Punch (102.1892)

June 4, 1892.]

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

269

HORACE IN LONDON. TO A COQUETTE. (AD PYRRHAM.)

What stripling, flowered and scent-bedewed,
Now courts thee in what solitude ?

For whom dost
thou in order set
Thy tresses' au-
reole, Coquette.

'' Neat, hut not
gaudy" ?—Soon
Despond
(Too soon ! ) at
flouted faith and
fond,
Soon tempests hal-
cyon tides above
Shall wreck this
raw recruit of
Love;

Who counts for
gold each tinsel
whim,
And hopes thee
always all for
him,

And trusts thee,
smiling, spite of
doom
And traitorous
breezes! Hap-
less, whom

Thy glamour holds
untried. Forme,
I've dared enough

that fitful sea;
Its " breach of
promise" grim
hath curst
Both purse and
person with its
worst.

My " dripping weeds " are doffed ; and I
Sit " landed," like my wine, and " dry ; "
What " weeds " survive I smoke, and rub
My hands in harbour at my Club !

OPERATIC NOTES.

Monday.—UAmico Fritz'at last! Better late than never. A
Dramatic Operatic Idyl. "Nothing in it," as Sir Charles Cold-
stream observes, except the music, the singing, and the acting of
Signor he Lucia as Fritz Our Friend, of M. Dufriche as the Rabbi

of Mile. Giulia Ravogli as Boy
Beppe, of Mile. Bauermeister as
Caterina, and of Madame Calve as
Suzel. Not an indifferent performer
or singer among them, and not an
individual in the audience indifferent
1o their performance. Cherry-Tree
Duet, between Suzel and Fritz, great
hit. Admirably sung and acted, and
vociferously encored. Nay, they
would have had it three times if they
could,_ but though Sir Druriolanus
sets his face against encores, allowing
not too much encore but just encore
enough, he, as an astute Manager,
cannot see why persons who have paid
to hear a thing only once should hear
it three times for the same money.
No; if they like it so much that they
want it again, and must have it, and
won't be happy till they get it, then
let them encore their own performance
of paying for their seats, and come
and hear their favourite morceaux

<v\ t> w • ■> TT j. -n T over an(l over again as often as they
The Kabbinical-Hat-Beer-Jug. like to pay> Heswin gmnt one enC(mf

no more. Sir Druriolanus is right. Do we insist on Mr. Irving
giving us "To be or not to be," or any other soliloquy, all over
again, siniply because he has done it once so well ? Do we ask
Mr. J. L. Toole to repeat his author's good jokes —or his own when

his author has failed him ? No ; we applaud to the echo, we laugh
till, as Mr. Chevalier says, " we thort we should ha' died," but we
don't encore the comic jokes, telling situations, or serious soliloquies
as rendered by our accomplished histrions.

Were a collection of pictures made of Mile. Baeermeister in
different characters, it would, for interest and variety, become a
formidable rival of the Charles Mathews series now in the pos-
session of the Garrick Club. To-night she is the busy, bustling
Caterina, Friend Fritz's housekeeper, who, as she has to provide
all the food for their breakfast, and set it on the table, might be
distinguished as Catering Caterina. No one now cares to see an
Opera without Mile. Baeermeister in it, whether she appear as a
dashing lady of the Court, probably in a riding-habit, or as a middle-
class German housekeeper, or as Cupid God of Love, or as Juliet's
ancient nurse, or as an impudent waiting-maid, or as an unhappy
mother, or as,—well,—any number of characters that I cannot now
recall, but all done excellently well. Never have I heard of her being
either " sick or sorry." Some few seasons ago I drew public atten-
tion to this most useful and ornamental artiste, and now I am glad
to see that here and there a critic has awoke to the fact of her
existence, and has done her tardy justice. Long may the Bauer -
meistersinger be able to give her valuable assistance, without which
no Covent Garden Opera Company could possibly be perfect.

-/

Bob-Cherry Duet.

As to V'Amico Fritz, I should suggest that it be plavcd in one
Scene and two Acts. That this one Scene should be the Exterior of
Cherry-Tree Farm (which should be Fritz's, not the Rabbi's) and that
instead of lowering the Curtain, the intermezzo—not 1 venture to
opine equal to the marvellous intermezzo in Cavalleria Fusticana—
should be played. JO' Amico is certain of an encore, and this will
give the singers a rest. It could then commence at nine—a more
convenient hour to those who would like to hear every note of it,
than 8 15, and it would be over by eleven sharp. A nod is as good
as a wink to Sir Druriolanus, but all the same, Heaven forefend I
should be guilty of either indiscretion in the Imperial Operatorial
presence. Thus much at present.

Friday.—"It's the smiles of its Augustus and the heat of its
July''—adapted quotation from '' Old Song.'' "I cannot sing the old
song "—except under a sense of the deepest and most unpardonable
provocation; and when I do! !—Cave canem, mat caelum! I bring
down the house as Madame Delilah's Samson did. To-night Manon
is indeed warmly welcomed. "A nice Opera," says a young lady,
fanning herself. " I wish it were an iced Opera," groans Wagstaff,
re-issuing one of his earliest side-splitters. M. Van Dtck strong as
the weak Des Grieux, but Madame Mravina apparently not strong
enough. " What made author-chap think of calling her Manon f "
asks languid person in Stalls. Wagstaff, revived after an iced
B.-and-S., is equal to the occasion. "Such a bad lot, you know
—regular man-catcher; hooked a man on, then, when he was done
with, hooked another man on. Reason for name evident, see P"
The Cavalleria Fusticana is the favourite for Derby Night. All
right up to now, Sir Druriolanus.

Tenner Song for Derby Day.—" He's got it on! "