MICHAEL BALFE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 115, 9 July 1875, Page 7

MICHAEL BALFE.

- HAeter waiting many months in indecision, the Balfe Memorial Committee have at length taken up a resolute attitude, and decided oixappealing to the people of Ireland for funds to erect a statue in honour of their illustrious countryman. A sum of £1000 is asked for the purpose ; and the committee intend to devote any surplus that may remain in their hands to the founding of a musical scholarship in Dublin. Their project has our warmest sympathy. It would be simply disgraceful if, while the Irish metropolis is studded with memorials of aliens, no monument were raised in commemoration of one of the city's own most gifted sons. The honour that Balfe' s genius reflects on the land of hie birth belongs specially to no party or sect, but is the common inheritance of all. There is no room for division or sub-division in the matter of the projected monument; it is one of which the country should take up heartily ; and it is hard to conceive any reason for the apathy which has been so far displayed without falling back on the old saw which tells us that what is everybody's business is nobody's. Among a people of decided musical bent a generous emulation in paying regard to the memory of their great musician might naturally have been expected ; and. indeed, if the thousands who have a keen delight from music were to take up this statue project with any degree of warmth, as we conceive they have a right to do, they should of themselves be able to carry it qtiiekly to a successful issue. Not the least of the evils which spring from our provincialism is the exodus of our best intellects which has been constantly going on since the beginning of the present century. Men. capable of doing, good work in their respective spheres are forced into the ranks of the absentees, expend their lives in building up the power or greatness of other lands, and are as much lost to their own as if they never drew breath within her shores. Their fame is appropriated by stranger peoples, and the country of their birth is defrauded of her naturt I right. Over and over again we have seen in London papers tl 9 phrase, "Our English composer, Balfe j" and this of a man who by race, birth, rearing, character, and genius, was Irish all over, from the crown of his head to the sole o£ his foot ! It is not improbable, in truth, that Balfe is not now so "well known as he should be in his native land. Forty years ago ho liad risen to fame. Most of his years were passed in exile. It may not bo amiss at tho present moment, therefore, if we endeavour to give, within the brief space we can spare for such a purpose, an outline of the career of an Irish musician in whose honour it is proposed to erect a statue. Michael Balfe came of a race which was cradled among tho Wicldqw Hiils. He was born in Dublin in 1808. The blood of whole generations of bards must have run in his veins ; for from, infancy he showed a most marked capacity for music. The violin was put into his hands when he was barely able to hold it to lii 3 shoulder ; but the elementary difficulties of the most difficult of musical instruments were soon surmounted by the child. Al seven years of age he played in public one of Viotti's concertos for the violin — an amazing feat for his years. At nine he composed the ballad, " The Lover's Mistake," which was sung by Madame Vcsti-is, and achieved immense popularity. No wonder he was looked on as a juveuilo prodigy. lie was but sixteen when he went to London to fill the post of conductor of the orchestra at Drury Lane Theatre No more sinking proof of acknowledged capacity could well be given. Next year, 1825, he resigned that post in order to visit Italy, and devote himself more completely to the study of several branches of his art. During this visit ho began ! his successful career as a composer by- writing the music for the grand ; ballet, " La Peyrouse," which was brought out at the world-famed opera house of La Scala, at Milan. His industry must have been prodigious ;- for he had acquired a mastery of tlie violin, the pianoforte, the management of the voice, the intricacies of the science of harmony, and the French and Italian languages, besides storing his mind with a mass of general information : and all this al an age when most yo.iths have hardly made choice of a profession. In 1827 he went on the opera stage. Nature had not "bee i as liberal of voice to him as brain, and he had to struggle besides with with a weak chest ; but in spite of these obstacles he charmed all j hearers by an uncommon purity of vocal delivery and a power of expression as rare as it was enchanting. In 1829, while yet at the threshold of manhood, he was engaged to sing leading baritone parts at the Italian Opera, Paris ; and was at once installed as a favourite with the public of that gay capital. His success ran some risk of proving his ruin. Young, handsome, sprightly, witty, a composer of repute, a rare master of the violin, a capital pianist, and a charming vocalist, tho doors of the lordliest salons in Paris were flung open to him, and for a while he seemed in danger _ of losing himself in the vortex of pleasure. But the great Italian composer, Rossini, then settled in Paris, came to the rescue of the young man, and advised him to fly from the temptations to idleness which beset him on every side. Rossini was a man to whom Balfe could look up and with whom he was a favourite. In a few moments he had made up his mind. " What shall I do ? " he asked. " Gto to Italy," was the reply of the maestro. To Italy Balfe forthwith repaired again. We cannot refrain from an admiring glance at tlie spirit and resolution displayed by so young a man at a juncture so critical in his career. He applied himself anew to work and study with his former zeal, and even in the Land of Song was soon acknowledged a master of the divine art. Here he set earnestly to work as a composer, and produced in 1830 his opera, " I Bivali ; " another opera, " TJn Avvertimento, in 1832 j and yet another, " Enrico 1V.," in 1834. 1835 saw him again in London, where he sprang at once to the pinnacle of fame on tho production of the first of his long series of ! English opei as, " The Siege of Rochelle." Next year he had another great success with the " Maid of Artois," in which the famous Malibran sustained tlie leading part. His fertility and industry were surther established in 1837 by the production or "Catherine Grey;" while in 1838 he turned out "La Dame Voilee/' and " Falstaff "—the latter for the Italian stage, and in. which the great Lablache sustained the part of the fat knight.

