The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

THE PRE S S, SEPTEMBER 26,1857.

The Royal Italian Opera cast included Mme . Castel-
lan, Mme. Viardot, Mine. Alboni, Mario, Marini,
Tainburini, &c. The only artists in the Lyceum
adaptation who were up to the mark were Weiss's
Marcel, better sung than acted, St. Albyn's Huguenot
Soldier, and Wallworth's " Leader of the Night
Watch." Miss Marian Prescott's Queen, Mme.
Corelli's•Page, Augustus Braham's Raoul, and Hama
-
ton Braham's St. Brig, defy description. Mine.
Caradori, with a powerful organ, is a most freezing
actress. and her execution is rough and unfinished.
Mr. Ferdinand Glover, who made his debut in
Nevers, has a continental accent; he is, we believe,
a native of Ireland, and has a baritone voice, which
may be turned to good account, but his cadenza in
the solo, when Nevers arrives to conduct his bride
to her home, was out of all character with Meyer-
beer's peculiar forms. " Its ne chantent plus,"
sing the three Protestants in the cloisters with
despair. in that marvellous finale, Marcel's declara-
tion of faith. Alas ! if the principals had never
sung at all, Meyerbeer's soli would at least have
been saved from desecration. All honour to the
chorus and band for saving the opera from utter
annihilation.

THE NORWICH FESTIVAL.
(From our own Correspondent.)
[Concluded from ottr last.]

THE programmes of the three evening concerts on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were concocted
on the ordinary principles of such entertainments,
the specialities of each leading singer being consulted
infinitely more than the consideration how to form a
connected whole—a scheme fairly balanced to display
variety in the schools of music. As regards native
composers, Mr. Howard Glover's Tam o' Shanter on
Tuesday, and gleanings from Mr. Pierson's Faust
on Thursday, were the essential features, with madri-
gals by Pearsall, and ballads by Frank Mori, Balfe,
Desanges, Weiss, Miss Macirone, Pierson, Shield,
&c. &c. Mr. Glover's cantata was executed in a
superior manner to previous performances thereof,
and the work gained by the amelioration. The
quaintness of the conception of setting such a poem
is undeniable, and it indicates a self-reliance which
may be turned to good account. Its principal feature
is a consistency in form more perhaps than originality
of idea; but it is no ordinary faculty to be endowed
with the former accomplishment, the possession of
which, in fact, may lead to more matured composi-
tions. The cantata made a decidedly good impres-
sion on the auditory. The tenor solos were right
well sung by Mr. Miranda, the promising pupil of
the composer—so well, indeed, that his future will
be watched with touch interest. If Mr. Pierson's
treatment of the second part of Goethe's " Faust" be
music, then is "chaos come again." Anything more
ugly, uncouth, and dreary is only to be found in his
Jerusalem. Mr. Pierson seems to aim at the unin-
telligible in his setting of the wild mysticism of
Goethe's second portion of " Faust." The adapta-
tion to the stage of Hamburg, in 1854, of this jargon
was the incentive to Mr. Pierson to compose
music equally as senseless. A crowded audience,
according to the programme, attended the poem
and music at Hamburg. The effect was here
ponderous and somniferous. It was a mistake
altogether. Mr. Pierson is no doubt sincere
in his convictions, and he appears to be undismayed
by failure; but the festival committee, from town
clanship, were not justified in making a second
experiment. Can the judgment of Mr. Pierson be
relied upon for a moment, when it is found that he
composes music to Moore's " Evening Melodies,"
already set to a Russian melody, which is of world-
wide popularity, and has perhaps brought more tears
into the eyes of the exile and wanderer than any
other ballad? Miss Macirone's song, "The Recall,"
for originality and grace must be quoted as the best
specimen of native composition at the festival. It
was well sung by Mme. Novello, who distinguished
herself throughout the meeting, by not only singing
the pieces allotted to her, but came to the rescue of
a German prima donna who broke down, and of a
new Italian prima donna assoluta who could not
read at sight. Curiously enough, Mozart was the
composer in both instances. The mention of this
fact milst be accompanied with the strange spectacle
of the engagement of a singer of whose antecedents
everybody was in ignorance, and who was announced.
to take the soprano parts in The Seasons and The
Messiah, besides the due proportion in the miscel-
laneous selections. The first hitch was in the
" Sola, sole," from Don Giovanni, in which Mlle.
Leonhardi was to have sung the Donna Anna part.