VOL. 38-No. 32

FLORAL HALL CONCERTS,

COVENT GARDEN.

MR. ALFRED MELLON

Has the honour to announce that he has entered into arrangements with Mr. GYE to rent the

NEW FLORAL HALL,

Covent Garden, for a short period, and that it is his intention to give therein a

SURREY GARDENS.-Monster Concert, Monday next.

Unprecedented Attraction for One Evening.-On Monday, August 20th, a Grand MONSTER CONCERT and MILITARY FETE! under the direction of M. EMILE BERGER, when the following extraordinary combination of Talent will appear :Vocalists-Soprani, Mad. PAREPA, Miss BANKES, Miss ELIZA HUGHES, Miss SUSANNA COLE, Miss CHIPPERFIELD, Miss R. RANOE, Miss E. CAMILLE, Mad. GILBERT, Miss MEDORA COLLINS, and Mad. WEISS; Contralti, Miss POOLE, Miss LEFFLER, Miss CLINTON, Miss KATE RANOE, and Miss M. WELLS; Tenori, Mr. GEORGE PERREN, M. DEPRET, Mr. JOHN MORGAN, Mr. FIELDING, Mr. WALBANCK, Mr. MELchior Winter, and Mr. GEORGE TEDDER; Bassi, Mr. WEISS, Mr. GRATTAN KELLY, Mr. WALWORTH, Mr. P/TEY, Mr. T. DISTIN, Mr. W. DISTIN, Mr. LAWRENCE, Mr. LEONARD, Mr. BARTLEMAN, Mr. LUIGI MONTGOMERY, and Mr. ÁLLAN IRVING. Instrumentalists - Violin, Mr. VIOTTI COLLINS; Flute, Master DREW DEAN; Cornet (of the Crystal Palace), Mr. J. LEVY; Horn, Mr. BENNETT GILBERT; Pianoforte, M. EMILE BERGER. Conductors-Messrs. RANDEGGER, GANZ, LANGTON WILLIAMS, ALFRED GILBert, KingsbuRY, SCOTSON CLARK, LAUTER, GEORGE COOK, SYDNEY NAYLOR, Dr. JAMES PECH, and M. EMILE BERGER. The grand Orchestra of 50 Performers will be greatly augmented for the occasion. Leader, Mr. J. W. THIRLWALL; Conductor, Mr. HENRI LAURENT. Also an additional Brass Band, which will perform during the Afternoon in the FREY, which will perform a grand selection of Military Music during the unprecedented attractions of the above Entertainment. The Monster Concert will begin at 6 o'clock, and the grand performance of Military Music will take place in the Second Part at 8 o'clock. The Gardens will be open at 3 o'clock, with the Comic Fairy Ballet, the Ohio Minstrels, the Great Conjuror's Tricks, &c. After the Monster Concert, a grand Double Display of Fireworks, and Dancing on the New Mammoth Platform.-Admission to the whole of the Performances, One Shilling.

These Concerts will commence on

MONDAY NEXT, AUGUST 13,

And continue for ONE MONTH ONLY, terminating on Saturday, September 8.

In this undertaking Mr. MELLON has received a most kind and spontaneous offer of assistance from His Royal Highness

PRINCE GALITZIN,

a nobleman whose lifetime has been enthusiastically devoted to the study of Music, and who, whether considered as a Composer or as an Orchestral Conductor, might well lay claim to rank among the best Professors of the day,

Prince GALITZIN has most liberally offered to conduct the first Eight Concerts, and to place at Mr. MELLON's disposal several of his most interesting pieces of Music. The Orchestra will consist of Eighty Performers selected from the Band of the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden, including all the most eminent Solo Players of that celebrated Orchestra.

Programme for Monday, August 13th.

Sung by Miss PAREPA.

.......Glinka.

GRAND FINALE, from a Russian Opera ............................ ..............................................
Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Prince GEORGE GALITZIN.
Conductors-His Highness Prince GEORGE GALITZIN and ALFRED MELLON.

