The Express.
London, England, 1848-10-19 00:00:00

iliastc.

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Cov ENT- n tUDEN.—The announcement of the " Son- '
namhula," with Mr. mats Rarer, for the lint time, in the
character of E'eine, drew an immense audience to this
theatre last evening. The your.g Naglish tenor all
that was expect..l et him. He S.lowed hinted( able to con-
tend with the greatest of his foreign rivals, and ar.hievell ono
of the most sig..al triumphs we liar ever witnessed. His
acting was eleellent, in.:nerd, imparter:el, nod consistent
throughout, while it ass free frees Tierra and ewer:ration.
He made the character more interesting by softening some of
the henhir fermis. with e hick it is usually rip:nen:ed.
Eleino's hearing tenants hie su;'posed faithless mistress we.
made that ellen* " more in e.^now now than in en ;" resent •
lucid win mingled with Ids grief, lint not exhihi'sd in the
brutal fahiou almost always adopted by the performer of
the pert. Nor did he ever hue of the character, but
sustained it by appropriate and intelligent hy-pl.y. Its the
Ire rea.uding si..iediun for instance. when the sleeping girl
lies ark h. r ; eel.= descent from the mill, ands pour-
. irg oat all iv r innocent affection for her cruel
lover, what can be more provoking than to see
Elena standieg at the belt of the stage, looking
listlerly 'bout him wit the matter did not COC.C•Ta btu ?
And yet tits is the eteportmsrt of almost every Eirino we
ham seem, not omitting the rival tenors of t • two 'WWI
t ousel last season Beeves made this situ stion natural and
effetive by ni,v unseat and petard. exprasive ..f deep anx-
iety and agitation. His singing, too, was worthy of tie re-
rotation. The qualities of his beautiful t. r r %dice wens
fully displayed, and his style "Aso( the purest Italian school.
The 61. a ate in partici:lu, in the seamed act, " perch&
a" r"s° •1110 OM Of the Vii aisiite 11.0.44 dues
worn, aepteesion and execution we have era' listened to.
Still, towtvcr, Mr. It is set erased faults. In at-
tempting to give loud utterance to notes in the
highest part of his voice, he frequently forces his
tone, and nukes them harsh; he makes too great use, wo
think, of the roes di testa, and a want of equality between
his two misters is often apparent. We think, too, that he
it apt to he to- much in two extremes of piano and forte,
witmet snakiest me of that medians des,. ree of force mishit,
like the middle tint In painting, molts= the gradati.us
tree the extremes of li,ht and shade. Bat these defects,
r we apprehend those to be, detrirt little tr m the amount
of his excellent*. The part of Angina was sustained ht
Miss Ramer • not certainly as it is yerforeced by Jenny
Mid or Prektni, but much better than it could be re-
presented by any EagSish singer now on the steps. In
the principal trues ate rowed much feeling, and
erg, on the whole, way beautifully. Her happiut effort
was the fine air in the first reene, ' Come per ale St rend ;"
her least successful one was the rapturous finale, " Al., non
plunge." Some of the bailliant and difficult divisiorui in this
air were Imperfectly executed, and her pirioema,c: of it
Intrepid exhaustion. Sac was warmly apptioded through-
out ; and had her sh re of the ovation at the end of the
piece. Mr. Whitworth did the greatest justice to the chs-
rectal:darn! Ifedelphs, which, indeed, we have never seen
better =pp ated. The mumble at the opera deserves the
bigh.ut praise. The choruses were delightful to the ear and
full of dramatic effect, sad the whele wise en seine was ad-
mirable. This opera, from Ills interest of its subject and
the sweet simplicity of its music, is one of those things which
will long keep possession at the stage. As now produced by
M.r. Bum it well deserves a nos, end no doubt will tiara one.