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112 ANNALS OF THE
nambula," he reached F sharp in alt with great ease,
singing the scena in D natural as written by Bellini.
The voice was also capable of much dramatic power ;
indeed the general impression prevailed that Rubini was
matchless, and that years might elapse before another
could approach him. The star, however, appeared, and
only those who then heard Mario, and witnessed
the occasion, can judge of the effect. There is possibly
no position in the lyric world which requires so many
qualities combined in a single individual as a perfect
Italian tenor. Of course the same will apply to an
English artist ; but it cannot be denied that the language
of Italy is peculiarly adapted to musical sounds. Well,
all the various talents necessary to make perfection were
concentrated in Mario, with one trifling exception
(which he always tried to overcome by high-heeled boots),
he was slightly below the standard in stature. In every
other respect perfection is not too strong a word to apply
to him. With an appearance of the most manly beauty,
he possessed a grace of form and a fascination of manner
which made him the " observed of all observers." An
artist as well as a nobleman by nature, he studied costume
to a degree, and in all his characters was most exact in
this particular, to the very " buckle of his shoe." The
sound of his marvellous voice (he used the chest-voice more
than Rubini) still lingers in our ears. The quality, the high
training, the exquisite
timbre shall we ever hear the
like again ? And as an actor, fortunately many well re-
member his Raoul in "The Huguenots," in which it
would be difficult to say which was the better, the acting