The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-05 00:00:00

DER MAJESTY'S TIEATRE•

List night was the first " Sontag night" of the
season, and also the first of the delighiful "long
Thursdays ;" no wonder therefore that there was a
crowd collected around the doors of her INl,jesty'a
Theatre long before the time fixed for their opening,
no wonder that the Haymarket was throrged with
carriages, no wonder that the crush was terrific, that
every box and every stall was occupied, and that even
standing rcoom in the pit and gallery was at a pre-
mium even long before the commencement of the
opera. The opera was Don Panuale, with Lablache
as the Don, his• first appearance this season, and
Madame Sontag as Norina, her first appear-
ance before a London audierca in that
character, and also her first appearance
for the season after having achieved in Paris,
during the course of the last few weeks, a success to
which nothing can be compared save the triumphs she
herself achieved in the French capital on her first
appearance there, before her retirement from the
stage, and in comparison avith which even those
triumphs appear as nothing. The character of
Norina is exactly suited to Sontag's peculiar style of
acting and vocalization. • Norina is witty, espiegle,
gay, vivacious, but, above all, and before all, she ts a
lady, and there is not, there never has been in our re•
membrance, any artiste on the Italian lyrical boards
who could approach Madame Sontag in the delinea-
tion of the lady. Tne Norina of Grisi was full of
power, but it was too boisterous, and apprcached at
times almost to vulgarity—not so the Norina of
Madame Sontag, it is to the full as animated as that
of Grisi, but is always ladylike and graceful. In
the scene in which Norina is introduced to Don Pas-
quale, in the concluding scene of the second act,
where she turns upon the astonished Dan, and in the
whole of the third act, we could not but make the
comparison between the Norina of Grisi and that of
Madame Sontag; and, in snaking the com-
parison, it was impassible to avoid observing
how much more delicate and graceful was the Norina
of Madame Sontag. As a piece of vocalization

it was perfect. V Her beautiful execution of
her aria d'intrata, " Qucl guardo it cavaliere," created
a perfect furore, which continued the whole evening.
Nothing could exceed the brilliancy and the finish of
her fioriture in this exquisite air. Her acting in the
scene in which she is introduced to the Don was, as
we have before said, most graceful and ladylike, but
at the same time irresistibly comic; and her voca-
lization
in the quartette and finale to the second act
was exquisitely beautiful ; the quartette was, as a
matter of course, encored, and never have we Ix fare
heard it so effectively given as it was last night by
Sontag, Lablache, Beletti and Calzolari. The duet
with Lablache in the third act, " Signorina
in tante fretta" was exquisitely rendered by
Madame Sontag and Lablache, and in a histrionic
point of view it was the very perfection of comic act-
ing. Nothing could exceed the elegant playfulness
of Sontag throughout this scene. The duet was
encored, as a matter of course. - Then came the finale,
which as a piece of brilliant, sparkling, yet most
graceful and most finished execution, has never been
surpassed. Sontag lavished a profusion of the most
brilliant ornaments upon this finale, and created a
furore which resembled the triumphs of Jenny Lind.
Sae was, of course, encored, and at the conclusion
the pit and stalls "rose at her," as Edmund Kean
used to say, and greeted her with tumultuous and en-
thusiastic applause. She was called un at the conclu•
sion of each act, and three times at the fall of the curtain.
Lablache, the great Lablache, the evergreen Lablache,
was the Don. He appeared in excellent health, excellent
spirits, and in magnificent voice, and never acted the
Don with more unetious humour, never sang the music
with greater power than he did last night, and his re-
ception was as enthusiastic as the welcome back of an
old friend always should be. He is the same La-
blache that he has been any time the last twenty years,
and is still in every sense of the word the greatest of
bassos. Calzolari sang the music of Ernesto with
great sweetness, and was encored in the serenade, and
Beletti was admirable as Malatesta. All these artistes
were called at the conclusion of the opera, and several
times also during the course of the performance. At
the conclusion of the opera Madame Amelia Ferraris
repeated her pas • with M. Charles, and excited the
greatest enthusiasm. As a professor of choerogra-
pbic art, Mademoiselle Amelia Ferraris has no rival ;
the applause with which she was greeted was rap-
ous, and at the conclusion bouquets a foison were
showered on her. The last scene of Ernani, with
Sims Reeves, Mademoiselle Parodi, and Beletti,fol-

