MR MUSGROVE'S OPERA COMPANY.

Evening Star, Issue 11656, 17 September 1901, Page 6

MR MUSGROVE'S OPERA COMPANY.

IN 'IL TKOVATORE.' A FINE HOUSE AND A SATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE. In choosing 'II Trovatore' to begin with, Mr Musgrovo's Opera Company show that they believe in themse'.ves. A successful " first' night" is a great point with managers, important enough to be worth scheming for; and in electing to start with the most familiar of all Italian operas, one in which everybody knows or thinks he knows the music, and therefore sits' back and bestows his attention not only on the opera itself but on the manner of its performance —in making this their set choice, when, if it were deenwd desirable to thwart comparisons, a new opera could be brought out for its dazzling value, Mr Musgrove's representatives plainly said that they are. not afraid to have the company tested on their merits. The ingenuousness of the arrangement favorably impressed many old theatre-goers when they first saw the' list of works for the opening week, and no doubt a number of gre beards were pleased to be afforded at the outset a chance of renewing acquaintance with good o'.d- ' Trovatore' —a work which Ouiseppe Verdi himself went ahead of, maybe, in his later years—but one thiit always hae and for a long time to come will continue to hold a high place, nay, a place of its own, in the affections of* the people by reason of its charming tunefulness and bright musical simplicity. Without going back to the period of the old identity we can recall several well-ap-preciated performances of 'Trovatore' in Dunedin. Cagli and Pompei's company, coming to the colonies fromlndia in 1871, made ' Trovatore' a feature of their repertoire, and opened in it at the old Princess's here in January of 1872, when stately Margherita Zenoni was the Leonora, Signo'r Po.li the Azucena, statuesque Rosnati the Manrico, and that great actor Coliva the Count. A year later the three-star company that opened the Queen's Theatre relied on the same tenor and baritone, but gave us Signora Bosisio's impassioned impersonation of Leonora and Signora Riboldi as the gipsy. Alice May's Leonora was seen in 18(5, she being supported by Florence Howe and Messrs Haliam and Tenipleton ; and in the following year Simonsen's company came along with a. strong chorus, Madame as the soprano and Carmiui Mor'.ev as the tenor. Our 'Trovatore' of 1877 was that of De Lias's company; Signor Guadagnini heading the east, with Signora Venosta (best of all the dramatic contraltos of her day m the colonies) as Azucena, backed up by Paladini and Gambetti. The following year Signor Morley brought out *.he Misses Hume m the amateur production; and in 1879 we had bright-faced Tamburiui Coy and her husband and Signora Venosta and Verdi leauing a strong cast. At later dates the Simonsen Company produced 'Ttovatore' twice and the Montague-Turner Company three times, the last performance of the opera prior to the present season being in January of 1893, when Mr and Mrs Turner, M;ss Lambert, and Fred England were the principals. Recollections of these presentations no doubt came to the minds of many persons as they walked or drove to the Princess's lheatre last night. Once there, however, comparisons came to a full stop. The preliminaries md.cated a new order of things. The attendant on the staircase who quietiy advised that tickets should be presented singly was on his manners at once accepted as a common friend. The liveried tickettaker was a different kind of person altogetner from the 'Stand and deliver' L-en-t.ernan who used to annoy us as he barricaded, the entrance with his body and adopted the tone of a garrison commander refusing to capitulate unless compelled to. The ushers, also distinguished by red-fronted coats, appeared to nnd it a pleasure to show the people to . tllßlr feats; and the smart little chap who handed out the neat programmes issued by Mesdames M'Donald and Smith looked as if he was there for a. holiday and was determined not to forfeit his place by surly behaviour. These new ideas gave a good impression to with. The " house," too, seemed different. There was more dressiness than there used to be, and there were occupants for most of the seats. Some of our old-time Leonoras were troubled with visions of unpaid bills, Manrico has occasionally felt thankful for a, red-herrhig supper, and stories are told of treasurers who had a job to dodce waylaying creditors at the door. Embarrassments of this sort do not afflict the Musgrove Company. Their business is obTiously payable. Everything about the production shows that.

Then as to the performance itself, it differed in essentials from most of the others that we have seen, and this being so we do not propose to call up old-tfme performers to witness for 'or against, but rather to say a few words as "to the intrinsic mer:te of this practically new presentation of 'Trovatore.' To begin with, the orchestra made a great impression. Their rendering of the introduction was simply del.ghtful. The fulness and breadth of the playing, tie delicacy of the pianos, the sharp cutting-off of the staccatos—these things gave promise of a delightful experience. Was the horn a trifle sharp ? If so, that was the only flaw in a splendid opening. Ferrando, as heard in the wings, was a little disappointing, and when he came into view we were not very much impressed with his song about the Count's infant brother Mr Charles Tilbury has a voice of pleasing quality, but it sounded rather lisrht, and whereas at the outset the music seemed to be too low for him, the top E's were a little beyond his effective reach. Whilst waitine for Mr Tilbury to come to his best —for obviously this wait not his best—the audience had time to look round and count the male chorus (they numbered sixteen) and to inspect the scenery and the dresses, and through all one never missed the lovely instrumentation. The garden scene showing the exterior of the palace made a pretty change, and though the mishaps of a first nighf were in evidence in the slanting earden vase and the delay of the limelight for Leonora and Inert, the general effect was decidedly charming. Miss Maud Harrington was not well heard in Inez's opening recitatives, but directly Madame Slapoffski began to sinar she cWmed the closest attention. The new Leonora commenced carpfolly, and her manner of steadying herself, as it were, for the occasional h:gh note and the cadenza irave the idea that .perhaps she was not in < good voice. Any fear on that head was, however, removed directly she got to 'Di tale amor.' _ This, iamiliar . allegro was song with easo and confidence, and the audi-

