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Advertisements.

ST. JAMES'S HALL.

of performing for the entertainment of subscribers, the Philharmonic Society, at the present moment, is by no means sure of preserving that indispensable auxiliary next March. Not to mince words, there is a conspiracy going on

THE MONDAY POPULAR CONCERTS against the Philharmonic society. At the head of the con

HER

WILL RE-COMMENCE

ON MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 12th.

ER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.-Lessee, Mr. E. T. SMITH. THIS EVENING (Saturday), will be repeated ROBIN HOOD; SIMS REEVES, SANTLEY, GEORGE HONEY, LEMAIRE, and LEMMENS SHERRINGTON. Reduced scale of prices-Pit Stalls, 7s. 6d.; Balcony, 58.; First Circle, 4s.; Second Circle, 3s.; Upper Box Circle Seats, 2s.; Pit, 2s. 6d.; Gallery 1s. Gallery Side Stalls, 18. 6d. Gallery Stalls, 3s. Private Boxes: Upper Box, to hold four persons,

10s.: Private Box, third tier, to hold four persons, £1 1s.: Private Box, second tier,

to hold four persons, £1 11s. 6d.; Private Boxes, Pit, first and grand tiers, two, three, and four Guineas. The Box-office of the theatre open daily, from 10 till 5 o'clock, under the direction of Mr. Nugent. Acting Manager, Mr. Mapleson. Stage Manager,

Mr. R. Roxby.

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T of trouble for music and misie pus in this coing HERE are rumours afloat which point to a coming period at least in this metropolis, the turn of the provinces being less imminent, although pretty sure to arrive in time. What would our readers think if informed that the oldest and most honourable institution of its order in England-we mean, of course, the Philharmonic Society-stood in immediate peril of its existence? After such a brilliant and profitable season as the last, they might reasonably urge, such a misfortune was very improbable. Not so, however. The Philharmonic Society without an orchestra becomes virtually defunct; and, unless the 40 members and 60 associates, constitute themselves an orchestra, and with a view

spirators is Mr. Gye, director of the Royal Italian Opera; and his chief confederate is Mr. Costa. Mr. Gye is the Brutus, Mr. Costa the Casca of this conspiracy. Casca has already struck the first blow (ab retro); Brutus is pointing his dagger to inflict the last. If the first prove mortal, however, the next will be superfluous, and "the most unkindest cut of all" be spared.

"The most unkindest cut of all!" We reiterate the phrase, which-as Marcus Brutus Gye is likely to repudiate its application to himself-we must endeavour to explain.

But for the Philharmonic Society there would have been no Royal Italian Opera. The first bone of contention between Mr. Lumley and Mr. Costa-who at that juncture assumed the style of Publius Cimber-was the offer of the Philharmonic Society to engage Mr. Costa's services as conductor. To this proposal Mr. Lumley-who was then assuming the style of "Imperious Caesar" (we are compelled to shift the disposition of the dramatis persona), now unimperiously worn by the semi-unanimated Philharmonicwould on no account listen. In vain was the petition,

"To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber." Cæsar Lumley, "constant as the northern star," was obdurate. He (Cæsar Lumley) could be well moved, if he were as the Philharmonic which at that time took the semblance of Metellus Cimber; if he could pray to move, prayers might move him (and remove Publius Cimber Costa-to Hanover Square, every Monday fortnight); though man, and therefore flesh and blood, he was not apprehensive; firm as a rock, lofty as a tower, inflexible as a pig (of iron), he answered-NAY! and in the language of our immortal bard (whose plays he kept, together with Bacon's essays as Alexander the Great kept Homer's Iliad-under his bolster) thus forcibly illustrated his inexorable resolve:"I do know but one

That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshak'd of motion; and that I am he
Let me a little show it, even in this: "-
That I was constant Costa should not go,
And constant do remain to keep him here." *

Publius Cimber Costa, nevertheless, was not to be put off with threats and frowns. As Cæsar Lumley refused to let him go, he dispensed with Cæsar Lumley's consent, and departed on his own hook." The first year that Costa directed the Philharmonic Concerts was the year in which the opposition to Her Majesty's Theatre became settled and matured. Costa took his legions away with him, and his post who brought fresh legions, for the most part gete. In 1847 in the Haymarket was assigned to Marcus Antonius Balfe, Costa rejected the style of Publius Cimber, and assumed that of Richelieu, which he retained magnanimously, until a vigorous director arose-by name Gye-who, regarded as a Louis," had more of the "11th" and "14th" in his temperament than of the " 13th" and 15th."