lowed, and the exquisite singing and acting of these
accomplished artistes elicited the enthusiastic plaudits
of their delighted auditors. The delightful ballet of
Les Metamorphoses, in which Carlotta Grisi was as
brilliant as ever, concluded the entertainments of the
evening.
Their Royal Highnesses tle Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, accompanied by her Royal Highness the
Princess Mary of Cambridge, and attended by the Ba-
roness Ahlefeldt, Major Stephens, and Mr. Edmond St.
John Mildmay, honoured the .perf•rmauces with
their presence. The royal party cccupied.her Majesty's
box. Amongst the company were his Excellency the
Russian Ministers, the Baroness Brunow, Mademoiselle
de Brunow, and Mademoiselle Olga do Lochner; his
Excellency the Portuguese Minister and the Baroness
do Moncorvo, his Excellency the Swedish Minister, the
Duchess of Leeds and Miss Eliz ,beth Lane Fox, the
Earl and Countess of Ox'ord, the Countess de Flahault
and Miss de Flahault, the Count M. de Rosen, Vise:mint
Canning, the Baron Reitchel, the Count do Potocki, the
8.,-..ron de Krebmer, the Count de Civey, the Baron de
Schertz, the Viscount Clifden, Lord Adolphus Fitz-
clarenee, Lord William Lennox, Lady A. Paulo t
Lady Augustus Wentworth ana Miss titi entworth,
Lord Francis Gordon, Lady Charles Somerset, Lord
Gardner, Lord Rendlesbam, Lord Harry Vane,
Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Woodford, Bart., and
Lady Woodford, Sir John Lowther, Bart., Sir Thomas
Barrett Leonard, Bart., and Lady Barrett Lennard,
Sir W. Keith Ball, Bart., Sir Hoary Meux, Pact., end
Lady Meux, Sir Ralph Howard, Bart., General
the Hon. H. Cavendish, Sir Compton Danville, Bart.,
and Lady Domvillr, Sir John Scott, Bart., Captain the
Hon. A. Vivian, Mr. Walter Lennard, the Hoe. Mr.
and Mrs. Dudley Ward, Mr. helloed, the Hon. Mr.
Chichester, the Hon. C. R. Neville, Mr. Saukville Lane
Fox, Mr. T. Wentwo; th, Miss Sands, Mr. and Mrs:. 'C.
J. Palmer, Major Buckley, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Brero-
ton Trelawney, Mr. W. Cubist, M.P., Mrs. Paul, Mr.
Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie, Mr. and Mrs. Grote,
Mr. Martin, Mr. Hubert do Burgh, Mr. Mogan, Mr. C.
W. Pache, M.P., Mr. G. Cornwall, Mr. G. Barrow,'Mr.
C. Barry Baldwin, &e.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA,
COVENT-GARDEN.
Signor Tsmberlik, a new tenor from the Opera of
the San Carlo, Naples, and from the Opera of Barce-
lona, made his debut here last evening in the charac-
ter of the hero in the opera of illasaniello, and, albeit
he vvas suffering from the fatigue of his journey
(he only arrived in London. on Wednesday), and was,
moreover, dreadfully and visibly nervous, yet it was
evident before he had been on the stage live minutes
that he was an artist of very high order. His
voice is a pure chest voice, of considerable power
and of sonorous quality, and his style and deli-
very prove that he has been educated in the
best schools. He was encored in the barcarole, and
this compliment seemed to have restored to him his
presence of mind, for he sang it on the second occa-
sion
admirably, and without any trace of that tremu •
lousness which was evident when he first sang it, and
which we at first took for an indication of a voice
which bad passed its prime. He was also encored
in the invocation to sleep, which was beautifully ren•was splendidly
dered ; the mad scene acted, and the
address to the insurgents was magnificently declaimed.
Signor Tamberlik was called on frequently during the
I course of the evening, and he has achieved a great
and a deserved success. Madame Castellan sang the
music of Elvira very gracefully, and Miss 13alline, as
Fenelle, gave evidence of the possession of much greater
pantomimic power that the world has hitherto given
her credit for. Massol resumed his old character of
Pietro, and was perfect in it. The choruses were
admirably rendered, and the splendid overture was
as usual encored.

THE NELSON MONUMENT.
A second alto relicvo in bronze has been affixed,
on the north side, to the base of the Nel-
son Column in Trafalgar-square—having been
,
very recently cotnpleted at the establish-
ment of Messrs. Moore, Terrance,
Com-
pany, Baldwin's-gardens, Gray 8 Inn-lane, and
lane, from a
design by Mr. Woodington. in material it consists
of one-tenth part of tin to nine-tenths of copper;
the whole being of an equal thickness throughout,
weighing altogether three tons, and being cast ver-
tically in tire divisions, with a skill and clearness
highly creditable to all parties concerned in the
undertaking. In design the subject is treated
in a manner singularly felicitous, representing
an incident in the battle of the Nile—that famous
incident when the heroic Nelson, having been
wounded over his only remaining eye by a langridge
shot, was conveyed into the cockpit with his face and
bosom covered with blood. The great sea- captain is
portrayed as half recumbent in the arms of two of ,
his sailors, and the surgeons disturbed in his attend-
, ance upon a wounded tar by the apparent danger, of
his renowned commander, is hurrying forward :o the
assistance of the latter with (age': emotion. By the
side of the illustrious admiral is the gallant Cap-
tain Berry, speaking to Nelson, while Nel-
son himself is gently rejecting the proffered
help of the surgeon until bis " turn "
arrived. In the background are two more sailors
descending into the cockpit with, another wounded
comrade, while a fourth, though severely maimed, is
raising his arm enthusiastically to cheer the glorious
hero, who was not only reverenced but beloved by
every man in the British fleet. The effect of the