The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-08 00:00:00

THE PORTLAND GALLERY

has this season more pictures of interest than usual,
and in landscapes may even be called rich. The
glowing sunsets over heath, mountain, and river,
painted, some under the nommes de chevalet of Percy,
Gilbert, Sac., by the brothers Williams (Nos. 41, 48,
337, 410, ST.), arrest the attention in various parts
of the rooms—all pleasing, notwithstanding a com-
parative want of forcibleness in the foregrounds. Mr.
Alfred Montague's "Antwerp" (238) is very pretty,
in a Turneresque way; and the many other pictures
of his that are here prove hint to possess an eye for
colour and a dextrous hand, though his skill is too
apt to degenerate into a showy mannerism.
"A Shady Lane" (234) has been painted by Mr.
Charles Simms with true love for its peen shadows
and sunlights, its lazy sheep, its pool and foxgloves.
More finish would, we think, have doubled the value
of this delightful little picture ; and we venture to
suggest to the artist that all trees have not the same
kind of trunks, like elephants, but rather, like rail-
way travellers, a great variety.
No. 188, a water coloured drawing, by Miss B.
Leigh Smith, shows true sympathy with nature.
The empurpled gorge and mountains recal Tennyson's
glens—

drowned in azure gloom

No. 163, by the same, is a " Ruined Church," on the
seashore, done with right feeling, but very inade-
quately finished—an objection which also applies,
though in a less degree, to the work previously no-
ticed. High finish, on the contrary, is the charac-
teristic of two other water-colour paintings hung
near to these. We mean Mr. George Boyce's
" Anstercove" (185) and " Babbacome Bay " (205).
The latter of the two is wonderful for the success
with which the expanse of loose stones in the fore-
ground and the texture of the rocks behind them
are given, the treatment being very exact, without
any flnicality. Equally good are the swarded ranges
of the cliffs. But the whole effect of the picture is
unpleasing, mainly, we think, from the blue-paper
tint of the sky and its violent contrast with the red
cliffs. No less exquisitely finished, and at the same
time perfectly satisfactory as a whole, is the smaller
painting, " Anstercove," where the split rocks,
crowned and tufted with sward, the slopes of the
green, sunny farms lifted behind them, and the
hard, pale-brown sand at their feet, where the wave-
let runs up in slender curves, with a whisper we
almost think we hear, carry to the heart a fresh and
tranquil joy.
Mr. Holland's Venetian scenes (225, 220, 227) are
gay and clever. Mr. Duffield's "Knitter" (230) has
a rich, many-coloured curtain, to which the woman
is but an accessory ; and the same curtain decorates
his " Game and Fruit" (50), which is wonderfully
imitative in parts, yet in the whole hue very unlike

nature.
Mr. Alfred Purvis has two very clever little in-
teriors of a " Breton Farmhouse" (261, 275). Miss
Mutrie deserves a word of decided praise for her true
and delicate " Flowers " (342), but it seems to us
that a more agreeable relief might have been given
by a dark background of less sooty tinge. "The
Quay, Rouen" (360), by Mr. Henshall, is truthful,
but appears to want air.
No. 20, " La Fleur's Courtship," is worthless, in
spite of the demoiselle's elaborate quilted petticoat,
but we cannot afford space for blame ; and with a
passing word of condemnation for " The Robbers'
Cave," by G. Harvey, R.S.A., a large picture painted
in emulation of Rembrandt, with tobacco-juice or
liquorice-water, pass to consider two pictures by Mr.
H.S. Marks. The first of these (310) cannot be ac-
cepted as in harmony with Shakspeare's con-
ception of the scene. Hamlet is too old and
dreary, Horatio has the meanest of countenances.
Osric extravagantly grotesque. Yet there
is decided merit in the piece. There is an endeavour
for unconventional rendering, and much careful and
fine w rk, especially in the dresses; Hamlet's black
robe, indeed, as a specimen of technical skill, is
truly admirable. Altogether, this picture ought to
have been hung on the line. " The Royalist" (282),
by the same artist, has much merit. Mr. Marks
has enjoyed the subject, and taken good hold of it.
The jolly old fellow is drinking " The King," and
equally enjoys his toast and his ale ; nor could he
ever be mistaken for a Puritan, even without the
portrait of his Sacred Majesty Charles the Second

