The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-26 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
L'Alisir d'Amure was re!,e,ted he^e ":..:
Lablwthe as Dt•cwr Llizflzsit -:.• • •
as glorious as ever ; Castellan, who was nt
voice, sang and acted bewitchingly, and Gardoni us
Nemorino, sang the music most sweetly, and looked and
'acted the lover to the life. His Una fertiva Layrima is
one of the most exquisite gems of the lyrical drama.
in the ballet department we had the magnificent
_ Divertissement from Lally, Rookh, with Ceritu and St.
Leou ; and the ballet of Corgis, with Carolina R,,,ati
and Marie Taglioni. The house was crowded. Amongst
the eompany who honoured the theatre with their pre-
sence we observed their Royal Highnesses the Duke
and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Princess Mary,
attended by the Baroness Hammerstein, Major
Stephens, and Mr. E. H. St. John Mildmay, his
Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar,
Viscount and Viscountess Barrington, and the Hon. Miss
Barrington, and the Hon. Miss Mitchell, occupied her
Majesty the Queen Dowager's box. There were also
present Mr. George Ed .card and the Hon. Mrs Anson,
and Mr. and Lady Anne Charteris (in her Majesty's
box), the Prince Louis Napoleon, the Duke and Duchess
of Cleveland, his Excellency the Russian Minister,
the Baroness Brunnow and Madlle. Olga de Lechner, the
Marchioness of Douro, the Marquis of Donegal, the
Marquis of Huntley, the Marquis of Granby, the Mar-
quis of Clanricarde, the Earl of Cardigan, the Earl of
Munster, the Earl of Lonsdale, the Earl of Belfast,
-Viscount Somerton, Lord Berwick, Viscountess Dillon
and the Hon. Misses Dillon, Lord Gardner, Lord Mac-
donald, Lord Charles Wellesley, Lord and Lady Wil-
loughby D'Eresby, and the Hon. W. D'Eresby, Lord
and Lady Colchester, Lord Brougham, the Baron Rehau-
tent the Count de Courcy, Lady Graham, Lady Meux,
Lady Fitzroy Somerset and Miss Fitzroy Somerset, Sir
R. Willoughby, Hon. Julian Fane, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert
de Burgh, the Count de Koudriaffsky, Mr. W. W. Wil-
'anis, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Morton,
captain Reynolds, Captain Smith, Mr. Conyogham, Mr.
Stuart, M.P , Mr. and Miss Brereton Trelawney, Mr.
and Mrs, Hodgson,i Mrs. Packe Reding, Mr. Hayter,
/EP., &c. &c.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA,
CO V ENT- GARDEN.
Rossini's L' lieliana in Algieri waS.prgdueed here on
,
Saturday, with an entirely new cast, comprising Mdlle.
