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S other andthe illustration of these poi...
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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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Statements And Evidence ; And To Investi...
Se compensation , or otherwise to promote the Clf ' your petitioners -as in duty bound will ever pray , & c & c . . ^ ' IS ' wnl by the Members of the Compensate Commit to ' c . \
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¦ . . — - ?— —• DBTTRX LANE OPERA . cular y Languished themselves . The opera was Produced with great magnificence , and , if it had been possible to bring it out earlier m the season , it is certain that the management would have derived considerable pecuniary profit from it . As it is Mr . Smith is entitled to great credit for keepin " " -ood faith with his subscribers , in so far as the representation of by far the most important work
promised in his programme is concerned . It is a positive misfortune to the public that it will not be able to hear the ' . " VSprcs Siciliennes , " as it is performed at Drury-lane , after this evening . llus opera , which was written for the Academie Imperiale of Paris , where it was played for the first time in 1855 , is certainly Verdi ' masterpiece . It contains a large number of those great choral pieces in which the chosen composer of modern Italy displays not only his vio-our—which at times becomes mere violence—but also his great knowledge of using large masses with becoming dramatic effect . The most remarkable pieces in the work are in the first act . the introductory chorus ,
Helen ' s cavatina ( Mademoiselle Titiens ) , the quartet without accompaniment * -and the duet between Guy de Montfort ¦ ¦( Fagotti ) and Arrigo ( Mongini ) ; in the second , " the air which Procida ( Vialetta ) sings on his return to Sicily ( with choral accompaniment ) , the duet between ' the duchess Helen and Arrigo , and the very beautiful barcarole , the most " popular " motive in the opera , which forms the chief subject in the finale j in the third act , the whole of the dance music , which is far more brilliant than a composer of sucli a sombre genius as Verdi could have been expected to write , and the finale , which is admirably 1 fourththe tenor ? airand
worked up , and , in the , s , above all , the duet between Arrigo and Helen . The fifth act contains a Sicilienne , in which many vocalists have been already heard in England , and which Mademoiselle Titiens sings with great effect j and a charming romance for the tenor , also well known as " La brise souffle . " Several of the most remarkable pieces were encored , and Mademoiselle Titiens , Signor Mongini , and the other principal singers were recalled at tho end of each act . In the divertissement of the fourth season Mademoiselles Boschetti and Morlacchi gained much applause , and certainly danced , most gracefully .
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to the acquisition of property by other means , and having consulted a wizard , obtained a receipt for the discovery of a hidden treasure . The first item of the prescription was a-year of solitary wandering ¦ ; and this is supposed to have been just accomplished at the opening of the opera , when HoeZ returns toPloermel , and finds Dinorah a maniac , devoted to a pet goat ; the wizard dead ;• and himself sole depositary of the secret and the charm . These events are supposed to be narrated in the overture . The habitual interpreters of prograinmesymphonies would , no doubt , iiave read the characters without the key furnished by the avvertimento of the libretto ; but we were glad to avail ourselves of the information therein conveyed , and have now no objection to acquiesce in the interpretation . In this overture , which may be characterised as a pastoral lavished the
the illustration of these points ,, and lead to an admirable buffo duet , in which Signqr Gardorii fully maintained the high comic and vocal quality he had already displayed , atid ( Dinorak having returned ) to a delicious trio . This glowing melody , interspersed and accompanied by the tinkling c-bligato of the goat-bell , tc which Dinorah listens in childish ecstasy ; the instrumental whistling of the wind , the moody demonstrations by Hoel , and the spasmodic terror-fits of Correntino , formed a masterly finale to the first act , and brought down the curtain amidst universal expressions of delight . of Act have the chorus
In the the opening IT ., we of peasants again , in a moonlit wood , with a characteristic drinking song ; and Madame Didiee , as n goatherd , who , reminding her fellows of their poor little playmate of the year before , gives a song en the thorny path of love . The party have hardly retired when the love - lorn" maid appears , stnl m search of her lost Hoel . Her first air in this act is a plaintive allusion to her own condition her next the famous " Ombra leggera , " wherein she addresses a fitful moonbeam that has broken throug-u the trees above her . This beautiful morceau Mdme . Miolan gave with that perfect ease and finish , for which she is renowned at the Opera . Cornique , and
