The Express.
London, England, 1855-04-13 00:00:00

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

The doers of Covent-garden were thrown open
lest night ; bet the commencement of the opera season
has bees attended with rather less éclat than might
have been expected, considering that it has been later
than usual, and that there have been no ante-Easter
performances. The full strength of the company is
not yet mustered; had it been, we think the season
would have been begun with some entertainment cal-
culated to be more attractive, and excite a greater
degree of interest than the opera which was selected
he the occasion. B Conte Ory was performed
a few nights near the end of last season, and received
with a good deal of applause, chiefly on account of
Mdlle. Bosio's admirable singing ; the light and florid
musics of her part being admirably suited to her bril-
liant and facile style of execution. But there is no-
thing in the intrinsic qualities of the piece which
should have encouraged the expectation that it could
be received with anything like permanent favour. Its
origin was characteristic of the composer. During
Rossini's sojourn in Paris he composed the music for
a trivial race de cireonstance, called Il naggio di
Rheims, got up on the occasion of the
coronation of Charles the Tenth. When it
had served its temporary purpose, Rossini, in order
not to lose the music, introduced the greatest part of
it into a French piece, called Le Comte Ory, which
was produced at the Grind Opera. It had a short
run, and was laid aside; but, after having been long
forgotten, it was thought worth while to revive it
and reproduce it on the Italian stage. In the music
there are many very pretty things, bat the libretto
is probably the very worst that ever was concocted.
It is absolute drivelling—mere nonsense—without
subject, plot, interest, or any one thing that can
make it worth a moment's attention. Where it
happens now and then to be intelligible, it
isindecorous and offensive—no great objec-
tion, perhaps, in Paris; but in London, when
such scenes are tolerated, it is because our audience.
don't think of their meaning at all, but regard them
merely as vehicles for singing. The leading incident
is a frolic of a young roue and his dissolute compa-
nions, who, disguised as female pilgrims, get men
into the house of a noble lady, where they behave
scandalously, mingling, in their orgies, religious
hymns with drunken choruses. Such exhibitions are
too common on the stage, and passed over too
lightly; but they are certainly injurious to the
stage itself, because they furnish grounds for the ob-
jections made by many to its entertainments.
In regard to the music, it is far too good for such a
subject. It is often graceful and sparkling; and it
would sometimes be expressive and even impassioned
if there was any room in the subject for expression
or passion. The finest morceaux belong to the pert
of the Countess—a part which requires precisely such
a singer_as Basin. It is highly florid and richly em-
bellished• and the rapid divisions, roulades, trills,
andfunitsire with which it is filled are executed by
this accomplished artist with most exquisite
beauty and finish. The music in the part
of the Count possesses similar qualities, though
in an inferior degree. It was sung by
Oardoni. better, we are convinced, than any
other person (setting aside Mario) now on the Ave
could sing it. The duet between them, " Soffrir,
penar ognora," near the beginning of the first sot,
was one of the most perfect pieces of singing we have
ever heard. In the finale to the first act there are
admirable things—one , in particular, which
his been stolen whol eby nisetti, in the famous
air of Maria, in the llglia del Reggingento. In the
scene of the orgies of the pretended female pilgrims
(which, notwithstanding its objectionable character,
is musically very clever), there is a drinking chins,
" Revive rAllegnar which breathes the v2itreo
unl of
hilarity. In a proper place it would be thL
There is another moreeau, still finer, of a t

character—the Temetto near the conclusion, " Di
trema e di speranzs," of which the proper plate
would have been an agitated and impassioned scene
in a serious opera.
But the effect of all this fine music is destroyed by
the trash with which it is associated. The opera wu
admirably performed throughout. Bosio and Gardoni
sang their very best, and were excellently aupported
by Mdlle. Marti, Mdlle. Didiee, Zelger, and -Tighe-
fico ; but the piece, nevertheless, went off very coldly.
The applause was faint, there was note single encore,
and when the curtain fell the expression of approba-
tion
was barely sufficieat to give the performers a
pretext for presenting themselves before it.
After the opera, " God save the Queen " was sung
u usual on the first night of the season; and the
evening concluded with the old ballet (or rather
divertissement), Use Etoile, which was performed in
the same way as last season.