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ROBERT COCKS & CO,'S

LIST OF NEW MUSIC.

WARBLINGS AT DAWN (BY BRINLEY RICHARDS),

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price a companion to the well-known Warblings at Eve,' by the same writer, is an exceedingly graceful composition for the Pianoforte, abounding in brilliant passages, which are always effective, without taxing the powers of execution too highly, and written with the skillfulness for which Mr. Richards stands so conspicuous among modern pianoforte writers." —The Welshman, Aug. 15.

THE
THE DUNDREARY QUADRILLE. -By STEPHEN

GLOVER, Piano Solo, Illustrated, 4s.; Duet, 4s.

"We predict for the Dundreary Quadrille a growing popularity. His Lordship presents himself in full on the title page, and claims attention."-Scottish Press.

W

VINCENT WALLACE.- For Piano, "SOUVENIR des INDES ORIENTALES," Melodie, from the Burlington Album, 3s. "Blue bells of Scotland," solo, 3s.; duet, 4s. "Ye banks and braes," solo, 3s.; duet, 4s. "Twilight romance," 2s. "Fading away," 3s. "Annie Laurie," 2s. 6d. "Rosebud polka," 2s. 6d. "Home, sweet home," 3s. "Robin Adair," 4s. Croyez-moi," 2s. 6d.

Catalogue of his most recent works, gratis and post free. London: ROBERT COCKS & Co., New Burlington Street, W., and 4 Hanover Street, W.

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FIRST CLASS MUSICAL BUSINESS FOR SALE.

A GENTLEMAN, who is about removing to London,

wishes to dispose of his Practice, which is the best in one of the most important towns in the kingdom. Any one competent to take an Organist's place in a Church, and a Conductor's in a large Choral Society, will likely obtain both these appointments. All communications to be addressed to X. Y. Z., care of Mr. Metzler, 37 Great Marlborough Street, W., without delay, as haste is necessary to prepare for the winter campaign.

To save trouble, none need apply without having the command of £300.

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"Oh! Glorious Age of Chivalry." Duet For Soprano and Contralto "The Solemn Words his Lips have spoken." Grand Air. For Soprano... "The Love you've slighted still is true." 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 Pompernik." Aria Buffa. Sung by Herr FORMES

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

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"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 Mlle. 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.

THE

MEYERBEER.

HE FOLLOWING COMPOSITIONS, by this eminent Composer, are published by DUNCAN DAVISON & Co.:

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MUSIC IN BERLIN. (From our own Correspondent.)

