The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-08 00:00:00

ROYAL ITALIAN' OPERA

Spohr's fessonda, one of the announcements made by
Mr. Gye in his opening programme, was produced on
Saturday night. It would, we believe, have been
brought out during the recent visit of the illustrious
composer to this country, but there were difficulties in
the way that prevented the consummation of this in-
tention, and it has been unfortunately deferred until the
season is fairly on the wane, and many of our most
refined and judicious amateurs—to whom a hearing of
this most charming of works would have been an inex-
pressible treat—absent from the metropolis. This is
much to be regretted, for the production of the lessonda
is a worthy act on the part of the manager, and entitles
him to the gratitude of all who can appreciate the higher
developments of music and derive delight from its truest
sources.

It is idle to descant upon an opera so well known to
all true connoisseurs, but we cannot refrain from refer-
ring cursorily to its leading points. Of these, the duet
between the chief Brahmin and the novice ; the duet
with the sisters which precedes the breaking of the staves
and the extinction of the lights which symbolise the im-
pending sacrifice ; and the trio in which the young priest
delivers his fatal message, are the most remarkable of
the first. act. In the second, the air ally Espagnuola of
Tristano ; another duet between the sisters (one of the
loveliest effusions of domestic and sentimental tender-
ness that the world of art possesses) ' • and the exquisite
air of Amazili, in which she responds to the admiration
of Nadori, may be cited : adding to them the distracted
love plaints, the theme of the air of Tristano, and
the pious and exultant apostrophe of Jessonda, which
are the two principal solos of the third. If there are
sceptics as to the descriptive power of Spohr we could
point to the Brahminical hymns in the temple, the fan-
tastic strains of the Bayederes, the choruses of the Por-
tuguese soldiers, and the appalling omeias which presage
the downfal of the idol and the capture of the city, as
instances of musical painting, which it would be, indeed,
hard to excel in truth of detail and picturesqueness of
effect.
The execution of the opera on Saturday night was in
every way worthy of the house ; and we were scarcely
prepared for so successful a delivery of a work which has
but little in common with the ordinary routine of Italian
vocalism. Mine. Angiolina Bosio was the representative
of Jessonda, and Mme. Castellan of her sister Amazil,
both highly 'interesting personations, the latter parti-
cularly so. The two duets, which may be pronounced
the gems of the opera, were beautifully rendered by these
ladies, who sang them with a delicacy and taste to which
we are bound to render every praise. Madame Bosio
was encored in the delicious movement in the first act,
in which she dwells with fond remembrance on the hap-
piness of bygone days. She might, however, have
thrown both into her deportment and singing a greater
amount of dramatic fire. She sang sweetly and cor-
rectly, and with a refinement which we have already
panegyrised ; but Spohr, in reality, was left to make his
tame-
ness e
imf
the artist
wTahsias hderadwidna;eknewvheritehheslheses,mtahyeretaasmene:
ably be counselled to amend. Madame Castellan, on
the other hand, sang with the utmost fervour ; and her
delivery of the music was as interesting as it was
faultless. Signor Lucchesi, as Nadori, came out of
the ordeal with unexpected ability, and a very useful
singer was discovered in a member of the troupe who has
hitherto had but a limited opportunity of distinguishing
himself. The air of the impressionable novice, in which
he throws off the moral bondage of the temple, demands
both skill and power ; and Signor Lucchesi, notwith-
standing certain coarsenesses and redundancies of style,
displayed both. Belletti, who sustained the part of the
Portuguese general, won an encore by his neat and
spirited interpretation of the Spanish air in the second
act ; and the grave and definite sonority of the voice
of Formes, in the solos of the high priest was
invaluable. The chorus singers were not uniformly
good, occasional uncertainties in the first finale betray-
ing an imperfect state of discipline. But nothing could
exceed the excellence of the orchestra. The well-known
overture was not only finely played, but the accompani-
ments throughout were given with a precision, richness,
and colour which adequately sustained the reputation of
the Royal Italian body of instrumentalists. It is in
operas of this recondite texture that the worth of these
accomplished players is really and unmistakeably felt.
The executive ensemble was well supported by the
scenic adjuncts. Mr. William Beverly has painted a
very beautiful landscape for the second act, delineating
the encampment of the Portuguese invaders, backed by
a line of distant mountains, bathed in a warm trans-
parent atmosphere. The decorations are not altogether
new, but they have been selected with care, and the
general coup d'ceil is costly and appropriate.
Her Majesty the Queen and his Royal Highness Prince
Albert honoured the performances with their presence.
The Queen and the Prince were accompanied by their
Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred.
The Royal suite consisted of the Marquis of Ormonde, the
Hon. Mary Seymour, the Hon. Matilda Paget, Capt. the
Hon. Dudley De Ros, Colonel Bouverie, and Mr. Gibbs.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge also honoured
the theatre with his presence. Major the Hon. James
Macdonald wag in attendance upon his Royal Highness.
Their Serene Highnesses the Prince and Princess Edward
of Saxe Weimar were also present. Among the fashion-
able company in the boxes and stalls we remarked the
Prince Doria, his Excellency Count Creptowitch, Russian
Minister at Brussels ; the Marquis of Breadalbane, the
Marchioness of Blandford, the Marquis of Bath, the
Marchioness of Hastings and Lady Bertha Hastings and
Captain Yelverton, R.N., the Marchioness of Ailesbury,
the Earl and Countess of Jersey and Lady Clementina
Villiers, the Earl of Bessborough, the Earl Bruce, the
Earl of Gifford, the Countess Dowager of Essex and
Miss Johnston, the Countess of Harrington and Lady
Geraldine Stanhope, the Earl of Wilton, the Coun-
tess of Glengall and Lady Margaret Butler, the
Earl Granville, the Countess Paulett and Miss Dor-
mer, Viscountess Goderich, Viscount Sydney, Vis-
count Clifden, Viscount Enfield, Count Louis Corte,
Viscount Canterbury, Lord William Powlett, M.P. ;
Lord Elphinstone, Lord Adolphus Vane, Lord Milford,
Lord Stanley of Alderley, Lord Wodehouse, Lord
Henry Gordon Lennox, M.P., Lady Suffield, and Lady
Caroline Cust and Lady Augusta Cadogan, Lord Arthur
Hay, Lord Grey de Wilton and Lady Elizabeth Grey
Egerton, Lord and Lady Foley and the lion. Adelaide
Foley, Lady Augusta Gordon and the Misses Kennedy
Erskine, Hon. C. Hardinge, M.P., Hon, Mrs. G.
Anson and Miss Anson, Hon. C. Hanbury, M.P. ;
Hon. Henry Curzon, Hon. Strange Jocelyn, Hon.
Mr. Grey Egerton, Lady Janet Waldron and Miss
Waldron, Lord Ernest Bruce, Honourable Mrs. Eger-
ton, Honourable John Fortescue, Honourable F. Cal-
thorpe, Right Honourable C. A. Villiers, M.P. ; Baron
de Steinberg, Lady Burghersh, Hon. G. A. Browne and
Miss Blacker, Hon. Otway Toler, Hon. Jacob A stley,
Hon. Mrs. Ives, Lady Howard and Miss Ponsonby,
Lady Molesworth, Sir William and Lady De Bathe,
and Mrs. Villiers Hatton, and the Hon. Misses
Boyle, Sir Henry Webb, Sir George Armytage,
Lady Macfarlane, Sir John Lister Kaye, Lady
Ashworth and Miss Ashworth, Sir C. Marshall, Sir H.
Vivian, Admiral Ryder Burton and the Hon. Mr.
Ryder Burton, Colonel Lockyer Freestun, M.P., and
Mrs. Lockyer Freestun, Colonel Brownlow Knox, M.P.,
Colonel Rose, Colonel Steele, Colonel Blane, Colonel
Tyrwhitt, Major Gage, Major Fludgate, Captain
Lumley, Captain Meyrick, Captain Darner, Captain
Duff and Mrs. Duff, Captain Pakenham, Mr. Monta-
gue Gore, Mr. Webster, Mr. •Uzielli, Mr. Knightley,
Mr. W. Rose, Mr. Augustus Lumley, Mr. and Mrs.
Coghlan, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Henry Greville, Mr.
H. W. Currie, Mr. and Mrs. Newton Scott, Mr. W.
Gregory, Mr. E. Bligh, Mr. Forster, M.P., Mr. Law,
Mr. Martineau, Mr. Vane, Mr. Leopold Redpath, Mr.
Thistlethwayte, Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Valentine Browne,
M.P., Mr. Leslie, M.P., Mr. Jervoise Smith, &c. •

