The Press.
London, England, 1855-05-26 00:00:00

usir.

THE FOURTH CONCERT OF THE NEW FEHLHAUDIONIC
SOCIETY was given ou Wednesday evening in aid of
the funds of the Lock Asylum, Harrow•road. The
following was the programme of the performance

PART T.
Selection from " The Ruins of Athena" Beethoven
Overture, " Melueina" Mendelesohn
Aria, " 1)1 militari Unori," Signor Bellew Spolir
Hondo in B minor, pianoforte, M. Billet Mendelesolin
Scene., " Ocean, thou mighty Monster," Mme.
Clara Novell.) (Oberon) Weber
Symphony lu B Sat Beethoven
EMT 11.

Overture, " Frelsehiitz " Weber
Air and Chorus (Loreley) Mendeleaohn
Aria "Udite," Sig. Belletti (L'Elissir !'Amore) Donizetti
Part Song, " Behold the Woods" ld eudelssolin
Wedding March . Mendelseuhu

. .
Conductor, Dr. Wylie.

The great orchestral piece of the evening was Beet-
hoven's symphony in B tint, one of the most beautiful
of his works. It was carefully and well performed;
and if some parts of it comparitively failed in effect,
the fault was more in the hall than in the band or
the conductor. Exeter hall is not well fitted for this
kind of music; it is too large, and, unless when
tilled by a very crowded audience, bas an echo which
renders rapid and complex passages indistinct and
contused. In this symphony, the first allegro, being
taken in moderate time, went well, and the adagio
was beautiful; but the minuetto and finale were so
quick as to be quite inarticulate. Mendelssohn's
imaginative overture to ifelusina was also indistinct
and obscure. The best orchestral performance of the
evening was the overture to the Freischiitz, which was
played with immense fire, and loudly encored. M.
Billet executed Mendelssohn's rondo with much bril-
liancy, and was warmly applauded. In the vocal
music the selection from The Ruins of Athens, in-
cluding the famous chorus and dance of dervishes,
was given with excellent effect. Belletti was encored
in the fine air from Jessonda ; and Madame Clara
Novello's performance of the scents from Oberon was
a magnificent display of vocal power. The same
lady sang the scene from Mendelssohn's unfinished
opera, Loreley, in a style not less admirable; but this
remarkable composition has never, at any time we
have heard it, made that impression on the audience
which it is surely capable of doing. The concert
was well attended, and on the whole highly successful,
MADAME rUZZI'S CONCERT.— Madame Puzzi's
annual concert on Monday morning consisted
almost entirely of vocal music of the Italian
school, selected from the opHae of Mozart,
Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Mercauante, and Meyer-
beer, and performed by a numoer of favorite singers,
among whom were Mme. Clara Novello, Mme.
Gassier, Mine. Fiorentini, Signor Salvi, Signor
Ciabatta, Signor Marras, Signor Belletti, M. Gassier,
Mr. Pierre, and Signor Bettini. The pieces they
sang were very familiar to the musical public, but
they were selected with taste and well performed.
The only novelties were instrumental. M. Ascher, a
pianist newly arrived, played a fantasia of his own
composition—a light and brilliant piece, quite in the
modern style ; and a duetto concertante for the
clarionet and contrabasso, composed by Signor
Bottesini, was performed by Signor Belletti and the
composer. Signor Belletti (not our favorite singer)
is a clarionet player of the highest order, anti every-
body knows the marvellous achievements of Bottesini
on his gigantic instrument. This duet is a very
masterly composition, and was executed with a finish
and brilliancy which could scarcely be surpassed.
The concert was conducted by Mr. Benedict., Signor
I'ilotti, and Signor Vera, who by turns accompanied
the vocal pieces, and the room was crowded by a dis-
tinguished and fashionable audience.
We are compelled, from want of space, to defer our
notice of Madame Grisi's reappearance.

CRESIORNE AND SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.—
The regular season at these delightful gardens com-
mences on Monday next, when increased attractions
will be presented for the public over and above those
of former years. Among the alterations and im-
provements in the first-named which have been so
extensively introduced, we must notice the two new
and great leading features of structural adornment—
the Temple of Mahomet the Second, and the Turco-
French Illuminative Arch, both of which display, in
design and execution, very considerable talent. The
temple is an elaborate model of a Turkish mosque,
painted by Jones, in imitation of the varied and
peculiar Oriental style, and its outline is that of the
great Christian church of Santa Sophia, which the
Turks appropriated many years since, being some-
what similar in form to a Greek cross inclosed in a
quadrangle. The arch is brilliantly painted in alle-
gory, showing the course events will probably take
from the action of the combined European powers
against Russian aggression, and displays the stan-
dards of the five united countries,—England, France,
Austria, Turkey, and Sardinia; and when illuminated,
the structure presents spirited and striking likenesses
of Victoria, Louis Napoleon, and the Pacha, supported

MAY 26, 1855.

by the arms of their separate countries, while the
figures, fruit, fish, and birds, represented upon the
columns, distinctly point out the four quarters of the
world, its elements, and its productions. The pro-
gramme for the week, with a variety of other amuse-
ments, includes a new French comic ballet, Le
Tailleur de Toulon, the Pyrenees singers, a balloon
ascent, the Busselli Brothers, and the storming of
Sebastopol by a galvanic battery, which will no doubt
attract a very large portion of the Whitsuntide holiday
keepers. At the Surrey Gardens, in addition to its
usual attractions, the public are promised a Siege
and Storm of Sebastopol, upon a scale and with a
pyrotechnic ,effect never before attempted or sur-
passed.