Some Recollections: XIII. Of Prime Donne and Another Author(s): Joseph Bennett Source: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 41, No. 683 (Jan. 1, 1900), pp. 16-18 Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3366232 Accessed: 20-03-2016 06:34 UTC
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This content downloaded from 129.137.5.42 on Sun, 20 Mar 2016 06:34:49 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICAL TIMES.-JANUARY I, I900.
The time absorbed in lettering may seem a serious London urent half mad about Sontag7s beauty
obstacle, but it does not turn out to be so. The average
and marvellous singing. Again to quote
time taken is about twelve seconds. I have often tested
Chorley: 4'The Sunday papers told of Dukes
fifty in ten minutes. You must do something in your
dying for her; of Marquises only waiting to time. Examination of this kind is not a waste of time
it is unmistakably an excellent employment of time, and lay their coronets at her feet; Royalty itself
it is intensely interesting and edllcative to the class.
was said to have mingled in this dance.
The teaching. Give short, bright, incisive lessons to two
Colours and racehorses were called by her
or three sections grouped. The others must, of course,
name, and (not the least signiScant tribute to meantime either be silent or, if a higher section. be called
upon to pattern (often a proud moment) and if a lower her fascinations) a fashionable publisher tickled
section be strongly urged to learn by listening.
the Town's curiosity by announcing as forth-
A dvaxtagas-Besides the advantages already enumerated
conling, ' Travelling Sketches, by Mdlle.
the plan permits a teacher to easily select his best pupils
Sontag."' The object of all this adulation or eliminate his worst when he wishes to prepare good
music. The best are then guides to the others and did not proclaim on the house-tops, for the
unhampered by the hangers-on, they work more willingly.
benefit of amorous Dukes and Marquises
Here are the results in two classes at the end of
that her hand was pledged to a noble but
a term:-
far from wealthy Italian diplomat, Count
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Rossi. That secret she kept in her heart till,
6 2 o 5 6 7 7 8 5 5 5 4 3=63
4 3 o o o 6 8 5 9 8 7 6 6=62 having made moIley enough, she suddenly
retired from the stage, accepted a patent of
The doses can be strengthened according to circumstances.
I daresay other teachers have adopted other and better nobility from the King of Prussia, and married
plans of meeting this special difficulty.
the man of her choice as his equal.
(To be continged.) Twenty years passed over the Countess
Rossi's fair head-twenty years of high rank, as
the wife of an ambassador, and of still more
SOME RECOLLECTION S.
marked distinction, since the public did not forget
XIII OF PRIME DONNE AND ANOTHER.
Henrietta Sontag, or lose any opportunity of
demonstrating that they carried the memory THE ;'forties" had not quite run their course
of the bright and beautiful singer in their when I came to London, a first time, as a visitor
hearts. to the lions of the metropolis. Though a raw
The revolutionary year, I848, came with its lad, I had plenty of enthusiasm for music, and
disasters, and Count Rossi was not one of the the king of all the lions, in my estimation, was
least sufferers. So serious were his Enancial the opera. What more natural ? I had never
losses that the brave wife made up her mind to seen a performance on the lyric stage. Imagine,
resume her profession. She had dowered her- therefore, the eagerness with which I hurried,
self by hard work; why should she not again on the very earening of my arrival, to the gallery
build up the fortunes of her household ? So it door of Her Majesty's Theatre, not troubling to
became known to all whom it might concern discover the opera to be perforlned or the artists
that the public favourite of I828, and after, was who were to play in it. Lyric dramas and their
again available. True, she had reached the age expoIlents were all pretty much alike to me,
of forty-three, but Sontag had preserlred her but, on reading the bills at the theatre entrances,
beauty in a marvellous degree, and, in no less I felt some satisfaction in that I was to hear
measure, her vocal powers also. Chorley tells *; La Sonnambula.'7 Bellini's melodies were
us: " She had never laid aside the care and everywhere at that time. There was hardly a
culture of her delicious voice during her tenor who did not essay to languish with
episode of ante-chamber work and monotonous Elvino; scarcely a soprano whose repertory
Court splendour. She sang in public, as failed to contain an extract from the lyric
an amateur, once or twice, for charitable woes of A mina. I thought myself in luck,
purposes. In private noble circles she was therefore; but the opera did not represent all
frequently to be heard." Hence, there was my good fortune. The bills promised a hearing
nothing in her appearance or her powers to of Madame Sontag, the great German
make return to the stage a risky adventure, and artist, concerning whom the thousand tongues
at least one stage that of Her Majesty's of Rumour had for some time been wagging
Theatre-was willing and eager to receive her. loudly enough to arrest attention even in the
Jenny Lind, the stay of Lumley's fortunes, had heart of the country. In London, Henrietta
abandoned opera, and later attractions had Sontag was no stranger to veteran opera-goers,
poorly supplied her place. The enterprise was though since her previous appearances, in I828
marching to ruin, and the manager knew it. a generation had grown up which knew her
Imagine how gIadly he received the news not. On the Continent she had made a name
of Sontags fortunate resolution, and how before that date. Weber's " Euryanthe" was
promptly he came to terms with her. His written for her, and, according to Henry Chorley,
only risk in the matter was a possibility Beethoven chose her as his leading soloist ln
that the public, scarcely recovered from the the great Mass. She was the Fairy Princess
Lind fever, would make unfavourable com- of Young Germany. One of her shoes, which
parisons, not only between the Swedish Young Germany had stolen, was used as a
Nightingale and her sister of Germany, but drinking cup. Even comparatively sedate
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prejudice against native artists was strong in also between the Sontags of I828 and I849.
