January 1869: Miss Augusta Thomson, in Paris

An article, under the heading “PARIS THEATRICALS.”, on page 55 of The Court Journal, and Fashionable Gazette, on

Saturday the 22nd of January, 1859, reads:

 

“— The feuilleton of the Paris Moniteur contains a very favourable notice of Miss Augusta Thomson, the young Glasgow

lady who carried off the first prize at the Conservatoire, and who has lately made a successful debût [sic] at the Grand

Opera as Mathilda [sic], in ‘William Tell.’ Her voice is described as “a very fine soprano, one of those telling voices which

gain immensely by the vast amplitude of the Opera-house, which it fills easily.’ The critic (M. de Rovray) praises the

débûtante [sic] for having thoroughly learned her part, performing it with marked originality, and singing Rossini’s music

textually, ‘not following any of those false traditions which, sown by ignorance or carelessness, cover the works of great

masters with ugly superfetations, like thorns and nettles on the marbles of the Parthenon.’ ”

 

 

Google Books.

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, September 2023.