was of course encored . The scene now changes ; . o a wild and torrent - cloven glen , where t . darkness is pierced by occasional lightning . Hnher Hoel brings his intended tool and victim , and here , having placed in his hand a divining rod , he leaves him . Idiot-like , the creature interrupts our sensations , and defers the impending climax , by a ludicrous exposition of . Ms utter cowardice ( most ably rendered by Signor Gardoni ) ; but is presently joined by the heroine . This time they recognise each other and their respective pursuits . She adds caution to the fear that saturates , him , by the- announcement that whoso first lays hands on i tie buried money must die . within a year . On the _
reentrance of his master , therefore , the unhappy wight is anything but plastic . The ensuing scene between these worthies is , though scientific , like many other pieces in the opera , extremely long , yet it is lit tip by passages of extreme beauty , among which the comic duo , "Ilfurbo , lo so , " where each indicates his appreciation of the other ' s characteristics , must u especially instanced . The business in hand , however seems to hang fire ; for on Dinorah ' s re-appearanc she repeats her solemn warning , arid just saves Correntino from being hurled by liis patron into the gorge in quest of the crock of gold . Now . midnight strikes : and futile attempts of the ungrateful dolt substitute in the enter
to enlist the maiden as his - prise brings on the finale of Act II . This elaborate work is no less remarkable for lyric than for dramatic effect . Resisting the blandishments o £ Correntino , and pursuing , the while , her own fitlul train of ideas , the poor maniac descries her goat in the background . Amid the howling of -The storm and the roaring of the waters ( illustrated by the orchestra with wonderful appropriateness ) she dashes into the gloom after her treasure . It-is seen to cross a wooden bridge that spans the torrent-She pursues it . The frail structure gives way . A shriek pierces the elemental discord . Hovl and Correntino rush too late , as it would seem , to her aid ,
and the curtain falls . Now an cntracte , introducing a delightful horn snivpliony , leads us to smooth water . Tho scene oi Act ill . is eminently pastoral . Signor lnghaflco , as a huntsman , enters first , and gives sound eflect to an admirable hunting song . Then Neri Uarnldi , as a roaper , sings a harvest song , the sharpening oi his scythe , the whilo , being imitated " to nature by some instrument in the band ; and indue ana Marai again , as un-named goatherds , exerted themselves loyally in a lay a propos oi their crate , au havoheard of the last-night ' s storm , and m tho beautiful harmonies of tho well-known ' Paternoster , oner up thanks for their own safety . For u moment tJ )© ur ht ofDuiora » tre
joy is dashed by the thoug , ' . , for some one thinks she has perished ; . ''» ' . l ! f " Hod outers with her , helpless , buf 1 > V "'?< . » J » arms , all arc at ease onco moro . lie , ive Ji ) V sc , fjj had run to save hor-a projecting ^ K ^ arrested her fall , and his strong arm had com » oUU the rescue . In a noble and touching £ ody ba vindicate nssai , " ho announces a ellanac hat ho f . 'iffh ( ftii events oftho ovo have wrought in mm ; aua SiBh ^ tU ^ z ^ ^ SBd ^^^™^ bSuinxov , 1 Smncl is in his . The boll of tho ohapol J ? i ? S fei asthen it uid . Tho proooBstonte the Virgin ' s
sli-ino is all propnred . The ovonts or a year nayo surely been but ono long , hoavy , dreamy night } tho day has brought joy with waking , and she is herself lurnlii . I" a lovoly duo , « X > i tutto or mi rammento , " the lovers ronow tholv troth an un soon choir sings tho ' Avo Maria , " wluch tho concert-givers
luvvoalsymphony , Meyerbeer has certainly resources of his art and the flowers of his fancy While it abounds with delicacies and intricacies for the connoisseur , it appeals to the sentiment of the tasteful and unlearned by the introduction of unseen voices . and of the most melodious and touching themes that occur in the body of the opera . Its execution , though more aplomb may and will , of course , be acquired , was entirely satisfactory , and , considering that the work has been rehearsed fewer weeks here than it was months before presentation in Paris , little short of marvellous ; and this must have been no less gratifying to the enterprising manager . of the theatre than to Mr . Costa , who shared with the maestro the odoriferous shower of highbred approval from the private boxes , arid the pitiless pelting-storm of applause from the . cloud-capped towers of the crowded galleries .