In

"HERE we are again!" to use the words with which our friend the Clown generally greets us at Christmas, immediately after he has cast off the costume of the wicked baron, the robes of the tyrannic king, or the pinafore of the good-for-nothing pet of a doating mother. As it is not indispensable for me to inquire "how you are to-morrow," or to assert that "I have lost a fourpenny-bit and found a farden," I shall not make further use of the rather eccentric phraseology affected by our sausage-stealing acquaintance, but content myself with the above specimen. By the way, what a glaring inconsistency it appears for anxious mothers and right-minded fathers to go on, year after year, taking their offspring to witness the misdeeds of the same hero of pantomime; for, after all, the Clown is the real hero of that timehonoured entertainment, and quite takes the shine out of Harlequin's spangles, however multifarious and brilliant they may be. Young Master Jacky is, as a rule, carefully trained up in the way he should go; he is taught that it is shameful not to speak, under all circumstances, and on all occasions, the truth; he is continually reminded that one of the first duties of every individual, be he a chimney-sweep or a manager of a bank of deposit, is to distinguish scrupulously between meum and tuum; and yet we take him, every Christmas, to laugh till his sides ache at the Clown's falsehoods, and scream with delight at that immoral individual's atrocious larcenies. fact, after scrupulously training the young olive-branches for the greater portion of the year in principles of the strictest virtue, we hold up before their eyes, for about six weeks at Christmas, the most unmitigated course of barefaced swindling and unblushing peculation, to which we may add a slight touch of murder - for how often does the Clown, with the most perfect impartiality and indifference, kill innocent babies, and slaughter unoffending policemen?-I say, we hold up all this before their eyes as something exceedingly funny, and as it is highly popular- of course, not in the least deserving of reprobation. I could dilate at great length upon this subject, and suggest, I believe, very valuable hints to the writers of pantomime, as to the advisability of making the Clown a moral character, but, in the first place, I have not the time, and, in the next, you might, perhaps, object to allow me the necessary space in your columns. I will, therefore, at once, rein in my fancy and leave the realms of speculation for the domain of fact. "Here we are again!" This phrase is meant to convey to you in a playful manner the intelligence that the Royal Opera House has flung open its doors after the annual recess, and that music once more reigns triumphant where, but lately, silence divided the sovereignty with darkness and gloom. The work selected to inaugurate the season was Herr Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser. It strikes me that the management might have selected something better, but they did not. The house was well filled, but it would have been quite as full, I believe, if nothing at all had been performed, for the audience was composed mostly of strangers to Berlin, who would have gone merely to see the interior of the building, before they left the Prussian capital, of which the Opera House is one of the chief lions. Foreigners and country friends flock, after five o'clock P.M., at present, to the reading-room of the British Museum, when they know they can read nothing, not even the titles on the backs of the books; then why should not they, on the same principle, visit the Opera House here, even though there were no opera to be heard? That Tannhäuser was not the great attraction is proved, I think, by the fact that only a few Berliners were present. But they, of course, had already seen the Royal box and admired the chandelier. The performance was not marked by any great novelty; the sole novelty, in fact, being the appearance of Mlle. Mik as Venus. This young lady, who is now a permanent member of the company, made the most of the part, and was rewarded by a goodly amount of applause. She had, however, a better chance of displaying her talent on the next evening of performance, when she sustained the part of Alice in Robert le Diable. Although the music lies very high for a mezzo-soprano, she managed to surmount, with great skill, all the difficulties of her task, and was deservedly called forward, before the fall of the curtain, after the grand scene in the third act. The other principal characters in Tannhäuser were well supported by Herren Ferenczy, Betz, Bost, Fricke, Krüger, Mesdames De Ahna and Zschiesche, while those in Meyerbeer's chef-d'œuvre found able representatives in Herren Woworsky, Krüger and Fricke. Robert is one of Herr Woworsky's best assumptions. The introductory solo to the "Sicilienne" especially-a difficult piece for any singer- -was given by him with great fluency and finish, the falsetto being employed with great adroitness. A young lady of the name of Antonini made her début as Isabella. Her voice, as is the case with most bravura

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singers, is small and flexible, but, unfortunately, not possessed of much resonance. Unlike the wine which Captain Marryat's Pacha praised so much, and insisted on ordering for his private consumption, heedless of the interdict of the Prophet Mahomet, and ignorant of the fact of what was contained in the cask, it has but little "body," and, at the least attempt of the vocalist to swell it out, begins to tremble and finally breaks down. In the piano-I might almost say the pianissimo-alone, is it soft and pleasing. On the other hand, it is indisputable that Mlle. Antonini has studied assiduously, and profited by her studies. Her scales, from C to the high D, are fluent and easy; her bravura, legato as well as staccato, is pure and correct; and her shake, even upon the high C, round and brilliant. From want of the requisite natural powers, the famous air, "Robert, toi que j'aime,” was almost an impossibility for the débutante. She was, however, very nervous, and the audience, taking this into consideration, were very indulgent. Future performances will enable me to judge with greater certainty whether Mile. Antonini. is competent to take her place as a regular member of the company. She received her musical education in Paris, and is a living proof that even Parisian singing masters tax the voice too much, and, while imparting to it a pleasing facility of execution, deprive it of most of its originally full tone. Mlle. Lucca made her reappearance in Il Trovatore, and was warmly encored by the audience. She has been singing during the recess at Breslau and Vienna. It was in the latter capital, by the way, that she commenced her artistic career as a member of the chorus.

The other operas represented since the beginning of the season have been Der Freischütz and Le Prophète. In the former work, Mlle. Mik appeared as Agathe not a very advantageous part for a mezzosoprano. Taken all in all, however, it was effectively rendered. Mlle. Zschiesche was the Aennchen, the character in which she made her début here, and which she gave fluently and correctly. In the Prophète, Mlle. Lucca's Bertha was a brilliant sample of artistic singing, while the Fides of Mlle. De Ahna improves with every performance. Herr Ferenczy is evidently devoting himself with praiseworthy perseverance to a conscientious study of his art, and although he is still incapable of employing his sonorous voice as advantageously as he might employ it, and still deficient in ease, he is a welcome auxiliary for the repertory of grand opera. Although, too, not yet competent to take the first place, he is an excellent reserve-tenor.

Meyerbeer's Feldlager in Schlesien will shortly be reproduced by royal command. Mlle. Lucca will sustain the part of Vielka; Herr Krüger, that of Conrad; and Herr Fricke, that of Captain Saldorf.

