Part 3 (1/2)

A vocal displays of all kinds which M'lle Sontag pours forth every evening before her admirers, attention is chiefly claimed by the limpidity of her chromatic scales and the brilliance of her trills which scintillate like rubies lying on velvet Each note of these long descending flights stands out as if it alone was struck and is linked to the following note by a delicate and imperceptible transition; and all these race, and without ever distorting the countenance by the least appearance of effort The char, the clearness and sweetness of her lovely eyes, her elegant outlines, and her figure lithe and slender as the ste poplar, finish the picture and co has essayed all styles Born in Germany at the comorous and powerful music of the new German school, and achieved her first success in the masterpieces of Weber At Paris she attempted successively the characters of _Desdemona_, _Semiramide_, and that of _Donna Anna_ in the _chef d'oeuvre_ of Mozart In spite of the enthusiasm which she seems to have excited in her countrymen by the manner in which she was enabled to render the dramatic inspiration of Weber--an enthusiasm the echo of which is found in the works of Louis Boerne--in spite of the brilliant endowments which she displayed in the character of _Desdemona_, and above all in that of _Donna Anna_, which was forced upon her alhtfinds her true superiority The lia_, that of _Ninetta_ in _La Gazza Ladra_, of _Ao_, have afforded her the fields for her greatest success

The cry of pathos never escapes frorace sits s; bursts of passion never distort the classic contour of that visage, or crimson the satin-like surface of that white and polished skin No; in that elegant forer eye like an airy cloud, nature never rouses the nificent tempests of passion This is the reason why Made consented to bow her lovely head under the yoke of matrimony, and to descend from a throne to which she had been elevated by the omnipotence of talent, to becorets did not follow to disturb the repose which she had promised herself? Who can tell if the arandeur, has not turned a regretful glance upon those bright years of her youth, when a whole nation of admirers crowned her with roses and perennial wreaths? Have not Auber and Scribe, in their pretty opera _L'A transfor's voice is well preserved If its lower notes have lost a little of their fulness and freedom, as is always the case with soprano voices, the upper notes still retain their roundness and their charm

Her powers are hardly less exquisite than when she enty years old; her execution has lost nothing of that marvellous flexibility which was then its characteristic; and, with the slightest awakening of the i the finish, the charuished her a the eminent vocalists who have astonished Europe in the last half century

Received with distinction by audiences of the highest fashi+on, ere drawn together by the rureat successthese none have attracted more attention than Rode's Variations, a sort of ht into fashi+on by Mad Catalani, and upon which Mad Sontag has e arabesques An ascending scale launched out at lightning speed and flashi+ng upon the ear like a ribbon of fire, has excited the liveliest transports

The celebrated vocalists of the nineteenth century roups, very diverse from each other In one we find those who have shone by the expression of strong passion, and by elevation of style, such as Mad Pisaroni, Mad Pasta, and Mad Malibran; in another, those wonderful syrens who exhale in a hter, such as Marcolini, Mad Persiani, and roups that we place Mad Maineville-Fodor and Mad Sontag, who have possessed all the seductions of a rich and graceful vocalization, without exhibiting either the transports of passion or the spontaneous outpourings of gaiety Accordingly, they have flourished long, for they have never undergone those paroxysms which break and consume a feeble woman as a diaht to bring Mad Sontag before our hts, h a leafy vista, and in her bosoet-me-not

HENRIETTE SONTAG IN FRANKFORT

BY

LOUIS BOERNE

ONE of the most brilliant and influential names in German literature, for the last quarter of a century, is Louis Borne, a enius, at once tender and sarcastic, and whose innate love for political freedom, were fitly refined and adorned by the most severe and delicate taste in art In one of his happiest chapters, he describes a visit to his native city of Frankfort,the heads of all Gerain within the past year As this char and accomplished artist is soon to appear in A the curiosity of our readers as to what theythis article by so eminent and trustworthy a critic as Borne It is as follows:

”A year ago Henriette Sontag, the gracious Muse of Melody, appeared at Weimar, and it seemed as if they all went crazy Like pious priests and worshi+ppers of stars, they celebrated her advent as that of solorious constellation, with music of harps and cy, twilight strains, with hyacinthine perfu has supped with M von Goethe,' they sang, 'The King of Poets has cherished the Wondrous Child with food and drink!' Since then I have gone ht; before that, they had used the flame of Prometheus to boil their potatoes with, and now they had sed the fire itself; they had been used to conceal their moderate capacity for enjoyment under hard and bitter husks, but now, of a sudden, they began to groeet, and soft, and uncertain, and shi+ning as jelly

”I had the bitterest sayings in my mind, and meant to print them all

But it is well for me that I reflected and did it not How people would have mocked at the inflexible Rhadamanthus when at last, pen and all, he becairl!

