The Press. — London, England, 1857-08-01 00:00:00

THE PRESS, AUGUST 1, 1857. during that, I believe, much miscontrued period. He would be a bold geologist, who, after this discovery of Mr. Bunbury's, should affirm that the interior of a carboniferous continent may not have been studded with the most highly organised structures of the vegetable kingdom, because geologists do not happen to disinter their relics from among the swamp plants of the Palaeozoic coal. Over the Sea ; or, Letters from an Officer in India to his Children at Home. Edited by the Rev. S. A. Pears. London : Hatchard. THIS is a very pleasant, sensible little volume, tho roughly well adapted to amuse and interest children, wil bout being childish in itself. The circumstances selected for narration and description show a culti vated taste and good judgment. The few hints upon religion and conduct are unexaggerated, and becom ing in a work of this nature ; and the author's political confession of faith is what might be ex pected from a sensible, simple-minded man who had never troubled his head very much upon the subject. At Home and Abroad. By Miss Pardoe. London : Lambert and Co. THESE little stories are all nicely written, and we are glad to see them republished. Father a•id Son," and " The Artist and his Mother," are, in our opinion, the best. They are well adapted for the railway reading of young persons, and are always pure and healthy in tone. The Forfeit Hand, and Other Tales. By T. C. Grattan. London : Hodgson. MR. GaArrAN has long established his title to rank among our popular novelists. " The Heiress of Bruges " and " Jacqueline of Holland " are still widely read. The present little volume contains matter not at all inferior to these celebrated tales. Mr. Grattan has studied carefully the history, man ners, and general " costume" of the countries and the period in which he lays the scene of his stories ; and this, combined with considerable constructive skill, cannot fail of producing readable and creditable f►ctions. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED-JuLy 30. BOOKS. Letters from High Latitude. Murray Grammatical and Idiumalic Studies of the French Language. Longman' Life and its Realities. Georgian& Lady Chatterton. Three Vols. Hurst and Blackett Eseayi; on Natural History. Third Series. Charles Water-. low. Longman* A Portion of the Journal kept by Thomas Raikes, Esq., from 1831 to 1847. Vols. 111. and IV. Ditto Revision of the Liturgy. Groombridge—The Manchester Exhibition ; What to Observe. Murray—A Vindication of the Clergy Daughters' School. Murray—Bengal: its Landed Tenure and Police System. Ridgway—What will the Com mons do with the Divorce Bill! Ridgway—Comments on the Decimal Coinage Commission. Ridgway—Corrections of a Few Errors contained in the Life of Sir C. Napier— Smith and Elder—The Mutiny in the Bengal Army. J. Chapman—The Authorised Report of the Mercantile Law Conference. Longmann—Our County Courts. Partridge —Official General Guide to the Crystal Palace. Bradbury and Evans—The Admission the Jews into Parliament. Skeffington—Why should we Petition against the New Divorce Bill ! Skeffington. PERIODICALS. Irish Metropolitan Magazine. Simpkin and Marshall— Davenport Dunn. Chapman and Hall—Paved with Gold. Chapman and Hall—G'olburn's New Monthly. Chapman and Hall. IUS C. HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. MOZART'S " NOZZE DI FIGARO." Is Mr. Holmes's interesting " Life of Mozart" there are some curious details of the first representation of Le Nozze di Figaro at Vienna in 1786, a work undertaken at the suggestion of the Emperor Joseph, who was present at its pro. duction, and who was appealed to in the Imperial box, by the composer, to put down a cabal amongst the singers—some of those conceited artistes having determined that the Is'ozze should not be a success. It is recorded that the refractory performers were brought back to their duty by this Royal interven tion ; but whether the Emperor, like the Czar Nicholas, went behind the scenes, or sent for the singers, is not specified. Mme. Storace and Signor Benucci were in the original cast. Kelly, in his reminiscences, describes Mozart at the rehearsal in a crimson pelisse and gold-laced cocked hat, giving time to the musicians ; and when Benucci with stentorian lunge came to the passage in the 4 i Non The second paper is of a more exclusively practical charac►er, yet, while professing great familiarity with Indian affairs, is characterised, we believe, by several singular blunders : Had our railroads in India been opened and in working order, the same mail which brought us news of the mutiny in Delhi might have also brought the intelligence of its suppression. In twenty hours troops might have been conveyed a distance it would take eighty days to march. Had the Northern Bengal Railway been completed, fresh English battalions might have been poured down from Dsrjeelung to Calcutta and the valley of the Ganges ; and had the Simla Railway been completed, the commander in•chief would in six hours have proceeded with