The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-19 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

terminated the Royal Italian Opera's existence
within the walls of Covent-garden Theatre, and
Albano, who, three times during the reconstruction
in 1846-7, had discovered attempts to burn the
theatre, at last witnessed the destruction of the
beautiful interior after the theatre had been dis-
graced by the foulest orgies of a Bal Masque. On
the sth of March it was the general exclamation,
"there is an end of the Royal Italian Opera ;" but
yet on Tuesday, the 15th of April, the tenth season
was actually commenced with Verdi's Trovatore, in
the presence of her Majesty and Prince Albert, and
with as full a list of fashionable and distinguished
celebrities as the circumscribed limits of the Lyceum
theatre could contain. This was a great and re-
markable effort, for only on the 2nd of April was Mr.
Gye enabled to begin the transformation of a dirty,
dingy, dilapidated, deserted temple of English lyric
art, and he had thus less than a fortnight to make
the Lyceum what it now is, an elegant, comfortable,
cabinet Italian Opera-house, which will serve its
purpose until the plans for the erection of a new
edifice can be carried out. So far as the deco-
rator's designs be concerned, nothing has been
disturbed. Madame Vestris's Cupids are still dimly
seen on the misty ceiling, and her birds and beasts
still cling to the facades of the two tiers of boxes,
but Mr. Gye's artists have been unsparing with the
recolouring and the regilding. White and gold on a
light green ground, with red draperies, predominate,
the proscenium being filled up with bold reliefs of
Britannia and St. Cecilia, whose charms are vet off by
a new chandelier, which penetrates the ceiling and
enables the flat Cupids aforesaid to dart glances at
the living beauties in the private boxes, of which
there are no less than sixty-eight, thanks to Mr. Gye's
geometry, which has been also further developed by
converting the pit into 220 most comfortable chairs
called " orchestra stalls," although they absorb the
pit beyond the facade of the ground tier, leaving, of
course, but a very limited space for the pittites, a
question of accommodation after all, under the
ancient regime, principally of importance to those
cormorants the libraries and music shopkeepers,—a
class which, whilst opera capitalists have been ruined,
has always managed to draw large profits from the
establishment by the middle system of letting boxes
and stalls.

It is almost time to notice the performance, for
Costa is at his post, after several rounds of applaiise ;
but, as so much history of the past has been mixed
up in this notice of the opening, can the agreeable
fact be omitted that, from first to last, the artists,
instrumental as well as vocal, have given up twenty
five per cent. on their engagements to keep the
Royal Italian Opera undertaking intact, and, more-
over, the band and chorus will not be reduced in
number, as they have consented to perform on
alternate weeks? With the weekly concerts which
will be commenced next month at the Crystal Palace,
a treaty having been signed with the company and
Mr. Gye, why should there not be a profitable season?
There will be one, for the opera subscription is very
large, but the profits will have to go in costumes,
operatic scores, dm, which in turn must be capital
for the new theatre.

Tuesday's performance could only be regarded as
a rehearsal. It is true that with the single exception
of the sudden dropping of the curtain, just as
Tamberlik was in the full force of his cabaletta on
behalf of the mother of the " Trovatore," and the
rising of the curtain again to enable him to explain
further his filial intentions to Leonora, there was no
hitch in the, so to speak, improvised opera; but it was
evident neither the vocalists nor the instrumentalists
were at their ease during the evening. Everybody
was feeling his or her way. Hence it was with some
very fine points in the general execution the ensemble
rather hung fire. There was also another reason to
account for the heaviness. Mme. Viardot was re
placed as Azucena, the gipsy-mother, by Mme. Didiee,
an enormous drawback in the pr?sent cast, despite of
the good will and intelligence of the new representa-
tive. Then Mme. Ney was at sea with her powerful
organ in a small house, and she only rallied effectively
in the concluding acts, especially in the last one, in
which she sang magnificently. The lyric stage is, in
the actual epoch, either dependent as it were on old
or worn out voices, or else the rising singers are sadly
deficient in personal attractions, which go so far to
charm audiences. Where is the soprano voice now
to be found like that of Mine. Ney? But then her
deportment and physical attributes ! Graziani and
Tamberlik have returned with the powers of last
season, the former with one of the finest barytone
voices ever heard, but sadly deficient in style, and
the latter as one of the greatest of dramatic tenors.
The orchestra will labour under the disadvantage
that, whereas the wood, brass, and percussion instru-
ments must remain in their normal state of twenty-
one players, the stringed must necessarily be reduced
to one-half—that is, eight first and eight second
violin, instead of sixteen each; five tenors instead
of ten ; five violoncellos, and five double basses,
instead of ten each set. To state that the balance of
sound can ;be adjusted on this scale with the super-

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excellence of former seasons, would be absurd ; but
Costa, with his consummate skill, will contrive to
render the reduction as little palpable as possible.
The stringed will have to play more strongly, and the
wind must subdue their strength. There are many
works in the repertoire which will gain considerably
by the small arena, and the colossal masterpieces
must slumber until the next season. In the mean-
while let every honour and credit be assigned to all
concerned in the astonishing proof just afforded of
zeal and energy by the opening of the Royal Italian
Opera, after such a dire catastrophe, within such a
short space.