It shows a delicate attention on the part of the directors of the Théâtre Français, now that so many foreigners of all nations are here, to cause to be represented every night the masterpieces of the French classical dramatic authors, since these are pieces that every foreigner of education has read and admired; and he would much rather go to see acted a play with which he was thoroughly acquainted than a new piece of one which he has not read; for as the recitation is extremely rapid it would not be so easy for him to seize and follow it without previous reading.
Of Molière I had already seen the Avare, the Femmes savantes and the Fourberies de Scapin. Since these I have seen the Tartuffe and George Dandin both inimitably performed; how I enjoyed the scene of the Pauvre homme! in the Tartuffe and the lecture given to George Dandin by M. and Mme de Sotenville wherein they recount the virtues and merits of their respective ancestors. Of Molière indeed there is but one opinion throughout Europe; in the comic line he bears away the palm unrivalled and here I fully agree with the "general."
I must not quit the subject of French theatricals without speaking of the Opéra comique at the Théâtre Faydeau. It is to the sort of light pieces that are given here, that the French music is peculiarly appropriate, and it is here that you seize and feel the beauty and melody of the national music; these little chansons, romances and ariettas are so pleasing to the ear that they imprint themselves durably on the memory, which is no equivocal proof of their merit. I cannot say as much for the tragic singing in the Opéra seria at the Grand French Opera, which to my ear sounds a perfect psalmody. There is but one language in the world for tragic recitative and that is Italian. On the other hand, in the genre of the Opéra comique, the French stage is far superior to the Italian. In the French comedy everything is graceful and natural; the Italians cannot catch this happy medium, so that their comedies and comic operas are mostly outré, and degenerate into downright farce and buffoonery.
[42] Major James Grant, of the 18th Light Dragoons, was made a Brevet Lieutenant Colonel on 18th June, 1815.—ED.
[43] A phrase in prose, often quoted as a verse, from Voltaire's preface to the Enfant Prodigue: Tous les genres sont bons, hors le genre ennuyeux.—ED.
[44] A tragedy often acted by Talma, the work of Antoine d'Aubigny de Lafosse (1653-1708).—ED.
[45] Thomas Otway's once celebrated tragedy, 1682.—ED.
[46] The Tragedy of Douglas, by John Home (1722-1808).—ED.
CHAPTER V
From Paris to Milan through Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Lyons, Geneva and the
Simplon—Auxerre—Dijon—Napoleon at Chalon-sur-Saône—The army of the
Loire—Mâcon—French grisettes—Lyons—Monuments and theatricals—
Geneva—Character and opinions of the Genevois—Voltaire's chateau at
Ferney—The chevalier Zadera—From Geneva to Milan—Crossing the
Simplon—Arona—The theatres in Milan—Rossini—Monuments in Milan—Art
encouraged by the French—Mr Eustace's bigotry—Return to Switzerland—
Clarens and Vevey—Lausanne—Society in Lausanne—Return to Paris—The
Louvre stripped—Death of Marshal Ney.