The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-18 00:00:00

T 1 Strl4, LONDO'N, TUESDAY EVENING, AMIL 15,....1.554,

EASTER - AMUSEMENTS.

DRURY-L A.N E.

Last night this time-honoured theatre was re-,pened f,
operatic performances, under the management of Mr. H.
Jarrett. The arrangements appear to have been made on
a very extensive scale, and the object proposed is to give
the public a. first-class musical entertainment at "play-
house prices."

The " address," printed on the bills, deals in some unde-
niable generalities respecting the want of a cheap opera,
and shows that -although all other branches of music may
now be enjoyed..by the'many at an economical cost, the
lyrical drama is alone kept up to a fancy price—a price
that the wealthy only can contemplate with indifference—
placing it wholly beyond the means of the many who crave
to indulgeiu. such amusements. The directors of the
Royal Opera, for such the new establishment is desig-
nated, propose to come much within this prohibitory
figure, and their tariff is that adopted by Mr. E. T. Smith,
and'other reforming managers. Whether the costliness of
the admission to entertainments of this nature has not
hitherto been dependent on the costliness of the vocal
commodity, which is its element, is a question not dis-
cussed in the " address." Foreign singing birds, those, we
mean, who can sing, are not to be caged for nothing, and
it is quite possible to fill your house without at the same
time filling your treasury. However, we may conclude
that the arithmetic of the matter has been gone into, and
that the arrangements of the present adventure have not
been made without due computation.
Our duty now is to say whether the opening exhibition
of the powers of this new company was commensurate
with the agreeable expectations created by the address.
That very important question we are happy in being en-
abled to decide at once in the affirmative.

" AIR-4 BRITISH GRENADIERS.'
" Since first yon pillars bounded
Thy labours, Hercules,
Their echoes ne'er resounded
With such brave shouts as these.
Thus, noble friends, for ever
Pursue your grand careers !
Hurrahs let us raise for the ` Gardes Franchises'
And the British Grenadiers !"
Nor mist we forget to award a passing word of praise to
Mr. W. Farren, who sang the following French verses with
great sweetness and spirit
PARTANT POUR LA STAIR.
Pedant pour la Syrie,'
Entendez vous ce chant ?
A vos fanfares, Russie,
Comme it repond gaiement !
La Franke et l'Angleterre.
Entre eux nont plus q'une voix—
S'il faut enfin la guerre
Qua Dieu defend le droit !'
" 'Ern Prince a dit naguere, I
L'Empire c'est la Paix,'
Avec transport la terre
Recut ces mots sacral. -
Xalheur au temeraire, •
Quo vient troubler sa joie,
• A ce tyran la guerre !
Et Dieu defend le droit !"
It should be observed that the military ardour of the
audience was kept at the most pugnacious point all the
evening, by the singing of similar snatches of song, and
by the performance of such airs as " The British Grena-
diers," and " The Tight Little Island."

The company, according to the present showing, is un-
doubtedly composed of many strong and serviceable mate-
rials. Madame Caradori, the prima donna of last year,
resumes the same position this, and as she has proved her-
self to be an excellent dramatic actress—fast growing in
popularity, and well deserving of the fame she is steadily
and surely acquiring, we do not know of any person better
qualified to discharge the functions of this important office.
MUlle. Sedlazek, the daughter of the eminant flautist, who
has been singing abroad with honour, and who established
a favourable impression by her recent efforts at the second
of the New Philharmonic Concerts, is the seconda donna.
Then there is a Madame Rudesdorf, of whom we as yet
know nothing. Mdlle. Vestvali, the contralto, sang a few
nights ago at the Reunion des. Arts, and those who heard
her pronounce a warm eulogium no leas upon her per-
sonal beauty than upon her superiority as a vocalist.
The principal tenor is Signor' Pavesi, from the Scala, who
made his debut last night; and the basses not only in.
dude Formes, an unrivalled singer in his several winks
as we all know, but even, it is , rumoured, Pischek.
Mr. Hamilton Braham is another of the engagements in
this department ; likewise a Signor Arnoldi, lately of the
Italian Opera of Paris. The same liberal enterprise which
has presided ,over this really excellent force as regards the
principals, has also extended to the chorus, which numbers
fifty voices, with thirty in addition to arrive next week.
The orchestra has been selected with equal prudence, and
contains some fifty-eight instrumentalists of signal effi-
ciency, as we had ample proof last night. Herr Lindpainter
is the conductor.

If all these arrangements are permanent, there can be
little doubt of the substantive worth of the project. The
scheme is very comprehensive. The best operas of the
Italian and German schools are to be given on alternate
nights, and we see that provision has been made to insure

