The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-26 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

The perfortnant.s last. evening were for the benefit of
Fanny Elssler ; and, might be expected, the house
was crowded in every part tetlg before the rising of the
curtain. The opera was La Gaze Lathy'. with Grisi as
Pippo,ehlz.i Fornasari n.,; Fernando (Ni-
che as the Po.iesta. Of the
'iTeitnteat,s tae
dFtrial ti
and as
I
Ninetta of Grisi it is unnecessary to speak. Who
has not seen—who leas not admired—this most
perfect specimen of doinestic tragedy? Equally
.un-
necessary is it to speak of the Podesta of Lablache ;
the simple announcement of the fact that Lablache per-
sonated that worthy magistrate is sufficient to assure
every one that the Podesta was the most humourous and
laughter-moving of Dogberries. Mademoiselle Favana
appeared for the first time in the character of rippo,
and we sincerely congratulate her on her success in the
part. She is gradually acquiring more confidence in her
powers, and consequently that occasional incorrectness
of intonation Of which some of our contemporaries have
complained,' is rapidly disappearing ; in fact last
night, nothing of the sort could he discovered.
Her Pippo was an admirable performance, both as re-
garded acting and singing. She was deservedly encored
in the exquisite niorceau in the second act " Pegno ado-
rito," and, encouraged by the applaibe which she re-
ceived, she repealed it even more effectively than she
had given it in the first instance. In the duet which
follows, " Ali eadono le lagrime," her fine contralto tones
told admirably, and formed a most effective support to
Grisi. Of the Ferdinand of Fornasari, it is impossible
to speak in terms of too high praise. Never were the
agonies of a father more pathetically depicted ; in the
scene in the last act, in which he breaks from the

iers to take a pirting embrace from his daughter,
s acting was heart-rending. Not only is he the best
Ferdinand on the stage ; hut we are inclined to believe
that Ferdinand is his best character—at all events, it is
entitled to rank with his Belisario and his Loustalot.
We have mentioned one encore ; the only other encore
of the night was the (-:cinisite trio in the first act, " Oh
Nume benefien." which was beautifully given by
Forna.,ari, and Lablache. Grisi, Favanti, Fornasari, and
Lablache were called for at the fall of the curtain, and
received with the usual honours. Between the acts of

the opera we had the divertissement of Un fial sow;
Louis XI V., in which Elssler and Cerito danced the
minuet de la tour, Elssler personating the preux Che-
valier, and Cerito looking bewitchingly prudish in her
powder and hoop, as a dame -of the seventeenth century.
After the opera Cerito danced the Ghana, as she
alone can dance it, and was of course encored ; and then
came the new divertissement La PauSanne Grande Dame,
in which the acting of Fanny Elssler, as the peasant girl
suddenly transformed into the tine lady, was the most
arch and espiegle that can be imagined: The scene in
which, dressed for the first time in grand costume, she
runs round the room, looking over her shoulder and
admiring her train, is one of the richest things that can
be imagined. Her pas with M. St. Leon and Made-
moiselle Plunkett and Barville was wonderful; she outdid,
herself in her performance of those rapid steps—feet-
twinklings they may be justly called—fur which she is
so celebrated. She was encored, as a matter of course,
and the stage, for a moment, assumed the appearance of
a parterre, from the number of bouquets • that were
showered down upon her. The divertissement, how-
ever, flags towards the close, and requires some judicious
pruning. The audience became very impatient at the
commencement of the ballabik in the last scene. The ap-
pearance of Fanny Elssler, however, in a very picturesque
national costume, completely restored them to good
humour, and her pas La Bearnoise brought the diver-
tissement to a triumphant conclusion. The greater part
of the au tic < t,which was a very fashionable one, re-
j mained u aeconclusion of the performances.