PROMENADE .............................. 15.
RESERVED SEATS............... 28. 6d.
ORCHESTRA STALLS............... 55.

The Box Office is now open under the Portico of the Opera in Bow Street.
The entrance to the Stalls and Reserved Seats is by the Piazza in Covent Garden.
The entrance to the Promenade is in Bow Street.
The Concerts will commence at Eight o'clock, and terminate before Eleven.

ISS THERESA JEFFERYS, MRS. WINN,

to the business heretofore carried on by Messrs. WESSEL and Co., and hope by constant attention to the wishes and requirements of their customers to deserve and obtain a continuance of the support rendered to the late Firm.

LONSDALE'S CATALOGUE of Unique, Rare Ancient and Modern. GRATIS, on application, 26 Old Bond Street.

MUSICAL WORLD

"The Harp of Wales' (sung for the first time) is a very graceful song, admirably adapted for Mr. Sims Reeves, and sung by the distinguished tenor with a refinement of expression which produced a magical effect on the audience, and raised demands for repetition which were not to be denied."-Daily Telegraph.

The Harp of Wales,' beautifully sung by Mr. Sims Reeves, was unanimously redemanded."-Morning Post. "The other was new and sung for the first time by Mr. Sims Reeves. It is called the Harp of Wales,' and is a lovely and expressive melody. It was enthusiastically encored."-Daily News.

"Mr. Richards did honour to his fatherland by introducing a new song, The Harp of Wales,' which is sure to become a favourite of the Cymri, who are justly proud of their bards. So admirably was this sung by Mr. Sims Reeves, that an encore was inevitable, and the ballad was as warmly applauded the second time as the first."Musical World.

London: DUNCAN DAVISON & CO., Dépôt Géneral de la Maison Brandus, de Paris; 244 Regent Street, corner of Little Argyll Street, where may be obtained“THE SULIOTE WAR SONG," sung by Mr. Santley, price 3s. "THE BLIND MAN & SUMMER," sung by Miss Palmer, price 2s. 6d. "ETHEL," Romance for the Pianoforte, price 2s. “LEOPOLD," Mazurka Favourite, price 25.

Composed by Brinley Richards.

MR. SIMS REEVES' NEW SONG.

THE BRITISH VOLUNTEER.

SONG,

Written by JOHN OXENFORD, Esq., composed by G. ALARY, and sung with great success by

MR. SIMS REEVES.

for him by W. MEYER LUTZ, are just published, viz. :-"Under the Linden Tree" and "Merry little Maud," price 2s. 6d. each, by Duncan Davison and Co. 244 Regent Street, W.

SIMS

IMS REEVES'S newest and most popular Ballad is "I love YOU," composed expressly for him by Balfe. "I love you" was sung by Mr. Reeves, and enthusiastically encored, at Mr. G. W. Martin's Concert, Exeter Hall, Mr. Lindsay Sloper's and Miss Susannah Cole's Concerts, St. James's Hall, and will be sung at Mr. Balfe's Benefit Concert at the Royal Surrey Gardens, and at the Crystal Palace Concerts. London, published, price 3s., by Duncan Davison & Co., 244 Regent Street, W.

EYERBEER'S FOURTH MARCHE AUX FLAM

the Princess Royal of England with Prince Frederick William of Prussia, which was played with such immense effect by the Band of the Guides at the Fete of the Orphéonistes at the Crystal Palace, is published for the Pianoforte, price 4s., by Duncan Davison & Co., 244 Regent Street, London, W.

"I LOVE YOU," New Song by BALFE, composed

expressly for Mr. SIMS REEVES, and sung by him with the greatest success, is published, price 3s, by Duncan Davison & Co. 244 Regent Street, W.

NEW

[EW SONGS by J. W. DAVISON, "Rough wind that meanest loud" (sung by Mr. Santley at the Monday Popular Concerts); "Swifter far than Summer's flight," (sung by Miss Palmer at the Monday Popular Concerts); "False friend, wilt thou smile or weep," Beatrice's song in the Cenci (sung by Madame Sainton-Dolby, at the Monday Popular Concerts, St. James's Hall); are published by Cramer, Beale, and Co., 201 Regent Street.

