The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-07 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL, LEEDS.

Crowded houses night after night, during the week,
have attested the almost unprecedented success of the
operatic artistes at present under engagement with
Mr. Caple. When we say " almost unprecedented
-access," we desire the phrase to be understood in its
widest and strongest sense; for it would be no easy
task to recall the period when operas were so effec-
tively placed upon the Leeds stage as they have been
, during the last six nights. Whether we regard the
dramatic action of the scenes, or the rendering of the
vocal music, the most unqualified praise is due;
and when the curtain has fallen upon the finale of the
several operas—be it Manitana, La Sonnambula, or
the Bohemian Girl,—the audiences have retired
with minds and hearts vividly impressed by the vocal
and dramatic beauties which had ravished them—
beauties that will recur to the mind again when
those from whom they emanated are far away.
Some of the vocalists who have been creating such a
furore amongst us are not unknown to Leeds ; Mr.
and Mrs. Weiss have, ere this, " won golden opinions
from ail stills of people here, and these favourable
impressions are now rendered more than ever strong;
but. Miss Louisa Pyne made her debl4 before a Leeds
audience ; and we
,do not remember having previously
seen either Mr. -Harrison or Mr. Corti in our
Theatre Royal, though the former has, on many oc-
casions in the metropolis, delighted us by his singing
and admirable dramatic representations, and the latter
came to us backed by the high encomiums of the Lon-
don critics. Miss Pyne has a pure soprano voice of ex-
quisite sweetness and great compass, and an execution
at once natural and highly finished. With features
decidedly pretty, capable of great expression, and
bearing an extraordinary resemblance to those of
the Queen—with a figure well modelled, though petite
—with a taste and judgment which lead her to throw
truthful and forcible dramatic expression into her
vocal efforts—with all these high qualities, combined
with a winning modesty and grace, one cannot feel
much surprise at the perfect hurricane of ap-
plause which ever and anon greeted her. Mrs.
Weiss has a soprano voice, of considerable com-
pass; Messrs. Weiss and Corti possess rich and power-
ful bass voices ; and Mr. Harrison has a tenor organ
of much sweetness, and exhibiting the highest culti-
vation. The operas of the week have been well se-
lected, as admirably adapted to display the various
excellences of the several performers. On Saturday
night we had Maritana; on Monday The Bohemian
Girl; on Tuesday La Sonnambula; on Wednesday
Marilana was repeated ; and on Thursday we again
had The Bohemian Girl. Not being present we are
unable to speak of the first performance of
Illaritana' but we will notice its repetition. In Balfe's
opera of The Bohemian Girl played on Monday
night, the following was the " cast" :—Count Arn-
heim, Mr. Weiss ; Thaddeus, Mr. Harrison ; Devils-
hoof, Mr. H. Corti ; Arline, Miss Louisa Pyne ; and
Queen of the Gypaies, Mrs. Weiss. The plot of the
piece is simple. Count Arnheim, who is governor of
Preslau, has an only daughter (Arline), who is stolen
by Devilshoof, chief of the gipsy tribe ; but rescued by
Thaddeus, a Polish noble, who has been prescribed for
fighting for the liberty of his country. Thaddeus ren-
dered desperate by the persecution of the despot who had
enthralled his country, joins the gipsy tribe, into which
Arline is subsequently introduced, having been again
stolen from her father by Devilshoof. As a member
of the wandering tribe Arline grows to womanhood,
protected from insult and injury by Thaddeus, to
whom she becomes attached by a boundless love, and
he rettans the passion. The Gipsey Queen also loves
Thaddeus, and exerts her power to ruin her rival.
By an accident one of her stratagems, to con-
.ign Arline to a dungeon as a thief, is made the
means of restoring her to her father's anus.
Thaddeus, the Gipsy lover, is spurned by the Couiat,

despite the tears and prayers of his daughter; but in
the end the lover is able to prove his noble descent
and good deeds done for his country, and the finale is
a happy one. It will at once be seen that there is
here plenty of scope for dramatic action, as well as
vocal effort ; and in some scenes it was difficult to
say which was the most admirab!e—the singing or
the acting of the five principal characters. The
gems. of the evening were the song, " I dreamt
that I dwelt in marble halls," which was
ravishingly warbled by Miss Pyne, and encored ; the
quartette, " From the valleys and hills," by Miss
Pyne, Mrs. Weiss, and Messrs. Harrison and Corsi ;
and the song, " Then you'll remember me," by Mr.
Harrison, a repetition of which was loudly de-
manded. The subordinate characters of Florentine
(Mr. Rorke) and Buda (Mrs. H. Lacey) were re-
spectably performed. At the fall of the curtain, the
five chefs d'opera were called upon the stage, and re-
ceived several rounds of applause.—Leeds Times.