The Press. — London, England, 1858-03-27 00:00:00

travellers have already began to wend their way, and which presents a wide field to curiosity. The natu ral beauties of Norway, her productions, her govern ment, the manners of her people, are all described, not only with the pen of a ready writer, but with the sagacity of one who has seen much of people of different climes, and has profoundly studied books. French though he be, we notice en passant that, with more frankness than the majority of his countrymen would have displayed, M. Enault admits that the Norwegians entertain great esteem for the Eng lish. The well-known M. Michelet, in a book called '• L'lnsecte," records observations of insect life, made by himself, which are really extraordinary. Even professional entomologists, we are assured, have been struck by many of his revelations. To the ignorant public they are literally marvellous. In a volume of the compass of " L'lnsecte " we have rarely found such a mass of information so pleasantly told. Under the taking title of " Seul," M. X. Saintine records with considerable artistic power the real life and adventures of Selkirk whom Defoe has im mortalised. Turning to the productions of Messrs. Levy, we find a goodly volume of " Souvenirs de Voyage en Asie Mineure et Syrie," by the Princess de Belgiojoso. The countries to which the Princess takes us have been often traversed, but rarely by an adventure seeking woman. The Princess, in the course of her wanderings, filet with strange folks, and saw strange things ; and she possessed What the great majority of travellers cannot hope for, the privilege of ad mission to the inner domestic life of the people. She writes in a pleasant, gossipping style, and oc casionally makes tefiections which display great shrewdness. A lady of high rank, whose name is no secret in the Parisian world, though she has not thought fit to publish it, has brought out a work called " Robert Emmet," which, partly on account of her rank, partly of the merit which the work dis• plays, and partly, perhaps, on account of the person of whom it treats, has excited considerable sensation. The book is a sort of romantic biography of the Irish rebel. 01 course, the rebel is adorned with qualities and graces he did not possess, and of course, also, great sympathy is manifested for him, and some very hard things ara said of England for her treat ment of him ; but English people ca , i rend the book with pleasure for its excellencies, and without being at all ruffled by what it says contrary to their i leas. In'- Les Manieurs d'Argent," by M. Oscar de Vallee, Advocate-General of the Imperial Court of Paris, we have a vigorous denunciation of stockjobbers and speculators past and present. People of this class have of late years been infinitely too numerous in France, and they have caused not a few melancholy scandals : so that M. de Vallee's castigation of them is well•timed. It had the honour of attracting the special attention of the Emperor, who wrote the author a complimentary letter about it: and the public have proved their approbation by havinr , bought up three editions of it. Amongst the publications of M. Plon we notice a " Refutation des Memoires du Duc de Baguse," by M. Laurent de l'Ardeche. This is the second refutation on a grand scale to which Marmont's Memoirs have been subjected ;—M. Itapetti's, noticed a few weeks ago, having been the first. We also remark in M. Plon's list a " Histoire de l'Empereur Nicolas," in two good. sized volumes, by Alphonse Balleydier. A biography of that sovereign is certainly highly acceptable ; but M. Balleydier has unfortunately written his in such a tone of enthusiastic admiration that in spite of ourselves we feel a certain distrust of it ; and he has adorned it with anecdotes, many of which are so very sentimental that we feel certain they cannot be true. With all his faults, the Emperor Nicholas was one of the most remarkable characters of his time, and lie played fer the long space of twenty.five years a more Important part in European politics than any other personage, whether sovereign or subject. His biography, therefore, ought to have been written in a more sober strain than that which M. Balleydier has adopted, and which is only suitable to an opera singer who is " the idol of the public." We conclude here for the paesent. The Galley Slave and his Daughter. A Tale. Founded on French Protestant History. By Mrs. D. P. Thompson. London : Hamilton, Adams, and Co. - - - WE are not surprised at Mrs. Thompson thinking that in the effects of the revocation of the Edict of Names a good background would be given for an historical tale. She seems to have calculated that if Mrs. Stowe had created a sensation by her " Uncle Tom," another form of slavery might be made equally thrilling. Mrs. Thompson, however, forgets that Mrs. Stowe's book owed a large measure of its success to its undoubted novelty, and to its effective pictures cf the interiors of " nigger " life, which had been closely and carefully studied. We doubt