11
MUSICAL COURIER
June 21, 1923
After Paris, Barcelona and Monte Carlo
LONDON IS CAPTURED
BY
CHARLES HACKETT
London Daily News
May 25, 1923
THE AMERICAN CARUSO.
Triumph at Covetit Garden.
TENOR INTERRUPTED BY APPLAUSE.
The Covent Garden audience last night broke the ,eleventh command--ment of the opera-goer’s-licaiogue and interrupted the action ,by tumultuous applause. - Itwas alter Mr. Hackett, the new American tenor, had sung the Poet’s Song in the first act of “ La Bohème,” that the dreadful deed was done.
A still better proof of,his. success was that dur: ing the first interval many people went to the box office and wanted seats for his second appearance.
It is all very well to denounce the Star system, but It has its roots deep down in.human nature, much as we may regret it.
Mr. Hackett, who has many triumphs to his credit at ,the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, and has been called thé American *Caruso, is certainly a singer of־the very highest rank, worthy to be compared with thè great artists who used to come to Co vent Garden before the war,
He has a voice of beautiful quality. It is so Italian in character that one Is surprised , that he ;.should be .an American. He sings with rare ease, ail'd can fill thè house without any apparent, effort. He phrases with unumal delicacy, and one great merit is the ex-’ ceptiònal clearness of his diction.
ITALIAN AND ENGLISH.
He sang fn Italian and the rest of the coiSpànÿ in English! aqd the English version .is upfamiliâr to him. This adde’d to the nervousness inseparable! from such an occasion, even in an artist of siici)'■viride expérience. To this probably was due the occasional ovef-elabo-, ration׳ pf the phrasing;	.
As .already; said, he made a great success in the- first act, and his singing of the duèt With Marcel ;m the , third aci and in thè׳ scene with Mimi׳־which' follows deepened the Impression he ,had made. One looks forward with exceptional interest to his appearance in other parts;
׳ Miss Maggie Teyte was, as usual, an altogether charming Mimi, and the rest' -of the cast was very good. Mr Percy Pitt ,conducted:	There was not a
vacant corner in the house.
.______________________ A, K.
Mr. Charles Hackett.
London Daily Express
May 25, 1923
The London Star
May 25, 1923
BEST TENOR SINCE CARUSO ?
TRIUMPH OF CHARLES1 HACKETT.
Charles ■Hackett, an American tenor" trotti the Metropolitan Opera House, Neiv York, woh a regular triumph last night at C.ovent Garden, where lie sgn'g the part of Hodóli' ih “La Bohème.”
He sang in Italian to'the English of the. other mem-oers of the ■east H and was thus j somewhat hand!-1 capped, especially in the ensemble of thè second act, but in the first, and Chéries HécKétt. third acts ills voice showed to thé ;bçst. possible advantage and roused tîielâudiehcp to such enthusiasm ttiat they )nrfst irttq.'.applapse in. tiré middle of thè imisic—â> proceeding ,frowned upon by the. more austere patrons of the British National Opera Company but entirely compatible with the orthodox traditions,ol; Italian Opera.
DICTIQN.
Readers of.thd “Daily Express” may remember that attention was drawn in. tliese columns..to the superlative excellence of Mr. " Haclrett’s voice when he sang at tiie Albert Hail a few weeks ago., He more than justified last night all that ׳was then saiilpf bUn.-.Thaonly question is whether lie is or .Is not ;the best tenor that lias, been, heard at. Covcnt Garden since Caruso.
His Italian diction is, marvellous—far better than that, of most Italian singers —and his metzo-voce Binging is.־ perhaps, even better, than the splendid of-, fçpts that he obtains •with his top notes, if was delightful, tò hottr once again the vélvely. quality of a perfect voice,, perfectly produced, aiid perfectly, trained.
Tiie whole ■ perforihance was very good, Maggio Yeyté..ds Mimi -and William Michael as Marcello , particularly distinguishing tSemsélves. ' The house was .packed with a brilliant audience.
(A WONDER TENOR AT
COVENT GARDEN.
Applause In The Middl Of An Act.
The British National Opera Company has struck oil with Mr. Charles Hackett, who made his first operatic appearance in this country in “ La Bohème ” at Covent Garden last night;
House Full.
The interest aroused by the an- f nouncement of his debut was shown 1 by the fact that there was not an I empty seat in. any part of. the house.
When he had finished the Poet’s Song the applause could not be suppressed, in ,spite of the tradition which forbids such things.
Fine Phrasing.
The tribute was well deserved. Mr. ־ Hackett has a supeib voice,and he can coo as gently as any dove, or fill the house without any apparent effort. He phrases with great finesse.
There were perhaps signs of over-deliberation yesterday, hut he was nervOus—arid he was a little disconcerted once or twice by hearing tire English version, with which he is unfamiliar. He himself sang in Italian, for he has not su! g it in any other language during his longish career.
Not a On*-Part Man.
For one other thing he deserves unstinted enthusiastic praise, and that is the model clearness of his diction. Every word is audible when ha sings.
We shall be glad to hear him in other parts. He is said to be equally good in heroic roles.
With Miss Maggie Teyte as a delightfully artistic and natural Mimi, Miss Doris Lemon as Musetta, and Mr. Michael as Marcel, the quartet in the third act was notable. The whole performance, under Mr. Pitt, went remarkably well.
CnESCENDO.
Photo by Campbell Studios.
London Daily Telegraph
May 26,1923
1
“LA BOHEME.״
־*	•*-	.............MAffgie Teyte
♦*	••	* *	Doris Lemon
••	•־*	••	»• Charles Hackett
«•	••	•••	... William Michael
••	••	-•	... Sydney Russdl
• •	«•	•r	William Anderson
••	••	.-••	•i	Frederic Colsfcier
••	•-»	Sydney Russell
־	•• i• ...	... Staph Jouets
• _ V - ” ־ • „ • •	Leon BusiseÙ
Conductor—Percy Pitt.
ytiihf .*
Musette
Rodolfp
Marcel
Benoit
Cpllipe
Sciìta un^.rd
A lain doro
Parpignoí
Gendarmi-
. There was an,■aroma of olden days on Thurs-clay ^,hen “ Lía Boheme ”■ was admirably given, with Miss Maggie T$yté as Mimi and Mr. Charles Hackett ás Rodolfo, and the remainder •of the cast as before. No Mimi can realise the ideal representative of Mimi more charmingly than M iss I,eyte, either'in appearance. or voice and style, and Mr..Charles Haskett was one of the outstand-ipg Rodolfos his time. His voice is magnificent in־ ■timbre, of the Caruso type indeed; it is used with consummate ease, his mezza voce being of e!q>ecially lovely quality, and be was altogether most convincing. In poibf, of fact, the enormous audience for once forgot itself in its enthusiasm, and compelled Mr. Hackett to bo\k some half-dozen times at the dose ¿f the Poet’s ,Song in the first act. It■ !was a. .generous gift of Mr. Hackett tg help so substantially the good׳ cSuse of opera in English, albeit he himself sang in purest Itajjan. Mr. Petty Pitt conducted, but quite plainly had had too short a rehearsal with a singer of such strong aud independent views as Mr. Hackett, and in many places durii> the evening there were raggfcd orchestral ends' that should not have, been there.
L -------------------------
In America from September 15, 1923 till January 15, 1924
After January 1924 —LONDON, PARIS, MONTE CARLO,
STOCKHOLM
For all information address:
D. F. McSWEENEY, Associate Manager
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