The Press. — London, England, 1856-05-17 00:00:00

476 passing emotion in the expression of the youth, who for a moment. hesitates between two sisters, the careless beauty and the " model " affectionate daugh ter, will raise it far above many of those mere senti mental prettinesses in which it has hitherto been his pleasure to indulge. Mr. Leighton, whose " Cima bue" made so great a sensation last year, has failed in realising the hopes which that first picture ex cited. His " Power of Music" displays no commen surate power of painting. Orpheus fiddles away in a horrible yellow kilt with an enthusiasm worthy of more decided success, for Pluto, in spite of Proser pine's pinches, perseveres in what seems to be a sort of prandial apoplexy, while a lady in the corner (Eurydice, we presume) appears, to judge from her contortions, to be under the impressio that some new torture is "on rehearsal " previous to its introduction into Tartarus. We are involuntarily reminded of the effect of Southey's hexameters in Byron's famous " Vision." We would give very little for Eurydice's chance of liberation, if the " Powers of Darkness" may be supposed to possess any ear for music. J. B. Halle's " Deluge " (No 32) is another example of ambitious failure : there is a certain grandeur in the old man's head in the centre, and the convulsive clinging c n to the smallest chance of life in some of the figures is not without its effect; but the muddiness of colour, the confused composi • tion, the preternatural ugliness of the faces twisted into every variety of contortion, completely destroy the feeble impression produced by the better quali • ties of the work. By tar tue most poetical concep tion in the exhibition is Stanfield's illustration of a passage in Washington Irving's " Sketch-lhok:" " The Abandoned " (No. 94) is, perhaps, the artist's grandest work. A deserted wreck lies rolling on the open sea, alone in the vast waste of angry waters. The feeling of utter desolation is intense. There is nothing here but the lonely ship, the gloomy sky, and the desert ocean; by the simplest means the grandest effect has been produced. The artist has one other work, "A Guarda Costa Riding out a Gale off Fuentarabia " (No. 191), remark. able for truth of effect. We can only just mention Mr F. Goodall's " Cranmer at the Trai tor's (iate," as exhibiting good drawing though rather conventional treatment ; Mr. Elmore's " Charles V. at Yuste" (No. 175) as carefully painted, though wanting in truth in soma of the de tails ; Mr. F. Pickersgill's " Love's Labour Lost" (No. 17) as full of cleverness, though we object to the allegorical cupids, which are both superfluous and ill drawn; Mr. Leslie's single picture " Hermione," which quite inadequately expresses the artist's powers; Mr. Wa lis's " Chatterton " (No. 352), a disagreeably real treatment of a painful subject, very chalky in colour, though not without a certain power; M. Le Jeune's " Mary Magdalene at the Sepulchre" (No. 015), remarkable for the intense earnestness of Mary's gaze into the sepulchre, though defective in colour ; and among the landscapes, Witherington's "The Brook " (No. 83), " The Glen—Chudleigh " (No. 320), as full of beauty and truth; D. Roberts' "Christmas-day in St. Peter's, Rome" (No. 10), a fine piece of architectural painting, and an effective representation of a gorgeous ceremonial; T. S. Cooper's " Before Sunset" (No. 507), and " After Sunset" (No. 154), and " Clearing-up—an Evening Effect" (No. 439), ►n which last the artist has caught that hazy golden luminousness peculiar to the break ing forth of a horizontal sun after heavy rains with striking success ; one seems actually to smell the " moist earth " and feel the cool fresh breeze. Pusir. HER NIAJESTY'S THEATRE. Wm. Mr. Lumley be able to maintain his position at the ancient Italian Opera-house, which all the world knows he reopened last Saturday night, after the portals had been closed for three seasons ? The critics respond in the affirmative almost unanimously, but they were equally positive in 1847, when the Royal Italian Opera startled the town. And Mr. Lumley has doubtless grown wiser by his experience than to trust implicitly to journalism. The geo graphical advantages of Her Majesty's Theatre are, no doubt, great—the exquisite symmetry of the interior is admitted—the amber-coloured curtains charm many connoisseurs—and the feline attributes of operatic visitors, as to house and faces, may be overwhelming ; but all these attractions and pecu liarities will not suffice for the musical masses, which perversely will throng tO the localities—be they east or be they west—where fine performances can be heard. It is a question of art, and not of situation— a feeling for artists, and not a prejudice for managers. Assuredly everybody must admire the courage and perseverance with which Mr. Lumley has struggled for years to reconquer the ground he lost—and the manifestations of sympathy have been perfectly natural—but there can be no mistake as to his ulti- PIIE PRESS. mate prospect?. If he presents