1878: Was the opera star splendid or indecent?
160 Years is a series marking the launch of The Press newspaper in Christchurch on May 25, 1861.
English singer Emily Soldene was one of the stars of comic opera or opera bouffe in the second half of the 19th century and she was at her peak in the 1870s, when her Soldene Opera Company toured North America, Australia and New Zealand.
As 1878 started, readers of The Press were learning of her success in Dunedin, ahead of a three-week season at the Theatre Royal in Gloucester St. The Press covered every performance.
This was from January 23, 1878: ‘‘If the Soldene Opera Company are about to afford the public of Christchurch an opportunity of witnessing a series of performances at all approaching in excellence to that which they opened with last night at the Theatre Royal, then the public of Christchurch must be felicitated upon the treat, musical and spectacular, which is in store for them. As a general rule first performances should be treated leniently even by the most hypercritical, but last night’s first performance, though the company had only reached Christchurch in the morning, would bear the most rigid examination. From first to last it was an unqualified success.’’
Of Soldene herself, the paper said: ‘‘Her voice is of splendid quality, and has been thoroughly cultivated.’’
On it went, one magnificent performance after another. But there was also controversy. Clergyman Robert S Jackson wrote to The Press to say that the company’s operetta Chilperic featured an ‘‘immoral’’ plot, ‘‘indecent’’ dresses and a dance that was ‘‘as shameless as anything I have ever seen’’.
A spirited debate about art and morality followed. Jackson should get out more, according to one correspondent: ‘‘If he has ever seen a ballet he must be aware that there was nothing last night, either in the dancing or dresses, which would not be seen in any Christmas Pantomime in any theatre in England.’’
The Theatre Royal, then in its second incarnation, was across the road from the present-day theatre. The Soldene Opera Company was succeeded by the Beaumont Combination Troupe, who performed songs, farce, dance and gymnastics and featured ‘‘Miss Patti Ross, a clogdancer of some merit’’.
The nearby Gaiety Theatre was packing in audiences for a season by the United States Minstrels, a touring group performing songs and comedy in what we would now call blackface. ‘‘Altogether the entertainment is one of a very pleasant character,’’ said The Press.