The Opera. ;

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA.-Another glorious triumph for English opera-another hope for national music. Mr. Balfe's new opera, Bianca, the Bravo's Bride, produced on Thursday evening, was one of the most legitimate successes ever witnessed within the walls of any theatre. The excitement commenced with the overture, which was encored, and was rampant at the end of the first act, when a vociferous call was made for Mr. Balfe, who, after some delay-doubtless not being prepared for so early a summons -made his appearance, and was received with deafening acclamations. Four long acts, enduring four hours and a half, would have cooled any ordinary enthusiasm, and have tired any ordinary patience; but the applause, far from abating, went on increasing, and was most vehement in the last two acts, the audience unanimously encoring a gallop in the last scene, which was indeed inevitable, since the music is exciting in the extreme, and the pas is most admirably arranged by M. Petit, the maître de ballet, and was capitally danced by the young ladies.

The libretto of the Brano's Bride is from the pen of Mr. Palgrave Simpson, who has founded his plot on Monk Lewis's melodrama, Rugantino, the Bravo of Venice, and has pretty closely adhered to the original. Rugantino is not only utterly buried in oblivion, as far as regards production on the stage, but is excluded from most editions of English dramatic works, even from those, like the London Stage, which pretend to comprise every work that achieved popularity in its day. It is, however, included in "Cumberland's Plays," but does not appear to have obtained much favour at any time. The story, as adapted in the libretto, may be thus briefly detailed :

-

A certain romantic young Prince of Ferrara falls in love with

Bianca, daughter of the Duke of Milan, but, though betrothed to her in some mysterious way, which does not appear, wishes to be loved for himself, and not for his princedom. He takes upon him the guise of a young soldier of fortune, and wins the heart of the tender Bianca, but withholds confession of his affection. He departs to the wars-to test the young lady's love by absence, we may suppose and "crushes the bravo band." How this is effected we are not informed; but the "bravo band" is headed by a terrible chief, Fortespada, whose very name strikes terror to all the country round. Our prince is "led by fate" to the brigand's den, and finds him dying, and so penitent, that he confesses "a foul conspiracy of death" on the part of certain nobles against the Duke of Milan, in which he is implicated. The brigand gives the prince a list of the traitors, and dies. Upon this, the better to prosecute his plans to discover the heads of the conspiracy, the prince disguises himself as the brigand, gains access to the conspirators, and induces them to elect him as their chief. He has them thus entirely in his power, but why he does not denounce them at once is not told. The prince is a great adept at disguises. Two of the conspirators having determined to kill Bianca in the grand cathedral of Milan, where she goes alone to pray, our prince, who knows everything, is ready behind a pillar, caparisoned as a mendicant, and stabs the highborn gentleman who was about to stab her. Bianca faints, and on coming to herself she sees the beggar transformed into the brigand, and is terrified when she hears him claim her, in life or death, as the "Bravo's Bride." The young lady-who must have been singularly obtuse as to vision not to detect her lover through one of his disguises-naturally screams, and brings her father and friends to her assistance. The Prince, however, is not so easily caught. Directly he hears the approach of footsteps he assumes the garb of a monk, and makes his escape. We need not dwell upon the incident of the Prince appearing to the Duke as the bravo, since nothing comes from it, but may go at once to state the dénouement, which happens thus:-Changing his tactics, the Prince appears to Bianca as Odoardo, when a confession of love takes place on both sides. The lovers are detected in their transports by the Duke, who, at first enraged with Odoardo, at last consents to grant him his daughter's hand, provided he would place Fortespada in his power that night, at twelve, in the great ducal hall. Nothing can be easier for the Prince to comply with, as we know. Accordingly at night, when the ball goes forward, and the midnight hour has tolled, Odoardo appears and announces that he

has captured Fortespada alive. "Bring him before us," cries the Duke, whereupon the Prince retires, and returns as the Bravo. He is unanimously voted to destruction, when the royal troops appear, and, at a sign from the Prince, carry off all the conspirators in custody. Lastly, his Royal Highness declares that Fortespada and Odoardo are the same, and, being pressed for further disclosures, confesses that the Prince of Ferrara is identical with the bravo and the young officer.

