The Press.
London, England, 1856-06-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

opera, supported by Mis Rosina Wright, Mlle. Marie,
and Mlle. Agnes. As this is the first time such an
experiment has been tried in this locality, the novelty
will contribute ess ntially to the success which the
speculation deserves.

Rlusit.

HER MAJF.STY'S THEATRE.

Ix Mme. Albertini, for the genera repertoire, a
prima donna has been secured who is likely to prove
more useful than Piccolomini. The career of the
latter, it is to be feared, will begin and end for the
present in La Traviata ; and it would be prudent to
reserve her, as such dramatic instincts as she has
exhibited may be turned to the best account if ac-
companied with vocal capabilities. Mme. Albertini,
with many faults, is at all events a singer. Her
mezzo soprano voice, when not strained, is sym-
pathetic. She clvi sing her scales—she phrases well,
and her shake is neat and finished. Albertini's mis•
fortune has been to sing recently in a very large and
new theatre at Florence, where she had to scream
through the Verdi operas. She is an Englishwoman
by birth (Miss Aitcheson), and for four or five years
in Italy was deservedly popular. Her vocal declama-
tion requires much amendment. She may thereon
take a lesson from Piccolomini, whose enunciation is
most exquisite. In Leonora, in the charming work
the Trovatore, Mine. Albertini had the disadvantage
or having had Mine. Ney as a standard. Baucarde,
without reference for a moment to Tamberlik, was
not adapted for illanrico. In the adagios the
French tenor displays sweetness, but in the stirring
cabalettas his organ shows that it has been worn by
over-exertion. The drawling delivery of Benevantano
in the popular air " II balen " was evidence of a
fatigued voice. Alboni's Azucena was sung most
charmingly, without effort, without Forcing. She
could no more look the withered hag than L iblache
could the starved apothecary in Romeo and Juliet.
The ballet has been strengthened by the welcome
return of Marie Tagil ad, so long the star of
Borliti, where she has gained experience and im-
provement.
the next debut of note gill be Johanna Wagner,
as Romeo, in the Capuletti, on Saturday the 14th.
Great curiosity is expressed to witness this fine actress.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.
DONIZETTI'S Favorita is one of his finest works, and
has become one of the permanent operas in the reper-
toire of continental lyric establishments. In London it
has met with a chequered career, both at Her
Majesty's Theatre and at the R ,yal Italian Opera,
although produced at the last-mentioned establish-
ment with unparalleled effect, Costa not only having
taken especial pains with the score generally, but
having arranged the denouement with the singing of
the " Miserere " by the Monks a., the curtain slowly
descends on the dead body of Leonora. The repul-
siveness of the libretto has had much to do with lie
unpopularity of the Favorita, and it reflects credit on
public taste in this country tha' operas and dramas,
however great may be their intrinsic merits, find so
little favour if objectionable on moral grounds. For
the past three or four years, however, such have been
the singing awl acting of Grisi and Mario in the last
act of La Favorita that the opera draws crowds.
Even in Luerezia Borgia these two great artists are
not seen to In aiter adva stage. Grisi bears down all
physical defects in her singing of executive passages
of difficulty. Whether her scales be roughly or
smoothly handled,there she is for the catastrophe with
all the passionate intensity of her dramatic genius,
and all the vigour of her vocal powers. And the
exquisite charm of the mellifluous tones of Mario in
this work is beyond all description. He has been
the last fortnight in his best voice—what that is
everybody knows full well. To hear Graziani with
his fine and sympathetic baritone sing the "A Canto
amore," always reilemanded, almost reconciles the
auditory to his awkwardness and coldness as an actor.
Zelger's Monk is a study—broad and large as are his
physical proportions ; and the music of the part
having been written by Donizetti for a French basso,
is adapted to his style. The management of Ole
ensemble by the conductor throughout the opera,
especially in the soul-stirring finale, is one of those
triumphs the monopoly of which rests solely with
Costa. Even within the limited Lyceum area the
delicacy of the orchestral accompaniments was most
captivating to the ear. Her Majesty, Prince Albert,
and the royal visitors were present on Monday night.
The "realist " Cerito, as she was called in the days
when the ballet was supreme, is dancing with her
usual graceful impulsiveness this season. Now
Carlotta Grisi has retired Cerito ranks the first of
her class, but whether that class be the first, the ad-
mirers of the Taglioni and Fanny Elssler dispute.