The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-22 00:00:00

LONDON,

MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 22,. 1850.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

Rossini's ?Noise (that version of it we mean which
was re-written for the grand opera at Paris, as con-
tradistinguished from the original Mosein Egitto pro-
duced at Naples), was performed at this theatre on
Saturday, under the name of Zora. It being contrary
to our :English customs to produce scriptural person-
ages on the stage, Moses has been transformed into
Zora, the Israelites into the Bactrians, and
the Egyptians into the Assyrians ; as on a
former occasion Moses was transformed into
Peter the Hermit, and the Opera was called Pietro
L'Eremita. The opera, probably, has never before
been represented with sin h affluent vigour—with such
consummate dignity and nobleness. The third act,
which involves the most brilliant of the choral
triumphs—namely, those incident to the collision of
Zora and Osiris, and the exposure of the divine autho-
rity of the former by the miraculous destruction of
the golden idol—produced an effect which we believe
to be wholly unrivalled, even at the Royal Italian
Opera, where—as in the Huguenots and the Prophete
—we have been accustomed to the superheat excel-
lencies of combination and discipline. The exertions
which have been expended by the management upon
this large work, to ensure it a fit and suitable
embodiment, are highly creditable to the spirit
and enterprise which have influenced them,
and no praise would be thought excessive.
The celebrated basso, Zelger, made his first appear •
ante upon this occasion. Personally no one could
have been better chosen as the representative of Zora,
the great central figure of the opera. whose denuncia-
tions expose the cruel and audacious Assyrians to the
vengeance of the God of Fire, and elicit those strokes
of punishment which paraphrase the miracles as de-
fined in the Arose. The declamatory recitatives,
which either apostrophizes the immensity of the Deity
he serves, or invoke its correcting interference, were
delivered by him with majestic simplicity, and
nothing more could be wished for. Tam-
berlik as Amenofi (the Orosman of the Pietro),
more than justified the good impressions which he
has so plentifully encouraged. His singing was
throughout admirable, in style somewhat too elabo-
rate and over-coloured, perhaps, but masterly as de-
monstrations
of vocal effect. The duet to which we
have referred, the famous " Parlar, spiegar," elicited
a loud encore. The skill with which in this he com-
peted with Tamburini—(who was his coadjutor)—the
pulmonary emphasis of his declaration of amorous
anguish, and the pervading earnestness of his manner,
were irresistible, and at once challenged the approba-
tion of the audience. The duet with Anaide (Agia)
in the last act brought forth a like display of expres-
sion—unfolding again and again the perfection of
florid tenderness. Madame Castellani, as Anaide,
acquitted herself with infinitely more ability than
we could possibly have expected. The music
belonging to this part is of a very try-
ing nature, making frequent appeals to the
physical strength of the singer ; neverthelerss,
Madame Castellan rendered it. with uniform energy,
and scarcely left anything to be desired. The scene
which fell into the hands of Mdlle. Vera, as Sinaide,
the queen—a bravura of no ordinary difficulty and
pretension—had also an able and profitable executant.
Tamburini we might have complimented before this
for the successes of his vocalisation as the king ; but
let us do it now. Tagliafico sung the music of
Osiris, the rival priest, with his usual accuracy, of
detail and propriety of method. The concerted pieces
were, in all cases, finely rendered ; and the "Mi
Mance" was redemanded. The stupendous finale to
the third act, with its jubilant and extatic climax,
threw the audience into a fury of enthusiasm not to be
restrained, and the encore that followed was one of the
most tumultuous and triumphant that we ever re-
member to have assisted in. An attempt was made to
recal it a third time, but the appearance before the
curtain of the principal singers was accepted in lieu,
including Costa, who was received with a round of
plaudits as deafening as it was prolonged. The
preghiera which terminates the opera, the celebrated
Dal tuo stellato soglio," was given with similar '
im-
posing substance as that which distinguished the pre-
vious finale, receiving an additional effect from the
scenic artifices which accompanied it. The gradual
opening of the back scene as the prayer was sung by
the kneeling groups, disclosing a huge amphitheatre
lined with myriads of figures, while the area of the
stage fills slowly with gaudy eastern soldiery, who
prostrate themselves in attitudes of pious reverence
as the strains of humiliation ascend to Heaven,
formed a tableau of great and impressive beauty, and
brought the opera to a striking close. The ballet
in the third act is likewise entitled to phnegyric as a
spectacle, though its abbreviation may be recom-
mended.

