The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-23 00:00:00

The Sea of elsov.
Do.

glitsir.

Wyld.
Stanford.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.—The extra nights appear
to compriselall the variety (and it is little enough)
which the management of this establishment think
fit to offer to the public and its subscribers. The
long Thursdays and extra Mondays absorb Grisi's
finest impersonations and Mario's sweetest notes,
while the subscription nights are given up to constant
repetitions of the Trovatore, or the hackneyed opera
of Ernani. This is not fair to the subscribers, and
if it is as we suspect, the result of want of compe-
tition, the sooner the rival house is started once
more, the better for the interests of all. This week,
for instance, which will do as a fair sample of any
other, an extra night was given on Monday, when
the Huguenots was performed; on Tuesday, the
subscription night, brought up the Trovatore; on
Thursday, an extra night, Norma and the Barber of
Seville; and Saturday, a subscription night, the
Trovatore once more. " Tolijoursperdriz" becomes
tiresome, and even the uniformity of excellence fails
to sustain the interest it first created. The sub-
scribers have scarcely had a single novelty or change—
nothing but this perpetual Trovatore from one week
to the other, or something worse ; and as for the new
ballet which is promised to-night, it is nothing but
the revival of an old one which every one must re-
member some seven years ago. Meyerbeer's L'Etoi!e
du Nord will, we hope, be an acceptable novelty, but
at present the programme of the directors does not
appear at all probable to be carried out.

DRURY LANE.—The crowded houses which nightly
fill the old house attest, as we hoped and anticipated,
the complete success which has attended this com-
mendable attempt of the lessee to establish a cheap
opera in London. Norma, Lucretia Borgia, the
Barbitre, and Sonnambula, have all been given to
crowded houses, and if the Huguenots could only be
brought out with a sufficiently strong company and
sufficiently powerful orchestra, we will venture to
predict such a run for this masterpiece, as even the
maestro himself (now in London) could scarcely
hope for. It is a matter of the most sincere regret
that the engagement of Mme. Gassier is upon the
point of termination.

THE CONCERT Or THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC,
on Tuesday afternoon, was devoted to the perform-
ance of an entire opera—the Azor and Zemira of
Spohr, a work of great beauty, and a few years ago
of no mean popularity at Covent-garden Theatre,
where it was brought out in an expensive scenic
form, and with a very strong cast. The principal
soprano music devolved upon Miss Whyte and Miss
Spiller, the two leading ladies of the establishment,
and of undeniable promise. The part of Azor was
sang by Mr. Peed, who, though not an extraordinarily
good tenor, was welcome, because of the scarcity of
such voices in this academic quarter. The trio,
"Night's lingering shades," a singularly-fascinating
morceau, and frequently sung in our concert-rooms,
was given very nicely by the three vocalists to whom
it was confided; and the scarcely less popular song,
" Rose softly blooming," was also prettily sung by
Miss Whyte, and encored. The opera, as a whole,
was rendered with more effect than might have been
expected. The music, like all that has emanated
from the pen of Spohr, presents much inherent diffi-
culty, and the diligence of the pupils in acquiring it
deserves commendation.

THE SIXTH MATINEE MUSICALE, under the direc-
tion of Mr. Ella, took place on Tuesday morning at
Willis's Rooms before a very crowded and fashion-
able audience. The programme was lung and varied,
for, contrary to his usual custom, Mr. Ella introduced
some vocal music, a novelty that has hitherto not
been heard at these essentially classical reunions.
The selection of chamber music consisted, as usual,
of some of the chefs d'oeuvre of the great composers,
and the performance of them was as excellent and
perfect as it ever is at the hands of such distin-
guished performers, both vocal and instrumental.
Herr Ernst, Signor Piatti, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Hill,
Signor Bottesini, and Herr Halle, were the instru•
mentalists, and Herr Reichardt the vocalist. Haydn's
quartet in D, No. 09, Hummel's quintet in A fiat
minor, op. 92, the Kreutzer sonata, op. 47, and
Spohr's trio in E minor, op. 45, were the pieces de
resistance of the morning, the lighter features of
which were two solos composed and performed by
Signors Piatti and Bottesini, and two very beautiful
songs, one by Restrelli, of Dresden, and another by
Mendelssohn, sung by Reichardt. Any praise of the
performances with such performers would be super-
fluous. The breathless attention of the audience,
and their intense interest sustained to the last
moment, were sufficient proofs of the high and un-
rivalled execution of these distinguished musicians.

SATURDAY,

These mutinies musicales are undoubtedly the most
select and choice concerts of the season.

Mn. HULLAH'S CONCERTS.—Mr. Hullah's eighth
and last concert this season took place on Wednesday
night, at St. Martin's hall. He relied on this occa-
sion chiefly upon his choral resources, for there was
no instrumental band, nor any principal vocalists of
celebrity. The concert was, nevertheless, highly
interesting, and appeared to give perfect satisfaction
to a very numerous audience. The sacred music in
the first part of the concert consisted of selections
from Sebastian Bach, Mozart, Marcello, Himmel, and
Mendelssohn, while Travers, Bennett, and more
modern composers supplied in the second part the
motets and madrigals, which were warmly applauded.
A motet, by Croce, "Thou art beautiful," Mende's.
sohn's part song, "The nightingale is gone away,"
and a new and pretty serenade, " Lady! wake," from
the pen of Mrs. Mounsey Bartholomew, were
admirably rendered by the choir, and unanimously
encored. The same compliment was also paid, and
in a most enthusiastic manner, to Miss Palmer's
spirited delivery of " Partant pour la Syrie." We
trust that the great success which has attended this
series of concerts wiil induce Mr. Hullah to con-
tinue his excellent system, which is to provide music
of the best kind at the lowest possible prices.