a really fine opera, he will succeed—if be returns to his old system, he will fail as before. Laporte left him a magnifi cent enterprise, which for the first time in operatic annals bid fair to be a permanently prosperous in vestment, inasmuch as the railroads had introduced a class of supporters sufficient to fill the theatre during the season, in addition to the fashionable fre quenters and regular subscribers. Let bygones be by • gones. How Mr. Lumley lost his vantage-ground is now matter for musical history. He is now striving to regain it, and in his renewals of the struggle for supremacy he must ponder on the past in order to profit by the future. Now, the execution of Rossini's Cenerentola, giving full credit to the delicious vocalisation and incomparable organ of Alboni, and to the pure Italian method, finished execution, but unsympathetic voice of Calzolari ' cannot restore the musical fame of Her Majesty's Theatre. Beneven tano, the new baritone; Zucconi, the new buffo-basso; Signor Vale°, the new second basso ; ani the repre• sentatives of the two cruel sisters, may be summarily dismissed as importations quite unworthy of the place, in which they no doubt must have felt that they had been so oddly misplaced. The braying cf the brass is so powerful, that the stringed instru mentalists have little chance of distinction, and the orchestra has, therefore, to win its laurels. There are some good players, and the conductor, who is zealous and painstaking, may, perhaps, make some. thing of the entirety in time. The choralists are not yet in working order. What the ensemble was can be conceived, and it required all the charm of Alboni's shower of pearls in the finale to excite the enthusiasm of the amateurs and to compensate for the deficiencies in the cast. The star system will not, in short, answer; and if Alhertini, Piccolomini, and Wagner are to make their public appearance, adequate representatives should be found to support them. Belletti's first appearance on Thursday was highly satisfactory. He sang the music and acted the part of Figaro in the Barbiere with all the careful execution and amusing vivacity for which he is famous. His duet with Rosina," Dunque io son," and with Alma viva, " Ah! idea di quel metallo," were both admi rably executed. Alboni's Rosina and Calzolari's Almaviva are well known. Alboni never sang the " Una voce" or her duets more exquisitely, nor more justly obtained the applause of the house. Calzo lari's performance was marked by his usual correct execution, but he was not in good voice. Bartolo and Basilio were " respectably " sustained, as the term goes. Of the ballet little more can be said than that it is a slight but successful divertissement, and has introduced to us four excellent dancers, of which Bellon, agile, elegant, and vivacious, may fairly claim the superiority. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. MME. Bosco, Mlle. Marai, Mrne. Didiee, Gardoni, Zelizer, and Tagliafico, have reappeared in Rossini's Comte Ory. The execution of this fine work was noticed in THE PRESS of last season, as being one of the most perfect and refined ensembles ever heard within the walls of any lyric temple of art; and its revival last Saturday at the Lyceum must be a source or infinite delight to the subscribers and to all admirers of the pure Italian school of composi Lion and singing. Mme. Bosiu is advancing in her art perceptibly this season. Mario, on his opening night in the Lucrezia, was not Mario. As usual, he begins his campaign with a reverse, to render more striking his future triumphs ; and Grisi, aR is also usual when Mario is under a cloud, was sublime in the exhibition of the towering passions of the Borgia. The advantage of having well-trained artists in the background, should the great luminaries be not forthcoming, was fully exemplified in the delineation of the Duke by Zelger, on Tuesday, in place of Ronconi. Didiee is not Alboni or Angri in Orsini, but she is dramatic, and secures the redemand for the drinking song. Costa is getting at home with his orchestra; it was a rare treat in the Comte Ory. CONCERTS OF THE WEEK. WHAT a week for concerts—morning and evening! What a task for the diurnal critics ! How do they contrive to be present at the avalanche of matinees and soirees, which increase so rapidly as to promise to overwhelm even the organs exclusively devoted to the record of things musical. The third PHILHAR MONIC, last Monday, was remarkable for a grand display of singing on the part of Mdlle. Jenny Ney, in the wondrous scena of Beethoven," Ali ! perfido," for the tine execution by Mr. Cooper, the able chef d'attaque, of Spolir's violin concerto (dramatic), and for the brilliancy with which the two Dopplers, aided by Herr Huber, executed a concertante for two flutes and violin. The symphonies (Beethoven's C minor and Haydn's No. 10 in E flat) and the overtures ( Potter's Antony and Cleopatra, and Weber's Der Freis:hutz) went steadily under Mr. Bennett's baton, the current at these concerts running at present agm inst new readings