[Viardot, Pauline. (1821 - 1910). Ristori, Adelaide. (1821-1906)
Autograph Letter to Viardot
Autograph letter signed "Adelaide Ristori del Grillo." 2 pages, May 13, 1861. To Pauline Viardot ("Chere Madame"), giving the works she will declame at Viardot's forthcoming benefit and instructing how the program must be printed.In French, in full: "Quant à la poésie de Mr Lamartine, Mr. Legouve m'a dit que je pouvais la déclamer quand je voudrais et qu'il en prenait la responsabilité. Le chant de Dante que je dirai, c'est le cinquième de l'Enfer. Je préfère qu'il y ait un morceau de musique entre les deux déclamations pour avoir le temps de me déshabiller. Je vous prie de veiller a ce qu'on explique bien sur l'affiche, que le morceau de Dante sera dit en Italien, et celui de Mr. de Lamartine en Francais. Heureuse d'avoir pu vous etre agreable, veuillez me croire votre dévouée..."
["As for the poetry of Mr. Lamartine, Mr. Legouve said that I could perform when I would like and that he would take responsability for it. The piece of Dante that I will perform is the fifth of Inferno. I'd like for there to be a piece of music between the two declamations, so that I have time to change my clothing. Please take care that this is well explained on the poster: that the piece of Dante will be in Italian, and that of Mr. de Lamartine, in French. Happy to have been able to have been agreeable to you, please believe me your devoted… "]
The June 8, 1861 issue of Dwight's Journal of Music (Boston) offers an interesting reflection on Ristori's performance and programming, noting that on May 17th in Paris "Mad. Viardot has her benefit at the Lyrique. We are in consequence to have two acts of Gluck's Alceste - one of Otello - a comic operetta Le Cuisson Vert by Gastinel. Besides all this Mad. Ristori is to recite Lamartine's Isolement and the fifth canto of the Inferno of Dante. Speaking of Ristori I am reminded that I have seen in several journals, not French, words of blame on account of what is styled 'an abandonment of the artist's native idiom.' Now nothing seems further from Mad. Ristori's thought than to abandon the Italian language. It is but the other day that she appeared as Medea. Tonight I hope to hear her read Dante. A countryman of her's Giacometti is preparing a new play for her. The success of her French Beatrix will assuredly not be sufficient to cause her to neglect the language in which alone she succeeds fully. But she will not stop at French and in a letter has already expressed the wish of appearing before a Spanish audience in a national play acting in Spanish. This may show mastery of language, but it is a dangerous game and may prove desctructive of much originality."
One of the great tragediennes of her time, the Italian actress Ristori was Rachel's chief rival in Paris. (6280)
Autograph Letter Opera