The Press.
London, England, 1855-04-14 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

with her illustrious visitors, the Emperor and Em-
press of the French, will visit tho house in state
upon that evening.

MR. CASE'S CONCERT, EXETER-HALL.—Upon Wed-
nesday evening Mr. Case gave his annual concert at
Exeter-hall. The programme, which was tolerably
long, included some thirty or forty performances,
and presented sufficient variety to satisfy the tastes
of the most mixed and unmusical audience. Among
the professional names engaged upon this occasion
were those of Mlle. Rita Favanti, Mme. Anna
Thillon, Mrs. Sims Reeves, Mme. Weiss, Miss
Featherstone, Mme. Rudersdorff, Mr. Sims Reeves,
Mr. Weiss, Mr. Augustus Braham, &c. The orchestra,
selected from those of the Philharmonic Society
and Royal Italian Opera, was conducted by Mr.
Viotti Collins. It would be impossible in our limited
space to record the several performances which took
place in a concert of such a length, but we may
observe that the opening overture to Massaniello
was performed by the orchestra with brilliancy and
effect, and that the grand sestet was also
highly successful and warmly applauded. Mr. and
Mme. Weiss elicited much applause by their singing
in the duet, "My Sufferings and Sorrows," and were
equally successful in their respective soli, "The Village
Blacksmith" (words by Longfellow), and Moore's
Irish melody of" The Minstrel Boy." Miss Poole gave
the ballad, " By the sad Sea Waves," with her usual
charming expression ; and when we say that Mme.
Rudersdorff sang " Quand je quittai la Normandie,"
from the opera of Robert le Diable, and Mme. Anna
Thillon "All lonely now my Flocks I tend," it is
almost needless to add that both these ladies ac-
quitted themselves to perfection. Miss Featherstone
sang a new song, " Olivette," composed by Howard
Paul, with some feeling, though with very uncertain
execution. Mme. Anna Thillon as usual, sang a
Swiss melody and "Minnie," a ballad, with the most
exquisite feeling and taste, but " Say Yes,
Pussy," did not so well suit her style. Sims Reeves
in " Oh, 'tis a Glorious Sight to See," from Obe-
ron, and in the duet "Ah Morir," with Mrs.
Sims Reeves, achieved a great success. The
duet, one of the most exquisite and pathetic
songs, full of feeling, and touching plaintive-
ness, was wholly unsuited to the audience, who ap-
peared, t 3 judge from their applause, to prefer noise to
melody. Mlle. Favanti, in " Non piu mesta," and
" Ah giei soffre," was warmly applauded, but she
retains all her old faults of style, without any im-
provements whatever. Bishop's song "Lo, here the
gentle lark " was sung by Mrs. Drayton with too
much force, andi Mr. Braham in the " Bay of
Biscay" was far too merely mechanical in his per.
formance. The third and last part of the concert
opened with a grand Marche Heroique, composed
by Adolphe Gollmick, which was followed by several
songs and ballads, the concert concluding with
Weber's overture, " The ruler of the Spirits." In
the first part of the concert Mr. G. Case performed
a solo on the violin, and in the second a concertina
fantasia from Lee Huguenots, both of which per-
formances were very well received by the audience.
The hall was not very fully attended, but the audi
enca certainly appeared to enjoy the voluminous
programme which Mr. Case had provided.
HARMONIC UNION.—HANOVER-SQUARE ROORS.—.
The concert next Wednesday will include Men-
delssohn's Walpurgis Night ; Molique's violoncello
concerto, which is to be played by Piatti ; and Men-
delssohn's music to A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Miss Stabbach and Herr Reichardt are amongst the
vocalists engaged. Molique's concerto is an attrac-
tion of great power, and on this occasion will be
conducted by the composer.

SIR HENRY BISHOP'S CONCERTS.—EXETER-HAI.L.--
The second and last concert of selections from the
works of Sir Henry Bishop will take place at Exeter-hall
on Monday evening next, upon which occasion Miss
Birch, Miss Heywood (her first appearance), and
Mr. Sims Reeves will appear, in addition to the
usual engagements and the chorus of two hundred.
"Be mine, dear maid," and "My pretty Jane," will
be sung by Mr. Sims Reeves; while "Tell me my
heart," and " Sons of Freedom," will be severally
sung by Miss Birch and Miss Heywood. The pro-
gramme also offers a most attractive selection, com-
bining many novelties will the usual established
favorite glees and solos ; so that Mr. Mitchell may
fairly anticipate a crowded audience. The Afternoon
Concerts, we are happy to state, will be resumed on
Saturday next, the 21st inst., at the Hanover-square
Rooms.

