The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-17 00:00:00

BTAILER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
'TE VISIT OF THE QUEEN.-MDLLE.

Ta JENNY LIND'S " NORMA."
c-a3' evening stands pre-eminent as the most distin-
-I.t/lilhed in the annals not only of this season, but of her
J"tY's Theatre. Her Majesty was pleased to com-
mand Nail performance of Mademoiselle Jenny Lind in
the
tcYal
()Pere of Norma, and, as is usual in cases of a direct
hie command, to visit the theatre in state. Within
li!aty-four hours after the gracious intention of her
a
Je6tY became known every place in the theatre
taken, and some days since it was pub •
lielY announced that no money could be taken
at the doors, as every ticket had been disposed
before three o'clock crowds were assembled round
NA _1
uoors in the Haymarket, and as the evening ad-
red the streets leading from Buckingham Palace to
ii,,theatre were filled with persons anxious to get a
bil"t of the royal procession. Every window and every
n„.nY along the line of the procession was occupied.
co-nr 41ajesty was received wi p
th loud cheers as she assed
tg' and when the trumpets and kettle drums of the
he Guards, a detachment of which regiment preceded
j„8, royal carriage, announced the arrival of her Ma-
,i14,37 at the theatre, the cheering was of the most enthu-
eio,tic character. Her Majesty reached the theatre at
jrt, o'clock, and was immediately conducted by Mr.
iplattesY to the royal box, which, with the two adjoin-
batZ "nXes, were fitted up in the mot tasteful
itliner with canopies of crimson and gold, supported by
tont golden shafts, and surmounted with a crown. As
th, as her Majesty and Prince Albert entered the
are the whole audience rose, and greeted their So-
S:ireign with shouts of welcome, which lasted for some
lle,tite6. Her Majesty was attended by the Duchess of
br"erland, the Duke of Norfolk, the Marchioness of
S,llr°l the Hon. Miss Kerr, the Earl Fortescue, the Earl
til&ileZ, the Viscountess Jocelyn, the Hon. Miss Ma-
-4;4' agef, Viscountess Combermere, the Marquis
Itilof
Lady Caroline Cocks, Lord Byron, Viscount
and, Hon. Miss Macdonald, Hon. Miss Murray,
C) " 0. Lennox. Lord Edward Howard, Lady Caroline
I,o7.Agton, Lord A. Paget, Col. the Hon. C. B. Phipps,
Robert Grosvenor, Colonel Bouverie, Mr. Seymour,
ton4„,!itarcus Hill, Colonel Smyth, Sir Edward Codring-
4;:ur. Byng, Mr. Wortley, Sir W. Martins, Colonel
110.-n, and Captain Seymour. Her Majesty the Queen
thei•;,a,ger, who was also present, was accompanied by
"°Yal Highnesses the Hereditary Grand Duke and
*rttad Duchess of Saxe Weimar and his Serene High-
T 0 Prince Edward, attended by the E irl and Countess
hw:e, Lady Clinton, Baron Beust, and Baron Ziegesar.
bricei'r Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cam -
114rge, attended by the Baroness Hammerstein and
linesebeck, likewise occupied a box on the grand
tto.,'„arld his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Con-
Admiral of Russia, attended by Vice-Admiral Lutke,
Prese Haurowiz, and Baron Fredeericks, was also
Th '4"
e curtain then rose, and discovered the whole operatic
reei,P,.,a_,l3Y assembled, and the national anthem com-
dazi-,eu• All rose, and the appearance of the house was
qai;ing—dazzling, physically dazzling—from the flash
morally
innumerable and of price not to be counted
o dazzling, from the qualities of the illustrious
na'es there assembled ; for within that theatre

"Capital had gathered then
11er beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er lair women and brave men.
