The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-30 00:00:00

calmly crossed upon her bosom. Indisputable as the
success achieved by Mdlle. Lagrua was clearly in the
first act, that success was more than confirmed in the
second—it was very considerably enhanced, becom-
ing an unmistakeable triumph before the fall of the
curtain. Then it was, indesd,in the concluding moiety
of the opera that her powers were signalised at their
best and highest. Her " Deh I con te, con to li-
prendi," in which she commits her children (and
Pollio's) to the care of Adalgisi—her tender, loving,
bewitching " Qual cor tradisti, qual cor per-
desti," in which she makes her final and
at last effectual appeal to the heart of Pollio, the
perjured Proconsul whose affections have been
estranged from her by his later and fatal passion
for Adalgisa—above all, her kneeling, tearful, heart-
broken appeal to her father, Oroveso, the appeal in
which she invokes him to guard her little ones
from destruction—crowned, confirmed, completed,
we may say perfected, the triumph achieved last
evening by Madlle. Lagrua. Hers in effect has
been a success justifying that unusual passage in
the Prospectus of the Season thus auspiciously in-
augurated—that, we believe, almost unprecedented
passage in an Opera Manager's Prospectus—in
which Mr. Gye thus announced the advent of
Madlle. Lagrua :—" It has never," said Mr. Gye,
" been the habit of the Director of the Royal Italian
Operatto herald forth the praises of artistes about to
make their first appearance at his theatre, however
great their continental reputations may have been ;
and in the case of the engagement of Madlle.
Lagrua it is not his intention to depart from this
custom any further than to express a very confi-
dent hope that this artiste will sustain in London
the reputation which she now enjoys abroad,
viz.—that of being, in the Opera Saria, by
far the greatest dramatic singer of the, period."
That confident hope of the Director has now been
realized.

We have said that the cast of the opera generally
was attractive by reason of its novelty as a east—
Maisie and Clothilde being the only characters not
newly portrayed last night to a Covent Garden audi-
ence : the former having been allotted to Signor
Rossi, the latter to Madame Tagliafico. It should
be remarked at once, however, that while Madlle.
Battu had, as announced, " kindly consented" to
assume the part of Adalgisa, she has by so doing
added yet another leaf to her already umbrageous
laurels. The same may as certainly be said of
Signor Naudin, whose Pollio may take rank at once
among his most gracious performances. Of the new
basso Signor Attri, we can hardly venture to pro-
nounce an opinion, hearing him as we have only
yet done as the Druid chief Oroveso—a cha■
racter affording him no opportunity for the
display of his possibly large capabilities, both
lyrical and histrionic. Signor Costa's ap-
pearance in the orchestra wtis the signal
for his great annual ovation—his matchless
dexterity in wielding the baton, as evidenced by
the performers both on the stage and in the
orchestra, serving yesterday to signalise anew the
secret of his popularity. The National Anthem,
it should be said, preceded the opera—the fall of
the curtain, at the close of Norma, being duly
followed by a divertisement, in which Madlle. Sal-
vioni re-appeared before her admirers.
To-morrow evening "Norma" will be repeated,
and on Saturday next Mario is to make his first
appearance this season as Masaniello.