The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-11 00:00:00

THE ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

Rossini's " Barbiere di Siviglia,"
The repetition last night of Signor Rossini's cele-
brated lyrical comedy, in two acts, " II Barbiere
di Siviglia," went off as radiantly as the first per-

formance of it this season on Saturday evening.

The house was, if possible, still more crowded than
on Saturday, being in effect thronged with one of
the most brilliant audiences that has responded this

year to Mr. Gye's unflagging enterprize. The cast
of the "Barbiere" has, upon the whole, per-
haps, n3ver been more effective since the
date of its first appearance from the hand of the

maestro. Nor, indeed, can this apparently extrava-

gant assertion be at all wondercd at, when note has
been simply taken of the apportionment of the

three principal characters ! A more charming,
sprightly, gracious, vivacious Rosina surely never
warbled out of the balcony of Dr. Bartolo's palazzo,
than Mademoiselle Patti, who was last night in
delicious voice throughout the performance. As
for signor Mario's Count Almaviva—that, by the
way, has long been perfectly well known in all the
principal capitals of Europe as one of the great
tenor's most delightful impersonations. And al-
though Mario's once matchless organ is not now
(naturally) what it was for so many years,
what it still continued to be, until very
recently, namely, in one word, unrivalled
his perfect mastery of the art requisite
in a veritable prime Lenore, his handsome
presence, and his inimitable acting, still render him
altogether, even now, in spite of the wear and tear
apparent in his voice, unrivalled in this, if in no other,
character : and we ourselves consider him to be still
unrivalled in several others! If in no other charac-
ter, all will at least allow him to be unrivalit;cl, we
say, in the character of Count Almaviva. And
then—the Figaro of last ea en lag! The
Figaro of the Royal Italian Opera Company,
still, in this year of grace 1864 ! The " Figaro sit,"
the "Figaro gift," the " Figaro qui," the " Figaro
li"—was there ever a more comics], capricious, mer-
curial, animated, inspiriting Figaro than Signor
Ronconi ? Well, " Hurdly possible !" we should
say—and who that has seen him will hesi-
tate ono instant to say that with us ?
Look at him! Listen to him! And then—
even supposing you to be naturally a curmudgeon,
and unnaturally one suffering at the time from an
attack of indigestion—preserve your habitual gra-
vity of countenance—if you can! Ronconi's Figaro,
in effect, we would unhesitatingly pronounce to be
a certain remedy for dejection, for lowness of
spirits, in fact for all the evil consequences of
hypochondria. His jabbering, his pirouetting,
his very way of strumming the guitar, his grotesque
imitations, every now and then, of the highest
notes of the soprano, of the tenderest notes of the
tenor, and of the deepest notes of the basso—imita-
tions ridiculously echoing the very tone and manner,
as one may say, now of Madlle. Patti, now of Sig-
nor Mario, now of last night's capital impersona-
tor of Doctor Bartolo, to wit, Signor Ciampi—
each and all of these and of the many other name•
less vagaries of Ronconi's Figaro, we would here
fain point to as a certain means of exorcism for
those horrible little imps, the Blue Devils. Observe
his very way of tucking his barber's. napkin under
Dr. Bartolo's chin, of lathering that same un-
shorn chin of the old Dactor—(lathering
it up to the eyes, and wiping some of the
suds on the top of the Doctor's head !)—watch him
in that frightfully ludicrous way he has of flourishing
his razor within a hair's breadth of Dr. Bartolo's
nose—and hear him all the while talking and
laughing and singing as it were altogether—and
then go in search of a better Figaro than Ronconi'a
—if you like I But—Oh that conventional Italian
method of lyrical comedy ! If it be not absolutely
high treason, that is, to say ao! If, moreover,
in saying so, it be not the very depth of dis-
graceful ingratitude to our incomparable maestro
Rossini ! Well—if it be nothing of all this-0 that