A thousand hearts beat happily."
ti ea4na national anthem concluded, all was expecta
for the debtit of Jenny Lind in Norma. It
the' great undertaking. Was it possible that
bwao was confessedly the greatest Alice, the greatest
ear'icla, the greatest Maria, that had ever trodden the
could be equally great in Norma? The event has
roved that she can. Her Norma is the greatest that
tri,e,er been seen—so essentially different from that
111 s tiwstos and Grisi, that there will always be room for
styles of representing that part, although cer-
tasr: the Norma of Jenny Lind is more true to nature,
the exquisitely beautiful, more truly pathetic than
tlieji.c4 her predecessors. The Norma of Grisi is as
/s 'chard 111. of John Kemble—the Norma of Jenny
;_
Ileth• "as the Richard 111. of Edmund Kean. There is
by iplag tender about the personation of Norma
tt h,:risi; the feeling excited is one of wonder
tt b;,,,stuPendous powers and of congratulation to Pollio
to y tender
got rid of such a virago, but she never excites
Feel „s'enuer feeling until the last scene, and even then we
oat chore for Oroveso than for Norma. She is through-
isjlt`ue haughty, unheeding, passionate, but certes nut
feelii.ed woman. Jenny Lind, on the contrary, infuses a
taetng of feminine tenderness into the whole of the cha-
hottretr:_her wrongs and her sufferings go at once to the
each we feel for her, with her, and our indignation is
tiler "I at the baseness of Pollio. On her first entrance
visa! i 3 none of that imitation of the dignity of high
which, in one situated as Norma is, cannot
bsa,thing but the vilest byoperisy or the
Nati° of hardened guilt. No I Jenny Lind
ssio,srs with the faltering step of one who is con
keil,ce-stricken, and who knows that any. moment any
se duent may lead to a discovery which will consign her
siatieath and infamy. She feels and baths the hypo-
the-cal seeming
which she is forced to assume, and from
lofirst it is evident that her heart is crushed, and that
ath
would be to her a mercy. This is the key-note
is theth character' and that the conception of Jenny Lind
hitn-:? right ofie, and that which the composer
aes'eif had intended, is vident from the man-
lag ;II which many of the points tell accoid-
Qa to this new version of the character. The
apt 441 Diva," for instance, which was sung by
1137 Lind in the original key of F, but a hich Grisi
.8 al_
taster,
transposed, to suit her version of the cha-
lk "i to E flat, became, according to this W•VI version,
ll:1' 'Plan in reality. The long drawn notes, dying away
told distance, and again swelling into a flood of music,
admirably in this exquisite composition. It was a
e 3 esti of the Magdalen, and as, with upraised arms, and
toh.ecaerAsuPdd:(74,lletiv,n, she stood under the eld oak in
supplication, she seemed an etnholinevnt
Magnificent,
m most pure creation of the imagniation of Raphael
se ton, was her acting
ness of Pollio• when she hears of the
She stood rigidly fixed, as one petri-
Xby surprise and horror. Her eye alone quivered,
then the nauscles of the face gradually relaxed. In
tihuel
ha sag°nY of passion she covered her lace with her
Pole and then raising her arms, with fixed ieatures,
seoe tnarble, she stands the statue of despair. In the
sehria with Pollio and Adalgisa her acting was
turt,"b• Her whole frame seemed to dilate as she
ached between them and separated them, and her
I,,rier of commanding Pollio to leave them was the
iL4; Perfecticn of mingled dignity and scorn. Her acdt:
sp° to the scene in which, wrought up almost to ma
stir 3, she contemplates the murder of her children was
14„erh• Her duet with Pollio, at the conclusion of the
g ,-"rld act, In mia mane to sei," was exquisitely
-soi."0; there was a pathos infused into every note of this
isila'sioned address which went at once to the heart,
khlethei, final appeal to her father was the very
of intense woe. The Oroveso of Lablache
Ise,- Perfection, but there is certainly room for
aselnent in the Adalgisa of Madsme Barroni, who
kiss, her abed on the occasion. The choruses werei.
tee''.rably given,
and the orchestra, thanks to the
sit:100 of Mr. Belle, performed the music with exqui-
ae precision. At the fall of the curtain Mademoiselle
1),4113' Lind was called for four times, and each time
liuquets innumerable were showered upon her. Her
wa('srma is her greatest triumph. The national anthem
cheered,
sung. her Majesty, who was enthusiastically
~.reed, left at the end of the divertissement.
