century? The two most beautiful specimens of a tarantella extantthose of Rossini and Auber-are actually pale by the side of that of the old master. Miss Goddard played it con amore. So swift were her fingers, so rapid was her execution, that it made one almost giddy to listen to it. But not only does she deserve praises for her mechanical dexterity her reading of the prelude of Bach, and the Caprice in E, by 1rofessor Sterndale Bennett, was equally to be commended. The latter composition, though beautiful in itself, is not calculated to produce a striking effect upon the audience. It must be regarded as a work for the orchestra with pianoforte “obbligato," rather than as a piece for brilliant display. The orchestra blends so happily with the solo instrument, that those who are in the habit of listening to the performer only, are naturally disappointed, and do not derive that pleasure from the performance which a concerto, or other composition consisting of different movements, would produce.-London Review, March 30. DRURY-LANE THEATRE.-A very attractive series of entertainments was given on Saturday night to a densely crowded house, for the benefit of Mr. Benedict, whose universally admired opera, The Lily of Killarney, was the principal feature of the bill. As the cast, with one exception (Mr. St. Albyn replacing Mr. Haigh in the part of Hardress Cregan), was the same as at the Royal English Opera-Misses Louisa Pyne, Susan Pyne, and Jessie M'Lean, Messrs. Harrison, Patey, Eugene Dussek, and Santley sustaining their original characters of Eily, Mrs. Cregan, Anne Chute, Myles-na-Coppaleen, Father Tom, Corrigan, and Danny Mann, and as the band and chorus, selected from the Covent-garden company, were directed by Mr. Alfred Mellon, it is enough to say that the performance was all that could be desired, and that the opera was listened to from beginning to end with the interest that never fails to attend a really genuine and beautiful work. Two pieces ("It is a charming girl I love," and "The Colleen Bawn"-Mr. Harrison and Mr. Santley) were encored; the "Cruiskeen Lawn" (Miss Louisa Pyne) was uproariously applauded; Mr. Benedict was twice called on; and the whole of the performers were summoned at the fall of the curtain. The Lily of Killarney was preceded by Mr. Howard Glover's charming operetta of Once Too Often, in which Mlle. Jenny Bauer, Miss Emma Heywood, Herr Reichardt, and Herr Formes, appeared as Blanche, Hortense, Marcillac and Pompernick. This, too, was received with extraordinary favour. The drunken scene of Herr Formes, with his quaint air, "The monks were jolly boys," raised general hilarity; Herr Reichardt was encored in the graceful romance, "A young and artless maiden," and Mlle. Jenny Bauer in the last movement of her scena, "The solemn words his lips have spoken "-Miss Emma Heywood narrowly escaping a similar compliment in "Love is a gentle thing," one of the most genial and attractive pieces in the operetta. At the end, in obedience to a unanimous demand, the curtain was raised again. After the opera Mr. and Mrs. Dion Boucicault appeared in The Dublin Boy, and kept the audience in high spirits until midnight-at which suggestive hour, almost to a minute, the curtain dropped for the last time. MARYLEBONE THEATRE.-Mr. J. H. Cave, the present manager of this remote theatre, is taking great pains to elevate its position. One of his achievements during the winter was an effective production of the Colleen Bawn, and recently he has engaged Mr. Benjamin Webster, who appears in the Dead Heart, one of the dramas in which his talents are most conspicuous. A large and commodious edifice, situated in a populous neighbourhood, it always seems strange that the Marylebone Theatre has not as yet attained a permanent celebrity. Under the successive managements of Mrs. Warner and Mr. J. W. Wallack attempts were made to convert it into a sort of north-western Sadler's Wells, with the legitimate drama as the staple attraction; and, though the efforts proved unsuccessful, they were far too creditable to meet with oblivion. Mr. Cave trics his fortune with the superior kind of melo-drama, supported by the best available talent. CRYSTAL PALACE.-A decision was arrived at on Tuesday by the Committee of the House of Commons sitting on the Railway Bills of Group 1, likely to exercise a beneficial effect on the future prospects of the Crystal Palace. The Chatham and Dover Railway Company have promoted a line starting from the junction of their Metropolitan and Victoria lines at Brixton, and proceeding through Peckham, Forest Hill, and Sydenham, up to the road front of the Crystal Palace, and the committee declared that, subject to the Brighton Company constructing a portion of the line, over which the other company is to have ample running powers, the bill should pass. This will give access to the Palace on a sufficiently high level to avoid the inconvenience caused by the present stairs, and as the new station-which is to be placed in Dulwich Wood, immediately opposite