The Press.
London, England, 1856-07-05 00:00:00

Music.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
THE Qaeen has been pleased to retain her box for
the season, and will be present at Mlle. Wagner's
performance of Romeo this evening (Saturday).
Wagner gains on a rehearing; her style is tho-
roughly dramatic, and she will be heard with in-
terest in many of the great works of Gluck, Mozart,
and Meyerheer. Why does she not essay Simon
Mayr's Medea? The successful Parisian ballet, The
Corsair, founded on Lord Byron's poem, will be pro •
duced next Tuesday, and then Mr. Lumley will have
honourably redeemed all the pledges in his pro-
spectus. There is a rumour of State visits to both
the Italian Opera-houses this season. Mlle. Picea!
lornini's benefit is announced for next Thursda:.l
when the Traviata will be given.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.
THE Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the
King of the Belgians, honoured the performance of
Rigoletto on Thursday night. The revival of the
Puritani, announced for to-night (Saturday), is
postponed. On Monday Mme. Bosio will mane her
first appearance in London as Leonora in the Trova-
tore, with Mario's Manrico.

MADAME JENNY LIND-GOLDSCHMIDT.
IT may be heretical—it may be paradoxical—but,
even with the deafening cheering of last Monday
night at Exeter-hall still ringing in our ears, we
must pronounce the Swedish Nightingale to be a
puzzle, both in her career as a vocalist and in her
policy as an artiste. As a lyric actress there is no
other instance on record of a fame acquired by such
an extraordinarily limited range of characters; and,
as a concert singer, her range of music seems
equally to have been confined to the narrowest
limits. Jenny Lind was first heard in England in
1847. She achieved assuredly the greatest success
ever known, and yet her dramatic reputation is based
on Alice in Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable, Amino in
Bellini's Sonnambula, and Maria in Donizetti's
Figlia del Reggimento. To state that these respec-
tive performances were perfection is an exaggeration.
But her Norma was a signal failure. Her Susanna in
Mozart's None di Figaro, always excepting that won-
drous piece of vocalisation, the " Deh vieni," was
singularly repulsive. Her Adina in the Elixir was a
terrible termagant, and her Lucia the most unloving
one ever witnessed. Strange it is, but in one of her
finest assumptions, in Spontini's Vestale, she never
appeared in this country. Taking her oratorio
repertoire, we have those magnificent displays in the
Messiah, the Creation, and in the Elijah, which will
give Land's name much greater glory than her stage
successes. Her collection of music for the concert
programmes exhibited little variety. Her eternal
"Echo" song, the "Ah non giunge," the "Non
paventar," the scene from Beatrice, cte., with ever
and anon "John Anderson," a stray ballad of Balfe
or Benedict, whoever was conductor for the time
being, and some weak walk of Herr Otto Gold-
schmidt, and the catalogue is soon _gone through.
Setting aside a miserable quibble that has been
raised of the probability of Lind's return to sing for
others, but not for her own account, assuming that
this is a bond fide farewell, and not a Grisi juggle,
`e truth may be told now of Mme. Goldsehmidea
anal appearance.' It has been given out that her
Chief reason for the campaign of thi4 etir in England
pras to enable her taro sposo to take . is position, as
she believes, as a second Mendelsso n. If this be
true, it was an amiable but an unfortunate delusion,
for, whether as pianist or composer, a more marked
mediocrity never claimed public patronage than
Herr Goldischniidit. In this respect Mme. Schumann,
the' unrisoillritilieniste, has made as great a
rifyil4ki,iii Hin itli O bhthidt. Polite toleration and
fu4F heiOlinti: kaTOlibeee IVOted to the productions
ofDr.,sehtl- id eilt,e iGetschinidt, and thatis all.
.
- - all - (Jenny
it was
iharities,
:braced

