The Press. — London, England, 1858-06-26 00:00:00

•€T-R E` P EI-E g, 1 Sinii 26 terruptedly directed to the performer ; whereas, blind people ean, and indeed do, frequently receive as pleasurable emotions at the Opera, as when they could both see and hear. For this reason it is that the hooks, with English renderings, that are useful to those frequenters of the Opera who are but little, or not at all, acquainted with the Dalian language, are next to useless at Mme. Ristati's performances (although, by the was, when say itie 'to be had, they cost half.a crown each). That knowledge alone of the language used, which enables every word as it is delivered to reaoh the heart, is compatible with real sympathy with emotions depicted. To nee, hear, and understand, at one and the same instant, Mme. Ristori, in such passages as (scene iv. of act 2 of the Medea), boa Il morente . . . it morente . . . tel ricordal, m p In man raccolse da sua piaga it sangue, E a not fumante lo tuatara in feeds , • ~MitiUß Fioco gridando . . . Slate realedetti'; Fratriaidi I : " is a treat beyond all power of description. To see, only, is something ;—to see and hear, is something more ; bat real enjoyment only belongs to those who, also, understand every word, on utterance. An English Ristori would draw a fill andience through out the season, to the largest theatre in London ; and we think that (except on the occasional advent of a novelty, which is always highly attractive of itself in this country) the gatherings to witness foreign plays will always he found directly propor tioned to the amount of cultivation the language used may have received amongst us. Medea is a character that affords abundant scope fit' the dis play of Mme. Ristori's rare talents, scop e we must add that the opportunities afforded were not lost upon her. Cast in a tragic mould, this great actress shows herself not ungrateful for all that nature has done for her. All that art could effect has, evidently, been done to cultivate, refine, direct, increase, and q!tentrol the vast power's that have been so lavishly bestowed upon her. On Wednesday, she appeared as Adrienne Lecouvreur, in the drama of that name, of which the English, and original, edition, by the author of Twice Killed, Five Pounds Reward, and other works, was first produced at the Strand Theatre some nine or ten years ago. In the Italian version, the original plot has been closely followed—much too closely to make the play fit to be included in a repertory in which are found', Phldre and Medea. With the exception of the catastrophe, in which a death from poison is repre sented by Mine. Ristori with a degree of fidelity and a depth of feeling that will not be readily for gotten by any one who witnessed it ;—with this ex ception, we say, there is scarcely any portion of this drama that is worthy of notice, and we sincerely hope that, notwithstanding the perfection of Mme. Ilistori's dying Adrienne , this play fiat not be : reproduced at St. James's Theatre. 09 , 41 5,- ietf marthba3-ii• fpfli !••,. • I oath i 'intritha aid of Int 3 rtio:".l tl9wts nIIII4 t 31w l ilr; ROT AL ACADE BI t: 911 I° . ' 0 13111A11 ;A . . •I, 1 . ;fp . ,- • (Eighth Notice.) •hA o r , ItIpULE is mor e stir and bustle iscareisiWatnee just mew, than perhaps in any onimearid . Beaserkabki in terest has been felt in' Illettlieviial ; and this has doubtless had much to do with furui shing the large sums which during the last quarter of a century have been spent in building ; while this liberal expenditure has in return accelerated progress, and carried us on from change to change with unusual rapidity. The alteration that has taken place,in architecture during the last few years is surprisiaip The Greek is dis appearing quickly ; scarcely-ear We would propose now to pnt two or three temples side by side for the 1 accommodation of the Post office or the Britiebti Museum. The Renaissance is brushing itself uptl' and trying to look as much like the Gothic aspoti l ' Bible. People are even beginning slowly to under stand that the Gothic is not a sOe long ago developed and completed, but one capable of infinite expansion ; not suited only to churches and schools, jeat fit for any purpose to which men may choose Thi , ' ' qw hooted at the Teatro Argentina. Few opera are now more highly appreciated. Mtn. SZARVADY yesterday gave her third matinee, the last. of the series, at Hanover,square Booms. The selection included Mozart's sonata in G for pianoforte and violin, Beethoven's trio in B flat for pianoforte, violin, and violoncello (On. 97), and the earns composer's sonata in C sharp minor (Op. 27), for pianoforte solo. There was a group of three short pieces by Sterndale Bennett, Couperin, and Mendelssohn in the first part, and a similar group by Chopin, Pergolesi, and Heller in the second. In the concerted pieces she was assisted by Herr Molique and Signor Piatti. The rooms were wall filled, but the audience at first was more than ordinarily frigid, and a large number of persons left in the interval between the parts. Those who remained, however, were thoroughly roused by Mine. Szarvady's admira ble performance of Beethoven's sonata. Chopin's " Berceuse," played with exquisite delicacy, narrowly escaped an encore, and Mme. Szarvady retired at the end of the concert amidst such hearty expressions of approval as are rarely indulges in a& these ails/moon gatherings. el:Aavirr e . tvt:r ' • a ekniv C oartt la Qll ,'llh ,i)olicktou dew ~' r-~ t 1-tas ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. boon MAnA4(E RISTORI, whose return to this ccitintri foi a very brief period we noticed in our last number, .has already nearly completed half of her engagement Nrith Mr. eye, last night being her fifth aittkithiliAlee. 