The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-02 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

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Mr. Maddox, who has engaged an excellent ope-
ratic company, including Harrison, Allen, Mr. and
Mrs. Wiess, Corri, Mademoiselle Nau, Miss Louisa
Pyae, and Miss Poole, commenced his winter cam-
paign, last evenir.g, by the production of Mozart's
chef d'oeuvre, Don Giovanni, in its entirety ; and to
Mr. Loder, under whose efficient superintendence the
opera has been produced, the greatest credit is due
for the unwearied exertions he must have made—
exertions which have been crowned with success;
for this is certainly by far the most complete and, in
every sense of the word, the best version of Don
Giovanni that has been produced as yet on the Eng-
lish stage. The cast was unusually strong. It com-
prised the talents of Mademoiselle Nan (Donna
Anna), Miss Louisa Pyne (Zerlina) Mrs. Weiss
(Elvira), Mr. IV. Harrison (Don Giovanni), Mr.
Weiss (Leporello), Mr. Allen (Don Ottavio), Mr.
H. Corri (Alasetto), and Mr. Herman (the Com-
mandant). Before entering into any particulars, it
is due to one and all of these artists to acknow-
ledge the zeal and ability with which they ex-
erted themselves. Miss Louisa Pyne, who made her
debut upon the stage as Zerlina, has been for some time
known as a concert singer of talent and reputation.
Her voice is a clear and flexible soprano, and her
singing gives evidence of cultivation and natural
taste. Her success was unquestionable, and was
almost decided after the first solo of the duet with

Don Giovanni (" La ci darem"), which she delivered
in a very graceful style, winning the loudest tokens
of approval from the audience. In the first air
(" Batti batti ") Miss Fyne was scarcely so happy;
it wanted ease and flow ; but the second air ("
Ve-
drai carino ") she sang with genial warmth of
feeling, and obtained a genuine encore, which
could scarcely have been more judiciously be-
stowed. Miss Pyne had many friends in the house,
who were somewhat over lavish of their bouquets, but
this did not, as it might have done had she exhibited
less talent, damage her success with the independent
part of the audience. As an actress Miss Pyne ap-
pears quite at her ease, but a little more animation
would be desirable. Mr. Harrison was compelled
to transpose much of the music of Don Giovanni
(which Mozart wrote for a barytone), to suit the
tenor register. He, n3vertheless, equally pleased
an i surprised the unexteptionable taste with
which he sang the "La ci darem," and the
dashing energy he infused into the "Fin the
dal vino," both of which were unanimously encored.
It was worthy of remark, however, that his best and
most effective vocal effort was the air in F, where
Don Giovanni, disguised as Leporello, gives directions
to Masetto and his companions how to entrap his
supposed master ("Bravissimo, .Masetto"), and this
was the only song of consequence not transposed. The
serenade—accompanied, by the way, on a real mando-
line, bra gentleman of the orchestra—would have
been better without the concluding cadences ; it was
encored with some opposition. Mr. Weiss sang the
music of Leporello in a most effective manner. We
have rarely heard the " Madamira" given with more
point and vigour, nor was there a single passage of
importance overlooked in the concerted pieces.
The character and compass of Mr. Weiss's
fine bass voice are precisely fitted in this
part. Mr. Allan sang both the airs of
Don Ottavio with thorough musical feeling, and
obtained distinguished applause in the "11 mio
tesoro." He deserves praise, if only for the good
taste displayed in the restoration of the air. " Della
sua pace." Mrs. Weiss laboured zealously in the
difficult music of Elvira, and Mademoiselle Nau
was equally assiduous in the still more trying part
of Donna Anna, which is not, however, quite
adapted to the French manner of singing. Herr
Herman, who was the Commandant at the
German Opera last season, gives a true Ger-
man reading to the music ; his last scene,
as the statue, was a very able performance. The
Masetto of Mr. Corri, though occasionally verging
on the pantomimic, was amusing, and musically un-
blameable. Although almost the whole of the music
was performed, the opera was .listened to from
beginning to end with the greatest attention, and at
the end the principal singers were obliged to appear
before the curtain, amidst unanimous applause.
There was not a dissentient voice to the verdict of
success. An English abridgment of the French
piece, Le Pere dune Debutante under the title of The
First Night, followed the opera, and chiefly through
the spirited and characteristic acting of Mr.
Wigan, who acted the part of Achille Telma
Dufard, the father of the debutante, was received
with shouts of laughter throughout. Miss Louisa
Howard made a pretty and animated debutante, and
the other characters were sustained more or less
efficiently by Miss Saunders, Messrs. Craven, Stacy,
Ray, and Wynn. The last-named gentleman was
very original and amusing as a dramatic author,
whose piece is the vehicle of Mademoiselle Emelie
Antoinette Rose's debut. Mr. Maddox has corn-

menced auspiciously, and if he proceed as hQ has
begun, there may be some hope for English opera
this season. We perceive by the bills, that he has
already announced new operas by Macfarren, Loder,
and Schirra.

ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.
THE PROPHET.

Mr. Batty, with his usual tact and discrimination,
has enabled the public to behold Meyerbeer's
cele-
brated opera, La Propßte, in that dress in which
it could not be attired at the Opera House, namely,
with all the pomp and pageantry which his theatre
alone can supply. Nowhere else could the dramatic
incidents of the story be so well worked up into a
gorgeous drama, or be similarly illustrated; and,
ind, ed, in the representation of The Prophet, which
has been dramatised by Fitzball, the enterprising
manager of this favourite place of amusement has
exceeded all that he has formerly done in the prepara-
tion of magnificent spectacles. The plot of the
opera is so well known that it will be unnecesssary
fur us to repeat it. We may say, however,
that The Prophet, produced here last night, and
attended by the most unbounded success, does
not exactly follow the story of Meyerbeer,
since John of Leyden, the prophet, instead of being
killed at the close, as in the opera, is first made the
means of destroying the oppressor of his common
country, and his own enemy, and then lives and reigns
over it. The piece is essentially dramatic. Of the
way in which it has been put upon the stage we can-
not speak too highly. It has been produced under
the able direction of Mr. W. West, who enacted the
hero of the piece, with much grace and dignity.
Among the most gorgeous of the tableaux we may
particularly mention the storming of Count D'Ober-
thal's castle, in the first act ; the camp of the Puri-
tans, and the triumphal entry of John of Leyden into
Munster, in the second act, and in the third the
procession to the cathedral, in order that the crown
may he placed upon his head. It is impossible to
imagine a more imposing scene than this. All the
apparently inexhaustible resources of the establishment
were brought to its aid, and many as have been the
magnificent sights we have beheld at Astley's, this
scene surpassed them all, and the audience applauded
it to the echo. The last scene, the destruction of the
oppressor's palace, was also very grand. Through-
out the whose of the piece the actors exerted themselves
to the utmost. A Miss Loveday made her first
appearance here as Bertha, the heroine of the piece,
and discharged her task most effectively. This young
lady, whose acting is natural and graceful, will
doubtless become an acquisition to the establishment.
The Prophet was most successful, and was announced
for repetition by Mr. West amidst much applause,
who said, " after the way in which the audience had
received it, he was no true prophet if he did not
declare that the spectacle produced that evening would
become the most successful ever produced on these
boards." The house was well attended, and the piece
will indubitably become a great favourite with the
public.

----
THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY' PARCEL ROB-
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Coombe, at Clerkenwell, aud remanded until Saturday
next.

GENERAL HEALTH Or THE TOWN Or BEVERLEY.
—lt is truly remarkable that while disease and death
have been carrying off vast numbers of our fellow-
creatures in neighbouring places, we have not an adult
death recorded in the register for this town during the
past week. While this aihirds cause for the most devout
gratitude to the Giver and Preserver of life, it haves no
room to presume that we are either better or more
careful in the general preservation of social health than
others; on the other hand, it ought to call on all, and
that loudly, to use every proper means for the mainte-
nance of that inestimable blessing. Let, then, every pre-
caution be attended to, both in the public streets and
private dwellings, to cheek anything that might generate
disease; let all intemperance and excess be abandoned
till a cooler temperature shall set in; let due carp be

taken as to diet, cleanliness, &c.; above all, let our gra-
titude becomo thoroughly practical in these respects,
and not only be " shown forth in our lips but also in
our lives," and then we may honestly look up and im-
plore the Divine blessing and protection of Him whose
" tender mercies are over all his works."—Hull Acker.
tiNer.

From the annual report of the Infant School in St.
Mare• le Strand and the Precinct of the Savoy, just
published, we perceive that the expenses in the past year
have left only 17s. sd. in the hands of the treasurer.