LA CLAQUE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIX, Issue 6869, 6 March 1883, Page 6

LA CLAQUE.

{Btigiiih Paper.) La CUque, oc at the present day it exialLn in France, or, at all events, i» Paris, is a thaitri- ! cai institution greatly misinterpreted by Jinost of us English. Drawing our ideas concerning it froai that sixty odd year* ago creation by M. Biiuton, and conceiving it to be organised precisely the some now as then, we look upon it only ae a veil arranged fraternity, with its riruraio lead the laugh at the pun* and jokes of the play, its plmrmrs to weep at the affecting parts, it* biM/tevn to olamour for encores, and others, all under the discipline and guidaeee of a clever leader, whose paid function it is to endeavour to force upon the audienoo the favourable reception of an inferior piece, or the success of a second or third-rate artist. But to the initiated this conception of the calling and duties of It chtfel k* entailer* d$ la rampe is simply ridiculous, for they are aware that, should a polioy of that kind be attempted, the cry " A Ja* la'vlaq«& u would be general in the theatre, and its manager would at once dispense with the further uerviccs of the injudicious chief of the knight* of the footlights, as tending to bring ! disoredit on his management, and to ruise what is technically called a "levee de Soweliers" against him. As a rule, the ehefde claque is a parsonage of education and social position, of consummate tact and skill, of special dramatic or tnusioal talent, he is well versed in the habits and w.tnts of tho play-going and play-eriticWing world, has the requirements of performers on the stage, both metaphorically and actually, at his fingers' ends i and morcov.r, his appointment is a highly lucrative one, M. David paid about £12,000 to bis predecessor for the right of leading the battalion of claqumrs at the Qrand Opera in Paris to the feu de la ramps, and realised upwards of £2OOO per annum by his office. Kxperimentalising with the public in the compulsory way we hate alluded to would he fatal to hie prosptct*, professional aiad pecuniary. What, then, the actual vocation in&rSSe of thia mighty dramatio potentate and hi* dreaded mjrmtdons really are, ire shall now cursorily describe. First of all wa hardly err in styling him and hi«, recognised vendors of tickets. We know thai in France the manager! of theatres, which are subsidised by the nation, have what is called » eaiier de* ebargei, i e., a sort of | code of mutual obligations between theiii' I selves and Government, imposed upon them by the Minister of the Interior. On* of the item* of that code fixe* the rate for the legal sale of every ticket, and which rate cannot l!>* Altered without ipeoial oflkial sanction rarely | 'given, and in some cases-say for the first ptrforwauoes of opera* by Kronen composers —never. Of these ticket* a lirnitod number to ill parti of the home must be available for pur. chase at the bos office »» d <™or* ot the theatre, and time hsvjeg been there fellgiously rewrxsd, the remainder »t»y. be dii* posed of at discretion anywhere, tfow the administration itself being forbidden to rabw or to lower the price* of •«»«*. »IU to its aid the chefd* olaffiM—to undertake and to carry out a clandestine negotiation, for, strange to »ay, the one cr the other object, the inorease or deor*»se of the " regulation price*. For instance, a dilettanti disappointed »t the bureau of atheatre during the run of a popular piece, will be mysteriously aceoited by a man—one of the claqut— and asked if he r«iquires a tioket. A**«ntinjt. «» th ",> hft to the traditional wineshop, with it* bog office, plan of the hou»e, a» d othw <***■•**•# where he may, if »o minded,and hi* Bursa atimit* of it. buy a ticket at a priof •<» f**e • i felly high, that even our doll»r4aden Ame 4-! ouamuint would hesitate to gi« it. s,**** they wanted to see Mr. Langtry. Mdinti. Pattf, or Sara Bernhardt. Pwisitn lyrfe legends reoord that the lata C«»r Aleiaodir paid JKOJ for • box to hear M?d«ie. Soboeidtr in La Qren& 3>whm* <k Berohtvi* whan that attractive oanutric* wa* in tha very

