isolated production , it appears odd and questionable . It might almost be taken as a satire on the romantic drama . Except that lie turns his back on his father , and speaks in favour of hypocrisy , Don Juan is not guilty of crimes deserving , either in the opinion of the world or of the stage , of being swallowed up by a flaming trap-door . He is agay , bad man , who makes profession of infidelity . Churchmen , in that age , no doubt smiled approvingly at his fate ; but the worldling-s who went to watch his career would have been , more seriously affected and better satisfied had he earned his punishment by treacherously
killing- the brother of Elvire ,. and laying violent hands on the author of his "being At any rate , in these days , when we are more cautious of inflicting the penalties of _ the other world , no one really feels that the many peccadilloes and some crimes of Don Juan are sufficient to account dramatically for his being sent "to the devil" with such expedition . And it is impossible to prevent the catastrophe frono having a retroactive effect on the piece . We know to what -we are tending ; and the disproportion between the acts of the libertine and their punishment destroys altogether , or nearly altogether , the sentiment of reality . Scarcely for a single moment do we believe in the sorrows of Elvire , because we know that a handsome tiuin is going to be suddenly damned for them . Mademoiselle Fix , it is true , makes Mathwine so charming , that we are rather inclined to envy the whole career of Don Juan , and to think that the lubberly
peasant who lost her , we supppse only for a moment—just time for Jove to clip Juno—ought to have been too happy with 'a hundredth share in such » venture . As for Elvire's brother , excellently and conscientiously played , by tileby , we think he might as well have stopped away ; the father seems impertinently pious ; M . Dimanche could have waited for his little account ; and the statue ought to have remained on its pedestal . All this is the result of tlic disproportionately tragic end of the piece—which end causes no emotion at lastbecause it suggests tlie idea of a trick ; and instead of caring to take a peep down thoyawniug gulf by which the elegant Bressant and his plaster-of-l ' ans companion have disappeared , our interest reverts to the bewilderingly comic Ri ; GNiEn , vvho , in the guiso of S anarelIe , darts across the stage and cries , " My wagesl My wages ! " He gets them in the applause of the audience .
Luisa Miller. If Anything- Can Cure The ...
LUISA MILLER . If anything- can cure the Verdi fever now raging with unabated virulence among the operatic audiences in this metropolis , it will assuredly bo the performance of Luisa Miller . Such unmitigated trash it has nevtir been our fate to listen to . From the first bar to the last , not a glimpse of freshness , not a souj > qon of melody , relievos the dreary waste of dulness and unavailing noise . Full of sound and fury signifying nothing , is tho only fitting epitaph to such a production , and we may be permitted to regret that an epitaph was not the first and last recognition of its blvth and death . It is difficult to imagine that Luisa Milter can have preceded ( ns is did ) the Trovatore , for while in the latter there is exceeding vigour and a constant How of what is vulgarly called tune , in the former there ia nothing but impotence and exhaustion . Tho instrumentation is enougli to spoil the best orchestra in Europe by its coarseness and crudity ; for ever and for ever n cl ash and clung of brass , a braying and a bellowing >» vain ; as to the Btrhnged instruments , they execute all sorts of painful crenkingB and contortiona without a single moment ' s respite or release . Tho " movements" of the muBic aro like tho movements of a man seized with nervous
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1858, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12061858/page/20/
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