The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-02 00:00:00

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA,

The house was crowded with a most fashionable
audience, among whom were—The Queen and Prince
Consort, accompanied by the King of the Bel-
gians and the Duchess of Brabant. The royal
suite consisted of Lady Churchill, Countess d'Yve
de Bevan the Earl of Vernlam, Col. Count de
Moerk.erke, Major-General Bouverie, Capt. the Hon. D.
de Ros, Dr. Koepl, the Prince Boris Golitzsn, the
Duchess of Muntrose, the Marquis Townshend, the Earl
of Westmoreland, the Countess of Jersey and Lady Cle-
mentine Villiers, the Earl and Countess of Malwesbury,
Frances Countess Waidegrave, the Earl and Countess of
Durham, the Earl of Gifford, the Earl of Zetland, the
Countess Granard, Viscountess forties, Viscount and
vio.,:ootpgs -P,emoutb, Viscount Raynlaatn, M.P.,
Lord ano ,-1,1 Lady Arthur Hay,
Lord Norreys, Lady Southampton, Lord Se), L
Brougham, Lady William Russell, Lady Elizabeth
Russell, Lady Charlotte Denison, Lady O'Connor,
and Miss O'Connor Lady Henrietta Morant, Lady
Elizabeth Drummond, Lady Augusta Wentworth and
Miss Wentworth, Sir John and Lady Harringtcn,
Sir Alexander Bannerman, Capt. the Hon. C. W.
Vivian, M.P., Col. the Hon. C. A. Wrottesley, Major
the Hon. J. Stuart Wortley, Col. Br° tvnlo w Knox,
M.P., Col. Crombie, Capt. Byng, Capt. Clayton, Col.
de Bathe, Capt. Turner, Major Cooke, Col. Greville,
the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, M.P., and Mrs. Her-
bert, Hon. John Fortescue, Miss Byrne, Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Webster, Mr. Francis Baring and Mrs. Baring,
Mr. and Mrs. Courteney, Mr. Charles Martin, Mr. E.
Elice, M.P., Mr. Forbes, Mr. G. Knox, Mr. Penney,
Mr. Arthur Russell, Mr. H. Webster, Mr. ff. W.
Currie, Mr. Gyles, Mr. Du Cane, M.P., Mr. Kemble,
Mr. Ellice, M.P., Mr. Woodford, Mr. Schuter, Mr.
Eaton, Mr. Turner, Mr. Wickham, M,P., and Mr.
Oum, Mr. Ewer, ttc.

SECOND CONCERT OF TRE BRADFORD
FESTIVAL CHORAL SOCIETY.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
The Bradford Choral Society repeated their perform-
ance at the Crystal Palace yesterday, very much to the
gratification of 10,000 auditors, and manifestly very
much also to their own. The effect of this fine mass
of voices in a monotone is of a superb character.
It must have been some such csmbination of voices
that Handel imagined in his first idea of the
noble choruses of his oratorios- This choir is a
living evidence of the great advance which has been
made in mu,ic, as a study, in this country. We may
yet hope to rival the great musical unions of Germany,
and we trust that the clergy of the Church of England
will not lose the opportunity of calling in this movement
auccesfully to the aid of devotion in cur services. Who
could have beard yesterday the part song—" This world
is all a fleeting show" (Waley), with is wonderful cres-
cendo, and diminuendo, giving the lights and shades of
Addison's inspired poetry, particularly of that grand
aliterative line, "And fancy's flash and reason's ray,"
followed by the sublime rendering of the sequential
lines :

"Save but to light the troubled way,
There's nothing calm but Heaven,"
without feeling how great is the aid of music in thi
grand simplicity to devotional purposes.
There was a thlicious rendering of Jackson's par,
song—" May Morning :
MAY SONG.
" GOOD Moinow."
Pack clouds away and welcOme day,
With night we banish sorrow;
Sweat air blow soft, mount larks aloft,
To give my love good morrow.
Wings from the winds, to please her mind,
Notes from the lark borrow,
Bird plume thy wing, nightingale sing,
To bid my love good morrow.
Wake from thy nest, robin redbreast,
Sing birds in every furrow,
And from each hill let music shrill,
Give my fair love good morrow.
Blackbird and thrush, in ev'ry bush,
Stare, linnet, and cock-sparrow,
Ye pretty elves, among yourselves,
Sing my fair love good morrow.
The full orchestral accompaniments made this a joint
triumph of vocalisation and instrumentation. Tile piccolo
took, _ _