.ininann any
lit• ad Jolt typo early to enter into the causes cfsT\
Iliad's popularity. Many judges think that it
mainly owing to her system of singing for chr•
like that so successfully adopted by the
Mine. Catalani. This supposition will not stand
goodlUtivaViitt'if Lind and Catalani had not been
great gingers, With artistic specialities to distinguish
them from the throng, their charitable policy would
have availed but little. It is mudialicar reasonable
to ascribe the vast triumphs of the T. , 1;0 and the
Swede to their ingenuity in isolation. Catalani
would never sing, if she oould avoid it, with first-
rate artistes. "Moi et sees. quatrea poupees," her
well known axiom for an Italian opera, has been
imitated by,Lind. Until towards tbeelose of be
career this year, Tiardot Was the only rival star re
mitted.lb,eßpteacli Mnie. Goldschtnidt, whose.dm-
bitiou wia44,ap.overwhelming as to originate ileyer •
beer's quaint observation as t,o .its ,uncompromising
character. She has realisetf
aj
and yet it is, we believe, a fact, that for money she
. en Jus fortune,
I herself cares but little. To :be regarded as the
Artiste, the singer, here wee the impetus to her hi.
tensity in the execution of the duties she took OA

herself; and Lind's thorough earnestness, and in-
domitable resolution with physical means of limited
range, are examples to artistes with ten times her
quality of voice, of what can be achieved. She was
one of the most conscientious and best prepared
artistes we have ever met with. Her whole soul was
in her work; she never spared herself for the corn •
poser whose inspirations she was interpreting. And
therefore it was that she so carefully husbanded her
resources, limiting her appearance to the periods she
was in a condition to go through her task. Still the
wear and war of her career exhibited itself latterly
in a most. unmistakeable manner ; and, if Lind's
philosophy has enabled her to withdraw prior to the
display of further decay, the course is more to be
comineoded than the example of those artistes who
persist in singing, until not a not' remains of the
original organ. Mme. Goldschmidt can retire upon
her laure's, with the conviction that in the sacred
cause of charity she has rendered inestimable ser-
vices. Would that it could be added that art pro•
Kress had been equally advanced by the idol-worship
Wllich her singing created.

CONCER i'S OF THE WEEK.
The debut ot• Signor Cimino, at his own matinee,
on Thursday, at the Beethoven-rooms, introduced a
baritone of more than ordinary value. Bazzint, the
brilliant violinist, reappeared on this occasion.
If any doubt had existed as to the professor who
ought to have b.an nominated conductor of the
Philharmonic concerts, it would have been effec•
Wally, dispelled by the masterly direction of
Beethoven's Ninth (Choral) Symphony by Mr.
Alfred Mellon at the third and last of the Orchestral
Union concerts. In the instrumental movements,
especially in the intricate scherzo, the most accurate
beat is required, and Mr. Mellon was not inertly
mechanically precise, but he gave to the score the
poetic and intellectual interpretation which it exacts.
The means at the command of the "Union" were,
however, not adequste to the choral portion. Mr.
C. E. Hoisley's overture to Merry Wives of Windsor
was Mendelssohnian in idea, but treated in a
rambling fashion. He is a clever musician, and has
ample time to improve on his position—an honour.
able one amongst English composers.
Mr. Hullah, at the nineteenth and last of his con-
certs, at St. Martin's.hall, gave the Creation, with
Mme. Rudersdorff, Mr. Sims Reeves, and Mr.
Thomas.
At Mr. W. H. Holmes's third pianoforte matinee
there were upwards of thirty pianistes, including
Mme. Schumann and Miss Arabella Gudeard. The
scheme comprised some interesting novelties, which
space precludes us from noticing in detail.
The last soirée of the Reunion des Arts is the
signal of the break up of the season.
Mr. Cooper, the clever chef a'attaque of the
Philharmonic concerts this season, had a soirée
last. Wednesday. He is a very able player.
Amongst other gatherings may be recorded the
pianoforte recitals of Charles Halle and Mme.
Schumann ; the matinees of Mr. and Mrs. A.
Gilbert, M. Jules Lefurt at the Dudley Gallery, and
of Mlle. Jut-Innis, a singer from Steckhnlm ; and
concerts by Mr. Rlagrove and Mr. G. Tedder; the
week's doings being wound up by Mme. Enderssohn's
evening concert last night at the Hanover-square
Rooms.

