SARAH BERNHARDT.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7524, 14 April 1890, Page 6

SARAH BERNHARDT.

Sarah Bernhardt has appeared at the Porte-St. Martin aa Jeanne d'Arc Although the month i? drawing to a close she still holds her audiences under the influence of hei magic spell in her incarnation of the ahepherd-neroine. By turns she moves to tears and swift anger, contempt for the meanness of men and admiration for self-sacrifice. Even when receiving applause it is Jeanne d'Arc, inspired by her mission to deliver and cooaecrafce the King, who stands before the shouting spectators, who, rising to their feet, as she approaches the footlights, cry, " Bravo 1" in full sympathy with the mysterious, magnetic force i of a woman who possesses, perhaps, more nerves and less body than any other member of the present race. SOME BEAUTIFUL SCENES. ■, Jules Barbier, the writer of the piece, is ; a librettist of the first rank. He has chosen with infinite skill those scenes from the life of Jeanne d'Arc which lend themselves to fine spectacle, or which go, straight to the heart by the naturalness of the action and the charm of their simplicity. When the curtain rises the cottage home, where Jeanne was born, at Domremy, is represented with marvellous fidelity. The old father is seated in an arm chair, thoughtful and sad, by the hearth, while his daughter spins at some distance from him, holding in her hand the distaff, in an attitude that recalls the famous picture of Bastien Lepage. The first words uttered by Madame Sarah Bernhardt captivate the audience. Turning to Jacques d'Arc, as he laments his country's woes, she says, " mon pere." There is something so indefinitely attractive in the simple gesture, in the deep, liquid look, in the sound of the fresh.clear, young voice, full of grave innocence and poetic exaltation, that the tears rise unbidden to the eyes. From that moment the audience is one with Jeanne d'Arc and Sarah Bernhardt) the woman of the world, the clever delineator of complex tragic characters, ceases to exist. The illusion is complete aud satisfactory. From first to last, in the brief life's history that is unrolled before us, it is indeed the virgin of twenty years, that we hold beneath our eyes, in the realizing of her mission, in the triumph of the Consecration at Reims, and the final martyrdom at Rouen. These three tableaux make, by their outstanding excellence, a sort; of holy triptych of the mystery. The scene of the representation of the Consecration of Charles VII, displays a richness of decoration that could hardly be excelled. The nave and choir of the cathedral, draped in royal blue, and glittering with solden fleur de lys, appear, illuminated as they were on the 17th July, 1429, when Charles was proclaimed king. At the high altar six bishops of the Abbey of St. Denis, assist the Archbishop of Reims to carry the holy oil. The whole is an undulating ocean of cavaliers, of courtiers, of princes, of men-at-arms, valets, ladies, pages, and commoners, all dressed in the picturesque costumes of the middle-ages. Solemn organ music peals through the aisles, succeeded by the Veni Creator, during which the Archbishop fulfils the rites of consecration, while Jeanne stands apart' clothed in white armour, and holding in her hand that standard which she afterwards defended in historic words to her accilser.s when they asked her by what right It was present at the ceremony. '* It was at the death, it might well be at the honour," she said. From the, expression on her countenance it is evident that she is already possessed by the presentiment of coming evil and that the dread of the shadow of the betrayer has fallen across her true heart. More than two hundred people took part in this tableau, which with its lights and music, its royal robes and incense, lasted for ten or twelve minutes, costing as many thousands of france as it would take to pay for the decorations of an entirely new piece. \ ■ ,'...

THE HISTORY OV A PLAT. The story of the first representation, of the tragedy is interesting, as showing how 'impossible it is for managers to calculate with security beforehand on the run a play will have, or the taste of theatre goers. It was produced in 1873 at the Gaiete by Offenbach, who was then director of that theatre, and the music for ie was written by Gounod. In a n't of theatrical reform he decided that the public of Paris needed a subject more regenerating than the " Grand Duchess " to elevate its tastes, and he thought he had found in Barbier's verses the necessary elements. Secretly he did not believe they would take, and even as he mounted "Jeanne. d'Arc," he prepared *' Orphee aux Enferu," engaged a troupe of opera singers for thai; purpose, to replace the failure in a few nights' time. He even had his little I speech prepared as excuse to the public. ,r You see £ have sacrificed to serious art. I have given you the Gascon of Barriere, and I have made no money. After that I served the most moral and soul-stirring' of tragedies, and I have only banked praise. lam forced to return to operetta, enavantlequadrillecFOrpkeeaitxenfers." The speech was never made. The "Jeanne d' Arc coming as it did on the back of the Prussian defeat, inflamed the ardour of the people for renewed struggle, .if it were only histrionic, cheering them to hope that the day would dawn; again when France would expel the invaders and retake the lost territory of Alsace—lidrraine. The principal rOte was taken by a sister of Rachel. The receipts mounted to a maximum. Offenbach was not too much troubled at first; he did not believe in the duration of the fashion; but he began to tremble after the first month, when he saw it continue to maintain the same figure. Unheard of event. Success was ruining him. The engagement with the operatic troupe was running on, and he had to pay its members while they remained idle, , for there was no means' of removing a piece that was. making a triumph. Two months passed, then, three. Offenbach could contain himself no longer. He put a little notice in the papers, which warned the Parisians that Mademoiselle Felix could no longer sustain the fatigue of playing the same r6le ninety times in succession; that she needed rest, and the director was obliged to withdraw " Jeanne d'Arc," wtiich he proposed'to restore when the actress's health should be re-established.

THE ILL-TREATEH ACTRESS. c , .'. Sarcey, the dramatic critic, whose candidature has' recently been posed for Emile Auguier's vacant chair at the Academy, tells with much humour how Lia Felix protested against the infamy, and how she poured out her complaints. " Ah! 'V she shrieked, "he pretends that I am tired out, and that my, voice has altered. Listen I" and with that thrilling voice, cf which the power and vibration seemed all the more marvellous, because it issued from a frail and emaciated body, she would declaim with its full strength some of the verses of the great tirade of the last act. " Behold!" she would then cry, " how lam tired I Behold I how I am no longer capable of playing the part. I will play it a hundred and fifty times if they wish, it! It is an abominable in justice 1. He hfti! no right to strangle a piece in full sacoeea I It has never been done." ' ; ■ ■' - i} ''■' '•* '"' FATED α-o BE MARTYRED. ' ' ; ; Nothing con Id be done.' A triari ' is master in his own house.- Oifenbach hastened to Orohie aux Enfers. To do so he sacrificed Jeanne d'Arc, whose fate it would seem to have been to save others and to be burned in recompense. During the last rehearsal for the revival of to-day, Sarah Bernhardt nearly incurred the same fate. She had , mounted the pyre to try the effect of the martyr pose. The manager of this department set the faggots alight after the recognised j theatrical methods. Not to be too often disturbed by searching his materials he had placed the necesssary appliance* in an iron pail by his side. Suddenly the flames reached the pail, whose contents with a slight explosion took fire, sending Jong tongues of flame and clouds of smoke round the stake and the chained form of the actress. The mechanician had his face scorched, while be lost every vestige of beard, hair, and eye-brows. Happily Madame Bernhardt was uninjured, and releasing herself, she hastened to descend from the pile and was the first tQ help the imprudent man. - ..