The rising curtain discovers the sylvan hut of Correntino , a double-distilled Breton bumpkin , before which a group of peasants , clad in the quaint costume of that most old-fashioned province , sang-an extremely simple rustic chorus , which might be , or perhaps is , in fact , constructed on an indigenous theme . As their voices died away , a white goat was seen somewhat nervously to trot round the corner of the second Aving P . S ., and Dinorak , the new Maria , descended the stage . Her goat is now the mad girl ' s all : her first recitative is addressed to it ; and , in fancy nursing it as she sits on a stone , she sings that affecting Berceuse , " Si Carina , " with whose graces and delicious accompaniment all our
musical readers are already well acquainted . And now appears Correntino ( Signor Gardoni ) , the ultrastupid , ghost-fearing , comic man of the drama , whose main business is "to be catspaw for Hoel in the unhallowed business of treasure-seeking . Entering to a singularly wild tune which he is supposed to play On the " cornemuse " ( a horrid continental variety of bagpipe ) , his first sceua is one long-drawn attempt to be jolly under the influence of abject terror ,, lightened , however , by an admirable country song given while he sits down to an inspiring basin of bread and milk . The object of his fears is jthe goblin Lady of the-Meads ; and when poor Dinorah breaks in upon him , and the wind puts out his considerablhei
candle , his sensations are y ghtened , and find vent in ludicrous efforts of song . He fails , in his ( right and in tho darkness , to recognise the maiden , and she , by her wanderings , innocently adds fuel to the fire of his delusion . Mistaking him for her faithless lover , she forces him to pipe to her whilo slio sings ; and here in a broken melody , in triple time , accompanied Arpeggiatq by tho clarionet , Madame Miolan triumphed over an extreme difficulty . She then forces him to dance a measure with her , and at last leaves him half dead with terror and exhaustion to an interview with his evil genius , Hol'l ( Graziann , who , his year of probation being over , socks tho site of his ] treasure at
The novelties of tho musical season of 1859 have been worthily crowned by the long expected and most successful production , of Meyerbeer ' s so - called " Comic , " opera , " Dinorah , " otherwise " II Pollegrinaggio di Ploennol , " called , on its native stage at the Paris OporuJComique , "Le Pardon de Ploiirmel . " Tho house was " on Tuesday crowded with habituesas to its aristocratic portions—and in the galleries and pit with amateurs and professionals , all anxious to witness u now triumph of tho renowned composer , of ¦ which they made pretty sure ; and curious to observe his treatment of a subject pretty well known to differ considerably from thoso he hud previously handled with such eminent results . On
neither head were they disappointed . From tho beginning to the end of the opera the genius of the master was fully and warmly recognised . His superb overture , playod , notwithstanding an amount of eccentric difficulty obvious to the least erudite , in superb stylo , was encored ; and himself thrice summoned—clothed in a customary suit of block and iliffldenco— -before , , the curtain . All wore charmed again , nnd not a few surprised to find that ho who had been stimulated to magnificent fervour by such romantic subjects as " Tho Prophet" and * " The Huguenots" and tho "Robert , " , had stooped to wreathe appropriate wild flowors of music round a
simply pastoral story . ' The "Pardon" of tho title , which moans im annual village festival of a semi-secular , somi-rollglous charaotor , is supposed to havo takon place j ust a year before tho period of tho action , and tho anniversary returns on thq day of the denouomant , On the first occasion an unhappy afluir occurred . Dinor ah ( Madame Miolan-Carvallio ) , tho belle of PlotSrmol , and a peasant-heiress , was that day to have boon married to ono Noel ( SJgnor Graziani ) , when a sudden storm caused tho destruction of her . heritage and her sudden abandonment by her mercenary iovor . Tho latter then turnod his attontion
with a view to taking immediate possession . He onco recognises in Correntino an appropriate tool , and resolves to make of him the sacrifice required as a last condition of obtaining the " Open Sesame . " Tho better to shape him to his ends ho sends him out for liquor , and whilo waiting indulges in a desperately long scona showing the oscillation of his feelings between avarice and remorse . The air , " Dell ' oro ! doll ' oro , " is a fine . one , and might , to our thinking , have boon vory feelingly rendered , especially by bo precious a vocalist ns Signor Graziani , who has himself boon out in the motailic ruin ; but tho gifted p . ot of tho managers was hardly , wo apprehend , for the moimrnt , in tho vein .
But when Correntino comes back froju tho publichouse , and the pair fall to drinking , both artists exerted themselves most commondably to oarry on a mortally long sceno . It being tho evo of tho anniversary of the " Pardon , " old momorios aro roused in Hoel . Dinorah will rise before him , nnd tho thought of . her lost roason and blightod lioarfc chequers his bright anticipations , and spoils tho gusto with which ho would detail to his accomplice tho wizard ' s schonio for tho uttuinmont of tho buried hoard . A surlos of grand but tedious rocitutivos , which here tnko the place of the dialoguo given on the French stupo , uro dovotuU to
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 30, 1859, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30071859/page/11/
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