The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-26 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE.

The performances here last evening were for the
benefit of that very talented musician Mr. Benedict,
and the house, as might be expected, was exceedingly
well filled in the very early part of the evening. The
performances commenced with Mr. Benedict's own
opera, the Brides of Venice, which seems to increase
in success at each representation. After the opera,
there was a concert, in which Sivori played a con-
certo on the violin, and afterwards performed Paga-
nini's variations on the " Carnival of Venice." The
latter piece was encored, and in both he exhibited his
wonted taste and wondrous powers of execution.
Miss Rainforth sang the old Jacobite ballad, " 'Wel-
come to Charlie," in which she also was encored ; and
Madame Dulcken and Benedict performed one of Thal-
berg's duets for two pianos with great taste and effect.
The lion of the evening was Signor Leonardo Salvi, the
celebrated tenor singer, who, on this occasion, made his
first appearance in England. Salvi's voice reminds us
very much of Donzelli's in his best days. It is no puny
organ, but a full clear rich tenor ; his falsetto, to
which he has recourse but seldom, and which he al-
ways manages with exquisite taste, is exceedingly
beautiful. His compass is very great, and he has
cultivated his voice to almost the highest pitch of per-
fection. lle possesses great powers of expression, and
nothing can exceed the beautiful and expressive pathos
which he throws into his cantabile passages. His
person is fine, and his features very expressive. We
consider Salvi a greater singer than Duprez is now, as
great as Duprez was some 6 years ago; and the day is
not far distant when Leonardo Salvi will be hailed by
the common consent of the musical world as the first
tenor in Europe. The piece chosen for his debut
was the last scene of Donizetti's opera of Lucia di
Lammermoor, in which, of course, he appeared as
Edgardo, and never have we seen that scene nearly
so beautifully represented. There was an intensity
about his personation of the part which proved him to
be as great an actor as he is a singer. At the conclu-
sion he was called for, and received with reiterated
plaudits. The farce of My Wife's Come concluded
the evening's amusements.

LYCEUM.
The Lyceum goes on flourishing under the ma-
nagement of the Keeleys, who are exerting themselves
to the utmost to deserve that patronage which they
have since the opening of the theatre enjoyed. A
new original drama, entitled The Three IVices of
Madrid, founded on a tale in Roscoe's Spanish No-
velists, was produced here last evening with the most
complete success. The three wives are—Laura (Miss
Fairbrother), wife to Luca Moreno (Mr. F. Mat-
thews), a miserly money scrivener ; Beatrice (Miss
Woolgar), wife to Geloso (Mr. Emery), a painter, a
rough jealous libertine; and Camilla (Mrs. Keeley),
wife to Diego de Morales (Mr. Keeley), a retired trader.
The three husbands are boon companions, frequenters of
taverns, wine-bibbers ; and their wives, at the insti-
gation of a certain Count Vasco, determine to hoax
the husbands, with a view of curing them of their
propensities—a diamond, which had been found in
the public garden of Madrid, on the Festival of St.
Blas, being proposed as the reward of the wife who
should be most successful and ingenious in her hoax.
Camilla, having caused Diego to be sent a fool's
errand, of a dark and rainy night, to the gate of
Fuencarel, a distance of four miles, manages, during
his absence, to transform his house to the semblance
of a tavern, and, on his return, he finds it filled with
guests, who tell him that the place has been an inn
for years. Among others who are in the plot is his
friend Geloso, who coolly asks him how he came there
from the other inn. Poor Diego is completelybewildered,
and at last gets turned out and pumped upon for creating
a disturbance, and is eventually locked up for the night.
The acting of Keeley in this scene was inimitable;
he rolled about with open mouth and meaningless
gaze, the very personification of stupidbewildermheenis
bewilderment.
Luca Moreno is hoaxed into a belief that
actually dead ; and Geloso, to whom his wife has ad-
ministered a sleeping potion, is conveyed to a cell in
a monastery, and there becomes firmly persuaded
that he has been all his life a monk, and that the idea
of his having been a painter and a married
is man is a mere
delusion. At the conclusion the jokeexplained,
and the ladies are each rewarded with a diamond ring,
the owner of the lost ring haying been discovered.
The piece ends with a Spanish dance by the charac-
ters, It owes its success mainly to the excellent
manner in which the principal characters were sup-
ported. Mrs. Keeley, as Camilla, was exceedingly
e speig le, and coquettish. She seemed to enjoy the
bewilderment of her poor little husband exceedingly.
Miss IVoolgar acted Beatrice with a great
deal of spirit and tact, and danced exqui-
sitely ; and Emery, as Geloso, was very amusing.
We must not omit to notice Mr. A. Wigan, who as
Pablo, the starved serving man of the miser Luca,
wa4 exceedino civairit 411 d htliuottrous. The piece

is interspersed with some pretty dancing, and Is illus-
trated by some beautiful scenery. The three wives
of Madrid are most amusing personages, and to the
question put by Mrs. Keeley at the conclusion "Have
we not fairly won the diamond ring ?" we unhesi-
tatingly answer yes !