The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-30 00:00:00

ENGLISH OPERA HOUSE.

Mr. Arnold deserves great praise from the loseri
of genuine harmony for his late spirited attempts to
*raft a taste for foreign music on an English air
dience. It is to his nice discernment that we owe
" Der Freischutz," The- •Freebooters," and the
present " Tit for-Tat, or the.lables Turned ;" an
opera founded on Mozart's'Cosi fan tulle," the ma'
sic' of which has fortunately been little, if at all'
altered by Mr. Hawes, on whom the adaptation and
superintendence of the piece devolved. The origi;
nal, though it has not, we believe,' been performed
at the King's Theatre for some years, can scared'
be forgotten, the music certainly not : the plot, hcor
ever, which is of minor consideration, it may per
haps be as well to repeat. Don Alphoriso (Mr. /I'
Phillips); a testy waspish old bachelor—not unlike
Congreve's Heartley—being perpetually annoyd
by the self-congratulations of his two 'young military
friends Ferrando (Mr. Wood), and Guglielmo
Thorne), who are on the eve of marriage with col
sisters Fiordiligi (Miss Betts),-and Dorabella (095.
Cawse), proposes to them the following bet;
namely that they shall both pretend they are so“;
denly ordered off to their respective regiment"
take an affectionate leave of their mistresses; retort:l
immediately, disguised as Venetian cavaliers; an
then, in this garb, attempt to lead astray the
plighted faith of the ladies. The bet •is at ones,
agreed to; the lovers, with the assistance °
Vespina (Madame Feron) a lively waiting-mail'
gain admittance into the sisters' house; but find*
after various manoeuvres —one of which is an afe:;
tation of taking poison—that they cannot; 910"'d
their constancy, discover the whole stratagem, ann
by
'Acireul oae ntdds. ob
Tewdhhi bsoy
prlteohltte: reluctantly nd:tvel confesses dfsee.sesanel,srnalmost
himselfe P'01:11-;
ill
is
meagre, and wants variety ; it is in fact but a we'd°
vehicle for the music, which is in Mozart's best an
most varied style. From first to last, the melodies
are constantly changing, yet are every where exprevi
sive arid characteristic. Pathos, humour, Latina'
vivacity are 'poured forth with inexhaustible pro-
fusion; fnsion; yet each expression possesses its
individuality, distinct and apart from the other. w
know of no composer who throws so much s°ll.
even into his liveliest melodies as Mozart. Rossn
perhaps, has more animal spirits, more elasticity, but
he is perpetually repeating himself; whereas Mozart'
like Shakspeare, (wham he resembles in his deer
varied. sensibility and rich fertility of invention),
ever shifting the style and quality of his geniis'
It really seems to us—when we listen to one'
of his operas—that he could go on come-
ing through fifty Acts with the. same creative
facility as through five. His Cosi fart Ott
particularly bears out this impression. Its repre
sentation however last night, under the disguise °
Tit for Tat, though good on the whole, was n°
worthy of its reputation. Messrs. Wood and Thorn
did riot appear to know what they were about, a°
the ladies, though their voices told admirably i
some of the spirited choruses in which the Orr,
abounds, failed almost invariably in the solos. Ths
we attribute in some degree to the language)
which the different airs were sung. The Engli'
dialect, on such occasions, is a truly refract(/'
one, and refuses to be . harnessed to the ligl
airy music of Mozart. It is like harnessing a rat
horse to a Tandem. Mr. H. PhilliFs, as Don A
phonso, forms an exception to our general but I
luctant and impartial censure of the performed
What little lie had to do was done with great arC
ness.and spirit, and kept pace with his acting, whir
'was that of a man who felt and appreciated his par
The encores in the first act were numerous, thoul
towards the close of the piece (which is too loai
a sensation of lassitude was very perceptible amp'
the audience. And here we cannot help remonstro
ing with the gentleman who manufactured the disi
logue and songs, on his very great presumption,
supposing.that lie is capable of stringing two deee
lines together. A greater tissue of common-place i
we might almost add—vulgarity, it was never Y,4
our misfortune to hear. He should really resign Po
office to the Bellman. The House was crowded
all parts. The Opera was highly successful.