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However, the Royal Italian Opera was speedily an established fact. The Philharmonic Society had done the deed; for the Philharmonic Society abstracted Costa, and Costa

*"That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd, And constant do remain to keep him so."

abstracted his cohorts, vocal and instrumental, male and female. For a period the debt of gratitude was acknowledged or at any rate not disputed; but at length the sceptre of the Philharmonic orchestra was abandoned by Richelieu-Costa, who had reigned nine years; and was succeeded by Lamoricière Wagner, who reigned one year; and was succeeded by Garibaldi Sterndale-Bennett, who still reigns. Thence (from A.D. 1855) the acknowledgment, or rather non-repudiation, of the debt of gratitude due to the Philharmonic began to be regarded as a myth. To make short tale, there has been more than one attempt to lure away its freelances, but without result. The Philharmonie, lanceless, must succumb. Snick-and-Snee was never its mode of warfare.

*

To resume. The dramatis personæ, or rather the distribution thereof, being once more shifted, the preamble goes for nothing-or for so much as it is worth, which amounts to the same thing. The Philharmonic is (or was, in the summer of this year of grace, 1860) Cæsar; but now the conspiracy against Cæsar, which had long been hatching, is hatched, or quasi-hatched. Casca has inflicted the inaugurative thrust. Brutus is in readiness to consummate the catastrophe, when the portals of Hanover Square shall be patulous-March 1861. Having reached the Capitol, the Philharmonic (Cæsar) may find itself bereft of legions. Beethoven will then be dumb, and the subscribers (if not quite blue) aghast.

We cannot, at present (without indiscretion), be more explicit. Are our readers able to penetrate the mystery of this hieroglyph? Perhaps not. Let them wait, however, the completion of Pope Anderson's prothonotary, and without protervity await the issue. It is better to be suasory, hortatory ("protreptical," as Sir E. Lytton would express it, through the mouth of the progenitor of Pisistratus Caxton) than impetuous. At the same time, those who are welldisposed towards the Philharmonic Society may comfort themselves with the protasis, that the very protoplast, or (to be prothetic) arch-protoplast of musical institutions cannot be annihilated (even though Brutus follow Casca, blow for blow) without some pains. The legion will not exultingly behold themselves under the sway of a blind despotism which, if their services are never to be rewarded further off than a stone's throw from Floral Hall, must inevitably be the case; they will rather bethink them that free-lances are still to be had abroad; that Pope Anderson is a wary ecclesiastic; and that "feathered bipeds of advanced age are not to be entrapped by the outer husks of corn."

THE THE eighteenth century produced a prodigious number of great singers. Their voices have gone with them, but we know from the music they sang, from the embellishments and cadences which have been noted down, and which are as good evidence now as when they were first executed, that these virtuosi had brought the vocal art to a perfection of which in these later days we meet with only the rarest examples. Is music to be written for the sake of singers, or are singers to learn to sing for the sake of music? Of the two propositions we decidedly prefer the latter; but it must at the same time be remembered that unless the executive qualities of the singer be studied to a considerable extent, the singer will soon cease to pay much attention to his execution. Continue to give him singable music, how