ATROCIOUS MURDER.—The neighbourhood of Hatfield
has been painfully excited for the last two or three days
by the commission of a most brutal murder by a disso-
lute wretched-looking tramp, who described himself to
be a Spaniard, named Miguel Eschiero. The unfortu-
tunate victim was a well-conducted boy, aged 14, of the
name of Scales, son of the shepherd of Colonel F. Gre-
ville, of North Mimms. The coroner's inquest was held
on Friday, and, from what was elicited, there is little
doubt that the prisoner has taken part in many des-
perate burglaries which have recently been committed
in the district. It appears that in the course of
Thursday, Webb, a gamekeeper on the estate, had
his attention drawn to a suspicious-looking charact.
in an adjacent barley-field, who apparently was setting
snares. As soon as the fellow saw the keeper he ran
away, and Webb sent a dog after him, which caught
him by the boot. On Webb coming CD to the man, he
made a desperate struggle, in which the keeper received
a fearful blow on the back of the head from a bludgeon
which the accused had in his hand. At length he was
secured, and, with assistance, he was brought to the po-;
lice station. The police observed his hands, fingers, and
nails, and parts of his trousers were stained with blood,
and, upon some questions being put to him, he muttered
something to' the effect that he had murdered Webb's
companion (the poor boy was employed to watch the
plantation). Inspector English, the officer who had the
case in hand, then returned to the barley field, and he
discovered a part of the crop to be trodden, as if by
some person severely struggling, and the ground spotted
with blood. On the officer proceeding a little further,
he found the lifeless body of the unfortunate lad ; the
head was shockingly mutilated, as if beaten in
by some heavy instrument. It was evident that
the poor boy had been murdered, and on the prisoner
was
obliged taxed with causing his death he said that he
obliged to do it in self-defence. It is thought that the e
instantly
prisoner went into the plantation for some illegal
pur-
pose, and, being disturbed by the deceased, he ins
faotutancdkeadnhaipmkinan, dwheffieeheteeodnti:inmeduredoemr.e
hOrenadthaendspprcoohtpeewereati.
wasre
sidentified f
theas phaornt
of some
Bathurst,
runoafcrkpoklmiinn,tlwiehich was entered a few nights since. He
Tsawtthoaebsealso found wearing a shoe which was stolen from an
adjacent farm, which was broken into on the previous
night. The other shoe was picked up near the scene of
the murder. The jury returned a verdict of " Wilful
murder" against the accused,
h
county ga o
He i
a t
e
Hertford,
between to
thirtye was lodged in the
and forty await his toriayl
years
at the
next assizes.
of
age, and states himself to be a native of Arragon, in
Spain.