The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-09 00:00:00

DIWRY-LANE THEAV,RV.'
Madame Anna Bishop made her•-debai?-d, lag
evening, in the character oflsoline in Balfe's opera
of The Maid of Artois.; Which. Was'revived for the
occasion. This opera waa: composed expressly for
-Madame Malibran, - who created; .in the --eliacter .of
Iselin-6;a Sensation which is now 'a mattei,tif :.history
in the records of the. 'English AnusiCal d`ranii. The
voice of Malibrin was, perhaps, , the 'firieit..e./nti'alto
that has ever been heard—that of Madame Bishop --is
a pure, high soprano, cousequehtly, the
,yujiole of the
music had to be altered to suit' the voice of the de-
butante. Our readers, no doubt, remember Madame.
Bishop as ..Miss Riviere, the mostpromiSing pupil Of
the Royal Academy of Music. She has more than
fulfilled the promise of her pupillage--4aisi#,' Ger
many, and Italy, - have borne willing witness
to the genius and science of 4he gifted -::Elii`.4
lish songstress—and the prinea- donna of • the-
San Carlo has returned frOin,- Naples Eng7,'
land to assume that position which is her
right. Madame Bishop (we wish She would
,sjnk the •
MadaMe) at this moment, the prima .donna assolula
of England. Her grand semi ctel.t7-ec• 'irf-the first
aet-wits a triuMph,- and at once assured her Tier posi-,,
don.- Clear, flutelike, powerful, sweet, anetrexquisitely
expressive, her Voice was recognised at once- as that
of one of the greatest artistes of the day. With the.
freshness-of Cast ellan; she combines.the flexibility and-••
sch•nce of PersiOni, SS ittiout that deloiency of iuto
nation which was always perceptible, but zwhich,
during her last tsia '
seasons was painfully firs felt in ' •
'the vocal efforts (fur latterly,:they were effdrts)
than otl:erwse Quec,i) of
.Sorb-Madame
-
neversines out of tilde. In this trying.scena.
encored, and then !blower" the duerwith the Affircitiiso'c
in %Aid' she iv as ted -hv
(who .is a musician), and then cable
trying; .finale 'to t 1.16 fir;-it acv, in which-. • both-..v.-
-vocally and histrionically her -trial-110 was chnipleig::;-
.At the conelosion Of the first att she-was 'All‘ed foriess,-,
and-iv:as led on by .11iirrison (the Jules of theivera),
.0a Was rewarded by the enthusiastic plaudits of ::11
delighted. audience, while honquets were; showered-
her a joison. In the.sec.und act; at: tliteonirpenennierit,,:;;..t
Weiss, as the slave driver.S.telet,,ifs'iltde greet plays.:4-s.
Irs int./7a aria, " Was there ever. hossitn such
Was given with more spirit thari,Wre-hayeeVer:be:o;es-:.
heard. Weiss exhibit, and Was and deservedly:;:;
applauded. to exquisitely, -ljeAttiful. "
what a charm it is to-dwoll," delightfully
Madame Bishops followed ; and.thelo.kiatile.th:great
(Met of the Opera., betviTenjso}i4e,Atid Jules, in which
Madame BiAlicp was-well supported' byThirriSOO. In -
this act
_We were introduced toa. delniturite of some
prOrni'Sre:, Miss Isaacs,---who- appeared aS-.*-.Nynka, and.
who ,as a secwzda 6lonna. will add greatly. to the -
efficiency of the Drury-lane corps. At the ecinelus,,,,,