MEMORIAL TO THE LATE SIR HEART BISHOP.—The
composer of the "Winds whistle cold," "Blow gentle
gales," the "Chough and Crow," and hundreds of
melodies and glees which live in the memory, lies in
his grave in the Finchley Cemetery, without a stone
or a monument to point out the locality. Mr. Bowley,
o:' the Sacred Harmonic Society, convened a meet
jig last night (Friday) at Exeter-ball, and a com-
mittee has been formed to raise a subscription t 3
del, ay the expenses of a monument. Every amateur
and professor will be surely ready to contribute some
thing to such an undertaking.
Ma. BALFE.—A complimentary benefit will be
givan to this distinguished composer at Drury lane
Theatre next Monday, at which Viardot will sing ber
celebrated finale from the Maid of Artois, a rondo
undered so famous by her gifted sister Malibran,
and in which Viardot, at St- Petersburg, used to
create such a sensation.

itt prauta.

RISTORIS ROSIIUNDA.—LYCEUM.
Scstaost, thus writes of Alfieri's plays :—" When
we read the tragedies of Alfieri, the world looms
upon us dark and repulsive. A style of composi-
siou which exhibits the ordinary course of human
gretirs in a gloomy and troublous light, and whose
extlsordinwry eauisiroplies are horrible, resembling
a elintste where the perpetual fogs of a nf.rthern
winter should be jobbed with the fiery tempests of
the torrid x•vie. Profound and delicate delineation
of character is as little to be looked for in Alfieri as
in bietastssio: he does but exhibit the opposite but

1H

RESS.

equally partial view of human nature. His characters
are also cast in the mould of naked general notions ;
and he frequently paints the extremes of black and
white side by side and in unrelieved contrast. His
villains, for the most part, betray all their deformity
in their outward conduct: this might perhaps be
allowed to pass, although, indeed, such a picture will
hardly enable us to recognise them in real life; but
his virtuous persons are not amiable, and this is a
defect open to much graver censure
While the unity of place is strictly observed,
the scene chosen is for the most part so invisible
and indeterminate, !eat one would fain imagine it is
soma out-of-the-way corner, where nobody comes
but persons involved in painful and disagreeable
transactions. Again, the stripping his kings and
heroes, or the sake of simplicity, of all their
external retinue, produces the impression that the
world is actually depopulated around them."
Making every allowance for German prejudices,
surely every spectator who has seen Rosmunda
must agree with Schlegel. Where were we?
What historical characters had Alfieri in his
mental vision, in presenting Rosmunda and the
regicide Almachilde. In the beginning, Rosmunda,
who is of the Lady Macbeth species, without her
grandeur and remorse, alludes to a battle on the
Ticino ; and reference is here and there made to the
Lombards, so in Venetian Lombardy, or some other
" out-of-the-way corner " let it be. A dreadful
Alaric is oft alluded to, but does not show; but he is
the bite noire, with whom Romilda is menaced as a
husband, with the agreeable Blue Beard addition that
Marie has stabbed one wife and poisoned another.
It is the Queen Rosmunda who thus persecutes
Romilda, because the latter is the daughter of her
first husband, Alboin, who was assassinated by
Almachilde, at the instigation of Rosmunda, who
marries him after her long-desired widowhood.
Rosmunda, as she assures her auditory, has an
abstract feeling of intense hate against Romilda—
first, because her father, Alboin, was in the habit of
making his wife. Rosmunda, drink healths out of the
skull of her murdered father; and, secondly, because
she entertains a vague suspicion, subsequently fully
confirmed, that her husband No. 2, the said
Almachilde, loves the child whose father he had
killed. Then there is a warrior named Ildovoldo,
whose antecedents are very misty; but he, loving
Romilda, resolves to restore her to the throne,
by immolating his friend Almachilde, whose
faithful vassal he affects to be. Here are
crosses enough in all conscience to show that the
course of false as well as true love never did run
smooth, and rough indeed are the roads through
which Alfieri arrives at his climax, which is reached
in the fifth act, when there is this striking stage
situation. Rosmunda, who is of the physical-force
school, holds Romilda in such a position that if
Almachilde and Iklovoldo, her two lovers, should
attempt to approach her, she must die by the dagger
of the furious queen. There is no parallel scene to
this to be found, except in Sheridan's Critic. A
capitulation of course must follow. Almachilde and
Ildovaido are commanded to send away their respective
adherents, and they obey; but the wily Rosmunda
then does that which she could have done before,
stabs Romilda. Ildovado then stabs himself, and
the curtain falls with the intimation that Rosmunda
only waits for the descent to complete her vengeance
by stabbing her second husband. Is not Schlegel
most truthful in the criticism cited above?