his staff and European forces from Simla to Delhi. Now a fort night at least will be spent in concentrating the requisite forces. The civil engineer, more even than the military, car. now launch the thunderbolt of war. If the one can call out those mortal engines whose rude throats do clamour forth the immortal Jove's dread counterpart, the other can call out engines as swift, and bring on its iron car into the field of action a whole regiment swifter than the chariot armed with scythes could bring two warriors in ancient times. We may be said to have lost Delhi for want of the railroad ; we shall, no doubt, recover it, but it will not be so easy to recover the prestige lost by one fatal surprise. Our empire in India is an empire of opinion ; we must not only be the strongest power in India, but above suspicion of being assaulted. Our Ehrenbreitstein, or Broad Stone of Honour, cannot be taken and retaken with safety to our pre-eminence in India. Is it to be supposed that the mutineers would have neglected to destroy the rails ? As for pouring fresh battalions from Dar eelung—which by-tho-bye should be spelt Darjeeling—why, there is but a single com pany at that place, and those are invalids. A fort night to concentrate the required forces ! The newspapers are the best comment on this observa tion. A little further on the writer characterises the mutiny as "the last effort of Hinduism." It is odd, then, that all the Hindoo princes should be on our site, and all the Alussulmans against us, and that a Mussultnan king should have been set up in Delhi. The article entitled "Oxford, the English Church, and Mr. Emerson," is a graceful essay, but not much more. It is very readable and lively, though marked by one or two little errors which betray the hand of an outsider. The object of the Oxford First Class (old style) in Lit. Hum. is evidently not compre 'tended by the writer. It was never meant as a test of genius, and in that has usually been considered to exist its peculiar merit. The Ireland Scholarship is not confined to Greek ; nor is the Irish Mr. M‘Donnall the only gentleman who ever carried away the two prize essays and two prize poems. Henry Hart 'Millman did the same, and we suspect one or two besides. In poetry the magazine is rather rich this month. "The Home of Bethany" is a very melodious and elegant piece ; and " The Ivory Gate" is very pretty indeed, but truth compels us to state that it has appeared before—i.e., in the Idler Maga zine, March, 1856. There is a good article in the August number of Bentley upon Louis Philippe and his times ; two poor sporting articles on fishing and shooting; a continuation of the Palmer story, and a flattering memoir of Mr. Charles Kean. The New Monthly contains a clever readable memoir of Mr. Douglas Jerrold ; a good instalment of the " History of the Newspaper Press ;" a continua tion of the fortunes of Mr. Frederick Lyvett (very clever) ; "The Baths of Lucca ;" and &paper of poli tical imbecility, by Mr. Cyrus Redding. Paved with Gold gives us a very graphic account of a prize tight, and begins to broach the question of the hero's birth and parentage. 'tones of the Valley. By the Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S. London : Bentley. A PLEASANT but somewhat technical description of a geological tour through the Vale of Worcester. Mr. Symonds writes not so much for the tourist as for the geologist ; though for Worcestershire tourists with geological tendencies, the book will be found a convenient and in some respects a valuable guide. Here is an interesting fact, showing how careful should geologists be in accepting plausible theories not based upon a complete investigation of facts : It has long bean supposed that flowering•plants did not exist in the period of the coal formation; and " it has been questioned whether hitherto the botanist has obtained from strata older than the \Vealden a single well•determined specimen of any flowering plants, except Gymnosperms, such as Conifers and Cycada." Unfortunately for these carboniferous hobbies, Mr. Charles Fox Bunbury has obtained the spike of a " very highly organised flowering-plant in full flower," from the coal measures of Newcastle. Dr. Hooker considers the resemblance cf this plant, " Arktholithes Pitcairn e," is nearest to " Bromeliacese, amongst which the genus Pit cambia is ranked." And surely, when chemists tell us that the green colouring matter of terrestial plants cannot be firmed in the absence of light; when ouch botanists as Lindley and Hutton, in their Fossil Flora, insist that " light is an agent without which no growing plants can exist at the present day for a single week, even in a low tetnpersture, without suffering serious injury," the dis covery of this singular flowering-plant of the carboniferous epoch should establish the fact of the presence of sunshine 755 pig andrai," Cherubino, alla vittoria, alla gloria militar, all the performers and instrumentalists, as well as other persons present, vociferated " Bravo, bravo, maestro! Viva ! viva! grande Mozart !" Well