The Express.
London, England, 1849-05-29 00:00:00

MUSIC.

GERMAN OPEItA.—DRURYLANE.
"Die Zauberfiiife," one of the latest of Mozart's
works, was produced here yesterday evening. The
Magic Flute is the opera which he composed in
1791, the year of his death, for his old acquaintance
Schickancler, who particularly requested that Mozart,
in preparing it, though to might, to a certain extent,
consult the connoisseurs and his own glory, should
pay especial ar.d hiding regaard to "that class of
persons who are not Judges of good music ;" the
latter being the class, it would appear, who patronised
Herr Schickaneder's theatre. The composer so far
consulted the taste of Schickareder, as to strike out
whole somes that displeased him, and it is probably
owing to this complaisance that the opera falls
short of one's expectations. " Although," says Mr.
Holmes, his able biographer, " Mozart availed him-
self largely of the. permission to write for the con-
noisseur in the priest music and other movements of
the work; yet there is every now and then a sacrifice
to the vulgar, and the parts incessantly applauded
by the public were but little to his own taste. The
contrast between the high solemnity of some parte of
the Zauberfiiite and the farcical levity of others, ren-
ders this opera lees delightful to the musician than it
might have been."

The king was filled by Herr Former, whose
deep tones are exactly adapted to the character ;
Herr Babrdt is the Tamino, and Herr Breuer,
whom we confess our favourite in the open,
the Papaqeno, a part quits in Mozart's most cham-
paigny Figaroman vein. The Queen of the Night
was impersonated by Mademoiselle Von Romani, a
lady with a voice of most extraordinary power, in its
peculiar character, but scarcely as pleasing as it is
remarkable. Madame Marlow's agreeable manner
and voice did ample justice to the characterofPamina.
Then was a crowded home.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

A new opeia,---citlieseriO:ientlitanial order, was
produced at this theatre last evening, the title of
which was " The Deserter," a name suggestive of the
plot, though perhaps somewhat wide of the incidents.
Enrico (Mr. Weiss), a young mountsineer•soldier,
has been absent on his military duties for a year from
his native villsge ; he is expected home, and a hoax,
in the shape of a surprise, is got up by some of his
1 village friends, who dress out his betrothed, Louisa
(Mdlle. Nan), in bridal habits, and, just as he ap-
proaches his home, a procession is formed, and
the apparent bride and her bridegroom are
observed by him to enter the church for
the purpose of being married. Giovannina (Miss
Poole), a young village maiden, waylays the wan-
derer, and tells him that what he feared was true, and
that his betrothed has wedded another. The absurd
and cruel jest has the full effect which the truth
would have produced, and the returned soldier rushes
off into the mountains, in order to throw himself from
a precipice, when he is arrested by a patrol of
guards, and accused of desertion, which, being wearied
of his life, he admits : be is taken back to the village,
where consternation at the re suit of the stupid practical
joke prevails ameart the peasants ; he then learns
too late the nature of the frolic, but he cannot undo
his own self-accusation, and consequently is conveyed
to prison to await the punishment for desertion, which
is death.
The second act is only the sequel to the incidents
above detailed, consisting of an affecting scene
in the military prison, and the preparations for shoot-
ing a deserter, a consummation which is happily
averted by the exertions of Louisa, and the curtain
falls on the happy and now to be united lovers.
The commonplace nature of this plot did not
prevent the piece from meeting with a cer-
tain degree of 'access, owing to the neat-
ness of Mdlle. Nau's execution of same of the airs,
and the excellence of the 'ornery and the miss en
scene. The music was by Luigi Ricci, one of the
tamest of Bellini's imitators, and as it is hardly worth
while to break a fly upon the wheel, or to criticise
according to the severe canons, trifles such as the
t.
presen
We shall dismiss the deserter with the observation,
that its production offers another proof of the zeal
with which Mr. Maddox caters for the public in his
capacity as manager of this pleasing theatre.

DRAMA.
ARLEY%

The " spectacle " at this tlaWatze list evening wee
wonky of the best days of the Dummy ummelemoke. Tas
subject was skilfully molested, esempris semen; ewe"
I. 'sal
_every pia mantel milk tdi mei
'esougb,aed dm euriosity, sad eisseleate te=
pride. The proper= Amley's is, demi%
wryer
plies wise C( and asmesf=she
plies ma kmairrge looked upon as a
criticism. I. the nee it was the shadow of a =ind
e time we attempted to catch it either the &kis robed
la min a body to impetrate some kora atrocity on MOW

subjerts, male or female ; or else the British commenced
forming thou hollow mimes, which they have planted with
so many laurel', and firing at a rate that banished ev« ry ides
from the mind save airing impression of powder and ball.
Nevertheless the en got on exceedingly well without •
plot—so much se, we would recommend the dramatists
of the establishment to give themselves no more trouble on
that score. Let them give the audience, as they did lut
night, striking tableaux, quantities of ed and bine fire,
with a sharp !UMW@ every five minutes to stand in the
plies of dialogue, and there is *0 doubt but that the saf-
eness will go away as delighted as they did from the doge of
Meehan. The einberWm at Gravesend was fint-rato, in-
trod ning an entirely new effect, for the stop being quite
too small to oceosentedate the overwhelming force intended
for the capture of the fully* the sacred circle, the domain
of Widdicomb, was invaded, and the troop, horse, foot, and
artillery, " pioneers and all," marched right across to
the wonder and admiration of the audience. Next came, in
due time, the storming of Ifoultan, excellently managed
save that some of the British soldiers who were hurled from
the ramparts bled a peat deal of sawdust,. then the bivouac,
and lastly, the crowning victory of (lowest. It will be
gratifying to the admirers of Lord Gough to know that
nothing could have been more iodate and cautious than hie
lordship's cinduct on this occasion. The advise he gave to
a confidential serjeant on the amount et luggage he ought
to carry was quite paternal, and was clenched by the pro-
ductionsof his own wardrobe in a pocket handkerchief, accord-
ing to the most approved Napier recipe. We were at fins under
the impreesion that the incident was intended as a joke, but the
solemn mode of its introduction showed that it was a ge-
nuine appeal to military patriotism and British self-denial.The piece concluded with a gorgeous grouping occupying
the whole stage, with Britanrua at the top, and the whole
establishment biped and quadruped, picturesquely arranged,
below, with a sufficient quantity of pyrotechnic appliances
to give to the whole the proper brilliancy and effect. It is
hardly necessary to add, that the piece was a decided mu-
cus from beginning to end. The action was rapid, hardly
time to prime and load between the scenes; there were no
long speeches ; and the incidents being familiar to every
one, it is not to be wondered at that its repetition was an-
nounced amid the deafening chests of one of the most
crowded audiences we have ever seen at Astley's.