As a specimen of Mr. Simpson's work, we shall quote the two verses, addressed by Bianca to her father, in the duet, "From my childhood," wherein the young lady is desirous to disbosom herself of that secret which she thinks she has too long kept to herself:

"BIANCA.

"From my childhood did'st thou pray me
In thy heart to seek, my father,
Should a false world e'er betray me,

That pure love which ne'er betrays;
And my sorrow I have brought thee,
In affection weak, my father,
Thee I seek now, as I sought thee,

In my early childhood's days.
"In my childhood, ay, I swore thee
To respect thy wish, my father,
And my spirit bowed before thee,

As a loving child obeys;
But, my heart has now betray'd thee,
Nor bows 'fore thee still, my father,
With the same love that obey'd thee
In my carly childhood's days.”

Of the music generally we are inclined to think that the com

poser has expended more thought and care upon it than on any But on this point we must defer entering previous occasion. into details until our next. With respect to the first performances of Bianca, let the subjoined extracts from two of our morning contemporaries bear witness. Our own impressions shall be published with our criticism of the music.

BIANCA, THE BRAVO'S BRIDE.-(From The Times, Dec. 7th.)— A grand romantic_opera in four acts, abounding in complicated music, throughout with an evidently serious purport, cannot in fairness be disbuilt upon a story that embodies a great variety of incidents, and written night. Such an opera is the long and anxiously-expected new work of missed after a single hearing, more especially at half an hour past midMr. Balfe, who for upwards of twenty years has been the most popular of our native composers for the stage, and who last night added another to his long list of successes." His Bianca, the Bravo's Bride, is framed more ambitiously than any of his latter productions, and for that reason demands and merits stricter attention. We shall therefore be satisfied at present with announcing its enthusiastic reception by a crowded house. The composer was thrice summoned before the curtain, and again appeared a fourth time, leading on Mr. Alfred Mellon, who had well earned the compliment by the ability and labour he must have bestowed in preparing what was an admirable representation, even for this theatre, where imperfect first-night performances form the exception rather than, as is too frequently the case, the rule. It may as well be stated that Bianca is founded on the well-known romance of Rugantino, or the Bravo of Venice, also once familiar to the public as a melodrama, and that Mr. Palgrave Simpson has turned the original materials into an operatic libretto with the tact and judgment of an experienced hand. Nearly every member of the company is engaged in the distribution of characters, which are so numerous that Mr. Balfe has been able to accommodate as many as six bases and barytones-Messrs. Wharton, Lawrence; Corri, Wallworth, Kelly, and Distin-with more or less conspicuous parts. Mr. Harrison represents the mysterious and formidable bravo

"Like Cerberus, three gentlemen in one;" Miss Louisa Pyne, whose singing from end to end was a model of finished and brilliant execution, the Princess distinguished by his tender solicitude; Mr. St. Albyn a (comic) second tenor; and the promising Miss Thirlwall, a maid of honour somewhat advanced in years. To conclude, scenery, costumes, and a more than usually animated ballet, all effectively combine to lend attraction to the spectacle. The star of English opera is clearly in the ascendant.

BIANCA, THE BRAVO'S BRIDE.-(From the Daily Telegraph, Dec. 7th.) Mr. Balfe's anxiously-expected opera was produced last night, and achieved the most unquestionable success. The popular composer was

