Punch (74.1878)

April 6, 1878.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 145

WIND AND WEATHER.

eteorologiqal
Id yl.

" The Sun bursts
out in frequent
blaze;

Shade flies, light
flashes o'er the
wold.
But yet in air
there hangs a
haze,

Audi what can
make it blow so
cold?

"The Steeple Cock

points beak due

West;
His tail the other

way turns he.
Though that, me-

seems, is where

his crest
In such a breeze

as this should

be.

" Sd cold has Christmas seldom been.
It ne'er was colder, e'en in May.
AYhy does the wind's edge cut so keen ?
Turn, pensive Shepherd, turn and say."

" Stranger, yon vaporous mountains note,
Cumuli, Alps on Alps, up there!
They 're frozen clouds, aloft that float
As icebergs in the sea of air.

" Their rimy crags illumed, how fast

See how they change, and surge, and grow;
"Whilst Zephyr apes an Eastern blast,
Because the sky is full of snow."

" Thanks, Guardian of the fleecy flock.
How rare, how pleasing, 'tis to find
'Mongst rustics reared from lowly stock
A cultured and observant mind ! "

" Kind Stranger, scant's the labourer's hire
In this inclement atmosphere ;
And welcome—pardon the desire—
To his parched lips a draught of beer."

"Nay, Shepherd, breathe not that request;

Banish strong drink from downs and plains :
Where Science wears the Bumpkin's vest,
Let Temperance rule contented Swains."

OUR REPRESENTATIVE MAN.

(A few Words about Mr. Carl Rosa's Opera Company, and the
Faust, as lately given at the Adelphi.)

Sir,

Are we an "unmusical people?" Look at the daily
advertisements of Academy Concerts, of Monday Pops, of Chamber
Concerts, of Saturday Pops, of Soirees Musicales, of Philharmonic
Concerts, of Concertina Concerts, of Pianoforte Recitals, Crystal
and Alexandra Palace Concerts, and so forth. Travelling eastward
from the Choral Society's performance at the Albert Hall, on the way
to an Oratorio at Exeter Hall, you may stop on your road in Picca-
dilly, where under the same roof, and at the same time are being
given, " With Verdure Clad," and " Kiss me, goodnight, Mother,"
followed by the "Blue Tailed Fly," With Tambourine and Bones
accompaniment by the Christy Minstrels, who have solemnly vowed
never to perform out of the Hall, dedicated to one of the St. James's,
whether the Greater or the Less, I do not know. Who shall
say we are an unmusical people ? Not, I hope, Mr. Carl Rosa,
whose season is now coming to an end. He has done admirably ;
and every one operatically interested hopes that if not at present
rewarded, like Miss Dinah, with—

u A werry large fortune in silver and gold,"

he may, at all events, be on the high road towards that consummation,
devoutly to be wished, and also towards establishing a permanent

Operatic Entertainment in English, that is, in a language "under-
standed of the people."

How rapturously the entire House, with its crowded pit, and
well-filled gallery, applauded the Soldiers' Chorus, and the March
in Faust! How ^discriminating was their praise awarded to Mr.
■Joseph Maas as Faust, who began better than he went on, to
Miss Fechter as Marguerite, who finished far better than she had
commenced, and to Mr. Ludwig as Valentine, who was good
throughout, from first to last. Dramatically, he was one of the best
Valentines, if not the best, I've ever seen. Did Herr Meter
Ltjtz train him at the Gaiety ?—for it was there, I believe, that
Mr. Ludwig started. Miss Marie Fechter looked the German
Gretchen to perfection; and if she commenced nervously, she
showed herself quite mistress of the last and most difficult situa-
tion, in the Prison scene, which, both operatically and dramatically,
is the critical point for any Marguerite. The audience were evi-
dently most anxious for her success: there were old familiar
associations about the name of Fechter in connection with the
Adelphi Theatre. I am speaking of the second performance, not
the first. Mr. Celu's Mephistopheles was not sufficiently diabolic.
That the " Prince of Darkness is a Gentleman," I am aware ; but
Mephisto is only that Black Prince's Lieutenant; and Mr. Celli
made him more like a fallen Life-Guardsman, who had picked up his
manners from a friendly counter-jumper, than a cynical wily Satanic
agent. The make-up was not good. Mr. Ceeli's memory, perhaps,
does not reach back so far as Mr. Charles Kean's Mephistopheles.
There could be no better model for a " make-up" than that. He
has not yet mastered the awfully devilish laugh in the Serenade ;
but a little careful study will soon set this all right. Considering
the limited resources of that very un-Lyrie Establishment, the
Adelphi, Faust was admirably put on the Stage.

I should imagine that of all the Operas in Mr. Carl Rosa's reper-
toire this is the most popular. The Play itself has always been a
favourite, a stock piece, whether in town or country. With all the
characters in it every audience is familiar. But there is another
reason why this English version of Faust goes so well; and that is,
there is no spoken dialogue, it is all recitative.

The blot on the English version of The Merry Wives is the
" spoken " between the music. The blot on all Eaglish Operas is
the dialogue. However good the dialogue may be, it has the air of
patch-work. It is not musical in itself, and you have come to hear
music. Singers' speaking voices are proverbially unmusical, and,
clever as their acting may be, they do not seem at home in dialogue.
It never comes naturally either to them, or to the Opera. Miss
Julia Gatlord is, on the whole, an exception to this rule, but even
this clever and bright young lady cannot, in speaking, get rid of a
certain twang of Americanism, which is scarcely in keeping with the
character of Mrs. Ford. All this disappears, as does stammering,
in singing. Mr. Carl Rosa should banish dialogue from all his
libretti.

During the reign of Italian Opera, he and his company visit the'pro-
vinces, to return I hope in the winter season before Christmas, and
make another step towards permanently establishing his excellent
Opera-in-English Company, as a thriving institution, in one of our
London theatres. If the frequenters of the Pit, Gallery, and Upper
Boxes only knew where the St. James's Theatre was to be found, that
house might suit the purpose. Unless Pit and Gallery go in for the
entertainment, the high life below stairs, I mean in the Stalls, which
only associates music with Italian names, unintelligible language,
white ties, late hours, toothpicks, lorgnettes, and lobbies, will never
have sufficient energy to support it, having scarcely the energy to
support themselves, without the aid of crutch-handled black sticks,
which press painfully on the toes of—

Your Representative.

A New Line.

"Hard up" is the motto of many an elegant young gentleman
not born to fortune, in these days of competitive examinations and
over-crowded avenues to employment. Impecunious swells, quali-
fied, for fellowships at All Souls as " bene nati, bene vestiti, et
mediocriter docti in arte musicd" will find a new line of livelihood
chalked out for them by this quotation from the advertising columns
of the Times :—

APERFECT GENTLEMAN, middle-aged and non-smoker, desires
a really refined HOME in a Lady's house at the West End. Would not
object to furnish dressing and bed-rooms, and devote his time to the business
matters and amusement of the family as part equivalent. Early breakfast
and late dinner only required. Mutual references.—Address, &c.

a truly odd eorce.

Mrs. Malaprop, during the late hard weather, was heard to
inquire whether the cold was in any way supposed to be occasioned
by positive, or negative eccentricity ?

vol. lxxiv.

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