the Palace-will have platforms of nearly 1,000 feet in length, with wide covered lateral ap. proaches to the level of the lower floor of the building, it is obvious great public convenience will result from the additional means of access. As this line will also open up the Metropolitan (underground) railway by the intended bridge at Blackfriars, the Northern railways, the Metropolitan stations in Farringdon Street and in the New Road, will be in direct communication with the Palace. The chain of communication with the North London Railway by Kensington and Wandsworth is also fast approaching completion. Considerable works are being carried out at the Palace. The floors in the tropical and southern ends have been replaced with brick walls and piers round each flower-bed. A wide triple staircase has been erected, leading from the great transept to the basement, so that the crowds assembled on popular occasions, may escape from the building to the gardens, and vice versa, without inconvenience. The roof over the Great Handel Orchestra is being rapidly completed for the great musical celebration to be held during the coming season. Competent authorities predict that while the volume of sound will be enormously increased, quality and clearness will be even more remarkably enhanced. The demand for scats for the coming Festival being already considerably in excess of the Festivals of 1857 and 1859, contracts have been entered into for thousands of canebottomed chairs, as reserved seats, &c. A limited number of HalfGuinea Tickets will be issued on the 23rd of April. The great transept is nearly as large again as the transept of 1851 : an additional story is added to the garden front, and this, coupled with the magnificent site upon which the Palace stands, gives it incalculable advantages, and must tend to make it the constant resort of millions drawn to London by the International Exhibition. Great care and preparation is bestowed on the gardens within and without the Palace. Hanging baskets have been suspended along each side of the nave; the flowerbeds and walks on the terraces are being renovated with the greatest activity. The brilliant display of flowers in the upper gardens last year was the theme of general eulogium. The Directors having in view the anticipated great influx of visitors during the next six months, have decided upon issuing only one class of season tickets, viz., at one guinea each. These will be shortly ready for issue. The first great day of the season will be on Good Friday, when Sims Reeves, Mad. Rudersdorff, and other vocalists, will appear in a concert of sacred music. To afford every convenience to visitors arriving and departing, the doors will be opened at nine o'clock, and the Palace lighted up in the evening. As on Good Friday last year 50,912 persons visited the palace, when Sims Reeves also appeared, a great day is anticipated. BOOSEY'S QUICK-STEP JOURNAL. A great desideratum has been supplied by Messrs. Boosey and Sons, the music publishers by their issue of a series of "marching cards" for the use of volunteer bands. Each set is a complete score of two marches, for sixteen or more performers, and there are twelve sets published, constituting a repertoire of well-chosen quick-step tunes, all of a popular character, but all removed from the commonplace vulgarity of the organs and the peripatetic bands of Ethiopian minstrels. Instead of airs which have been so hackneyed as to have lost what little power of pleasing they may once have possessed, we have in this series a really good selection of national melodies, with a few importations from the light and spirited operatic music of Verdi and Flotow, and one or two of the very best of the "nigger tunes which are worth preserving from oblivion.-Daily Telegraph. HAMBURGH.-The lovers of music here enjoyed a rare treat a few days ago, thanks to Mlle. Felicita de Vestvali. This celebrated young lady, who reminds us forcibly of Alboni, possesses a voice unequalled for cultivation, compass and power. Seconded by an imposing personal appearance, she produces the most extraordinary effect, especially in the heroic line. The piece which pleased us most in the wellselected programme was the famous air, "Che faró senza Euridice ?”** "When I made up my mind," says Glück," to compose the operas of Orfeo and Alceste, it was my intention carefully to avoid all the abuses which the misplaced vanity of singers and the too yielding temper of composers had introduced into Italian opera, abuses which have degraded one of the most beautiful and magnificent dramas into one of the most wearisome and the most laughable. I endeavoured, therefore, to restore music to its true duty, namely, that of supportting the poetry, so as to strengthen the expression of the feelings and the interest of the situations, without interrupting the action, or disfiguring it by unnecessary ornamentation. I believed that music should be for poetry what liveliness of colouring and a happy mixture of light and shade are for