THE LYSTER OPERA COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 666, 3 September 1864, Page 20

THE LYSTER OPERA COMPANY.

The first appearance ot the Lysfer Opera Company, at the Princess Theatre, on Saturday even ing, was an unqualified success. Their career in Victoria and New South- Wales was a guarantee, as far as they are concerned, of what they ought to achieve here ; but they have come at the most inauspicious season possible, and they have com?, too, when times are dull, apart from the season We assert, however, that apart from times and j seasons, it will be a simple disgrace to Dun edin if the commenced opera season of 24 nights is not made a pecuniary success ; and we have too high an opinion of music as an elevator of a community, not to desire very ardently that that disgrace and positive loss may not be inflicted. For, if we work out a failure for the Lyst«r Com-» pany, the visits of such artists, which must'necessarily under any circumstances be " few and far between." will be wholly denied us, Tha succesi of Saturday evening was not- comparative with what might be allowed to be a thing to be exoectf d in the Colonies, but positive In Donnizetti's "Lucrezia Borgia," we have a score of times heard Grisi and Mario ; we have heard Bosio-. Tamberlik and Tsgliafico; we have heard Titiens, GKui^iini, and Formes. ' In " The Daughter of the Regiment," iv its originnl Italian form, we have heard Jenny Lind and Roncoui. The operas we have named were produced on Saturday evening, and with all our recollections of the two, we can declare that sitting cut Saturday's performances was an almost unmixed gratification. The different members of the company have p'nyed so long together that they are always in accord ; the chorus is not numerous, but no member of it acts or sings so as to suggest an idea of " super?;" i and the orchestra, though lets than a dozen j strong, does all that could be asked for from the i same number of instrumentalists. " Thorough" is evidently the motto of every woman and every man in the company ; and that means an evenness and effectiveness, the secret of which although eijoyed by all, is not discoverable except by those who watch performers very narrowly.

We shall not go immediately into the history f»f Ferrara's famous duchess, "Lucrezia Borgia," whose vile story, as told by Victor Hugo, and done into a libretto by Felice Komain. is open to so > much grave question. Poisoner or incestuous, with or w itbout motive, let her story be a debafr able ground for historians The opera deaia with her aa a real poisoner, but as a simply suspected incestuous person ; and the story as a whole, like that of many another opera, js not pretty or attractive, but, ia very unnatural. The sons insult the mother ; the mother's dc-ire to be revenged ; the husband's belief of unfa'thfulness, with one whom be does not suspect to b3 his wife's son ; the double poison, once from necessity, and once from mistaken revenge ; the administering of an antidote once, and its once refusal because th-;re is not enough to save his comrades — all these things are known or can be gathered from the English version of the libretto.