FESTIVAL OF THE "THREE CHOlRS."—Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the 21st, 22nd,
23rd, and 24th August, are fixed for the holding of
the next meeting of the three choirs of Worcester,
Hereford, and Gloucester. The conveniences for
travelling will no doubt cause a great addition to the
audiences, and ample arrangements have been made
by the indefatigable conductor of the festival, Mr.
Townshend Smith. The professional engagements
for the festival in the vocal department are Clara
Novello, Mrs. Weiss, Miss Moss, Miss Dolby, Mine.
Grist, Signor Mario, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Montem
Smith, Mr. H. Barnby, and Mr. Weiss. The cele-
brated pianist, Arthur Napoleon, is also engaged.
The band and chorus are to be on a larger scale, and
altogether the musical arrangements are to he on a
more extended plan than usual. The stewards of
the festival are the Right Hon. and Rev. Lord Says
and Sele ; Sir J. H. Brydges, Bart.; J. H. Ark-
wright, Esq., Hampton Court; Mr. Booker, M.P.;
J. Chadwick, Esq., Putidlestone Court; Keville
Davies, Esq., Croft Castle; Rev. W. P. Hopton,
Bishop's Froome ; and H. Stratford Stratford, Esq.

1t drama.
ADELPHI.

IF the English drama has been suffering of late
years from incipient decline, it is now, it must be
allowed, in the hands of at least one physician of un-
doubted talent, great industry, and possessing, more-
over, a most unwearied pen—Mr. Tom Taylor—who
at the Adelphi this week has achieved another suc-
cess in his original drama of Helping Hands. We say
another success, for it was only the other day that we
had to chronicle his triumph at the Olympic in Still
Waters Run Deep. Helping Hands is a simple tale
of every-day life, without much plot, but lull of
genuine pathos and sentiment. The story, which is
in two acts, rests for interest upon a violin—a novel
instrument it must be admitted in dramatic history—
and turns fur incident upon a crisis of croup. This
real Straduarius belongs to a German musician once
prosperous, but now reduced to poverty from loss of
sight and consequent loss of employment. An only
daughter who supports him by copying music fails at
last to obtain suthcient to pay the rent, and that
usual victim of dramatic authors, a hard-hearted
landlady, refusing to wait any longer, calls in a
broker to sell up the property of her wretched tenants.
In the absence of both, their goods are sold, the rent
paid, and father and daughter come home to find
themselves penniless and ruined. The second act brings
the poor blind musician, now utterly broken-hearted,
from the loss of his Straduarius, to the house of a
lordly amateur who has just purchased of the Jew-
broker, at an enormous price, this far-famed violin
of the musician. The old German recognises the
notes of the child of his affections, and claims it
from the lord, who refusing to give it up, brings
about a disagreeable contretemps, which is however
rapidly cleared up by one of those happy accidents
which novelists and authors who wield such terrible
powers as life and death, have always at hand. 'The
lord's son and heir has a sudden attack of croup; a
young doctor who loves the musician's daughter is
called in ;he effects a cure. The lord, in his
unbounded generosity, offers him anything as a
reward; the doctor is modest, asks only for the
Straduarius, restores it on the spot to its loving
owner, and claims his daughter in return. Her love
is acknowledged, a blessing is given, everybody is
made happy, and the curtain falls. In such a very
simple story there is less incident and action than
sentiment; but, even there, beyond the intense love
of the old musician for his violin, there is little dis-
play of that melodramatic emotion for which Mate.
Celeste, who acted the part of the daughter, is so
celebrated, and the Adelphi audience usually so

- V'

JUNE 23, 1855.

expectant ; and were it not for the two comic eha-
meters of the piece—Matilda, a sympathising maid-
of-all-work, and Rufus, a reformed " prig " trans-
formed into a ragged school shoe-black—the sorrows
of the old man and the domestic grief of bis daughter
would become monotonous. Into those two charac-
ters, however, the author has thrown all his power :
they are genuine bits of low life, that prove a know-
ledge of character, and a talent for observation not
to be surpassed. Never were two characters more
perfectly portrayed on the one hand, or more
admirably acted on the other. The low lodging-
house girl of Mrs. Keeley is a perfect study :
her dress, her attitudes, her blubbering grief,
and her genuine "jolly " joy—for no other
will
words half express it—are such incom-
parable bits of true character and disposition,
and evince such a perfect study and comprehen-
sion of the part, as no other actress in the present
day could equal. Certainly, in her delineation of
that low-life rough vulgarity which masks the
genuine good heart within, Mrs. Keeley is superla-
tively good, and not the least among her best cha-
racters is this of Matilda. Of Keeley it is needless
to say much. In a red frock and short checks he
looks like a prize strawberry upon a double stein, and
the capital flavour of his acting fully attests his
value. However, the piece is scarcely adapted to the
Adelphi audience. The dialogue, always excellent,
is sprinkled here and there with some good jokes ;
but they are too refined for the melodramatic fre.
quenters of the Adelphi pit and gallery. There is
not enough action in the piece, the audience
could not appreciate in the old musician that in-
tense love for his instrument, the solace of his poor
blind life; and though Mr. Webster acted the part
most carefully, yet in the long rhapsodies which he
had to utter, he could scarcely sustain the interest
of his hearers, who evidently thought, with the un-
musical Rufus, that " one fiddle was quite as good as
another." Mr Leigh Murray acted the part of the
loose " scion of nobility " with the inimitable tact
which he always evinces in such characters, and Mr.
Selby made an amusing, though not too Jewish a
London Jew. At the fall of the curtain the applause
was very loud, and the announcement of the repeti-
tion of the play greeted with great warmth.