A lboni as ifelbelia
Marini as the 11 ,y, Rovere as
'.Caddeo, and Salvi as Lindoro. has added
to her fame by her personation of Isabella. Her ren-
dering of the music was exceedingly brilliant, and,
better than all, exceedingly correct. Her rendering of
the celebrated aria " Penne alla Patria," was perfect,
wend
merited the applause with which it was
tierved• The Lindoro of Salvi is not equal to
indLEdFardo• Either he was labouring under
powgeprosition on Saturday, or his voice is deficient in
carry
oecasio„ I,i,e gave snatches of the music beautifully, but
,x__. there was manifested a want of power of
At 71mnesil to
afii.er •out his conception. He seemed to be
exhausted. Marini is a good, steady bass
ox with a poeerful voice, and a perfect knowledge
music,
and
although in the Papatari he approached
(,who
who near to the rich and unctions humour of Lablache
'can approach the unapproachable), yet, in his ren-
dering
of the bye part of this celebrated quartette, there
Was
a grave stolidity thattold well. Rovere was the Taddeo,
and
Rovere
is in all points the perfect conventional
Italian 800 We can imagine the roars of laughter
and aPelause, the furore of delight which Rovere would
excite among an lialian audience, but every low come-
fan, and the buffo is the low comedian of Italy, while
he
en.i'ls a greater popularity among his countrymen
than otAer artistes, seldom succeeds in making himself
Understood by a foreign audience. The French,- for in-
stance, were delighted with Charles Kemble, with Kean,
with Macready, bat they could not understand Liston,
and were lost in astonishment et the roars of laughter
which he excited among the English portion of the
audience. So with Rovere last evening. Those
who had been in Italy, and understood the
er°nventienalities of the Italian drama, were do
r„.ghted, but the acting of Rovere was caviare to a
b.-eat proportion of the audienco, they could not un-
derstand the fun. Now this is easily accounted for. The
f"_, of the buffo actor is generally lecal tun—understood
-11'1 aPpreciated, and enjoyed with a zest incomprehen-
ibl te strangers, b • tho:;e who are habituated to the
co
nversationalities of the place. But remove him to
ahother audience unaccustomed to his peculiar
I:4111"v, and he would have to educate them to his man-
- er• grid himself to their ideas of fun, helot: he
Oft hop for success This is the case with
llovore• tie is certainly a most accomplished
Italian buffo; but that is not enough with a foreign
audience, because they do not understand Italian con-
ventionalities, and in order to attain that position to
rich his tab nts entitle him, he must endeavour to
become more cosmopolitan in his humour, and his
audience must, at the same time, become more Italian in
theirs. If Rovere performs his part of this arrange-
tuent, be will thereby teach his audience theirs, and
th:n he will be deservedly as great a favourite here as
is in his own country. The principal artistes were all
called for at the conclusion. The new ballet, La Reine
•1:8 Fees, .concluded the evening's entertainments. Her
Majesty and Prince Albert were present.

•
QUEEN'S CONCERT ROOMS,
HANOVER-SQUARE.
Mademoiselle Isa Prudence, the celebrated somnam-
bulistappearance
cor, as she is termed, " Ecstatic"), made her third
13_,
_ranee in these rooms on Friday afternoon, assisted
Herminie Laurent, exhibiting her extraordi-
nary Powers in Oneiromancie Artistique, or the repre-
sentation of historical, mythological, and imaginary
. attitudes connected with painting, sculpture, and the
•- . dramatic art, by transmission of ideas effected through
the mere agency of the will. Whatever degree of credit
• may be attached to the mesmeric art, the performance
was in every respect an extraordinary and interesting
one. If, as was asserted, the only means of communi-
- eating the knowledge of what the young lady was re-
. 4:pared to express, was by the mere act of volition
on the part of the magnetiser, it was, indeed,
most wonderful, and would go far to confirm
the truth of all that has been claimed on behalf
of the art. If, on the other hand, there was any decep-
tion, and we confess that we could not with the closest
scrutiny detect anything that could be supposed to
border on it, Madlle. Prudence must be an actress of
• ' great and varied power, who would achieve a triumph in
the higher branches of the drama. The most incre-
\ ditlous, however, were completely baffled. The greatest
facility was given to every one to inspect closely the
• . performance. Any person desiring it was permitted to
ascend the temporary stage, and to stand at the side of
'the parties, and although many trials were made there
was not a single failure, neither was there the sligh,est
appearance of any agency by which she could have ob-
. twined the knowledge of what was required at her hands.
Many distinguished scientific gentlemen and several
ladies were in. attendance at the appointed hour. Shortly
after Mademoiselle Prudetate entered, attired in the
Druidical costume, a chaplet of oak leaves round her
bead, and a loose white dress, with the arms quite bare,
and each surrounded with two wide armlets of gold, one
at the wrists, and the other at the upper part of the arm.
Site is a rk mark,ihly fine young woman, with a mist ex-
pressive countenance and fair complexion. She seated
nerself immediately in an arm-chair, and the mag-
netising at once commenced—within a few minutes she
was thrown into a deep sleep. Dr. Laurent then stepped
forward and invited any person present to write en a
slip of paper the subject he desired to have illustrated.