a faultless and well-planned drawing, lending animation to the figures without disturbing the outline." (The prin To produce so overwhelming an effect by such simple means, says as much for the genius of the composer as it does honour to the talent of the executant. ciple suggested in the above words of the Chevalier Glück has been adopted at the present day-that is to say, after an interval of about a century-by R. Wagner, who has persistently carried it out, with what success we all know,) At the end of the concert, Mlle. Vestali gave the celebrated drinking song from Lucrezia Borgia in an inde scribably effective manner; indeed, we may fairly say that her talent is especially adapted for this style of composition. While tendering Mile. Vestvali our best thanks for the great treat she has afforded us, we seize the opportunity of informing all lovers of music that there is another treat in store for them in the course of next week,-Hamburgh Paper. Provincial. A correspondent writes from Hereford :-- · "Our ancient city was enlivened recently by two amateur concerts (morning and evening), under distinguished patronage, for the benefit of the cathedral organ fund. The band of the Wandering Minstrels' accepted the invitation of their brother amateurs of Hereford, and their united efforts were crowned with success. The programme was highly creditable to the taste of the conductor, and the performance was, by universal consent, placed quite out of the realms of adverse criticism. Among the pieces were Beethoven's Second Symphony; Mozart's Jupiter; Mendelssohn's Rondo Brillante; Meyerbeer's March, from the Prophète; and the overtures to Guillaume Tell, Masaniello, Fra Diavolo, and La Gazza Ladra. Ernst's Elegie, 'Let the bright seraphim (trumpet obbligato), and several vocal compositions by Handel, Spohr, Meyerbeer, Rossini, &c., &c., were admirably given by Miss Huntingford, the Misses Philips, Mrs. Cooper, Master Caldicott, Mr. Barnby, Mr. Carpenter, the Rev. W. Duncombe, the Rev. J. Goss, the Rev. F. Havergall, the Rev. Sir J. Gore Ouseley, Bart., Master Thomas, the lay clerks of the Cathedral, and members of the Hereford Choral Society. The soloists were-Pianoforte, the Rev. J. Capel Hanbury; Violin, the Hon. Seymour Egerton; Flute, Captain Le Patourel; Cornet and Trumpet, Mr. A. B. Mitford; Violoncello, Lord Gerald Fitzgerald, whose solos were rapturously received. The concerts were ably conducted by the Hon. S. Grey Egerton, and the results must have been very satisfactory to the committee. Letters to the Editor. Sir,-The young English Composer, Arthur Seymour Sullivan, whose music for Shakspeare's Tempest was so favourably noticed in The Times of Monday, was a chorister in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, at the time he was chosen Mendelssohn Scholar; he then studied for two years at the Royal Academy of Music, and was afterwards sent to the Conservatorium, Leipsic. He entered the Chapels Royal in April, 1854, and left in June, 1857; and it seems just to the oldest school of English composers that this fact should not be wholly ignored in any notice of his educational career. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, EVA Other Arrangements in the Press. London: ADDISON, HOLLIER & LUCAS, 210 Regent Street 4 0 VANS'S ENGLISH HARMONIUMS for Cottages, Schools, Drawing Rooms, Churches, Literary and other public Institutions, are made in every possible variety at prices from 6 to 140 guineas. The Manufacturers have to announce the complete success of a New Patent Self-Acting Blowing Machine, the only self-acting blower that has ever succeeded, which may be seen in operation at Holles Street daily. The most distinguished living musicians, including Balfe, Sterndale Bennett, Cipri ani Potter, Best, Henry Sinart, &c., have testified to the extraordinary merits of Evans's Harmoniums. See testimonials attached to Illustrated Catalogues of Harmoniums, to be had gratis of the Manufacturers, BOOSEY & CHING, 24 Holles Street, London, W. VANS'S ENGLISH MODEL HARMONIUM, with combines every modern improvement. The most beautiful and varied orchestral effects can be produced upon this instrument, which possesses every gradation of tone from the greatest power to the most delicate piano pieces. The English Model Harmonium is managed with that facility which characterises all Evans's Harmoniums, and is equally effective both in the drawing room and church. EVA BOOSEY & CHING, Manufacturers, 24 Holles Street, London, W. VANS'S PEDAL HARMONIUMS, with independent Pedal Reeds, can be had either with a single or double row of keys, at prices from £51 to 130 Guineas; also with the new patent self-acting blowing inachine. ABOOSEY & CHING, Manufacturers, 24 Holles Street, London, W. MESSRS. CRAMER, BEALE & WOOD'S NEW AND POPULAR PUBLICATIONS. ASHDOWN & PARRY'S RECENT PUBLICATIONS. PIANOFORTE. BEETHOVEN The Dream of St. Jerome. KUHE-GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. Grand Brilliant Price 2s. 6d. ASHDOWN & PARRY, 18 Hanover Square. YANZ. ASHDOWN & PARRY, 18 Hanover Square. Gavotte in G Minor, and Musette in G GA QUI VIVE! Grand Galop de Concert, performed by CHARLES HALLE. Price 1s. 6d. Sarabande in E Minor, Passapied in E Major, and Gavotte in Price 4s. played by the Composer with extraordinary success. GOLLMI Price 3s. Ye Whittington Polka (Illustrated). Price 38. Price 4s. -- Grand Galop de Concert. ASHDOWN & PARRY, 18 Hanover Square. YDNEY SMITH.