The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-21 00:00:00

ENGLISH OPERA-HO USE.

Last night not less than three new pieces were produced.
The first was an opera, called Sadak and Kalasrade ; or,
the Waters of Oblivion. It comes recommended to the
public by the clever pen of Miss Mitford, but nothing
which that pen was capable of effecting, able and versatile
as it is acknowledged to be, could possibly redeem the too
manifest defects of the music. The composer is Mr.
Packer, a pupil of the Royal Academy, and however un-
promising to his future fame has been this essay, it has still
exhibited some proofs that when his judgment is more ma-
tured, and his taste better cultivated, he may come forth
under very different auspices. As every body must be con-
versant with the original tale, it will be unnecessary to say
any thing more of the plot than that Sadak (Mr. Phillips)
an officer in the service of Anzurath (Mr. Wilson), Caliph
of Persia, after having crushed a rebellion in one of the pro-
vinces, discovers on his return that duringc, his absence his
palace had been burned, and his wife Kalasrade (Miss
Romer) carried off by his ungrateful and tyrannical master.
Abandoning the purpose of taking vengeance on the spot by
means of an armed band, he flings down his sword, and, ap-
pealing to the feelings of the Caliph, implores him to release
the partner of his life and hopes. The tyrant promises to
do so, upon what he believes to be an impracticable condi-
tion, namely, that Sadak should, within the course of a
month, bring him an untouched cup of the Waters of Obli-
vion. The fates, however, are propitious to the latter, and,
surmounting every difficulty, he presents himself with the
cup in his hand, accompanied by his guardian spirit the
Nymph of the Fountain. Anzurath takes it from him, and
quaffing off its contents, instantly falls upon the ground in a
state of insensibility, never to rise more, and justice triumphs
in the restoration of Kalasrade to the anxious arms of her
delighted husband. Mr. Phillips sang with all his accus-
tomed power and scientific taste, and Miss Romer acquitted
herself to much advantage. At the conclusion, the
audience would not suffer the opera to be given out for re-
petition—a long and ineffectual struggle being made by a
few against the loud dissent of the majority. The piece,
thus virtually condemned, was followed by a curious trifle,
called My Fellow Clerk, which met with a far better fate.
The humour of it turns on Cockney scrapes and squabbles
of a pair of attorney's clerks, Victim and Tactic, the former
personated by Mr. Oxberry, and the latter by Mr. Wrench.
These brother quill-men, neglecting their business at their
employer's desk, give themselves up to nightly revels in all
quarters of the town ; and at last, Tactic, whose inventive ge-
nius bas rescued him from a variety of critical situations, is
detected in his schemes, and proved to have led Victim
astray, while he sought to subvert the latter in the affec-
tions of Fanny Dobsou, a young lass whose mother keeps
a lodging-house. Everybody laughed heartily at My
Fellow Clerk, and it was given out for repetition amidst
loud applause. The next piece was called The Shadow on
the Wall, and it takes its name from a particu-
lar spot where the scene is laid being presumed to
be haunted. The story has in it a good deal of roman-
tic interest, and the principal characters are personated by

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'

Mr. Srle, Mr. 0. Smith, and Mr. and Mrs. Keeley. The
action of the piece is s.upposed to take place shortly after .
the time of the Commonwealth ; and two needy cavaliers,
Walton and Norris, are leagued together by a private\s.
compact ; the result of which is that the latter falls by the
hands of the former, while Luke Ei,elyn, a "retired
scholar" and sentimental lover, is denounced as the mur-
derer, and at the close establishes his innocence, and takes
to himself a spouse, though not his first " lady love." Re-:
peated plaudits greeted Mr. Serle's ears, while he an-
nounced the piece for repetition.