The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-26 00:00:00

ROYAL ITALIAN-COVENT-GARDEN'

Last evening at Covent-garden was in evil.e"
sense an extra night—a night in many ways e';661..
ordinary. 19 its attendance—in the opera seleo
for performance—in the artistes to whom v.O,
opera had been intrusted for interpretatio el
The noble area of that great home .ee
the lyrical drama was crowded. The rnasterPlicit
was Mozart's, and among Mozart's the veril di
of them all—not " Indomeneo," not the " N°l'7ll;
Figaro," not the " Zauberflot," but the 9°-
„ po
maestro's capo d'opera the immortal t 14t
Giovanni." Performed as it was last nigibrog
the Royal Italian, it seems utterly bewilueally
to believe that—as is nevertheless histerirne edi
the fact—when the " Don" was first perfer—ae
namely, in the year 1787, nearly eighty years 5; of
it ,was received by the Viennese with au
,r/had
frigid indifference. Whereas " Idomeneo Gio,
been welcomed with enthusiasm, " Den Dave
vanni " was listened to coldly, or, as we„eca'
said, with frigid indifference upon the "tor
sion of its first performance. Certain, at, aie4
rate we may be that when its exquisite wOO%
were first listened to in Vienna the cast of Ycl.
Mozart's operatic chef d'cruvre included within it 00
such Zerlina as Mademoiselle Adelina ratt1;0011
such Masetto as Signor Ronconi, and 00'
Don Giovanni as M. Faure —to SaY of
thing of Madamoiselle Fricci's Donna Anna' of
Madame Lemmens Sherrington's Donna Ely'r-e'il
Signor Brignoli's Don Ottavio, of Signor Gi3lll:e,
Leporello, and of Signor Cappoes Commencl3:ol
A cast like that—of such an opera—aided as theri'irooS
cipal artistes areby a chorus asperfect in harni.h() stO
unison as that of the Royal Italian, al°, ;hose
orchestra whose lightest breath, equally with .osive
loudest whirlwind of sound, is obediently reslin
the
to the subtlest beck of the wand 0%00
Conductor --present to all true lovers of
a combination that is listened to with
..,"encler
and remembered with gratitude. N° ,"bat ,
that with the announcement of a cast like
the ever new and ever bewitching "Don Gi°Y.,
—no wonder we say that the Royal Italia; a
very numerously attended, and that, naere°v f the
a house more than usually demonstrative °or
admiration excited by the genius of th,e,tionel
poser, and byl the almost equally exe-'rtisteo
gifts and capabilities of the distinguished 8' eeio
by whom the effusions of that matehlessi ved
were warmed anew into life and beaut Y-11 tatue
statues of Pymalion—all but that veritable; the
itself which furnishes the weird element
tirderscl
story, the ghostly grimly effigy of the lla es
pllenel ,110
exc.- of „
Commendatore. Among so many
night thlS
were last night apparent—the first
ere
performance of " Don GioVallili"-""it Wit t°
SUffic Ol3
vidious to make selection.
writesfavo viols
say, that while such peerless
stl ee ees_itt. being
u titles to our admiration, Madam de
sfe- •
Mdlle. Patti, M. Faure, and Signor ReVi.%gtbotint
ma be bt eh
econgratulatedß uo
yp
ao
In
especially noticeable in her regard as. having svo
niepesr3°
her last -,--,„raier.
may be, of not by any means,
operatic Per"
the occasion of her first, and, certain of -ce
Italian—last a
most
upon the lyrical boards as au