THEATRICAL GOSSIP.

Evening Star, Issue 4037, 3 February 1876, Page 2

THEATRICAL GOSSIP.

: Mr TaEbutd Young, agent for Madiubd Simbnsen’s Opera ..Company, arrived from Melbourne per Omeo Ibis -morning. jfßfjfo object is to arrange fmtheeariy appearance |of the company in Dunedin, and we trust he -will succeed., The company'is competent :to produce the best bperaswitheffeot,&it numbers perfpridbre, the lading artists | haying joined direct from Europe.' The, people of Dunedin will remember with pleasure Madame Simonson herself, who both as a songstress and actress .impressed them so favorably a few years ago. - By our latest Melbourne files We see that tDe'Mhrska, (of whom a word or two studirately) is Atthe RoyS, •the holds possession of the boards, but will shortly, give:place to thje .Lmgards, who at present are performing m Sydney. Lyster. is preparing for his campaign, which .commences-ili March with JTK. Emmett. At fchte Apollo Hall a combination company, lately arrived" &om England, is performing; ' Eirst, therejs De Croix, who walks on a wire so thin tHafc it, is. hardly visible to theaudieucV? Charles .Lewis, : whose tmitatiohft of Difr? raeli, Gladstone,&c..aresaidt6 bt’lifelike; and Nelly Maher, but the papers cut them up very rottgMy. Before' Startuig on her. operatic tour Madame Simohseh was to mvo two ‘CCttroerte in and February. I, when she wbtdd Be assisted by Mrs Cutter, Mrs Copinger (a pupil of* Charles Halle, who Waitoinake her debut in the Colonies), &c. The Oulu is still at St. George’s Hall. : 3Ch &y<mey, Mr Eazar s,, latest .American r importation— Miss i Augusta Cham%s-is well spokeA Of., The Mariohettes’f performances ..came j to ; an; an' : Abrupt conclusion at Cestbwn,; the ‘ Chronicle ’ furnishing the] following explanation “It appears thatthat there are chronic elements of disagreement amongst.- the-. 3indthooo culminated in a dispute, which caused one of the gentlemen ,to lock up the theatre, iahdt refused to allow the performimces announced to proceed,” , 3 .,\ i «.v-l -y }

; Di iMuraka's two rbonbeHis,- wiucfi : . intended to be herfinalonieSui Melbourne, drew very large attdientsea to ’t^eTown , Hffl. n The features of thertt wei&dier rendering of : Vl* 6l, Sempre,”awaltz-sobg, l for, her; by Signor "Gibnsa VT>’aitoJf rosee,” foUowedljyfcThe ■ r Ah ohe la mttffcej”’ 'fronr * “ Casta Diva,” “ IJna' vooe,” byV Kpniyii (encoral); • the" * ‘toad Hamlet” of Ambroise Thomas; : Doppler’dtv ftfl* obligato acoompa^imgpt! (encored and fcnmaa plemented with the- 2iy®®)jM and the “ Ave. Maria” of Gounod, with violin ..obligato accompaniment plfiydd 1 by Mr John sll. • It ispf theße.concerttthat Tidiitetothfe^ ‘ Australasian’ writes When De Mureka 18 singing “ Dhayoce”; phe is fig .atOh aJitUe*intriguimie as >f>lSse. ■‘When -the operatic version of Ophelia she is demented, r a ihdiit 'dabcaOTOot I * iMdebj the veryop]^t£ > tp .or !patave grace and r^antyiitffiTT ;bf .then Sion and ej^tati(hib^tK^Mdi :r WNnil -o - "--' '■:. ;,,, J him 4rja<MW»*» .befiqqoa shout UA <£

prayer, * Ave Maria.’ lima de Murska Is much more highly valued now, at the conclusion of her career in Melbourne, than ■he was .when she first commenced it.— I do not think, when taking into consideration the population of this city, that any singer ever had such long-continued and pronomwed success as Mademoiselle lima de Murska has had in Melbourne, and it might be predicted with safety that if she chose to enter into engagement to appear in opera for just as long again, the result would be equally satisfactory to her and her audience.” Then came the announcement that through Mr Anderson being so far from in good health that his medical adviser forbade him going to New Zealand, his wife’s stay .in: Melbourne was postponed indefinitely,. and in the meantime she would appear in operatic scenes at the Royal. To hear her in opera was what musical people in Melbourne had been sighing and almost dying for. Within two hours after the opening of the “plans” on Tuesday (the day previous to her first performance) the house, as far as the dress circle and stalls were concerned, was let off. On Wednesday morning tickets for the upper circle: and pit only were to be had at the theatre. Never in the history of any theatre in Melbourne was there such a “let”, as this, or in so short a time. The scenes she chose were those from the operas “ Dinorah” and “ Lucia di Lammermoor, ” wherein the heroine in each case appears alone to give effect to those situations which the respective composers have adorned with their most elaborate and iughly-wrought fancies. In this instance She gave the whole scene attired inappropriate dress, and surrounded by such stage accessories as made all that she did appear in the operatic sense quite realistic. And to quote “ Tahite ” once more “ ‘ Ombra Leggiera’ commences.. Not a hand was raised to welcome the great singer when • she appeared, because the eyes and ears of the audience were intent to catch, without interruption, each gesture and each tone in the scene which was to follow. It is hard to say what should be considered natural acting- when fantastic dementia is the condition to be represented ; but Mdlle de Murska made it appear... by her graceful and spontaneous manner to be quite natural for her to dance to . her shadow, to converse with it* to chide it and caress it, and suddenly to bewail its vanishing with, bitter sobs and cries for its return. She effected all this with lithe movement and graceful gesture, and with ever-varying but always truthful facial expression. The actress and singer combined fulfilled every expectation which had-.been formed concerning heir, and produced such a long uproar of applause when she had finished that she was four times summoned before the curtain while it fifth time, and, to put an end to it, sung the ‘ Last Rose of Summer. ’ The ‘mad scene’ from ‘Lucia’ was another triumph for the singer, who held her audience during the whole of the trying scene spell-bound by the intensity of her acting, as well as by the finer shades of expression which the illusion of the stage scene prompted her to', impart to the vocal utter- • anCe of the text. To see De Murska play as well as to hear her sing is to own the desire to hear and see more.”