The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-20 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

titre in the metropolis ; and the cab charge from each
of these to any one out of nearly 5(10 sites scattered over
and round the expanse of London is tabulated in a
form available for the readiest, or unreadiest, com
prehension. We must remark, however, that a title-
page should keep its promises, not only to the ear,
but the hope ; and that this is not accom-
plished when, to complete the "twenty-five thou-
sand fares " specified by the compiler, we are
obliged to make every entry do double ditty.
Thus, the sixpence set down as the charge for the
length of the Strand must be reckoned as two "fares,"
V 7. . from Temple-bar to Charing-cross, and from
Charing-cross to Temple-bar.

G. Ilnutleklize.
11. Atltuus.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
Clan Alban. Tdra..lotandlnu..
Atkinvis Parlianu•Ntary Handbook.
Church of Scotland Illaya:thee. Four Partx.
Arthur ITall, Virtue, and Co.
T. latehard.
Duff and I Ithhoon.
Addison and Miller.

Cau of the Rem Pierce t 'tawny.
I'll tare the, row. Ifnabul by F. Cleaver.
Oh ! telt me rot that other lips.

11,1%154.

LYCEUM THEATRE.

ON Wednesday evening this theatre, at present
closed for its ordinary season, was opened for the first
of a series of three operatic performances under the
direction of Mr. Allcroft. Mr. and Mrs. Sims Reeves
were announced as the principal attraction, supported
by Mr. Weiss, Mr. Corti, Mr. Manvers, and Miss
Julia I I arland. The performance consisted of Anber's
ever fresh and sparkling Era Diavolo, followed by
The Refigar's Opera. Mr. Sims Reeves acted the
famous brigand with great dash and spirit, and sang
with energy, though his voice appeared somewhat
fatigued. His serenade, "Fair Agnes," in the se-
cond act, met with a rapturous encore. But we
would suggest to him that the song is intended as a
signal to the robber's comrades without, and should,
therefore, be sung as from the window, and not
softly warbled over the footlights. We must also
enter our protest against his costume, which might
be admissible as a " costume de fantaisie" of a
French horserider; but orange-coloured tight panta-
loons, Hessian boots with gold tassels, and a black
velvet coat laced and frogged with gold, we think
were rarely, if ever, worn by Italian gentlemen in the
days of Fra I)iavolo. Mr. Weiss's fine voice told
with great effect in the concerted music ; but his
performance of the foppish English nobleman was a
piece of sheer loutish bufii)onery ; and his crimson
frock-coat and green velvet jelly-bag cap were won-
drous to behold.

Mr. Corsi deserves a word of praise for his Reppo,
which was grotesque and humorous, without the
gross exaggeration and caricature in which the actors
of this part are but too apt to indulge. Mrs. Sims
Reeves sang her music v%ith great correctness and
finish, but her acting wanted animation and feeling.
Mr. George Tedder has a good person and a very
agreeable voice, but be appears to be quite new to
the stage, and has much to learn and some little to
unlearn before he can undertake -such a part as Mac-
heath with justiee either to himself or his audience.
We were pleased to observe a great improvement in
Miss Atha Harland : her intonation is much more
correct, though she has yet to conquer a painful ten-
dency to singing too sharp. The band acquitted
themselves well, though the time of the principal
pieces of Fr►c Diana() appea►ed to us to be taken
much too slow, and The Beggar's Opera was per-
formed with only about half a dozen instruments,
the rest of the orchestra, for some unexplained reason,
never reappearing from the black vault under the
stage into which they plunged at the end of the fi►`t
piece. The house was crowded.