conventional Italian method, again we say it, of
lyrical comedy ! We don't allude to Figaro alone,
or to Count Almavive, or to Rosina, or to
any of the rest of the characters—we refer rather
to what may be called the staple commodity em- '
ployed in the fabrication of the whole "Barbiere."
And that ? Well, who will fail to rectal it to mind
when we speak of it as —ia between the veri-
table music of the opera, in between the solos and
the concerted pieces—as—neither singing, nor yet
talking, but an indescribable something made up
of the two together, and this talking•singing, or
singing-talking, streaked all through, at uncertain
intervals, with discordant scrapes on the violen-
cello or the double bass, by way of accompaniment !
Sudden, abrupt scrapes—half scream half growl—
more like the moanings of a broken-winded old cow
in the cellar than anything else in the wide world.
This being, of course—the fan of the thing, the
Italian comic, the musical grotesque—yet, all the
while, a method, we maintain, purely and (to our
mind at least) most irritatingly conventional ! There
it is, however, and, of course, being Rossini's and in
the "Barbiere,'' it is to be accepted, no doubt, as the
correct thing, though, again and again we say it,
a method purely and quite intolerably conventional !
Between whiles, however, in amongst this
incoherent mass of song-talk—streaked with those
harsh scrapes across the strings of the violoncello
—what indubitable, delightful, sometimes per-
fectly delectable music there is in this "Barbiere
di Siviglia!" Now, in the very first scene, that
delicious serenade of the Count, " 0 dolce conten to,"
charmingly given by Mario last evening! Now, that
wonderful, sprightly, exhilirating soliloquy of
Figaro's, when he first makes his appearance and
sings to us, "La ran la lera," who he is! Now
Rosina's "Io sono docile," exquisitely sung last
night by Meddle Patti—though failing to win, even
though coming from her dulcifluous lips, an encore.
The one only encore of the night, in point of fact,
beiag the famous "Zitti, zitti, piano, piano," beauti-
fully rendered by three such consummate artistes
as Patti, Mario, and Ronconi. The chorusses were
admirably given throughout the night, the first of
them perhaps being the very best—meaning, of
course, -hat irresistibly ludicrous one where they
will keep on offering their thanks, " Mille grazie
• • alai° signore," to the almost distracted Sere-
nader! Altogether, the whole performance
yesterday of the " Barbiere di Siviglia," as on.
Saturday, passed off delightfully—the two acts
lengthening out until towards midnight.
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales honoured the performances with their pre•
sense : in the suite of their royal highnesses being
the Hon. Mrs. Grey and Major Teesdale. Among
the fashionable company present were—his Excel-
lency the Ambassador of France,
.the Duke of Gra-
nada, the Marquis of Harrington, the Earl of
Dudley, the Earl of Coventry, the Countess of Har-
rington, the Earl Annesley, the Earl Granville,
Viscount Cranbourne, the Countess of Arran, Vis-
count Ranelagh, Viscount Newport, Viscount Tor-
rington, Lord and Lady Stanley of Alderley and
the Hon. Misses Stanley, Lord Cranstoun, Viscount
and Viscountess Boyne, Lady Edith Abney Hast-
ings, and Captain Hastings, Lord and Lady Col-
ville, Lady Mary Hope Vere and Mrs. Smith Barry,
Lord John Hay, Baron and Baroness Rothschild,
Sir G. Broke-Middleton, Lady Agness Murray and
Captain Morray, Lady Filmer, Sir Percy and Lady
Barrel], Sir Anthony and Lady Rothschild, Sir
John Cathcart, Sir John Trelawny Sir Win. Clay,
Hon. R. H. Meade, Hon. H. Eliot, Hen. F. Cal-
thorpe, Lady Molesworth, Sir George Clerk, Hon.
Mrs. Cast, Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Pereira, Colonel
Farquharson, Colonel Start, Major Gage, &c.

The number of emigrants who embarked at
Havre in April was 1,679 ; of whom 1,624 went to
New York, 51 to Rio-de-la-Plata, 2 to Trinidad,
and 2 to San Francino.

- -- -
The Salut Public of Lyons says :—" The lune
.
rousse or April mow', so much dreaded by gar
deners, has now ended. The fear of frosts, therefore, dis-
appears entirely, and will no longer serve as a pretext for
maintaining wines at a high price, The vines indeed pre-
sent everywhere a magnificent appearance. There still
remains, however, a critical moment to be passed—the
blossoming--but even should heavy rains wash away some
of the buds, or even 'should the hail cause damage in some
localities, the crop in general will nevertheless be good, as
vegetation is now sufficiently advanced to give hopes of a
complete maturity."

I LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

LREUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

COPENHAGEN, MAY 9, 9.15 p.m.

The Dagblculet of to-day says :—" Independent
of the war contribution imposed upon the towns of
Jutland, Field-Marshal von Wrangel has imposed
a requisition of 51 millions Rigsdalers upon landed
property."

COPENHAGEN, MAY 10, 10.34 A.M.

The Ministers of Justice and of the luterior have
resigned, being dissatisfied with the suspension of
the blockade having been agreed to.
2,000 inhabitants of the environs of Holding and
Fredericia have been compelled by the enemy to
assist in demolishing the fortifications of Fredeticia.