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Titiens is one of these great rarities, and, therefore, without any great stretch of compliment, we may assert that, putting aside the Rossinian repertoire, she is destined to wear the mantle of Grisi." In no previous season was Mlle. Titiens so popular or so much admired as during the season of 1862. Her most remarkable performance was the character of Alice, in Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable."
"A great singer," my note-book says: "not so altogether faultless as some, but with a large voice and style, adapted to a great part;" and then is added, "I thought this morning of Titiens, as I listened to him!" a bit of impromptu musical criticism, which, under cover of the saving quotation marks may stand for what it is worth.
Titiens has not only one of the most magnificent and powerful voices ever heard, but also one of the most extraordinary in compass. To sing the music of Donna Anna, Fidelio, Valentine, etc., without transposition or change, and to sing it with power and effect, is granted to few artists. Mlle.
Take an extreme case. A group of people are photographed by Edison's new process say Titiens, Trebelli, and Jenny Lind, with any two of the finest men singers the age has known let them be photographed incessantly for half an hour while they perform a scene in Lohengrin; let all be done stereoscopically.
Titiens was unable to get an extension of her congé, and, much to the regret of her manager and the public, returned to Vienna early in the autumn. Instantly that she could free herself from professional obligation, she proceeded to Italy to acquire the Italian language, a feat which she accomplished in a few months. Here she met Mr.
Titiens to sing in London for three months, with the express understanding that she should not surpass that limit. She made her first bow before an English audience on April 13, 1858, as Valentine in Meyerbeer's chef d'oeuvre, Giuglini singing the part of Raoul for the first time.
Titiens was free to accept a new offer, she gladly availed herself of the chance to accept the opportunity of singing before one of the most brilliant and critical publics of Europe. She made her début at Vienna in 1856, and was received with the most flattering and cordial approbation.
Titiens regarded ornamentation as merely an agreeable adjunct in vocalization; and in the music of Valentine she sang only what the composer had set down neither more nor less but that was accomplished to perfection. As an actress, her tall, stately, elegant figure was admirably calculated to personate the tragic heroines of opera.
Titiens for interpreting the music of Meyerbeer, who is equally a disciple of both schools." Mlle. Titiens was such a firmly established favorite of the English public that, in the line of great tragic characters, no one was held her equal.
If the immature Titiens did not adequately reach the ideal of the character, she was so far from failing that she was warmly applauded by a critical audience. She appeared in the same part for a succession of nights, and her success became more strongly assured as she more and more mastered the difficulties of her work.
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