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"Ah!" said a friend, "if you could only hear her sing 'Casta Diva'!" "Yes," said another, "and 'Auld Robin Gray'!" No wonder, I thought, at the universal enthusiasm for a vocal and lyrical artist who can alternate with equal power from "Casta Diva" to "Auld Robin Gray." I must hear her!
She sang "Casta Diva," a duo with Belletti, from Rossini's "Il Turco in Italia," and the Trio Concertante, with two flutes, from Meyerbeer's "Feldlager in Schliesen," of which Moscheles had said that "it was, perhaps, the most astonishing piece of bravura singing which could possibly be heard." These pieces, with two Swedish national songs, were received with the loudest salvos of applause.
Why, indeed, should she hesitate Poi ch' Amor dice, ogni secreta è casta? This stroke of cynicism is put forward as it were but half intentionally, and with no appreciation of its intense irony in the mouth of the husband. Throughout the scene indeed he appears merely as a common seducer, and the author seems wholly to have failed to grasp the real dramatic value of the situation.
The Portuguese called them casta in their own language, from which the present name comes. I call them grand classes, or castes, because they are divided into many sub-classes.
The orchestra and the audience were before her; and she knew that Papa and Mamma Balbino were watching her from the side with anxious hearts. She was very pale, and her first notes were a little tremulous. But her voice soon became clear and strong; and when she fixed her eyes on the moon, and sang "Casta Diva," the fulness and richness of the tones took everybody by surprise. "Bis!
There are certain parts in the lyric drama of Italy this fine artiste has made her own: this is one of the most striking, and we have a faith in its unreachable superiority in its completeness as a whole that is not to be disturbed. Her delivery of 'Casta Diva' is a transcendent effort of vocalization.
They entered making a great noise, and I could see that the modesty of our friends kept them in the rear. For they seemed almost afraid of being seen. "I like that," said Kurz Pacha; "it shows that such stern republicans don't intend ever to appear delighted with the smiles of nobility." "The largest one is Madame la Marquise Casta Diva," said Mrs.
The gradual growth and sostenuto of her tones; the light and shade, the rhythmic undulation and balance of her passages; the bird-like ecstacy of her trill; the faultless precision and fluency of her chromatic scales; above all, the sure reservation of such volume of voice as to crown each protracted climax with glory, not needing a new effort to raise force for the final blow; and indeed all the points one looks for in a mistress of the vocal art were eminently her's in Casta Diva.
"One can hear your music without listening, for I was deep in thought of the time when I shall come out from under the tyrannical power of instructors, and can do as I like; for my part, I am tired to death of this continual, 'Miss Winifred, this piece must be executed with milder intonations; or, 'Miss Winifred, that chapter of Spanish must be told with greater fluency. I have come to dread the very name of Professor, and I never can look out of the window but I see some pale-faced gentleman of the profession approaching, with his badge under his arm; but those edifying ideas all vanished at the first strain of your 'Casta Diva. If I could produce such an effect, what would I not give;" and the beauty drew her arm around the Sea-flower, and spoke in a lower tone.
This was followed by some tender, complaining Russian melodies, novelties which Mr. Fitzgerald had brought on a preceding visit. Feeling they were too much engrossed with each other, she said politely, "Mr. King has not yet chosen any music." "The moon becomes visible through the curtains," replied he. "Perhaps you will salute her with 'Casta Diva." "That is a favorite with us," she replied.
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