The Press.
London, England, 1855-08-18 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

It is possible that in the mysterious dis-
pensations of Providence Italy may yet be
reserved for another and extraordinary develop-
ment. It a burst of new ideas came upon the
Italian mind, that country might be regene-
rated. The coarse infidelity of the French
Jacobin school, or the charlatanic impostures
of Mazzinism, will never satisfy so large and
widely-cultured a nature as the Italian. The
mixture of race has contributed much to the
prolonged vitality of Italy ; and what Teutonic
blood did for the bodies of its people, Teutonic
Christianity, revelation without priestcraft, the
religion of the Cross without the superstitions
of Romanism, might yet achieve for their souls.
If Italy had a pure religion, it would be one of
the foremost countries of Europe. Niebuhr
had no faith in its regeneration; but in most
things that great scholar was of a very scep-
tical turn. We recollect his remark in his
letters that " the Italians were a dead people,"
and we can feel no surprise at the fact when
we remember what ultramontane Romanism
teaches and enforces. Cisalpiue Popery does
mischief enough to its votaries ; and it is only
by contrasting the advantages enjoyed by
Protestant over Catholic countries that we are
enabled to calculate how far Italy would
advance if its pulpits preached the spiritualis-
ing and heart-rousing creed of Paleario.
We commend this volume to the lover of
curious books, and not less strongly do we
direct the notice of religious readers to its
consideration. Its previous publication in
1.847 by the Religious Tract Society attracted
considerable attention. It is well suited for a
literary present, as the typography is very
neat, and the notes show considerable scholar-
ship.

U5tC.

THE ITALIAN OPERA.

" THE ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA," stated the opening
prospectus of 1847, " was established for the purpose
of rendering a more perfect performance of the lyric
drama than has hitherto been attained in this
country." Such was the original announcement of
the promoters of this vast undertaking, and if the
pledge had not been carried out the establishment
would have utterly failed long since. The memo-
rable seasons of 1847 and 1848 will not easily be
forgotten. Such performances as were then wit-
nessed will never be seen again, unless, indeed,
a truly musical public can be found to support the
theatre, instead of a fashionable list of subscribers,
who will attend only a spasmodic season of
three months. From 1849 to the year of grace
1855 there have been but variable mountings
of the great works. A race with time, and often
against time, has been too often the order
of the day. To draw the amateurs within the
Covent-Garden walls, the operas of the repertoire
have been too rapidly produced and changed, and
even the moet intricate works have been brought out
at the " fast express " speed. Costa's amazing com-
mand over orchestra, chorus, and principals—albeit
a great gift for him as a conductor, and of vast utility
to active directors—has been too often resorted to
and abused. A glance, however, at the forty-eight
operas now comprising the repertoire will show that
the grand principle of the universality of art has
never been entirely lost sight of. To have at hand
four such masterpieces as Meyerbeer's Robert le
Diable, Les Huguenots, Le Prophite, and L'Etoile du
Nord, ought alone to make the fortune of the
management. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Nozze di
Figaro, and Il Flauto Magic°, whenever properly
revived, will always exercise a powerful effect on the
receipts; and Mozart's musical mine has not yet
been exhausted, notwithstanding the confident
assurances of the modern Italian devotees that
Mozart will not " draw." There are some strange
fallacies afloat in the "foyer" and pit passages touch-
ing this word " draw." The capital of a well-directed
lyric theatre is mainly in its credit. Now, Spohr's
Faust and Jessonda never did "draw." Weber's
Der Freyschiitz was not a "draw." Beethoven's
Fidilio, Rossini's William Tell, Otello, Il Conte Orij,
and Mose (Zera), and Halevy's Juive, have been no
"draw," but it is monstrous to assert that such fine
operas as we have just cited are to be permanently
shelved, because they do not realise for the treasury
what a popular tenor and a decaying prima donna
will accomplish in the most hackneyed and perhaps
frivolous works. It is by variety and contrast that
the credit of a theatre must be upheld. "It is by
the effective representation of operas by the most
eminent composers, without distinction of country,"
quoting the prospectus of 1848, that the lovers of

