The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-23 00:00:00

tion of the hotel, which, under the present arrange ment, and especially with a similarity of charge, it is impossible to decide. Selections from the Best Italian Writers. For the Use of Students of the Italian Language. By J. P. Lacaita, LL.D. London : Longraans. THIS selection will, no doubt., find a considerable circulation. There is an ample variety in the speci mens chosen, both in prose and poetry; and the compiler seems to have been, in this particular, more fortunate than most of those who have undertaken to do so much for the English language through its classic writers. The arrangement is chronological ; and we are disposed to agree with the author, that selections from the drama, in a school reading-book, even where its chief gems are chosen, prove un satisfactory to the schoolboy or learner, as indeed they often do to the adept, from the impossibility of conveying the story. The little work embraces the aeries of Italian writers from 1182 to the present time. Stories in Verse. By Leigh Hunt. London: Rout.ledge. THIS pretty ♦olume is a collection of Leigh Hunt's shorter stories, most of which are already familiar to a multitude of readers. A new preface at consider able length has been added, dissertating upon Chaucer, heroic verse, and the " musical element in poetry," and an extract from the preface to Mr. Moxen's edition in 1832, entitled " A Study in Versi fication," inculcating, like the former, the admira tion of Chaucer, and containing many acute and judicious critical suggestions. This collection con tains " Rimini " and the " I'alfrey," with Chaucer's fragment of "Cambus Khan" modernised; and some new pieces in the old ballad style. The volume is pretty within and without, and will no doubt com mand the railway circulati .n of which the poet, in a playful preface, declares himself ambitious. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. BOOKS. Th. Senses and the Intellect. Alexander Bain, . A.M. J. W. Parker and Bon. Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary. Sir Bernard Burke. Hurst and Blackett. Salathicl, the Immortal. Rev. George Croly, LL.D. Do. The Emigrant's Lost Son. Routledge. Iphigenia at Delphi. A Tragedy. Rev. Archer Gurney. Longmans. 1 Legitimate System of National Education. John Sibbald Edwin. Rivingtons. Smaller Latin• English Dictionary. W. Smith, LL.D. Murray. The Music Master. A Love Story. William Allingham. Routledge. Practical Sermons. G. W. 13rameld, M.A. Hope and Co. Thomas Wilson. 1)e. Blackstone. Abridged and Adapted to the Existing Law. Samuel Warren. Maxwell. Lands of the Slave and the Free. Hon. H. A. Murray. J. W. Parker and Son. Russia on the Black Sea and Sea of Asoff. With Maps. 11. D. Seymour, M.P. Murray. The Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, Galatians, Romans. Benjamin Jowett, M.A. Do. Treatise on the Augustinian Doctrine of Precli." - J. B. Mosley, B.D. The Jealoue Wife. Miss Pardoe. Do. Hurst and Blackett. Behool Atka qf Astronomy. A. Keith Johnston. Black _ wood and Sons. General Gazetteer. A. K. Johnston, F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S., F.G.S. Longinans. Woman is the Nineteenth Century. Margaret Fuller Ossoli. Trubner and Co. Dante's Divine Comedy. Notes on the Translation. By C. B. Cayley, B.A. Longinans. Hy Brother's Keeper. Routledge. PAMPHLETS. The Voice of Elijah. The . . Mantme Management. Our Quarrel with Russia. Sir Henry Verney, Bart. Ridgway. Museum of Economic Botany. Sir W. J. Hooker, K.H. Mortimer. Longrnans. Geographical and Hydrographical Notes. Wyld. Parliamentary Reform. A Conservative. Seeleys. The Cottage Hero. George W. Swanston. Hope and Co. The Only Real Ode to Cologne. Do. Geography of Productions and Manufactures. John Fleet. 1)o. Fall of the t'sur. A Poem. A Clergyman. Do. The Signs of the Tunes. A Lecture. Glasgow: Murray. and Sou. Thoughts on National Education. Lord Lyttelton. Murray. Plan of a Female College for the Help of the Sick and the Poor. Rev. F. 1). Maurice. Cambridge: Macmillan and Co. A Suggestion for Supplying the Literary, Scientific, and Mechanics' Institutes of Great Britain and Ireland with Lectures from the Universities. Lord Arthur Henley, M.A. Do. The Revising Heads and Executive Hands of Me English Government. Rickel by. Clerical Experiences. Edited by Clerc Smith. Smith Few Words about the Inmate, al our Union Workhouses Longman': THE PRESS. The Irish Quarterly Revie7. -- Vo7 - XVIII. Kelly and Co. MM'S. The Sea of elsov. Do. glitsir. Wyld. Stanford. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.