The National Register. — London, England, 1814-11-13 00:00:00

.'.~~ ~ TTTE NATIONAL• lIEGISTEIt. 748 DRAMATIC REGISTER. DRURY-LAN E. A revolution has taken place in the style of performance of our Operas. Formerly, and even but a few years ago. all was sacrificed to sound. Most of the pieces themselves fa voured this plan, and, when they contLiucd arty interest and sense, these were entirely lost through 1110 indifference.of the singes, to qualities, which were then deemed so unnecessary. Cold and inattentive in the dialogue, they thoiight it beneath them to suit the action to the word—the word to the ac tion" Their countenances presented a dull truvarying blank, and feeling never added charms to their execution. At present, a complete change has taken place. They feel, .)eak,and act like other men. They do not rest satisfied with t:tt eta faulty of being applauded in biilliant songs—they exe,, themselves to deserve applause in the dialogug. They s:u;y action and court expression ; they seek to understand, nutt to s•cent, the characters which they represent. Feeling is no longer warbled away in notes, nor spirit displayed only in quavets. The author of this great and beneficial revolution, which invests our Operas, both serious and comic, with so many addiCoual charms, is undoUbtedly Mr. Phillips. His exam ple was too successful net to be followed, and we rejoicesto End that the New School has at last obtained the most vowerfd accession it could ever hope for, in Mr. Brabant, who appeared for the first time this season last Wednesday Dight, at this theatre, in the pat! of Coll nt fl /ino in the Devit., ilfidge. Ms sensibilities might indeed he wcll awakened. Ile was welcomed with four peals of applause, which an nounced the satisfaction with which a crowded audience be held him, and the rapturous encores with which all his snngs, after the first, were honoured, sufficiently proved that ab sence had neither impaired his abilities, nor the estimation in which they are holden. On Friday, Mr. Braham appeared as Alphonso , in t h e Castle of Andalusia, and continued to prove bin - Ist:lf entitled to the praises which have on his Count &lino. On ' [ ' ,t7..C l . r rl'l:;atir.v • and Saturday, Mr. lica r,,pti rw‘d h ~ •:iiitations of the Scotch tyrant, before ;to mense crowds. Notwithstanding his efforts in this charac ter, and their occasional excellence, it is not one in which he iises to superior omit, or can stand a comparison with his great predecessor, liemble, or his competitor,. Young. It niay be classed with his Hamlet ; it is a generally good performance, but does not display his usual spirit, and wants those enlivening touches which storm the heart and capti vate the soul. COVENT GARDEN. • The French stage has long been the mine from which our modern Dramatic Author's have drawn. Hitherto, however, they did not think themselves bound to acknowledge their plagiary. The Continent was closed ; no traveller s & were al lowed to visit its shotes and still less the Parisian theatres, and no discoveries were therefore to be dreaded. Peace has removed the shield, without enereasing the originality of our writers. They conti:me to, plunder France, but they do it openly ; and what was lately carefully concealed, is now made a title to public favour. Thus it is sufficient to an nounce the success with *hid) a piece has been reore-enter} at Paris, to ensure it a welcome reception on our s si,e, and a Gallic origin become one of the most necessary ingre dient:i in the cotnposition of a play. We gave in our last, a detailed account of the plot of the new dramatic translation from the French, entitled Jean dt Paris, which had appeared a$ Drury Lane. This trifle ha. NOV. 15. since been brought forward by the Covent Carden managers, and last night was received with the most flattering applause at that aeatre, in its operatic garb. The plan bas.not been materially changed. The chief alterations will be found in the .diatogue, 'which is not more pointed than the origiital a and in the omission of the episode of Mow., the run-away girl. disguised as a page. The music in this piece is intended to replace the exceta lent acting of Elliston, but still leaves us much. to regret. Sinclair is so far behind Mr. Brehm or Phillips•in his dia. Logue that all the pleasing harmony of Ms voice cannot make us forget the superiority of Elliston in the same part. Miss Stephens sang with her usual taste and skill, and Mr. Duruset displayed so much rich melody and feeling in his singing that he received a :warty enema in his only solo. The same honour was conferred on Mr. Taylor who pla y ed the part of the Chamb, , rlain with great spirit. Liston in the Host was irresistibly laughable. Thy, music is pleasing, but does not boast much origina lity. The song of the Ireubadour does not seem to have been improved by the mixture of English taste with the ori ginal melody. Eight months ago we heard it . song at an hotel at Calais, by a kind of wandering female Troubadour, young, handsome in feature, possessed of a beautiful voice, and attended by her brother, who accompanied her on the violin. The melody then struck us as extremely Ir-teasing and expressive, and we cannot but regret that it has been thought necessary to deprive it of some of its S‘veetes: charac teristics. 'Phis Opera was announced for a second representation ; amidst general applau•e. Monthly Report nf the state of the King's health exhi bited on Sunday, at St. James's : " Wityisvr Cacti°, Nov. 3. " His Aiaje%ty hag contkned for tlot la,t month in an uniform suite trAngnillity, hnt ‘‘t ithout iri.y diminution ut his (lisorgicr." Garnerin has opened his Theatre of Grant' Philoso phical Recreations, at the it;te,it Boom, Sin in:; Gardens. In Our next we shall give an account of his experiments, which 4 ,, the merit Olnovel v join that of being performed with un- COlf. ion neatness and skill, and with instruments the mag nitude : . .nd beauty of which add greatly to their effect. One of nnr daily papers has been charged with receiving T en Th ousa nd Pounds for advocating the interests of a ceitant Power. If eis any truth in the assertion, it is not the Retreat, but the Advance of the Ten Thousand. • The English Messengers have of late performed their jour nies so rapidly, that Mural and Bernadotte have taken a Bri tish Courier into their pay. An unsuspecting Sawneri, who had come all the way from Auld Reeky to pay his respects to Miss Southcott, meeting the learned Taut., said, .‘ Wed has Maistress Joanna got a Bairn?" " A barn, man," exclaimed the indignant discipline, " why she rents a house at ten guineas a week !" A foreigner, just art ived, was lately enquiring very F e ously, in the neighbourhood bf St. Paul's, for a friend who he said, had lodgings next dour to Mr. Bai!t?, , , sera.—lt %vas at last discovered that he meant next door to the 01(1 Bailey PAWNBROKERS.-At the Council House, Bristol, on Wed. esday se'nnight, Rowland Thomas, Pawnbroker, of Digh ton s t ree t, was, upon information, fined 101. under the act for not selling Pledges above the value of Ios. at the end of a year, from the time of the same being pawned, having re fused to receive the principal and intere4t for such year only, w hid) bad been tendered to him.