The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-25 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 25, 1858.

of the other operas which have flowed from his
facile and prolific pen during the last twenty years ;
but he has this time been singularly unfortunate in
his book. We certainly did not expect to meet in
Mr. A. Harris a Scribe, nor a Metastasio in Mr.
Falconer, but were still not a little surprised to find
that the management of the " Royal English Opera"
had selected such balderdash as Satanella consists
of as fit materials for Mr. Balfe to exercise his
genius upon, and celebrate their opening night.
The original story, though very wild and extraor-
dinary, is by no means unpoetical or unsuited to
musical effect. A young nobleman, rendered des-
perate by the loss of all his property at the gaming
table, suramona a foul fiend to his presence, and
invokes his aid. The said fiend having a young lost
creature in the shape of a female demon subject to
his power, commissions her to fascinate the desperate
nobleman, an 1 by getting him to sign a mysterious
contract, draw his soul to perdition. The female imp,
'however, unfortunately—or rather we should perhaps
say fortunately—falls really in love with her intended
victim, and so of course can no longer entertain the
idea of causing his destruction. Neither does the mute
of this demoniacal lady stop here, for her beloved
being betrothed to another whose passion, despite all
Ina wanderings, he fully recipocrates, Satanella
makes a most heroic sacrifice by tearing up the terrible
contract which binds him to her, and consigning her-
self to eternal flames to save the object of her affec-
tion.

Poetical justice, however, sternly demands that so
amiable a demon should be saved, whilst inflexible
morality is equally determined that no pardon shal
be obtained, except by the most orthodox means;
and so, in obedience to these two requirements,
Messrs. A. Harris and Falconer have contrived to
make the female imp accept a rosary from the bands
of her rival, and, at the last moment, pray fervently
for forgiveness.
Her prayerr, are heard, and so in the last scene,
instead of sinking through a trap down to the lower
regions encircled by fierce red and yellow flames, as
everyone expected she would do, the converted
diablesse rises upwards in a cunningly contrived
piec•s of stage machinery, with the purest of white
lights shining brilliantly upon her happy face;
whilst her quondam lover, and the rival she has
treated so generously, now united for ever, follow
with admiring eyes her heavenward flight.
All this, as we have said, though wild and strange,
is redeemed by a certain poetical sentiment—an
ideality and picture•:gneness by no means unsugges-
tive to a composer of imagination, but the wretched
stuff with which it is surrounded—the crowding
together of puerile, pantomimic incidents without
rhyme or reason, the introduction of several un•
meaning characters, the forced association of all
sorts of incongruous • Id utterly unnecessary events
for the sa'te of melting mere conventional stage
" effects," combined wiih the dissdvantages of a
perfectly contemptible dialogue endless in length,
and thoroughly doggrel verses, serve to obsure the
story, and render that which might have been made
interesting and attractive absolutely tiresome.
Mr. Balfe has, nevertheless, contrived to enliven
this mass of dulness with some very pretty and in-
teresting music. Witness the really charming canta-
bile, " The Power of Love," sung, and exquisitely
sung too, by Miss Louisa Tyne, near the end of the
first act, and the charming orchestration which pre-
cedes and accompanies it, efforts which our popular
composer in his happiest moods has never surpassed.
This piece, in fact, is the gent of the opera, and
would alone suffice to save it from oblivion.

The management deserves great praise for the
careful and admirable manner in which the opera
was performed upon the opening night, and we have
observed with much satisfaction the judicious pruning
to which the dialogue has since been subjected.
So satisfactory a first representation we do not
remember to have witnessed upon the English
stage. Our eulogy, however, must not be wholly
of a general character, for the perfectly beautiful
singing of Miss Louisa Pyne from first to
last—singing which no contemporary vocalists
English or foreign could possibly surpass—de-
mands special acknowledgment of the most en-
thustastio kind. To her indeed is mainly to be
attributed the success which the opera met with ;
although our heat English baritone, Mr. Weiss, did
all in his power to make an " " and bogie-like
part effective, and Mr. Vi. Harrison, thanks to the
consummate tut of Mr. Eslfe, was enabled to appear
to unusual advantage as principal tenor.
On the whole, we doubt that Satanella will prove
very attrictive ; hut time will show; and " backed
up " by the forthcoming pantomime, it may possibly
have a fair " run."