The Press.
London, England, 1854-09-23 00:00:00

THI PRESS.

usit.

Ar LIVERPOOL there has been this week a regular
musical festival, in honour of the opening of St.
George's-hall. The singers were festival singers,
the pieces festival pieces, and the prices festival
prices ; thu consequence of which was that the
huge hall was lamentably empty. The closing day,
Wednesday, was made a people's day, the prices be-
ing lowered from fourteen shillings to halt' a crown.
Unfortunately, the great singers, Clara Novello,
Castellan, Formes, Sims Reeves, Gardoni, and Bel-
letti had already taken flight, so that the people,
after all, got little more than their half .crown's
worth for their money. Viardot Garcia, be it re-
membered to her honour, remained behind, though
not bound by her engagement, and sung gratuitously.
The " people's concert" was not a bad thing as a
speculation. It realised 3501.; while the two other
evenings, at the high price, realised no more than
3151. and 3851., and the expenses were about one-
third. There will remain a surplus of some four or
five hundred pounds to hand over to the hospitals.
The inauguration closed on Wednesday evening
with a grand dinner, given by the Mayor in the
Town-hall.

THE engagement of the Italians at the Theatre
Royal, Dublin, terminated on Tuesday night. The
opera of Ota/o was to have been performed, but
Mlle. Cruvelli, most unfortunately, was unable from
severe illness to appear; the manager, tnerefore,
was obliged to substitute one act of IL Barbiere di
Siviglia, and the opera of Ernani, iu which Mlle.
Albini took the part of Elvira at a very short notice,
and sustained it crediably. Signor Tamberlik also
appeared. The audience bore the disappointment
with good taste and consideration. The change in
the performance was communicated to the public by
placards, and personally by the different persons
deputed to admit them to the theatre, and the ill
ness of Mlle. Cruvelli was vouched for by the cer-
tificate of Drs. Forrest and Macnamara. The house
was crowded, and the performances passed off with
eclat. Mr. Beale's admirable company opened at
Cork on Thursday, but Mdlle. Cruvelli did not
appear until Friday.
THE DEBUT OF MARIO AND GRISI IN NEW YORK
was already secure from the known enthusiasm of
the Americans in favour of musical stars and specu-
lation—two things always connected in the mind of a
genuine Yankee. The New York correspondent of a
London paper writes thus on the subject :—" In spite
of hard times, falling railway secprities, the debut of
Mario and Grist has been successful, both in the
numbers attracted to the house and the reception of
the artistes. The place which Mr. Hackett was
obliged to select for their first appearance, Castle-
garden, although in some respects unequalled, sur-
rounded as it is by water, with promenades from the
galleries opening out on the bay, is too far down town
fc,r the convenience of a New York audience. No-
body confesses now to living below Washington-place,
at least two miles above Castle-garden ; and most of
the fashionables live between there and two miles
further on. It is true that the fashionables of 1854
have not quite as much money to spend as the
fashionables of 1653 had, but times must be vary
hard indeed to keep a New Yorker, as well as a
Parisian, away from a place of amusement so rea-
sonably within his reach. Notwithstanding the
remoteness of Castle-garden it was crowded on
Monday to excess, and the reception of the great
artistes must have been extremely gratifying to them.
This is particularly pleasing to the more sober Ame•
ricans, as Mr. Hackett's management has been of
the old, gentlemanly kind, without the claptreps of
Barnum, and G. V. Brooke's claqueurs. The opera
selected for the first appearance was Lucrezia, which
is to be repeated through the week, and succeeded
by Norma next week. The orchestra is highly praised.
New York is now so full of foreigners, and the de-
mand for good music in the salons is so great, that
there is not much difficulty in establishing the opera
on a metropolitan scale. In addition to the many
and excellent theatres, we are to have this winter two
Italian opera troupes, with full orchestflig put 9119-
ruses."
Nyo4 )I!Ls WWI 1413 Previsignt taste for innsiP
Lo ti)to hest accognt, he monster popeert ql fresco
it; the Thiefgarten hronght in least 16,000
affaer4 l thp funds ior tte relief of the sufferers
in gilesia. The Pripoe o. frosia bee enbeeribed
1,000, various privateindividNl4 have subscribed 500
and 1,000, and oneFiro and 4ssurance-office has
made a donation of 10,000 thalers. The p”rovince of
.
Silesia, however, contains 3,000,000 ofinhabitants,
and, though all are not ruined, there are not many
who are not materially damaged by the floods.
CONTINENTAL THEATRES sometimes present strange
scenes. The following is an account from an
Antwerp paper of a scene in that city :—" The opera
Les Noces de Jeannette was given at our theatre two
nights ago, and Mme. Carman had just sung her
grand air with great ability; and was much ag-

SATURDAY,

plauded. Still some marks of disapprobation were
heard, when, all of a sudden, two bands were seen to
be thrust forward front behind the side-scenes, ar.
plauding loudly, as if in defiance of the public.
Some of the audience soon recognised that the
hands belonged to M. Carman, and cries of Away
away!' arose. M. Carman did not seem to pay at-
tention to this intimation, but crying out, Alfons
done ! ' made a gesture of bravado, which called
down a shower of hisses, and the curtain fell in the
midst of the noise. Some minutes after the curtain
rose, and the manager, coming forward, addressed
the audience in these terms :--` M. Carman regreti
exceedingly that he gave way just now to a move-
ment of vivacity.' But the public was not contented
with such a submission, and cried out, ' Let him
come forward himself and say so. This is the third
occasion on which he has insulted the public.' A
great uproar then arose, and the curtain went down
a second time. When it arose again the manager
came forward, and said that M. Carman was not at
that moment in a state to appear before the audience,
but that in the last piece, Le Maitre de Chapelle, in
which he was to till the principal part, he would apo-
logise. This announcement at once restored calm,
and the piece concluded very quietly. When the
curtain drew up for the second piece, M. Carman ap-
peared ; but in place of apologising, he proceeded to
sing his part, as if nothing bad occurred. Then the
hisses and confusion became louder than ever, and
and cries of Apologise! apologise I' arose from
every part of the house. Al. Carman appearing still
inclined to resist, the manager came forward and
seemed to urge him to make the reparation which
was expected from him. At last M. Carman ad-
vanced, though with evident repugnance, to the foot-
light, and said, "ro the public who have applauded,
I have to apologise—(great noise)—to the public
who have applauded'—the noise recommenced
louder than ever, and cries were heard of, If he
does not apologise, he shall not appear on our stage
again !' The curtain again fell amidst great uproar,
and at last the manager appeared and made the fol-
lowing announcement lu presence of the obsti-
nacy of our comrade Carman, the authorities have
ordered the performance to be terminated.' The
spectators then dispersed in considerable agitation."