whe ther Mrs. Stowe would create a sensation by a novel on the sufferings of the Huguenots of France. The interest in the subject is too much familiarised, and THE PRESS, MARCH 27,1858. it is associated with purely polemical feelings on religion. There is no doubt that the cruelty of Romanism (when left without a check) was hideously manifested by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes ; and the historical lesson is taught that even the modified Popery of " Gallicanism " is almost as severe as the most thoroughgoing sort of Ultramontanism. Mrs. Thompson has a lucid and vigorous style ; and we think that her talents would appear to advantage on purely historical subjects. Her descriptive are greater than her imaginative powers, and she has n9t relieved the sombre points of her psintul subject with light sketches charac teristic of la belle France. Even amongst the Huguenots there was much of the brightness of mind and joyous levity of spirit which are indige nous to French society. Some gay characters of the courtiers of the time might have been introduced with great advantage. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.—MutcH 26. BOOKS. The Old Palace. By Julia Tilt. A Lover's Quarrel ; or, the County Ball. By the Author of "Cousin Geoffrey." Three Vols. Hurst and Blackett The Education of the People. By James Augustus St. John. Chapman and Hall A New and Complete Course of Studies of the Freno Lan- gunge. Longman dEschylus. Whitaker and Co' Transactions of the National Association fur the Promotion of Social Science, l 8 7. J. W. Parker God's Acre ; or, Historical Notices Relating to Churchyards. By Mrs. Stone. J. W. Parker The Catechism of Positive Religion. By Al. Congreve. Chapman Exercises, Adapted to the New and Complete Course of Gram matical and Idomatic Studies of the French Language. Longman New Friends. J. W. Parker A Collection of Sacred Poetry. Edited by Lady Charlotte Maria Pepys. Rivingtons The Law of Sinai and its Appointed Times. By Moses Angel. W. Tegg and Co. Schooldays of Eminent Men. By John Timbs, F.S.A. Kent and Co. LIT it s i r. INAUGURATION OF ST. JAMES'S HALL. THINGS move rapidly in the present day, and people who like to keep pace with the time must be on the alert. If some quiet man living a country life and reading no newspapers were to walk down Bow street in this present month of March to have a look at the new theatre, he would see a huge pile of brick work without a roof; and if any one were to tell him that in May next he might come and hear an opera there, he would go home with a good story of an im pudent cockney who had tried to make fun of him. But if he had seen what has been actually done in St. James's-hall during the last fortnight, his ideas would undergo a certain process of enlargement, and he would leave off telling his good story. On visiting this new music-hall about ten days ago we found the interior half filled with scaffolding, carpenters laying down the flooring, and the west end a mere chaos of poles and brickwork, where work men were erecting the rough shell of an orchestra, the very iron beams of which, we were told, might have been seen two or three days before lying in Pic cadilly. Last Wednesday evening we were favoured with another view, and at eleven o'clock left the hall in possession of innumerable painters and gilders, who were giving the finishing touches to the decora tions ; the floor was covered with piles of sofas and benches, upholsterers were hard at work stuffing cushions, carpenters building up the seats of the orchestra, and an army of workmen from Gray and Davison's fixing the rudiments of a large organ, the pipes of which covered the floor in hundreds. Within four and twenty hours the doors were thrown open, and the public admitted to a hall as well arranged, comfortable, and trim as any room in London. The opening concert on Thursday was for the benefit of the Middlesex Hospital, and was honoured by the presence of the Prince Consort, and a large number of noble patrons and lady patronesses. A selection of sacred music, including Mendelssnhn's " Hymn of Praise," was performed by the Vocal Association, under the direction of Mr. Benedict, supported by an excellent orchestra, containing many of the best instrumentalists at present in town, and assisted by Mine. iludersdotff, Mrs. Weiss, Miss Stabbach, Miss Dolby, Mr. Lockey, Mr. Montem Smith, Mr. Santley, and Mr. Thomas, as principal vocalists. The Prince Consort arrived at eight o'clock, and was received with the National Anthem, the solo verses being sung by Mme. Ruderadorff and Mrs. Weiss. The programme commenced with the " Hymn of Praise," a work too well known to need any description, and far too well appreciated to need any commendation. lime introductory symphony, on the whole, was well played, some parts extremely well ; but the execution of the vocal portion left much to be desired. We could have wished for greater steadiness on the part of the chorus, greater clearness, a better quality of tone, less slovenly and ragged