THE THEATRES, MUSIC, AND THE FASHIONS.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 264, 16 April 1875, Page 4

THE THEATRES, MUSIC, AND THE FASHIONS.

(J/rom a correspondent of the Press.)

PARIS, January 12

Theatres.—The Theatre Francais has revived M. Augier's "Philiberte," a three act drama, and in verse. It was first brought out twenty years ago at the Gymnase, when it had but a moderate success. The ideas of the piece may be traced to Scribe, to George Sand's " Petite Fadette," or even to Balzac s " Mignon." Philiberte is a Cinderella, having a fortune of two millions of francs, and yet she believes herself to be so plain, as to be unable to find a husband. Every member of her family labors to convince her she has neither intelligence nor good looks. Her eldest sister would seem to have monopolised all these accomplishments, for it is upon this Bister all compliments are showered, all maternal affection bestowed,andtowhornall lovers are introduced. Philiberte is, however, loved, and sincerely so by a neighboring but poor gentleman, one Raymond. He perceives that her beauty is in her mind and character. He declares hi 3 passion, but Philiberte believing he loves only her fortune, dismisses him with contempt, as a disguised parasite soliciting alms. Raymond docs not. understand these hard words. He accepts them, however, as a lesson given by riches to poverty, and swears he will never be rash again. Another pretender arrives, the Due de Charamaule, her godfather, and an old libertine, whom the young King Louis XVI. commands to marry, as an expiation for his sins. The Due insinuates that Raymond only seeks her wealth, which information pains her, as she secretly loves him. He offers his heart of seventy summers, and his gouty hand seeks in marriage a sinecure in fact. We come now to the second act, and the best. Talmay, the duke's nephew, tired of a country life comes to Paris, and amuses himself with the strange position of Philiberte. He estimates her as a flower born to blush unseen ; and goes down on his knees and implores her to become his—mistress 1 For a young girl, well born and rich, occupying social rank, to insult her by so dishonoring a caprice, is not only unreal, but offensive for the spectators. The brutality and impertinence of this scene transforms Philiberte. " Since one desires me," she observes, " I can be then loved ; so Raymond could have been sincere, and actuated by no bad motive " She now astonishes every one by her wit; her intelligence develops graces. It is the turn at present for Raymond to refuse her, and the uncle and nephew dispute as to honorably marrying her. Talmay reminds her of his uncle's three score and ten years, of his rheumatisms, of his relationship with the grave. He surprises even the uncle on his knees before Philiberte, and the former im plores the nephew to ' lend him his arm u. rise," which is accorded with jeers. Nephews on the stage have, from time immemorial the right to he insolent to their uncles, and to in mlge in irreverence. Finally, a marriage settlement is brought to Philiberte, with a blank for the name of her husband, and which she fills up with that of Kaymoud ; so they are married. The piece is full of pleasing details, and on the whole is not tiresome. The win of Philiberte, melancholy and tender at first, then irritable and disdainful. In the second act she is full of hope, but in all full of natural simplicity and charm. Nothing can be more exquisite than the naivete of her joy after the insulting proposal of Talmay. She has the gaiety of an infant, and is almost sick with emotion and joy in feeling that she can be revenged on her disdaining relatives and two repulsive aspirants. The same house, in honor of the anniversary of Racine, represented his " Phedre," that monologue in five acts, and which served Mile Sarah Bernhardt for her debut in this role, and one at the same time sacred to the memory of Rachel. If harmonious diction, graceful attitude, and melancholy charms were all that was required, Mdlle Bernhardt would suffice; but the part is in addition tragical, especially in the concluding acts, and here she proved physically weak. She can represent perfectly all that is tender and pathetic, but she was unequal to the terrible scene in the fourth act, where Phedre learns that Hippolyte loves Aricie. Here the actress fully comprehended and felt the passion, but had not the physical power necessary to express it. Mdlle Rousseil would be required for this. Phedre is tue rock for every artiste. Vaudeville. —This theatre has produced three new one-act plays, which together constitute a fair'success. " Une Filled'Eve" contains a comical idea. Dr Clerac surprises one Caumont paying too much attention to his wife; the young man asserts he has visited only as a patient, whereupon the doctor proceeds in the gravest manner to take him at his word, and to improve the occasion to get rid of him, the better to avoid a scandal sooner or later. Feigning to feel his pulse and to auscultate him, the doctor pronounces the youug man to be laboring under acute disease of the heart, that the slightest emotion would produce a fatal issue, and recommends change of air in Italy; he also acquaints his wife, confidentially, of the danger the slightest excitement would cause Caumont, so that when the latter arrives, the wife prohibits all Bighing, all warmth of declaration, and urges him to set out for Italy; he grows pale; the doctor ' enters, finds his wife in a Bwoon, believing Caumont is expiring, but the doctor assures him he may still live by going at once to Italy. " Une Chance de Coquin " is still more amusing. Ravinet is a man born to good luck; he breaks the banks at gambling tables, and wins the first prizes in all thestate lotteries. But there is no happiness without its alloy. Ravinet suspects the visits of Lansac as affecting his wife's fidelity; he eudeavor-i to get rid of Lansac by exacting from him the most humiliating services, such as to hand him footstools, brush his hat, remove the grease from his coat, &c. All this only makes Lansac more assiduous in his visits, and Ravinet more furious, especially as the wife stands up for the visitor." At last all is explained, it is Ravinet's daughter, not his wife, that Lansac seeks: he obtains her hand, and from that moment vows never to act as valet for his father-in-law. The farce is " screaming" from beginning to end. •* Un Orage" is the longest and heaviest of the three pieces, and the plot is not new. M. Desorbiers is forty years of age, and has settled down into a steady attorney; in his salad days he had seduced Madeieine, but since years has forgotteu her; she has now called upon him to return her portrait, as it might be compromising on the eve of her iutended marringe. The rain commences to fall, and Madeleine is invited to stay for dejeuner. During, the repast the old turtles become young again, and finally they then 104 tta agtte u» hmw/i JJo actresses wer