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ever difficult, and he will continue to learn to sing, counting the difficulties to be overcome only as so many opportunities for new triumphs; but if the music given to him is such as can-perhaps even must-be shouted, it is to be expected that he will soon cease to study the intricacies and delicacies of his art; and in time, if music truly vocal be shown to him to sing, he will be unable to sing it. The great singers of the seventeenth century, to judge from the music of Caccini's, Peri's, and Monteverde's operas, must have cultivated expression rather than ornamentation, though the description given by Mancini (quoted by Rousseau in the Dictionary of Music) of Balthazar Ferri's singing, and the manner in which it was received, proves that the florid highly adorned style was also in vogue. Queen Christina sent a vessel of war to fetch Ferri to Stockholm, and it is said that the Florentines, when he was about to visit their city, went in thousands to meet him at three leagues' distance from the gates. These early Italian virtuosi (a name which they adopted at the beginning of the seventeenth century to distinguish themselves from mere actors) not only possessed great acquirements as singers, but were also excellent musicians, and many of them displayed great ability in matters quite unconnected with their profession. Stradella, the only vocalist of whom it is recorded that his singing saved his life, composed an opera, La Forza dell Amor paterno, of which the manifold beauties caused him to be proclaimed beyond comparison the first Apollo of music"-a certificate to that effect being stamped by authority on the published score. Atto, an Italian tenor, who came to Paris

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with Leonora Baroni, and who had apartments given him in Cardinal Mazarin's palace, was afterwards entrusted by that minister with a political mission to the Court of Bavaria, which, however, it must be remembered was just then presided over, not only by an elector, but by an electoress. Farinelli (Carlo Broschi) became the confidential adviser, if not the actual minister (as has been often stated, but without foundation) of the King of Spain. In the present day, the only virtuoso we know of (the name has now a more general signification) who has been entrusted with quasi-diplomatic functions is Vivier, the first horn-player, and, in his own way, the first humourist of the age; we believe it is no secret that this facetious virtuoso fills the office of secretary to his Excellence Vely Pacha.

Bontempi, in his Historia Musica, gives the following account of the school of singing directed by Mazzocchi at Rome in 1620:-" At the school of Rome the pupils were obliged to give up one hour every day to the singing of difficult passages till they were well acquainted with them, another to the practice of the shake, another to the feats of agility*, another to the study of letters, another to vocal exercises under the direction of a master, and before a looking-glass, so that they might be certain they made no disagreeable movement of the muscles of the face, of the forehead, of the eyes, or of the mouth. So much for the occupation of the morning. In the afternoon half an hour was devoted to the theory of singing; another half hour to counterpoint; an hour to hearing the rules of composition and putting them in practice on their tablets; another to the study of letters, and the rest of the day to practising the harpsichord, and to the composition of some Psalm motet, canzonetta, or any other piece according to the scholar's own ideas. Such were the ordinary exercises of the school on days when the scholars did not leave the house. When they went out they often walked towards Monte-Mario and sang, where they

*Note for Punch. Vocal agility not gymnastics.

could hear the echo of their notes, so that each might judge by the response of the justness of his execution. They, moreover, sang at almost all the musical solemnities of the Roman churches; following, observing with attention the manner and style of an infinity of great singers who lived under the Pontificate of Urban VIII., so that they could afterwards render an account of their observations to the master, who, the better to impress the result of these studies on the minds of his pupils, added whatever remarks and cautions he thought necessary."

With such a system as the above it would have been impossible, supposing the student to have possessed any natural disposition for singing, not to have produced great vocalists; for we meet with them even in the present day when they are for the most part educated on no system at all.

MACFARREN'S ROBIN HOOD.
(From the London Review.)

