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In due time the concert came off and a slender, blue eyed girl hardly four feet high appeared and played a fantasia or themes from Somnambula. They had expected she would play fairly well, they looked for tolerable skill. What they did see and hear so far exceeded their expectations that they could not find words to express their admiration.
In the final of the Somnambula, she brought about a most remarkable effect at the words: Ah! non guinge uman pensiero Al contento ond 'io son piena. Here, in imitation of Malibran, she modified the original phrase of Bellini, so as to let her voice descend to the tenor G, when, by a rapid transition, she struck the G above the treble stave, springing over an interval of two octaves.
Her execution of the fantasia or Somnambula was most admirable and drew down vociferous calls for an encore which were honored. Several bouquets were thrown to her on the stage and the greatest enthusiasm was manifested in respect to the marvelous little artist.” Then some one suggested that they try Boston.
He is fond of music too; at the card-table he is given to humming through his teeth, but with feeling; he knows by heart some snatches from Lucia and Somnambula, but he is always apt to sing everything a little sharp. The winters he spends in Petersburg.
So eight-year-old, nine-year-old, ten-year-old, eleven-year-old, and all the rest of the ages, we tramped off together, and we stumbled over the stumps, and waded through the mud, and tripped lightly, like Somnambula in the opera, over the log bridges, which were single logs and nothing more, and came successfully to Greely's Pond, beautiful lake of Egeria that it is, hidden from envious and lazy men by forest and rock and mountain.
"For other variety there was a brilliant show duett on themes from La Somnambula for piano and violin by Messrs. Benedict and Noll, and a solo on the pianoforte by that most promising young artist, Hoffman. For this he chose De Meyer's fantasy on Semiramide, decidedly of the modern monster school of pianoforte composition, though quite a vigorous, graceful and redeeming specimen thereof.
At the moment when I first heard her she was singing the beautiful air from the Somnambula, "Come per me sereno." I never hear that delicious melody, to this day, without being instantly transported in imagination to the fatal back-room in Vivian Place. The Major strongly affected himself by this time was the first to break the silence. "Sit down again," he said; "and pray take the easy-chair.
Theodore had some business on hand, so the young people had their holiday lengthened. Still the season in New York had been a rather brilliant one, with various noted singers. An opera troupe from Havana had been giving some famous operas; and Hanny was delighted to hear "La Somnambula," because now she could compare notes with Daisy Jasper.
"Most of them are sharp as two sticks," replied Ethel, "but they never let on. There is only one who makes the boast that she has never been deceived by any girl, and we've all been just wild to play her some trick, only we've never yet hit upon a really good one." "You ought to get Toinette to do the scene from 'Somnambula," said Cicely, laughing. "What is it? What is it?
Instead of undressing like wise young people, they slipped off their dresses, and put on their night-dresses over the rest of their clothing, then all crawled into bed to await the first act of "La Somnambula."
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