EXHIBITION
OF WATER COLOUR PAINTINGS.
Out of the three hundred and twenty-nine pro-
ductions arranged in the Gallery (53, Pall-mall) of
the New Society of. Painters in Water Colours, this
day opened to public exhibition, we shall here have
an opportunity of
of
several of surprising
originality and of remarkable excellence. These at-
tracted not only our own attention during the private
view of the collection on Saturday afternoon, but that
of the numerous and fashionable concourse who
streamed round the spacious apartment of the as-
sociation from early morelog to sundown. From
the gratification experienced by ourselves, and
the satisfaction very audibly expressed from
time to time by the crowd in attendance, it is to us
apparent that the efforts of the New Society of
Painters in Water Colours to decorate the walls of
their gallery for the spring season of 1850 have been
unusually successful, and such as augur the in-
creasing prosperity and popularity of the establish..
ment. Aided by the explanatory catalogue, the
visitor will find the walls of the large room con-
taining the exhibition replete with a visible poetry
of a most suggestive character: Exquisite repre-
sentations of animate and inanimate nature, so ar-
ranged as to contrast admirably with each other, are .
scattered throughout the collection more than ordi-
nary abundance. Features of ideal beauty, and
landscapes of picturesque verdure, form of course the
principal subjects for the brushes of the many artistic
competitors : but with these are also blended in agree-
able confusion pictures portraying flowers, shells, or
fruit pieces, with bolder attempts depicting incidents
drawn either from history or romance.
Conspicuous in his success this year beyond all the
other painters of water-coloured landscapes, we must
in the very first instance particularize W. Bennett,
one of the most promising and distinguished mem-
bers cf the association. his familiarity with nature
is that not merely of an " artistic practitioner," but
that of one blending in his abilities the exquisite per-
ceptive faculties of the poet with the felicitous mimicry
of the painter. Ile sketches the twinkling leaf and
the limpid water, the shadow and the sunshine, the
cloud and the rivulet, with the same brilliant exacti-
tude. Witness this (32) his Barbrook, where
" Every hillock glows
As with the blushes of all evening sky,"
a beautiful thought derived from the verse of Aken-
side, or his "Road through the Forest," or his
" Group of Gulls," or his Babbling Brook"
" That gently kisseth every sedge
It overtaketh in its pilgrimage."
Other aspirants for public approbation are, in like
manner, noticeable in their several departments.
Edward henry Corbould, for example, though he has
himself surpassed his present productions, can never
be overlooked by any visitor to the exhibition—his

lovely paintings especially arresting observation
Beyond, in all essential particulars, far be-
yond his companion illustrations to the "Keepsake"
(1850)—" The Parting Look," 56, and 63, "The
death of Cleonice"—is his charming realisation of one
of those lovely dreams of girlhood which have been
long floating unexpressed in the popular imagination,
evoked into being by the sensuous poetry of Alfred
Tennyson. Who has not loved his Gardener's
Daughter, where, in the blooming thicket of rose-
bushes,

"Half light, half shade, she stood ?"
Here is the form so often seen in the mind's eye,
scanned at last by the body's ! No. 234, from the
pencil of Corbould, is the vraisemblance of
the Gardener's Daughter. Elsewhere (98) he bas
depicted the " human face divine" of "Maria"; and
the supple and lithesome form (309) of the " Ameri-
can rider, Master Hernandez." No. 271, however, is
the most ambitious of his productions this year, and
represents with consideiable force of sentiment that
pa,sage from English history where the beautiful
t• Queen Elgiva falls into the hands of the creatures
of Odo, the Archbishop of Canterbury," and
is by them branded with a hot iron on
the forehead. Much in the school of
the charming artist of " The Momentous
Question " is the felicitous picture (258), " Colin
and Jesse," illustrative of one of tie sweet poetic tales
of George Crabbe. No. 254, " Going to Service,"
by J. H. Mole, is full of domestic sentiment and pas-
toral simplicity. No. 225, "A Sebeel, or Public
Reservoir," by L. Haghe, forms one of the
most attractive and meritorious among the
larger productions in the gallery. It is essen-
tially Oriental in character, and the disposition
of the colouring is a marvel of ingenuity.
No. 202, " Little Red Riding Hood," by Charles
Weigel!, a sweet little jewel of a picture, the infan-
tine embodiment of that delightful description of
Scrooge's neice—" A dimpled, surprised looking
capital, face, and a ripe little mouth that seemed made
to be kissed." No. 193, " Caxton reading the first
proof sheet from bis printing-press in Westminster
Abbey, March 1474," by E. H. Wehnert, is alto-
gether a noble composition in size, in subject, in
grouping, in colouring, and in general execu
tion. The theme is essentially enthralling, being one
of the most memorable events in modern history.
The scene is the Almonry, where now stands Henry
VlL's Chapel, surmounted by its gorgeous ceiling;
the personages introduced besides Caxton are his
assistants, Wynkyn de Worde, Richard Pynson,
Lettou, and William Machlinia—for furthe4articulars
respecting all of whom see Charles Knight's masterly
biography. We are delighted to see that this splendid
picture is on the eve of being engraved for publica-
tion. No. 123, " Lake Windermere," by George B.
Campion, besides being one of the largest landscapes,
or, rather, we should say lakescapes in the collection,
is filled with numerous beauties. Nos. 100 and 107,
by C. Vacher, are oblong pictures of scenes in the
Wilderness, marvellously beautiful in colour and treat-
ment, especially the former, representing the murder
of an Arab horseman. Nc. 75, " Christ and his
Disciples in the Corn-field," by Henry Warren,
should have been mentioned before this, if
priority of notice implies merit in the pro-
duction. Being to the knowledge of every
frequenter of the Society's Gallery one of the most
eminent leaders of the association, Mr. Warren main-
tains that distinction in the present year by this fine-
spirited composition. Among the admirable works
from the httnd of G. 11. Laporte, the animal painter
to the King of Hanover, we must also especially direct
attention to (280) a lovely illustration of an incident
mentioned by Youatt, the historian of the " Horse."
Other paintings (such as the fruit pieces of Mrs.
Margetts, the Lance of water colours) will be found
eminently deserving of study in the artistic profusion
of this collection.