—The extra nights appear to compriselall the variety (and it is little enough) which the management of this establishment think fit to offer to the public and its subscribers. The long Thursdays and extra Mondays absorb Grisi's finest impersonations and Mario's sweetest notes, while the subscription nights are given up to constant repetitions of the Trovatore, or the hackneyed opera of Ernani. This is not fair to the subscribers, and if it is as we suspect, the result of want of compe tition, the sooner the rival house is started once more, the better for the interests of all. This week, for instance, which will do as a fair sample of any other, an extra night was given on Monday, when the Huguenots was performed; on Tuesday, the subscription night, brought up the Trovatore; on Thursday, an extra night, Norma and the Barber of Seville; and Saturday, a subscription night, the Trovatore once more. " Tolijoursperdriz" becomes tiresome, and even the uniformity of excellence fails to sustain the interest it first created. The sub scribers have scarcely had a single novelty or change— nothing but this perpetual Trovatore from one week to the other, or something worse ; and as for the new ballet which is promised to-night, it is nothing but the revival of an old one which every one must re member some seven years ago. Meyerbeer's L'Etoi!e du Nord will, we hope, be an acceptable novelty, but at present the programme of the directors does not appear at all probable to be carried out. DRURY LANE.—The crowded houses which nightly fill the old house attest, as we hoped and anticipated, the complete success which has attended this com mendable attempt of the lessee to establish a cheap opera in London. Norma, Lucretia Borgia, the Barbitre, and Sonnambula, have all been given to crowded houses, and if the Huguenots could only be brought out with a sufficiently strong company and sufficiently powerful orchestra, we will venture to predict such a run for this masterpiece, as even the maestro himself (now in London) could scarcely hope for. It is a matter of the most sincere regret that the engagement of Mme. Gassier is upon the point of termination. THE CONCERT Or THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC, on Tuesday afternoon, was devoted to the perform ance of an entire opera—the Azor and Zemira of Spohr, a work of great beauty, and a few years ago of no mean popularity at Covent-garden Theatre, where it was brought out in an expensive scenic form, and with a very strong cast. The principal soprano music devolved upon Miss Whyte and Miss Spiller, the two leading ladies of the establishment, and of undeniable promise. The part of Azor was sang by Mr. Peed, who, though not an extraordinarily good tenor, was welcome, because of the scarcity of such voices in this academic quarter. The trio, "Night's lingering shades," a singularly-fascinating morceau, and frequently sung in our concert-rooms, was given very nicely by the three vocalists to whom it was confided; and the scarcely less popular song, " Rose softly blooming," was also prettily sung by Miss Whyte, and encored. The opera, as a whole, was rendered with more effect than might have been expected. The music, like all that has emanated from the pen of Spohr, presents much inherent diffi culty, and the diligence of the pupils in acquiring it deserves commendation. THE SIXTH MATINEE MUSICALE, under the direc tion of Mr. Ella, took place on Tuesday morning at Willis's Rooms before a very crowded and fashion able audience. The programme was lung and varied, for, contrary to his usual custom, Mr. Ella introduced some vocal music, a novelty that has hitherto not been heard at these essentially classical reunions. The selection of chamber music consisted, as usual, of some of the chefs d'oeuvre of the great composers, and the performance of them was as excellent and perfect as it ever is at the hands of such distin guished performers, both vocal and instrumental. Herr Ernst, Signor Piatti, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Hill, Signor Bottesini, and Herr Halle, were the instru• mentalists, and Herr Reichardt the vocalist. Haydn's quartet in D, No. 09, Hummel's quintet in A fiat minor, op. 92, the Kreutzer sonata, op. 47, and Spohr's trio in E minor, op. 45, were the pieces de resistance of the morning, the lighter features of which were two solos composed and performed by Signors Piatti and Bottesini, and two very beautiful songs, one by Restrelli, of Dresden, and another by Mendelssohn, sung by Reichardt. Any praise of the performances with such performers would be super fluous. The breathless attention of the audience, and their intense interest sustained to the last moment, were sufficient proofs of the high and un rivalled execution of these distinguished musicians. SATURDAY, These mutinies musicales are undoubtedly the most select and choice concerts of the season. Mn. HULLAH'S CONCERTS.