The little violinists, the two sisters Delepierre, are still playing at the Friedrich-Wilhelmstadt Theatre. The other attraction is Offenbach's operetta, M. et Mad. Denis, which has already been played seventeen or eighteen times.

An opera by Lortzing, never previously performed here, has been produced at the Kroll's Theatre. It is called Die Rolands-Knappen, and is in three acts, the libretto being founded upon a fairy story by Musäus. In a time so unproductive of really sterling musical works as the present is in Germany, it was natural that an unknown opera by Lortzing should excite the curiosity, or rather, the interest, of the public, but I do not think Die Rolands-Knappen will contribute much to increase his reputation in Berlin. The work was composed, unless I am very much mistaken, for the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, at which Lortzing was conductor in 1846 and 1847. It was performed there, and in Leipsic, some few times, and then taken out of the bills. Lortzing's operas succeed principally by an adroit employment of stage effects, and by comic situations and characters, coloured musically in an easily intelligible and popular manner; the vocal element occupies only a very secondary place, so that good actors with only tolerable voices are far more needed for his operas, than good singers possessing really fine voices, but deficient in histrionic ability. Vienna, however, always expects in opera singing good artistic singing; while, provided the ear be satisfied, the Viennese will put up with a vast amount of stiffness and awkwardness in the way of acting. For this reason everyone at all acquainted with operatic matters in Vienna knew very well beforehand that, although not writing for the Imperial theatres, but simply for a theatre in the suburbs, Lortzing would not hold his position with the Viennese public for any length of time. I have been informed by a friend, who was present on the occasion, that this fact could not be disguised even the evening of the first performance of Der Waffenschmidt, despite the kindness the audience manifested to the composer of Czaar Zimmermann. Whoever had seen what feverish enthusiasm the Viennese displayed a short time previously at the Italian Opera, when Verdi's Ernani was given for the twentieth time that season, appreciated at their proper value the numberless recalls with which Lortzing was overwhelmed. It became evident only too soon to this

und

modest and genuinely German composer that he had made a great mistake. Die Rolands-Knappen is an opera which bears the unmistakeable stamp of the theatre for which it was intended; a fairy subject, such as is always popular there, worked up in a superficial clumsy manner, into a libretto; light, singable music, without originality or the slightest unity of style, occasionally reminding one of Mozart, but mostly of the modern school of Italian Opera; and a strain of comic interest, after the exact pattern of the Viennese local farces. Such are the component parts of this production. Wherever Lortzing's more sterling works are known and appreciated, this opera will never prove successful. It does not contain a single number which will live. It is true that the whole is put together with considerable skill, but it appears to have been written by the composer without any real love for the task-as if, indeed, he had "done" it to order, as perhaps, for all I know to the contrary, was the case. The work has been admirably produced at Kroll's. It has been most carefully rehearsed by Herr Dumont, and well put upon the stage by Herr Othmer. The management, too, have been very liberal in the way of dresses, scenery, and properties. The artists exerted themselves to the very utmost to make it "go," but I cannot help thinking that, despite the efforts of every one concerned, it will speedily be withdrawn from the bills to make way for something more attractive to a Berlin audience. I firmly believe that a new fairy opera would be a great success, but then the libretto must be better written, and the music fresher and more interesting than the libretto and music respectively of Die Rolands-Knappen. How successful M. Gounod's Faust has been all over Germany is irrefutably proved by the number of theatres at which it has already been played, running, at some of them, from thirty to forty nights. part of its popularity may, perhaps, with justice be ascribed to the subject. The Germans will go on seeing Faust either acted in its original form, or sung in an operatic version, with the same pertinacity with which a Scotch audience will patronise the drama of Rob Roy. But, however this may be, one thing is certain, and that is, that M. Gounod's opera has already been played "no end of times" at Aixla-Chapelle, Breslau, Bremen, Danzig, Darmstadt, Dresden, Düseldorf, Freiburg, Gratz, Hamburgh, Hanover, Coburg, Königsberg, Leipsic, Lemberg, Mayence, Mannheim, Munich, Munster, Nuremberg, Prague, Regensburg, Riga, Sondershausen, Stuttgardt, Vienna, Weimar, Wiesbaden, and Wurzburg. It will shortly be brought out in Berlin, Schwerin, and Stettin. In Berlin all the resources of the Royal Opera House will be put into requisition in order to do honour to M. Gounod's

muse.

