The Press.
London, England, 1858-07-03 00:00:00

substituted for scenes L and 2 of act ii.

" All !

vieni," too, in the fourth scene of the same act, was
rendered with much expression. Had the move-
ment, however, been ashade faster, it would have been
more according to the design of the composer, and
more consistent with the character of the song. A,-
for Mine. Grisi, we cannot speak too highly of her
Desdemona of 1858, which could scarcely have been
surpassed in 1838. To those accustomed to watch
the rise and fall of opera singers, it seems almost
impossible that the admirable Desdemona of Tues-
day last was thought to be in her prime twenty years
since. Without laying oneself open to the charge of
being hypercritical, it would be difficult to point out
any portion of this long and trying part in which
one could have wished it to have been in any other
hands. The subordinate parts were well supported
by Mme. Tagliafico and Signori Tagliafico and Ron-
coni. The beautiful overture was executed with
the greatest precision and finish, and nearly
all the concerted music gave evidence of the
untiring and successful efforts of Signor
Costa, and the excellence of the musicians
under his control. Marta, which has been promised
to us several times during the last fortnight, was
brought out on Thursday. This opera, which is the
production of Baron Flotow, a nobleman whose
musical talents have made his name familiar to the
musical world all over the continent of Europe, is a
sort of musical pot-pourri, made up, like its floral
prototype, of elements which, though age has
deprived them individually of their pristine freshness
and fragrance, have, by the circumstance of their
union, acquired a new and original sweetness. Some
of these elements, too, in this musical mixture, just
as we find in the floral compound, are more difficult
of recognition than others ; some are bet little
altered—others have scarcely a trace remaining of
their former selves. One flower, however, is found
in Baron Flotow's not•poarri in miraculous preserva-
tion. Let our readers imagine the surprise that
would be experienced if, on lifting up the cover from
the porcelain jar containing last year's gatherings,
they should find the last rose of 1857's summer
hardly diminished in bloom or in scent. They will
then be able to realize our surprise when we wit•
ness d the production from Flotow's jar of the real,
identical " Last Rose of Summer " of olden times ;
dressed up, indeed, in a new name, " Qui sole, virgin
Rosa," but showing no symptom of decay, nor any
but the slightest conceivable alteration from what it
was the day it bloomed ! No other entire flower
was brought from the jar in such good condition as
this one ; but very well preserved portions of different
and favourite ones were seen in great abundance. To
depart from our metaphor, those parts of the music
which are original, whilst they bear unmistakeable
marks of amateur parentage, are by no means devoid
of intrinsic merit, and they are generally consistent
with the scene represented. The plot is laid in this
country, the time being the reign of Queen Anne.
A certain Lady Henrietta, although surrounded with
everything that wealth and position can supply to
make up the happiness of humanity, finds that ines-
timable possession beyond her reach. One day
her attention is arrested by a chorus of voices
proceeding from a number of peasants on their
way to Richmond statute-fair. The merry sounds pene-
trate into her room and into her heart. She suddenly
resolves to disguise herself as a peasant, and go to
the fair. Her maid, Nancy, and her cousin and
rejected lover, Lord Tristan, are pressed into her
service—the latter much against his will. Properly
equipped, they set off together and arrive at the fair,
just as two young farmers, Lionel and Plunkett., are
looking for servants. The young men, who have
been brought up and live together as brothers, are
struck with the appearance of the two women, who,
under the name of Marta (Lady Henrietta) and
Betsy (Nancy), express their willingness to be
engaged Lord Tristan (who is called John on this
occasion) endeavours to interfere; but he is quickly
surrounded by peasants and carried off. Marta and

Betsy, not knowing the consequences of so doing,
engage themselves to the two farmers as servants, and
receive the earnest money, which makes a binding con-
tract for twelve months. Left alone, they are discus-
sing the means of escape, when Lord Tristan appears
at the window of the room, through which they soon
make their exit. Pursuit is immediately, but
vainly, commenced. It now appears that
Lionel's heart has been transfixed by the
charms of Marta, over whose memory he raves
continually. Sometime afterwards a royal hunt
brings a party of ladies and gentlemen (amongst
whom are found the two who went to the statute-
fair) to the neighbourhood of an inn, where Plunkett
and sonic peasants are drinking. Lionel hears and
recognizes the voice. Lady H., when he addresses
her, pretends not to know him, and treats him with
disdain. He resents this at length, by claiming her
as his servant. Lady H. calls or help, and her cry is
answered by L-rd Tristan and his follower♦, who
arrest Lionel and carry him off. The latter, how•
ever, before he is taken away, ...sods a ring to Plun-
kett, which had been given or bequeathed to him by
his father, with an injunction to present it to the
Queen, it' be should ever be in difficulty requiring
assistance. Lionel begs his friend to deliver the
ring according to his father's instructions, which he
does ; and the consequence is, that the obscurity in
which Lionel's birth had been before enveloped is
dispersed, and it becomes known that he is the son
and heir of Count Derby, who had been unjustly
banished his country. Lady Henrietta, who had her-
self presented the ring, seeks Lionel at his farm-
house, makes known to him his origin and present
position, and offers her hand to him in marriage.
Maddened by her previous conduct, he indignantly
refuses her hand and her love. She then resorts to
stratagem, in which she is assisted by Plunkett. A
facsimile of the fair scene where they first met is
got up in Lady H.'s park. Lionel is brought there,
and the old association (as was of course intended)
restores him to himself, and l►e then agrees to
marry Lady H., whilst Plunkett and Nancy enter
into a new and similar engagement.

The music, as we have before said, is not new;
nor do we think the opera, which is some twelve
years of age, has any chance of evert the same suc-
cess in this country that it has had in Germany.
But, A 3 the work of an amateur, it deserves great
commendation ; its chief failing, beyond its want of
novelty, being found in the concerted parts, which,
generally, are highly inartistic and contused. There
are other and better works by the same hand, of
which Marta may be merely the avant-courier. We
trust that, if they are to be represented on London
boards, they may have as much justice done to them
by those to whom they may be intrusted as was done
to this one at Covent Garden on Thursday. The
mice-en•scene of the fair, and that of the forest,
within which the inn where the rencontre between
Plunkett and Nancy takes place after the escape is
situated, are beautiful beyond description. Mario
was not in such good voice as on Tuesday, but he
earned well-merited applause throughout, especially
in the aria, " M'Appari," in scene 4 of act iii., " Ah!
cite a voi perdoni," in scene 7 of same, and " Era
l'astro dell'amor," in scene ;3 of act iv. The beauties
of the first•mentioned are so occult that few singers
could have brought them to light, much less pro-
duced so touching an effect as that which procured
f-r it an enthusiastic encore. The part assigned to
Bosio was executed with that delicacy and
finish for which she is so deservedly known. Its
main feature is a continual warbling that is impos-
sible for any but a very flexible, and scarcely en-
durable from any but a very sweet, voice. Mme.
Bosio possesses these qualities to a high degree, and
she availed herself of them to the utmost in •• Qui
sole, virgin Rosa '• Baron Flotow's edition of " The
List Rise of Summer "), which she was called upon
to repeat. Mlle. Didiee had not great scope for the
exercise of her powers. Her rendering of "Il the
sirs! nel lanciar," in scene 2 of set iii., and her
efforts in the various concerted pieces in which she
was called upon to take part, were all that could be
wished for. Signor Graziani, as Plunkett, sang the
drinking song (sc. 1, act iii.)—one that has attained
great popularity in Germany—with much spirit and
truthfulness.