Amusements.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 245, 29 July 1876, Page 13

Amusements.

"A crown's worth of good interpretation." —Shakspere. A strict attention to themorelegitimate duties of ordinary journalism, caused by the talking power of Parliament, has prevented my visiting the Theatre Royal, since the opening of the Bates' season, until Saturday night. I may mention, though the matter has little relevancy to the subject, that the discharge of the legitimate duties aforesaid consisted largely in listening to frequent interrogations as to the probable fate of the Ministry, and the successor to Dr. Eeatherston. In all cases the most agreeable fiction which came uppermost in my thoughts supplied a ready answer. Practically, my first acquaintance with the merits of Mr. Bates, as an actor, was made by seeing his Hamlet. It is about a year since another gentleman, with some little prefatory prelude, played Hamlet here. That gentleman was at the time supported by a company really remarkable for what is technically called strength. There is no necessity for recalling exactly the opinion I expressed of the performance at the time, but it will be sufficient to say that the Hamlet of the occasion did not appear to me to be altogether satisfactory, whilst at the same time the admirable manner in which all the other characters were played made the performance in many respects a remarkable one. Now, in the representation of Hamlet on Saturday night last the reverse of these circumstances occurred. Mr. Bates' Hamlet was a performance of unusual excellence, and was all the more difficult to attain excellence in, seeing that little praise could be bestowed upon anyone else in connection with the representation. Of all Shakspere's tragic characters Hamlet is the most colloquial, and therefore requires the most essentially natural and subtle treatment, and it is not too much to say that Mr. Bates' thoroughly thought out and unstrained rendering of the part derived no small portion of its effect from the natural manner in which he delivered the conversational passages, and those partaking of soliloquy, whilst his accompanying gestures, and what I must best describe by the professional term " business," was so unstagy that in many respects it approached that rational type which Mr. Fechter inaugurated, and Mr. Montgomery not unsuccessfully copied. And yet Mr. Bates dressed the part and interpreted it a good deal from the traditional point of view. But where he departed from the traditional was in his carefulness never to sacrifice the harmony of his interpretation by striving after well-known "points," or in

efforts to give mere melodramatic effect to particular passages for the sake of the applause which the split ears of groundlings might tempt them to bestow. As I noticed a year since, and have often had occasion to notice, Mr. Fechter, by the introduction of quite a new line of business, gave additional point to the words " there's ne'er a villain, dwelling in all Denmark, but he's an arrant knave." Mr. Fechter was wont to draw Horatio and Marcellus to him, as if he were about to really reveal what the ghost had told him, but at the word " Denmark" the flourish of trumpets, celebrating the draining down of cups of Rhenish by the King, was heard outside, and this recalling to him the danger of betraying what he knew, he went on to say " but he's an arrant knave." Now Mr. Bates in this passage acts as follows : He comes close to Horatio, who, it will be remembered, is his great friend, and gets as far in telling the secret as is indicated in the lines, but then suddenly noticing that Marcellus is listening intently, he breaks off with " but he's an arrant knave." And subsequent events in the play abundantly justify this _ reading, for there are not wanting passages which show that Hamlet took an opportunity subsequently of confiding all his knowledge of his father's fate to Horatio. I have said that Mr. Bates was thoroughly natural, and I could cite numerous instances in proof of what I have said. His way of speaking the words " man delights me not," is only one out of many. But it was perhaps in the more passionate passages that his naturalness displayed itself most completely. Hamlet was a refined and educated gentleman, and accordingly Mr. Bates gave what others might have made mere rant—the speech in which the king's villany is qualified by many strong adjectives—in a tone of amentiated hate and passion, not in a blusterous thundering voice, with wild gesticulation. And there was nothing in this interpretation to destroy the effect of his reproach of himself for having given way to cursing, for it must be remembered that th« passion which he would, for shame of having been passionate, compare to that of a scullion, could not in such a nature be low and vulgar in tone or gesture. Whilst praising Mr. Bates thus, it is but fair to point out that he should not even, though unintentionally, take such liberties with the text as to say And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than ncsh to others that we know not of. But really Mr. Bates labored under such difficulties for want of proper support that I could well understand the difficulties against which ha had to contend making him distracted and in places forgetful. If I may suggest, too, the importation of the natural manner he so well displayed in other parts into his dialogue with the grave-digger would be of no little service. In this brief article I cannot pretend to give the analytical and exhaustive criticism which, had I time or space at my disposal, it would he my pleasure, so far as my capabilities admitted, to give of Mr. Bates' Hamlet. I oan only say that his acting of the part is one that no%student of Shakspere could witness without pleasure. I should prefer seeing Mrs. Bates in some part other than than that of Ophelia before writing of her. The gentleman who played Horatio was in many respects the most effcient supporter of Mr. Bates. Another gentleman " doubled," as it is called, the parts of the Ghost and Laertes rendering necessary the excision of Polonius' advice to his son. The representation of Laertes, was far mora satisfactory than that of the Ghost. As for the pourtrayal of the King, it is sufficient to say that it was enough to make a thorough democrat of the most earnest supporter of monarchy. DE MURSKA CONCERTS. As was anticipated, the first concert of the season on Monday evening drew a large and fashionable audience. The hall was completely packed, and although a large portion of the downstairs room had been set apart for reserved seats, the accommodation was insufficient, and it became necessary to place chairs in the hall in order to give additional sittings. The stage had been profusely decorated and furnished for the occasion, and presented a very gay appearance. The concert was commenced by Signor Susini, who gave a selection from "Luci-ezia Borgia," the grand aria " Vieni la mia vendetta." It was given very grandly, and then was rendered in a masterly manner a violin solo, " Fantasia Caprice," from "La Traviata," by Maestro Strauss Ilia. The piece is exceedingly intricate, and the delicacy and nicety with which the more difficult and complicated passages were performed infused a little excitement into the audience. When Mdlle. De Murska next appeared the house rang with applause, even cheers. The " Carnival de Venise," with variations, by Benedict, was the piece selected for her to make her debut in, and in a very few moments the audience was completely carried away. The ease and exactitude with which the rapid passages were executed approached the marvellous—each note being purely and distinctly vocalized, the higher ones particularly so. Of course an encore was for her brilliant effort vociferously demanded, and Mdlle. reappeared and gave " The Last Rose of Summer." _ The sweet manner in which this sympathetic air was carolled forth in no degree quietened the audience, for it touched the feelings of many who had been unable to appreciate the less familiar composition "Vieni la mia," and there were loud calls for a second encore. Signor Rosnati next gave "Don Sebastiano." This gentleman on his previous visits to Wellington so thoroughly gained the admiration of his audiences that his appearance was most heartily greeted. His magnificent voice rang out as clearly as a clarion, and the romanza was sung with fine expression. A speciality was the pianoforte solo of Maestro Strauss Ilia, " Bonnie Scotland," performed so tastefully and brilliantly as to earn an enthusiastic encore, when the " Banjo Song" was given. This closed the first part of the programme. Proceedings were recommenced by a duet from "Martha" by Sigaori Rosnati and Susini, which, as also the next piece, a violin solo, „ Tarantella," were encored, Indeed, the