sion of this act, the' flif!f2nn.d.. air, "'The Light
drys" Was given with great pathos:and-- exprea.rz:`;
hpliorrani. We !lave neve.rh.eard this air- ~4••
beautifully tiVen ; and we -.§4.-y this with a vivid
re-
' collection of llen6.- Phillipps, in this delightful me-
lody, on the night' When the opera was first
Borrani was ,rapturously and most deservedly. ens
cored, but, with sa modesty rather. uncommon in vo-
calists, he only repeated. the first verse; The- whole
burden of the third act falls upon lsoline ; and ad- .
mirably did Madame Bishop sustain it. Her acting
and her vocalisation were 'serf, ct ; exquisitely did
she give the opening recitative, and the pathetic arias +
which immediately_ follows it; "Okbeantifu rriight.". '
ILirrison was, on the whole, good in this• scene,
but he marred it sadly' at. ,the-conclusiop, by
voeFerating in the voice of " I-could
not share thy life, I will thy death." He shouted
this at the top of his voice. 1•TOw, considering that -
he has only just partially recovered from a fainting
fit of exhaustion, and considering also that she whom
he loves better than life, is at that moment stretelled,
as he thinks, dead before him, it •is morally and
physically impassible that Jules shoold_havnuttered
those words in such a tone, and corthequently it is.
artistically a great fault. The audience felt it was
such, for a feeble attempt at applause in the gallery,
was instantly suppressed by an universal and ener-
getic hush ! The far- famed finale " The rapture
dwelling," was exquisitely given by Madame Bishop,
Her foriture in the finale was beautiful exceedingly ;
her voice .sounded like a beautiful Ante, 'perfectly
under the command of- the most accomplithed-per-
former. The expression was all that could be desired,
but more than all, there was a truth to nature, which
entitles Madarne Bishop-,t& take high rank as a Ilra-
,natie artist of the highest order. It was gi'ven„
musically speaking; most delightfully,- most correctly,
most artistically, but with a degree of -exhaustion
which one would naturally expect:from the situation,
that of a person just recovered from the. Jaws Of death
in the desert. Madame Bishop exhibited throughout
the opera a fine appreciation of the.various-phases of the
-character, and rrowhere was that, more : finely 6r more
correctly exhibited than- :where a less
ancomplished artist would have sang':'' tether to c hi
hit her own powers of Vocal, execution than to hare •
been true;to nature.. The audience;;' 0 tere'gtj,44
,see, pronerly appreciated tie :Artistica- conceptieu of"
.11,:danie Bishop. 4She was. called for t the condo=
Siuni.gpd led on by"Harriori, and bOu4UPtes in profu-
sion were again showered uPon.her.i.o. When she had
ithricawn, there were loud 'Calls for:, Borranii in
obedience to which 'hp at length appeared, and was
4reeted with loud applause, ,riev'er vas applause
more richly dcservett.'s lOuse was crowded. to
excess in every pa7itlons.-; belare Vie-rising of the -cur-
tain. Places even in the'ilips...Were.. riln premium.