331

which adorns the wall behind him. In the flesh
here, as well as in the Hamlet scene, we have to
notice a want of brightness in the effect; but as the
painter, we understand, is a very young man, he will
doubtless attain a greater mastery in future efforts.
Mr. Allan's " Fiery Cross " deserves a look, espe-
cially for the sobriety with which the surprise of the
reapers is expressed, without tameness.
Last we turn to the picture which has certainly
attracted more general attention than any other in
this exhibition, " Faust's Margaret Returning from
the Fountain," by Miss Anna Mary Ilowitt, the
daughter of William and Mary Howitt, and herself
not unknown in the world of letters. Margaret's
beautiful face, as she enters the porch of her lately
happy home, is wan and heavy with unutterable
grief. The sunshine lies broad upon the grass and
trees, while blueish shades are nestled in the ivy
round the pillars, and greenish shades sleep upon
the roof and floor, and the long leaves, here and
there one withered, droop motionless over the brims
of the earthen pots, and the vine leaves at the
edges of the porch show transparent against the
steady light. All these are painted with true feeling,
great care, and considerable skill; though the action
of the feat, the right hand, the purple petticoat
(inharmonious from neglect of the reflections), and
certain details of the background, prove that the
artist has much to learn. Much, doubtless, will be
learned through experience and practice by one
whose first work is, on the whole, so praiseworthy as
this ; and we are glad to learn that the present
picture was sold on the first day of its appearance in
public, and that Miss Burdett Coutts has commis-
sioned another from the same pencil.
We omitted to refer in the intended place to Mr.
Herring's three pictures (219, 220, 223), which are
of animals, painted with extreme neatness and bright
effect; but everything, horse, ducks, rabbits, turnips,
crockery, are far too clean ; the very bit of candle in
the stable-sconce is purified of its tallowiness. They
will, perhaps, be bought up by some enthusiastic
advocate of sanitary reform. Nor must we fail to
express our admiration of Mrs. Oliver's " Lancaster
Sands," which hangs close by ; with its cottage and
keel•up boat, and drying clothes, on the border of the
downs and the long long strand. Mr. G. A. Williams's
"Summer Evening" and "Winter Evening" (202,
203 ), showing the same place at the two seasons, have a
peculiar interest well sustained, and therefore claim
our last word.

NC usir.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.
Tess theatre was opened for the opera season on
Saturday last with Rossini's William Tell, the princi-
pal parts being sustained by Tamberlik, Ronconi, and
Mlle. Marai, a lady who is new to the English
boards. The opera on the whole was very well per-
formed, though the new prima donna, whose voice is
weak, and whose style has nothing particular to re-
commend it, seems unequal to the position which she
has been called upon to fulfil. We question whether
the part of Arnoldo has ever had so efficient a repre-
sentative as Signor Tamberlik. The music is exactly
suited to his voice, and the energy and feeling with
which he sang from first to last deservedly called
forth the most enthusiastic applause. The orchestra
and chorus did much to establish the claims of
this opera to be considered as its author's master-
piece. Its merits are so great that every performance
must tend to increase its popularity. On Thursday
last Verdi's feeble opera Ernani, was given, Mme .
Bosio sustaining the part of Elvira, and a new singer,
Signor Susini, that of Don Silva. Mme. Bosio
was warmly greeted, and was considered by her ad-
mirers to possess more attractions than ever, and to
be unrivalled in her own particular school of
singing. Signor Susini, though evidently labouring
under the nervousness consequent upon a first ap-
pearance, made a favourable impression. He has a
good voice and sings correctly, and if he be not
thrust into too prominent a position he will doubtless
prove a valuable addition to the company.

PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.
THE programme of the third concert, given last
Monday, was as follows :---
PART I.—Sintt) The Power of Sound," Spam—Aria, "Zan.
herfiate," Herr Formes, Moran—Conc. rto in 4, pianoforte, Mr.
Hall!, Beethoven—Hecit. Aria, " The Praise of Jehovah," Mute
Birch, Weber—t Iverinre, " Anacreon," • heruLini.
PART 11.—Sinfunia is F, No. 8, Beethoven—Duetto, " Qua
hepolero" (Agnese), Miss Birch sad lirrT Formes, Peer--Over.
Lure, " The Cahn Ses and Happy Voyage," Mentlelasubn.
Music essentially appeals to the imagination and
affects the minds of its hearers so differently that it
scarcely ever happens, as a general rule, that any
musical illustration is successful where the subject
can be presented to the senses in a more tangible
and intelligible form. Few indeed, if any, are the excep-
tions to this rule ; and Spohr's very clever symphony,
"The Power of Sound," has no pretensions whatever
to be included in the number. Viewed as an intel-
lectual work, it is barren in ideas and deficient in