just and satisfactory embodiments.
The opera which was performed last night was the Norma
of Bellini, and the interest that the announcement created
was evidenced in the crowd's that attended. The audience
was a holiday one, and disposed evidently to enjoy itself.
The reception which it gave to tht3 singers was warm and
cordial, and Madame Caradori experienced an ovation
She sang the
not unworthy of Grisi herself, and the performance of
this clever and intelligent singer more than justified
musicth
eproefpotsfiseessuionnfosrtuonf auditory.atteheDruidessadmirably, and the
principal scenes with a fire and animation, a truth and
propriety of expression, which astonished while it de-
lighted. The entire performance was replete with every
excellence. Whether in portraying the calm tranquillity
of the priestess, the "fury of the woman scorned,'% or the
heroic feeling which compassionates and forgives, Madame
Caradori was uniformly good, and there was no mistake
as to the honesty of the applause. Her delivery of the
" Casta Diva was marked by many beauties. Nothing
could exceed the pleasure of the listeners as the opera pro-
ceeded, and Madame Caradori was recalled again and again
in .the course of the evening. The plaudits which were
bestowed upon her at the termination emanated, with
" one consent," from the entire house. Mdlle. Sidlazek
rendered the music of Adelgisa very prettily, and with an
exactuesi and finish denoting her to be a praiseworthy and
eminently useful artiste, notwithstanding the childish sen
timent that colours the vocal organ. Pavesi, who perso-
nated Pollio, sang with distressing falsity of intonation
throughout, indicating pretty plainly that he must be
speedily replaced by some one less subject to this infirmity;
but Arnohh, though not quite free from the same defect,
came out sonorously in the music belonging to the pa-
triarch Oroveso.

At the close of the operb. the National Anthem was sung

by the general company.
The entertainments concluded with divertissement;
but we must take some other opportunity of discussing the
merits of the nymphs who have been engaged by the ballet
master for this lively section of the undertaking•

with the Enxtirttautt ?it'niC4l4lrlßd Straits-,,and enconn- I ey,as of the spectators, cone udEiwiti7
ters many droll adventures withlhe YariltedSs; 'at.w'hOm he a farce, by Mr. W. T. Sampson, called' Dalrymple versus
does not fail to take a fling d propos of tho slave trade. ; Teibb*.
After various other scenes awl adventures, too numerous' to
mention in detail, Mr. Buckstone's " gold en dream" ends.
There is a grand exhibition of the four quarters of the
world in their new quarters at the Haymarket. Two
ladies, dressed somewhat after the fashion of Joan of Arc,
are seen on the summit of this "dull, diurnal sphere,"
waving the union-jack of England and the tri-colour of
France, the bands play up a martial strain, the -blue lights
glare, and sic traiisit gl<l7ict (Easter); Mr di. This little
piece is written with .poiut mad boameAr; and is so O.
con-
structed as to bring out the peculiar eccentricities of Mr.
Buckstone's style in the strongest relief. The pompous air
of satisfaction with which that amusing actors rounds off
his periods, the power which he has of penetrating to the
minutest subtleties of comic dialogue,
:and his skill in
de-
tecting every variety of which the delivery, may be oapable,
and in enhancing the significance of a joke by a gesture,
were abundantly manifest in every scene. Miss Feather-
stone appeared as The Spirit of the Ocean Mail, from the
Royal Gallery of Illustration, and won great and well-de-
served applause. There is life in her movements, a hearty
gaiety in her tones, and a singular freshness in all her act-
ing. The following was amongst the airs she sang

OLYMPIC,

No Easter piece was produced here last, night, the only
approximation to novelty being the revival of the come-
dietta of The Happiest Day of my Life, originally produced
at this theatre, under the Vestris management. The part
of Mr. Gillman, written for Liston, was played last night
by Mr. F. Robsop, who gave a quaint and dry'picture -of
the miseries andLperplezities in which' the unfortunate
bridegroom is involved on the " happiest day of his life."
It. would be unjust to pass over without special praise the
performance of Miss Stevens, as Mrs. Grimsley, the elderly
female with a grievance. This small part was admirably
rendered, both as to make-up and acting. Mrs. Chatterly,
as Mrs. Dudley, made' an excellent fussy mother-in-law ;
and 'Miss I'. 'Horton, as Sophia, was s. charming bride.
The other entertainment§ of the evening were the come-
dietta; To Oblige Benson, and the farce.of The Wantkring
Alinetre2. . •

SURREY.
The Surrey management brought out a novelty last
night, announced in the bills as "an entirely original
drama, founded upon the all-absorbing occurrences of the
present day," and entitled Iran Saferi ; or, Ike Sultan
and the Czar. The piece abounds in striking situations
and stage effects. It was favourably received ; and, al,'
pealing as it does to popular sympathies, and shadowing
forth the triumph of a popular cause, will probably run
for some time. There is a Bulgarian farmer, with a great
deal of patriotism and a very pretty daughter, both strong
inducements for Russian persecution, especially when con-
ducted by a young officer, who is a lover of feminine
beauty, both on his own account and that of his Imperial
master ; the accepted lover of the lady, one Iran Safferi,
a Turkish orphan and patriot, whose name supplies the
first title to the piece—the second being The Sultan and the
Czar ; a Turkish water melon vender and his sweetheart,
who with a Cossack sergeant do the comic business and great
part of the fighting ; a Turkish spy and Bulgarian pea-
sants, patriots, and Russian soldiers sufficient to make a
formidable dramatis personce. The scenery was appropriate
and the acting generally good—especially that of Mr.
Cresswick, who personated Irun ; Mrs. H. Kirby, a lady
from the Theatre Royal, Dublin, who, as Sulima, the
heroine, made her first appearance in London, and who
promises to become afavourite here ; and Mr. Widuicomb,
who was the comic hero and vendor of water melons. The
other entertainments last night were Ben Bolt and Vilikins
and his Dinah—the former being an effective dramatic
version exceedingly well acted of the pretty ballad of the
same name.