ence, thoroughly satisfied astbvthe v prinia donna's voice and; method, bestowed upon her the first applause of the\ season. Heir Max Eugene, the Count di Luna of the cast, is a big man with a big voice of the bass rather than the baritone quality. He wis easily heard without any concessions from the orchestra as he opened in 'Tace la notte,' and his clear enunciation was a slsong point of merit. True, he does not appear to be a great actor, but this would not fail him in the estimation of veteran opera oers, for, bar Coliva, when have we ever had a Count thoroughly proficient in both singing and acting? To our way of thinking, Herr Eugene shaped very well at the outset, and nothing that he did later on dispel'ed that impression. Signor Umberto Falvi. the tenor, did not commence so well. The first stanza of the troubadors song lacked feeling and the intonation was by no means perfect. In the second.verse he did better, and the transposition of the concluding notes was justified by precedent. Still this the latest Manrico in h:s opening certainly left much to b° desired. The trio found him improving, ? -j j honors °f this number were mostlv divided between Leonora and the Count, the soprano doing capital work all throneh, thoiigh obviously suffering from a cold. As the curtain went down on the first act the audience broke out into a verv hearty round of applause, recalling the principals and thanking them heartily. For the first • scene of the second act a chan™,! canvas had been painted by Mr Goatcher, and the gipsy encampment, was m all respects picturesque, wiu.st the stage arrangements were much more complete than is customary here The introduction of a party of dancers was a distinct improvement, and it was a pretty idea to have them.not stopping the action but dancing to the orchestral introduction to the celebrated Anvil Chorus. The singin? of the chorus was not so striking as one might have hoped for—it- wanted more veignt lh e company, however, showed that they knew their business thoroughly. • u £ audienCo w «re distinctly impressed with the way the chorus went about the stage, as if they belonged to the scone, and not as though they were simply present as introduced strangers. Then we heard the first of the gipsy. Madame Agnes Janson, cast as Azucena, comes to us with a verv high reputation as an artist. Her power was not fully shown in her opening canzone btride la Vampa'—sho seemed to be somewhat saving herself, and this impression was confirmed as the scene progressed. It was "when coming to the andante descriptive of the torture scene that Madame Janson really disclosed her great strength both in singing and in acting. Here, also, we found the orchestra absolutely at their best, their playing being marvellously full, and yet not in the least noisy or worrying to the soloist. The succeeding scene, the duet between Azucena and Manrico, was another very fine effort, in which, while the chief work lay with the gipsy, the tenor also acquitted himself to advantage, and at tho end of this number the audience, thoroughly p.cascd, called and recalled tho principals, and, not content with applause, showered upon them a storm of "bravos." It was a memorable display of fine singing and fine acting, backed up by appropriate accompaniments, the ensemble being the best that wc, remember on the operatic stage: 'll baleu' found Herr Eugeno in capital form, well at his ease at both ends of his range, and this was certainly one of the successes of the evening, whilst the 'Away, away' chorus was done very neatly, proving the thorough training of the subordinates. Th« remainder of the second act passed off satisfactorily, the striking occurrences in it being the chorus of nuns, nicely sung, and the spirited impersonation of Leonora, which was improving as the opera went on. The opening scene of the third act, showing the Count's camp, had been very thoroughly pr: pared, Mr Coleman's painting of the so.diers tents and the castle in the distance being far away better "than the ordinary run of opera scenery. We cannot honestly say that in the chorus of soldiers the singing had all the impressiveness that might have been expected—to say so would be to invite contradiction—but it may be safely said that with this exception the scene and indeed the whole act were of the most picturesque and interesting character, for by this time the audience were not only 1 stening, but gazing, and taking m tho dramatic details with almost as much pie. sure as tho music. Azucena agaSu led the way vocally, and for htr principal contribution was heartily recalled. Subsequently we had a lino scene between Manr.co and Leonora, and here for the first imo Signor Salvi was heard in his true form.* Coming right to the front, and bning supplied with a perfect accompaniment, n cely graded to his voice, he declaimed 'Di quella pira' in telling style, and for his undoubtedly successful effort was warmly recalled, and could have taken an encore if this had been allowable. The ' Miserere' scene in the last act could have been by a little more care on the part of the chorus. Their singing in tho wings was simply frivolous. It souuded as much like a drinking song as the 'Miscrt.re.' With this exception no complaint can be fairly made with respect to the famous scene. Tho surroundings were entirely adequate, and the singing of the Erincipals, good all through, was glorified y a very fine exposition of dramatic power and vocal training on the part, of Madame Slapolfski, who "came to this part of her task in much better form than she started the evening, and quite justified her claim to be the prima donna of tho company. The concluding scenes lacked no--1 hing in the way of effectiveness, and the principals all sang well to the finish, special mention be.ng due to Signor Salvi . and Madame Janson for their 'Home to the mountains' duet, which in some respects introdnc-.'d new ideas that- were, however, quite "consistent with the surroundings. Taking all in all, it was a good sound p rformauce of 'II Trovatore,' noticeablo not so much for individual brilliancy as for completeness of detail. We have never had the opera so well mounted before, we have nevr previously seen so much fidelity to j-mall matters, we have never before heard such an orchestra. These were the things that the management promised beforehand, and we thank them for keeping their word. 'To-night 'Faust' will be staged, with an entirely new cast so far as the principals are'concerned. The ma ag ment decided this morning to stage ' Lohengrin' for a second time on Monday evening next.