19
MUSICAL COURIER
May 4, 1922
CHARLES HACKETT
The First American Singer to Be Engaged For Leading Roles at the Paris Opera
Scored An Immediate Triumph at His Debut (as the Duke in
“RIGOLETTO”)
On Saturday Evening, April 8
The Notice Herewith is Reproduced Photographically from the New York Herald (Paris Edition) of April 10,1922
Concert Tour in America Season of 192223־
Manager: CHARLES L. WAGNER
D. F. McSweeney, Associate Manager 511 Fifth Avenue, New York
CHICKERING PIANO AND COLUMBIA RECORDS
WÈÈ
0־
Wl CHAklS DACKETT.
would be diff'fcult to continue without a third singing.
Thereafter, despite the excellent interpretation of tJUe rôle of tiilda by Mine. Ritter-Ciampi ■and of that of Rigoletto by Signor Britl istini, tlio Americana was the 'commaoitlfing figure of the cash The handicaps of. the Duke’s part seemed to vanish, so; perfectly were . thejy surmounted by the force of a remarkable temperament, and a faultless technique.
Of that !technique, too mucli can scarcely be ,said. It is tire means by which oue of the finest male voices is able to avoid the slightest gppeatrance of strain or effi jrt. It is like the skill in fence which., .gives a strong aijm and a sharp blade:/ tlieir "full Ihrustitag force. Nothing co־,¿)(! be more inspiring to the vocal studeart than to follow the manner in which Mi. Hackctt reaches• anil holds a series of high notes without the shadow of a fault,, and with an ease and grace worthy of !all praise.
IS csting Excellent.
Mr. Hackjettfs acting also deserves mention. Just as nature has given liim a voice of etrtraordinary clarity and remarkable ;timbre, which he uses with intelligence¡׳ and skill, so also he has the advantage a handsomjS person and graceful not inner, to wHieli he gives additional force by a histrionic method which reveai's careful self-criticism. In the rôle of ;Duke of Mantua, he seems for the mom¡eut truly a siovereign prince of the Rehaisoanee, lordly, gracefully indolent, dei’icatelv and heartlessly gay. Three'îourtlus otf the f׳irce of illusion carried by the production on Saturday was due precisely to Mr., Hackett’s amazing fitness ffor t!ie part.
American Music Wins New Laurels By Hackett’s Performance at Opéra
Tenor Is First of His Country to Have Main Hole at Great Theatre.
The triumph of Mr. Charles Haekelt, the American tenor, in “Rigbletto” at the Paris Opera on Saturday evening added another brilliant page to the record of a season without parallel in the history of .־unerican music.
Never before had an American .male singer׳׳ held a leading rôle on the boards' o: the greatest of French lyric theatres, and the .event assumed a significance similar to tlio appearance, of Mr. Albert Spalding as violin soloist with the or cliestra ot the ¡־ociélé des Concerts some days ago and to the production of Mr. Blair Fairchild's "Dame Libellule” at the Opéra-Comique. As in these two cases precedent was established in the most auspicious circumstances, a precedent of American participation in the most time-honored musical activities of Europe. The path lias undoubtedly been made smoother by Mr. Hackclt's superb work for all American singers of real talent who aspire to artistic consecration in France.
Artistic Performance,
The American tenor’s interpretation of the part of the Duke, aside from its historic importance, deserves analysis as a purely artistic performance. It was an excellé!!¿, exhibition of musicianship and fully entitled the singer to the splendid ovation which he received. The rôle is one of the most thankless known to the operatic tenor, presenting formidable technic״! difficulties and offering less than the usual chances for making an impression.
The Duke is׳ as important to the action as - Rigoietto himself, but this importance is not always recognised by the spectator. There is a tendency to focus attention on the baritone, even at the moments, as in the quartet, when the true, artistic centre of interest is the tenor. Then there is the most serious test of the air in the first scene. The tenor has no chance to warm to his work. He must attack a solo requiring consummate musicianship immediately after the rise of the curtain, before his contact with the orchestra is as ' perfectly established as it will be later, before he lias really paced off the stage, as it were, and While lie feels the restlessness of an, audience still preoccupied with i,-„le matters of adjustment, not yet settled in a manner conducive to tlie enjoyment of the piece.
Test of Success.
To be able to grip llis public at a moment so unfavorable psychologically is the great test of success in- the part. Mr. Hackett was more Jhan equal to it. From the first line, he held Iris auditory as if under a spell. The call for encore was immediate and insistent, and there was a moment I when it seemed that it