THE production of this new opera at Her Majesty's Theatre is an occurrence worthy of more than ordinary notice, for this simple and sufficient reason, that Robin Hood is, we have no hesitation in saying, the greatest work that has been produced for the English musical stage since the days of Purcell. Indeed, we doubt whether it is right to make even this qualification; for though our immortal countryman ought ever to hold the highest place among English musicians, yet in his time dramatic music was almost unknown in England; and though his mighty genius carried him far in advance of his age, yet his essays in writing for the theatre are scarcely entitled, in our day, to the name of operas. The Tempest, King Arthur, Bonduca, and Purcell's other so-called operas, were merely plays with music introduced. None of the dramatis persona sang a note; the music consisting of incidental airs, choruses, and other pieces, sung and played by performers who took no part in the action of the piece. Of the opera, properly so-called, music is an essential element; it is the language in which persons of the drama express their sentiments and feelings. It is as necessary to an opera as blank verse is to a tragedy; but as tragedy sometimes relapses from the dignity of verse in scenes where the dialogue is light and trivial, a similar relaxation has been allowed in opera, the performers, in such scenes, using only ordinary speech, without music. But this relaxation is not at all permitted on the Italian stage, where every word of the dialogue is uttered in music. So it is in the French and German serious opera, talking being admitted only into the opera buffa, and sparingly even there. In this country, in the progress of the stage, musical pieces called operas came into vogue, in which the actors themselves sang; but still the chief part of the dialogue was simply spoken, the performer every now and then breaking into a song, as is now done in the French vaudevilles. Such were all our English operas of the last and the beginning of the present century, including the works of Arne and his successors, down to Bishop. Since then the foreign models have been more and more adopted, and the language of the stage has been more and more associated with music.

The

Mr. Macfarren's Robin Hood is the most complete specimen of English Opera, in its modern shape, that we possess. works of his greatest predecessors were produced in immature states of the art; and he has unquestionably carried away the palm from the most eminent of his contemporaries. Whether his rivals who are most competent to contend for it, will yet

do so successfully, remains to be seen. Meanwhile he holds it by the general voice of the public. The composer has been fortunate in having for his collaborateur, Mr. John Oxenford, whose poem is a rara avis among opera librettos. It is a pretty drama; elegant, interesting, and admirably suited to the requirements of the musician. For materials, Mr. Oxenford has had recourse to the fine old traditional ballads of which Robin Hood is the hero, and to Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, in which the gallant outlaw is so delightfully introduced. The plot and construction of his piece, however, seem to be original.

Mr. Macfarren is already well known, by numerous productions in various branches of the art, not excepting the stage. His Devil's Opera, Don Quixote, and King Charles the Second, are works of a high order and deserved success, but Robin Hood is a step much in advance of both. It evinces genius, matured by experience and study, and especially by the study of the national music of his own country. Mr. Macfarren emulates the modern foreign composers, Rossini, Auber, and Meyerbeer, but does not imitate them. He has profited by the study of their works in acquiring their constructive skill, their power of combination, and knowledge of dramatic and orchestral effect; but he never forgets, or allows the audience to forget, than he is an Englishman, and that they are listening to English music. This gives a peculiar charm to the music of this opera, which distinguishes it from that of his contemporaries, who, while their clever, and often brilliant, productions show that their minds and memories are imbued with the foreign schools of music, betray an entire neglect of the rich stores of our own national melodies.

Foreign.

NEW YORK.-Mad. Csillag is immediately expected from Europe, and is announced to appear at the Academy of Music with Herr Formes.

miramide.

NAPLES.-The San Carlo opened the season with Rossini's SeAuber's Muette de Portici (Masaniello), and Meyerbeer's Prophète, are in rehearsal, and will be given shortly. Neither opera has ever been heard in Naples. It will be interesting to behold Masaniello treading his native stage for the first time. The performance of Auber's masterpiece is expected to create an enormous sensation, and it is to be produced with great magnificence. The revolution has done good to music at all events, and to the Tepsichorean art as well, if it be true that the Dancing Academy, abolished by the prudish Bourbons (who also locked up the Venuses), is about to be re-established.

MADRID. Mad. Charton-Demeur made her début at the opera, on the 10th of October, with the most brilliant success.

The re

presentation was a complete triumph. After each act the singer

was called on several times and received with enthusiasm.

BERLIN.-The Victoria Theatre opened on the 18th ult., with the Barbiere, Mlle. Astol sustaining the part of Rosina. Mad. De Bries had appeared in Norma. The Pardon de Ploërmel is in rehearsal; and the Catharina Cornaro and Nourmahal of Spontini

will be revived.

