The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-04-26 00:00:00

NIXG'S TIIEArnE.

The curtain at this splendid theatre rose last night to a
brilliant house, full almost in every part. Tire pit was
choaked almost to suffocation, and not withstanding the re.
cess, a galaxy of fashion and beauty filled the boxes. The
opera might have hi en b •ttr r *retract,. The Nlarchece Se-
ri() s distortion of the tub's. tragedy of Offrello, for which
the genius of it issini has (lone almost all that could well
he accomplished, was selected for the first appearance of
Madame Pasta, who was the great attraction of the night;
she appeared as Pradenurria, after several years of absence
from this stage, and was greeted on her entry by the loud_
eat testimoni, sof welcome. lier appearance, we think, is
little changed, but in voice and power she is decidedly MI..
proved ; her execution is now Most finished, and nothing
could be more touching, than the pathos with which she
astthicaird liyact. a ppla nth d.
Asvisa a pie d' un nalice,
Ininterpa nel dolore
sung in many of th.: szenes in which she appealed. The
beautiful " aria,"
Palpita incerta I' alms ;
Dal ow mini la calms,
Twahse charminglyinpllgitutire and il delicious igicivoeuns, balladarien the
Genes tratitta Isaura
Dal pin crudcle amore,
which she sung to the harp, was poured out with the most
enchanting tenderness; her cadences were most finished
The conclusion of this charming " aria,"
stanca akin di spargere
Mesti acekniri e pianto,
Mori I' atilitta vergine
Ahi ! di quel sales ammo,
was enthusiastically encored. Madame Pasta's voice is I
very fine ; but her expreasion and execution rue even
superior to her power. With the excirtion of Madame
Catalani, and perhaps Feoelor, she is the first singer that
has appeared on this stage for years: great expectation was
excited by her announcement, and she fulfilled every anti-
cipation. At the close of the opera the curtain fell amid
loud and lmig-continued applause, and Madame Pasta was
as loudly called for. She appeared with dishevelled hair,
as she had closed the part of Desdesvogra, pale, and evidently
agitated, led on the stage by Garcia as Othetki; and, attic
making her acknowledgments to the crowded audience, she
retired amid deafening plaudits. Garcia filled the part of
()thrill) with great ability ; his acting and singing were
both very fine ; his powerful voice and execution were dis-
played to the greatest advantage throughout every scene; as
the jealous Moor. The song in the first act—
Ah ! si per voi psi some°
Nuovo valor Jul petto:
Per vni d'un nuovoaffetto

Sento infiammarsi it an:
was finely given ; so was the subsequent one, in the second
act, with Roderigo—

br or redral quad ehiudo
Giusto furor nel servo;
Si, vendteartni appieno
Di lei, di Sc
We wish some other opera had been chosen; this of
Othello is a wretched paraphrase of the great original,
and though the music m some parts is very fine, as a
whole, it is much inferior to Tuneredi, and other compoW..
turns of Rossini. Noblet, after two years absence, whether
allured by ancient attachment, or the persuasions of a great
northern Thane, again appeared with Albert last night,
and was warmly greeted. The latter is about to return
to Paris. The seamm at the Opera as yet has redeemed
little of the promise held out. Madame Pasta may
effect a change. Rossini's operas should not monopolize
the stage to the utter exclusion of Mozart. We are tired of
Othello, Zelmirit, and the endless repetition of the same
compositi 111 l s for weeks together, brought out without
change of any sort. It does not say much for the new
management. The season will now, however, we trust,
close more brilliantly than it began.

EXHIBITION -
OF TIIE
SOCIETY of PALVTERS in WATER-COLOURS,

..
(THE TWENTIETH,)
AT THE UALLEIT. No. 5, PALL.BIALE EAST.