'here is no denying that the merits of this Most powerful tragedian, unlike those artists whose genius or eireurostences lead them to seek their fotiostall' the boards of the opera or playhouse, cannot bi to, any degree measured by the audiences she dravrt b. this country. Unrivalled since the clesith#l ,achol in her difficult and lofty art, she fails tosinee• any thing like a good audience. What can be the cause of this want of sympathy in a public perhaps 'less volatile and frivolous than any other in Europe, and whose disposition, habits, and oonversation would lead to the very contrary anticipation ? Is it, as sug 4 gested by a contemporary, the heat of the weather! Other first-close entertainments till to overflowing,' notwithstanding the tropical condition of the tempe rature. Is it to be found in the superior attractions of two great opera-houses? They are not open on Mine. Ristori's nights. Shall we look for it in the painful emotions produced by tragic) scenes ? These emotions are notoriously sought after and cultivated yid% inconceivable ardour. The more a battle is sanguinary, the more a murder is coldblooded and cruel, the more eagerly are its details devoured by a British public, and—strange to say--especially by the putter and more tender portion of it. Does it lie in an unfavourable locality ? A popular first class entertainment at Limehouse would draw • large Westend andienee ; but Mme.Bistori is to be' found in the heart (though not the hearts) of the beau•moncle. Is it, then, any defect in the place of representation itself ? Jenny Lind would fill the largest and most uncomfortable of harm, were it four times as large as the St. James's Theatre. And yet Mine. Ilistori is on as high a hranoh,to say the least, of the tree of tragic, as Jenny Lind is on that of musical, excellence. Does it possibly arise out of the language in which these plays are performed? We think that not merely possibly, but positively, this is the solution of the problei.. Fill the Sing e. street theatre from ceiling to flooe,with the elite of London, and we assert, without fnpf 44 contradiction, r, that not one in ten of the ilinAq c )puld be able :to follow closely th e words OW .on the stage. But, it may be asked, how Aeei f happen that two large Italian opera-houses are filled night after night, and on the same nights? Because, we answer, they who frequent the Opera dive their pleasure (for, by far, the most part) from the music, in which persons unacquainted even with the merest elements of the language used, can and do experience the greatest delight. A good knowledge nftheAtilian tongue adds, unquestionably, in some of 21111111 M and Wiat whinti it \-chitect. carried • the intended is the first thing to be Gown..__ if a building is not adapted to thn uses for is wanted, nothing will serve to excuse the a' But how is this easily admitted principle out—bow can it be carried out, while we oopy buildings of our forefathers? We cannot oopy them truly while we copy them literally : they built what they wanted and what suited them ; we build wilsat we do not want and what does not suit us. Take our churches as an .xampie:. for what purposes' do we use them? Chiefly for two—public worship Iltid public preaching; and these at certain times only when the church is filled or nearly so. Now, for preaching we evidently want a place in which the preacher can be seen and heard from every part; and surely the very object of public worship is to bring people together in one body, rich and poor, gentle and simple, to stand together and speak together, and feel themselves to be one body. Can we conceive anything more unfitted for snots pur poses than onr present ehurshes ? Why, these transepts, aisles, and columns are meant for sepgra tion—are put there for the very purpose of cutting,off sight and sound. It is impossible to go into a Romish church without finding out the uses of these things : there is a sermon going on in the nave, and a crowd of people is gathered round the pulpit ;* In { one cf the aisles a priest is saying mass at an altar, in another is a confessional, and in the chapels round the transept groups of people are telling their,jseads, and all these things are done at the sagke time without confusion and without disturbance,' 'the churches were designed expressly for such usages. Our usages are different: how can our churches be the same? If any man who is racking his brains to produce something original will plan a building expressly adapted to the requirements of our English church service, and adorn it, not with antiquated representations of antiquated