The Press. — London, England, 1855-07-21 00:00:00

694 Come down, oh maid, from yonder mountain height. What pleasure is in height, the shepherd sang, In height and cold, the splendour of the hills? He will st.ll tell you that " love is of the " valley," that woman's sphere is among the sweet charities of domestic life, and the sights and sounds of home : The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmurs of innumerable bees. Practical Sermons. By G. William Brameld, M.A. Second Series. London: Hope and Co. THIS is a volume which does not invite criticism ; and in village sermons that is a great merit. Mr. Brameld has had the singular good sense and self denial to keep entirely clear of controversial topics— with the one exception of baptismal regeneration— andin place of them we have some good home truths told in a plain but not commonplace manner—some fine applications of the Parables—and some useful explanations of Hebrew customs and prejudices. The sermon entitled " The Sacrifice on Carmel" is an excellent specimen of our author's best style, and, as it appears to us, is calculated to produce a stron; impression not I,ss on a cultivated than on an ignorant audience : We must bear in mind that a very small portion of the history of the Israelites is preserved to us in the sacred books ; and that, although the wonders wrought by Elijah and his successor occupy a large space in the Scripture record, they might still be, to a great extent, unknown to the mass of the people. Men were generally left then, as now, to the exercise of reason and of simple faith in the unseen. And so, when idolatry and sin were favored by regal authority and the influence of the great and noble, while God's religion was persecuted and despised, we can feel no surprise that the multitude fell away from the truth, and that Elijah had to address the words of the text to those who, while still not altogether unmindful of the past, were nevertheless disposed to regard chiefly their own safety or interest, and to yield to the seeming neces sity of the time. This "necessity of the time" is indeed the rock on which all faith, all high and noble traditions, all true philosophy, have always been wrecked from the beginning of history to the present day. And there has been scarcely a reform in this country for the last thirty years which has not been based by the majority of its supporters on the "necessity of the time," rather than on its intrinsic excellence. The last sermon in the list, entitled " The Voice in the Storm," was preached on the proclamation of war last year. It is eloquent and pertinent : May this and other like sweet intimations of the love and mercy of our Redeemer be treasured as pearls of in estimable price, by those to whom the outbreak of this great war has already assumed the character of a personal calamity ; whose best beloved ones—the pride of many a household—the sole stay, perchance, of many a widowed heart—have already passed from the homes their love had made so happy ; and it may be to return no more ! Brethren, when we put up our prayers to God this night, ay ! and every night while this sad strife lasts, let us think sorrowfully and pityingly ofthese ; the fatherless children and widows, the desolate and afflicted, who shall be the certain victims of the contest. Little do those who cry aloud for war think of the sighs and tears, the racking suspense, the awful certainty of irreparable loss which will sadden so many an English hall and cottage for long years to come. Let us, I repeat, pray fervently for these to our God. Amid their great sorrow, may the voice that once spoke forth in power from the storm speak peace to their hearts ! "It is I, be not afraid." In the discourse on the " Nature and Necessity of Conversion " Mr. Brameld has written, we think, too timidly. The catholic doctrine of bap tism is one about which no reasonable man need feel the slightest uncertainty, and it is an injudi cious exercise of friendship to seek to disguise it—for such is practically the result of Mr. Brameld's observations. He endeavours to divert our minds from regeneration by setting up the bugbear of baptismal conversion—a doctrine which the most enthusiastic Churchman surely never dreamed of preaching. By baptism a child is, if we may so ex press it, put in a way of obtaining his salvation—no thing more ; and when Mr. Brameld denies that the sacrament supersedes the necessity of repentance, he is, we fancy, demolishing a henry of his own creation. Whether he is here simply addressing himself to an error which he found prevalent among his own parishioners we know not ; but the sermon has the air of an appeal to the world at large, and, if so, we must say we cannot see that it was either requisite or discreet. We have no other fault to find. It is a book of a thousand merits and one defect ; and sure we are that if our village pulpits were more generally filled by preachers of the like earnestness and eloquence, many of our present sectarians would not be long in returning to the bosom of the Church. THE New Quarterly Review differs from the other Quarterlies in limiting itself to notices, more