take their leave of the stage? Virginie Dejazet only took her " last and irrevocable final larewell" a few months ago, receiving a fat benefit on the occasion. Well, she is playing at the Vaudeville Theatre in some of her old parts, and so well that the public pardon her reappearance. She really displays a marvellous freshness and juvenility of talent, delicate and fine, and throws into her songs incomparable taste and unmatched malice, in " La Douairiere de Brioune" to wit. She represents a society that has long ago disappeared, and the echoes of her once famous voice are something as last sighs.

Music—National Opera.—The inauguration of this building has been the chief event in the musical world. The opening night represented a kind of European salon, a sort of congress of intelligence and Parisian elegance. The opera is osiensibly intended for French music and French artists; yet the latter were conspicuous by their absence. Instead of Mme. Carvalho. we had Gabrielle Krauss, of Vienna, and would have had Christine Nilsson, of Sweden, only she was suffering from sore throat. Faure was crowded out, by the nature of the: programme —a thing of shreds and patches. Hut the public came not to listen to any representation, but to adrrire the exquisite building and to see the Lord Mayor of London weighted down under gold and lace. The fragmentary programme consisted of two acts from the '• Juive," the " Benediction of the Poignards," from the " Huguenots," and the second act from the ballet of the " Source." The acoustic properties of the building are excellent, and the house is the Koh-i-noor of theatres, and accommodates 2700 spectators. The orchestra must be enlarged, as the number of violins is too small, and they are lost in the sonority of the other instruments ; the string instruments have a thin and screechy character. Symphony occupies too grand a place in modern opera to leave the defect in question unremedied. The overture of " La Muette" and " Guillaume Tell" were also executed, but did not create the same feeling of pleasure in point of agreeable sounds as in the old opera house. Mile. Krauss was very beautiful and very dramatic in the role of Rachel, which she sang and acted, so as to do honor to her great reputation. Nothing could be more pure, more perfect, more profoundly interpreted, than the trio wherein she kneels at the feet of Eleazar; the two couplets proved her to be a born actrice and a passionate tragedienne ; from the manner she comprehended and interpreted the musical shades of 11 va Venir, the fright that shadows her features after that first cry of love, showed her to be a princess in art. Unfortunately an opera is not a portrait, but a tableau, and these elegant extracts from the "Juive" only enabled la Krauss to give a portrait of Rachel. Nilsson is right in her theory, that operas, like works of art, ought never to be mutilated, and this was never more forcibly illustrated than in the effect produced by the amputation of the Benediction despoif/nards from the " Hugenots," and to commence the chorus suddenly at Saints Epees —the point of terror, the great explosion, up to which the genius of Meyerbeer had learnedly and gradually conducted Attacking this splendid tnoreeau thus, without order or preparation, was to deprive it of nearly all effect. Not that it was insufficiently rendered ; on the contrary, it was scientifically executed. For dessert, the ballet of "La Source" was exquisitely danced to its agreeable music. By-and-by the virtual "musical opening" wili occur, when Nilsson and Faure make their appearance in " Hamlet." (Jhatelet.