Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 67, No. 416, June 1850Various
General
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 67, No. 416, June 1850
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
We are unable, nor is it necessary, individually to criticise all
the members of the Italian company now performing at her Majesty's
Theatre, and which, in all respects, is excellent and most effective.
There is one other singer, however, who must have a word of mention,
were it only that he was the indirect means of making the English
public acquainted with Jenny Lind. Belletti was formerly engaged
at the opera at Stockholm, and was a great favourite with the late
king, Bernadotte. Jenny Lind heard him, and his admirable method and
acting at once revealed to her the treasures of the Italian school.
She saw that she had much to acquire, and departed for Paris to
study. But Belletti has a claim to other than second-hand gratitude.
His singing and acting are alike first-rate. Nothing can be better
than his Figaro; in less important characters he is equally careful
and efficient. His forte is in _buffo_ parts, where his rich mellow
voice and contagious merriment are greatly relished. He will probably
become--we will not say popular, for that he already is in the
highest degree, but an indispensable member of the London company. We
regret to learn that he is shortly to accompany Miss Lind to America,
and trust his absence will not be of long duration.
Can we close this enumeration without a word of our old acquaintance,
Luigi Lablache? Surely a small corner may be found for the great man,
who flourishes in unabated vigour, in spite of accumulating years
and, as we fancy, annually increasing bulk. There is a geniality
and a joviality about this long-standing pillar of the opera, which
never fails of its effect upon his public. Probably no foreign actor
ever enlisted so uniformly and heartily the goodwill of an English
audience; and his popularity, although of course augmented by his
vocal merits, is by no means dependent on them. We lately somewhere
encountered a hypercritical comment upon his acting, in which he
was accused of condescending to buffoonery. Never was charge more
unfounded and absurd. One of the most remarkable characteristics of
Lablache is the extreme skill with which he draws the line between
humour and vulgarity; the perfect good taste distinguishing his
drolleries and occasional deviations from the letter of his part.
The practice of now and then introducing a French or English word or
sentence in an Italian opera, for the purpose of producing a comic
effect, is one that certainly should only be indulged with great
discretion; but in this, and in all other respects, we may be sure
that any dereliction from correct taste would promptly be detected
and reproved by so sensitive an audience as that of her Majesty's
Theatre. But from his first appearance in London, in 1829, to the
present day, an instance, we believe, was never known of a sally of
Lablache not obtaining at least a smile--far oftener a hearty laugh.
In him the rich Italian humour of the _buffo Napolitano_, the droll
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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