The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-03 00:00:00

SUN,

68s to 729. English sells slowly at 603 to 789; low 52s to
535, and fresh 5s Gd to lOs per dozen pounds. Bacon is
in plentiful supply. Operations have been limited and
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FOREIGN THEATRICALS.
have presented themselves to public a nt n
FRANCA.IS.—Of the countless young dramatists
tti°that
France of late years, one name alone holds
in the public mind, that of M. Ponsard.
effort, the tragedy of Lucrice, won for him atfirst
once
distinction and the honourable success arising from
a
work of distinguished merit, obtaining for its
asits placen
'Thor
admiration and esteem for what he has done, and for
what he may fairly expect to do hereafter, With
sincerena-
turally
interest, regarded
perfectly t he announcea
warme eonf t
the of his
dangerous.
such prepossessions in favour of M. Ponsarcl we
he was entering upon, should he
essay to alare
with
anyn ait
part of the " Odyssey," in which wekh
revive
the
obstacles heldand hold
obstacles to complete success to
be entirely s
insur-
mountable. For we deem it nothing less than hope-
less impossibility to attempt to
transfer into the
courtly and elegant language of France the golden
richness or the concentrated strength of the glorious
old Greek. The tragedy is in five aeh,
last being denominated, forintelligi-
ble not very reason, the prologue and
epilogue, on the rising
of the curtain we find ourselves in the 13th book of
the Odyssey; Ulysses, after his long years of pil-
grimage, has at length reached
the coasts
Ithaca, and is discovered onshore, where
the A-
more Homeric. to lament the perfidy
the Phmcians have disembarked himse
with all his
the first and
treasures while asleep. IT
—. awakes, and commences
cians, who have abandoned him on an unknown
land, for Minerva has surrounded the son of Laertes
with a mist, which prevents him from recognising
his native soil. After invoking the vengeance
dof
as in the Odyssey, to count over his vi
Jupiter on the heads of his late hosts, he proiceeeh 0,
of the Phoaa-
Mmerivn scarcely concluded his enumeration when
makes her appearance disguised as a peasantb between
the the well-known interview takes Placer is the goddess and the king, in which llom. ena,
before
imi-
tated with scrupulous fidelity. Pallas A.tn.ee9,,, enters
disclosing herself to the " divine Laertia?
into a description of the beauty and
fruitfulness of
wealth. I. has
Ithaca, and concludes by informing
him
arrived in his own kingdom. She then acquaintshim
with the depradations committed in his place by
Penelope's riotous suitors ; and preclude the
, to that he has
possibility of his being recognised by mortal
eye before the hour of von
canoe shall have
aged arrived, she transforms him into an
mendi-
cant. The goddess and the "hero son of Laertes," then
separate, and he proceeds to the
dwelling of the
trusty EUMOUS, who receives him with genuine Gre-
cian hospitality. M. Ponsard, however, does not give
displays in Homer. In the libations
the worthy swineherd credit for all the generosity he
which follow
the repast an invocation to Jupiter, imploring him to
grant the speedy return of Ulysses to his country,
and a graceful paraphrase of one of the odes of Ho.
race, describing the disastrous consequences of the
rape of Helen, produced a marked impression. Tele-
machus now appears and by command of Minerva
Ulysses discovers himself to him alone, and they
together concert the plan for destroying the suitors
of Penelope. The
next act introduces us to the in-
terior of the palace, to the chaste and prudent Pene-
lope, " like unto Artemis and the golden Aphrodite,"
to the nurse Euryclea, to the suitors, and to the hand-
maids of the Queen. Ulysses, presented by Tele-
machus as a friend of his father's, is received with
every demonstration of regard, and Euraclea is
ordered to wash the stranger's feet, which she pro-
ceeds to do, coram public°, an
operation which
excited considerable merriment on the
part of the
public. The nurse recognizes her master by means
of the scar on his foot, and it is with difficulty he
induces her to repress her joy, and thus discover him
to his enemies. The candidates for the hand of the
long-widowed Penelope, now peremptorily insist on
her choosing a husband from among them, and every
expedient for delay being exhausted, she at last pro-
poses the test of the bow, and promises that the suitor
who shall be strong enough to bead the famous wea-
pon of Ulysses, and with sufficient skill to send an
arrow from it through twelve rings, shall obtain her
hand. All this, and the scene of the banquet which
follows, is translated with graceful elegance. After the
feast is over, Penelope appears with the terrible bow ;
the suitors all vainly attempting to bend it; when Ulysses
requests leave to examine the well-known arm, and
lo !in his hands it becomes as flexible as a reed. His
unerring arrow flies from the bow, passing through
every ring without grazing their circlets ; he then
turns to the dismayed and astonished suitors, and ac-
quaits them that he is the returned monarch. After
reproaching them for their pillage and outrages on
his household, he raises the fatal bow, and the hour
of vengeance commences. The fifth act, or epilogue,
finds Ulysses seated on his throne, and the first act
is to punish the hand-maids of the Queen for sharing
in the disorders and libertinism of the fallen suitors.