execution, greater spirit; and for the solo parts, with some exceptions, better vocalists. Mme. ltudersdorff sang with feeling, as she always does, and without exaggeration, which she does not always; but her voice is sadly worn, and what is left of it is not under command. Mrs. Weiss's voice is fresh, but her method is imperfect, and her taste questionable. Mr. Lockey's taste is good, and his voice, though badly produced, not u n plea s ing ; hut in declamatory music, what is to be done by a singer who cannot get beyond a mezzoforte? Mr. Montem Smith was the least successful of all. To intrust so difficult a task as " W e called through the darkness " to so in.Aperienced a singer was a great mistake ; and to expose to injury music of such beauty almost unpardonable. Mr. Mon tem Smith has au inferior voice, weak in the upper notes as well as the lower, and of bad quality through out. He has so little art in the management of it, that no one note will bear the slightest torce without losing all its roundness, and becoming hoarse and rough. His style in singing this particular air was a sort of schoolboy imitation of Sims Reeves. We do not blame him for his voice ; lie would, no doubt, be glad to exchange it for a better. Nor are we very cross with him for his style ; a good style is not ac quired in a day. But if he is to be a singer, surely he might learn the management of the voice. Good masters are rare, it is true, but not extinct. Yet all these faults could not destroy the interest of the music ; and the wonderful passage, " The night is departing," produced much of its usual effect. There is nothing finer than this in the whole range of music; no amount of repetition lessens its beauty ; it seems to send a visible thrill through the coldest audience. Handel's Coronation Anthem, " The King shall rejoice," opened the second part; net the Corona tion Anthem, but one of those less known : it may often be beard in the cathedrals, but is seldom met with elsewhere. It followed close upon the "Hymn of Praise," and the contrast was a very strange one, not favourable, and indeed not fair, to Handel. Nlendelssolin's piece is one of his best, and Handel' one of his weakest; or rather, dryest, for the word " week" has nothing to do with Handel. There is, of course, as in all his music, the firm step, the strong pulsation, the vigorous flow of animal life, strangely different from the consumptive melan choly of Mendelssohn, the beauties of whose music come all from the mind and the defects all from the body. But the phrases of this anthem sound trite and hackneyed ; it seems written altogether with the hand, without a motion of the mind, the mere pro duct of ceaseless practice and a matchless fluency. We do not say Handel had no mind—we are guilty of no such ridiculous absurdity ; we only say that in this particular work it is not strongly felt. Spohea melodious, but rather monotonous, cantata, " God, Thou art great," followed, in which the duet by Miss Do'by and Mr. Lockey was the best piece of singing which occurred du&ing the evening. Cherubini's quiet, scholarlike " Benedictus " was neatly sung by Mrs. Weiss, Mr. M. Smith, and Mr. SAntley, and formed a pleasant preparation for Marcellu'a hearty old Psalm, "I cieli immensi narrano," which was excellently well sung by Miss Dolby and indifferently well by the chorus. Mozart's " Ave Verum and Beethoven's Hallelujah, from the Mount of Olives, completed the programme. As far as we could judge from one position, the hall is well adapted for music ; 01 the organ we must hear more before giving an opinion. The audience seemed de lighted with tho beauty of the buildinz, and at the conclusion of the concert, the architect, Mr. Owen Jones, was loudly and perseveringly called for. After some delay he appeared for a moment in the orchestra, and was received with the warmest accla mation. It is worthy of note that at this firs% concert there was not one encore—an admigable precedent, which we hope will be strictly aA hered to. A concert of secular music took place yesterday evening for the benefit of the same excellent insti tution. THE number of coLcerts given in Paris during the past fortnight has been prodigiously large, but few of these have obtained real success. Amongst the few may be cited the last two of Madame Szatvadyr (formerly Wilhelmina Clauss), which came oft its Pleyel's rooms. In the course of this, the fair pianist executed in the most brilliant manner, and with that expression which no other publio performer possesses in so eminent a degree, selections from Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Scarlatti, Heller, Chopin, and Halkar. She, as usual, drew forth hearty applause from a crowded and distinguished auditory. It is, we learn, certain that iu Use course of the season Madame Szarvady will give concerts in London. Here, her success will no doubt be as great as in Paris and in Germany, for not only has her reputation extended thus far, but she has already been applauded more than onoe by our musioal world. ~.... ~ ---1 ~~