A

You may remember possibly that, in one of my letters last year, I gave you an account of a grand patriotic concert got up, at the Royal Opera House, in aid of that German fleet which is, in future, to rule the waves for Prussia, but which still remains most provokingly where it hitherto has been, namely, on paper. Herr Taubert wielded the conductor's wand on the occasion, and discharged his duties so much to the satisfaction of the singers, it would appear, that they have just presented him with a testimonial in the shape of an allegorical picture, which contains his portrait, and the names of the Associations which took part at the concert. Talking of presentations, the King has just granted the "Coronation Medal with the Ribbon," to those members of the Royal Cathedral choir, as well as to those of the Royal Chapel, who sang or played, as the case might be, at the Coronation festivities in Königsberg.

Count von Redern is engaged on the composition of a new opera, the book of which is from the pen of Herr Julius Rodenberg. The tenor, Herr Wachtel, will shortly commence a round of performances at the Friedrich-Wilhelmstadt Theatre.

VALE.

A CONCERT STOPPED FOR WANT OF A PIANO.-A concert, some time since, was announced at Tenby, in aid of the Church Restoration Fund, and Mr. Brinley Richards, who has been, as usual, spending his holidays in the Principality, was engaged expressly to perform. A few days previous to the concert, the following letter appeared in the Tenby Observer :

To the Editor of the "Observer."

SIR, I regret to inform you that the proposed Concert in aid of the Fund for the Restoration of the Church at Tenby is unavoidably postponed, in consequence of the difficulty in obtaining the use of a pianoforte suitable for a public performance. As I am, then, unable to contribute by my services to the excellent purpose for which the Concert was announced, I still wish to do so in another form; and therefore beg to inclose you a cheque for five pounds, as my contribution to the Church Restoration Fund.-I remain, very truly yours, BRINLEY RICHARDS.

Tenby: August 20, 1862.

BAD-EMS.

August, 1862. GAMBLING and hot water are practically as inseparable in Germany as they are metaphorically said to be all over the world. Every BadeAnstalt has its Spiel-Saal.

The excitement of a tapis-vert appears to be indispensable for the cure of those invalids who have recourse to German Hydropathy as a remedy for their ills. And, generally speaking, there is a singular similarity of effect upon the patients in the beneficial influence of the waters and a run of luck at the gambling table. It is interesting to observe how the sallowest and most dyspeptic physiognomy will gradually assume a brighter appearance as the pockets of the individual are filled by a successful venture upon the rouge or noir; or how the plumpest cheeks and ruddiest complexion will become wan and pale after one day's misfortune at roulette. Of course, the change, whether it be for better or worse, will be attributed to the more innocent cause; but the true criterion of the benefit experienced by the water-drinkers is usually the money they have won or lost. The season at Ems offers no exception to the remark. The mineral spring is that which is popularly the most efficacious in affections of the throat and lungs. Singers, public speakers, and actors desirous of strengthening their voices; elderly ladies and gentlemen who have but little breath in their bodies, congregate here accordingly. They, indeed, work hard enough to derive the slightest advantage. "The cure "" '-not to speak irreverently- begins at six o'clock in the morning, at which early hour all the invalids turn out of their comfortable beds (if German beds, which have two sides and no middle to them, can be called so), and repair en masse to the hot wells, where they imbibe an incredible quantity of water, under the direction of one Dr. Spengler, the principal oracle in medicine of the locality. A band plays some pleasant music while the drinking is going on, and the people walk up and down the banks of the Lahn between the doses they are ordered to take the exercise being absolutely necessary in order to enable the strongest stomach to digest the water. If a thorough change benefits the health, this early rising and regime ought to do wonders. Fancy the effect of a walk, three or four glasses of tepid water, and a band of music, at six o'clock in the morning, upon the beaux and belles of London !

There are some of them here submitting to the cure most patiently. They are mostly amateur singers Dundreary lords and ladies-who pride themselves upon imitating (in everything but singing) the example of professional artists, and having heard that Ravenswig, the celebrated soprano, and Boroski, the fashionable tenor, come to Ems after the opera season, do so likewise. After the manner of the ambitious frog, they have screamed themselves hoarse, and are now trying to recover their voice and strength, in order again to deafen their good-natured friends in Belgravia.

