"ERNANI." —A Once Famous Opera.—

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 88

" ERNANI." — A Once Famous Opera. —

" Emani," so successfully revived at Drury Tiane recently by the Gastellano Cmnpany, is one of Verdi's operas seldom heard nowadays. It was produced at th© Teatro Fenioe, Venice, on March 9, 1844, with Johanna Loewe as Elvira and Guasoo as the bandit-lover Ernani, and the following year it was given by Lumley at Her Majesty's in London, th© chief parts being sustained by Rita Boris and Moriani. In 1846 it was first perfonmed in Paris, th© representations being of peculiar interest because Piave's Libretto was altered at the request of Victor Hugo ; Jie title was changed to " II Proscritto," and the persons in the drama became Italians instead of Spaniards 1 Years ago "Ernani" wias a favourite opera in London, and among the pri'B» donne who have won distinction as A» beautiful lady with the three admirers are Pauline Lucca, Sophie Cruvelli, Marcella Sembrich, and, of course, Adelina Patti. In 1850 >Sims Reeves appeared at Her Majesty's Theatre as the heroic Ernani, and it was in the same part that a few months later he mad© his operatic debut >n Park. Like other works by Verdi, " Ernani " has been burlesqued, the most notable parody being that by William Brough at the old Alexandra, Highbury, ir May, 1865. when Raohel Sanger sustained the chief part. A curious incident in connection with performances of " Ernani " is mentioned in Pougin's life of Verdi. In 1847, when Pope Pius IX wa3 at the height of his popularity, the work wag given in Rome. One evening a person in the costume of the National Guard was seated in the gallery, and kept shouting, "Bis! Viva Italia! Viva Pio Nono ! " Others joined in chorus, an-d the curtain rose for the third time. Still the fellow was not satisfied ; he continued shouting, so at 'ast th* public lost patience and hissed him. At that he took off his <ihako and threw it into the pit ; to his shako succeeded his tunic, ther his waistcoat. Eventually, th© spectators began to get nervous, fearing he might remove other garments, and might also throw himself after them. But he did worse. He drew his sword, and hurled it on the stage. The man was then seized and turned out of the house. Verdi's melodies arouse no such excitement nowadays. — Chronicle.

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