The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-11 00:00:00

JENNY LIND.

" The Creation" at Exeter Hall,

Yesterday evening brought glorious Jenny
Lind back, once more, to the Londoners. It was
a night, consequently, of immense expectation—
Exeter Hall being the scene of the entertainment,
and Haydn's immortal oratorio of " The Creation"
the chef d'ceuvres, selected for performance. As
an inevitable result from which extraordinary ac-
cumulation of attractions, a considerable multi-
tude, assembled together, prepared, as it proved,
to greet the great songstress with all their wonted
enthusiasm, and curious, no doubt, to discover
whether that enthusiasm might still be as fully
as ever justified. Several years have now elapsed
since the Swedish Nightingale sang last in our me-
tropolis. Since then she has made the tour of the
United States, amidst the ringing plaudits of
Uncle Sam and the ringing dollars of Cousin
Jonathan. Occasionally, too, in the interval, the
northern cantatrice has been heard of, here and
there, as performing miracles, scarcely less wonder-
ful than " creating a soul under the ribs of death,"
by exciting something like genuine ardour among
the most habitually phlegmatic audiences of the
European Continent. Mademoiselle Jenny Lind
returns to us again—after the lapse of half-a-
dozen years—transformed into Madame Otto
Goldschmidt. She is still, however, to us, in-
vested though she has been, in the interim, with
the double dignity of wife and mother, the same
charming Jenny Lind as ever—the Jenny Lind of
the old days when she first learned to "witch the
world" with her manifold graces of voice, of look,
manner, the very Sylph of tine Lyric Drama, of
the most exquisite interpreter of the love-
liest melodies of Rossini, Bellini, Mozart,
Weber, Spohr, Cherubini, Mendelssohn, the arch-
heroine of " Lucia," of "Norma," of "La Sonnam-
bula," of "La Figlia Del Reggimento."
The assemblage last evening was of course im-
mense, the hall being crowded by eight o'clock
punctually. Shortly after which time Madame
Jenny Goldschmidt-Lind (as the Swedish Night-
ingale must now be designated) was led on to the
platform by M. Benedict, the gifted conductor of
the entertainment. Her reception was, as it
should have been, something extraordinary both
in its warmth and in its prolongation, several dis-
tinct rounds of applause following the eagerly-
looked-for moment of her appearance. It was
observable that the great popular favourite was
somewhat thinner, somewhat more serious, some-
what less animated. It may be regarded, how-
ever, as rather more noteworthy than any such
modifications in her tournure, in her bearing, or
in the general expression of her well-remembered
countenance, that her matchless voice was, in all
essential respects, as delicious as ever, as fresh, as
mellow, as flexible, altogether as incomparable.
The first note of the angelic air of Gabriel—

" The marvellous work beholds amaz'd
The glorious hierarchy of Heaven"—

proved beyond all further question that Jenny
Lind's voice had, in the interval of these last few
years, been in no perceptible way deteriorated.
The old charm was again audible, was again re-
cognised, was again welcomed by popular accla-
mations. Still more apparent, however, became
the spells wielded by that wonderful organ when,
after the sonorous recitative "And God said, Let
the earth bring forth grass," the tones of the
archangel break forth in the celestial carol
" With ♦erdure clad the fields appear
Delightful to the ravished sense"—

when passages of incomparable melody trilled as
bewitchingly as of yore from the lips of the great
songstress, leading her as surprisingly as ever
through all the mazes of that brilliant and dazzling
display of vocal agility—up, through the memor-
able chromatic scale from G to her favourite
B flat, the famous note upon which she always
loved to dwell with a power so full, so exquisite,
so sustained ! Wonderful though Jenny
Lind's soprano was in Parts I. and 11. of " The
Creation" as the Voice of Gabriel, it was yet more
so, if possible, in Part 111. as that of Eve. If
she was astonishing (as she was) in her delivery—
after the thrilling recitative " And God said, Let
the waters bring forth abundantly the moving
creature that hath life and fowl that tnay Ay above
the earth in the open firmament"—of the memor-
able air—