aristocratic circles, which alone, then as now, However, all went well. A contemporary
had weight with managers, while the foreign journalist wrote: " No magic could restore to
singers agreed in nothing so much as a desire her voice an upper note or two which Time had
to keep their preserve to themselves. For some taken . . . but she was greeted, as she
time beforeS however, letters had appeared in deser+red to be, as a beloved old friend come
the public prints asking why the English tenor, home again, in the late summer days."
whose debut at Drury Lane had made an im- This was the artist whom a lucky chance
pression, was not called to one of the fashionable placed among my recollections my Erst
houses. Because of this, and, no doubt, through prima donna, heard in the freshness of
other influences as well, Reeves and Lumley youth and youthful enthusiasm; so heard that
came together. The part of Donizetti's Carlo no phonographic ;' record" is clearer than
is not one of first-class importance, but the my memory of her Amina after the lapse of
English debutant gained plenty of honours in Efty years. I see her now as, amid a storm of
it. The Times declared him " really a valuable applause, she made her entry in the character
acquisition to the theatre"; the Morni>zg of the innocent maiden whose simple fortunes
Chronicle hailed him as ' signally successful"; so interested the public till simplicity and
the Daily News praised the beauty of his artlessness passed out of fashion. Her age
voice and the warmth of his expression. So was unknown to me, but I imagined Sontag as
with other journals, and everything promised only a few years older than myself, so successful
brilliantly for " Signor Reeves." But fair had been conservation of face and figure plus
mornings are often clouded over. On May 24 the art of the stage dresser. But that which
Lumley issued the following announcement: struck my unsophisticated ears much more
" Mr. Reeves having refused to sustain than did the artist's appearance my equally
his part in ' Linda di Chamouni,' the in- ingenuous eyes was the beauty and charm of
dulgence of subscribers and the public is her singing. The part of Amina suited her.
respectfully entreated in favour of Signor She was in no special sense a dramatic artist.
Gardoni, who, at the shortest notice, has, Her best work was done in comparatively
to prevent disappointment, most obligingly passive characters. She would have excelled
undertaken the part." The recalcitrant singer as Elsa and have been a matchless Eva.
urged, in reply, that he had stipulated for the Sontag's great strength lay in personal charm,
part of Edgardo in " Lucia," and that the and the perfect management of a delightful
manager had given it to someone else. Hence voice. In these respects she held her own
the breach of relations and the brevity of the against the public memory of Lind, some
tenor's stay on the Haymarket stage at that connoisseurs, indeed, contending that in
time. In I85I, as already mentioned, manager certain parts, that of Marza in " La Figlia,"
and artist came together again. for example, she took honours above the
" Fidelio," which impresarii either cannot or Swedish songstress. Well, as I have said, it
will not play now-a-days, was the most was her singing that opened to me a new world
successful feature of Lumley's Great Exhibition of delight. I was of course thrilled when the
seasonq According to Chorley, its good fortune frail plank over which the sleep-walker passed
was certainly not due to Cruvelli. Her singing cracked in the middle, but much more moved
he describes as " crude," and goes on to by the plaintive song to the flowers and the
explain that " Fidelio," however symphonically sparkling rain of glad notes which followed the
superb it be, is 'one in which there is no rustic girl's happy awaking. Let me add that
judging of a vocalist's qualities; and, accord- of all the other artists who took part in " La
ingly, Mdlle. Cruvelli's powerful and extensive Sonnambula " I remember not one, nor haLre I
voice suited the music." This is equivalent troubled to discover them. For me Sontag
to throwing doubt upon Cruvelli's vocal was then, and in memory still is, all in all.
qualities, but it must be remembered that Like all the world and his wife, I came to
Chorley had leanings towards the rival house. London in the year of the Great Exhibition
On the other hand, the mordant critic praised (I85I), and, more eagerly than ever, rushed to
Sims Reeves highly, saying: " He drew out the " old house in the Haymarket." They
from the vocal music and Enished all in it that were playing " Fidelio" that night.
is tuneable and lovely, without any sacriEce of Of Sims Reeves, the Florestan of the occasion,
I knew nothing, or next to nothing, although declamation or dramatic force, without being
overborne by the orchestra, without constraining he had made his debut at Her Majesty's three
the latter to any complaisance for the singers. years before; that is to say, on May o, I848.
