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'¦ •'. ¦ ' - = ^rfti* (wiflis \JL4Jv ^vH5J>
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be a very vicious part of the treatment , I stepped over that part of the process , and solaced myself with , the never-ending delights of the Malvern Hills . The cool crisp morning- air—the hills mist-crowned with sunlight bathing their sides and hollows—and the prospect of a breakfast stimulating one ' s imagination , together make up a sensation which of itself is a cure . After breakfast there was more climbing the hills ; then a theoretical bath ( which I never took ) with preludes of water-drinkings , which I also
disregarded , reserving all my stomachal power for the two o ' clock dinner . After dinner , a little rest , and half an hour ' s sleep prepared me for another walk , on coming in from -which the hath was very welcome . This bath was either a sitting-bath or trunk-bath , and if I was very much jaded , a simple cold-water foot-bath , which I recommend to all walkers as a simple and effective refreshment . A hearty tea , and "bed at half-past nine o ' clock , conclude this " strange , eventful history . "
Such is a very brief account of the processes I went through . I leave aside all question of compress , bandages , dry packings , &c , and , what is more , I leave aside all rhapsodies about the Malvern Hills—all descriptions of donkey rides and picnics—of -wanderings into space , with hard-boiled eggs and strawberries as provender , and the Reverend W . Maggies ,, of Bungay , as a ** guide , " and the Reverend's Sister as " philosopher and friend "— -I spare you passages of the picturesque which I have no time to write , and , as a farewell , advise you ( if jaded by a London season ) to try the Watercure at Malvern . Viviah .
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HEADS OR TAILS' . Undeb this title , an excellently constructed little comedy , adapted from the French , has been produced at the Olympic Theatbe . As to the plot , we must be permitted to take our usual course , and not forestall the interest it excites , by saying a word about it . We refer our readers for the story of the play to the theatre ; assuring them , beforehand , that they will find their time very pleasantly occupied if they devote it for an hour or so to Heads or Tails . As to the acting of the play , however , we may say a word or two of very sincere approval . Mr . Wigan , in the part , of Harold Dyecaster , who trusts everything to chance , and solves all his mental difficulties by tossing up a halfpenny , was really admirable . His acting was finished , easy ,
and delightfully natural . He made a character , of the part , - without once slipping into exaggeration from , beginning to end—amused his audience always by thoroughly legitimate means— -and so managed his bye-play as to occupy his proper place in . the scene , yet never to interfere with the other actors . The heartiest praise is due also to Mr . Emery , who acted the part of an irritable old gentleman with really original humour , and thorough truth to nature . His bell-ringing scene was one of the most genuine pieces of comic acting -we ever saivr on any stage . Mrs . Wigan had a capital servant ' s part , and performed it with a quaint truth and quiet humour which some other
ladies now on the stage whora vre might mention , would do well to imitate . Strangely enough , the only conventional acting in the play , was the acting of Mr . Robson ! He had the part of a muddle-headed dupe to perform —< -a low-comedy part 5 and pure low-comedy is not his forte . He sneezed and talked through his nose ( being supposed to have caught cold in a shower of rain ) incessantly and comically enough—but he did not act , in the true sense of the word ; and he disappointed us the more , because we had seen him at his best , earlier in the evening , in a farce ( taken , of course , from the French ) called
PERFECT CONFIDENCE . Here Mr . Robson was excellent , for here he had a part suited to his peculiar and unique talent—the combination of the serious with the comic . Perfect Confidence is impersonated by Mr . Easy , who believes devoutly in his -wife , who is ( theoretically ) quite incapable of being jealous of her , hut who dce 3 nevertheless actually become jealous of her , after witnessing one apparently suspicious interview between the lady and a young visitor at the house . Parts of Mr . Rol > son ' s acting—especially the serious
partswere really wonderful , in the character of Mr . Easy . The fir st jealous suspicion— -the frantic attempt to conceal it—the changes from hope to despair—from suspicion to certainty—from assumed calmness to real ngony of mind—were given with extraordinary force and startling truth to nature . There was exaggeration hero and there , but it was exaggeration in giving the comic side of the character . The serious side—as to voice , gesture , and expression—was presented with an absolute and marvellous truth which cannot be too highly praised . Since the days of Plot end Passion , Mr . Robson ' s performance in Perfect Confcdcnce is the finest thing ho has done .
