The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-03-09 00:00:00

CO VE:171:-(i.1-1i.6 EN -7;11E ATEE.

A wir,colinenus Oratorio was performed at this theatre
!as! evening, the tirFt act of which was composed of tile
tomt yrrtd.ir airs and scenes from Der Freischuk, Vorder
w ina.,lme to:the public, personally, M. Von IVeber, who
I,NA:in from Germany on Monday bet. It was
aonowayd that he would undertake the direction of his
c.vn stol accordingly he appeared immediately pre-
viour, to the overture with his baton of office, and took his
station in fiont or the orchestra. lie was most warmly
grct-bil by a house literally overflowing in every part im-
tnekate:v pit r the opening of the doors. Inn educing the
rrei,eb.!.z into the Oratorio was the only means by

_
which We' quid he brought co tangildy before the public,
a:).l hall not lidd fault that such was the ease,

but at the same time we must pr.•tnise that the music could

no: bed ilLc proper ,iistice to midi. r such circumstances. Mr.
and Miss Paton were perfectly competent, having
tin it parts in the opera, vet that was not the
cas, in a vet al other instances ; looking at the reason
whicli h d to the production on this occasion, we do not
ink It neees,,ary to particularize further. M. Von
t: a: delighted with IL-alto:Ms " t /It ! 1 can bear my
faie no 1em:.1." recitative nod air ; and at its conclusion
shaek l'. ham most cordially by the hand, in token of
ha • .iiti'actioo. Ile nisei:appeared very much pleased with
Paton, and who is net? Ilir arena commancing
"It .';ire tor ry.ll beheld him,'• was most eili etive. The
last pleasing piece was the Jager chnnti ; it was, however,
•d, bin: very badly done on both occasions: the fleet
protiuced by it en the stage is well known, but that effect
was er.tir,•:c !oat in the instance of last night.
hai rev, r h.•en an °pet a produced in England from
which airs have become so popular, upon a general scale.
as that of ,a-r /'rri.tt•hniz. Their inthfence his p: evaded
a'l dusts, from the music-room of ;Loyalty to the itinerant
per:inmer, whew atizirto lies principally in collecting the
capper currency wh'ell is protruded from tbs... windows of
Lis admiring andierct•. From the noble ornatettr to he of
the w's-liarp—all have ft It their power, and own their
Every English theatre has produced " I'hr
Ltz," and Mr. Arnold no doubt congratulates him-
self not a little on having taktar the lead on so great an oc-
casion. The aspirants after fame, by performing in the
opera in question, have not lain contlird alone to those
whose taitlits command :amass ft-cm their celebrity, but
gar txteniltiiito the more humble departments of the drama.
The ;Indications to perwmate the owl and other leapt, in
the ke,.ntatien scene were " too numerous to mention ;" at
the sane time, if the representation of an old lady in
Drur:t -lane It IMP, the part ailutud to the bird of night
was no siaccure ; tor. io answer to a question as to " how
hit hen-apparent, Jon, was ?" she said " that he had
strestnei! himself into a consumption by playing that there
owl wbaCein Fry•hods."

As a cornrow. 11. V, n Weber stands pre-eminent for his
cri.;.inality, of sshieh lc,s Operas give sufficient examples.
We do not now abode to the airs introduced in Frei:elm/7,
because several of :!tent are old German melodies, but the
Overture, et!oprcbcothog the principal movements in the
piece, and those movements theimielve-a,—partieularly the
accompaniments in the incantation scene, arc masterpieces ;
t;:cir cern, has not been heard since Mozart , composed his
1: 11.1 i ranl,i. Ilis overture to Eurpaniiir also is supe-
rior to any thing of the present day; and Ins Preckso, al-
tinitiOt m.suceessful in this country, displays great power
ability. In point of comparison, M.Von \Velar comes
nearest to Beethoven, to whom alone he is inferior in re-
ct to musical talent, as he ig in those of general
X now and polite litcralure. The Preeleza in
t'tts country, and Eurya ni he at Vienna, must have been
ewing to the way in which they were dramatised, and not
fmn zny want of merit in the composer. We understand
M. V t Welter is engaged by Mr. C. Retuble to get up
ti.e op, ra of Cdicren ; if such is the case we shall anxiously
Itok forward to its representation, and we arc sure M.
IVehte will be highly gratified to see upon what a scale
of magnificence and txpense his operas are produced in
this country.

At the conclusion the applause was incesssnt ; the pit
s:ood up to a wan, staving their hats, while the cheers were
unei l frui:i every tart of the house. Weber was evidently
el.! time!' :ali'. ctrl, anti we cannot but think that his re-
ception :art o,.tlit !!), the British public must have lin-
prtrs.vil hitn ticith a deep sense of gratitude and respect.
Mr. Levis phyt'd a /of irtorri on the clarionet, which,
had he calkd it by any other name, would have smelt
as sweet.

7 he second act was a selection from Judas Maccit.

Leas, Red Mr. William distinguish( d himself in " 0,1
liberty, thou choicist treasure," in which he was delight-
fully aceompanitti on the violoncello by Mr. Brooks; as •
he did also in " sound an alarm," which was one of the •
bust things of the evening. ?Visa Paton was perfection in
" Front mighty Kings he sock the spoil."
The third act cominenced with an admired chorus of
M. ycrb..vr's from 11 ('rocieto in Fgitto, called "Dei con-
It is ahem the deer tfiruvre of that Opera, and
was my well done on this occasion. A Miss Roche sang
the Iri h ballad of " My Kathleen O'More" in a very de-
lightful manner, though she appeared to labour under
considerable trepid.ition: her voice appears to have great
sweetness and capacity, and we shall hope to hear her again
under circumstances of more self-confidence. Two Scotch
ballads ure always sung in succession; why such is the
case we are at a loss to imagine; no douht Sir George

Smart has a rt:::.on Itir it, but we confess, in our humble
judgment, that. is generally so much sameness in them
that an intervening English air would be preferable. Now
we would ask, %Tun whose recommendation "Cherry
ripe" was intr.ithicetl into these periennances ? It may be
an amusing ballad elsewhere, and there let it remain ; but

we thii.k it a degradation to the talents of Madame Vestris
to sing: it, after having no ably sustained the aria of " Una
fir." The Oratorio concluded with the chorus
Irkno ifandel's toronatio3 Anthem, which, from the
lice of ail the principal Fingers, went off very tamely
and we would Fit;;;:est tinit in future the first-rates should
not order their carriage.; up until such a sublime subject us
.that which concluded this thatoriu was disposed of.

NATIONAL SOClETT.—Ycsterday the General Com- ,
mince of the National Society for the Education of the
Poor in the Principle 4 of the Established Church, held
their Meeting at St. Martin's Vestry-roota. The Bishops,
of London, Ely, Bath and Wells, Exeter, Landatf, Glou-
ctster, Citester, St. David's; Lord Kenyon ; Right /lon.
Sir John Nichol ; Sir Jamts Longhair), Bart. ; Archtlea-
mins Cambridge and IVatson ; Rev. Dr. Bell, Rev. Dr.
D'Oyley. and other Members of the Committee, were pre-
as:nt. The Committee was chiefly occupied in uniting
schools, and making grants of money towards the erecting,
enlarging, and fitting up of school-rooms.
Some people have an objection to thirteen at dinner. Dr.
Kitchener, the other day, happened to be one of a com-
pany of that number, and on its being remarked and pro-
nounced unlucky, he said—" I admit that it is unlucky in
one case." " What ease is that ?" " When there is only
dinner fur twelve."