The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-28 00:00:00

ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN.

Gounod's New Opera,

" The Mock Doctor."

A brilliant success was achieved last evening, at
Covent-garden, bp•the production (in a translated
form as an English Opera) of M. Gounod's new

comic masterpiece, " The Mock Doctor." It is
noticeable, in regard to the most popular of modern
composers, that his themes—to begin with—are won-
derfully well chosen. From Goethe he has now
gone to Moliere. Having married immortal words
to delicious music in his " Faust," he has now ad-
ventured upon doing the like—suitably enough, of
course, after a sprightlier fashion—by the most in-
imitably humorous of I French comedies, Le MAle-
cin, Malgrj Lui. And he has done this so admir-
ably well, as to have more than sustained hiS
reputation. If ringing applause, frequent recalls,
enthusiastic encores, and all this in a crowded and
attentive house, may be taken as indicative of
success, the success of " The Mock Doctor," as
it has been now put upon the stage of Covent Gar-
den under the English Opera management, is a fact
beyond dispute. Under the baton of Mr. A:fred
Mellon, the orchestra acquitted itself to admiration.
Mr. Henry Corri was the hero of the night—in
other words, the Mock Doctor himself—fully justi-
fying his selection for that very difficult part, alike
by his acting and his singing, in each of which the
vis comica was in the one instance visible in the au-
dible delightfully. The rest of the characters were
distributed among the following artistes—Miss Thirl-
wall, Miss Poole, Madle. Fanny Huddart, Mr. Lyall,
Mr. Aynsley Cook, and Mr. G. Dussek—in almost
each instance the character being very judiciously al-
lotted. The libretto, as adapted to our English ver-
nacular, is from thepen of Mr. Charles Kenney—this
lyrical comedy, in three acts, having been trans-
planted to the boards of Covent Garden fromthose of
the The'dtre Lyrique. As to the riant, sparkling, viva-
cious music, to which the whimsicalities of Moliere's
Me'dicin Malgre Lui have been adapted by the
genius of Gounod, its intrinsic excellence can only
be thoroughly appreciated upon hearing it more
than once. Speaking of the score, it is very well
observed to-day by the Morning Post that—
"lt reveals the eclectic mind, the neatness of form, the
fanciful instrumentation, the thoroughly dramatic spirit,
the intentional imitation of clap-ti ap climaxes (practised to
impart a sort of classic appearance to what is not essen-
tially classic), which characterise all the best works of the
celebrated author of ' Faust.' We may add," says our con-
temporay, "that his carefully written partition betrays also
the same crudity and affectation in harmony, and the same
poverty as regards melody, for which he has been not
unfrequently or unjustly reproached."
The critic in the Daily News pronouncing a yet more
cordial approval of it in the manner following :
"It strikingly displays," says he (and with considerable
truth), "the versatility of Gounod's genius, for it has not a
single feature in common with any of his other works with
which we are acquainted. To speak of it, therefore, along
with " Faust: or " Mireille," with a view to any compari-
son between their respective merits, is out of the ques-
tion. Its music is as characteristic and as completely
adopted to its subject as the music of those operas
is to theirs. In writing music for French comic
drama of the seventeenth century, the composer, with
a felicity which cannot be sufficiently applauded,
adopted the colouring of the country and the age. His
music, though enriched by all the modern resources of the
art, is full of the racy quaintness of the olden time. It is
redolent of tho times of Lulli, Rameau, and (Thick, and
many of the morceaux, even the prettiest and the most
original, have that antique tournure which, notwithstand-
ing its antiquity, is deliciously fresh and piquant. Nay, the
music actually spaakles with Moliere's wit and playful
humour. Many of his jokes are pointed by an expensive
vocal inflection or quaint passage from the orchestra."
Altogether the success achieved last night was un-
mistakeable ; and upon it we very cordially con-
gratulate the management.