may they have cheered the immortal composer. It is believed that Haydn, Gluck, Parsielli, Storace, Salieri, Righini, and Anfossi, all distinguished com posers in those days, were at the first representation. Mozart's father, in his correspondence, states that there were fi ve encores the second ni ght and seven on the third, among them being a little duo which was sung three times, the latter being doubtless the " Sun' aria. Mozart throughout the year 1780 had a strong notion of settling in England. It is a specu lation what turn lyric art would have taken in this country had he carried out his resolution. Da Ponte, as in Don Giovanni, was the librettist; and the well-known comedy of Beaumarchais was the text. The Nozze, however, has not been so often heard here as the Don Giovanni; and the reason of this preference is to be found principally in the popularity of Rossini's Barbiere, the champagne quality of the music in the Italian work being relished more than the glorious Burgundy in the German opera, but in "elegance of melody, in models of love songs, or rich concerti d music and varied finales," as Mr. Holmes has justly remarked, there can be no question that the Nozze is a masterpiece, which has been of inestimable value to the lyric drama. The Nozze appeals to the in tellect as well as to the heart. The Barbiire is more sensual than intellectual. The contrasts in the letter opera are more violent, by the employment of additional instruments, and the vivacious Rossini introduced his clever crescendo as a crash to the climaxes. Mozart's beauties are more tranquil ; his conceptions are lovely and elegant, and are still as fresh as if composed yesterday; his harmonies ate of the most captivating kind, developed with con surnate skill in the instrumentation. Rossini is piquant, Mozart is profound ; the inspirations of the former fascinate the hearers, and those of the latter, whilst they excite the emotions of the most ignorant listener, provoke the admiration and wonder of tl e most erudite judges. One of the essential conditions of a Mozartian rendering is a first-rate orchestra and conductor. The score cannot bear coane handling ; its florid accompaniments and delicate and nervous counterpoint must be developed with the utmost nicety; the light and shade must be judiciously managed ; every player must be cor scientions in the discharge of his duty, as well f s their chief. Accuracy and colouring are the facultit exacted in the execution, and the singers tnu.t abandon all their caprices in the use of meretricious ornaments, to do full justice to the points of beauty which present themselves at every bar. The stream of enchanting melody is ever flowing, and the highly wrought and effective harmonies are perpetually presenting themselves. Shame be to those singers who, for individual ambition, seek for self-display to distort the score of Mozart. _ _ When Mr. Mitchell had the management of the Opera Buff* at the Lyceum, in 1837, Signor Puzzi being the musical director, there was rather a nice execution of the Norse under Benedict's direc tion. Not that the cast was so strong as it has beta subsequently, but great care was bestowed on th e ensemble; and the orchestra, although small, ir cluded the names of Dragonetti, Lindley, Mor, Willman, Barret, Banmann, &c. Mme. H. Gian noni, Miss Fanny Wyndham (now Mme. F. Lablache), Mlle. Blasi 9, Miss Bassano, Mis Glossop; Signor S. Ronconi (brother of the Ror coni), Signor L. Bellini, Signor Catone, Sign( r Torsi, were the chief singers. The really first gre• t interpretation of the work was at the Royal Italica Opera in 1847, with Grisi as Susanna, Mlle. Steffa noni as the Countess (in 1848 Mme. Persiani), Alboni es the Page ; Tamburini, the Count ; Maria , Figaro ; Rovere, Dr. Bartolo ; Polonini, Antonio ; and Salvi, Basilio. Costa took immense pains anti trouble in the rehearsals, both public and private. He trained every singer, in fact, for his or her part, and the perfection of the ensemble in 1847 and 1848 will not easily pass from the memory of those who saw the Norse in those years. At Her Ma jesty's Theatre in 1848 it was done with Mlle. Cru. velli as the Countess; Coletti, the Count; Mile. Jenny Lind, the Susanna ; Mlle. Schwartz, the Page ; Belletti, Figaro ; and Lablache, Bartolo. Lind and Lablache were the mainstays of the version, the vocalisation of Lind in " vieni " being truly superb. In 1851 Sontag was the Susanna; Fiorentini, the Countess ; and Mlle. Cruvelli, the Cherubino. On Thursday night the Haymarket revival exhibited an entire new disposition of the characters, with one exception—namely, Mlle. Picco lomini, Susanna ; Mme. Ortaloni, the Countess ; Mlle. Spezia, the Page; Signor Beneventano, the Count; Senor Belart, Basilio ; Corsi, Antonio; Rossi, Bartolo; and Belletti, Figaro. One radical defect will strike everybody at the mention of these names. It is the Norre without a Count. just as the Don Giovanni was without a hero. There has, in fact, been as yet no successor to Tamburini in Mozart's baritone parts. Only one artist at Her