She Also Possesses The Most Amiable Qualities Of
The Heart, And Is Universally Beloved And Respected For The Worth Of Her
Private Character, And For Her Generous Disposition.
She has all the
vivacity of intellect belonging to youth, tho' now nearly eighty-six years
of age,[111] and of a very delicate physical constitution; in short she
affords, and I often tell her so, the most striking proof of the
immortality of the soul.
There is a conversazione at her house twice a
week, where you meet with foreign as well as Italian litterati, and
persons of distinction of all nations, tongues and languages. Her eldest
daughter, Mme D'Orfei, is an excellent improvisatrice, and has frequently
given us very favourable specimens of the inspiration which breathes itself
in her soul. I have likewise witnessed the talent of two very extraordinary
improvisatori, the one a young girl of eighteen years of age, by name
Rosa Taddei. She is the daughter of the proprietor of the Teatro della
Valle at Rome, and sometimes performs herself in dramatic pieces; yet,
strange to say, tho' she is an admirable improvisatrice and possesses a
thorough classic and historical knowledge, she is but an indifferent
actress.
It is a great shame that her father obliges her to act on the stage in very
inferior parts, when she ought only to exhibit on the tripod. I assisted at
an Accademia given by her one evening at the Teatro della Valle, when
she improvised on the following subjects, which were proposed by various
members of the audience:
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