But even then Mr. Sims Reeves was far beneath The ISrst appearance of the 4 young tenor," as
the newspapers then called him, was in " Linda the point which he has since reached, by care
and thought, and real artistic feeling." di Chamouni "; he playing Carlo to the Linda
of Madame Tadolini. It is not surprising to us Chorley's remarks upon the English tenor's
now that Reeves gained a popular success. singing are in precise accord with my remem-
The really astonishing circumstance was that brance. The full, rich, and ringing tones of
he won a place on the Italian stage at allX for the artist in the dungeon air and the subsequent
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duet with Leonora rank among the musical flaws. I reply that judgment I had none. I
sensations recollection of which will never pass received impressions, and as they are in
away. Of acting I was then little entitled to harmony with those of the critics of the time,
judge,but it seems to have made small impression. I see reason to abide by them. For the critics,
I thought it stid, constrained and heavy; but you know, must be right when they all agree.
the testimony of a mere tyro is of slight value,
JOSEPH BENNETT.
though, curiously enough, I brought away from
my last experience of Mr. Reeves as an actor
precisely the same feeling. The glorious voice
ROSSINI IN ENGLAND
and artistic style, however, were enough for all
purposes of enjoyment, and equally sufficient THE visits to our shores of great composers
for an undying memory. have furnished many an interesting page to
My second operatic prima donna the musical literature. Let us recall the names of
Fidelio of the occasion stands out as well some such visitants Mozart, Haydn, Spohr,
deEned as a hill-top tree with the moon behind Weber, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Wagner.
it. She was Sophie Cruvellin who subsequently One more name must, however, be added to
added to the romance of a lrery romantic period the list that of Gioachino Antonio Rossini.
of opera in England by leaving her manager Comparatively little is known of the incidents
in the lurch and running away to parts un- attendant upon the sojourn of Rossini in
known. Sophie made her debut here in London. The following is therefore offered as
February, I848 the month, by the way, which a contribution to this hiatus in the biography
saw Louis Philippe making tracks toward, of the Swan of Pesaro. Moreover, it may
instead of from, London. On her Erst night not be without interest as aSording a glimpse
she played Elvira (" Ernani ") in such a manner or two into the musical times of the Metropolis
as to capture all the critics all those, at least, in the Erst quarter of the centurv.
whose record I have consulted. An excellent Rossini was very nearly thirty-two when he
description of the lady appeared at the time in visited London. He had already composed
The Illustrated Londowl News:- some thirty or more operas, including his
" This prima donna, a pupil of the Conserva- famous " I1 Barbiere." He was accompanied
toire, is eighteen years of age. Her countenance hither by his wife, Signora Colbran-Rossini, a
is pleasing and expressive; her form, of the lady seven years his senior, whom he had
middle height, is well-moulded and handsome; married in I 822. The Rossini couple were
her manner dramatic, and her style energetic. engaged by Benelli, manager of the King's
Her voice is remarkably powerful; her tones Theatre; she to sing, he to compose an opera,
youthful and bell-like, and if it be found, when for which he was to receive the sum of £240,
her powers are fully tried, that she possesses an amount at that time unprecedented. Both,
the complete management of her vocal resources, however, failed to make operatic successes.
she will be one of the greatest acquisitions the Rossini did not produce his promised opera
theatre has ever made." (" Figlia dell' aria"), of which, by the wayX the
The prophecy in the last sentence had the music of the first act unaccountably vanished
exceptional good fortune of proving true. and has never since been heard of. His ccgro
Though Jenny Lind was a member of the same sposa, then in her fortieth year, was passee and
company, Cruvelli held her own even against gave little satisfaction. But, in other respectsS
that supreme attraction. But she flitted, at as we shall see, the visit of the Rossinis
the instigation of Cupid, or some other mis- to England was an unqualified triumph.
leading power, and poor Lumley was doomed According to the newspapers of the dayX
to lose both his great stars, one drawing back Signor and Signora Rossini arrived in London
into the drab-coloured obscurity of the concert- on December I3, I823. Either then or sub-
room; the other shooting madly from its sphere, sequently they lodged at go, Regent Street,
like the luminaries which Oberon saw. then called " go, Quadrant," being the curved
But shooting stars often leave a trail of light portion of the famous thoroughfare, at that
behind themX and the Cruvelli light is still time about three or four years old. The
shining in my memory. I can recall the entire Quadrant was originally a covered thorough-
performance of the prima donna in the dungeon fare in regard to its side-walks, to use an
scene not less easily than I can bring to mind Americanism, but in I848 the colonnades were
my own ecstatic sensations as that enthra]ling removed. In the company of a magniEcent
part of the drama proceeded. Her striking macaw Rossini and his wife used to sit on the
attitudes and gestures, her free and graceful leads of the colonnade, from which elevation
movements, the spirit thrown into her ultimate they could look down upon the animated
deSance of Pzzarro, and her impassioned thoroughfare. The appearance of the Maestro
delivery of the music, became a possession is thus described: " He is scarcely of the
which will remain with me to the end. You may middle height, lusty, and, upon the whole
say that probably a very delightful operatic with rather a heavy air. He certainly looks
experience unhinged my judgment and made more like a sturdy beef-eating Englishman
me assume perfection where may have been than a sensitive ISery-spirited native of the
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