—Mr. Hullah's eighth and last concert this season took place on Wednesday night, at St. Martin's hall. He relied on this occa sion chiefly upon his choral resources, for there was no instrumental band, nor any principal vocalists of celebrity. The concert was, nevertheless, highly interesting, and appeared to give perfect satisfaction to a very numerous audience. The sacred music in the first part of the concert consisted of selections from Sebastian Bach, Mozart, Marcello, Himmel, and Mendelssohn, while Travers, Bennett, and more modern composers supplied in the second part the motets and madrigals, which were warmly applauded. A motet, by Croce, "Thou art beautiful," Mende's. sohn's part song, "The nightingale is gone away," and a new and pretty serenade, " Lady! wake," from the pen of Mrs. Mounsey Bartholomew, were admirably rendered by the choir, and unanimously encored. The same compliment was also paid, and in a most enthusiastic manner, to Miss Palmer's spirited delivery of " Partant pour la Syrie." We trust that the great success which has attended this series of concerts wiil induce Mr. Hullah to con tinue his excellent system, which is to provide music of the best kind at the lowest possible prices. FESTIVAL OF THE "THREE CHOlRS."—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th August, are fixed for the holding of the next meeting of the three choirs of Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester. The conveniences for travelling will no doubt cause a great addition to the audiences, and ample arrangements have been made by the indefatigable conductor of the festival, Mr. Townshend Smith. The professional engagements for the festival in the vocal department are Clara Novello, Mrs. Weiss, Miss Moss, Miss Dolby, Mine. Grist, Signor Mario, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Montem Smith, Mr. H. Barnby, and Mr. Weiss. The cele brated pianist, Arthur Napoleon, is also engaged. The band and chorus are to be on a larger scale, and altogether the musical arrangements are to he on a more extended plan than usual. The stewards of the festival are the Right Hon. and Rev. Lord Says and Sele ; Sir J. H. Brydges, Bart.; J. H. Ark wright, Esq., Hampton Court; Mr. Booker, M.P.; J. Chadwick, Esq., Putidlestone Court; Keville Davies, Esq., Croft Castle; Rev. W. P. Hopton, Bishop's Froome ; and H. Stratford Stratford, Esq. 1t drama. ADELPHI. IF the English drama has been suffering of late years from incipient decline, it is now, it must be allowed, in the hands of at least one physician of un doubted talent, great industry, and possessing, more over, a most unwearied pen—Mr. Tom Taylor—who at the Adelphi this week has achieved another suc cess in his original drama of Helping Hands. We say another success, for it was only the other day that we had to chronicle his triumph at the Olympic in Still Waters Run Deep. Helping Hands is a simple tale of every-day life, without much plot, but lull of genuine pathos and sentiment. The story, which is in two acts, rests for interest upon a violin—a novel instrument it must be admitted in dramatic history— and turns fur incident upon a crisis of croup. This real Straduarius belongs to a German musician once prosperous, but now reduced to poverty from loss of sight and consequent loss of employment. An only daughter who supports him by copying music fails at last to obtain suthcient to pay the rent, and that usual victim of dramatic authors, a hard-hearted landlady, refusing to wait any longer, calls in a broker to sell up the property of her wretched tenants. In the absence of both, their goods are sold, the rent paid, and father and daughter come home to find themselves penniless and ruined. The second act brings the poor blind musician, now utterly broken-hearted, from the loss of his Straduarius, to the house of a lordly amateur who has just purchased of the Jew broker, at an enormous price, this far-famed violin of the musician. The old German recognises the notes of the child of his affections, and claims it from the lord, who refusing to give it up, brings about a disagreeable contretemps, which is however rapidly cleared up by one of those happy accidents which novelists and authors who wield such terrible powers as life and death, have always at hand. 'The lord's son and heir has a sudden attack of croup; a young doctor who loves the musici a n's daughter is called in ;he effects a cure. The lord, in his unbounded generosity, offers him anything as a reward; the doctor is modest, asks only for the Straduarius, restores it on the spot to its loving owner, and claims his daughter in return. Her love is acknowledged, a blessing is given, everybody is made happy, and the curtain falls. In such a very simple story there is less incident and action than sentiment; but, even there, beyond the intense love of the old musician for his violin, there is little dis play of that melodramatic emotion for which Mate. Celeste, who acted the part of the daughter, is so celebrated, and the Adelphi audience usually so - V'