The principal singers now engaged at the French opera are Duprez and
Gardoni, tenors; Baroilhet, the barytone; Brémond and Serda, who have
succeeded, if they could not replace, the celebrated bass, Levasseur;
and Madame Stoltz. Duprez is well known in England as a singer of great
energy and admirable method, but whose powers have grievously suffered
from over-exertion. Halevy and Meyerbeer should be indicted as the
assassins of his once beautiful voice. The five tremendous acts of
Robert le Diable, and the stunning accompaniments of the author of the
Juive, are destructive to any tenor. In Paris, Duprez is still a
favourite, especially in Guillaume Tell, considered his crack part.
Gardoni, who has now been two years on the opera boards, has replaced
him in some of his characters. This young singer has a very fresh and
melodious voice, great taste and feeling, but lacks power, and, it is to
be feared, will share the fate of most of his predecessors, and soon
succumb to the thundering orchestra of the Academie Royale.[14] As Mr.
Hervey very justly observes, there is no medium for a tenor at the
French opera. He must either scream, in order to be heard above the
music, or be wholly inaudible. Baroilhet is unquestionably the best of
the present opera company. His acting and singing are alike good, and
his voice, of a less delicate texture than a tenor, has preserved its
vigour and freshness. It would be unfair to estimate his abilities by
his performance, some two years ago, at the London Opera-house. He was
then in ill health, and was heard to great disadvantage. He has been
fifteen years on the stage, but only the last five of them have been
passed at Paris. He previously sang at various Italian theatres, chiefly
at the San Carlo. Donizetti's Roberto Devereux and Belisario were
composed expressly for him. Madame Rosine Stoltz, whose portrait, a very
fair resemblance, is prefixed to Mr. Hervey's sketch of her operatic
career, is a highly dramatic singer and an excellent actress, but her