”In truth, since I have myself heard the enchantress, I aer knohat I say But as in the twilight of a drearation I was of the opinion that we Gerin to be intoxicated when others are getting over the headache,--it was in hearts to the first char; though delightful, it does no solid good I reance But now I think otherwise, and I say: It is lovely; let us enjoy the moment, and why refuse to enjoy it? why sacrifice it to the future? Who kno long it will be before we are again pere to a divinity of our own free choice, and not imposed on us by accident?

And now I desire to praise this enchantress, who has transformed an entire nation; but where shall I find the words? Even the endless array of mere paper words that we have created in Frankfort since our senses were taken froht offer a prize of a hundred ducats for the invention of a new adjective, never before eain the prize

”They have called her the lovely, the incomparable, the heavenly, the adorable, the celestial racious child, the heroine of song, the daughter of the Gods, the dear songstress, the Pearl of the German Opera To all these epithets, I say, Yes, with all iven their verdict; her char can be co that is lovely, for such a union of all these gifts of Nature and Art was never found in any other singer To this, also, I assent, though the rareness of this union did not delude me; for with all my efforts, I could not see and hear her at the same time, and I had to think of her points of excellence one by one, together, in order to arrive at the su I am certain, and that is that what could raise the whole of a German work-day city into such a festal excitement, without the co adstress then, let me speak of the excitement she has produced, for such universal intoxication, even if not to the credit of the drinker, is to the glory of the wine

”With a little variation, Henriette Sontag could say with Caesar: 'I came, they saw, I conquered' But triuame for the celebration of the victory

”The first coated Frankfort was the announceer to his Majesty the King of Prussia, with her suite and attendants'

Princely personages travel 'with suite and attendants,' and by attributing the sa, she was raised to the very steps of the throne; and without rebellion, no higher honor could have been paid her

”To this first compliment the last she received here was perfectly suited The landlord at whose house she was lodged for a fortnight, at her departure refused all compensation, and thereby renewed and ennobled the old hotel of the Roman Emperor into a Prytaneum, where, in the name of the Fatherland, famous Germans are entertained Between these two compliments extend a countless wilderness of others Even the Jews experienced a slight dizziness, and when at the Exchange you heard thehths and Quarters, you were doubtful whether they meant musical beats or per cents The price of tickets to the theatre was doubled, a thing unheard of, for we Frankforters, rich as we are, regard every unusual expense as intolerable Spectators poured along in vast crowds, not merely the inhabitants of the town, notcities; but froers It was like the Olyet a place in the boxes, wanted to take the entire parquette, and when told it was ie Continental scrupulosity A young man came on foot from Wiesbaden, a distance of sixteen reat difficulty he procured a seat, but was good enough to give it up to a wearied lady; he stood up, fainted before the perforan, and, as there was no place for hi-fit, from hand to hand, to the door; he recovered just as the curtain fell on the last act, and walked back to Wiesbaden the saht An inhabitant of the city was so exhausted by the closeness and the heat, that he had to go ho We have heard of other injuries and ed to keep their beds for encer_ was filled with advertises, bracelets, veils, and other articles which ladies lose in a crowd On the first day of Sontag's appearance, I went to the optician's to get lass, which had been left to be repaired, and he had to look for it a fifty others, left there for the sa of the eyes of the entire lealasses, directed at a weak girl, offered a terribly warlike aspect But never was artillery so poorly served, for it was the unskilful artillerists ere injured and not the enemy

”The house was opened two hours earlier than usual, but long before that, the great square in front was crowded and jahest apex; the excitement was intense and keen Until I experienced the reality it seeant anticipations could be satisfied But all ere there confessed that M'lle Sontag far exceeded all they had looked for And in such a case, where the appearance and the reality belong together, and are one and the sa, what rooical, indescribable grace accoer, and we are in doubt whether to regard her acting or her singing as the lovely ornament of a perfect beauty In comic parts she always preserves that womanly tact, which is so easily violated on the boards, and in serious ones a dignity which is at once touching and coot the senseless text of Rossini's _Otello_,and heard the Desdemona of Shakspeare In a simple ballad which speaks to the heart she is adhts the ears We saw old h never so unequalled and incomparable, could produce Her low notes, her wonderful trills, runs, and cadenzas, rese, childlike ornaments on a Gothic edifice, which serve to moderate the solemnity of lofty arches and pillars, to combine the joy of the heavens with the joy of the earth, but never violate or degrade that sole as Desdeuished, and---- But letto the rock of cool reflection and save myself Perhaps it was the whirlpool that carried ure of speech, when I said; 'I know not what I say' If this be the case, if I have experienced a human weakness, why then I will not alive yield le with my shi+p-wrecked companions in misfortune All the critics and poets here and in Dar but declai What poehts of fancy! All Olyrey-beards, and veterans of y had to come up and pay their tribute Critical old wostress, and bloodless reviewers gloith life in her praise I am dizzy; I have seen Germans drunk, not ine, but with enthusiasm There has been no end to the prose and still less to the verse, expressive of their boundless delight All seasons, all times, all emotions, all forms of expression, have been evoked to pay her honor But I must end, lest I provoke some reader to exclaim: