The Express.
London, England, 1858-04-01 00:00:00

THE ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

At length the patient and energetic voyagers in
search of a fitting temple for the grand lyric drama
begin to see land. The Royal Italian Opera-house,
Covent garden, rapidly approaches completion, and
will positively, unless some untoward and wholly
unexpected accident should intervene, be ready for
opening at the appointed time, namely, the lath of
May next. As everything in England is made the
subject of a bet, from a royal marriage to the execu-
tion of a criminal, many books have been made re-
lative to the opening of the new theatre, and up to
the present moment the odds appeared to be against
the appointed opening; but any one who visited the
works yesterday must have been convinced that
there is nothing now left for the anti-
opening party but to " hedge" as quickly as
possible. Amongst the visitors yesterday was a
gentleman who had gone over the works only
six and thirty hours before, and even he was sur-
prised at the marvellous progress which had been
made in that short space of time. On the occuion
of his first visit the immense iron frame work of the
proscenium opening hung, as it were, in the air, but
in the interim two heavy masses of brickwork had
been raised from the foundation, so that on the
second suit he found the boundaries and elevation
of the stage both accurately defined. As Hercules,
it is said, may be measured by his foot, we mention
this little fact as calculated to give some approxi-
mate idea of the universally rapid progress of the
works. Looking at the exterior, covered though it
still be from top to bottom with a perfect spider's
web of scaffolding, with bricklayers and bricklayers'
labourers, with pain and tackle, and ropes hanging
down, and hodmen climbing up, one is already able
to see pretty clearly that we shall soon have com-
plete the noble building promised in Mr. Gye's pre-
liminary wood-cut. The walls have been long since
raised to their greatest elevation, the external orna-
mentation is rapidly going on, and at the Row-abut
entrance the magnificent portico is very nearly
finished. In endeavouring to convey to the public a
hasty idea of the building, inside and out, to which
they will soon be Hocking in shoals from every part
of the kingdom, we cannot do better than begin at
this portico, which, not very long ago,it was intended
to have been left over for another year. To such men
as Mr. Gye, however, unfinished work is always an
eye-sore, and therefore extra pressure was put on,
extra exertions were made, and the result is that the
audience of the 15th May will drive up
under a magnificent piazza, completely glazed
and sheltered from the weather, and above
the said piazza will be reared the classic
Corinthian portico of the design, considerably larger
than that of St. Martin's Church, with its six mas-
sive columns, their capitals in the most elaborate
style of the order, and with a bold and striking
pediment over all, bearing the Royal arms as its
central decoration. At the back of this portico are
five large windows looking into the crush-room, and
the wall above them is ornamented with Flaxman's
well-known relievi, part of the scanty salvage of the
great fire. Outside the portico, at each end, are the
Tragedy" and " Comedy" of the same artist, also
saved from destruction, and beyond these, two lofty
pilasters at each end complete the grand façade.
The lower portion of all this front work is now
finished, and the proximate completion of the whole
may be easily prognosticated by even the most casual
observer.

To understand the details that are about to follow
it will be necessary to premise, or to repeat, for it
probably has been stated before, that the outer form
of the building is that of a parallelogram, some
230 feet long, by 130 feet in breadth, and having, to
the top of the back wall, a height of 100 feet. The
roof is formed of the massive iron girders, to which
allusion has before been made, and the placing of
which on their lofty supports has been one of the
most arduous and hazardous portions of the opera-
tions. We must suppose the immense interior,
enclosed by this immense mass of brick and iron
work, to be divided transversely into three sections,
of which 90 feet are given to the stage, 90 to the
auditory, and from .50 to SS to the entrances, vesti-
bule, and crush-room. Entering at Bow-etreet, and
alighting under the comfortable and well-sheltered
piazza, the fashionable world will ascend stair-
cases of solid and magnificent proportions,
and at the top will find the " crush " room
large enough to render its familiar name an almost
obsolete term. The most anxious care has been
taken in providing the greatest facility for exit and
entrance to the boxes, into one of which we shall
now just step, and take an anticipatory glance at the
interior arrangement/ of the house. One of the first
things that here strikes the eye is the excellent ac-
commodation which Mr. Gye has provided for that
musical public which he may be said to have created,
a public who cannot afford to pay four or five guineas
for an opera box, a public which it does not suit to
don full evening costume for the pit, but a public
which still likes to line music in its perfection, and
which is therefore a warm supporter of the Royal
Italian Opera. To the amphitheatre stalls, in which
evening dress is optional, Mr. Gye has devoted an
immense semicircle, cutting the third tier of boxes,
and touching at each end the greatest di-
ameter of the interior. It will be, therefore, a real,
veritable amphitheatre, not an apparently slave
aperture, half stolen from the roof, but descending a
tier lower than any previous amphitheatre; while
behind, and above it, the gallery will be a propor-
tionate advance on all previous arrangements, as it
will take in the whole breadth of the theatre, and
be so arranged as that every sitter will have a per-
fect view of the stage. Every one knows that
in these elevated localities, and more especially in the
case of the grand operas of the Covent-garden
repertoire, the music will be heard to the best
advantage; so that the enjoyment of first-class
operatic music will no longer be an unattainable
luxury to persons of moderate means, or of unam-
bitious toilettes, while the creme de to creme will
have no reason to complain of any intrusion ou their
exclusive domain, as there will bean entirely distinct
and Fate set of entrances for the amphitheatre
and gallery. The three tiers of boxes will present great
nove ty in construction ; the pillars by which they
are to be supported, and which are already in position
throughout the house, being placed not under the
external cornice, but midway between it and the
wall, so that the cornice, supported as it were on
brackets, will present a clear sweep all round the
house, and the whole of the grand and first tier of
boxes may in a few hours be converted into a dress
and first circle as in ordinary theatres. The effect
of this will be that should it be deemed expedient,
which is not improbable, to devote Covent-garden
to its old dramatic uses in the winter season, there
will be none of those structural difficulties in the
way that existed in the old Opera House. The iron
pillars as they stand now in long semi-circular rows,
look unfinished and desolate indeed, but it mast be
remembered that, contemporary with their erection,
one contractor is busy with the chairs and stools,
another with partitioning, a third with the draperies,
a fourth with the rich decorations of the cornice,
and so on. Nearly all of these departments have
now their work complete, and all they want Is the
signal that the house is clear of masons and carpen-
ters, and blacksmiths, to come in and "fixture " and
furnish it in a twinkling. The prevailing colours
of the decorations will be blush white and gold,
most profusely and elaborately ornamented ; and
the draperies crimson damask, of which colour end
material • the drop scene will also be formed. The
ceiling will represent a sky, covered all over with a
rich trellis-work of gold, and will contain all the
newest and most approved aids to ventilation. The
several tiers of boxes will present an enceinte of con-
siderably greater dimensions than that of the old I
house, while the Dumber of boxes will be no
greater, so that, taken along with the
greatly increased altitude of the boxes, an
immense gain will be effected for the audience in
MP and comfort. The same remark holds good of
the pit and pit-stalls, which, although the breadth of

the home is tan feet more than that of its prede-
cessor, will only contain the same number of seats,
and in the pit a greatly enlarged interval will be
allowed between the rows—a boon which will be
thankfully acknowledged by every stout amateur
who has ever attempted the pawge to a central seat
on a crowded night. By a peculiar mode of con-
structioo, what is technically called the " rake" of
the pit can be increased to any required eagle, and
here will be another facility, should it be thought
desirable to devote the house to dramatic perform-
ances in the winter. The stage, for which great
sacrifices have been made, will be one of the largest
in Europe : its superficies will be, as nearly as pos-
sible, ninety feet square, and the opening of the
proscenium fifty feet across, being thirteen more
than in her Majesty's Theatre, while the depth
will be, as nearly as possible, three times as great.
The arrangements for the miss en scene will be of
the most extended and improved description. In
addition to the " drops" and ascending scenes, the
space allotted to side and " set" scenery is sufficient
for all the effects of the grandest spectacle and,
above all, in the roof is situated the largest painting
room in Europe, with machinery so arranged that
the artist can paint the most extended panorama
standing on the level, the canvas being capable of
being roiled up and down or laterally according as
he may require it. When it is remembered that
mach of the scenery of the peat theatres is painted
on the floor, the artist walking over his work as fast
as be finishes it, and thus giving it a haltworn out
appearance before it is presented to the public, the
value of this improvement in the arrangements
of the Man= will be at once appre-
ciated. There is little more, however, to be
said of the interior arrangements of the
magnificent building now so nearly approaching
completion, except that her Majesty s private box
will be on the north side, on the grand tier, and that
for state occasions the cornices and boxes awing the
stage have been so constructed as to allow of the
erection of a regal pavilion of unusual splendour,
which from its height, decoration, and its opening I
in the rear into a -brilliantly illuminated retiring
saloon, will be quite as attractive a spectacle as the
Pat on the stage.
pageant
faltihe musical arrangements of the Royal Italian
Opera it will be of course premature to speak. It is
certain, we believe, that we shall have Mario, Tam-
berlik, Gardoni, and Neri Band& as tenors, and
Grisi and Bosio as prime donne. Other names, of
great continental reputation, are also spoken of, but
there is only one thing of which the public can be
positively certain, and that is, that everything that
money and the most untiring exertions can secure,
will be produced by Mr. Gye for their entertainment
during the ensuing season. Flotow's opera of Martha
has been spoken of for the opening night, but we
believe that as yet nothing definitive has been
arranged.
It was on the 31st December, 1808, that his Royal
Highness the Prince Regent, Mr. Thackeray's
favourite fourth George, laid in great form the foun-
dation stone of the late Royal Italian Opera-house,
then Covent-garden Theatre. His Royal Highness,
we are told, decorated with the splendid orders of
masonry, and attended by the Duke of Sussex,
Generai Hulse, Colonels NPMahon and Bloomfield,
and a deputation from all the masonic lodges of
the metropolis, was met at the Bow-street
entrance by the Earl of Moira, deputy grand-
master, and Messrs. Harris and Kemble, and
was conducted to a royal marquee, amid the
acclamations of a vast crowd of spectators.
The guard of honour lowered their colours, a royal
salute was fired, and the bands of music in attend-
ance all struck up " God save the King." The formal
details, the placing the coins, the striking with the
trowel, then followed ; and we are finally told that
" such was the indefatigable attention of the archi-
tect and the exertions of the builder, that the new
theatre was opened on the 18th September, 1809,
with the tragedy of Macbeth."
The Prince, the generals, the colonels, and the
actors of that time have all passed away, but not all
the spectators, for we had the pleasure yesterday of
conversing with a gentleman, still looking reasona-
bly juvenile, and decidedly vigorous, who saw the
" first gentleman in Europe" at his work, and re-
members that he was contented to walk along on
green baize, instead of the royal crimson which now
receives the royal footsteps on all state occasions.
The theatre has gone too, but a statelier, handsomer,
more useful one has risen in its stead. Let us hope
for it, and for its enterprising proprietor, a long and
prosperous career.