NICE.-Mad. Sanchioli, whom the subscribers and habitués of Her Majesty's Theatre some ten or a dozen years ago cannot have forgotten, has created a "sensation," as Fides, in the Prophète, and as Leonora, in the Favorita.

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.-Extensive alterations and improvements are now being made by Mr. Wigan, preparatory to the theatre being opened on Monday night under his management. commodious, the private boxes more elegant, and the general The interior is newly furnished, the stalls are rendered more arrangements for the comfort of the audience more complete. A new drama by Mr. Tom Taylor, and Mr. Planche's King of the Peacocks will be performed.

The Opera.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

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On Monday night an audience less numerous than appreciative was entertained with an unusually fine performance of Donizetti's always welcome (however somewhat hackneyed) Lucrezia Borgia. The three chief personages were assumed by Mlle. Titiens, Signor Giuglini, and M. Gassier; and it must be admitted that the German, Italian, and French artists worked together as heartily, and with as much consentaneousness of purpose, as if they had been compatriots, instead of belonging to three different countries. To complete the medley of nationalities, Mad. Lemaire, an Englishwoman, we believethough married to a Belgian-stood forth as Gennaro's faithful friend, the vivacious Maffeo Orsini, and delivered the sparkling "brindisi" with a great deal of animation.

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attendance to witness such a delightful work, and so generally
good a performance. Since the year 1844, when it was first
presented in an English dress (at the Princess's Theatre, Mad.
Anna Thillon, the French original, in the principal character),
the Crown Diamonds has always been a favourite opera with
the London public. The drama is one of the most interesting,
music is of the raciest and most genuine of Auber, who sustained
improbable, and ingenious of its prolific author, M. Scribe; the
the fortunes of the Opéra Comique for more than a quarter of a
century by an uninterrupted succession of masterpieces, beginning
with the Maçon and the Fiancée, and ending with the Domino Noir,
the Ambassadrice, and the Diamans de la Couronne, which last may
be said to combine the essence of (modern) French melody with
the quintessence of (modern) French "esprit." What Auber has
composed since, though unexceptionable from the point of view of
art-which could hardly be otherwise than the case, coming from
such a thoroughly accomplished artist-represents, in colours more
or less glowing and attractive, the decline of his inventive powers;
and the gradual descent from Haydée to Jenny Bell and Manon
L'Escaut
may be regarded as the antithesis (or reverse) to the
Diamonds we find Auber in the very perfection of his prime, and
gradual ascent from La Neige to Le Domino Noir. In the Crown
served, too, by M. Scribe-partner no less of his first and only
failure than of his many subsequent successes--in a manner to
satisfy the most exacting of dramatic, or, to "speak by the card,"
theatrical, musicians. Who cares a straw whether the story of
Les Diamans--founded (M. Scribe being our sole authority) on
a legend connected with a certain Queen of Portugal"-is or is
not so improbable as to trench on the borders of absurdity? Si
non è vero è ben trovato; anything that can be related in a manner
at once so specious and amusing, if not true, at least deserves to
be true.

