THE OPERA HOUSE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1199, 22 February 1895, Page 17

THE OPERA HOUSE.

"PAUL JONES."

After "Ma Mie Rosette/' which kept tip its run of three nights, the company took us into the region of opera bouffe with the much-expected ''Paul Jones/' which has had long runs wherever it has been put on the stage. The music is characteristic, just as the music of all the best comic operas is. If you see the name of Sullivan on the bill, you expect one class of music. If you go to hear Paul Lecocq, Offenbach, Herve, Cellier, you know the kind of thing you will get. In like manner when it is Planquette you are quite aware what is coming. You know that you will hav« lively melodies and good orchestration; you expect spirit and " go/' with a great deal of the sharp, short, crisp order which belongs to the dancing' side of the world; and that you will have fine airs flowing smoothly, keeping serious long enough to enable you to recover from the rollicking pace at which you have been carried along, and make you enjoy more of it, goes without saying. Likewise, if you hear grand finales with great displays of scenic effect you will not be disappointed. And if you have some comic effects which set the whole house in a roar, you will not be surprised. Of such an order of opera is " Paul Jones." Why has it enjoyed the prolonged success, delighting one set of managers, and making many others envious ? Simply because there is not a dull moment in it from first to last. Occasionally the melody drops into the commonplace, but the orchestration never. The latter is always of the highest order, rich, graceful, full and various. Every song is superbly accompanied, and every choral effect is supported by an orchestration which keeps the ear delighted and leaves it unwearied. If there were nothing else but the music, one could sit through the three* acts listening to the orchestration, noting its variety, its strength, its charming effects, its extraordinary brjiijaacy

and richness. But there is a great deal more. The play is superblystaged, each act has its change of costumes, the action is rapid, the incidents crowd on one another, the fun is kept fresh. It is in a word an excellent example of comic opera, one of the best of the moderns; an opera which makes you laugh, delights as well as amuses, and sends you away without weariness. The life and soul of the piece is Miss Nellie Stewart, who keeps the character of Yvonne —the lady who we learn caused the commander so famous in history and legend to take to the sea for the purpose of winning fame, wealth and her — sparkling from end to end. Such an I arch, elegant, graceful, determined young ' person never was seen. How charmingly 1 she sings to be suie, how gracefully she I dances, what a series of pictures she presents in those various costumes of hers, ! each a feast of colour and form and grace. j One does not wonder at Paul Jones running all those risks for her sake. They are . not the risks of melodrama; neither J blood-curdling, nor mirth-provoking; but I just the risks of comic opera, in which j nothing is taken quite seriously; except I the love-making. That part of his work Mr JBrownlow, as the celebrated privateersI man, did remarkably well. All his music was superbly sung, considerably better on j the average than his work in the previous I opera; and lie looked and dressed the part j admirably.' 1 Mr Tapley was his unsuccessj ful rival, Eon Eufino, and as such made j the most of his gifts as a musician ;of good training in a good school. "Mr Lissant, who was the old guardian who lives in the dramatic world for the purpose j of vexing all true lovers, brought to his role thebest traditions of high comedy, and acclimatised them in opera bouffe most successfully. The other extreme of comedy was represented by Mr Lauri, who played many parts under one name; the daring smuggler of St. Malo of the hard old type; the henpecked husband inbroad terror of his termagant wife; the incomparable, j impossible boatswain of Paul Jones' i frigate; and a sort of King of the j Cannibal Islands, a disguise which was a J marvellous " get up," especially in the I make up of the face, which was a perfect work of the art burlesque. The appearance of Mr Lauri in these various humours was always the signal for roars of laughter, which his quaint sayings, remarkable facial expression and clever dancing kept up all the time he remained in' evidence. For one song—a sort of duet with his subordinate, Pierre (Mr Eosevear), whose get up was as good in most respects as Mr Lauri's —he and his friend secured the honour of recalls more numerous than we can remember. Between the extremes of comedy- came Mr Howard Vernon as the old Spanish Governor of the island of Estrella, with a part that suited his style of acting and his peculiar huhiour, so much in favour with his audiences everywhere. The part of Chopinette, the wife of Bouillabaisse aforesaid, a lively lady of uncertain age, and uncommonly certain in the matter of planting blows on the face of her lord and master, uncommonly clever, too, in singing, taking ' songs of the most comical order interspersed .vith step dancing here and there,and provoking much mirth and big choruses, this part was in the very capable hands of J Miss Marietta Nash, who did it justice broad and full. As Malaguena, the Spanish dame who by her intrigues against the muchharassed Paul Jones keeps the ball rolling through three acts, Miss May Pollard was charming, and the choral work, the grouping, and the dancing were all admirable. There was an immense house.