THE TURKISH

-This attractive exhi-

bition has been visited during the past week by a
great number of holiday folks. The wax figures,
perfect as works of art, are certainly superior to any-
thing of the sort, not even excepting Mme. Tussaud's,
yet exhibited in this country. The most complete
acquaintance with the manners and customs of the
Turks may be made in a few boars' study of the
contents of this admirable museum, and the
faithful representation which it gives of Turkish life

361

tends to fix indelibly upon the mind all that we have
read of this singular nation. After a second and
third visit we can cordially recommend this insti 'ac-
tive exhibition to all who desire to combine some
little profit with a good deal of pleasure.

zlie puma.

Planche's Spring Meeting, though
without much plot, is exceedingly well written, and
full of good jokes and better puns. The subject in
the main is the great reform movement of the age,
as applied particularly to the good city of London.
The extravaganza commences with a view of the
Guildhall, in which London (Mrs. Caroline White)
is seen fast asleep, and aroused by Time (Mr.
Chippendale), who, after rating her for her indo-
lence, and recommending her to correct the error of
her ways, after some little altercation, departs.
London, in disgust, appeals in vain to her old friends
Gog anu Magog to assist her, but at last the Lord
Mayor's Fool (Buckstone) makes his appearance
and cracks so many good jokes upon the civic body
that he half convinces London of some little re-
form being necessary. He shows her the Lord
Mayor's Procession in a fog, and in a fine day,
suggesting, en route, that for the future it should
take place on the Ist of April in preference to the
9th of November; and then he appeals to the kindly
influence of My Lord Moon, who advises London
to take a page out of the book of her progressing
sister Westminster. As Westminster (Miss Gor-
don) shortly after calls, she is admitted to an
interview with her sister London, and induces her
after much persuasion to come out beyond Temple-
bar, and observe the improvements of the West.
Belgravia and Tyburnia, the adopted daughters
of Westminster, are also introduced, and the
whole party start upon a tour of inspection.
The various places of amusement are visited, anti
their attractions duly sung by their representatives,
but the Eagle Saloon certainly carried off the palm,
and obtained an undeniable encore. After this the
Spring Meeting is attended, and when the theatrical
favorites have been trotted out for inspection, the
Yellow Dwarf, Janet Pride, Perea bir:•na, &c., and
their points duly descanted on, they take a gallop,
dance a hornpipe, and the curtain falls upon a bril-
liant representation of the Grand Stand, in which
Buckstone appears to be backing his favorite to an
enormous amount to win the race. The piece is so
very slight that it would scarcely have proved a decided
success had it not been for the admirable manner in
which Mrs. Caroline White, Miss Harriet Gordon,
and Mr. Buckstone performed their respective parts.
Mrs. White's personation was graceful and effective,
while Miss Gordon was equally felicitous in her
representation of the younger and more adventurous
sister. The scenery, by Messrs. Calcott, Morris, and
O'Connor, is designed and executed with great taste
and skill, and the dresses and other accessories are
rich, picturesque, and effective. The curtain fell
amid the unanimous plaudits of the house, and Mr.
Buckstone, who appeared much flattered by the
reception of his favorite, announced that it would
start every evening during the season.
Perecess's.—The Easter piece at this theatre ie
an adaptation from the Mule tier de Tolide, which
was brought out at Christmas at the Thkitre
Lyrique. With a threadbare plot, very obvious in-
trigues, and a dialogue as dull as a dull dialogue
without one good joke in it can be, the interest of
the piece is centred solely in the delicate and grace-
ful acting of Miss Leclercq, who with infinite vivacity
and liveliness sustained her character under its
various disguises. The story, soon told, is that of a
Queen of Murcia (in the days when Spain, like Ger-
many at present, was split up into petty kinglets)
being engaged to a brother of the King of Castile,
and hearing that her intended is about to travel
to the Court in disguise as a Muleteer in order first
to assure himself of his bride's character, she
assumes the garb of a peasant girl, and meets her
lover at a posada on the road. A variety of romuatie
adventures, of course, ensue, and with some little
interruptions the Muleteer turns out to be, not the
King of Castile's brother, but the King of Castile
himself, and the curtain falls upon their merrier.
The villain of the piece—for any piece at the Prin-
cess's would never be complete without a villain of
the deepest dye—is a cousin of the Queen, who is
perpetually plotting and counterplotting to get pos-
session of her Majesty's person, and force her to a
marriage ; but, of course, he is always defeated by the
unexpected appearance of the Muleteer, and finally
utterly confounded by the matrimonial catastrophe
which destroys his hopes for ever. The character of
the Muleteer was supported by Mr. Walter Lacy with
great energy and spirit, while Mr. Harley, in sky-
blue tights and flesh-coloured
.silk stockings, plays
the part of a pompous and servile old courtier better
than any one we ever saw, who had not one good
joke or point to make in the whole play. At the
fall of the curtain the applause was very per, and