" Keolanthe " was brought out at the Lyceum under Balfe's own mangement in 1841 j and "Le Puits d' Amour," written for the French opera stage, was produced in Paris in 1842. The last was very successful ; but a greater hit was made by Balfe, not only in France, but in Germany, by his grand opera, " Les Quarte Fils d'Aymon," which continues popular among the Teutons to the present. It must not be supposed that Balfe had nothing to do all these years but bowl along a level road. On the contrary, his was often, and, indeed, commonly up-hill work. Besides engaging in the compositions mentioned above, and innumerable others of a minor nature, he was extensively occupied in a variety of ways. Now he conducted a concert, or sang at one ; anon he appeared behind the footlights ; then he sat in front of them, in the conductor's seat, and devoted patient hours of daylight to the rehearsal of his works; and again, night after night, wielded the baton from the same ' elevation. Twice he essayed the management of the Lyceum Theatre, only to be driven back to his profession in discomfiture. Among other difficulties of his managerial position, he found it impossible to keep a good company together, when he had taken no small pains to collect his singers. Jealousies among them were the chief cause of Ms ill success in both efforts. During his last management, the audience one night becoming impatient at an unaccountable delay, Balfe was compelled to come before them to make the following statement : — "About two hours ago I received a note from Mr. John Barnett, stating that he could not allow his pupil, Miss Gould, to appear at this theatre any longer. She being the third who has thus left the establishment, I am really unable at this moment to substitute anything. This is the last night of the English opera house, or at least of it under my reign. I am already burdened with five or six hundred pounds debt through it. I have done all in my power for the establishment. I brought out my opera of ' Keolanthe ' gratis, for which Madam Vesris offered me three hundred guineas, and I had another opera by Mr. Macfarren ready cast and studied, but I was not able to produce it through the secession of Mr. Henry Phillips. lam exceedingly sorry, ladies and gentlemen, that I was ever such a fool as to become manager of an English theatre, and I solemnly promise you that I will never again appear before you in such a capacity." Nor were his managerial troubles Balfe's only ones. Notwithstanding the faTor shown him by the London public, the critics nibbled at him after their wont. Though ready enough in later years to take to their country the credit of his established reputation, they were far from forward in helping to build it up. We have before us as we write a volume of the most respectable musical journal London could boast of forty years ago. In it there is an elaborate review of " The Maid of Arlois," which opens in this grudging manner : "It it bo any gratification to Mr. Balfe to say that his opera evinces as much musical and dramatic talent as usually distinguishes the works of Donizetti, Vaccaj, Mcreadaute, and other popular imitators of the earlier writings of Hossini, we think we may compliment him to this extent. We should have been well pleased if the merits of his new production had justified a more sterling meed of praise.', And after a severe analysis of the various numbers which make up the opera, and a scathing denunciation of Mr. Balfe's music in general, the review concludes dogmatically thus: "Let him forget Donizetti and Auber, follow the example of Barnett, and much may be expected of his future efforts." If the sagacious critic who penned that sentence be still among the living, it should occasion him some pain, we think, to reflect how little of Barnett's work survives, and how much of Balfe's. In 1843 our Irish composer wrote his most popular opera, " The Bohemian Girl." Its tame extends all over the civilised world. It has been dressed in several languages, appearing as " La Zingara" on - the Italian boards, and as "La Bohemienne" on the French. There is, we believe, even more than one German version. There is hardly a capital of Europe in which it has not been a welcome guest. In Vienna it has been performed in three theatres oil the same evening. It is as popular in Berlin as in Dublin, in Stan Francisco as in Cork, in Melbourne as in London, where, on its first representation, it ran for upwards of a hundred nights — an unprecedented period for a single piece to occupy the stage thirty years ago. The success of this opera was far from tempting Balfe to idleness. In 1846 he gave "The Bondman" to the world; in 1847 "The Maid of Honour;" and in 1849 " The Enchautreßs." For several years afterwards no manager cared to call for a new English opera, and Balfe's pen, though not allowed to rust, was no longer engaged on dramatic work. It was during this period he wrote, among other minor compositions, his really admirable settings of songs by Tennyson and Longfellow. In 1857, however, the Pyne and Harrison Opera Company made a demand upon our composer, which was complied, with by the production within thirty days of "The Rose of Castile." In rapid succession " Satanella," " The Puritan's Daughter," "Bianca," and "Armourer of Nantes" followed, all written for the same company. On the break-up of the Pyne and Harrison speculation, Balfe was at leisure once more, and soon afterwards set to recasting "The Bohemian Girl" for the Parisian stage, which he did with an amount of care and thought not always to be recognised in his -work. Likewise he laboured long and lovingly on "The Knight of the Leopard" — the same which in an Italian costume was brought before the public for the first time only lastjyear, under the title of "II Talismano." In this brief notice of a busy and bright career we have omitted mention of several of the less known dramatic efforts of Balfe. In all, he gave to the stage — English, Italian, and French — some six-and-twonty works. Wo cannot even glance at the mass of fugitive compositions he kept pouring out from his melodious brain as from a fountain. The strains of many of them are even now adding to the stock of human happiness in many lands and among various classes, from the mansion to the cottage. Neither can we take any note of Balfe's innumerable journeyings to and fro from city to city throughout his marvellously active life j nor have we space to descant on his

genial nature, his generosity, his wit, his unvarying kindliness to all, his affection for wife, children, and grand-children, Mb sustained" cheerfulness under every trial, his patient bravery in overcoming obstacles, and the many other estimable points of a rarely estimable character j while, even if our space were unlimited, no further proof of his untiring industry need be offered than the record given above. In that record, hasty and cramped as it is, we believe there is enough to show that his career was one in which his countrymen may feel a becoming pride, and we think it is suggestive of cogent reasons why they should unite at once and heartily in the work of doing honour to . his memory. — Nation.