called before the curtain after the first and second acts, and again at the conclusion of the opera, and on each occasion was received with tumultuous applause. Although the performance did not terminate until midnight, the enthusiasm of the large audience seemed to increase rather than diminish, as the work approached its conclusion, and from the overture to the dance in the last scene there was a continual demand for the repetition of pieces which at once seized the popular taste. But while in Bianca Mr. Balfe's wonderful facility for inventing striking melodies is quite as conspicuous and as inexhaustible as ever, the work exhibits an immense superiority over all his former efforts in the orchestration. In this important matter the example of Meyerbeer's enduring success seems to have exercised a beneficial influence on our English composer. The story of Bianca has been adapted by Mr. Palgrave Simpson from the well-known tale of the Bravo of Venice; and in each of the four acts into which the opera is divided opportunities for musical effect have been presented, of which the composer has always availed himself with the happiest results. Mr. Balfe has been most fortunate in the representation of his work. Indeed, we have never seen all the members of the Covent Garden company to such advantage as in Bianca; and it would not be too much to affirm that the chorus and orchestra have never been so perfectly irreproachable on the first performance of any opera. Miss Louisa Pyne has great opportunities for the display of her varied powers. The charming ballad in D flat in the third act-which we prophesy will be the favourite morceau of the opera-was delivered with exquisite pathos, while the trying scena that opens the fourth act, and the brilliant finale to the opera, in which the vocalist reached almost the extremest limits of the human voice, were sung with the perfection to which we are accustomed in Miss Pyne, but which we may elsewhere seek in vain. Miss Thirlwall's singing is always conscientiously correct, but as yet she has not had so good a chance of showing that in action she is no less artistic and admirable. Mr. Alberto Lawrence's noble voice, judiciously subdued, was heard to much more advantage than on his first appearance in Il Trovatore; Mr. Henry Wharton, throughout painstaking, was compelled to repeat the ballad in praise of gold, which, with its bold and striking melody, is sure to become a popular drawingroom song; and Mr. St. Albyn excited great applause, no less by his terpsichorean than by his vocal efforts. On Mr. Harrison, however, the most onerous duties-histrionic as well as musical-devolve; and in all his disguises, whether as bandit, beggar, or noble, he sustained the character with unflagging energy and invariable effect. The mise en scène, while offering no novelty, is as admirable as usual; and we must not omit to mention the dance in the last scene, which is very prettily contrived. Nor should we forget to state that Mr. Alfred Mellon, in answer to a loud demand, was led on with evident satisfaction by Mr. Balfe at the conclusion of the opera, and was received with cordial and well-merited applause. Altogether, we have never had to record a more unequivocal success.

MR. BALFE'S BIANCA.-(From the Morning Post, 7th Dec.Last evening the first important novelty of the season, namely, Mr. Balfe's new opera of Bianca, was produced at the above theatre with complete and well-deserved success.

Bianca, the libretto of which is by Mr. Palgrave Simpson, is founded upon Monk Lewis's well-known tale of the Bravo of Venice, which was adapted to the stage many years ago as a startling melodrama, under the title of Rugantino. Mr. Balfe's opera begins on the cathedral square at Milan, and as the curtain rises groups of penitents are discovered kneeling on the steps of the famous "Duomo," and in various parts of the stage. After a brief instrumental introduction played upon the organ the penitents sing a solemn choral prayer, "To Thee above our hearts we raise," an excellent specimen of Mr. Balfe's talent in the serious style of composition. This over, a herald (Mr. Distin) appears with a proclamation, which sets forth, in the name of the high and puissant Matteo Visconti, Duke of Milan, that a reward of 500 ducats will be paid for the apprehension of the notorious bravo, Fortespada (Mr. W. Harrison), whose daring iniquities have rendered him the terror of Milan and the surrounding country. The crowd of citizens to whom this proclamation was addressed now begin to debate among themselves how it will be possible to secure the bravo, and are presently assisted in their deliberations by a young nobleman called Memmino (Mr. H. Corri), and Beppo, an attaché to the Duke of Milan's household (Mr. St. Albyn). Beppo relates a dreadful legend about the bravo, interrupted occasionally by exclamations of terror from the crowd, or the vainglorious boasting of Memmino. A chorus of monks, who appear at the gate of the cathedral and desire the crowd to disperse, in order that the Duke and his

