THE OPERA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 320, 21 November 1864, Page 4

THE OPERA.

Tin: fifth perform mire of Lyster's Opera COlll- - was given 011 Saturday last. Ihe piece was " Jl Trovatore." and, as it was anticipated, the house w as tilled to ovoi flowing. Of the Trovatore" itself we need say nothing. ISy Ihis time it is almost as well known to frequenters of the opera as the " Uarbier di or " Pon Giovanni," and if its popularity should happen to prove as enduring as it has been surkb 11, the critics of the "future'' will be justified in allotting it a place by the side of those undisputed masterpieces, as a mark that has outlivid the " fashion" of period, at which it was originally produced. jN'or is it icquisite to devote a coluniu to thoperform--11 i>ce of Madame Lscott and Mr. Wharton, seeing that the Leonora of the one and the Coute di Luna of the other were w ell rendered, and their < tlorts well appreciated by the large audience. We were partly prepared, for some curtailment, especially in "the part of Leonora, but we w ere sadly disappointed, finding that two line movements were omitted in one piccf— the tultujiti in K minor before the miserere, and I the (t//(tirt>. F major, which concludes that .scene. Had the n'lhijru only been 01nitted.il would not have been so great a lmach. but the emission of the atlai/io caused rather a queer progression, knowing' that Yerdi prepared the C for !•' minor and not for A tint minor; 1 true the third of one cords buomrs the tonic of the other, stili the modulation is harsh and imulmissable. It would have been better Lad th v w holr of the i ccu'atu o jjJso been emitted i as ;i iso the chorus of nuns in the third act. for the execution of which the Lyster Company poss* >s no singers, which is followed by the " l'ezza Coucertarto," the Lest executed piece oi the ( veiling—the parts being well sustained, the f' ii/ tusuuHc was perfection, and the minutest niceties were observed. Jll line, we were delighted with its performance. In justice to Mad. Lscott. we must notice that tlie Allegro, ortholast movi inent of the Miserera"scene. is often omitted, even in J\urope, for obvious reasons. Leonoro's part ill the fourth act is such that the strongest constituted woman cannot, with any amount of credit toherself. or without the risk of luir.-t itig a blood vessel, sing the Ions; string of recitative adagio, her part in life M iserera. ai.d allegro, ami finish with a heavy duet the "Coute di Luna;' the performance of all these pieces must, at least, fill up the space of three quarters of an hour. The fault, therefore, rests with Siguor Yerdi, and not with Leonora. We must accord great praise to Mad. Lscott tor her remarkable good singing and acting of ■•'iacea la notte,' and the duet with the Count in the prison scene. The same may be said of Air. Wharton, who made a good- impression as the " Colite di Luna," especially in the Aria " II L'alen," which though rci-iid of its native simplicity, by a slight excess of ornament in the cadence", he sang otherw i.-e l en ai kably well,amply liieiiti ii" the encore that he obtained. Ihe repetition, was. il possible, bet!cr than the lirst, the cadence iuing short., there being less delay 011 t he subdominant and the di-namaiit ; still wc would have pveiered A erdi s own,which is a very pretty one. and. we 11.ay add. an original one. nevertheless Mr. Wharton s-ang the music of Yerdi's romance opera with great sweetness and expression. Ol Mr. Squires Manrico, we can sav but litile.—"Ah.' si bien mio," the time of which was taken so quick that it was impossible for him to sing it with any degree ofpathos or expression, mid of course the whole of this beautiful movement- was n ndcrid inet m]>reh( nsiblt Ihe <: aid at hi. "i'iquelL'i })ir;t." was belter, but' the " I'iu mosso." was omitted, thereby saving a repetition. And so ended the principal tenor aria, aud one of the most brillant pieces which Verdi has written for a tenor. At the fall of the curtain, there was a loiiit continued clapping of hands and stamping of feet from all parts of the house, which at first was replied to by Mr. Squires, but this not appeasing the uproar, and 110 one els : appearing from behind the curtains, Mr. Lyster lelt the centre of the house to know the whys £:nd where lore. When he found ituecessary to appear before the curtains 111 jiersumi for an explanation from the audience : at the same time stating that he was quite at a loss to know what was wanted. If the gentlemen required Mr. Squires to repeat the last, portion of his song, that would be 100 much to expect of him ; but if they wanted any particular person to appear, they should sUito so. The fact simply was—cue portion of the house were encoring Mr. Squires, while the other portion were for having Madame Lscott before the curtain as well as Mr. Squires, who. unfortunately, came alone. Had she appeared, it was the intention of many to have greeted her with a shower of bouquets. However, quietness being again restored, the performance whs resumed with the fourth act. ' We were sorry to have to labour under the i impression that- the above little misuuder- i standing should have so materially allected the temper of Mr. Squires, :lehl, consequently, his ! sinking throughout this act. At leatrt auelt wla j

the inrpreasion left cm out minds Init We . •we may have born mistaken in rnrert Let tliis be as it mav, however, the perforn, anC p of the " M iserei a' sctne was Terr painful There was 110 bcli, no harmonium in lieu of an organ, and. Manrico himself Lad t-fl ectrrl his escape from (lie prison (';■) when the time for his song " Ah' cjie ] morte " arrived, the -nhole came to a sudden slop. This was soon how ( vcr, partly rrxnedied I) 3' tlie orchestra taking it up, the ih\t violinist l laying the song. On its facing repeated L heard the sounds ot a piano (rem behind the scenes, and some one saying in very goodEmr A lish : "Farewell L eonora, Leonora fare-tliee-HelT' Such was the performance of the finest scene in tlie opera, for which Verdi has gained laurels Far less familiar to the operatic public, but well, indeed, very well done was the Azueeni of Miss Jlodson. IS'ot merely in the unaffee. tedlv and melodious phrases of " Stride la vnmpa " and " Si la Stanchezza," but also tlie scene where Azuccna narrates her adventure to Alanrico. She manages her part very creditably Tlie choruses were very good, especially the Soldiers' chorus, and we would have liked it better had the time been taken slower, whieh would have enabled us to have understood tlie words. Perhaps it was in consequence of the great velocity of the time that the sinners could not pronounce the Italian words, if so, are not astonished. However, if our memory serves us, the movement is a mmterah) audnot a civuce. Of the orchestra we have nothing but hicrh praise. Though only nine in number, and every instrument single handed,yet the effect produced is wonderful.