66

Perhaps in not one of her parts-unless we except her magnificent Donna Anna-does Mlle. Titiens support the credit, now almost unanimously accorded her, of being the worthiest claimant to the "mantle of Grisi," more triumphantly than in that of the wicked and passionate Duchess of Ferrara. She has all the personal, physical, and mental requisites for the characters, which she looks, sings, and acts alike to perfection. On Monday night she shone conspicuously in each of the situations which stand out as culminating points in the progress of the story:- the scene where Lucrezia is unmasked and insulted by the young nobles in sence of Gennaro; that where after the dispute with Alphonso, she is compelled to administer the poisoned wine to her unsuspecting son, the effects of which she subsequently neutralises by forcing him to swallow the antidote; and that in which, having wreaked vengeance on her enemies, finding that Gennaro, among the rest, has fallen into the snare, and unable to persuade him again to accept her remedy, with harrowed feelings, she beholds him die in long- Theatre in 1857, brought the Pyne and Harrison management beThe Crown Diamonds was the first opera which, at the Lyceum protracted agony before her. To each of these grand histrionic displays Mlle. Titiens showed herself fully equal, her whole perfore the London public in a light at once conspicuous and favourable. As it was then so it is now-in very many respects one of formance leaving an impression not easy to efface. Her vocal declamation, everywhere effective, was brilliantly so in the air sung the most efficiently represented operas in their repertory. The while Gennaro is sleeping, in the two duets of Act II. and in the orchestra, under Mr. Alfred Mellon's direction, is perfect, from the overture to the end; and those who are aware how delicate and justly celebrated passage that follows the revelation of Gennaro's parentage—the touching and appealing "M'odi, m'odi !" Rarely fail to appreciate the laudable exertions of this admirable band of consummately artistic is the instrumentation of Auber, can hardly has Signor Giuglini gave the music of Gennaro with more perfect grace of style or execution more elaborately finished. His sympaexecutants. Mr. Harrison's Don Henrique is one of his most natural and unaffected assumptions; and so thoroughly has he thetic voice ("voce sympatica") is never heard to greater advantage than in the tender and melodious phrases through the medium imbued himself with the spirit of the music, with such vigour does he deliver the recitatives and phrases of declamation, that we are of which Donizetti has so expressively marked out his hero from almost inclined to overlook the want of taste-or, perhaps, the the rest of the dramatis persona; and from "Di pescatore ignobile' to the pathetic strains of the death-scene, all was in the highest avidity for winning applause from the galleries, no matter at what degree satisfactory, the air interpolated at the beginning of Act expense-which leads him to introduce, in the third act, a ballad, III.—which, though scarcely worthy its usurped place in the however intrinsically pleasing, having nothing in common with the music of Auber. Mr. Corri, too, who gives a somewhat rough, opera, cannot be altogether overlooked-being quite equal in taste and refinement to what preceded and followed it. The Duke coiners, enters into his task with such unmistakable energy and but by no means ineffective, portraiture of Rebolledo, chief of the of M. Gassier is one of the very best impersonations of that intelligent, clever, and eminently serviceable artist, who has the entire good-will as to extort absolution for a scarcely more condonable repertory of Italian opera so to speak," at his fingers' ends"-from offence, in the shape of an interpolated song, about the days when Don Giovanni to Figaro, from Alphonso of Ferrara to Belcore. One (Rebolledo) was a "muleteer"-days to which M. Scribe makes no allusion whatever. Of the other subordinate parts, the best the present occasion, M. Gassier-who sang the well known declasustained is that of Diana de Montemajor, by Miss Thirlwall matory air of Act II. with admirable vigour― did much to enhance the effect of the "ensemble;" in the scene of contention with (daughter of one of our most eminent orchestral players), a very Lucrezia, and that where, with bland hypocrisy, the duke cajoles young aspirant, who already promises well, and if she continues to Gennaro- which includes the famous trio (unnecessary to speciause the same diligence which has hitherto marked her professional lise by name)-sharing the honours and plaudits with Mlle. career, is likely to attain a solid and durable position. In the Titiens and Signor Giuglini. famous bolero-duet with Catarina (Act II.) Miss Thirlwall seconded tirely satisfactory that she may fairly be said to have divided the her more experienced and accomplished partner in a way so enhonours with her accomplished partner. As an actress Miss Thirlwall has much-almost everything, indeed-to learn; but this, like many other things appertaining to her art, must be left to time and her own industry.

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The subordinate parts were all creditably supported; and Signor
Arditi presided in the orchestra with his accustomed talent.
The Huguenots was to be given last night.

Robin Hood was repeated on Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and is underlined to be given three times a week until further notice. The attraction, so far from abating, appears nightly to increase, and there are literally no places to be obtained unless secured some days previously.

