The Press. — London, England, 1858-06-19 00:00:00

1...t1 111 i! efforts are concerned: tutpturims applause was in deed obtained, once, by Mme. Boeko; and well did her perfect rentiteititi of Hie betlietim-scene (Ist of se t 4) solo merit the warmest commendation. The o v e riore too, and other orchestral parts, as well as Signori Ronconi and Otrdoni, were tolerably well received ; bat, with tbe exception of what was evinced towards Mme. Beam in the acene above mentioned, there was nothing like enthusiasm on Tuesday, and very little of it on Saturday. We repeat, however, that this apathy in the audience must be attributed rather tee something beyond the knowledg e or s kill of art i s tic power than to any defects in the neefortn twee. No doubt, such a milk and-water Dievolo as Signor Gerddrii, and such an immilitary Lorenzo as Wart N. lidraldi. are not meculsteel to stir np the • .romance of an audience ; but still they sang tl'eir poe ts well, especially the former, who uttered notes that brought back to our recollection Rubini in his b as t umtt. Wo incline to think that this opera iras lost Ruch by its Itelianization. Mosie is so neatly, akin to language that tt is seldom found passible to translate the words of the merest ballad iron the ofiginal into a foreign tongue without spoiling the song. Music is itself a language, and that which belongs to one nation is very distinct .from what belongs to another. This distinction is Iggivisiogy greater between German and French i.ewa than betweed Italian end French ; but still, ntven between the latter, it is sufficiently wide to produce discord when the language of the one is nnited to Use movie of the other. Herein, we are disposed to think, lies the secriettile - the eotd t•s ceptiott ,tri•ove blinded to. Every one itperienced a • jette iais gaol., which forbad entlmeiaglii: We must again protest against the disposition now prevalent on London opera boards to introduce antics worthy only of a circus or a penny theatre to the most refined audiences that are anywhere to be found in the world, and frequently malapropos with refe rence to the part in performance. For the sake of obtaining a little vulgar applause, it is sad to gee artists of merit—amongst whom Sig. Belletti at Her Majesty's Theatre and Sig. Ronooni at Covent Gar den--sacrificing the truthtulness of their parts, and eondescendir.g to low buffoonery. We have already explained the application of these remarks to the former. artist ; they are now more immediately directed, to the latter, who, in his desire to be funny, seemed quire to forget that, in undertaking the pair ,of byre! Bocburg, he was bound to represent an , Englittit nobleman. Granted that M. Scribe intended lio portray the moot extravagant specimen of the gdass (id which, by the way, foreigners generally, and inbsylirench in particular, entertain the most un quenchable jealousy)—cleat his lordship was to be the incarnation of tituidify, folly, jealousy, and ail ,ether contemptible qualities—still he was intended 3 11),be an Englishman and a gentlemen, to neither of itthich does Sig. Bonconi, either in his dress, gait, cfinvraers or glinince, make the slightest approach. llf the perfection of acting is thereat representation not reality, and if every actor might be meeenred by :this standard, then Sig. Ronconi, as Lord Rocburq, ,ftrould be unquestionably placed on a low round of sthe ladder- of excellence. It would, however, be !Unfair to judge him by.his performance in Diavofo,: for be. is,..beyond all• doubt, a very excellent actor. eWe cannot, of conr-ve, gavel biro to imitate the polished manner of an English gentleman—only an Jiuglisit gentleman can do that; but we may reason (chi), look tor a suppression of Merry-Andrewism and • valgarity, with which he must shook the truly his. •:-lilionio mind at every instant. Signori Zelger end , Tagliafico also would do well to moderate, to some rextent,.their extra Ewing. In nonclesion, and to sum up thei good and bad of the Fra. Diavolo of Covent iierslen, we may say that quisitally it is very strong, idnifilsit histrionically it imelfuniaoi .4's r.,n h - ..__ , I. et . • Ii t et.XIXE . P Coin gave their ninth concert, trod ' list `lotspe i l;is , Irarp, at St. Mertin's-ball yester• 4 $ to - 14...thfr'texpold glees and old madrigals by E willies', gtevens, Wiltiye, 4.114_ Niorley, and new ones by S. Reay, J. L. Hatton, Henry Smart, and Mr. H. Leslie himself ; theitiorrner, we are sorry to sayabeioglfughipetter than lbe latter. Blendelasohn's ' beautiful-1,1400g of the fitly-fifth Psalm was also Inns by Miss Hemming and the choir, Mr. Ward, As usual, presidiug at the organ. Mr. Charles Halle , .11.