54..-!,:nh interior of the royal box was lined with white
atin,
.eovered with light blue tulle, and ornamented with
wirth d gold inOuldings. The ante-chamber was lined
trial light pink silk, covered with white tulle, and
Lis_ 'zed with a profusion of splendid deep Valenciennes
glasses,
In this little temple of taste were se.verd pier
'Asses, surrounded with wreaths of artificial flowers.
e Whole was designed by Madame Copere. The
coverso of the libretti were of crimson velvet and of gold.
th the table were several magnificent bouquets, and in
e Passage on the left of the royal box were several rare
iexotics. The passages were lined with blue velvet and
-estoons of artifisial flowers, and were lighted with several
*Plendid lustres.
On state occasions three boxes are decorated for her
Majesty, and her suite. The box usually occupied by
her Majesty, her Majesty the Queen Dowager's, and
the Baroness Brunnow's, were fitted up in the most
splendid manner. The draperies outside the boxes con-
noted of crimson velvet, trimmed with gold lace and
broad gold bullion fringe, blue velvet, and silver lace
and fringe. A rich gold cornice surrounded the frame
°F the box, on the front of which was displayed the
rc:'Yal arms. A beautiful gilt crown ornamented the
centre of the top of the box, and on each corner was
Placed war trophies. The whole was encircled by gilt
Pillars of beautiful workmanship. On the stage there
Iv," aplatform for the Yeomen of the Guard. Mirrors,
-andelabra, exotics of the rarest kind were seen in gor-
geous array. The interior of the boxes were decorated
sr: the same style of elegance and splendour, a prolu-
-1,714 of artifieal flowers presenting a charming effset.
The last time her Majesty went to the Opera in state
way,„ on Thursday, July 20, 1843.
h 4- h.,,e general company in the boxes and stalls included
4i
4°Yal Highness Prince George, the Prince Louis
IterTElt the Prince Troubetskoi, his Excellency the
Excellency
Minister and Madame Van de We3er, his
13s-„eeilency the Russian Minister and the Baroness
Ch;1111?w, and Madlle. 01•-a de Lechner, the Sardinian
1./e-erge d'Affaires and the Count Genova Revel, the
sc7e and Duchess of Beaufort and Lady Blanche
burnerset, the Duke and Duchess of Montrose, the
Cleveland,
(Dowager) of Cleveland, the Duchess of
the Mar
the Duke and Duchess of Bedford,
the Llarquis of Clanricarde, the Marquis of Sligo,
the ''ssarquis of Donegal, the Marquis of Douro,
11-0 Marchioness of j3landford, the Marquis of
rraanhY, the Marchioness of Westmeath, the
theatchioness of Aylesbury, the Marchioness of Sligo,
al.Fountess of Blessington and the Misses Power, the
Fall of Munster, the Earl of Cardigan, the Earl of
burl/I°llth, the Earl of Lonsdale, the Earl of Shel•
wtinteo, the Earl of Belfast, the Earl and Countess of
cei, 01 the Earl and Countess of Zetland, the Earl and
titaintjss of Powis end Lady Lucy Herbert, the Earl
Countess of Granville, Viscount Somerton, Vis-
Irian Cantalupe, Viscount Clilden, Viscount and
Mruntess Newport, Viscount Castlereagh, Lord and
iss ICharles Wellesley, Lady Fitzroy Somerset and
d'Ere titzr°Y Somerset, Lord and Lady Willoughby
Saite!`JY, Lord and Lady Macdonald, Lord Sandys, Lord
Loadust Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, Lord Gardiner,
t%olher "rge Lennox, Lady Colborne and the Bon. l's.iss
e„,_ nes Lord and Lady Francis Gordon, Lord Arthur
lie„";"x, Count D'Orsay, Baron Nicholay, M. C. de
'uriaffskN
on, R. lion. J. Macdonald, Hon. F. Cadogan,
G. uurzon, lion. G. Byng, lion. R. Lawley, Mr.
rse_ryarld the lion. Mrs. Anson, Sir Henry Webb, Sir
Sirnasss.Wilikughby, Sir Henry Meux, Sir George Talbot,
Lady Palmersse.Y. Stanley, Lady Meux and Miss Meux,
Cathcart' Sir'
Sir John and Lady Yarde Buller, Sir John
'll' G. Wombwell, Su S. and Lady Oraliaw,