SIMONSEN'S OPERA COMPANY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 242, 3 October 1876, Page 2

SIMONSEN'S OPERA COMPANY.

" The Hermit's Bell," the opera selected for last night, was one that vr as quite new to a Nelson audience, and its production was looked forward to with no little curiosity. It had been generally given out that it was full of humor and abounding in. sparkling musio, and having now heard it we are in a position to state that rumor in saying this much had not been guilty of exaggeration eveu in the smallest degree. The plot itself is a mere trifle. A troop of dragoons arc in pursuit of a baud of refugees who have escaped to the mountains, and in order to give them a little more time to get away Rose Moineau, a seemingly simple hut really remarkably shrewd peasant girl, contrives to keep the dragoons dancing and amusing themselves in the village. Thibaut, a farmer, with a wife (Georgette) of whom he is exceedingly jealous, aud to some extent justly, so as she does not in the least object to a flirtation with the handsome sergeant (Bellamy), does not at all like this, and by way of venting his anger endeavors to put a stop to the marriage cf Rose with her lover Silvian. However, everything comes right at last, and to the satisfaction of everybody concerned. The "hermit's bell," which gives its name to the opera, hangs over the grave of the hermit of St. Gratien, who died two centuries previously, and the legend connected with it as sung by Georgette to Sergeant Bellamy in a manner that rendered him anxious to visit the spot with her in order to test its truth was as follows:— Though husbands as we know Are zealous found elsewhere; Yet here it is not so, That bell saves them from care. For them, while they are sleeping, The hermit watch is keeping As cunning- as can be. But if a wife hy chance Bestow a passing glance Upon a youth, although quite innocent is he, Ding, ding, ding, ding! That hermit's bell will quickly ring' From out that tower, ruined and grey, Scarcely dare a smile be seen, A word we must not say; Nor to a young man on the green Like neighbors, say Good-day. If when we cross the brook A youth should help ia this,

And when our thanks we look, He chance to steal a kiss. And if our collar is crumpled, Our hair a little tumbled, As sometimes it may be; Or when nightfall is near Who'd to the grove repair Unless there are of us at least, in number, three — Ding, ding, ding, ding! The hermit's bell will quickly ring Erorn out that tower, ruined and grey, A spirited overture with which the opera commenced put everyone in a good humor at once, and Rose Moineau (Madame Simonsen) when she made her appearance dressed as a peasant girl with her wooden sabots, torn skirt and unkempt hair, was greeted with rounds of applause. Her acting throughout was perfect, she was the life and spirit of the whole piece, and, like Figaro in "II Barbiere," she was Madame ci, Madame la, from the beginning to the end. The opera is not one which does not give her many opportunities of using her magnificent voice to its full extent, but such as there were she took advantage of. The duet with Silvian " Call me pretty?" was charming, and the by play prettily carried on all the while. But ifc was in the recitative and aria " He loves me !" that she sung with the greatest effect, and the contrast was very marked between the silence in which her spell-bound audience listened to the exquisitely sweet tones of her voice and the storm of applause that burst forth immediately she had finished, and which would not be allayed except by an encore, which was at once given. Signer Carmini Morley, as Silvian, was in excellent voice and fully entered into the spirit of his part. His singing of theromanza " Betray , me not" was delightful, and, to judge by the applause with which it was greeted, was highly appreciated by his audience. Mr Hodgson was in better form altogether than on Saturday, and his impersonation of the jovial lovemaking sergeant of the dragoons was inimitable. Thibaut (Mr Markham) was full of quiet fun, and showed himself to be a comedian of no mean order. The part of Georgette, .his wife, was taken by Miss E. Beaumont. The choruses were exceedingly good, and given with great spirit and effect, especially that at the end of the second act, " Great Power, thy aid we crave," sung by the little band of refugees as they scale the steep and rugged mountain path to escape from the dragoons. Next to Madame'3 splendid acting, however, the great attraction lasfc night was the instrumental music, which flowed like a continuous stream throughout the whole opera, now with the soft and pleasing ripple of the tiny rill, now in a full flood of sound equally pleasant to listen to, aud equally under the control of that remarkably able conductor Mr Simonsen. To-night Auber's grand Revolutionary Opera Masaniello will be performed, introducing the grand tableau of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. We sincerely hope that the house will be well filled, for we can conscientiously assure our readers that music of this class has seldom, if ever, been heard in Nelson before, and yet it is questionable whether the music is superior to the acting. We have among us several amateur actors, many of them of considerable promise, and they cannot do better than attend and take a lesson from sjch an artiste as Madame Simonsen.

Referring. to the Kumara rush the Christchurch Press of • "Wednesday last says:— Mr Thomson, the Chief Surveyor of the colony, has returned from Hokitika overland. Haviug passed through the Kumara diggings lie has kindly placed the following information at our disposal : — Houses are being rapidly erected along the main street of Kumara, which is now fully a mile in length. Two sawmills are afc work on the ground, and timber i. also beiug supplied from two sawmills in the district. The extent and richness of the goldfields are variously estimated, the largest area spoken of being seven by four miles, and the depth of auriferous strata being from four to fifteen feet, but uo thoroughly authoritative information is to be had. Old miners trace the lead to the Taipo Valley, in which there are quartz reefs. The field, however, is estimated to last as alluvial diggings for fifteen years. Whether the various estimates are wide of the mark or not there can be no doubt that the laboring aud mining , population are on the move to the 1 ground, parties of from teu up to fifty being met with at intervals of from five to eight miles; only one man was seen to be returning. Speculation in town sections was also vigorous in Hokitika. Early thia morniug the body of a female child' was discovered by a boy named James* Essington, in a gully at Devil's Bridge, Karon Road, in front of and about 40 yards from his mother's house. The body, which was found tied up in a Maori kit, seemed to be that of a child some week . old. Information was at once given to the police, and a constable was afc once despatched to bring the body to town, when it was subsequently taken to the Morgue. The face of the child was a little scratched; but otherwise the body had the appearance of having been well cared for. Au inquest will be held to-morrow, when it is possible some light will be shed on what? now assumes the form of a mystery. — Wellington Argus, September 29.