The above Songs form Nos. 1, 2, and 3 of Vocal Illustrations of Shelley. "Mr. Santley was encored in one of the thoroughly picturesque and poetical settings of Shelley, by Mr. J. W. Davison, mentioned a week or two since. His song,' Rough wind that moanest loud,' is a thoroughly good song."-Athenæum.

Madame Sainton-Dolby's greatest efforts were called forth by Mendelssohn's 'Night' song, and Mr. J. W. Davison's False friend, wilt thou smile or weep' (from Shelley's Cenci'), to both of which she did the amplest justice. The latter work is one of the most poetical and beautiful of the Vocal Illustrations of Shelley,' composed by Mr. Davison many years ago, and which, though rarely heard, possess far more sterling merit than ulue-tenths of the most admired songs of the day. A more intellectual treatment of the words could not well be imagined. Mr. Davison has completely caught the spirit of the poetry, and heightened its beauty by the potent charms which belong only to the sister art. False friend, wilt thou smile or weep,' sung to perfection by Madame Sainton-Dolby, was enthusiastically applauded." Morning Post, April 26, 1860.

Cramer, Beale, and Chappell, 201 Regent Street.

a Member of the Artists' Rifle Corps. BOOSEY and SONS, 28 Holles Street.

"Welcome, Heavenly Peace," Four-part Song

2

"The Bud is on the Bough," Four-part Song-(Male Voices) 3 "And were they not the Happy Days?" Four-part Song 4 "Beauty is dead," Four-part Song

...

5

"Who shall be Fairest ?" Four-part Song

Frank Mori Frank Mori Frank Mori Frank Mori Frank Mori

6

Frank Mori

7

Ripe Strawberries," Five-part Song

MUSIC AND THEATRES IN PARIS.

(From our own Correspondent).

Aug. 8, 1860.

I have at last something like an event to tell you about, but it has been a long time a coming. Boieldieu's Opera, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, after being so long threatened by the manager of the Opéra Comique, was revived last Thursday. But before I enter into any details on this interesting musical occurrence, I will first discharge an agreeable duty and inform you of a promising début on the boards of the theatre in question by a young artist from the Théâtre Lyrique, Mlle. Marimon. This lady was to have made her first appearance in Boieldieu's opera, but Mad. Faure-Lefebvre having been re-engaged, the part, which devolved to her by right, could not be withheld from her; consequently the débutante had to content herself with the part of Catarina in Auber's Diamants de la Couronne. In this she has now been heard three times, each new performance confirming the favourable impression of the first. Mlle. Marimon, though she has much to learn as an actress, is already a brilliant and accomplished singer, and will, no doubt, with the intelligence she displays, make rapid progress.

Now for Boieldieu and his once most popular of comic operas. Le Petit Chaperon Rouge was first produced in 1818 at the Théâtre Feydeau, when the principal parts were sung by the celebrated Martin, Ponchard the elder, and Mad. Boulanger, afterwards succeeded by the lively and graceful Mad. Gavaudan. It was one of the most attractive works of the day, and retained its attractions till they were eclipsed by the greater vigour and depth of La Dame Blanche. All the old airs, which were constantly hummed by the fathers of the present generation, were heard again on Thursday night with a sort of affectionate pleasure. Many of them had still the power of touching by their simple grace, and seemed scarcely to have lost any of their original freshness. Mad. Faure Lefebvre was charmingly graceful in the part of Rose d'Amour, and obtained an encore in her ronde "Depuis longtemps gentille Annette." M. Crosti sang the music of Rodolphe admirably, but failed as an actor to give the part its proper characteristics. Rodolphe is a sort of Don Juan in water colours, and should be played with lightness and an easy grace of manner, tinged with mockery; but M. Crosti takes the character literally and prosaically, and deprives it consequently of all distinctive mark.