The morning music, exercise, and drinking are over by nine o'clock, at which hour the baths are opened. Dabbling in the water, inhaling the vapour from the hot springs (a curious operation to witness, those who inhale being seated round a sort of stove, with short pipes in their mouths, by means of which they draw the vapour from a gutta percha tube to which the pipes are attached), eating and drinking, fill up the time until mid-day, when the attractions of the tapis vert make the visitors flock to the Cur-Saal, and there enhance or counteract the effects of the

water cure.

It is a vain resolve to come to any of the German watering places and not try your fortune at the gambling table. That which in England is considered demoralising and infamous is here looked upon as an innocent pastime. Every body plays. The tables have an irresistible attraction to the most resolute. The English are, perhaps, the most inveterate gamblers. You will see a Londoner, who at home would be ashamed to acknowledge he ever had a game of billiards in the Quadrant, seated near the croupier, with a heap of gold and silver before him, staking heavy sums upon the cards. Near to him is an old maid, most likely a respectable resident of Baker Street, who has studied Trente and Quarante deeply, and comes regularly every year to prove how fallacious is her theory when put into practice. If you meet her on the promenade she will salute you as an old friend, and begin relating her misfortunes. The chances are that she will take you for a Frenchman, or perhaps wish to disguise her nationality. "Vous avez joué, Monsieur." "Oui, Madame, mais pas beaucoup." 'Ah, Monsieur,

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c'est incroyable, j'ai perdoo plooque trois cents francs ce mating et cependang j'ai joué très bieng." If you sympathise with her in her illluck she will never leave you, unless you happen to have met near the Cur-Saal, in which case five minutes' conversation about roulette will suffice to excite the old lady to play again, and she will hurriedly wish you "Bong jour," and hasten back to her place at the table, where she invariably loses money.

The Cur-Saal is a handsome building, containing a concert room, two

reading rooms, a restaurant, and the salle de jeu, standing in a garden, surrounded by terraces and colonnades. In the garden are long shady avenues of trees, in which it is delightful to saunter and indulge in the dolce far niente during this hot weather, and where, if you are so disposed, you can dine al fresco. The band which awakens the visitors in the morning performs every evening in the Cur-Saal. Except on special occasions, when artists of celebrity are engaged and a charge for admission to the concert room is made, the entire suite of rooms is thrown open, and then the brilliant illuminations, the music, the gaily-dressed company, and the gambling, form an ensemble which to the inexperienced spectator more resembles a theatrical representation than a scene of everyday life. The fascinations of vice are enhanced by every available allurement, while its infamy is carefully concealed; the whole plan seems that of some wily demon to ruin poor unsuspecting pleasureseekers, and lead them to the devil.

I have said that the temptation to play is irresistible. If you doubt it, just follow that Pater Familias into the salle de jeu. At home he has a pious horror of gambling, and will not allow a pack of cards to be seen in his house. Watch him, with a daughter on each arm, as he walks round the tables. His eyes sparkle as the croupiers pass large sums of money to the winners. He wanders about, evidently undecided whether to try his luck or not. The trio leave the room, but presently Papa returns solus; he asks an Englishman who is playing to explain the game; it is learnt, or rather how to risk one's money is learnt, in a few words. Pater Familias throws his coin upon the table; he wins; he tries again, and is again successful; the spirit of gambling animates him he's good prey for the croupiers, and will play the rest of the evening. Whether he wins or not, the probability is that he will play again next day, and continue doing so until he discovers that his visit to Ems has cost him a great deal more than he ever calculated, and he signifies to his daughters his intention of returning home. Others, with less prudence than Pater Familias, sometimes find themselves in an unpleasant predicament-the natural consequence of the irresistible attraction before mentioned, and a proof that gambling and hot water are often, metaphorically as well as practically, combined in Germany. The luck is certainly not always in favour of the tables. Some of the habitués of Ems carry away large spoil. The celebrated Katty Ohrenstein, who, to the discomfort of the croupiers, has this season made her appearance in the Spiel-Saal, is, for instance, almost always fortunate in her speculations, whether at roulette or rouge et noir. The bank has been frequently in peril since her arrival. It is the good fortune of such experienced players that induces the unwary to try and imitate their example.

Ems.

Within a short distance is Coblentz, and many of the most celebrated localities on the Rhine are easily accessible. The scenery round about is of the most picturesque description. One of the most favourite resorts of the inhabitants is the Schweizer Haus, an hotel and pleasure garden situated on the brow of a hill, from which the view is magnificent. The Schweizer Haus deserves the reputation_it_has acquired for a good cuisine and well-stocked wine-cellar. To a Cockney its greatest attraction is, perhaps, the pleasant arbour in which his dinner is served, and where he can eat in the open air without the inevitable consequence of such a proceeding in England-a cold in the head.