things, but with ' subjects of our own day and of our own thoughts, carved and painted, not after some old model, but atter nature, and as truly and naturally as may be, he will find no difficulty in doing something very new and very original. And if everything were built in this way, architecture could not help moving with the times, and this steady progress would preserve it from violent and capricious change. We find a few drawings in the Royal Academy which show at least a tendency in this direction. There is novelty about Mr. Penson's " Limekiliss in Carmarthenshire"—partly, perhaps, because the-ar chitect could find nothing to copy, and partly be cause, being built for business, the use that was to be m ado of them could not be wholly left out of the question. There is not much ornament about them —nor ought there to be—hut the use of good forms in stead of bad ones gives them that solid unpretending beauty which buildings for all portions may possess. There are three designs for churches--410. 1052 by o. 1053 by Mr. Webb, and NQ. 1077 by n which the matter of utility. seems to newhat studied. But the work is only i attempt has been made to bring the together and to get rid of °battle- % doubt if in any one the andige- best that could be devised,:aiier the lows but little taste or taletiiE the rammed by Mr. James and Mr. %Irby e vaults than churches. We *sit a Le same time beautiful and commodious; is introduced for ita 'adornment thus: L its usefulness, and evaiything Irhiih is use must be made to contribute to its s is the task which lies before archi- ....rely in reference to charchet,, bqt to every kind. We *rto glad to It any even an atteaaptio'sUoMpliskle, l "" ese there is at* *Aire oasa 1.401100 actural departillOsVet the prenslitexhi- ,of the designitcuie commonplace, and wearisome eiellOut. A few have a certain Mr. James, No. r. Sorby— -in have been somew halt done ; an - eengregation tions, but we *tent is the ornament shows structures planned are more like building at th( nothing that is interfere with neeebsary for beauty. This . tecta, not merely buildings of every one making even an Besides these in the architectural bition • moat of the repeatedibo a wearisome interest, fps apesial reasons; such as Sir C. foggy% desigskothe public offices, of which he patgines that** !resent wretelted edifice in l'aelsaggent street shall form a part; the prize designs of Masers. Banks and Barry, Mr. Coe, and Mr. Garlingimbich have been already exhibited at Weetnainnthiesli ; Mr. Street's view of St. Dionis Baelreintrehifikiwa ohurchatreet, as proposed to be rebuilt r •Iher new • the elstralian , . . degree to our interest. in the performance of so but fit for any purpose to wrocti men may cnoosa oburchstreet, as propoeect to oe replan ; inn new ', l Italian opera; but it only adds something small to to apply it. This idea must spread a nd prevail—this Westminaterbridge, by lir. Page ; the eloratinn of something else immeasurably greater. It is scarcely Gothic art must move along with the times, or the the Westminster-palace Hotel, by Mosera..Meeeley, possible to imagine much enjoyment resulting from = taste will be left behind like a worn-out and of the proposed Royal Albert Hotel. by- Mr. the perusal of the libretto of (say) Lucrezia Borgia , ;if change does not come naturally of itself, Ridley ; the East India Company's new sentpture- ' or from listening to a bad tragedy delivered by the it will come violently and unnaturally. We are ball, in the Oriental style, by Mr. Wyntb t• abs new most musical-tongued actors. Au Italian tragic n told that men had better keep to good models Operatouse, by Mr. F. M. Haw i anti lifin-Viyatt's re- opera, and an English tragic play, mar produce an risk a failure in attempting to improve upon cent restorations of Wimborns. Minster. Among the nearly the same effects on an English audience, but In ; that the architects who thirty years ago tried studies from the antique are MIl. Animitel's ° 4 ' View those effects spring from very different sources.. In Improve upon the Gothic, produced only " Oar- of Ancient Rome from tbs Palaillerlisont, =stored penter's Gothic ; " and that we have done better since from the existing remains; Mr...ll4lemeola m int , - the one case, the words uttered &reaolmbert° the,(rtn- *Ma, dation of that effect ; whilst, in the, in abandoning all each ideas. We do not doubt nor of the Parthenon at Athens, with , the Glossal delight in the opera, notwithstand i ..ng, *; n most that changes made without reason or against reason Statue of Minerva by Phiclies.-min Attempt to Ex- a commonplace language, or weary of ,it i . in sptin of are useless and absu rd ; bu t there is good reaso n for hibit t h e C tine Snulpanre of the. An- .?'.. the Most interesting of librettos, igtun, for the due change enough to supply all that the public wants Glottis i" *Ws 0. illi " MallWgenek Si Bali- hensiOn and a Preciation of histrionic 'in the way of originality. No one denies that in carnassue ;". comkre !du 11 vl f Mama ::. . tragediii . thit, atm; ,rf it ttt y t ~. 4 1. _ ,mri4 hie 4 a ia., Adaunius a building Ad Torras for "Nob la is How& at ce sod psgspectellilirratiad tB . M • =