As I told you it would be, Robert le Diable was revived last Friday at the Grand Opéra, with Mad. Vandenheuvel Duprez as Isabelle, Mlle. Marie Saxe as Alice, and Mlle. Zina Richard the Abbess of the nuns. Mad. Vandenheuvel, the daughter of M. Duprez, the celebrated tenor, is not unknown to your readers, having been engaged in 1852 at Her Majesty's Theatre. She was the original Catherine in L'Etoile du Nord at the Opéra Comique. Her success was of the most decided character; and in the great air "Grâce! Grâce!" she completely enléved the sympathies of the audience, and was triumphantly recalled at its conclusion. Mlle. Saxe, who also made her first appearance, was no less emphatically successful.

The Corporation of the city of Paris is busy pulling down and building theatres.

Diruit, edificat, mutat quadrata rotundis.

It has purchased of M. Dejean the Cirque Impériale, that the new Boulevard du Prince Eugéne may pass over its site; and, on the other hand, it is buying out the tenants and holders of houses in the Rue Basse du Rempart, which are to come down to make room for the new Opera house. The Municipal Council have just voted unanimously in favour of the plans and designs last submitted to them.

At the last representation of Semiramis, at the Opéra, the audience was honoured with the presence of no less than three of the stars of your late operatic season- -Mesdames Borghi-Mamo, Csillag, and Amalia Ferraris. By the way, I am informed that Mr. E. T. Smith has taken time so vigorously by the forelock, that he is already fully manned with a company for next season, such as shall rarely have been surpassed, if the information can be relied on, for it will number in its brilliant ranks, besides Mlle. Titiens, engaged for three years, Signors Mario, Mongini, Belart,

Everardi, Ciampi; Mad. Grisi, who is to make her definite adieux to London and England; Mesdames Borghi-Mamo, Alboni, Lotti, Gassier, &c. &c. &c. Add to these Signors Giuglini and Vialetti, and M. Gassier, and the formidable phalanx, at the head of which the great E. T. S. proposes to march in his next campaign, will be complete. How he proposes to pay them, or what effect their payment, should it duly come off, will have on the reserve of bullion in the bank, are interesting questions for the speculations of the curious in such matters. Perhaps he may add Mlle. Lagrua to the list of celebrities. If so his chances will be all the better. At She is now at Carlsbad, and is expected this week in Paris. Pesth, where she sang last, the youth of that city presented her with a poignard of magnificent design to be suspended to her arm when she plays Norma. The blade is silver, and the handle beset with precious stones, bearing this inscription: "Alla Signorina Lagrua, la gioventú di Pest.-1860. (Peste! quelle galanterie !) The competitions of the Paris Academy of Music I told you did not bring to light any subject of unusual promise. Not so those of the Brussels Institution, which, if report is to be trusted, has brought forth, under the auspices of its several professors, M. Lemmens, organ, Mad. Pleyel and M. Dupont, piano-a little batch of prize-men and prize-women, who are all veritables

artistes!

A correspondent, happily released from the turmoil of Paris to wander in the Elysian regions of Baden, tells me the theatre which M. Benazet is building there is rapidly progressing, and to judge from the foundations which have been laid its size will be of the largest. In the same letter is a piece of Russian news, to the effect that a new Russian opera, by M. de Villebois, entitled Natascha, or the Brigands of the Volga, will be produced at the St. Petersburgh Theatre in October. Brigands seem to be in fashion, for there is a new opera by Verdi, talked of for the Scala at Milan, which is called The Brigands of the German Forests. Mercadante had been beforehand with him in taking the subject of Schiller's Robbers for his opera I Briganti.

I hear of all sorts of preparations making by the newly Gallicised inhabitants of Savoy to do honour to the Emperor and Empress of their choice on their approaching visit among them. The good city of Chambéry is determined to hit the taste or humour of the Imperial visitors, whichever way chance or caprice may at the moment direct it. The fêtes it is organising are to have at one and the same time a civil, a military, a religious, and an artistic complexion. There is to be a ball, a review, and a solemn performance of the Te Deum at the Metropolitan Church, to express the deep thankfulness of the Savoyard heart at being adopted into the bosom of Imperial France.