VIENNA.

(Extract from a letter.)

ANTON RUBINSTEIN has arrived, with the intention of stopping a few weeks. His new opera is already accepted, at least so says report, at the Royal Opera Houses of Berlin and Dresden, and will be produced at both these houses in the course of next winter. The Russian composer has purchased a complete set of wind instruments here, for a full band, of the new pitch, which, conformably to the imperial commands, is to be adopted throughout the Russian empire. They are intended for the Imperial Conservatory of Music at St. Petersburg, which institution is to be opened on the 1st September, under the artistic direction of Rubinstein. A number of private gentlemen and professional musicians have just obtained permission from the Government to form an Evangelical Choral Union, the principal object of which is to introduce a better style of music into the churches of the Evangelical persuasion. The members will likewise give concerts, from time to time, for the amusement of their patrons. The Theater an der Wien has been let to Herr Strampfer for three years, at an annual rental of 25,000 florins. The new manager will commence operations about the middle of September. Like the celebrated sea-serpent, which is always being revived for the benefit of those persons who take an interest in the marvellous, the old report has been once more circulated that we are to have a new theatre, to be called the Pasqualati Theatre. The Baroness Pasqualati, who has obtained the permission to build a new theatre, intends, so it is said, to purchase, this year, a fitting site. I have been given to understand that she has her eye upon two plots of ground, one in the Neubau suburb, and the other on the glacis near the Ringstrasse. The performances are to include dramas, operas, and ballets. The cost of erection is calculated at something about 800,000 florins, the greater part of which sum has already been promised by five capitalists. Notwithstanding this, the Baroness is represented as contemplating the formation of a joint-stock company, with shares of 100 florins each. I give the story as I heard it, but I fancy it will turn out a canard after von August, an ardent lover of music, a violoncello, on which the Emperor Joseph II. was in the habit of playing in the society of his most intimate friends, and which he presented to one of them. The instrument passed subsequently through various hands-among others, through those of Merk, the violoncello virtuoso until its present possessor purchased it, for a very high price, from Johann Wagner, a well-known dealer in curiosities.

Among those who have come to Ems really for the benefit of their health is Meyerbeer. The illustrious composer has firm faith in the efficacy of this particular water cure. He is to be met every evening at the Kessel Brunn, where he is among the first to partake of the pre-all.-Some short time since, I saw at Pesth, in the possession of Herr scribed quantity of water. It is interesting to notice the anxiety of the girl-attendants at the well to evince their respect, or rather their adoration, of the maestro. They dispute among themselves the honour of filling his glass, and a sign of recognition from their idol is evidently more highly esteemed than a present of money from a less distinguished visitor. Meyerbeer leads a very secluded life, appearing but rarely in any of the frequented haunts of Ems. He always, however, attends the concerts that are given in the Cur-Saal, and seems to enjoy the performances with all the zest of a fanatico per la musica.

The last concert was that given on Tuesday evening, when the following artists appeared :- Mad. Boulart, soprano, from Brussels; M. Geraldy, barytone; M. Batta, violoncellist; Mad. Kastner Escudier, pianist; and Vivier. The programme consisted of the morceaux de concert that constitute the bill of fare of every similar entertainment of the present day. In honour of Meyerbeer, and to their own credit, the band performed a selection from the Prophète with great effect. The concert terminated at an early hour, and the greater part of the audience adjourned to the more exciting amusement in the salle de jeu. Vivier, who has left his soap bubbles in Paris, has taken to fishing, and is at the present moment throwing a hook with a prodigious bait upon it into the canal. He waits patiently for a bite, the personification of old Ben Jonson's definition of the sport. That one end of the line is ornamented strictly according to the text is evident enough. Whether the fish will bite, and so complete the picture, remains to be seen. Α sudden jerk of the rod, and a spasmodic motion of the body, surely indicate a suspicion on the part of the fisherman that he has caught something. He seems still uncertain, and adjusts his eyeglass before pulling the hook out of the water. At last he does so, and brings with it something that looks like a bunch of weeds, which Vivier stows away carefully into a tin can, and will very probably keep as a specimen of the fish to be caught in the river Lahn.

There are delightful excursions to be made in the neighbourhood of

MUSIC IN DRESDEN.