—This theatre has renounced . what it attempted—" Popular Opera," which likeSardouandi.is"Haine," didnotpay. The " Pilules du Diable," an extravaganza as old as the hills, has succeeded ; the spectators, the young folks above all, have from eight in the evening till two in the morning to swallow the pilules: there is a balloon in the piece that seems to be as unfortunate as Dumot's, and a cage of lions is introduced during the second act, and do duty as clowns, finishing «p with a supper of horseeteaks. Two little girls arc remarkable for their graceful dancing, and the comic music is quite iu accordance with the spirit of the age. Fashions. There is no hope that toilettes will be cheaper this year than the last; dressmakers complain that on a toilette which costs 8000 f they have scarcely any profit, stuffs are so high priced, trimmings so luxurious, and styles so extravagant. Everybody is discontented, yet nobody thinks rfc reforms. Entering now into the heigh',, 0 f the Paris season, nothing engrosses at*-_ en ti o n but ball dresses and vapoury Materials • these are transparent tarlatans* white and colored tulles, embroidered or spangled • gauzes, plain or embroidered ; silks of the most ideal shades ; Pompadour stripes, &c ; green, grey, and blue of various tints, but inclining to sombre are the favorite colors. Lace, pearls, feathers, flowers, and birds form the principal garnitures, as well as marabous in silk of various colors. Black and white lace, and indeed tulle, are embroidered with colored pearls to match the robe. Feather trimming is very general, and the feathers may or may not be assorted to the costume ; they may be of different shades even, mixing or completing one another ; but in any case harmonising. Tichus in pearled lace with feathers, and niches in glossy crape, make up into beautiful combinations ; the fichu fastens with a bouquet of flowers, in which a bird nestles, or a butterfly; as this form of insect-jewellery is in vogue, the butterfly worn in the headdress, it is lost. Passementerie, where jet beads can be applied in every form, is the order of the day. Though the circumieience of hats is enlarging, they are not unbecoming ; having the shape in felt, trim it according to your fantasy, and you will be in the latest fashion; with velvet, damask Renaissance, faille, turquoise, tulle, crape, lace, plain or beaded, black, white, or colored ; ribbons, feathers, flowers, buckles, daggers in steel, silver, or precious stones, and as a postscript, add all the birds in creation. With such a choice, the most ideal, or the most grotesque hat can be constructed. The most elegant cravatbow consists of China crape, or black surah, trimmed with old guipure or Venetian or English point. Velvet and faille are favorite materials for visiting toilettes ; for visiting, the jupe is training and plain, with the fanplait behind, garnished in front with three large draped flounces, simulating a scarf, the edging being of silk and pearl fringe. The corsage cuirasse is embroidered and pearled before and behind. » GAITE. — I he withdrawal pf Sardou's "La in .an angry letter the author excommunicates the public, whick did not rush to wel come his tragedy. Sardou since many years has been the spoilt child of the public, and li&ce his debut, uo author baa bseu more

uccessful. For fifteen years he has been the mode, not that his productions had much that was remarkable in point of inspiration; they shone by their suppleness, able combinations, invention of details, and dexterity of manipulation. One wished to see in him the continuation of Scribe, but the latter wrote more than pretty vaudevilles, he composed comedies of a high order, and lyrical tragedies for the opera, besides novels not without merit. Sardou attempted the difficult task of renewing or regenerating himself, by finding the legitimate drama in exhibitions of bric-a-bac and upholstery generally. This " new manner " commenced with " L'Oncle Sam," then arrived " Les Merveilleuses," where there was nothing marvellous, and lastly, "La Haine" and failure. Sardou complains that the receipts were unworthy of "La Haine," which reduces literature to a mor.oy question and tbe aritbmeiic table: he nays his tragedy, was not sufficiently amusing, but tragedies never are, whether in prose or verse, and they ordinarily bring their authors more glory rather than pelf. The manager of the Gaile loses greatly by the failure, but, Offenbach knows his business is a commercial one; to-day gains, the morrow losses. It will teach him to rely less on brie a bac and old iron, and to leave archaeology to museums; and authors generally can draw the moral, that the stage is not solely intended to amuse the eyes, but to nourish the mind also. The spectacle must not exclude the work; nor machinery supersede the plot.