"LA CIGALE." The music of Audran is crisp, original, and lively. It forms the basis of the opera of "La Cigale"; being always the thing which keeps the action together. The music keeps the story together, and is uncommonly good. The story is a very capital story, worked out with many interruptions which are effective in their several ways. They are digressions proper to opera comique. The story might be told in one act, and very solidly. But the solid business is diluted by ! charming digressions. Dances abound, there are interludes of children at play m a very graceful way —and remarkably well drilled and well dressed these children were —and there is the broadest comic business. All these digressions are supported by the most lively music imaginable. Melodies, harmonies, choral effects and fine orchestration give them the excuse for their being, and when they have run their course bring them back to the main backbone of the story. And so the action is continuous, attractive, perpetually changing. This explains the secret of the success of this opera. The evening was the hottest perhaps that we have had this season; exceptionally hot it was. The audience was very large, and tested the ventilating power of the house to the utmost. Yet there was not a weary moment from first to last. The title role stands out, of course, prominently —and a most arduous, role it is for any artiste to undertake. It is a charming creation, and it is one of Miss Stewart's most pronounced successes. Energy, versatility, and a hundred qualities are required ; large' demands are made on the vocal and histrionic ability of the performer, and all these demands are met. A village girl of exceptional talent, loved by old and young alike, becomes a great opera singer, falls in love With a nobleman who is entangled in an intrigue of the most pronounced character, and by sheer force of character reclaims him to honourable love—that is, in brief, the outline of her story! To work it out there are the tenderest sentiment, the giddiest animal spirits, the truest loyalty, and the bravest moral courage. It is a shining, beautiful, lovable character, and in Miss Stewart's hands it was admirable in every way. Nothing more clever could be desired' than

her song of the maid who was saved from drowning. It was the embodiment of wit, archness, grace and humour. No wonder it was recalled at least three times. On the other hand, nothing could be better than her denunciation of her rival in the full blaze of the Ducal Court. The woman who can do those two thing:; equally well can do anything on the operatic stage. As the successful lover, the Chevalier Franz, Mr Tapley had a congenial part, to which he did justice, and would have done more justice had his singing been more free from the modern vice that vibrates. His is a voice which is remarkably true, trained well, and capable of sustained effect in a degree which should leave its possessor nothing to regret, yet he shakes it persistently as if it was a bottle of medicine with the proverbial label. In every other way Mr Tapley's performance was excellent and attractive. Of the unsuccessful lever, Mr Deane gave a very artistic capable representation, and made his baritone music tuneful and artistic. Miss May Pollard had to supply the foil to the wayward grasshopper; the foil who is not sustained by the moral of the piece—if opera bouffe Can be said to have any moral—and supplied it with considerable merit, like the improving artiste she certainly is. The comicalities of Mr Lauri kept the house in a roar, and his get-up in the third act, of which he himself said he didn't know whether he was a wedding cake or a blanc-mange, or an ice cream, was elaborately perfect. Mr Howard Vernon contributed the comic element in the acceptable Vernon way. Mr Eosevear was the properly picturesque country lover of the lady who was the foil to "La Cigale," the . costumes were remarkably good, and the dancing, which plays a large part in the play, was admirable, especially the Castanet dance in the third act. Miss Young played the part of the Duchess magnificently as to dress, leaving something to be desired in the histrionic division of the subject. On the whole it may be said that in this opera the leading feature is that Miss Stewart is not adequately supported all round. The opera, however, went with great spirit and gaiety, and will have a good run. Miss Stewart's delicious impersonation, the dancing and the fine orchestra are sufficient guarantees for I that.