Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > British minstrel, and musical and literary miscellany

MUSICAL AND LITERARY MISCELLANY.
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in animation, in force, in volume, in grandeur, in
rap'dity, or in transition. In all these attributes
slie is matchless.
Madame Catalani's style is still purely dramatic.
By this epithet we mean to convey the vivid concep-
tion that exalts passion to the utmost pitch of ex.
pressiveness — the brilliancy of colouring that invests
every object upon which the imagination falls, with
the richest clothing— that gives the broadest lights
and the deepest shadows. Hence there is a parti-
cular point in the perspective from which alone she
can be viewed to advantage. Distance is indispen-
sable, for her eflbrts are calculated to operate through
amplitude of space and upon the largest assemblies.
Approach her and she is absolutely terrific ; the
spectator trembles for the lovely frame that he per-
ceives to b,e so tremendously agitated. They who
have never witnessed the enthusiasm that illumin-
ates that linest of all created countenances, have
never seen— no, not in Mrs Siddons herself, the
perfection of majesty, nor in Miss O'Neil, the
softest triumphs of the tender aflections. * •
• •*•»«« Her thoughts
literally coruscate through the bright radiance of
her eyes aud the ever clianging varieties of her
countenance. Her's is the noblest order of forms,
and every vein and every fibre seems instinct with
feeling, the moment she begins to sing. Never do
we recollect to have observed such powerful, such
instantaneous illuminations of her figure and her
features as Catalani displays. Thus the whole
person is aiding the effects of the most extraordinary
energy and the most extraordinary facility the world
has ever known, and the combined results are irre-
sistible. The mind is now allured and now im-
pelled, now awed by dignity surpassing all that can
be conceived, now transported by smiles of tender-
ness more exquisite than poetry has ever fancied.
The change that we principally perceive is an
increase of the quantity (not an amelioration of the
quality) of the tone, an augmentation of the general
force, and a more decided application of various
transition. These mutations add both to the ma-
jesty and the tenderness of her style, which is cer-
tainly her own altogether. She takes the hearer
by storm. She convulses and she melts her audience
by turns. She affects by vehemence not less than by
rapidity. There is, however, nothing more curious
tlian the gradations perceptible by varying the
(l^'grees of contiguity ; for the auditor would unques-
tionably form a different judgment according as he
recedes or approaches the singer through all shades,
from absolute terror to mere brilliancy of execution,
and expression superior for its strength. But at any
distance he would not fail to acknowledge Cata-
LANi's supremacy. The absolute force can only be
measured by observation at the nearest remove from
the orcliestra. There alone can the infinite and ra-
pid workings of her sensibility be accurately dis-
cerned ami understood. Her intonation appears to
us more certain than it was. Her invention is pro-
bably little if at all extended.
Madame Catalani returns to this country greater
tliaii when she left it yreatest. Her very highest
notes may perhaps be somewhat impaired, but this
we have no means of determining. In every other
part and attribute of her voice and style, she is de-
cidedly matured aud mellowed. She must be judged
alone, for she has nothing in common with any
other singer. It is, we repeat, by the efl'ect only,
that we estimate her ability. Measuring then by
this simple standard, we say that she surprises,
agitates, convulses, and enchants us by turns — that
her dignity, her tenderness, and her enthusiasm
defy description — and that the majesty of her voice
is equalled only by the beauty and command of her
form and countenance.
AN EVENING WITH MADAME CATALANI.
Instead of going as usual to the Cascina after din-
ner yesterday, I was taken a mile or two out of Flo-
rence to pay a visit from which I promised myself
much pleasure, and received more. I went to see
Europe's umqwliile wonder and delight, Madame
Catalani Valabrique. She is residing in a very beau-
tiful villa, which stands in the midst of an extensive
podere of which she is the owner. Nothing could be
more amiable than the reception she gave us. I think,
of all the nations who joined in the universal chorus
in praise of her high character, her charming quali-
ties, and her unequalled talent, she loves the English
best — perhaps they best understood her worth, and
the rare superiority of a mind that, in the midst of
flattery and adulation thatreallj seem to have known
no limits, preserved all its simplicity and goodness
unscathed. I was equally surprised and pleased to
see to what an extraordinary degree she had pre-
served her beauty. Her eyes and teeth are still
magnificent, and I am told that when seen in evening
full dress by candle light, no stranger can see her
for the first time without inquiring who that charm-
ing-looking woman is. A multitude of well-behaved
reasons would have prevented me, especially at this
my first introduction, from naming the very vehe-
ment desire I felt once more to hear the notes of a
voice that had so often enchanted me. Perhaps, if
I had not seen her looking so marvellously young
and handsome, the idea might neither have seized
upon, nor tormented me so strongly as it did; but
as it was, I never longed more, perhaps never so
much, to hear her sing as I now did. Her charming
daughter, Madame de V , was sitting near me,
and I think I ventured to ask her if her mother ever
sang now, to which she most gaily answered in the
affirmative. . . .and then what happened next I
hardly know .... I am afraid I must have said some-
thing about my secret longings for the daughter
whispered a few words to the mother, and in a mo-
ment Madame Catalani was at the piano No, in
her very best days, she never smiled a sweeter smile
than she did then, as she prepared to comply with
the half expressed wishes of a stranger, who had
no claim upon her kindness but that of being an
Englishwoman. I know not what it was she sang ;
but scarcely had she permitted her voice to swell
into one of those bravura passages, of w hich her
execution was so very peculiar, and so perfectly un
equalled, than I felt as if some magical process was
being performed upon me, which took me back again
to something I know not what to call it
which I had neither heard nor felt for nearly twem_\
years. Involuntarily, unconsciously, my eyes filled
with tears, and I felt as much embarrassed as a
young lady of fifteen might do, who suddenly found
herself in the act of betraying emotions which she
was far, indeed, from wishing to display
It was not the feeling often produced by hearing, af
ter a long interval, some strain willi which our youth
vias familiar, for I doubt if ever I heard the notes be-
fore, but it was the sort of peculiar unique Catalani
thrill, which I do not believe any body ever can forget
who has heard it once, and of which no one can form
a very adequate idea who has never heard it at all.