or less elaborate, of the principal books issued in the period between the dates of its publication. In the present Number the literature of the past three months, THE PRESS. classed under the several heads of history and biography, travels, poetry, fiction, &c., is critically considered; most of the books, however, as the last volume of " Alison's Europe " and the " Life of Sydney Smith," being too severely handled, their substantial merits being overlooked, while trifling defects and faults are eagerly seized on. The style of the notices is somewhat en amateur—smart and confident, often acute, but wanting in depth and critical sagacity. It is scarcely fair to pick the plums out from an attractive book, and then dismiss it with a few con temptuous words. The best notices are those which have least pretension, and which are written rather with the view of giving readers a fair account of the book under notice than to show off the critic's cleverness. htsit. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. IT was on the 16th of February,lBs4, in the presence of the Emperor and Empress of the French and of the literary and artistic celebrities of the French capital, that L'Etoile du Nord was originally produced. The event was remarkable in lyric annals, inasmuch as it introduced the composer to the Parisian Opera Comique. Leaving the Academie, the great theatre of his fame—based on those imperishable works Robert Le Diable, the Huguenots, and Le Prophite— Meyerbeer crossed the Boulevards—which in matters musical and theatrical form as complete a boundary in Art's domain as seas, rivers, and mountains mark the limits of nationalities—and entered the lists with Gretry,Boieldieu, Auber, and Halevey with as much daring as he had before contended with the giants of the lyric drama, Gluck, Mozart, Weber, and Rossini. One of the greatest triumphs of his career attended the gifted composer. The " Northern Star " shone brightly, and its light was soon extended in every direction, except that of the London Italian Opera. How was it that the season of 1854 passed without the representation of L'Etoile du Nord at Covent Garden ? Some curious facts might be given to the world on this question, but " better late than never," and the work has at length been presented with a success which puts au end to all consideration of the past. On Thursday night, eves with certain reservations to be presently referred to, Meyerbeer must have been convinced that he had seen and heard L'Etoile du Nord for the first time. A more magnificent mounting has never been witnessed i.i this or any other country. A finer execution in its ensemble hai never been listened to. A greater reception of a composer, by an English audience, is not within any one's recollection. A deeper impression on the minds of amateurs and artists of almost all nations, assembled within the Covent Garden walls, has never been made. " What a scene!" " What an opera!" " What a success!' Such were the exclamations saluting the ear, after the curtain fell, lung past midnight, and the stage had been strewn with flowers, as the composer finally crossed the stage, accompanied by the leading singers. Whilst recording these exciting ovations, the considerations of art progress must not be lost sight of. The opera of L'Etoile du Nord was noticed in THE PRESS (February 25th, 1A454) at the period of its production in Paris. There is no reason, after hearing the Italian version, to modify the opinion expressed in that article, that the subject of the drama is not a happy one—at least for Eng lish audiences. Scribe's skill cannot make Cathe• rine an interesting character, and with all his tact there still remains a repulsiveness for Peter, the Czar. Perhaps the present position with Russia may operate on the mind, but it is doubtful whether at any time Peter or Catherine can successfully figure on the stage. So much the greater the triumph of Meyerbeer to have conquered the evident detects of the story, which, however, it must be admitted, has been most ingeniously wrought up. The tent scene in the second act is capitally contrived. The situa tion in which the intoxicated Peter, after having unknowingly given the order to shoot Catherine (who is disguised as a young recruit, having taken her brother's place for a short period), tries to recover his self-possession in order to stop the execution, is superb. The great "creation" of the opera is the Corporal Gritsenko, a Cossack of the Ukraine, in the first act, with an orthodox beard, and a stolid soldier of the Imperial Guard in the subsequent acts. This part was very cleverly embodied in Paris by Her mann Leon, but here it has been vivified by Lablache with mirth•stiri•ing skill, and the Titan of basses sings it with artistic tact and energy worthy of his best days. The fragmentary passages of the music enable Lablache to vocalise with unparalleled effect, and his facile execution of the intricate phrases SATURDAY, quite astounded his admirers, who bad latterly watched with anxiety his failures in parts re quiting sustaining power. And it may be here the proper place to mention that Meyerbeer has been eminently