The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-01-03 00:00:00

tHEAY'RES.

xiia's THRATIS. •Le No..= di Figaro was performedei Sa.
turday night. A SIBROORTTI, in the Comet, was
ably seconded by Madame Bitm.ocus. iu Sitswista.
Her expressive eye (how properly she is nald !) .
and demure carriage, left nothing untold, even
,to
her English hearers ; at the same time fief vuioi
and execution are so efficieut and ready, she
towers over the most difficult elevations of her art .
so easily, as, with her general audience, to compeo.
mise the merit of her feat. We have said thus
much of her, which would have been otherwise ob.
trusive, from a feeling-that she is not always fairly
dealt with. Sundry exceptions have been taken
ngsittst her manner, especially one, which has been art
up against what is supposed to be her too candid de-
velopement of feeling. This objection seems to be
a relic of potitanistii, which disqualifies those who
entertain it from breathing lawful members of an
Operatic Areopagus. The fact seems to be dist the
Lady has, passing through the formality which very
properly obscures the sensibilities of her sex to ;ge-
neral, given up her whole porter to the expression
of those emotions which belong to the character
she assumes. These are generally emotions of de-
light, for en opera is comintnily a series of
happy sensations, which, even in a tragic one, are
shed profusely over the incidents. In all this
BELLOCIII is it home. She is a sister spirit to her
of whom MOORS says—
" Her's is the lay that lightly Boats,
And her's are the murmuring dying notes,
That fall as soft as snow on the sea,
Aud melt on the heart as instantly;
And the passionate strain that, deeply going,
Refines the bosom it trembles through—
As the inuidc.wind, over the waters blowing,
Rollin the wave, but sweetens it too.
We should like to say half as mach for Madame
CORRI, who gave such great promise of future ex-
cellence on her first arrival, but has at best remain-
ed stationary ever since. It was, to be sure, a
severe night, sod a frosty medium is a bad auxiliary
to musical vibrations, and Italian music is said to
thrive hest where oranges can ripen in the orchards.
CORRI'S execution does not differ more from
that of BELLOCHI, than a pencil sketch from
• full-drawn and well-coloured painting. She
assumes a pomp of art, and her strains are evolved
with such appearance of difficulty and indifference,
as to hurt their value. It must be owned that the
piece is not the hest for abetting the repute of the
performers. MOZART could never write amiss:
he could not write without revealing unexplored
regions of fancy, or visions of beauty before unno-
ticed in those moat commonly known. But there
is less of his wondrous novelty and passionate Ms-
pressiventib 111 The Marriage of Figaro than in any
of his pieces. In its effect on the feelings, there
seem. to be little comparison between " Voi che
supete," the most tender composition is ligament)
" AA! lo so," in II Flans° Magic*, which latter
piece has, moreover, abusedanct of things of the same
kind, equally good. The superb martial 4nove-
uncut, " Non pin Andrai," is the chief character
of distinction its Figaro, as, though ale species of
composition not the most lofty, there is floating of
its kind which can be quoted to its disadvantage.
There is no end to discoursing on the materials
which form this rich fund of faueiful sad its.
tellectual gratification. We shall therefore close
our remarks on the opera by hoping that
the spirit which has infused Dew life into the
interests and character of this eutertaiameut of
late, may still continue its impulse, sod give us
the opportunity of enjoying the excellencies of those
great seaters, whose names would fill a page, and
help us to form an intitnecy with them as perfect
as the Managers have lately established for us with
MozaßT.
It seems there is another piece of Rosstut's
forthcoming. Boom is frequently good, but we
would submit whether it would not be better fur
Ithe Managers to ransack some of the scours of the
older masters, and enable its to drink at the foun-
tain that which in general fills Rosstrit's tepid
rivulet. Rossini has beau very happily called " a
pretty thief."

