GRAND OPERA COMPANY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8528, 4 September 1907, Page 5

GRAND OPERA COMPANY.

"FAUST." ■ Gounod's grand opera, "Faust," was staged in the Masterton Town Hall, last evening, by Musgrove's Grand Opera Company. There was a large audience. The first production of grand opera in Masterton is surely an event of importance in theatrical circles, more especially when such a fine opera as "Faust" is rendered hy such a splendid company. The plot of the opera is the first part of Goethe's great drama, while the music is Gounod's masterpiece. Faust, after a life of meditation and research, finds himself still unable to unravel the mysteries of nature. In his disgust he calls in the powers of evil, and Satan, in the shape of Mephistopheles, appears and agrees to supply Faust with anything he may desire on this earth in return for Faust's soul in the hereafter. He restores Faust to youth, shows him a vision of Marguerite and both set off to make her personal acquaintance. The maiden at first rejects the stranger's advances, but Faust urg? ( s his suit with such ardour that her resistance is at length overcome. Valentine, Marguerite's brother, on his return from the war, learns what has occurred, and challenges Faust and is slain in the Marguerite, however, stricken at the calamity, in a fit of frenzy, kills her child. She is thrown into prison, and though Faust urges her to flee sne prefers to stay and expiate her crime. Marguerite, the part every great operatic soprano aspires to, was filled in a charming manner by Fraulein Mia Barckow. Her singing of "The King of Thule," as also in the duetto in the Garden Scene, was delightful, while her acting, especially at Valentine's death and in the prison scene, was highly dramatic. Herr Richard Oejer, as Faust, acted and sang the part with pronounced success. Though possessed of a rather light tenor voice, he did the fullest justice to the music. The great opening recitative, his singing in the garden spene, and in the final scene were his best numbers. The difficult part of Mephistopheles was in the hands of a most capable artist, Herr Runger, who has a most beautiful bass voice and is a superb actor. His grim humour in the scene with Martha was very fine acting indeed. Valentine, Marguerite's brother, was ably represented by Herr Hans Mohwinkel, a splendid baritone and fine actor. The smaller parts of Siebel (Miss Kuhnke), Martha (Miss Verner), and Wagner (Karl Foller) were capably filled. Siebel's song, "Gentle Flower," was well received by the audience. The chorus was efficient, and the orchestra, prohably the finest ever heard in Masterton, was under the able conauctorship of Herr Slapoffski. The scenery, dresses, and mounting were on a most elaborate scale. The Square in Nuremburg, the Garden of Marguerite's Cottage, and the Apotheosis of Marguerite, were all equally tine stage productions.