Very many availed themselves of the permission thus
afforded, and in every instance it was most elf ctively ex
pressed. Madlle. Laurent held in her hand the paper con-
taining the subject, and stood quite behind the chair on
which theycung !a.dy was seated; in a few seconds she rose
and advanced a few paces, and assumed the required at-
titude and expression. Many of the illustrations were
-loudly applauded ; " the Caressing a little Child,"
the first that was demanded, was beautifully
given. Perhaps, the best,. however, was " ;he
Gladiator fighting to the death." Her countenance as-
sumed an almost demoniacal expression, when plunging
the sword into the bosom of the conquered enemy.
"The Roman Mother receiving her Son, returning vic-
torious, was also exquisitely rendered, and also " a
Woman caressing a Butterfly, which had settled on her
wrist." The wonderful command which the mesmeriser
.exerciafd over the sleeper was shown by her falling, as if
deprived of all her powers while leaning on one of the au -
dience, at a movement made from behind, her eyes being
bandaged at the time. An exhibition was announced to
take place on Saturday evening, at the private residence co'
the parties, amidst considerable applause. We have cer-
tainly never witnessed a more surprising exhibition, or
one so perfectly inexplicable, save on the assumption of
the reality of the claims put forward.

EXETER-HALL.

The second performance of Elijah, under the direction o:
Dr. Mendelssohn, took place on Friday night, in the presence
of her Majesty and Prince Albert. The hall was crowded to
suffocation. The royal party occupied the gallery.at the left
wing, near the orchestra (For her Majesty's suite, see the
Court Circular.)
Her Majesty and Prince Albert, on taking their places,
were received with tumultuous greetings, which they cour-
teously acknowledged by repeated salutations to the crowd.
The band and chorus then performed the national anthem.
It would seem that good counsel is not altogether thrown
away upon the Sacred Harmonic Society, to judge by the
difference between Friday night's performance and that which
preceded it. Although much more than was done might
have been done in strengthening and purifying the band and
chorus by adding and subtracting where it was necessary,
yet the evidence of painstaking in the general performance
was manifested most agreeably. The choruses, for the
most part, if they did not go perfectly, went far better
than there was reason to anticipate from the unfinished
and clumsy exhibition of Friday week, and the orchestral
accompaniments demonstrated an amount of extra training
that could only have resulted from a complete and satis-
factory rehearsal. This, we believe, took plate} in the morn
ing; under the camp Pr's direction. Most of !the faults we
noted in our report of the first performance were rectified on
Friday night. The overtire was played with sniritand accuracy.
The
refrain of the duet e and chorus," Lord, bow down thins
ear to our, prayer," W'l4 highly satisfactory, although there
was still some unsteadiness in the starting of the solo voices.
The passages for the stringed instruments in the magnificent
oberusesUt the Baalite priests, were now given with the
proper_, force, and the effect was doubt, d in consequence. The
emale (quartette), "Cast thy burtben 6, ni the Lord," went
smoothly, and the grand chorus at the en I or the first part,
" Thanks be to God,' was much more coil., cdy and ener-
getically delivered, though still not up to the; mark, owing
Lo the want of sufficient power in the stringed instruments.
The mistake we mentioned last time in the chorus " Be not
afraid," where the time and measure change, was entirely set
tight: the point was taken up admirably. The unaccom-
panied trio, for female voices, " Lift thine eyes to the nioun-
tagmo produced the same effect as last time, and was sung
Much better, the soprano voices being, on this occasion, per-
fectly in tune. As Miss Kirkham is a very young artist,
We
ja are glad to have the opportunity of encouraging
y a word of approval. The most perfect of all the
oral performances were " He watching over Israel," a strain
er soothing and enchanting melody, and " Behold, God the
Lord passeth by!" one of the grandest pieces of
_descriptive