LYCEUM .THE T E •
Last night a new comic dratna,, entitled, Which.
Mr. emith? was p•oduced the .above popular
theatre, with much success. The novelty is from the
pen of Mr. Angus B • Reach, a gentleman well known,
as a successful contributor •to •many of the eadibk
periodicals. The new drama is crowded with equi-
coque, w:t, and amusing situations. The many miss
takes which occur arise from Mr. John Smith (Mr.
P. Mathews), of Oxford-street, bring taken for a
Mr. Smith, of th? Strand, serve to keep the.audienee
in a constant roar of laughter. The author's work is
admirably aided by the excellent acting..`of Mr. F.
Mathews ;- Mr. Emery, as Mr. Jonas Sludge ; Mr.
Vining, as Mr. Maurice CYGormln &c. The piece
was announced for repetition amidst loud applause,
and must have a run.

•
ASTLEY'S THEA . .
Of late this house has been labouring. unrcl;r great
disadvantage, from the fact of Westminster. Bridge
being blocked up for such a lengthened period, thereby
the principal- approach from the West end to this
-Spiritedly-conducted establishment has, in some
mesure, , been cut -off for a time. Mr. Batty,
it would appear, is. not to be daunted by trifles,
as he has redoubled his exertions to
.'meet, the
difficulty, • and' at great expense entered into
engagements with several continental artists-of great
celebrity ; and we are truly glad to.findthat his en•
deavoiirs to cater for the public amusement -have not
been without apprecial ion. The house has been very,
well attended, and those who -at first were deterred
by the-stoppages of the bridge, find that they CO
'longer remain away from the fun and splendour of -
old
Aihlty's. This week a new and truly wonderful
attraction has been added to the usual round of
amusements, iu the person of IferrAmidie Neopert,
a German; Who perforni§ some Of the extraordi-
nary feats Of balancing on - glass bottles-Oat ever
was witnessed in this -Cenetry. It it (toile imposible;
.to give even an idea of the'wonderfal. facility'-with
which he walks, or,.ra t hexiglides, round the-shailhtefs
,of a •common quark bottle.;, after whieb„he erects a
platform on the necksof,,.four bottles, and placing e
fifth On Lit, on the Shoulders of which he places his
feet, and goes through mostrapid and graceful girur-
gations.; then follows his 'balancing •of - th r ee:di sfiog
each on a separate stick; one in either hand and the
third in his rooutheach dish revolVitw with -the
greatest rapidity, so as .to" elude' the quickest eye--
during -all this he stands merely on the side of the
bottle' on the erected platform. His perforniance Was,
received with most rapturous applause by -the aston-
ished spectators. - The gorgeous spectacle of the -
Merchant's Steed continues to increase in public t
favour.

TREATMENT OF THE POOR IN ST. PANCRAS.—
_ Yesterday there was another vestry meeting in St. Pan-
cras parish., to consider the conduct of the directors of- -
guardians in their treatment of the .paupers. Mr.,
Uowaith, church-warden, presided at the meeting, shich
v.tas a stormy one. A resolution of censure was prd-
pOsed.oa Mr. Lea, the master of the workhouse, for hav-
ing dismissed the, man Whitby
gave accountmajorittyf thoef
twenty-
four evidence <
he during- the inve.stigation into the proceedings of
the workhouse. The resolution was—strongly opposed,-
hntiat
against
sttil nititatteeem tth then "eft the chair.ly
cg
indignantly, and the other churchwarden, Mr. Wagstaff,
was elected to fill the vacant scat, and the rest of the -
business before the meeting was concluded.
direct sl:st nifet the
illti,,or,,N,CrochPc4osintLeYbrFrolinAf
lcmv(e)emedtri;esgrdcaoe2%,,hartet
held' at
which thi.Chattf•er ut:animou-sly agreed upon ttemo=
ralilsing the 13!)ard of Control on the suojeet of a rernord.

of the i•est,cietions ttnd bonding regulations under which
the impertation of bal.'', from this country itto the East,
Indi>3s is admitted. A rnectinr, of 'the Worcester Town
Council was alai hell on Tuesday, at whieh-a memorial
to the same effect us th!it allopttd by the Chainber of '
Commerce was unanimously ngreed to.
A• stormy meeting of the inhabitants -a
the pariah •
Of St Ge!‘rs. ge':-,-the East was 1.:•1,1 list nTght in the
vaLtry-room of -th, pari,h church,' for' the purpMe 0..
considering the eAalslisittneutoof Wilts and washhoU,Sesi
necordinz to the recent Act of Parham' nt.- There wo::.t.=
u Istrong opposition to the inettAire inn the gr9unl.of the
itcreiso, of loCal:tatation,- and ultimafcly a motion' for
establisktrig the Wahl wa; lost by a large trii]joiity on a^l
I,IIOW of-hands. A poll.was detuand-edi Which will-taiio
place on Nronday and Tuesday next. • • t
CAUTION.—FROM CoItRESPONpEIIT.—The public;
.would \Veil- to weigh their• candles, as unprinCipled-
mttli2i.s are sending them out short weight, finding
dealers equally unprincipled in busing them, knowing
that they are
.09, and thus defrauding their custolllOM

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