atnith of her fame, Jhls Idagly pay. msnt !• of ooufM tic.ptwn.J, ba it it by to m«*ai wwommco for £6 or 47 to b# dUbamd far an admission rirtaaUy worth lM#thuiWtrn«.ti]r«h]llißn. Tlmnth*/* b thiopjfoilt* to the fitting rid of tickets at • roost MorbJUnfc t»toi»» which operation •ho Mti within tit* pmimt of the worthies w«tr§dc*Uflf wish* Attest Ofronroslancif, »o m*llet wS»t, may be nightly emptying & theatre taofi ©rlest. sod presently it wUI pro* bablr be * ease of playing to •rapt/ fcenehes. ttlM *«*#/ > «f# tttaqw and bis retainers here again earn* t« the fiiftSt, the latter going about the itoeetieeefstly offering tiebt* below the fixed charge, and by thistneaat filling the house end •arifljj the ummßgoineiit from aetuel loss, Onoe mora fe# dt#i;<ifr«r« <f# /« ra*/>« are the accredited agent* for the sate of authors' and performers' pastes, ia defiance of the manager's prohibition, and which " paper" in ail proba* WUtythewell-known Md me.Bwoherhas,in the first instance, obtained and entrusted Into their—the said oh»ve!isr»'"-haode. But there yet remains to to specified th* more important and special obligations of the c/ic/ 1 1/« claque, and they are these i | let it bo accepted that not ereo first-class I artists can, *o to speak, warm to their work,! unless from first to last tho audience greet* thorn enthusiastically on (the scene. It hut been ssid tlmt dramatic and lyrio ladies and gentlemen become coaetitutiooaUy susceptible of end shudder at noises, the only one At which they shrink not mag that of stage appleuie j coldnieai on the part of their audiences paralyiiei their energies physically and morally. Many advorie contingenrief,j too, may, from the very rising of the curtain, militate to the disadvantage of actor* and aotreiie»i perhup* a oeiUtn natural torpor of temperament to overcome—habit and custom natwifthstandiog j perhaps a too high or (oo low atmospheric con. ditioo, and which is »l«o telling upon the spectators i perhaps a withdrawal of interest and attention from the character* on tho boards to the box or boxei into which a beauty of the swason, a prince, or a general, "withall his blushing honour* thick upon hum," fresh from hit victor!**, i» entering. But theie and other dispiriting influences the •Ter-watchful ohtf dt elaqus teet in the twinklin* of an eye, appreciates id a moment, and come* quick as lightning to tho fore to avert mishap or failure, Bo knows the play then in course of representation % he has studied it carefully at rehearsals; he ia thoroughly conversant with it* weak, and its telling points. Iff an opera, he is perfectly aware when the singer is fatigued, and where he needs breath; waafc airs and what florid peerages can be repeated without the danger of coming to a dead stop, and those which he cannot immediately respond to the biM, his of the audience, without risk of injury to his organ, or to the detriment of the composer's work. The master mind knows ait this, and be acts upon it. By subdued clapping ho calls attention to the stage t he calculates tho exact amount of claque necessary to produce the required effect, to stimulate the porformeri, to stir up the audience, to allow the overtaxed soprano or tenor to take an insoiraUon or two, or to oorer that run or that high note at which he fears, from signal* of distress which hi* eye and his ear hare discovered, there will be a siort-coming or a ruinous break down. Then up goes the sign lietween him and his men, the masonic sign unknown to, nnpereeired by the spectator*, and then ooines the feu of the battalion, either long, loud, and universal, or short, faint, and eo&ttered j the aadienos take it no, and the object is gained. It is hardly neoossary to state the abuses which may be, and indeed have been, made of the institution of La Claque. They arc easily guossed at ; but when found out, tho Paris press and the public both make a mote of and ventilate it pretty freely. So when a certain administration, anxious to eject a great artist on personal grounds, ordered the chef de claque of his house ito clap and to hiss at the same time, as if there were a divided opinion as to the said artist's merits among tho auditorium, the rox populi was soon found to be infinitely superior to the vox el manvs Laudicxai, as the old Romans, who possessed thitir claqueurs, called these hired applauders. One word in conclusion. Iho ranks of the French claque are recruited iu various ways, one being tnat many an impecunious student in literature and musio has no other moans of gaining admittance to dramatio and operatic performances, as a source of study, than by being embodied among Us claqueurs.