The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-24 00:00:00

FRENCH THEATRICALS.

GRAND OPERA.—The theatrical event of the
week is the reproduction of " Gluck's " Alceste."
It made a short apparition on the same stage five
years ago, and it now again appeals to, I regret to
say the word, the patience of a Parisian audience.
Some fifty years ago (it is nearer a hundred) musi-
cians spoke of a Gluckist with the sort of a pitying

smile with which men in general nowadays listen
to a profession of Hegelianism. Notwithstanding
the favour of Marie Antoinette, Gluck, who was an

odious coxcomb, had even fewer admirers in his
lifetime than Wagner, who is the continuer of his
school, has now. But he battled bravely for his
idea, pleading his cause in the numerous prefaces
which are prefixed to his various works. At the
end of a hundred years he might boast, if he could
return with .Alceste from Hades, that he enjoys all
the honour that he is ever likely to attain. His
works have, unconsciously perhaps to the authors
themselves, influenced the French school of music,
and even in his own time had some effect in check-
ing the prevailing effeminacy and triviality of the
Italian opera, which only after this produced the
great masters whose works are the glory of that
stage. So far he was happier than Hegel, who in
his last years acknowledged that he had met with
but one man who had understood his system, and he
had misunderstood it, and who would not find even
that one man if he returned now. Gluck's system
has been at least partially understood, and even
adopted, by those who least admire him. He is not
and never can be popular, at least with th'e ordinary
frequenters of the opera, who go there not for en-
joyment but for excitement. It cannot be denied
that his splendid bursts of passion, love, piety, and
terror are accompanied by passages monotonous and
sometimes tiresome at a first hearing, although on
a better acquaintnnce there are found to be beauties
as well as reason even in these. To enjoy thoroughly
the music of Gluck one must sit down to it as a
scholar would to a tragedy of Sophocles to whose
genius Gluck's music is more akin than to the
polished verses of Euripides. One must be pre-
pared not only to give oneself up to the pleasure of
hearing, but also to take the trouble of listening. As
in some of Haydn's quartette, to miss a single pas-
sage destroys all the enjoyment of those which fol-
low, but it is difficult to give such sustained atten -
tion when cribbed, cabined, and confined in the
narrow space to which the rise of rental in Paris has
reduced the stalls of the Academy of Music. With a
young gentleman on one side whose restless opera-
glass ranges constantly from one box to another, and
an old gentleman on the other whose measure was cer-.
tainly not taken for his stall and whose elbows en-
croach inconveniently on his neighbours' ribs, it re-
quires almost superhuman powers of abstraction to
enjoy the beauties of this opera. An arm-chair
with plenty of room to roll about in is almost an
absolute necessity ; the addition of a long Turkish
pipe filled with the choicest Jibelee would render
the enjoyment perfect. The opera is very well per-

Pericles

THIRD EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, 7 o'CLocs.

SPORTING INTELLIGENGE.—This Da

NEWMARKET RACES—THIS DAY.
BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH..
OPTIONAL SELLING STAKES.
OPTIONAL SELLING PLATE of 5 sovs ; 3-yr-olds, Bst ; 4-
yds, 5-yr-olds, 9st 51b ; 3-yr-olds and aged, 9st
71b -olds,
; O st;
allowances. Cambridgeehire Stake
selling

