Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900

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

377-8

text excerpt

The features of the season of 1893 were the first visits to London of Leoncavallo and Mascagni, and the production there of their respective operas, “Pagliacci” and “I Rantzau”. The fame  of Leoncavallo's sensational opera had preceded  it, and the public expected something remarkable.  They were not disappointed. I have rarely seen an audience so breathless with excitement over the development of an opera plot. The effect of  the little tragedy was augmented by the burning intensity of De Lucia, whose portrayal of the hapless Canio's anguish and suffering was a triumph of realism. His touching soliloquy at the end of  the first act was delivered with an abandonment  of feeling that completely carried away his auditors. Very fine, too, was Ancona's rendering of the  already famous Prologue; deliciously pure and  sweet was Melba's vocalization in the haUateUa for Nedda; excellent were the new-comers Richard Green and Bonnard as Silvio and Peppe;  while Mancinelli's conducting left not a point  undiscerned throughout. Leoncavallo, modest and unassuming, waited quietly in the background  till the end, and then had to be forced on to the stage by the artists to acknowledge the ovation  that awaited him. This was quite early in the season (May 19), and Leoncavallo remained in  London for several weeks. I found him to be a man of great culture and strong intellect. He is a poet as well as a musician, and in both arts he  reveals the grasp of a profound thinker.  

excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 377-8 (246 words)

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