The cautious Penelope, however, refuses to recognise
her husband, until he gives a description of the
thalamus, the naivete of which frequently excited
the hilarity of the public ; she is, however, at
length convinced ; Minerva makes her appearance in
a cloud, and, after congratulating her favourite on
the successful termination of his labours, ascends to
-Olyinpus, and the piece concludes. We should
perhaps before have mentioned that the tragedy is
interspersed with chorusses and incidental music
composed by M. Gounod ; an innovation which led
us at first to imagine that M. Ponsard contemplated
a revival of the old Greek tragedy, in which the
chorus played so important a part. This is not
however, the case, as the tragedy would be equally
intelligible without them, though M. Gounod has
performed his task with a taste and classic feeling
which place his contribution to the work among the
most admired parts of the performance. The instil-
mentation, designedly unobtrusive, breathes a spirit
of poetry and freshness, conjoined with an antique
simplicity, admirably characteristic. It was in-
variably rewarded by the audience with applause,
save in the instance of a solo hymn by the bard
Phemius. A martial chorus of swineherds, how-
ever, of a very different facture, deservedly ob-
tained the honours of the bis. On the whole Ulysse
will not add anything to the reputation of M. Pon-
sard ; it has, indeed, rather the air of a college
prize-poem than a drama for the modern stage. It
was fairly but not remarkably acted ; Geffroy was
the Ulysses, which he performed with his usual judi-
cious care ; Delaunay looked Telemachus admirably,
and probably performed it as well as the part ad,
mitted. Madlle. Nathalie was Minerva. Madlle.
Judith and Madme. Thenard made consmendosierunt.
fruitless efforts to give a classical an to their per-
son ation s of Penelone-4—d-Enryclea. The scenery
by MM. Nolteandllube was excellent; and, as a
U eantiquarian
study, rather than as a striking
drama, tllyne may be classed as successful. The
names of the author and the composer of the
music were each honourably received, the expres-
sion its favour of the latter possibly somewhat pre-
dominating.
PORTE ST. MARTIN. The greater the amount
greeter its success. Hence the very favourable m-
ot' horrors crammed into a melodrama here, the
eeptloo of the last novelty, Les Nuits de la Seine,
bey, I'l• Mare Fournier. The trash is mixed up with
attraction
the horrors committed by night on
the nocturnal population of Paris, dla Sue; the great
' description
°indof ativivid portraiture of the mceure of
Verdi's E
scenery, which is admirable, and the piece, such
as it is, i
o.ghtl truly wds
of Les Nuits_ de la Seine, however, is its
rnenu has been produced at Pesth, where
its reception left nom' be desired. Mme. Man-
dui, and Mea Max ing to
and
De Antony, are well
spoken of in the e .1'
y Ittracts cro .
M. Slake. thes_teelPal parts.
At Seville
sen ores had great success at Sa-
ragossa, in La Sonn -
Agar con
Fuego, has met anew
poser's name is not menutiroa 'lea
opera in Spanish,
favourable reception with
Mme. Montenegro witha
da
M. Guasco, the well-known
and Echarte ;
the author is Don Vennt MM.
is Vega, but the com-
next spring season at Vienna.nwn
The Italian journals are loud in Madame Castellan is said to be engaged for next
season at Lisbon. tenor, is engaged for
Madame Rugger() Antonioli,
Abigaila in Verdi's Nabucco they their praise of a
whose performance of
M. Mercadante is announced to
don itself. ey describe as perfece
be engaged on a
carnival new opera to be produced next
Carlo, of Naples. •
Donizetti's Marino Faliero has been revived at
limns for MM. Didot and Malvezz;, and Madame
of in ter
Garibaldi Bassi, all of whom are spoken '
ms
Of commendation.
At Naples Madame Penco and M.J. Pancani and
Rossi are stated to have made a favourable impression
, in Otello.
Madlle. Maray has appeared as Rosina in the Ral•4.im-
mortal 1.;
—ere at Vienna, and if the accounts are to
be relied on
with extraordinary success. A new
opera by Ricci, Il Marito e l'Amante, has been
favourably
received, Madames Medori, De Meric, and
and De easily
MM. Fraschini B • • , playing the principal
parts.