audience had now grown very demonstrative and very exacting, and each performer was perforce obliged to yield an encore. Mdle. de Murska's appearance was hailed by a shower of bouquets, and the splendid style in which she gave the aria in " Linda di Chamounix" created a perfect furore, and the petite Scotch ballad " Within a Mile o' ISdinbro' Town," was sung in response to an encore. " Madamina," by Signor Susini, romanza " Non e ver," by Signor Eosnati, and a buffo duet by De Murska and Susini followed, all of which were encored. Mr. J. E. Hadley presided at the pianoforte during the greater part of the evening, and gave great satisfaction. lorhorrow night a new programme will be presented} the well-known "Casta Diva," one of Mdlle. De Murska's specialties, appearing on the programme, with other choice pieces. Crowded as was the state of the Odd Fellows' Hall on the occasion of the first De Murska concert, on Wednesday night it was even more so. Long before 8 o'clock the second seats and gallery were packed to their utmost capacity, and the doors were closed on numbers unable to gain admission. By the time the curtain rose the whole of the reserved seats were also occupied, and after all the adclitioual chairs were filled many had to be refused for this portion of the hall also. The audience was in fact one of the largest ever witnessed within the building. The concert was, like its predecessor, an immense success, and the enthusiasm appeared at times to know no bounds. Mdlle. De Murska treated her audience to another specimen of her high artistic skill, and gave as her first solo a beautiful Hungarian song with variations, composed expressly for her by Doppler. The effect was electric, the audience appearing perfectly spellbound from first to last. At its conclusion a succession of rounds of applause compelled her to come forward again and again to bow her acknowledgments, till at length she complied with the universal demand for an encore, and gave a delightful little vocal waltz with an exquisite brilliancy of style and finish. Her second number on the programme was the grand cavatina from "Norma," " Casta Diva." This, fromtheknowledge of the great singer's powers, was anticipated with more than usual pleasure, and her appearance was therefore a signal for a further display of enthusiasm. We may safely say that never has such a piece of vocalisation been heard before in this city, nor indeed anything approaching it. The whole cavatina was a succession of the most brilliant musical phrases with such wonderful and perfect execution as renders a proper description impossible. The admiration of the audience could scarcely be restrained during its progress, and when the finish came the tumult was uproarious, and the fair enchantress was greeted with a perfect shower of bouquets. Of course, an encore was demanded, which Mdlle. complied with by singing the popular Scotch ballad " Comin' thro' the Bye in really excellent style. A great feature in the programme continues to be the splendid violin and piano playing of Maestro Strauss Ilia. Last evening he gave specimens of both, and confirmed the very high opinion at first entertained of him as a most finished artist. Signor Rosnati sang two solos in his usual effective manner, and gained a couple of encores in consequence. He certainly never was in better voice. Signor Susini opened theprogramme with the grand aria "O tu Palermo" with great power, and subsequently gave the aria IS on phi Andrai" most tellingly. Both these gentlemen took part in the closing number on the programme, in conjunction with Mdlle Ue Murska, in the grand trio "Behsario, the result being a magnificent rendering of one of Donizetti's gems. Mr. J. F. Hadley acted very efficiently as accompanyist at intervals during the evening. The concert throughout was of the most enjoyable description, and a treat of the highest order. A word of praise is also due to the management for the excellent seating of the audience, a difficult matter where so large a crowd is so quickly assembled. We are requested to direct attention to a notice in the advertisement that holders of tickets unable to gain admission owing to the crowded state of the hall can use the same tickets for the next concert. To-morrow night another change of progamme is announced and his Excellency the Governor has signified his intention of being present. • HISTRIOMASTIX.