The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-19 00:00:00

MORI AND LINDLEY'S CLASSICAL

QUARTETT CONCERTS.

The second of these concerts took place on Wednesday
evening, at Willis's Rooms, King-street, St. James's. The
fullness of the concert-room, and the brilliant and elegant ap-
pearance of the company assembled, we were glad to observe,
fully attested the celebrity the efforts of the professional gen-
tlemen mentioned have already ecquired in the musical and
fashionable world. In our humble opinion, however, quartette
are not the description of compositions suited to a public con-
cert-room, and are heard to far greater advantage in private,
where the pleasure arising from them to the performers them-
selves stimulates their exertions, unchecked by the conviction
that they arc standing in the presence of a critical auditory.
Still, on the present occasion, the pieces of this character,
included in the programme, were so well played, allowing for
the defects resulting from the cause alluded to, that they were
listened to with extreme satisfaction, and the playfulness of
style, and finished harmonic s of the quartett and quintett,
seemed to convey as much gratification to the hearers, end
even more, than the elaborate and varied symphony, or the
brilliant and noisy overture. The concert opened with a
quartett of Oaslow, for two violins, tenor, violincello, and
double bass, played by Mori, Tolbccque, Moralt, Lindley, and
Dragonetti. With the exception of the andante, there was
little interest for the general hearer in the trickery and intri-
cacy of this quartett ; the movement alluded to, ho-,vever,
comprised some very pretty melody, and the solo for the
violincello, delightfully played by the veteran Lindley, was
much admired. Rossini's vocal quartett, from Guillaume
Tell, In questa navicella, followed. It was accompanied by a
select orchestra, and sung by Miss Fanny Wyndham, Miss
Woodham, Mr. Brizzi, and Mr. J. Parry, jun. Contrasted
with the delicacy of the quartett playing, by which it had been
preceded, it seemed to us a very coarse and unfinished perfor-
mance. The ladies sang very respectably ; but Mr. Brizzi,
although expressive and tasteful in some parts, in others was
much too vociferous to be consistent with right feeling.
Mozart's quintett in E flat, for two violins, two tenors, and
violincello, was well played; it is throughout light and ele-
gant, and a beautiful composition for the chamber, but was not
particularly effecrive. Deli! vieni, non Larder, from Mozart's
Figaro, the next piece, was beautifully sung by Mademoiselle
Scheroni, the youthful Prima Donna of the Opera Beira.
She possesses exquisite taste, and a full toned, melodious
voice, peculiarly rich in the lower notes. She obtained a well.
merited share of applause. A trio of Corelli, played by two
violincellos, ( Lindley and Lavenu) and a double bass, (Dra-
gonetti), was deservedly encored. The old author appeared
to receive new beauties from the exquisite style of the
performance. The first part of the concert concluded with
Mozart's " L'Addio," sung with great taste and feeling
by Miss Fanny Wyndham. The Second Part opened
with Beethoven's splendid quintett for piano-forte, oboe,
clarionet, horn and bassoon. The performers were, Mrs. An-
derson, Messrs. G. Cooke, Lazarus, Platt, and Denman.
The piano-forte playing of Mrs. Anderson was in a style that
left us nothing to wish for, and the accompaniments were
beautifully sustained by the gentlemen mentioned. In fact it
went as well in every respect as at the wind instrument concerts
at Hanover-square, and was by far the most effective piece of the
whole selection. The andante movement was deliciously
played. Mr. J. Parry, jun., in Webbe's " The Mansion of
Peace:" appeared to be somewhat deficient in energy. His
voice is of good quality and his taste correct, but there is a
want of variety in his style. The song, however, is rather a
heavy one, and does not afford much opportunity for display.
Beethoven's quartett in A major, for two violins, tenor, and
violoncello, reserved till near the conclusion of the concert,
we suppose as a bonne bouche, was, without exception, the
best of the stringed compositions. All the players seemed not
only tofeel what they were about, but to exert themselves to
give effect to their conceptions, unaware of the presence of a
large and eager auditory. The air with variations, afforded
to every performer an opportunity of showing his skill in turn,
and no one declined to avail himself of it. The whole was
most delightfully and effectively played. Weber's vocal quar-
tett, " Over the Dark Blue Waters," from Oberon, was given
in as villanous a style as it is possible to conceive; indeed one
voice of the " Quartetto" was left out altogether, whether
by particular desire" we know not. As, however, the audi-
ence were occupied in quitting the room, or adjusting their
dresses, at the time of the singing, it was unobserved or little
attended to. There are two more concerts to come, and the
next, we observe, is fixed for the let of March, at which Ma-
dame Dulcken, the eminent Pianiate, is to perform.