SATURDAY,

music are to be won. The present directors have
certainly displayed moral courage in resisting the
bigoted clamour against Verdi, by producing, with a
magnificent miss en scene, this composer's Trovatore;
and as the same management was sufficiently specu-
lative to hazard the mounting el Gounod's Sappho,
and Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, and particularly
reckless in supplying the public with potage u la
Jullien by that oddest of operas Pietro it Grande,
what reason is there why a commission should not
be given to an English composer? Again, Weber's
Oberon, and Gluok's Iphigenia in Tauride, are the
unredeemed pledges of former prospectuses. Try the
public. Glory is profit. Whilst Lablaohe lives
Cimarosa's Matrimonio Sigreto ought not to be
barked. And let not the noble inspiration of Auber,
his Massaniello, be hacked to pieces to make up a
" grand combined night," in order to drag in by scraps
all the stars. And next season, as Grisi and Mario are
to renew their farewells, why not try Semiratnide,
La Donna del Lago, La Gazza Ladra, Anna Bolena,
by way of a change? The Birmingham Musical
Festival is at hand. The Royal Italian Opera
directors ought to have their eye on it. Meyerbeer
will be there as a listener. Costa's new oratorio Eli
will he heard for the first time ; and there are
amateurs and critics who were at the Hanover-square
Rooms last Monday, at the grand rehearsal of the
work, who boldly predict a triumph for the Covent
Garden musical director. Verdi's Sicilian Vespers,
from its success in Paris, will doubtless be in next
year's prospectus. There is much talk also of the
new French tenor at the Parisian Grand Opera.
Rumour is busy about new operas and new singers
at the approaching season of the Italian Opera-house
in Paris. Art can never be at a standstill, and if
very prominent singers imagine that they are indis-
pensable, they are much mistaken. Whatever may
be their "draw," a perfect ensemble in the long run
will be in the ascendant. The utopia of expecting
that a theatre can be filled night after night with
overflowing houses no sane manager will indulge in.
The true policy is to secure a well-balanced reper-
toire of all schools; but, at all events, whatever is
done, let it be well done, and not too quickly done.
The execution of the two novelties of this season—

Verdes Trovatore and Meyerbeer's Etoile du Nord—
has reflected the highest credit on the entire
management. No outlay was spared for the most
pictureAue mise en scene, and the musical portion
surpassed, perhaps, in point of precision any produc-
tion since the two first seasons, the like of which if
to be seen again will depend on the paying public.
It has been the subject of remark that the Covent
Garden audiences this year have been more than
usually cold and undemonstrative. Certainly, the
renewal of the clacque system, which was one of the
main causes of the ruin of Her Majesty's Theatre, is
not at all to be desired ; but amateurs, who frigidly
abstain from all applause, often deprive themselves
of t..e greatest enjoyment, for artists of excitable
temperament are very difficult to be roused to their
best exertions if not encouraged by the auditory.
One of the most exquisite performances of the past
season was that of Rossini's Conte (try. The pecu-
niary results of operatic campaign are declared to be
on tue right side of the hedge. The state visit of the
Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by their Im-
perial guests the Emperor and Empress of the
French, on the 19th of April, was a great impetus.
The only defaulter in the prospectus was Roueoni.
Tamburioi, without a voice, but still a consummate
artist, was the substitute. Signor Graziani, with a
voice, and that one of the most sympathetic in qua-
lity ever heard, will make his way, perhaps, with
time and study. In artistic intelligence he has
everything to acquire. The dibilt at Covent Garden
of that elegant singer Gardoni has been quite success-
ful. In the air in the last act of Meyerueer's Etoile
du Nord he made a great sensation. Mlle. Jenny
Ney has such a superb organ, and is such an
accomplished singer, that she is destined to occupy
high ground. If the subscribers were to be polled
to return the finest histrionic displays, the majority
would be, first for (irisi'a Norma and Lucrezia
Borgia ; secondly, for Viardot's Fides, iisucena, and
Desdemona ; thirdly, for Mano's last act of La
Favorita, and third act of the Huguenots; fourthly,
for the veteran Tambtuini's Don Giovanni; and,
fifthly, for Lahlach's Gritsenko in the Etoile du Nord.
For vocal displays, Mine. Bosio in the Etoile du
Nord, and Mlle. Ney in the Trovatore and leide/tio,
would command the suffrages. Tamberlik's Otelio
was also one of the sensations of the season. The
return of Formes was marked by increased evidence
that he will study on sour•krout and not on macca-
roni. Mlle. Marai has advanced her reputation this
season. The advent of Meyerbeer to superintend
the rehearsals of the Etoile du Nord was a coup de
thidtre of which Mr. (iye has reason to be proud.
The amateurs who have lived to see that their early
predictions as to this great composer have been veri-
fied must, indeed, rejoice. Prejudices and bigotry in
music, it is hoped, are fast wearing away, and
the domain of lyric art is now beginning to be
acknowledged to be boundless.

Aua. 18, 1855.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

BOOKS.

The Seven Lampe of Architecture.

John Ruskin, A.M.

Smith and Elder.
Martha, a Sketch from Life. Anthony Smith the Elder.
Hope and Co.
View of the State of Europe during the Middle Agar. Henry
Hallam, LL.D , &c. Murray.
Meteorological Easaks. Baron Alexander Von Humboldt.

Longmane.
Paper and Paper-Making, Ancient and Modern. Richard
Herring. Do.
The Island Empire: or, The Scenes of the First Exile of the
Emperor Napoleon I. Bosworth.
Outlines of Moral Philosophy. Dugald Stewart. Dublin :
Hodges and Smith.