DRURY-LAWIL

fIOADLEY'S amusing comedy of The Suspicious
Husband was 'performed it this theatre on Saturday
evening, and ELLISTOW delighted the tuwu with his
gay and aininated picture of the lively and eccentric
Ranger. In our modern comedies the rake is gene-
rally the favourite of the author, and in such hands
as Mr. ELtirrors's cannot fail of becoming the
favourite of the audience also ; but the foibles of
Ranger are so delightfully blended with, and soften-
ed down by his generous spirit and high sense of
honour, that they can leave no impression injurious
to the morel character or any one. His object in
life is avowedly the pursuit of pleasure, and he fol-
lows it with a spirit that seems to acknowledge no
priuiriple of restraint, but there is no vice in his
composition, and he is ever willing to sacrifice his
own gratifications to the interest or happiness of
others. The author, however, seems to have
despaired of completely reforming his rake, mid
therefore, unlike the generality of other au-
thors, 'suffered the play to close without re-
stricting his hero's liberty. The jealousy of
Mr. Strictland was very effectively represented
by Mr. POPE: and Mrs. Owns, as his lady, bore
his passion with all due meekness and submission.
Mrs. GLovits played the lively Clarinda with
spirit, and Mrs. MARDYN Was a very pretty Ja.
cintha. Her disguise of a young gentleman of
fashion became her extremely well.
The comedy was succeeded by the new panto-
mime of Jack and the Bean Stalk. Miss Poircv,
as Jack, played very prettily, and sang several
airs in a manner that delighted and astonished the
house. To a strength and flexibility of voice un.
common in a young lady of her age, Miss PovEY
unites a sweetness and dehcacy of expression which
have seldom been equalled, and which leave MA
doubt that, with proper cultivation, she must at
no distant period rank very highly aiming the best
professors in the vocal department. The tricks,
and transformations were very cleverly executed,
and the whole pantomime went off with eclat.—
Indeed a more diverting pantomime, iu bustle mid
'wholly, in variety and beauty of scene, and quick
succession of tricks and incidents, has not been
produced for many years.
A masonic hall is about to be erected at Slier•
borne ink a site grouted bb Earl' Dion.

. .
411:
•
•
flar
• Oft*
THE 1810111e11. FAMILY.
• 4, .
The members oflhe BooSperte Canal, scent deo:
that! to complain for ever before Judge}, instituted
by the legitimate Kiog, Muter of theaselves
Third persons. Madathe thd,"Pvincess of Wirtettt-
berg is now presecuring ../.10111p the needle !CAL
Duchess of Montfort; and` in virtue of her roatti.
Mouial right,, is wife of Jerome Bonaire/tr., ad
action against ~:irgypiskers of the capital, id
which the edmitii n of M. and Madame -Bac:
ciociii, at the time wheu they were it nob
the riocivuiity of Lucca, appears to beillgrpated.
M. Hetinerluin, the advocate of the Du-liese or
Montfort. stated, that at the restoration of 1814,
Jerome Bonaparte entertained some epprehensions
on account of two superb estates, situater(in the
Tooraine, which he had purchased from stmtchel,
the younger, fur a suet of from eight tease hun-
dred thousand fumes. Ills agents therefore agreed
to exchange them with some French spetulators,
who gave him in return atone lauds, situate id the
pronetpality of Lower, and the province.of Massa
Ca-rans. This precaution proved not only useless, bid
unfortunate. The law of 1816 stripped the mensberi
of 'lke Boimparte faintly only of 'property received
by them gratuitously. The persons, therefore,
Who made this exchange, remained in peaceable
possession of the lauds of Villandry and of
' Stains, while Jerome Bonaparte was dispossessed of
his Italian property upon the claims of the Court of
Austria, which supported the pretensions of the
Archduchess Beatitx. Tire sales were annulled,
nut presisely as tratervi„ hut as having been effected
by deceit and a fraudulent concert between M.
Becciochi and the purchasers, to impose upon the
Freud' Government itself. Madame the Duchess
of Montfort claims that the contract of exchange
should be motioned its conformity with articles 7i7
and 729 of the Civil Code. M. Henuequin pleaded
her cause yesterday, and the came is adjourned fur a
week, when M. Triples will be heard on the °their
side.—(Journal des Debuts of the 30th December.)

V.

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