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA.-The chief incident of the week has been the production of the Crown Diamonds (on Tuesday evening). We should have gladly welcomed a more numerous

The most faultless exhibition of the evening was the CatarinaQueen of Portugal, and prime manufacturer of the false jewelsdelineated by Miss Louisa Pyne with an intelligent and histrionic completeness which (allowing for a certain degree of frigidity apparently innate in this otherwise consummate artist) left nothing to desire. Her execution of the sparkling and delicious music of

Auber was from end to end irreproachable. Her most dazzling and surprising display was, of course, the air with variations following the duet in the second act, which in one or two salient points bears so strong an affinity to the well-known effusion of Rode, that Miss Pyne might reasonably dispense with so heterogeneous an interpolation into an opera, not only one of the most highly finished of its composer, but of a school remarkable for finished workmanship, of which he is the most gifted and illustrious representative. That Miss Louisa Pyne warbles the plaintive theme of Rode's variations "like any nightingale," and executes the variations with a fluency, neatness, and brilliancy only within reach of the most perfect acquirement; that the sensation produced, moreover, is proportionate to the talent exhibited is incontestable nevertheless, in spite of these strong claims to admiration, it may be urged, without discourtesy, that Auber is the best judge of the effect he intended, and that had he considered it expedient to introduce an elaborate feat of vocalisation as a climax to his everywhere perfect work, he could have written as good, if not a better thing of its kind, than even the hackneyed "bravura" of the celebrated French violinist, which brings down the curtain with an amount of applause that would be more flattering if legitimately earned. The part of Don Sebastian was allotted, as in former years, to Mr. St. Albyn; that of Campomayer (Minister of Justice) to Mr. H. Horncastle, an old stager, whose performance was considerably more laboured than diverting.

After the opera, Rossini's overture to Semiramide was superbly performed by the band.

Mad. Palmieri is an English lady (née Croft), and studied in Italy for some years. She was engaged last season at the Barcelona opera, and had previously sung at some of the Italian theatres, always as prima donna. We understand Mad. Palmieri has much to recommend her as a dramatic singer. Her voice is a true soprano-not naturally a high soprano, we should say-extensive in compass, of good quality, and sufficiently powerful. She vocalises with facility, and has evidently been well taught, and turned her teaching to good account. Great allowance should be made on the occasion of a first appearance, and all minor faults reserved for after consideration. The débutante made a most favourable impression in Verdi's heroine, and was recalled with enthusiasm after the cabaletta of the opening air, "Tacca la notta." As an actress, Mad. Palmieri is extremely easy and lady-like, and does not want for energy or passion. Her whole performance of Leonora was earnest and impressive, and she only failed when she attempted to grapple with the realities of tragedy. Mr. Alberto (why not plain Albert ?) Lawrence is, we believe, an American, and, like Mad. Palmieri, has been singing within the year at Barcelona. His voice is a powerful baritone of fine quality, and, as far as we could judge, flexible. He sings well, but is somewhat deficient in style. His acting betokens care rather than impulse, and no doubt he will be seen to greater advantage in a part less exacting than the stormy Count di Luna. His most decided hit was in the popular air "Il balen," although we preferred him in the third act. It was an act of injustice to Miss Leffler to ask her to perform such a part as Azcgena. All her shortcomings must consequently not be laid to her charge. We shall only say of her performance that she sang some of the music with great charm of voice, and draw a curtain over the rest. Mr. Theodore Distin was too nervous to do himself justice either as actor or singer in Ferrando. Taking all things into consideration, any other opera perhaps would have been perferable to to the Trovatore. The Manrico of Mr. Haigh, by the way, is entitled to a strong word of praise. The music for the most part was sung excellently, and everywhere purpose and meaning were evident in the acting. No singer on the stage of late years has made greater progress in his art than Mr. Henry Haigh.

The Theatres.