—LA HARPE EOLIENNE. with unabated success. Price 4s. H. W. GOODBAN. ROSALIE, THE PRAIRIE FLOWER. Price 3s. Old England Quadrilles (Illustrated). RICARDO LINTER. - TALLY HO! Fantasia (à la Price 4s. Old Scotland Quadrilles (Illustrated). Price 4s. VOCAL MUSIC. Price 4s. RUMMEL - Price 38. RUMMEL. SOLITUDE. ASHDOWN & PARRY, 18 Hanover Square. DOUARD DE PARIS.-MEZZANOTTE. Fantasia & WOOD, CRAMER, BEALE 199 AND 201 REGENT STREET; PIANOFORTE GALLERY, 207 AND 209 REGENT STREET.) LONDON: ASHDOWN & PARRY. "In the composition of this unaffected and graceful trio (which is inscribed to those excellent professors of the vocal art, Sig. and Mad. Ferrari), Mr. Randegger has shown not only the melodic gift, and the knowledge of how to write effectively for voices, but a thorough proficiency in the art of combination, and, as it were, a dramatic spirit, which might win favour for an opera from his pen. Each voice (tenor, basso and soprano), in the order in which they enter, has an effective solo, followed by an ensemble (or 'tutti') for the three voices in the major key (the trio begins in C minor), the whole terminating with a coda, sotto voce,' the effect of which, if smoothly rendered by three good singers, must be as charming as it is new. The more of such 'terzettinos' the better."-MUSICAL WORLD. London: DUNCAN DAVISON & Co., 244 Regent Street, W. 66 AIRS, BALLADS, &c. IN THE OPERETTA NEW AND REVISED EDITION. Price 12s. THE VOICE AND SINGING. "The Formation and Cultivation of the Voice for Singing.' BY ADOLFO FERRARI. London: Duncan Davison & Co., 244 Regent Street. "The great and deserved success of this work has brought it, in no long time, to a second edition, carefully revised, and enriched with a number of additional exercises which greatly increase its value. "Since its first publication this book has met with general acceptance, and is now used as a vade-mecum by many of the most eminent and intelligent vocal instructors both ONCE TOO OFTEN." in the metropolis and the provinces. We say vocal instructors, because it is only to "Mr. Glover's operetta is a decided, and, what is better, a legitimate, 'hit.' The songs before us have already attained a well-merited popularity. The monks were jolly boys' is as racy as the best of the old English ditties, harmonised with equal quaintness and skill, and thoroughly well suited to the voice of Herr Formes. • The love you've slighted still is true' (for Mile. Jenny Baur) has a melody of charming freshness. Not less a model ballad in its way is A young and artless maiden' (for Herr Reichardt), which sets out with an elegantly melodious phrase. Perhaps more to our liking, however, than any of the foregoing, excellent and genuine as they are, is 'Love is a gentle thing' (for Miss Emma Heywood), which enters the more refined regions of the ballad-school, and attains an expression as true as it is graceful. The opening holds out a promise which the sequel entirely fulfils."-Musical World. London: DUNCAN DAVISON & Co., 244 Regent Street, W. Just published, price 3s., instructors that works of this class can be of material use. Singing is not an art which can be learned by solitary study with the help of books, and those who are self-taught (as it is called) are always badly taught. But a good treatise, in which the principles and rules of the art, founded on reason and experience, are clearly expressed, is of infinite value, first to instructors, in assisting them to adopt a rational and efficient method of teaching, and next to pupils themselves, in constantly reminding them of, and enabling them to profit by, the lessons of their master. In both these ways Signor Ferrari's work has been found pre-eminently useful. "The foundation of singing is the formation of the voice. A bad voice cannot be made a good one; but the most mediocre voice may be made a source of pleasure both to its possessor and to others. Accordingly, ample dissertations on the formation of the voice abound in our treatises on singing. But it unfortunately happens that these dis. sertations are more calculated to perplex than to enlighten the reader. We could refer to well-known works by professors of singing of great and fashionable name, in which the rules for the formation of the voice are propounded with such a parade of science. and with descriptions of the vocal organs so minute and so full of Greek anatomical terms, that no unlearned reader can possibly understand them. Signor Ferrari (as he tells us) was brought up to the medical profession before, following the bent of his inclination, he betook himself to the study of