Madame Lucy E3eott's Lucrezia is a capital performance. Her voice is a good and pure soprano, of a fully average range ; her acting is euperior to that of most operatic performers; and she has a general power of seeming to be the being she plays, which is an attribute of genius the earlier admirers of Misa Lucy E«cott could not have allowed that she then possessed. As she came upon the terrace, in the prelude to the opera, she was warmly applauded ; and the opening notes of " Tranquillo ci posa," showed that ( she was in capital spirit* and voice. The " Ame I tue madre," was declaimed in the truest style ; the Binding and acting were alike good at the end of tho first act, where Lucre zia has to offer the poison and Ihen to force the antidote ; ani the acting in fte final scene, where Gennaro has bien poisoned when Lucezia has only meant to poison lis companions, believing him to be for aw*y, •was altogether unexceptionable. Mr Squire's ; voice is Ji^bt and fluty, instead of robust, or sympathetic. He warbled the "Di Pescntore" very nicely ; in the first act. his voice told finely in the concluding trio ; and he played and sung well in the second act, his defying determination not again to swallow the antidote, when he finds that there is n^t enough to save fcia friends also, being effectively rendered. Mr H. Wnarton was satisfactory as the Duke Alphoa80—that jealous monster who ia made by Donisetti to revel only in "5a Vendetta," and " line fatale lassuna." Mr Wharton'a voice is somewhat light for the parr, but it was thorouehly well used — used in a way to make one satisfied, although a basso profundi is ordinarily looked for in the part. Miss Hodson haa a voice which is of the mettzo soprano range, rather than of the contralto ; so that, though she sang " II segreto" most correctly as to notation and feeling, the brindisi sounded somewhat thinly. Matteo Orsini has little else to do, of real importance ; and as Miss Hocison was able to dres«, to look. and to act well, as that young gentleman, her part may be dismissed as satisfactorily filled. Mr J. E. Kits was a first rate Gubetta; and Miss Ada King was a respectable Princess Negroni. There was an enthusiastic " call " after the end of the prologue and of each of the two acts ; and what was more, there were, amongst tha occupants of the dress circle, the most unmistakeably genuine expressions of thankfulness for the pleasure past, and of congratulation upon the pleasures in store from the 23 nights' promised performance. In the opera comique of " La Figlia del Feggimento," Donizetti appears in a distinctly different guise to that which lie wears iv " Lucrezia Borgia." He has no longer passionately vindictive Borgias to describe, or orgies to depict ; he has only to deal with the peculiarly French idea, of a female child picked up near a field of battle, adopted by a regiment, and so having a thou'and fathers, and being, by necessity, a vivandiere with a flask of eau de vie, a putty little drum, and nicely shortened red petticoats Given, a young Tyrolean, who falls in love with the vivandiere, who enlists in order to keep near her, jus wh»n the grisly old sergeant, her fibber in-particular, has found out her true relations, who ultimately marries ths true-?ou!ed pet of ' ' the glorious 21st," and the whole plot of this opera is told. But a good plot is not necessary to the enjoyment o f music. .Donizetti's opera, even in ita English dress, is more comprehensible than some of Bunn's productions; bufc it is only necessary to hear it after an opera in the Italian language, to recognise how unmusical, in the lyrical sense, is that wonderful agglomeration of all possible patois and t iction, which we AngloSaxons rejoice in as the most thoroughly technilosrical and common - sensed language Tinder the sun. If operatic musio is ever "'out of tune and harsh," as Ophelia finds occasion to say of Hamlet's mind, it is when it is * wedded to Anglo-Saxon— aad this despite the

fact that we have some of the most enjoyable and jojoussong3 and ballads that were ever trolled. But " The Daughter of the Hegiment" was playpd on Saturday — not "La Figlia del tteggiraento," end no matter in what guise it is presented, there are three characters iv ifc worth mentioning, and no more. They are— Marie, Tonio, and Sulpice ; th^y being respectively played on Saturday evening by Mdlle. Kosalie Durand. Mr E. A. Beauiront, nnd Mr F. Ljster. Mdlle. Durand we do not remember to have heard before. She h« s a clear firm mezzo-soprano voice, a perfect abandon (where such i"» necesf ary for effect), and a gene rally prepossessing appearance, which made her a favorite from the moment of her appearance, and we venture to predict that she will maintain the instantly acquired position. We ! have ventured upon another prediction, although the profession of a prophet is never a profitable and is rarely a pleasant one. Our second prediction is, that Mr Beaumont has within his rench the position of the Sims Reeves of the Southcn Hemispheie. We heard Mr Beaumont when he sang in Dunedin twelve months ago, at the concerts of M.M. Poussird and Douay. He was then an amateur with much affectation and of little promise, because of bis affectation. He is now a thoroughly good siiger; easy, free from, mannerism, and full of promise. His vo*ce_ is a good firm one, very symvathetic, and Hearings direct from the chest without effort. In the middle register nnd the falsetto rang% he has tones which only require to be well developed to make him a master in his art. These qualities were shown throughout the opera, but in "To my confession Tender," he sang so sweetly impassioned, that there was an encore of the most genuine nature. Mdlle, Durand shared this triumph, and deservedly. In fact, the whole of the two acts went jubilantly, and Mr F. I.yster did well his share in creating that joyousness. There was a furious call — we may fairly go phrase it— Bfter the fall of the curtain ; and the thiee principal actors came before tho curtain.

The two operas are to be repeated this evening; and we wish we could thoroughly indoctrinate each reader with the force of our own belief, of how excellent and enjoyable the one performance of the Ly6ter Trchipe has been, and the 23 to come, are reasonably certain to be.