excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 224-7 (282 words)

excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 224-7 (282 words)

part of

Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900

original language

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

in pages

224-7

type

text excerpt

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The proudest night of the month for Harris was that on which he revived “Les Huguenots” with a splendid cast, and in such fashion as to make old habitues declare that “the son had beaten the father at his own game." Imagine Jean de Reszke at this time as Raoul! Always remarkable for its refinement, distinction, and passionate warmth, his impersonation was just then peculiarly imbued with the spirit of the true Meyerbeer school. Alike in a vocal and a histrionic sense, it was supremely great. His "velvety" tones, fresh, clear, and mellow as a bell, were emitted with an unsparing freedom that would thrill the listener not once, but twenty times, in the course of a single scene. There was no saving up for the last act then; it was “laissez aller" throughout, with plenty to spare at the finish. And what tenderness, withal, in that famous grand duet of the fourth act! Not Mario himself had phrased the “Tu m'ami, tu m'ami!" (this was still an Italian performance) with a greater wealth of delicious surprise and pent-up adoration. Little wonder that Nordica nearly lost her head through nervousness and emotion. It was the very first time she sang Valentine; she had studied the part in less than a week, and for a young, inexperienced artist,— so youthful, so pretty, so winning that she fascinated others beside Raoul,— her achievement was in the highest degree creditable. The fifth act, generally suppressed in England, was on this occasion duly given, but the noise of the firing and the smoke from the gunpowder proved too much even for Augustus Harris. It was subsequently omitted, as usual.

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excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 224-7 (282 words)

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