DRURY LANE THEATRE.-During the present week Mr. Charles Mathews has hard work to do at Drury Lane. First in the order of the evening's performance comes the Game of Speculation, rendered more famous in London by his masterly representation of Mr. Affable Hawk than the original piece, Mercadet, in the French metropolis. Little Toddlekins, another old favourite of his Lyceum

days, comes last, and inserted between the comedy and the farce is a trifling "commedietta," called Cherry and Blue, in which Mr. Charles Mathews acts a married gentleman, who mars his own domestic felicity by plunging into an intrigue for the mere love of romance, and is righteously tormented by his wife, who knows all about the affair, inasmuch as it was to herself, amid the shades of night, that his attentions were paid. A smart Abigail, played by Mrs. Charles Mathews, likewise conduces to the success of the piece. A new comedy, in which Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews will sustain the principal characters, is announced for Monday. HAYMARKET THEATRE. - The Love Chase has suddenly become the most accessible play in the whole English repertory. at the Lyceum it is the vehicle for making the public acquainted manager remembers that Neighbour Constance was found equally with the merits of Miss Josephine Gougenheim, the Haymarket serviceable to Miss Amy Sedgwick, when that excellent actress

While

It has accord

was at the commencement of her fortunate career. ingly been revived with much success, and Miss Sedgwick is as warmly applauded as ever.

LYCEUM THEATRE.-The new drama, entitled the Pioneers of America, is a piece of Transatlantic workmanship put together, not with much compactness, for the purpose of providing Mr. Watkins with a negro character, usually comic in expression, but thoroughly melodramatic in action. The incidents are supposed to occur during the American wars of the French and English, in the middle of the last century, and an abominable gentleman, who insists on marrying a young lady against her will, is also hateful as a renegade to the French side, whereas the interesting lover of the story, the master of the negro Jocko, is correct in his politics,-the cause of the Britisher being popular in 1755, and capable of being adorned with all the claptraps which were levelled against it a few years afterwards. However, the chief value of the war, as far as the action of the play is concerned, is the military character which it gives to the successive captures and recaptures of the fair victim, and the consequent opportunities afforded for the display of the Negro Jocko's miraculous capabilities. Though nearly bent double by a deformed spine, this Hercules of niggers is not only a host in himself, but an overmatch for any host that may be employed to check his progress. His fist knocks down Indians by tribes; he deprives an armed French sentinel of his gun, and makes him divest himself of all his upper garments, which he then puts on, holding a knife in his teeth as a weapon of defence, while the operation of dressing compels him to lay aside the musket. Finally, when all other means have failed to prevent the marriage of his master's beloved Isabel to the horrible renegade, and the nuptial ceremony has actually begun, he adopts the very ingenious and efficacious plan of shooting the bridegroom, in the presence of the wedding assembly. At first we were afraid he had shot the officiating chaplain, as a rough way of forbidding the banns, and consequently it was a relief to see the wicked bridegroom rush out with a red blotch on his forehead, for as he is a renegade, and also once tried to poison Jocko, he does not merit our pity. What matters it that the dead man's father, who has a body of Indians at command, tries to hang the virtuous lover on a tree by way of reprisal? Jocko has a universe of resources at command,-sets the house on fire, pitches an Indian out of window, and quietly throws about half-a-dozen more down a well, so that virtue triumphs in the most gymnastic fashion, and when the English soldiers arrive to establish her conquest, we feel that she is rather encumbered by their aid.

Mr. H. Watkin's impersonation of Jocko is really worth seeing, though the piece itself has no pretension to rank even with the humblest transpontine melodrama. His hearty love of fighting, the cat-like agility of his movements, the animal cunning which accompanies all his feats, constitute a character of a novel kind, for the delineation of which, moreover, a peculiar physical training is requisite. But it was in an evil hour that the author, while lavishing all sorts of gifts on his pet personage, ventured to give him two scenes of a thoroughly sentimental kind. Jocko fighting, Jocko slaughtering, Jocko chuckling, Jocko jumping about is a merry fellow enough, but Jocko drawling forth yards of pathos is the dismallest of company. Let him be healed of his melancholy propensities, and likewise let the portions in which he does not appear at all be cut down to the smallest possible dimensions,

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