daughter may pass without intrusion to their evening vesper prayers, brings the first scene to a conclusion. All this, which is musically expressed in one connected piece, beginning with the chorus of citizens, "What man so bold?" is certainly one of the best things Mr. Balfe ever wrote. It is spirited, genial, full of variety, and thoroughly dramatic. Mr. Simpson, too, deserves great praise for the very ingenious construction of this scene for musical purposes. In the second scene we find Count Malespina (Mr. Henry Wharton), Montalto (Mr. Wallworth), Memmino (Mr. H. Corri), Contarini (Mr. Lyall), Michele (a ruffian in the service of Malespina), and others enjoying the pleasures of the wine-cup, and plotting the destruction of the Duke of Milan (Mr. Alberto Lawrence) and his daughter Bianca (Miss Louisa Pyne). Malespina says to his friends that "The ducal guard is bribed,

The Church is zealous for our good:

The Emperor approves. When once the blow is struck
His troops will hasten to support us, and, meanwhile,
We must be zealous-bold.'

It also appears that the chief Ministers of State are to fall by the assassin's steel. A first-class bravo being wanted, of course no better man than Fortespada could be found, and that his professional services may be obtained is sufficiently proved by a written communication to the following effect, and which has been mysteri

ously placed in the hands of one of the conspirators:

要

"Ye, who need my dagger-seek me; ye shali find.
Ye who blood would shed shall see it shed around.
When you meet, wherever gathered, then behold
The bravo, Fortespada."

But a sudden alarm obliges the conspirators to be brief, and depend upon themselves. A young nobleman, who has discovered their machinations, determines to betray them. He must then, be disposed of at once, and thus lots are drawn to decide who is to strike the blow. Before, however, this matter is definitely settled, Fortespada suddenly appears before the astonished and affrighted conspirators. His terms for aiding them are that he shall be made their leader. They refuse; whereupon Fortespada wishes them good evening." But Malespina, more determined than his companions, throws himself between the bravo and the door, and calls upon the rest of the conspirators to fall upon Fortespada and destroy him. They hesitate, the bravo laughs loudly and hideously, and, seating himself at the wine-table, looks calmly at them all. "I know your secrets," says he; "a certain scroll lying on my table contains a full account of them, and if I return not in half an hour that scroll will be in the hands of the Grand Duke."

Fortespada is at once elected chief of the gang, and having with some difficulty obtained all the names of his associates, taken an oath to annihilate the oppressors of Milan, drunk a bumper to the assassinate Bianca that very night as she returns from the cathesuccess of their enterprise, and overheard Michele promise to dral, he takes leave in the pleasantest possible manner of his newlymade friends. Here ends the first act, the music of which is for the most part in Mr. Balfe's very happiest manner. The baritone determination to take revenge for his slighted love, has a sweet and scena, "Yes, proud Bianca," in which Malespina expresses his cantabile slow movement, very charming in itself, if not in the strictest accordance with the sentiment of the words; and the cabaletta, beside being quite unimpeachable with respect to verbal expression, is highly spirited and eminently tuneful. But the finale, beginning with the words, "Friends, we must act without delay, has still higher claims to consideration, arising from the which it was necessary to bring into accordance with the laws of very skilful treatment given to a large mass of dramatic material strictly musical form. To construct one coherent piece in dealing with such ever-varying and frequently opposite emotions, and to make it constantly vivacious and entertaining, was certainly no easy task, and yet Mr. Balfe has accomplished it to the satifaction both of musicians and the general public. mention the capital bacchanalian song— Before terminating our remarks upon this act, we must specially

"Glorious wine, Liquor divine,"

as one of the most genial and attractive pieces in the opera.

less, if they consent to sign a new treaty with the Opéra; and doubtless they feel that the Italian stage offers them more profit, more glory, and more easy triumphs. It will be a serious loss to the Opèra that it could not retain two singers of such extraordinary talent; but the great artists can hardly be deceived in regard to their future prospects, as trees bend their leaves in that direction whence proceed the rays of the sun. Why, then, should not the sisters Marchisio, like other queens of song, having won Parisian applause, seek for admiration and enthusiasm in other capitals of Europe, and even in the New World ?-La Presse Theâtrale (reduced into English.)

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