The Express.
London, England, 1859-11-17 00:00:00

(St4ved, ]d: AdditiconaL)

Ma§ld

ST. MARTIN'S HALL.
`Mr. Haab, last evening, commenced his series teat
molar ecacerte by a performance of Menders dkraninot
And, nod Besinett'i'key Qaree. Them excellent concerts
protidee Se be sa mare neful se they have ever been. The
ball wee warded is twat poet with a 'cry mnalcel audience..
whose 'Applause, at true warm and discriminating, ititowed
ihat.thekZppgraninsad the entartaininest.
/shit Is too well {mown to demand say re-.
belattdatory. The principal performers dere
16.1 Pliky Illowland, Mies Mania, Mr. Wilbye Casper,
&III& Wiese. Mies Rowland hoe .mede cousidereble pre.
yam stme we lest heard her. Set voice has ascialeed
water blame and volume, and her stile has become pews
ad musician-like. In the fine recitative, "He oboes a
Mettrafnl mare," sad the following air, " He eaag Ilartne
great sad good,* she was especially happy, giebag tia the
mask the deep and pathetic rap/akin which it demands.
Kies Muds b ',young eloper of great promise. She bas a'
powerful rake aid a. great deal of vigour, but her voice re-
gains to be smoothed down and her style to he sub-
dued. Bei hotonation, lI4OFIOVIf, is ocumionally imper-
fect—not from defect of ear, but tom an incomplete
Oommand of be/ 'voice. She must in Particular be careful is
negaltang artrtie akalte —a moot &Meal% achieves:sit. • Of
Mr. WiliteiCdeaer and Mr. Weiss welts* only .to ay that
She, wet eirth that neva& ability. The Chorus. who ewe.
silted et the aranteart of Mr. Atallin's liret !NW
singing 'shook acquitted. themselves admirably, and
Mr. Rallah's on:theatre is one of the very bast
In London. It includes many of the most rind-
sent perkemere; and indeed, there b not a single person in
Use band who is not known as being a master of his {antra.
man.

Boamstt's charming cantata was capitally performed
wed had great succoul. With the exception of Madame
Clara Morello we have not heard the part of the May QUOIIO
snag better than by Mies Banks; Kr. Wilbye Cooper has
eiready, on several OCCO/40216, shown himself perfectly in
bores in Ws Mem ; aad Mr. Weise was one of the MOW
parioneers in It at the Leeds Festival. They aU nemtwed
thunesime admirably. The acres with Mime Banks's solo,
" With.** carol on the true," wee anthasiasticaUy encored,
sad the came compliment was paid to Mr. Weiee's song,
"'Tim jolly to hunt." The heautifal trio, too, "The
hawthorn In the glade," was most effectively
given. The choruses was very correctly mum,
bat somewhat loud, and deadest in those +manors which in
*bond music ametitute expression. This defect was gape-
Welly felt in the exquisite charm, "0 melancholy plight!"
which we have never yet heard sung in that soft and sub-
dued tone which its character demands.
The overture and orchestral accompaniments were perfect;
we have never, we think, heard them played with such light-
s's', dellaney, and spirit.

DRAMA.

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.

The new firm styled Swan and Edgar, which
opened busies at the St. James's Theatre last night, baa no
0:41040a with the celebrated establishment, o dear to shop.
ping ladles, ie Piccadilly Circus. Though one incident of
the play rents to an article of feminine attire, which, having
bets mislaid, is much In request, the transactions represented
have nothing to do with the millinery or haberdashery trades.
Edgar, indeed, who enters into partnership with the Swan,
deserited in the prietad bill as "a oormitereial gent—in feet,
• pedlar;' and with as obscure allusion to a certain ballad
unhunlliar to sera polite, we are petered that ha is
ono relation to the one whose name wee Snout,
and who was always ' cutting the petticoat, round
about.' " In bet, from what was to be seen
upon the siege, they did not appear to require cutting..
This it called • "Fairy Burlesque Extraysganaa," but the
attractions en which Its success depends are mire limited in
kind than those of some other piton et the tam csensible
clams. It it not recommended either by any buselful in.

vaulty in the adaptation of the fable, or by epigram-
matic wit in the vane dialogue, or by any remarkable
brilliancy of amnia effect. Exoepdng two or three kumseass
Etas songs, archly given by Mies Clam N. Cams, the main
beldam Is but that of the ballet, and the whole mitertain-
meat is provided by the exhibition of a prim balierima, to
whom her admirer very candidly nye;
" Yon beat the lady with the golden leg ;
Mies Hinman/ogee had only one, we're told,
And you have two, worth twice their weight in gold."
The plot, such so it ia, by which these dancing performances
rather of a liberal end unreserved style, are introduced, is
almost too slight for description. The Swan is the fair
Cygnetta (Mite Lydia Thompson), an amphibious creature,
sot between bird and maiden, but between fairy and mortal,
belonging to the graceful tribe who own bright Eiderdowns
(Mile Nally Moore) for their Queen. Young Edgar, who
wears a Scottish muttony but dote sot carry a pedlar'e pack,
approves of Cygnetta's par ie f oesbro, and bestows his heart
upon bor. He is detained, however, by Mrs. Rowena, land-
lady of the local public-house, to whom be already owes a
round more of money, and, an our friend of Eutoluisp says,
t. his own self-beeldes." To get rid of her claim, he asisults
a Jew !larder, Hamm Hoondediteh, at whom instigation
Edger, being, 11l he is, a hawker, but sot yet an adept in
kiteffying, accepts a 251. bill. In the mean time Ci guns"
having lost her veil, fells into disgrace at the fairy oourt, end
going forth into exile, becomes a barmaid in Rowena's sank*.
The potent Baron Tachaffenhumbug, coming in from the
chase with the gallant spoil of one rabbit, gets drunk at this
tavern, swears to carry off Cygnetta, and, having bought
the sots of hand from the Jew, SUM Edgar and puts him in
prison. The Baron then goes in grand proceessm through
the streets of his town to inaugurate a drinking fountain, re-
eanrking that this is a cheap and fashionable sort of public
temsdeenes:—

"'Tie all the go with &wash's cover.
It don't cost halt so conch as giving loaves.
They think, in their philanthropy ao pure,
To cure Ws ilia with the cold water curs."

This is a sample of the reflections cast upon the events of the
day; la another imitanoe, the " Social Science" movement
cocoon to for a similar witty allusion. To finish the story,
however, Cygnatta recovers her veil and vindicates her
womanhood , while Edgar is discovered to be somebody's
ma, entitled to vast wealth and dominion ; the Baron there-
fore abdicates, going to keep house with Rowena, and the
conclusion is an assemblage of gauzy nymphs in the Fairy
Aquarium," where Miss Lydia Thompeoe, addreedug the
sadism" or rather the spectators, of her perfume/toe, az-
presses a hope that—
" You'll come mein to our Bt. James's Lake
To feed the Sws end Edger happy make."

Whatever may be the force of this appeal, the reception of
the new Moos was et lewd quite as favourable as it deserved.
A profane equivoque did once elicit some indignant hisem,
but the dancing seemed to pima The most agreeable part
of it, to our taste, was a Mazurka by the carp do ballet, yet
other parts of the entertainment, executed with dexterous
facility and abandon, provoked vociferous applause.