music. But this circumstance, while it made him acquainted with the physical construction of the human organs of sound, has not led him into the common error of displaying superfluous learning. We have not a word about the glottis' or the 'trachæa,' but we have a broad principle distinctly enunciated, and intelligible to everybody. "Signor Ferrari's principle is of the simplest kind. Every one,' he says, 'who can speak may sing. The only difference between speaking and singing is, that in speaking we strike the sound impulsively and immediately leave it, whereas in singing we have to sustain the sound with the same form of articulation with which we struck it impulsively.' It is on this principle that Signor Ferrari's practical rules for the formation, and cultivation of the voice are based. To give the pupil a sufficient control of the breath for the utterance of prolonged sounds-to soften the harshness and increase the strength and equality of the natural tones of the voice, without ever forcing it-these are the objects of the scales and exercises on sustained sounds, which must be practised under the careful superintendence of the teacher, whose assistance Signor Ferrari always holds to be indispensable. "Signor Ferrari makes an observation which, as far as we are aware, is new. It is evidently well founded, and of great importance. Owing to the want of attention to the tone in which children speak, they acquire bad habits, and contract a habitual tone which is mistaken for their natural voice. It is a result of this neglect, he says, that 'the young ladies of the present day speak in a subdued, muffled tone, or what may be called a demi-falsetto, in consequence of which very few natural voices are heard.' Hence a young lady, when she begins to sing, frequently continues to use this habitual 'The result is,' says Signor Ferrari, 'that not only does she never sing well, tone. NEW Melodia. Musica di E. MECATTI. London: DUNCAN DAVISON & Co., 244 Regent Street, W. stances injures her chest. Indeed,' he adds, 'I have no hesitation in saying that hundreds of young ladies bring upon themselves serious chest affections from a bad habit of speaking and singing.' Signor Ferrari afterwards shows how this great evil may be cured by making the pupil read or recite passages in a deep tone, as though engaged in earnest conversation; and he adds, I cannot advise too strongly the greatest attention to the free and natural development of the lower tones of the voice. It is to the stability of the voice what a deep foundation is to the building of a house.' Signor Ferrari deprecates, as fatal errors, the custom of practising songs or solfeggio with florid passages before the voice is sufficiently cultivated. He is of opinion that young ladies ought to begin the study of singing at thirteen or fourteen, and not, as is generally done, at seventeen or eighteen, by which time they ought to be good singers. In regard to the important question how long the pupil ought to practise, he observes that this will depend on the acquisition of a proper method. The more a pupil practises with an improper intonation the worze, but once able to sing with a natural tone, he may practise two, three, or more hours a day without danger. All Signor Ferrari's precepts are of the same sound and rational character. "The exercises, embracing the scales, and all the various passages which belong to modern melody, are sufficiently copious and admirably adapted to their purpose. In the original publication these exercises were confined to the soprano, or the corresponding male voice, the tenor. But in this new and revised edition a number of exercises are added for contralto or barytone voices-a very great addition to the value of the work."-Illustrated News, April 5. LONDON: DUNCAN DAVISON & CO., 244 Regent Street, W. HAND-BOOKS FOR THE OPERA. BOOSEY & SONS Beg to announce that, owing to the Repeal of the Paper Duty, and the increased facilities that now exist in the Printing of Music, they are enabled to issue the whole of their well-known Series of Operas, for Voice and Pianoforte, at a reduction of 50 per cent. from the prices at which they were originally published. The Operas are perfectly complete, with the whole of the Recitatives, &c., in two Languages, and are bound in Limp Cloth, so as to form Portable Companions to the Theatre. 9 0 MOZART'S FIGARO (English and Italian Words) - BELLINI'S SONNAMBULA (English and Italian Words) - 6 0 WEBER'S DER FRIESCHUTZ (English and German Words) DONIZETTI'S LUCREZIA ROSSINI'S IL BARBIERE (English and Italian Words) GLUCK'S IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS (English and French Words) BOOSEY & SONS, HOLLES STREET, LONDON. Printed by GEORGE ANDREW SPOTTISWOODE, of No. 12 James Street, Buckingham Gate, in the Parish of St. Margaret, in the City of Westminster, at No. 5 New-street Square in the Parish of St. Bride, in the City of London. Published by JOHN BOOSEY, at the Office of BoosEY & SONS, 28 Holles Street.-Saturday, April 12, 1862. |