*)aim were the instrumentalists, and d 4%7 ;1 l i beca sonata of Beethoven for pianoforte ,ifioffo .im t fi, . er also contributed a group of E , Riegle i y .. elasohe, Haler, and Chopin, f t.t F . ti I a ,140art>~., mance of, la* pumposition. The ~. ass ooncgkcAl l t,a,kr place ofiAnly, 2. j a . AT Ts -7-X-CRTIITM. PALAcm A eerier of vocal and. Onstrumental copcerts ie being given on the Fridays rfAot ac upie4 by the Italian Opera Company. To f e i awn-ticket holders have free admission , 14 k 11 1 libtditeetora gave them nothing else for their I e4 1 994ey, they would have no right to complain that • I lle s hild made a bad bargain. The vocalists yester day ware Uaiarae Clara Novello, Madame Viatdot turd% Mr. 9ims It:eyea, and lerr Plsobek. The ttrogramthe consisted chiefly of operatic morceaux, all well known, but all of high character, such no . ' P 41'1 587 houses suited only to the manners and usages of a former age, and against all taste we have decorated them with grotesque forms and fancies, not because w • approve them, but because we find them in the models which we choose t. 4 consider ourselves sla vishly bound to follow. We cannot long continue to cover our houses with griffins and dragons, nor our churches with cowled monks and grinning imps ; when once we begin to carve, as well as to paint, such figures and such subjects as belong to ourselves soil not to our ancestors, there will soon be new lite anixig the sculptors and new interest among the people. The statues which are designed, as most tire lit present, without reference to the building in which they are placed, cannot, of course, be the better or the worse tor any changes wnich may take place in architecture. These are chiefly imitations of the Greek. Those which have been designed for our new buildings are, with few exceptions, imi imitations of the early Gothic—in feeling scarcely nearer to us than the Greek, and of greatly inferior execution. We shall not have a national school of sculpture till we have a national school of architec ture; but this we trust is not fur off. With all our complaints against the sculptors we really pity them; to see the mat bles upon which such long months of labour have been spent, all huddled together and hiding one another in that deserted chamber, while the gallery of paintings above is crowded from morning to night, must surely be enough to chill any man's heart. Every one who has a voice is bound to use it for them ; but the surest remedy is in their own hands. Heaven helps those that helps themselves ; let them produce something th 1 people will care to see—will insist upon seeing, and if that wretched room were once thoroughly crowded such a tumu't would be raised that it would scarcely remain in use another year. It, contains a few good things at present, hut nothing of force enough to draw people in. Mr. Calder Marshall has a figure of " Ruth " beating out her corn, and another of " Ophelia" with her wreath of flowers. Both are free and graceful in attitude, and both fail entirely, it seems to us, in truth of ex pression ; the face of Ruth is not even ordinarily good-looking. Mr. Baily's statue of Turner seems I onest and lifelike; as to the accuracy of the like ness we cannot speak. The figure of " Genius," executed by the same artist for the decoration of the Mansion house, is rash. r a feeble and common place production. Mr. McDowell sends a modern antique entitled the "Day dream," scfficienily pretty and unmeaning; and a bombastic statue (we can find no better epithet) of the Late Viscount Fitz gibbon, who is flourishing his sword about and making great display of valour. Mercy on the Battle-field," by Mr. Stephens is a clumsy repre sentation of a very hackneyed subject; at first sight it might he taken for a woman tiling to coax !Lime her drunken husband. Mr. Durham's statue of " nermione," from the Winter's Tale, is not very expressive of the lady "tender as infancy and grate." Nor is the sourness of her countenance at all atoned for by any merit of attitude or design. It is rathet a curious specimen of conventionality that Mrs. 9'hornyeroft's portrait of Lady Anna Chandos Pole, which stands next to this " Hermione," is little more than a repetition of it. Surely the two must have been intentionally placed bide by side. Mr. Bell exhibits a statue of Newton, a bust of Sir Robert Walpole, and an enormous figure of " Honour," one of those vapid commonplaces upon which it is impossible to fix the site tion fct ten seconds. "The Bird's.nester " is a weak production by Mr. Pepworth, sen.; his son sends figures of " Rebecca before Abraham's Servant " and " Ruth before Boaz ;" also of " The Scotch Woman catch ing the Sound of the Bagpipes," the interesting incident which did not take place at the siege of Lucknow. The action of Mr. Hancock's " Ariel " is ton forced and violent ; the "Lover's Welk" and " Undine," by Mr. Munro, show some little origin. ality ; and the name of Sir W. Napier secures at least a passing glance for bis bronze statuette of Alcibiales. Carvings for churches are neither numerous nor good ; Mr. Woolner's sketches of Moses and St. John the Baptist, for the pulpit of Llandaff Cathedral, are rather striking; but Mr. Philip's alto-relievo of Michael and Satan, executed for the porch of St. Michael's, Cornbill, is one of the most ludicrously feeble things we ever saw. Whoever has the patience to go through that long double line of busts will find portraits of Dr. Livingstone, the late Earl of Ellesmere, Mme. Ristori and her daughter, Sir Charles Locoek, Mr. Cesar Hawkins, Mr. Vernon Smith, the Duke of Newcastle, the late Duke of Devonshire, Mr. W. H. Russell, the late James Montgomery, the late Dean of Canterbury, Professor Airy, the late Dr. Buck land, and, last but not least, Marochetti's admirable bust of Lord John Russell, one of the finest things in the whole collection. Mr. Noble's preparatory model for a colossal bust of the Prince r be executed iu marble for the city stands in the raidul• of the room , ' portrait of the Princess Royal by sfrs. I inch • Con - sort, Co of Manchester, sad beside it a 5. Thornycroft. r . 