The

I will conclude with a piece of highly gratifying news. King of Saxony has recalled Richard Wagner from the exile to which he had been doomed after the events of 1848. Has his

majesty become at last convinced of the utter harmlessness of this profound person?

THE NEW YORK MUSICAL WORLD, formerly edited by R. S. Willis, Esq., and the New York Musical Review, have been united and will hereafter be published by Mason Brothers as the New York Musical Review and Musical World. We wish our contemporaries all success in the new enterprise.

PARIS. The sky is as rigorous as ever with the Concerts des Champs Elysées; still, whenever the rain ceases, amateurs take the road to the concerts. Spontini's overture to Olympia, recently placed by Musard in his repertory, was very well received. It is said that we are shortly to have the overture to Pianella, by Flotow. The Siècle iately made some complaints against the severity exercised at the doors towards ladies presenting themselves without being accompanied by a gentleman, and in consequence of which a highly respectable family had been refused admittance. M. de Besselièvre, in an article to the editor, questions the truth of the report, and lays great stress on the small probability there is that respectable women would go alone to a public place of amusement which can boast of no reserved places, or private boxes, at the risk of exposing themselves to the vicinity of individuals of the masculine gender, who, without ever wishing to be so, might prove either disagreeable or compromising to ladies.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

RESUME OF THE SEASON.

THE Prophete, given on Saturday, brought the season to a close with brilliant éclat. The performance was magnificent from first to last, and the applause continuous and enthusiastic. To make use of an old phrase, everybody seemed to surpass himself, and certainly no entertainment of the year appeared to afford more unqualified gratification. The house was crowded in every part, and, long as the opera is, nearly the entire audience remained to the last scene, where the curtain falls upon the conflagration in the palace of Munster, and Jean of Leyden, like Mokanna, the veiled prophet of Khorassan-a prophet of a different stamp from the duped son of Fides-ensnares his enemies into his toils, and hurls them with himself to destruction. (M. Scribe no doubt had Moore's story in his head when he planned the catas trophe of the Prophête.) The success of Meyerbeer's great work went beyond the highest expectations. It was a pity, however, that it should be cut short in the height of its career. They somehow manage these things indifferently at the Italian operas. Last year the Pardon de Plöermel (Dinorah) was produced a few nights before the end of the season: it was given only three times, and its triumphant reception availed but little. Managers may fancy that a success commenced brilliantly one season may be carried on brilliantly the next. So it may, but there is always danger that a good deal may be forgotten, and then the management will have to begin its success anew. We have no fear, however, that in the case of the Prophete the memory of the public will have to be jogged. The grandeur and com pleteness of the execution, and the veritable wonders of the scenery and appointments, will keep the performance fresh in the minds of those who have seen and heard it. That the Prophete will constitute one of the eminent attractions of next season we feel assured. The expense involved in its production has been something fabulous, and hardly any amount of success in one season could pay back what has been laid out. But Mr. Gye looked forward to an enduring success, and invested his money with a fair prospect of having it returned with interest for many years The season of 1860 has been pronounced, on authority, the most lucrative of the last ten years. This must be attributable in a great measure to the growing prestige of the theatre, since the past year has not been remarkable for its novelties or its new singers. The solitary novel production of the season, Gluck's Orfeo è Eurydice, was not much relied on, being brought out at a concert, the management fearing to essay it even on an extra night.

to come.