and against any strong colour ing, which current signifies, in point of fact, that the band is master of the situation. SATURDAY, --- U The chamber-music frequenters are all in ectasies with Ernst's intensity in the andante of Mozart's quartet in Or major, with Piatti's elegant violon cello playing, and Mme. Sohuma.nn's classical read ing of Beethoven's pianoforte air in C minor with variations, at last Tuesday's Mustcm, UNION. Th e German pianiste, on Wednesday night, again as. tounded the amateurs at the thi r d o f Dr. Wylde's concerts, given under the title of the " New Phil. harmonic Society," a society which has no existence except in name. She played her husband's concerto in A minor, bristling with difficulties and brimful of innovations, displaying the novelty of ideas in Dr. Schumann's works, but lacking charm and cohe rency. Mr. Howard Glover's quaint cantata "Tam o' Shanter" was repeated, under his own guidance. Beethoven's symphony in A, and the three overtures of Weber, Mozart, and Mendelssohn, were coarsely handled, Dr. Wylde's oonducting being wavering. The profits of the concert are to be given to the Brompton Hospital for Consumption, If Dr. Wyide will fairly hoist his banner, as the speculator in these concerts, the musical public might appreciate his labours. The return to this country of the accomplished pianiste Miss Arabella Goddard, who met her friends at the Hanover-square Rooms on Thursday night, will be heartily welcomed. The concerts of Herr Schloesser and Mr. A. Goll mick are annuals, and it is thus that they make known their pretensions as classic composers. If admirers of orchestral playing desire a real enjoyment, drop in at Mellon's " Union" concerts, and it will then be proved how a well trained band, even limited in numbers, can execute symphonies and overtures, under a vigilant, sharp, and energetic There is sad news this year for the lady amateurs who grace the morning concerts. Such occasions, as the French observe, are real solemnities, for do they not supply the right moment to show of the last " duck "of a bonnet? Alas! for all human institu tions! With the reorganisation of the two Italian Opera•houses, has arrived Benedict's secession from the monster morning concerts. Jenny Lind Gold schmidt has tempted him from his allegiance. He goes this year to Exeter•hall, and in the evening ! What is to become of the bonnets ? Are they to be exhibited at the Crystal Palace exclusively? TESTIMONIAL TO COSTA.— Lord Willoughby de Broke, the president of the Birmingham Musical Festival of 1855, presented, last Monday, in the Town-hall, a splendid piece of plate to Mr. Costa, as a testimonial from the committee of management for his generosity in handing over to the General Hos pital the sum of s^o/., the amount paid to him by the publishers of Eli for the score. The subject is appropriately chosen from the oratorio, and con sists of a group illustrative of the pri sentation of Samuel in the Temple to Eli. the High Priest. Eli, robed in rich vestments as High Priest, is placed on a dais, on which stand the altar of incense, the table of shew-bred, and the golden candlestick. Hannah, accompanied by Elkanah, is in the attitude of pre senting Samuel to Eli. They have brought the ac. customed offerings of wine and corn. The group is executed in oxidised silver, with gold introduced in the dresses of the figures, and in portions of the ornaments employel. The group is placed ona pedestal of Siena marble, on which is inscribed in raised silver letters a quotation from the oratorio— " Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." The following inscription is engraved on a silver scroll on the back of the pedestal ; To Michael Costa, in commemoration of the first per. formance, on the 29th of August, 18:55, of Eli, an oritorio generously composed by him for the Birmingham Festival in aid of the funds of the General Hospital. As a tribute to his genius, and as a record of his disinterested liberality, this testimonial is presented by noblemen and gentlemen on the committee of management, 18,Y.W. The testimonial was designed and modelled by Mr. Charles Grant. The noble chairman spoke in strong terms of eulogy of the great exertions of Costa in his direction of the last three musical festivals. Mr. Costa, in returning thanks, alluded to his kind recep• tion at Birmingham in 1819, when he first came to England an utter stranger. Sly glrama. DRURY LANE THEATRE. Ax English version of Rossini's Cenerentola forms the principal attraction at this house. The adapta tion is an old one, where Rossini's music meets with no little alteration, and, instead of the original score, we have the unhappie.l hash of operatic music ever served up. Mr. Haigh, the new tenor, though sing ing with jndgment and taste, as the Prince, does not achieve so great a success as in The Bohemian Girl, but on the whole his performance is effective. He possesses undoubtedly a very fine voice, but one which study—and nothing but study—and practice will render so far perfect as to enable him to achieve