Much as we have been delighted at the former exhi-
bitions of the members of this society, we think the present
exceeds any which they have hitherto submitted to the
public. It is natural that this should be the result of each
successive interval of improvement ; but it is not always
that public expectation, in this rest:wet, is so fully realises! :
and it must be extremely gratifying to the patrons of this
department of the art to observe the distinguished prows
it has made under their encouragement. In water-colour
painting this country is without a rival : it has bees
brought to its present state of perfection solely by the
genius and perseverance of British artists; and in every
branch of painting but the historic, it possesses many advan-
tages over oil painting. It cannot, of course, put pictures
of equal dimensions upon the easel ; but in /aartseape it
j produces a transparency of effect, and a delicacy and sweet-
ness of tone, which oil, from its thickness and tenacity, can
never attain. Both branches of the art, however, have
their respective and appropriate excellencies, and we have
no intention, by preferring the one, to depreciate the other.
The admirable productions of GAINSBOILOCGH and Wit-
: sore, and of other names of celebrity which we could
enumerate, would rise up in judgment against us, and
would presently extirpate our prejudices, if we felt them
j too strongly ; and the names o TURNER, &INSOLE,
RICHTER, NASIII"rH, Horta:en, and a whole host
of the modern school, would put us to shame, were
it possible that we could undervalue their admirable
and extraordinary talents. But the water-colour art
we cherish with a peculiar, but, we hope, a pardon-
able attachment, as a child of our own; and we point
to the performances of II E• PII Y, ROBSON Fl El D-
t l'aor T, it/ hii ions Mullis etx, with a feeling of national
pride, because their excellence is of our own growth ; it
is indigenous, and as such is mixed up with our prepare
sessions in favour of our country, and of the talents, of
whatever kind, which adorn it.
We think that the great advancement which thisbranch
of the art has made within thcse few years (for its birth is
but mode rn), may be mainly attributed to that freedom from
servile i 11l tat ion, which the absence of old masters has pre-
cluded, and which has of necessity left every artist to
follow the lead of his own conceptions, and to act from
the impulse of his own genius. Hence the originality and
freedom from manor, ism, which may be observed in the
different styles which the exhibitions of this Society pre..
sent. We have always been of opinion that much ill effect
has been produced in the progress of the art of painting in
this country, by the impressive injunctions of Sir Joshua
itryiulds, in his Di.wourses, which, on this subject, have
been received with a reverence which his authority, and
not their extensive utility, has obtained for them. " I
would chiefly re commend," says he, " that an implicit obe-
dience to the rules q. art, as established by the practice of
time great Nlasr Efts, should be exacted from the young
students; that these models which have passed through
the approbation of ages, should be considered by them as
per/ el and i,!frittihte guides; as subjects for their imita-
tion, not their criticism."

This is certainly requiring a much too rigid ad-
berence to the practice of the forefathers of the Art, and re-
pr...ssing all those eflOrts which always follow the aspirations
of an original and superior mind. To affirtn that they
should be subjects for imilaliun, but not of criticism. is
to say, in other woi IN, that students should be servile
copyists, and should never exercise their judgment on tit,.
merits or defects of the subject before them. This tone 0:
instruction is, to say the least of it, injudicious. If tl-r
ardent genius of the student should tempt Win to deviate.
and he should even fail to carry such deviation to any suc-
cessful effect, it is hater that experience should thus correct
his judgment, than that its suggestions should be for ever
overrultsl by exacting, in what ou;ht to imitate naiure, a
tight adherence to the rules of art.
The gallery was so thickly crowded with select visitors
as to prevent our examining the rictuses with that atten-
tion which would justify us in pas:sing any judgment on
their merits in detail ; we shall therefore postpone our re-
marks till we have examined them more at leisure.
• First Discourse, p. 11.

Miss Paton and Mr. Sinclair sang last week at the Musk
Hall, Liverpool.
MIL lONIAN, OR WOMAN IN TIIE N:NETRENTII
CENTUR v.—This is a work of unquestionable merit, replct e
with correct sent itncti a high tone of morality, and sound
religious instruction. Few female writers have acquired
the nervous mi. rgy of diction, and classic elegatic^ of style
which di-tint uis a tit' writings of this Lady. The w.sk
atounds with scenes of lively and intense interest.