The purification of the River Thames is an idea
altogether so new and hitherto so entirely un-
heard of, that as a matter of course a Parliamen-
tary Committee has begun to hold its sittings for
the purpose of inquiring into it. "The Thames.,
the River Thames !—can it be possible ?—is it
really and truly what wo legislators are now as-
sured that it is (and has been, some people say,
for a long while)—impure, even pestilential ?
Surely the thing is scarcely to be credited. Surely
the River Thames is rippling
pellucidly and trans-
parently between reedy, sedgy banks from
Twickenham down to the sea, with
the trout discernible at the gravely bot-
tom, basking in the sunshine, while the swans
float at their halcyon leisure among the water-
lilies. The Thames foul ?—yet, stay, phew ! that
whiff of `the sweet south' certainly never flat-
tend from a bank of violets, as &TAMPERE has it,
stealing and giving odours'—whew ! the
zephyr's breath is somewhat abominable—pah
better than breathe an atmosphere like this, shut
the doors and close the windows, thotvgli the time
is Midsummer ! " So—Parliament wakes from its
trance at lass--rouses from its long day-dream
about the purity of the river—and, nearly sick HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. ri ,
---oya. Highness the
with the loathsome vapours floating from its sur- i Duchess of Kent honoured the performance with her
yesterday evening. Tne suite in a.tendance
face, begins to bestir itself in the matter, and in • presenceupon her Royal Highness included Lady Fanny Howard,
per Bart
inhalf-di3tracted, like BEVERLEY in the Lady Isabella Howard, Lady,ir George Coo
Anna Maria Dawson,
0.
Gaeeter, " Wa.o ids to be done ?" And so— Mrs. JAmes Cooper
never B , K.C. (Chief ' Cs% Sic
and Comptrollt; of the
having heard of the Thames Nuisance before, Household to her -Royal Highness), Mr. James Cooper,
nod Col. S-tpheop.
the subk,,ct being entirely new the House ,
Maar.racelN Irma Lim —The marriage of Lady
of Commons forms a Committee of In- Agues Grosvenor, daughter of the Marquis and
quirt', and, according to the favourite phrase
Marchioness of Westminst-r and Sir Archibald Islay
be- St. Gne.iiDlNrg,'&Cmhpt.itrNchy,ollralnnoEvLetiN-spoi
Campbell, Bart., was solemnised yesterday forenoon at
G
......Yeqtcrday the direc-
tors the story-books, " begins with the
ginning." Hence day after day, the news•
tors declared dividend
at the rate of S per cent. per
papers have their diurnal reports of " The Par- annum.
We have much pleasure in annouocing that the
liamentary Committee," giving a full, true, and nare.
Turkish Government has made ample FatiJaction for
particular account of the investigation now being the outrage upon Mr. Fonblanque, the Consul-General
made into—" The state of the River Thames." at Belgrade. The regiment to which the soldier who
made tile attack upon Mr. Fimblanque belonged has
Than this we do not conceive anything scarcely was been withdrawn, the soldier and his officers hove been
ever more preposterous. The state Of the Thames, sent to Conetantinoplc for trial, the Pasha has personally
forsooth !—the thing has longexpressedregret been notorious. expressed
have been fired iu honour of the British flag.—'
As well might a committee of inquiry have beau Tined,

" Wake from thy nest, robin redbreast,
Sing birds in every furrow."
The cornet took, "Sweet air blow soft ;" the clarionet
with exquisite sweetness, breathed, " Wings from the
winds."

The concert closed with another part song of Jackson's
—" Chorus a la Valse," also with full orchestral ac-
cluipaniments, in which the trombone, the ciarionet,
the cornet, and the piccolo were again deliciously pro-
minent, The trombone, amongst these, showed the
mastery of space which this instrument possesses, and
its singular adaptation to a building of such magnificent
inrrsspsit o pl pa
i io nsl
a,
cac and of such peculiar construction as the
e

We know but little of Herr Flotow as a composer,
in this country, saving through the medium of his
pretty little opera, " Leoline," wb:.ch was produced
some years ago at the Princesses, while under the
direction of Mr. Maddox. Herr Flotow's chief work
is " Martha," which was produced at the Royal
Italian Opera last evening v;ith most decided and
successful effect, being unquestionably one of the
greatest "hits" of the season. Without any strong
claims to ,originality or dazzling genius, it presents a
succession of sweet and flowing melody, which is quite
refreshing, and the rapturous applause and numerous
encres which marked the progress of tLe performance
left no doubt as to the warm appreciation of its merits
by the English public. The fullest renounces of the
company were employed, and with Mme. Bosh), Mme.
Didi6s, Mario, Tagliafico, Zelger, and Graziani to sun-
port it, the combined result was a great triumph. Mrne.
Bosio as in fine voice and sang exquisitely, as did also
Madame Didiria, who posseses a contraltoorgan of superb
quality. Mario was himself, and rang the latter part of
the opera with brilliant and fascinating power. We may
calculate on "Martha" being a meet attractive feature
for the remaind©r of the seasca.