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JLES DIAMANS DE LA COURONNE . In announcing the production of this opera at the St . James ' s Tiiea / timi lost week , we ventured to predict that it would bo the crowning buccubs of the season , and the event has proved that wo wore right ; The theatre was crowded from floor to ceiling . Every available foot of space about the
stalls was invaded by extra chairs—every bench in the " slips" had its occupant . Only give the public a chance of hearing a delightful singer ia an opera which is full of the loveliest melodies from beginning to end , and people will crowd into any theatre you choose to open until the place overflows with them . Madame Cabel has added , another leaf to her laurels by her performance of La Catarina .. As a piece of acting it is charmingvocally , it is the best rendering of the part that we have heard . Even Madame Thillon ( for whom the music was composed , and who sang it some years ago , with immense success , at the Princess ' s Theatre ) is
equalled , and in some cases surpassed , as the heroine of this delightful opera , by Madame Cabel . The new " Catarina" sings the charming air Oui Monseigneur II faut Partir , and the difficult solo of the second act , more perfectly than any of her predecessors that we have heard , either in England or France . Her execution of the solo , especially , was so admirable that the theatre rang again , after she had ended , with some of the heartiest applause we have ever heard in it . If Les Diamans de la Couronne had only been produced at the beginning of the season instead of the end , what magnificent nightly tributes might have flowed into the treasury of the St . James ' s Theatre ! W .
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OTELLO . The performance of Otello on Saturday last was a striking contrast to the performance of the same opera in the early part of the season . This marked difference is to be attributed to the change in the Desdenaona , for on both occasions the Otello and Iago were represented by Tamberlik and Ronconi , with a power and finish not easily surpassed . Lablache lends a massive grandeur of aspect and voice , and an imposing dignity of presence to his traditional Elmiroy but the success of this not usually attractive opera on the one occasion , and its comparative failure on the other belong to the merits and defects of the respective Desdenionas . Mademoiselle Sofie Cruvelli ' s daring impulse and ambitious exaggeration of style , made up of
splendid inequalities , were not sufficient to atone for a certain harshness unsoftened ty womanly tenderness , and untempered by the repose of self-subduing art . Madame Pauline Viardot Garcia resumes the character in which she first won the welcome of a public still glowing with the remembrance of all that beauty and genius which in life were called Malibran . It was , if we mistake not , as Desdemona that Paulipe Garcia first appeared before an English audience , who were content to find that the mantle and the lute of the lamented had become the heritage of the sister . Still there was some unripeness about that ddbut . There was power and passion , but not the somplete self-possession of art . N " o-w we have no hesitation , in pronouncing Madame Tiardot ' s
Desdemona a creation of true genius , sustained by inspiring and consummate art . In her singing she proves what can be done ^ in spite of natural deficiencies by devoted study and cultivation , and all that constitutes her impersonation , as it is called , is subtle and delicate in the extreme . Her attitudes are ever noble and sculpturesque , although she does not in the last act ( as Alfred de Musset says poor Malibran should have done ) think more of how to hold the lyre than of the passionate melancholy of a fatal presentiment . Nothing could be more satisfying to the most exacting taste tliau
her delivery of the Willow Song ; it seemed to well up from the heart . We must not forget to say how completely Tamberlik realises , in spite of the imbecile Italian librettist , the Othello of Shakspeare—we mean in presence and bearing as well as in the large and impassioned nobleness of his singing . N " ot less does Honconi realise the Iago of the drama : the incarnation of catlike cruelty , disguised in deadly pleasantry ; all that ia most in contrast to the noblehearted Moor . The great duo in the second act " carried away ' tho house , " as usual . Tambcrlik ' exquisite singing of the gondolier ' s
air" Ncssun maggior doloro Ohe rccordarsi del tempo felico Nolla misoria , " might well liave suggested to George Sand her last sympathetic little Artstory , Adriani , which is founded on those words , like a fantasia in music on a " motif" from Otello .
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The second grand concert yesterday turned out , we regret to say , a chaptor of acoidents and disasters . A placard at the doors announced that Madame Grisi was unable to appear on account of a very severe hoarseness . The result was that the public who filled the house ( wo believe it is the " religious public" who draw a fine distinction between operas and concorts , that compose the audience at these monster concerts ) , took their seats rather with a sullen determination to make a row than for the Bake of hearing tho very excellent music sot down in the programme . When Mario appeared
to take his part in tho Slabat Muter , ho was received with shouts and hisses , and cries of " Where is Grisi ? " from tho " religious public" in the pit and boxes . Signer Mario wus set down for other music ; but in consequence , wo BuppoBO , of tho conduct of the audience , declined to ro-apponr . When Tamborlik camo forward , in a trio , ho was welcomed by tho humuno , generous , and Jndulgont public , with ahrioks of " Mario J" which resulted in his throwing up his music altogether . A gentleman , apparently well broken in for tho work , then camo forward with elaborate stagey polite .
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668 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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% t Slrte .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 15, 1854, page 668, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2047/page/20/
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