HERR VON KÖNNERITZ, the new Director-general of the Theatre Royal, entered upon his functions last spring. In the first three months, from April to July, the following operas were represented :-Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Der Freischütz, Euryanthe, Oberon, Robert le Diable, Dinorah, Rienzi, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Stradella, Guillaume Tell, Il Barbiere, La Muette, Fra Diavolo, La Dame Blanche, Jean de Paris, Norma, La Sonnambula, Lucia, Il Trovatore, Orpheus in der Unterwelt, and Fortunio's Lied. The tragedies and dramas were:Hamlet, Iphigenie, Götz von Berlichingen, Torquato Tasso, Faust, Don Carlos, Cabale und Liebe, Wilhelm Tell, Die Jungfrau von Orleans, Das Kätchen von Heilbronn, Medea, Zopf und Schwert, Der Erbförster, Philippine Welser, Gottsched und Gellert, Dorp und Stadt, Die Marquise von Villette, and Lorbeerbaum und Bettelstab. In addition to these there were twenty-seven comedies and farces.

It is reported that Mad. Bürde-Ney has improved materially in health, thanks to her lengthened stay at Montreux, on the Lake of Geneva, and that she will, probably, reappear very shortly. The measures taken for the proposed lowering of the orchestral pitch have again been brought to a standstill. The lowered pitch was tried with some old operas, and the results were satisfactory to the judges; but in modern operas, for instance, Marschner's Templer, those gentlemen considered the high pitch absolutely necessary for the proper effect of the work. In spite of

this, however, the committee, appointed by Herr von Könneritz, decided that it was necessary to lower the pitch. But, in order for this to be of use in all cases, it would have to be fixed below the Paris pitch. Since, however, the Dresden pitch is only 12 or 14 vibrations higher than that in Paris, the committee were of opinion that it would be as well to await the result of the experiments made at other theatres.

A LETTER FROM MEYERBEER TO JULES JANIN. [The following interesting letter was written by the composer of Le Prophète, at the period, as will be perceived, of the coronation of the King of Prussia.]

"Berlin, 2nd October, 1861.

"YOUR last letter was directed to me at Königsberg; but I was still at Berlin, working away like a young man, despite the seventy years kindly bestowed upon me some time since by certain individuals, whose liberality struck me as boundless. Not being expected till the 18th inst. at Königsberg, where I am charged with the task of getting up the grand court concert, I have time to answer you, and I will at once say how hurt I felt at the small amount of sympathy and excitement caused among you by the name of Rameau; yet he was one of the glories of your Opera, one of your masters in music; he rested you after Lulli, and prepared the way for the Chevalier Gluck.

"Thus, his family had the best right in the world to find in Paris, above all other places, that aid and assistance which, on several occasions, were not denied to the descendants of Racine, or the granddaughters of the great Corneille. It is very certain that, had I been in Paris, I would have paid, incognito, two hundred franes for a stall, and I count upon you to place that sum in the hands of these good people, who must feel so unhappy at seeing such just expectations as theirs disappointed! I forward you also, at the same time, the written authority, for M. Guyot, the agent of the authors, by which I renounce all my rights for the fragments of my operas represented at the benefit given for the illustrious and unfortunate Rameau family.

66

Why are you not at Königsberg on the day of the Coronation ; why, in a word, are you not in Berlin? What splendid musical fêtes are in preparation! As for myself, it is a source of pleasure, as well as a duty attached to my position, to compose the grand march, which will be executed at Königsberg, when the royal procession sets out from the castle and proceeds to the church for the Coronation. I want to add a hymn, to be executed on the day of the return of the King, our master, to his good city of Berlin; besides this, I have promised to compose an overture for the grand concert of four nations, which the directors of the London Exhibition will give next spring, in the Crystal Palace, at the opening of the Grand Exhibition.

This is what detains me here; this is what has taken up my autumn, and will take up the beginning of next spring; but, my dear friend, if God only spares us, next year, we will once more meet, I hope, freed from all care, in the hospitable and pleasant town of Spa filled with the rippling of the fountains and the rustling of the green oaks.

"Yours, affectionately, "MEYERBEER."

A LETTER FROM MENDELSSOHN.
(ADDRESSED TO HIS BROTHER AND SISTER.)

