wrote "La Calunnia") with spirited emphasis, the latter by Sig. Bettini, who had the good taste not to reject the one air allotted by Mozart to the cunning music-master, and by the great majority of singers too frequently omitted. The band, under the careful and thoroughly competent guidance of Sig. Arditi-in spite of many of the pieces, including the overture, being taken too quick, and some few too slow-performed its duties with great efficiency, an occasional "piano" (it would be too much to ask for a "pianissimo ") being pretty nearly all that was wanting. About the mise en scène there is nothing particular to say. The attractions of Mozart's music are, it may be presumed, so powerful that they stand in no need of extraneous aid; at least, such would seem to be the conclusion occasionally arrived at. All shortcomings, nevertheless, allowed for, the revival of Le Nozze di Figaro at Her Majesty's Theatre may fairly be recorded as one of the most interesting musical events of this unprecedentedly busy

season.

On Tuesday the Nozze di Figaro was repeated.

On Wednesday Don Giovanni, with Mlle. Carlotta Marchisio (for the third time) as Donna Anna.

On Thursday Semiramide-for the last time this season.
On Friday a morning performance of Il Trovatore,
To-night Robert le Diable.

Besides Sig. Schira's new opera (Nicolo de' Lapi), a cantata, the composition of Sig. Giuglini, is in preparation, the latter to be performed at the popular tenor's benefit.

Concerts.

MR. ARTHUR NAPOLEON gave a concert at the Hanover Square Rooms, on Thursday morning, June 26th. The pianoforte performances were necessarily the most important features of the programme. These included Beethoven's trio for piano, violin, and violoncello; Mendelssohn and Moscheles' grand duo on Preciosa for two pianofortes; fantasia on the Ballo in Maschera, the composition of Mr. Arthur Napoleon; and several solos. The remarkable talent of the young "virtuoso was never rendered more conspicuous. Not only did his playing evidence that rapidity of finger and brilliancy of execution to which his childhood pointed, but a genuine feeling for the beauties of the classic school, as was manifested in Beethoven's trio, which, by the way, with the assistance of Herr Pollitzer and M. Paque, was a really masterly performance. The fantasia on airs from the Ballo in Maschera exhibited Mr. Arthur Napoleon as a composer almost in as conspicuous a light as a manipulator. In the duet for two pianofortes, by Mendelssohn and Moscheles, Herr Pauer presided at the second piano, and the performance of that brilliant piece was admirable. A violoncello solo by M. Paque, a harp solo by Mr. Aptommas, and a violin solo by Herr Pollitzer, were the other instrumental performances. The vocalists were the Sisters Marchisio, Mlle. Parepa, Mad. Letizia Borgognoni, Mad. Nita Norrie, M. Gassier, Sigs. Bettini and Zucchini. The Sisters Marchisio created the usual sensation in the duet, "Deh! con te (Norma), and Sig. Bettini gave the charming romanza, “Una furtiva lagrima," from the Elisir d'Amore, with genuine taste. Herr Wilhelm Ganz, Messrs. John Wilson and Land, were the conductors.

MAD. JAMES DRYDEN gave a soirée musicale at the Beethoven Rooms, Harley Street, on Thursday, the 19th ult. The lady is a clever pianist and harpist, and no indifferent singer, and in all three capacities she signalised herself on the evening in question, and showed excellent judgment by suiting her performances to her talents. For her instrumental share of the programme she selected De Beriot and Fauconier's Duo for piano and violin, played with Herr Deichmann; and for solos, Grand Valse, by Chopin, for the pianoforte, and Labarre's Fantaisie on Irish airs, for the harp. Her vocal contributions comprised, duet, "Oh! di quale onta," from Nabucco, with Mr. Theodore Distin; Kücken's duet, "The dawn of day so early," with Miss Topham; and Rossini's trio, "La Carita" (without chorus, and consequently shorn of its strength), with Mlle. de Villar and Miss Topham. Miss Rose Hersée's singing of Mr. Wallace's ballad, "When the elves at eve do pass," and the cavatina, Com'è bello," from Lucrezia Borgia, is entitled to special distinction among the vocal performances.

THE MATINÉE MUSICALE OF HERR LEHMEYER date, Thursday, June 26-is particularly noticeable for the classic taste which pervaded the programme. Beethoven's sonata in G major, Op. 30, for pianoforte and violin; the same composer's Grand Trio in B flat, Op. 97, for pianoforte, violin and violoncello; Mendelssohn's Lieder Ohne Worte, Books 6, Nos. 4 and 6; and Moscheles and Mendelssohn's "Grand Duo e Variazioni" for two pianofortes, were the instrumental features, Herr Lehmeyer having for his assistants M. Kettenus (violin), M.

66

Paque (violoncello), and Herr Nicholas Rubinstein (piano). In point of execution the duet of Moscheles and Mendelssohn decidedly carried away the palm. In addition, Herr Lehmeyer performed his own Impromptu "The Mariner's Hymn," and "Serenade Turc," Chopin's Berceuse," and Henselt's "La Fontaine." Also a solo on the harp was played by Signor Bellotta, who showed a good harp with good strings. The vocal music was well chosen, and, the singers being Miss Anna Whitty, Miss Augusta Thomson, Miss Eleanora Wilkinson, and Mr. Tennant, could not fail to prove most acceptable. Miss Anna Whitty-the young lady with the immense provincial reputation-sang the romance from Otello and the rondo finale from Cenerentola, thus showing that at all events she would wish to be thought a Rossinian singer. Miss Augusta Thomson aspires higher than Miss Whitty by some half-octave, and would fain be chronicled as a brilliant bravura singer. Both ladies may be fairly said to have accomplished their desires. The new song of Sig. Pinsuti, "Hast thou no tear for me? was very neatly sung by Mr. Tennant, for whom it was expressly written. Mr. Wilhelm Ganz presided at the pianoforte.