The new singers, Mad. Csillag and M. Faure, were certainly great "hits," and did not fail to exercise a powerful influence on the fortunes of the theatre, the lady more especially, who proved herself a consummate artist in every respect, and who grew more and more into favour with the public up to the last night of the season. Mad. Miolan-Carvalho, too, improved her position considerably, not because she did anything superior to Dinorah, the first part she performed in this country, but because she was better known and her talents consequently more thoroughly appreciated. The attraction of the season, moreover, was greatly enhanced by the announcement that Mad. Grisi was to give her "twelve last performances," a statement, nevertheless, that many, from reasons unnecessary to state, did not put implicit faith in, but which no doubt had its weight with some section of the musical community. The fact that Mad. Grisi's "twelve last performances" modulated into almost twenty, and that at the end of the season nothing whatever was said of the great artist's final departure-a very laconic mode of treating the public, by the bye-incontestably proves that she will re-appear to take more "farewells," and again not disappoint the world by her breach of promise. Mad. Grisi has frequently been warned to quit the stage when her successor should appear. She looked around her this season, anxious no doubt for an excuse to go, and cried, "Where is my successor ?" and Echo answered "Nowhere!" And so she will return next year, just "once more," and await her successor, who is sure to come and declare herself in the person of Mlle. or Mad. ***. The public doubtless imagined that they should have been consulted in this matter; but the

The Royal Italian Opera season for 1860 opened on the 10th of April with Dinorah, the success of which at the end of last year was so eminently great. Mad. Miolan-Carvalho had lost none of her attraction in Dinorah, and M. Faure from the Opéra Comique-who made his first appearance as Hoel, was admired for his fine capable voice, manly style of acting, and good appearance. A new contralto, Mlle. Giudita Sylvia, who appeared as the male goatherd in the room of Mad. Nantier-Didiée, created more effect with her looks than her singing; and a new soprano, Mlle. Rappazini, as the female goatherd in the room of Mlle. Marai,

created no effect at all.

Mad. Csillag made her first appearance on the English stage in Fidelio, on Thursday the 19th, and produced a powerful impression, both in her acting and singing. Mlle. Corbari, who re-appeared after several years, was the Marcellina; Signor Neri-Baraldi, Florestan; Signor Tagliafico, Pizarro; and M. Zelger, Rocco. Mlle. Corbari was singularly graceful and prepossessing as Marcellina, and sang the music like a real artist. Fidelio, nevertheless, did not greatly attract, and was given twice only in succession. On Tuesday the 24th, La Favorita introduced Mad. Grisi and Signor Mario in their old parts of Leonora and Fernando. The lady was grand as ever; the gentleman troubled with catarrh. They were supported by M. Faure in the Castilian Monarch, his performance eliciting universal commendation.

Fra Diavolo was given for the first time since 1858, on Tuesday the 1st of May, Mad. Miolan-Carvalho filling the part of Zerlina in place of Mad. Bosio; and Mlle. Corbari doing duty for Mlle. Marai in Lady Allcash. Although no advance on her incomparable predecessor, Mad. Carvalho sang the music of Zerlina and an introduced air from the Serment with wonderful brilliancy: Mlle. Corbari was a great improvement on Mlle. Marai in the English lady. Signor Ronconi was more droll and whimsical than ever in Lord Allcash; Signor Gardoni was the Marquis again; Signor Neri-Baraldi, Lorenzo; Signor Tagliafico and M. Zelger, the brigands. The saltarello in the third act was danced by the graceful and piquant Mlle. Zina Richard.

Il Trovatore was given for the first time on Thursday, May the 3rd. Mad. Csillag appeared as Azucena, and Signor Graziani made his rentrée as the Count di Luna, his most popular part. Mad. Grisi and Signor Mario sang and acted their best as Leonora and Manrico. Mad. Csillag did not shine as grandly in Verdi's music as in Beethoven's.f

The Barbière, on Tuesday the 10th, gave us Signor Mario in one of his most fascinating moods, singing Rossini's divine music with divine voice and divine expression. An essay might be written on this performance. Mad. Carvalho was not well suited in the music of Rosina, which she frittered away with surprising coolness. Signor Ronconi was as irresistible as ever in Figaro, a part in which he sets rivalry at defiance. The position of M. Zelger in the part of Doctor Bartolo declared an unaccountable weakness in one department of the Royal Italian Opera.

The first performance of Don Giovanni took place on Saturday, the 19th of May. The version of Signor Alary was rigidly adhered to, and Mozart was again in eclipse. Mad. Penco made her first appearance in Zerlina, one of her best performances, and Mad. Rudersdorff officiated in Donna Anna for Mad. Grisi, suddenly put hors de combat.

