The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-03 00:00:00

HETI -MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Last evening was the first extra night of the season—the
first of the " long Thursdays" for which last season was so
distinguished—and which, to the real lovers of music and
acting, are perhaps the most delightful nights of the season.
The opera was &fiscal(); and the name of Belisario natu-
rally suggests Fornasari. It is his chef d'ceuvre and, AS
long as Fornasari lives, the character is his own. It
would be as hopeless for any other artiste to
attempt the part as it would have been for an English
actor to have attempted Coriolanus during the lifetime. of
John Kemble. Never shall we forget the glorious debut of
Fornasari, then an unknown man, in the character of Beli-
sario, three years since. Unknown, unpuffed, unused to a
large stage, without any of the prestige which attaches to
a great name, he at once assumed the very highest rank
in his profession ; and, when the English public is
next reproached with want of musical taste, be it
remembered to their credit that they were the first to ap-
preciate, and to do honour, and to foster the genius of perhaps
the greatest of lyrical actors, Fornasari. We have watched
his subsequent career with interest; gladly have we
recorded his subsequent triumphs—and they have not
been few—but never, until last evening, have we
since that night seen his Belisario. It is gratifying to
compare him now with what he was thee, and to mark the
giant's stride which he has taken in his professional career.
There is the same intensity, the same truth to nature, the
same dignity in the first act, the same tear-compelling pathos
in the second act, where the poor deserted blinded outcast
finding his child still true to him, hugs her to his heart; the
same tine burst of patriotic feeling in the third, where the
exile indignantly rejects barbarian aid to revenge his wrongs,
death-struggle i tl
and the same painfully truthful -struggle at the conclu-
sion, that there ever was. But what three years since was a
magnificent sketch, is non' a perfect and finished picture;
the lights and shades which were then merely given in out-
line are now carefully worked in ; then it was a work of genius—
now it is a work of genius, chastened, refined and polished.
by taste, study, and science. The Belisario of Fornasari,
take it for all in all, is perhaps the most perfect piece of act-
ing on the lyrical stage. Madame Castellan was the Irene,
and beautifully true to nature was her delineation of this
most exquisite character. Taken as a whole, we prefer the
; and her
part. In the first
Irene of Madame Castellan to that of Madame Persiani ; con-
sidered as a piece of acting, there was more heart in it, and
albeit she did not overlay the music with needless foriture,
she sang with greater sweetness, with more power, and she,
always sang in tune. Madame Sauchioli was the Antonina.
act
and
she
ee
was
sdseu
sublime
lg
meea
n dealher ofh
aateY erandY uphill
malice s-
did voice told most effectively in the concerted
in the last scene her despair was heart-rending,pieces ;and
of giving the sublime passage Her manner
" Egli e spento—e del perdono
La parole a me non disse,
Di mia voce udendo it suono
Forse in cor mi maledisse,
Fora in Ciel del fallo trio,
Or m' accusa innanzi a Dio,
Ah toglieteme la vita,
Che la morte e un ben per me,"
was harrowing. It is not often that we meet with poetry in the
libretto of an opera, but this is poetry_poetry of the highest
order—poetry of which Metastasio himself need not have
blushed to have been the author. At the conclusion, tlie
two ladies and Fornaeari were called before the curtain, and
received that homage which they so richly merited. The
programme of last evening stated that Bais •
art° was to be
represented " for this occasion only," We hope Mr. Lumley
will be induced to review his decision, for it
is not often that an opera is so Perfectly re-
presented as was the Belisario of last •
evening.
The opera was succeeded by Um 80/ sous Louis XIV , with
Lucile Grahn as the cavalier, and Louise Taglioni .as the
dame, in the stately old minue
Ste t. Then followed a new pa
de trois by Madame Petit phan, Mademoiselle Louise Ta-s
glioni. and M. Perrot, which 'was most tastefully danced
by the ladies, who were encored in their respective
vas, and in which M. Perrot, completely recovered from
his lameness, was the Perrot of forn'..,r years, and gave us all
those wonderfully graceful tours de force et d'adresse which
Perrot alone can give. After that we had the last scene of