SIG. AND MAD. FERRARI'S second reception, at their handsome residence, Gloucester Terrace, was, if possible, more fully and fashionably attended than the first. The attraction was the performance of the Cambridge "Installation Ode," composed by Professor Sterndale Bennett. Mlle. Titiens, who sang the soprano part at Cambridge, was to have undertaken it on the present occasion, but at the last moment an apology, on the score of illness, arrived, and Mad. Ferrari, with the talent she is so well known to possess, undertook the arduous task of singing the part, à livre ouvert, and accomplished it in a manner that must have fully satisfied the composer, who presided at the pianoforte, as it did the audience, who rewarded the efforts of the fair vocalist with enthusiastic applause. Mr. Wilbye Cooper, who had already sung the tenor part with Mlle. Titiens at Cambridge, acquitted himself with his accustomed ability, and gained universal credit by the way in which he gave the air "Can we forget one friend?" The chorus, under the able superintendence of Mr. King, consisted of some of the best members of Mr. Leslie's choir, and several of Sig. and Mad. Ferrari's pupils; we need hardly say that they performed their allotted task admirably. Besides the " Installation Ode," there were vocal and instrumental contributions by several distinguished artists, among whom we may cite Mlle. Guerrabella, who sang "Bel raggio" (Semiramide) capitally; Mad. Ferrari, who gave Herr Ascher's "Alice, where art thou?" with great effect; Mr. Wilbye Cooper, whose singing of Sig. Ferrari's admired serenade, "Vieni, vieni," was everything that could be desired; and Mr. Tennant, who created a marked sensation by his admirable singing of the new song, composed for him by Sig. Pinsuti, entitled "Hast thou no tear for me?" The most attractive instrumental performances were those of Mlle. Schiller, in a sonata of Beethoven, which she played faultlessly; and Herr Ascher, in the transcription of his romance "Alice," and in his "Danse Nègre," both of which are strong pieces, and were stoutly played. A duet by Degola, sung by Sig. and Mad. Ferrari, was one of the decided features of the performance.

HERR WILHELM KUHE'S ANNUAL CONCERT-almost invariably an entertainment on a monster scale-given on Thursday, the 26th ult., at St. James's Hall, was this year as lengthy and important as ever. With all its "monsterivity"-as the facetious writer in the Sunday Times might term it-and its mixed miscellaneous character, Herr Kühe did not forget his classical reputation, but recommended it strongly by Dussek's sonata in B flat for pianoforte and violin, in which he had the good fortune to be joined by that great master of his instrument, M. Sainton. As may be supposed, Herr Kühe was not undesirous to show his patrons how well he could compose as well as how well he could play; and, accordingly, he introduced and performed his own fantasia on "God save the Queen," entitled "Victoria,” and his solo, "Hommage à Meyerbeer," and manifestly afforded high satisfaction, both as creator and executioner. Herr Kühe, moreover, played Chopin's Nocturne and Valse; M. Sainton contributed his own fantasia on Scotch airs, and Mr. Aptommas a harp solo. The vocal music was in excess. It was intrusted to Mesdames Guerrabella, Lemmens-Sherrington, Steele, Sainton-Dolby, Vestvali, Fraulein Leibhart; Mr. Tennant, Herr Reichardt, and Herr Formes. We do not intend to take an account of the various performances of these artists, in which there was nothing either new or unexpected, as may be gathered from there being no encores. The conductors were Messrs. Benedict and Francesco Berger.

A GRAND EVENING CONCERT was given at St. James's Hall, on Tuesday evening, June 24th, in aid of the funds of the 29th North Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, under the most high and noble patronage. The following artists appeared:-The "Sisters Marchisio," Miss Stabbach, Mlle. Gcorgi, Messrs. Allan Irving, Ramsden, Moss and Winn, as vocalists; and Miss Cecilia Summerhayes and Mr. Henry Baumer

"The Formation and Cultivation of the Voice for Singing.'

"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 in the metropolis and the provinces. We say vocal instructors, because it is only to 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 selftaught (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 dissertations 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. Everyone,' 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,

tone.

"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 an 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, but soon begins to sing out of tune, and finally loses her voice, and in too many instances 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 worse; 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.

THE AIRS, BALLADS, FANTASIAS, QUADRILLES,

WALTZES, &c. IN THE OPERETTA OF

ONCE TOO OFTEN.”

› COMPOSED BY HOWARD Glover.

Performed with the greatest success at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

...

...

...

"Oh! Glorious Age of Chivalry." Duet. Sung by Mlle. JENNY BAUR and Miss EMMA HEYWOOD 4s. Od. "The Solemn Words his Lips have spoken." Grand Air. Sung by Mlle. JENNY BAUR "The Love you've slighted." Ballad. Sung by Mlle. JENNY BAUR "Stratagem is Woman's Power." Ballad. Sung by Miss EMMA HEYWOOD "Love is a gentle Thing." Ballad. Sung by Miss EMMA HEYWOOD "A Young and Artless Maiden." Romance. Sung by Herr REICHARDT "There's Truth in Woman still." Romance. Sung by Herr REICHARDT "The Monks were Jolly Boys." Ballad. Sung by Herr FORMES "In my Chateau of Pomperiik." Aria Buffa. Sung by Herr FORMES

4s. 6d. 2s. 6d.

2s. 6d. 2s. 6d.

FANTASIAS, QUADRILLES AND WALTZES. Brinley Richards' Fantasia, on " Once too Often "... Emile Berger's Fantasia, on " Once too Often " "Fontainbleau Quadrille," by Strauss. (Handsomely Illustrated in Colours) 4s. Od. "La Belle Blanche Waltz," ditto 4s. Od. "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.