La Gazza Ladra was produced on Saturday, May the 26th, with Mad. Penco as Ninetta in place of Mlle. Lotti, and M. Faure as Fernando in the room of Signor Debassini. Both were decided improvements. Mad. Nantier-Didiée made her rentrée as Pippo. Signor Ronconi's Podestà, as regards the acting, was incomparable. The music unfortunately is too low for him.

The Huguenots, produced on Tuesday the 5th of June, comprised two important changes in the cast-Mad. Miolan-Carvalho for Mlle. Marai in Marguerite de Valois, and M. Faure for Signor Polonini

in St. Bris. Mad. Carvalho sang the music of Marguerite with intense brilliancy, and M. Faure proved himself an excellent substitute for Tamburini in the fanatic governor of the Louvre. With Mad. Grisi as Valentina, and Signor Mario as Raoul, this performance, as may readily be imagined, was one of the most powerful of

the season.

I Puritani was given as an extra performance on Monday, June the 11th, with by no means a strong cast. Mad. Penco certainly displayed admirable powers in Elvira, and achieved a genuine success. Arturo was played by Signor Gardoni, Riccardo by Signor Graziani, and Giorgio by Signor Ronconi.

Martha was given on Tuesday, June the 19th, with Mad. Penco as Lady Henrietta, sustained last season by Mlle. Lotti, and in 1858 by Mad. Bosio. Mad. Penco stands midway between her two predecessors, wanting the voice and charm of one, and surpassing the other both in talent and accomplishment. Signor Mario's Lionel is a fine performance, full of tenderness and pas sionate fervour, and becoming in everything. When in the vein he sings the music delightfully.

Gluck's Orfeo è Eurydice was tried on the evening of Wednes day, the 27th of June, in a sort of combined entertainment. The performance did not attract. The same master's Iphigenia in Tauris had been performed at St. James's Hall a short time previously with but little effect. The performance at the Royal Italian Opera, however, differed materially, inasmuch as scenery, dresses, and decorations were employed. The cast of characters comprised-Eurydice, Mad. Penco; Orfeo, Mad. Csillag; The Happy Shade, Mad. Miolan-Carvalho; and Cupid, Mad. Nantier-Didiée. To the lovers of real music the performance afforded an immense treat. Mad. Csillag's Orfeo rose to the highest grandeur and majesty, and the other characters were admirably sustained. The scenery and costumes were wonderfully picturesque.

The first performance for the season of Norma took place on Thursday, the 28th, and attracted one of the most crowded and fashionable audiences ever assembled in the theatre. Mad. Grisi achieved all her old laurels in one of her grandest impersonations. Mlle. Corbari made a charming Adalgisa, and Signor Tagliafico a solid and weighty high priest. Signor Neri-Baraldi was hardly the beau ideal of the Roman centurion, Lucrezia Borgia, given on Thursday, July the 5th, with Mad. Grisi, Signors Mario and Ronconi in the principal personages, was avowedly one of the most striking performances of the season.

On Thursday, July the 12th, the Prophete was revived after an interval of five years. Of the performance, the artists, the getting-up, and all connected therewith we have recently spoken at length, and need not now racapitulate.

Rigoletto, produced on Saturday, July the 21st, interrupted the career of the Prophete for one night, and afforded Mad. MiolanCarvalho an opportunity of testing her powers in Verdi's music, in which she came off with flying colours. It is unnecessary to allude to Signor Mario's Duke, and Signor Ronconi's Rigoletto. --both, in their different ways, incomparable,,

The Prophete interrupted on two other occasions, by the Huguenots and Don Giovanni, Signor Tamberlik assuming, in Mozart's opera, his old part of Don Ottavio, and singing with immense effect-ran to the last night of the season, gaining in attraction with every performance.