"On mighty pens the eagle wings her lofty way
Through air sublime—"
if, moreover, she was most dulcet in that after
verse of the same mellifluous strain—

" His welcome bids to morn the merry lark,
And cooing calls the tender dove his mate—"
she was absolute perfection in—

" Ye purling fountains tune His praise,
And wave your tops ye pines—
as also in the marvellously beautiful Duet with
Adam--

" Graceful consort, at thy side
Softly fly the golden hours ! "
Again and again the close of each solo was
greeted with an outburst of applause amounting
to the ardour of an encore, but in no instance was
the incomparable artiste persuaded into a repeti-
tion. Everybody appeared to be enraptured.
Not one individual out of the many hundreds pre-
sent last evening evinced even a momentary dis-
appointment. The Swedish Nightingale was re-
warded from first to last by plaudits that
amounted to a veritable ovation. Her popularity
is to-day what it was seven long years ago—
her matchless voice being still, as it was then, in
its full perfection, fresh, beautiful, unimpaired.
Happily for those who were not fortunate enough
to be present last night during the performance of
Haydn's " Creation," by an orchestra presided
over by the skilled baton of n Benedict, and by
a chorus five or six hundred strong, collected
together from the various musical societies of the
metropolis, with Mr. Lawler for the bass solos
and Mr. Lockey for the tenor solos, and our glo-
rious Jenny Lind, now Madame Otto Goldschmidt,
as the Eve and Gabriel of the Oratorio—happily,
we say, for those who were not present last even-
ing in Exeter Hall while Jenny Lind was the
soprano of " The Creation," arrangements have
already been made for the re-appearance of the
Swedish Nightingale on Monday next in the glo•
rious " Elijah" of Felix Mendelssohn. This--
thanks to Mr. Mitchell's able raananagement
A management which constitutes him, as
of old, one of the foremost among the benefac-
tors of the London multitude. Rumour
talks of Madame Goldschmidt Lind hav-
ing entered into yet further engagements.
There are whispers, for example, about her in-
tended progress through the provinces of the
United Kingdom—and airy hints even of her pos-
sible return to the long-deserted boards of her
Majesty's Theatre, under the revived direction,
may be, of Lumley—the once puissant and long
and deservedly successful. These, however, are
at the best but rumours—rumours still requiring
confirmation in every particular. However, thanks
to the skilful and enterprising management of Mr.
Mitchell--Jenny Lind (for as such simply we still
loveto call her, without regard to the matronly
dignity
ogcfroanGncodelrdt
and al of Madame, or the guttural surname
sachinmEil sufficientdxte)thera..shaap. y
actually been secured as the
attractionesterdaoyf
ethveenMinog lvnd7a
for
alluring
the Loennclteeartearis the
n ntendight t
se.]
Yesterday
tforetaste of t hes
se'nnighte
will afford the public the yet further felicity of
their continuation. Let us hope that (speaking
figuratively) still for some time longer on these
over-the-way, "naught
bfauvto favoured Atleornr de
na yt v
Ee
en
fi npgos
p,
ular applause] may be
heard in the Hall" and " naught but The
Nightingale's Song" in the Strand.

THE LATE LORD MELVILLE'S STATUE.—W understand
that a difficulty has arisen with reference to the site on
which it was proposed to erect the statue of the lateVig
Vis-
count Melville, now in process of execution byMr. Steel].
The sanction of the Board of Works had, we believe,
been given to the appropriation for a site of a portion of
the vacant area to the west of St. Giles', and in front of
the County Buildings, and preparations were actually be.
gun for the erection of the statue, by making the fleece'.
sary excavations to receive the pedestal. The sanction
of the Board has, however, been withdrawn, and the
preparations have consequently been suspended in the
meantime. There is every probability of the county
gentlemen seeking to ascertain in a legal way the right
of the Board of Works over the area in question.—
Courant.