"Rome, Nov. 22, 1830. "You know how much I hate, a thousand miles away, and over the interval of a fortnight, to give good advice; but for once I will do it. "The fact is, I believe that you commit a mistake in your conduct, indeed, the same one which I too used once to commit. I really never in my life have known father to write so out of humour, as since I have been here in Rome; and so I want to ask you if you cannot perhaps soothe him a little by some domestic remedy? I mean somehow by humouring and conceding, by putting forward that side of things which father likes, instead of the other,-suppress entirely much that vexes him, and instead of shameful, say unpleasant, or instead of splendid, tolerable. This helps incredibly sometimes: and I will gently ask if it would not perhaps in this case? For, leaving the violent political events out of the account, the unpleasant humour seems to me to proceed from the same cause as then, when I commenced my musical activity in my own way, and when father was continually in the worst humour, scolding at Beethoven and all the fantasts, and frequently annoyed me by it, and frequently made me disrespectful. Just then there came some news, and that, I think, did not suit father, and was perhaps even painful to him. So long then as I kept on exalting and praising my Beethoven, the evil grew worse, and I-if I am not mistaken- was one day

--

banished from the table. Now it occurred to me that I could say a great deal of truth, and yet not precisely that, which father could not bear; and so it went on better and better, and at last good. Perhaps you have forgotten a bit that you must spare now and then, and not touch with a sharp point,- that father makes himself older and more out of tune perhaps, than, thank God, he is, and that it be comes us all to give in to him sometimes, even if we really have the right of it, as he has so often done to us. So praise a little what he likes, and don't find fault with what he has at heart, especially not with what is old, established. And praise the new only when it has accomplished something outwardly in the world; for until then it always comes to a question of taste. Draw me the father gracefully into your circle, and dance about him ; - In short, seek to smooth all down and make all even once more; and bear in mind that I, who am a travelled man of the world, have never found a family, which, reckoning in all faults, weaknesses and peevish humours, was so happy as we have been until now.

"Do not answer this, for it would not come for four weeks, and then again there will be something new. Anyhow, if I was foolish, I want no spiritual drubbings from you; and if I have spoken well, then follow my good precepts."

Letters to the Editor.

MUSIC IN ENGLAND.

SIR,- Will you allow me through the medium of your Journal to express the great pleasure I have experienced in the perusal of Mr. J. S. Dwight's article on the Handel Festival, and its influence on the musical taste of the country. I commend it to the consideration of a "German in London." JOHN BULL.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

SIR,- I observe from the newspapers that Mr. Mapleson has made arrangements for strangers in London witnessing the opera at reduced prices. I think he would still further oblige them, and frequenters of the amphitheatre in general, if he would save them from the attentions of the individual at the door, who rudely seizes their hats, sticks, and umbrellas, and demands payment for the insult. To those parts of the house where it is necessary to appear in full dress it is highly proper, of course, that the articles I have mentioned should be kept out of sight; but in the gallery, where strict attention to costume is not requisite, it is a piece of uncalled-for assurance to enforce such a rule. It poisons the pleasure one would otherwise have in hearing the performance; and if it is profitable, which I doubt, it is certainly most discreditable to the management. I have been several times at the Royal Italian Opera House, Covent Garden, and have suffered no such molestation as that of which I at present complain. I am, Sir, yours, &c., July 31.

A STRANGER.

THE OPERA AT HAVANNAH.-Maretzek, who used to be so unfortanate, you know, is in better luck now-a-days. With Marti's long purse to draw from, he has succeeded in securing a strong company for Havannah. First among the prime donne engaged, are Signora Giuseppina Medora and Mad. Charton Demeure. The first-named lady is an artist of great talent, with a clear and powerful voice, and enjoys a high reputation in Italy. Charton is said to greatly resemble Sontag in personal appearance, elegance of manner, and style of vocalisation. Sulzer, a dashing contralto of twenty-six, said to be the best interpreter of Verdi's music, and Mile. Pradier, a rising young prima donna, are also under engagement. Among the male singers, Mazolini, the man with the do di petto, comes first. He is said to be a very clever singer, besides possessing the above necessary accomplishment for tenors of the present generation. Sig. Minetti, a tenor di grazia, is also coming. The engagement with Bartolini is off, Sig. Bellini taking his place. Vialetti, now singing in London with success, and Biachi, a favourite with the Havanese, fill up the prominent features of the troupe. They will give performances in New York, on their way to Havannah, and it is possible that Boston may come in for a week of respectable opera. New York Musical Times.

MS. OF MOZART. — A vesper service, by Mozart, in C major (date of composition, 1780), and warranted as not having till now been performed, was brought forward not long since at Salzburg. It is said, in the Deutsche Musik-Zeitung, to be a work in the writer's best manner. - Athenæum.

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