The new Floral Hall, a spacious and magnificent saloon, intended to be devoted to a variety of purposes, was opened as a promenade, after the performance in the theatre, about the middle of the season, and was so used on several nights. A grand show of flowers took place shortly after the opening, and in the evening the visitors to the boxes, stails, and pit were allowed the right of entrance. Morning concerts too were given occasionally, and proved highly attractive.

LOLA MONTEZ.-The American journals announce the death of this once celebrated danseuse, after an illness of twelve days, brought on by an attack of apoplexy.

DIEPPE. Felix Godefroid, the celebrated harpist, who may be remembered in London in 1845, is about to give a concert in this city.

ROSSINI'S "SEMIRAMIDE.” (Concluded from page 475.)

THE PERFORMANCE.

In order to avoid having to return to the subject, let us state, once for all, very emphatically, that the majesty of the mise-enscène is all that can be desired; and that, jealously desirous of illustrating Rossini's work, some of our greatest artists have lent the aid of their pictures and their sketches, and others that of their its aerial gardens, its tombs, and its subterranean galleries, worthy pencils, in order to realise a Babylon, with its palaces and temples, of the most correct and conscientious Assyrian archæology: so much so, indeed, that MM. Despléchin, Cambon, Thierry, Nolau, and Rubé have transformed themselves into historical painters in the widest acceptation of the word. The same may be asserted of the character and magnificence of the costumes, which have been studied and reproduced with the most scrupulous fidelity. In short, all this material and artistic portion of the mise-en-scène reflects the greatest honour on M. Alphonse Royer.

The ballet alone might be improved; but we all know that in neglected, when as is most frequently the case Rossini's operas this accessory has invariably been somewhat it has not been neglected entirely. The Italian Semiramide had no ballet; the French Sémiramis might have done without one. We should have lost the reproduction of a dance-air from Mosè, and the very agreeable music with which M. Carafa's lyre was inspired for a pas of Nineveh women; but, to make up for this, Rossini's work would not have been stopped in its triumphal progress by a ballet, after all more Parisian than Babylonian, a fact which caused a neighbour of ours known as a master of choreography-to say: "The Assyrian dancers were very advanced before the Christian

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We now come to the Sisters Marchisio, the new attraction of the evening. We will not say they represented the Semiramis and Arsaces of antiquity. Those grand figures have disappeared from the stage of the world, even at the Opéra, which possesses the secret of bringing about the most fabulous resurrections. The Sisters Marchisio are contented with singing Rossini's music; but sometimes in so unctuous and catching a manner that the audience are infinitely charmed: so much charmed, indeed, that " encore issues from all their lips simultaneously. Such was the effect of the admirable duet in the third act:

Unis dans nos malheurs,
Mêlons nos pleurs.

Les cœurs en souffrance,
Font un bonheur de l'espérance.
Le sort, dans ses terribles lois,
En ce jour fatal nous assemble;
Restons unis, pleurons ensemble,

Nos deux cœurs ont la même voix.

The fact is that, at a certain moment, the two voices of the Sisters Marchisio constitute only one, so much are they swayed by the same soul and the same sentiment. It is long since we heard anything so completely harmonious; it is, we repeat, indescribably charming, and this one concerted piece would be sufficient to establish the reputation of the two sisters, even if they did not possess first-rate powers of execution. The soprano, Mlle. Carlotta, has a voice of that incisive quality which, to a certain extent, replaces the magisterial breadth of a Semiramis at the Grand Opéra. Her vocal chords speak in the most sympathetic and distingué manner. Paralysed at first by visible emotion, they speedily recovered their natural vibration, and it may be asserted that, during the whole performance, Mlle. Carlotta Marchisio's talent kept rising more and more in the estimation of the general public and of connoisseurs. Her sister Barbera possesses, perhaps, a less happy voice. Yet it has breadth and compass. Arsace is not deficient in style,- quite the reverse; but, to sum up, the sympathy inspired in the audience by each of the two sisters is not the same until the moment of their duet, which is, and always will be, in France as in Italy, the most beautiful jewel in their crown. With what acclamation was it redemanded, and with what applause did the house greet the new points d'orgue,