Out of these repulsive materials, so closely bor-
dering on the burlesque, the genius of Ristori has
created another magnificent part, as was duly re-
corded in last week's PRESA. The Italian trage-
dirnne again enacted Rosmunda last night, and on
every performance has added to the conviction that
bee powers are confined within no r a Tow bounda-
ries, but include the wi a dorm i t of t..agic passion
in any country. She is every inch a Wee,. Rgbt
royally does she wear tier robes as Rosmunda
who is presented not the less in the most distinct
form from her previous creations of Medea, Maria,
Stuarda, and Fia dei Tolomei. It is scarely possible
to believe that it is one artiste who has given life to
these four characters.

HAVIIARKET.-Mr. Buckstone took his benefit on
Wednesday night, the 815th night of his season.
Twelfth Night, a petite comedie (a translation of 04
Passerai—je ntes Soiries, a vaudeville of the
Varietes), with a pretty ballet by the Spanish
Dancers, made up the entertainments of the even-
ing. At the conclusion, Mr. Buckstone addressed
the audience, and said that he had met with so much
encouragement in keeping to English comedy and
farce that he should continue that style of entertain-
ment. He had plenty of material and novelty in
hand.
OLYYPIC.—AII who wish to enjoy a hearty laugh,
let them go and see the domestic farce A Con-
jugal Lesson, brought out at this theatre on Thurs-
day night. The story is the old one—a suspicious
wife who sits up tor a deceitful husband coming
home, of course, fro% ito4 404 He goes to bed ;

she searches his pockets, and finds a letter from a
coryphee, with gloves, four 201. notes, dm She falls
into hysterics; he, waking tt), finds these things on
the table, and concludes that some one has been visit.
ing his wife, from the fact that, under the infiueilce
of " that salmon," he has changed coats with Brown.
Rage and jealousy take mutual possession of each
other's hearts, until matters are cleared up by the
the discovery that it is Brown's coat, after all.
Robson and Mrs. Stirling undertake the characters.
Their acting is inimitable ; they keep the house in a
roar of laughter from beginning to end, and bring
down the curtain amid thunders of applause. Mr.
Danvers is the author.

MADAME VESTRIS, who bas for some time been suf-
fering from most severe indisposition, will shortly
take a farewell benefit, preparatory to her final retire-
ment from the stage.
THE OPENING OF THE ROYAL SURREY tiATITIENS
will he initiated by as Inauguration Festival. The
Messiah wilt be performed, with Mme. Clara Novello,
Mme. Rudersdorff, Miss Dolby, Mr. Weiss, and Mr.
Sims Reeves. In addition to these eminent per-
formers, Mine. Alboni, Mme. Amadei, Mme. Gassier,
Fraulein Jessy Rots, and a host of Italian and Ger.
man celebrities, will appear in the miscellaneous
evening concerts. M. Jullien will assist at the open-
ing, and will on all future occasions act as cond.ictor.
Tuesday, the 15th instant, is named for the first
great concert.
CRYSTAL PALACE.—Return of admissions for six
days ending Fridaj, July 4, 1856. Number admitted,
including season ticket holders, 58,761.