4 " Casta Diva," " Hobert, tot que j'aime," tie duct "Serbanti ognor," from the Semiramide, and the tenor airs from Lucia and Der Frieachutz. Berlioz' overture, " Francs Jngett," Weber's " Enrytitithe,' and the " Priests' Match " from Mendelst,ohn'a Athalie were very creditably played by the orchestra, unier the direction of Mr. Mantis. MUE. SZAHVADY'S third and last Matinee Musicale will take piaci) at the lianover-square horns, on Friday next. _ _ MR. Alma Scmoss's Concert will take place at the Marylebone Institution, on Monday evening, June the 28th. int lrts ROIAL ACADEMY. (Seventh Notion.) THE art of sculpture has been but little affected by the changes which the last few years have male in architecture and painting. That it should have fallen into something like discredit is pretty good proof that reform is needed. Whatever taltnt and merit our present sculptors may be allowed b pos seas, it is impo.-sitile to deny that by the public in genera! their works are regarded without satisfaction, and almost without interest. Meanwhile, we are rejoicing over our restored Gotlic architecture, and miking steady progress with it ; in painting, we pro duce year by year %%mks which multitudes crowd to see, and which we do not shrink from comparing with those of other nations ; but as for the productions of our scu'pt.xs, few would care t i have the marbles rescued from the dim vault to which the Academi cians annually consun them, and the bronzes which from time to time take their places at the corners of our streets are treated with simple contempt. We do not admit popularity as a proof of excellence, but a total want of popularity we look upon as indi cating some grave detect. We cannot imagine that sculpture is likely to remain long in its present posi tion ; nor does it seem to us difficult to show some reason why it has not of late made progress, and to point out the causes which are likely to bring about reformation. Between painting and sculpture there is little con nection in the present day ; the two arts are not pursued by the same men, as was often the cus.om of the earlier artists. And Set we cannot help won dering a little that the causes which worked such a change in the one art should have had so little iffect upon the other. We must remember that it was among a small knot of painters that the change began ; hut even among the painters the new prin ciples did not spread without great opposition. We cannot, therefore, be surprised that from thescuiptors, another body aitogether, they should receive but little favour. Doubtless they would prevail in tinm ; but, the one art exercising no direct influence upon the other, such progress would he slow. . But sculpture is almost a part of architecture. -Row could the one be almost revolutionized and the other undergo no change ? We must find the answer in the nature of the revolution. Some thirts or five and thirty years ago the Renaissance, though in a state of utter decrepitude, was still the style in common use for all buildings, both ecclesiastical and secular. Since that time the case has entirely altered ; the Gothic is now largely used for dwelling.. houses and public buildings, and for churches exclu sively. What brought about this sudden change ? Did people trouble themselves with discussions as to the abstract merits of the two styles, and, after making themselves thoroughly acquainted with the whole subject, decide in favour of chance? Did a lew architects put forward new views, and fight their way gradually and against great opposition, as hap pened among the painters? Did not the movement come from the multitude? Was it not a matter of feeling rather than of reasoning? Was it not that the people looked at the wretched structures which day by day were growing up around them, and then turned to the old buildings of four centuries before, until at last, before the partizans of the Renais sance could well recover their breath, the restoration of the Gothic was carried by universal suffrage? This was a very short and easy way of settling the matter, but it had its disadvantages. The architects were told to build churches like these, and not like those, and they did as they were told ; and so, in stean of a Gothic of the nineteenth century, we have only the Gothic of the fourteenth over again. We became scrupulously careful to do nothing that had not been done before. This system has been car ried on long enough ; a new step must soon be made. If we have any faith in Gothic at all, we must give up thinking that it has been long ago worked out and brought to a conclusion ; we must make our Gothic supply the wants and reflect the character of our own time, or it is as great a piece of affectation RS our Roman temples and Greek porticos. This mistaken idea, it seems to us, has withheld from sculpture the new lift which it should have received frotn the revival of architecture, and which it must receive whenever more rational views prevail. Against all reason we have been building churches and