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PIIIIIIMI

332

MIS

meaning, and seems to have but little reference to
Pfeiffer's ode, upon which it is founded, and of
which a very poor translation was given in the
itself
The chief defects of Spohr a writer—heaviness,
repetition, and want of chiaroscuro--are constantly
apparent; and, though every movement contains
passages of great beauty, the symphony is by no
means satisfactory as a work of art, and may be con-
veniently shelved for the next few years. What a
contrast to the immense length and ponderous
weariness of this symphony was Boethoven's No. 8,
in F, the lightest, the gayest, and not the least
fanciful of all the master's great orchestral works !
It seemed a relief to the band itself, who executed
the music with great spirit, the allegretto being,
according to custom, repeated. Mr. Halle played
Beethoven's concerto in G with power and feeling,
and moreover a quiet, artistic precision which
leaves him, in our judgment, without a rival amongst
the pianists now before the public. The absurd
length of the concert (three hours) proved fatal to
Mendelssohn's overture, which was not performed
until the room was more than half empty, and the
orchestra were probably too tired to take pains. It
was imperfectly executed, and, at the conclusion,
the trumpets were specially at fault. The vocal
portion of the concert was worse than ever ; and we
know not which most to condemn—the injudicious
selection of the music, Miss Birch's defective intona-
tion, or the bellowing of the German basso, M. Formes.

Our notice of the second concert of the New
Philharmonic Society we are compelled to postpone
until next week.

..•••••

HARMONIC UNION.
A CONCERT was given on Thursday night at Exeter-
hall by the Harmonic Union, in aid of the funds for
the support of the wives and children of the soldiers
ordered to the East, which was well attended,
though not as fully as we could have wish ed. The
music, with the exception of Mr. Sterndale Bennett's
concerto in F minor, which was well played by Miss
A. Goddard, was confined to selections from the
Preciosa, Ruins of Athens, and Walpurgis Night,
most effectively given by Miss Stabbach, Miss
Huddart, and Messrs. Belletti, Formes, and Herberte,
supported by a numerous orchestra. We cannot too
highly praise the directors for their judgment in select
ing this programme, which was admirably adapted for
contrasting the works of three great masters, Weber,
Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, and, moreover,
possessed the merit of being brought to a termina-
tion by a quarter past ten.

SOHO THEATRE.-Mr. Nicholls is less successful in
Macbeth than in any character of Shakspeare that he
has as yet performed. There is a certain intelligence
in every thing he does ; but such of his readings and
positions on the stage as are original are not happily
conceived, and sometimes even grotesque. We were
sorry to find hire, too, adopting the imbecile emen-
dation, "My May of life," instead of "My way

of life."
LYCEUM THEATRE.-Mr. Allcroft has announ
attractive series of promenade concerts for next
ek, having engaged the London orchestra, which
eludes many first-rate artists, among whom are t
arrett, Baumann, Richardson, Lazarus, Prospere,
Hardy, Thirlwall, Rowland, and the celebrated Herr
Ernst. The vocalists engaged comprise Mr. Au-
gustus Brehm, Miss Rebecca Isaacs, Miss Miller,
and Miss Tudor.
AT THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY evening
meeting, on Monday next, the following papers will
be read :-1. " Account of an Expedition to the
Sources of the Amazon," by Lieut -Colonel Lloyd,
H.B.M. Charge d'Affaires in Bolivia ; 2. " variation
of the Magnetic Needle at Aden," by Capt. S. B.
Haines, 1. Navy : 3. " Physical Geography of the
Red Sea," by Dr. (Jr. Buist, F.R.Z.S.
THE COLOONE CHORAL SoczErv.—Mr. Mitchell has
announced the re-engagement of this distinguished
choir, whose conceits were so successful at Hanover-
square Rooms last year. They are to give only eight
concerts during the present season.
REICHARDT'S CYCLORAMA, BAKER-STREET. - The
building famous for Madame Tussaud's and cattle
shows has had an addition to its attractions in M.
Reichardt's very beautiful exhibition. Commencing
at Ischel, we pass by Sulzburg, the Koning, see the
strange old town of Innsbruck, the little inn kept
by Hofer, Trent, Lausanne, and Chillon, to
Geneva. Saint Bernard, and the Monte Rosa,
the maiden mountain, whose unsealed heights wear,
as the name denotes, a virgin blush on their brow
of snow, lead to Como, and there its lake, " the
beautiful child of the lonely hills," as Bulwer sings,
sleeps, in smiles beneath the heaven of Italy. Milan
is a good picture, but, to be critical and originally
figurative at once, it is the play of Hamlet without,
4tc. The cathedral of pure white marble, with its
hundred spires and glorious windows, is far away and
searoely visible. By Genoa and Leghorn we pass to