fortunate in the recitatives he has substituted for the original spoken dialogue. Delicious and masterly as the instrumentation of the Etoile du Nord is, thescoring of the recitatives in the Stella del Nord will still more provoke the unqualified admiration of the most critical analyzer. The felicitous mode in which the composer intro duces and reiterates a theme, thereby giving, so to speak, a clue to the character or situation, would exact detailed specimens impossible to be given except in a purely musical organ. But, to generalise, it may be safely stated that in no former opera has Meyerbeer more strongly displayed his individuality. The general tone of the Stella is consistent and coherent, the " couleur locale" is preserved admi rably. How far the musician may be allowed in achieving this important object to venture into the descriptive cannot here be discussed. If operatic music be intended to be suggestive of the situation, then must Meyerbeer's characteristics be essentially true and piquant. The new music allotted to the Corporal in the second act is quaint and of the highest merit, evincing the extraordinary versatility of the composer's resources. The style ..f the Etoile, it must be borne in mind, is of a mixed character, like the libretto. In the main, the story is that of a comic opera, but here and there it assumes the larger proportions of the grand lyric drama. It was no novelty that Meyerbeer's genius should soar into sublimity in points exacting large ideas and bold treatment, like in the " Conjuration " scene of the Huguenots, or the " Coronation" scene of the Prophete, and in the glorious scene of the Czar's appeal to arms in the second act of the Etoile du Nord; but it is a novelty in Meyerbeer'3 career to find that to him no schoOl was closed, and that he was as capable of giving lightness to the comic parts as he is in supplying massiveness to the elevated traits. If the music of Gritzenko has so much gained in importance by the Italian adaptation, the part of the leading tenor, Danilowitz the pastrycook, receives further development by the addition of an arioso in the last act. Gardoni far eclipses the French tenor, Mocker, in this character. The melody of the arioso is lovely, almost equal, in fact, in its ear-haunting subject, to the exquisite air running through the opera descriptive of the tuture destiny of Catherine, whose star shines towards the North. The instrumental undercurrent to Gardoni's air is in Meyerbeer's best vein of elegance. It will, however, be gathered from the preceding remarks that the two principal parts are those of Catherine and the Czar. In Paris Mlle. Caroline Duprez and M. Battaille were the representatives. Here it is Mme. Bosio and Herr Formes. The fair Milanese prima donna will gather such a harvest of glory for her finished vocalisation that she can afford to be told her acting has not at all given a notion of Scribe's Catherine. Mlle. Duprez acted the part as if she was a soubrette ; but the reading had its piquancy, and it, was attractive to watch the fragile form of the clever artiste in domi neering over the brutal Peter. Mme. Bosio, on the contrary, walks through the part like a fine lady, list less and inanimate. But Mme. Bosio made ample amends by her singing. The "!tondo Bohernienn - e," in which Catherine charms the Cossacks, was given to perfection, and the celebrated trio with two flutes surpassed in executive display that of Mille. Jenny Lind. Beginning well and ending thus well, Mme. Bosio's star will be in the ascendant, leaving only the fact on record that the character of Catherine is yet to be created. Formes' extraordinary and anything but choice Italian, and his coarse and exaggerated energy, may pass muster for a tolerable impersonation of the ferocious Czar with those who have not seen Battaille, who made such an immense sensation in the tent scene by the gradual recovery from intoxication, and who sung the romance in the last act with such true feeling. The Bacchanalian air of Peter in the second act could only have been done justice to by Ronconi, or Tamburini in his best days. It the score admitted of transposition in the music of Peter for Ronconi, what fine acting would he not display! In the meanwhile the roughness of Formes must be submitted to. Whilst on the mention of the weak portion of the cast, its must be owned that the cavalry couplets, as rendered by Albicini, were most inefficient, and that Mme. Rudersdortf, albeit very painstaking, was not a Vivandiere to have tempted the Czar to forget Catherine. Mlle. Bauer, on the other hand, as the second Vivandiere, sang and acted with such spirit and intelligence, and looked so provokingly pretty, as to secure the encore bestowed on the marvelously clever and original couplets for two voices. There is nothing but praise to be awarded to Mlle. Marai as Pras covia, and Lucchesi as Giorgio. Herein the Covent Garden cast had the palm of superiority over the Parisian one. And in the secondary parts immea surably better were Tagliafico, Zelger, Polooin4 Gregorio, Soldi, dm. In numbers, in quality as well as quantity, the chorus and orchestra tar transcends