Course.
Lord Westmorland' Pamunkey (Kenyon) 1
Baron Rothschild's Loveapple (Peake) 2
Mr. Chaplin's Gulnara (Cannon) 3
Lady Coverdale, Olivia, and Melinda also ran. Betting
—2 to 1 agst Gulnara, 4 to 1 agst Loveapple. and Purnuu-
key, sto 1 agst Melinda. Won by a head.
MATCH.
Mr. W. G. Craven's Bravura (Fordham) 1
Prince D Soltykoff's Transformed (Mann) 2
Betting-2 to lou Bravura. Won by a length.
£5O PLATE.
FIFTY SOTS. PLATE ; 3-yr-olds, 7st I.olb ; 4-yr-olds, Bst
101 b; 5-yr-olds, 9st ; 6-yr-olds and aged, 9st llb ; maiden
allowances; winners of 500 sovs 71b. Entrance 2 sovs.
A.F.
Mr. S. Thellusson's Ostregor (Fordham) 1
Baron Rothschild's Dalosman
Lord Glasgow's Flutter f (Challouer) 3
Betting-7 to 4on Ostregor. Won:by three lengths.
GLASGOW STAKES.
GLASGOW STAKES of 100 sovs each, h ft, for 2-yr-old colts,
Bst bib. Last three-quarters of R.M. 13 subs.
Mr. Launde's Mandrake 'Morris) 0 1
Sir R. Bulkeley's 0 wain Glendwyr (Goater) 0 2
Lord Glasgow's Maid of Masham c (Fordham; 3
Dutch Admiral
Betting-5 to 4 agst Mandrake, 3to 2 agst Maid of
Masham c.

HANDICAP PLATE.

HANDICAP PLATE of 50 sovs, for two-year-olds. Entrance,

2 says. T.Y.C.

Prince D. Soltykoff's Bounceaway
Sir J. Hawley's Salamanca f (Challoner) 2

Land Tax, Icicle, Prodigal, Sycee, Freemason, Blink-
hoolie, Sweet Home, Q.C., Rondiuella, Rus in Vrbe,
Cunard, .Ailesbury, Phantom Sail, Maid of Masham.filly,
Libertine, Violet, Haidee, Lady Blanche f, Bonno Fortune,
Master Robert, Little Ben, and Bravura also ran. Won. by
three lengths.

SWEEPSTAKES.

SWEEPSTAKES of 10 sovs each ; 3-yr-olds, 7st 131 b; 4-yr-
olds, Bst 101 b ; 5-yr-olds and upwards, 9st 71b. The
winner to be sold for 70 sovs. T.Y.O. ,

Mr. Ambery's Mineral (Loa t es) 0 1
Mr. York's Kingmaker (Kenyon) 0
Mineral walked over. Stakes divided.
ALL-AGED-STAKES.

ILL-AGED STAKES of 100 sovs each, hft ; 2-yr-old; 6st
121 b ; 3-yr-old; Bst 101 b ; 4-yr-olds, 9st 51b ; 5-yr-olds
and upwards, 9st 71b ; mares and geldings allowed 31b.
Bretby Stakes Course. 14 subs., one of whom pays 15
sovs ft.
Mr. F. Pryor's Friponnier
Mr. R. Sutton's Lord Lyon (Custe.nee) 2
Duke of Beaufort's Rustic (Fordham) 3
Betting-6 to 4on Lord Lyon, 2to 1 agst Fripponnier.
Won by a length and a half.
SWEEPSTAKES OF 10 SOVS.

SWEEPSTAKES of 10 sovs each; 2-yr-olds, 7st 31b; 3-yr-
olds, Bst 101 b ; 4-yr-olds, 9st llb ; 5-yr-olds and upwards
9st 41b. The winner to be sold for '250 SM. If for 100

sovs allowed 51b. T.Y.C.
Mr. R. Ten Broeck's Phantom Sail (Cameron) 1
Mr. Chaplin's Tribute f (Murray) 2
Mr. M'Kenzie's Domestic Bliss (Sharpies) 3
Betting-7 to 4on the winner. Won by. three lengths.
SUBSCRIPTION PLATE.

SUBSCRIPTION PLATE of 50 sovs ; 2-yr-olds, 7st ; 3-yr-
olds, Bst 121 b. The winner to be sold for 350 sovs.

T.Y.C.
Whitby 1
Goodfellow

Mochrie

Magpie, Birdforth, Miss Williams, Chatworth, Mr. Pitt,
Salamanca f, Slap Bang, Skirmisher f, Sea Rover, and
Claymore also ran.
Betting-6 to 41 agst Whitby, 3to 1 agst Mr. Pitt, 6
to 1 each agst Salamanca and Goodfellow. Won by
length and a half ; three-quarters of a length between
second and third.

THURSDAY.
Acceptances for the FIRST NURSERY STAKES.
St lb
Viridis 8 10
Pericles 8 10
Flying Scud (late The