BERLIN.
THE month of May, which was here unusually warm, presented many interesting musical occurrences. The first of these was the performance of Haydn’s ever beautiful oratorio ‘The Seasons,’ produced by our general director of music, Spontini, on the boards of the Royal Opera Theatre, with the assistance of the whole of the solo and chorus singers of that establishment, and of the whole Royal Chapel, for the benefit of the charitable musical institution bearing his name. The performance was grand and effective in the extreme, though here and there some of the Tempi were rather hurried; a crowded audience expressed their delight at the masterly manner in which this classical composition was executed.
The Royal Opera distinguished itself by the excellent performance of Ferdinand Cortez, Castle Candra, The Vestal Virgin, Alcidor, and a new opera entitled Hans Heiling; the text by Edward Devrient, the singer, and the music by Henry Marschner, Kapell Meister, who attended in person. The success of this opera was not brilliant, but certainly honourable to the composer: its value, however, stands higher in our estimation than in that of the generality of the public; the reason is, it requires in many parts a serious, deep power of conception on the part of the audience; it takes for granted a sense, and a degree of cultivation for what is noble, which the major part of the theatrical public does not possess, which expects, for the most part, to be amused with senseless vulgarity, or, as is the case with Spontini’s newest operas, to be excited by tasteless splendour and noise. Marschner’s opera is calculated for a more civilized audience, and, by the few that belong to that class, its merit is fully acknowledged.
The music is varied in point of invention, highly intellectual in faithfully expressing the import of the poetry, and admirably instrumentalised. The poem contains many situations eminently susceptible of musical expression, some borrowed from the awful realms of the romantic, others taken from the more cheerful domain of pleasure and joviality; and in both respects, the composer has satisfied the expectation of the judicious critic.
In the Vestale, Mademoiselle Stephan, whose vocal talent develops itself more and more, and who, in the short space of six months, has made a very marked progress in scientific cultivation, sang very successfully the part of Julia, in which she had the advantage of Spontini’s own instruction; although, in a dramatic point of view, greater freedom of action might have been desirable. This defect, however, will no doubt be removed by further practice and experience. The whole representation of this excellent opera was masterly, and had the most powerful effect on the audience. Mlle. Lehman, as High-priestess, Messrs. Bader and Devrient, as Licinius and Cinna, as also the choruses, ballet, and orchestra, under the spirited conduct of the composer, contributed essentially to this result.
Concerts we also had in abundance. In one of these, given for the benefit of the Friederich Stift, (Frederick’s Institution,) the two singers, Demlles. Carl and Hoffman, appeared for the first time in public since their return to their native country. Demlle. Carl, whose fame had more particularly reached us from Turin and Madrid, evinced great progress in the cultivation of a good Italian vocal method. Her sonorous voice is flexible, and particularly pleasing in the mezza voce of the higher notes, which she intonates with the greatest precision and purity. Her style of execution is particularly calculated for the compositions of Nicolini, Rossini, and Pacini, but would gain considerably by a more intense degree of feeling and expression. Demlle. Hoffman had less opportunity of displaying to advantage her mezzo soprano voice in a duetto buffo than in an aria of Donizetti: upon the whole, however, it seemed as if this vocalist, who in her style and action has adopted the lively character of the southern inhabitants of Europe, had paid leas attention to the display of her beautiful lower notes, and, on the other hand, had devoted more care and study to the developement of her higher scale. A decisive judgment, however, upon the merits of these two singers can probably only be formed after we shall have seen them on the boards in their respective dramatic walks.
On the 15th May, the anniversary of Zelter’s death, forty members of the Singing Academy, which he directed for so many years with unexampled zeal and success, sang over his grave, at six o’clock in the morning, two sacred hymns, Wen hab ich sonst, als dich allein, (Whom have I else but thee alone,) and Wie herrlich ist die neue Welt, (How beautiful is the new world,) by way of testifying their respect for his memory; on which occasion the pillars of the iron railing around his tomb were tastefully decorated with garlands of fresh flowers.
Madame Caradori Allan gave a concert in the saloon of the playhouse. ‘This singer’ (a Berlin critic states) ‘does not possess a very strong voice, but it is uncommonly clear, vibrating, and silvery, if we may use the expression, and has received a high degree of cultivation. Madame Caradori’s style is that of the purest modern school, exempt from its faults: she executed all passages gracefully, and with taste; and in individual perfections, such as trills, divisions, &c. she has attained a degree of excellence which few singers before her could boast of. These qualifications, united to a graceful exterior, totally free from the coquettrie précieuse of most female singers of repute, gained this artist the applause of the public in an extraordinary degree.’
In the same concert played Mademoiselle Josephine Eder, from Vienna, a young pianist of great talent and skill.
Madame Schechner Waagen, whose absence we had to regret during the space of four years, reappeared on our boards in Gluck’s Iphigenia. Her voice does not possess the power it had six years ago, but it is quite the same as we found it in 1829, when a particular change took place in its quality, and it gained in gracefulness what it lost in point of strength. This lady has since made her appearance in the part of Fidelio: the effect, particularly in the second act, was truly overwhelming.
It is a long time since we have seen an audience wrapt in such enthusiasm.