The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-15 00:00:00

Qil EI;;N*E." CON C,

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1-1A2., V ii-5k26,5....;.h.
On Friday evening a concert, equally' novel aid
splendid. was given by Don J. M. de Ciebra. Several
duetti (guitar) were prf,,rrned in a style of exquite
perfection by the accomplished professor and his talented
relative. Don A. Ciebra. They were heard with de..
light, at .d applaud, with rapture by a.i crowd, d and as
scientific a company as ever gric,,d the ta,:hionable
reunions of cultiva•ed taste, for which these rooms are
distinguish, d. Th we -Aho think little of the guitar a:,
an instrument of expression would do well to hear these
gentler en, who prove that in the hands of educate.!
Spaniards, the guitar, unpret,ntions as it is, becomes an
instrument of great power, and capable of expressing the
most tender sentiment and the deepest emotion. A solo
on the flute, by Ribas, was deservedly and enthusiasti-
cally encored. He convinced us that the professor was
mistaken who "disliked nothing more than a flute,
except two flutes." The Bolero, on the concertina, by Ite-
gondi, was executed in a style which proved what intui-
tive melody in the performer may effect with the most
imperfect means. The Morossini family, Miss Galbraith,
Miss Florence Messum, Miss Badger, and Miss S.
Flower, received their full share of the applause which
this grand display of art elicited from a most judicious
,audience. The great work of the evening was a grand
martial fantasia on the pianoforte, by Mr. Cohan.
So well constructed a piece seems to be misnamed as a
"fantasia." The unity is so pure and perfect, that the
whole work gives the impression of a single melody, the
effect being in no degree impaired by its length, and
never interrupted by the variety of subject, to the ex-
pression of which the well-sustained theme is adapted.
The subject is the late "Revolution of the Greeks at
Athens. The theme is found in the third passage—
the aria expressive of hope. There is true poetry
in the mind of that man who could conceive the idea of
Making a melody expressive of hope the base and the
prevailing sentiment of his " Areios Paiwn" upon
a tumultuary revolution. In the introduction we
had an intimation of the melody, delicately varied.
In the second passage, " The murmurings of the people,"
the phrases occur again, and are admirably modified and
subdued. In the third, we have the aria itself, in ten-
derness, earnestness, and simplicity, quite as original as
the oldest work of the Celtic bards. The tumults, the
rejoicings are all adthirably described ; but there is one
passage to which no general criticism can do justice—the
" Prayer." It is wonderful that even in this glorious
.• passage the theme is still preserved, although the gentle
expression of hope is swelled into a magnificent anthem.
Mr. Cohan's performance of this piece was listened to
With breathless attention, and was followed with such
applause as might be expected from so refined a com-
pany. It is not easy to say whether his construction or
his execution is the better. He is, at all events, a
Worthy pupil of his great master, Beethoven. Yet, Mr.
Cohan did not carry away the honours of the night ; for
Marras was applauded most vehemently in Mercadante's
" Fra membi crudeli."

SIGN OR MORIANI.
The following sketch of the career of this celebrated
artist, which we abridge from the Maestro, may not be
uninteresting to our readers :
" Signor Moriani is a native of Florence, where he
• was born in the latter part of the year 1809 ;so that he
is now in his thirty-fifth year. His father, who was a
man of the highest respectability, and some wealth, and
• slestined his son-, to whom he was devotedly attached, for
thelegal profession, arid before he had completed his
twentieth. year,•Napoleone was sent to the classic shades
• of Pisa to commence his studies for the bar. But the
„ ...dry.purStrit of jurisprudence was of all things the most
, • uncongeitial to the taste of the future artist, and an
ardent attachment he formed at Florence during his first
,•
• '•• 'vacation, rendered him still more unwilling to quit the
fair city of his early affections and fond, at hope for the
dull cloisters ard prescribed nalk.t of alma muter. It
was about this. interesting period of his life, when love
had quickened his feelings to a•sensuous appreciation 01
• the " concord of sweet sounds," that he heard for the
• , first time the then popular singer Bianchi. That touch-
' - ing voice, in one of the love songs of his country, went
home to the susceptible' heart of the young inamorata
and from that moment of rapture, as he has frequently
been heard to declare, he formed • the resolution to de-
vote himself exclusively to the lyric stage. Fortune as
well as nature favoured him. He became acquainted
with-the celebrated maestro Rugs, who, struck with the
genius of the youthful aspirant to vocal fame, not only
• .gaVe him gratuitous instruction in singing, but in •
Wrested himself to provide his pupil with the best masters
necessary to qualify him for the profession of his choice.
The peculiar and herz.ditary gift of his countrymen was
Iforiani'S in an extraordinary degree. Well might the
.„ generous and enthusiastic Ruga, be proud of his hand-
- some pupil. Moriani devoted himself with ardour to the
• study of music, and the astonishing progress he made
exiled forth the most sanguine expectations from all who
'had an opportunity of hearing him in private.
".Moriani made his first public appearance in the
cone.rt-room of the well-known academy for vocal
debutadts • 'at 'Milan, and, consequently, before an
audience well qualified to form an estimate of his in-
trinsic merits. The remarkable properties of his voice,
his noble figure and expressive countenance, and the
singularly fine dramatic conception he evinced, com-
manded the admiration of all who beheld him, and from
the extraordinary sensation he then produced it was not
difficult to forsee that a new star would soon rise re
splend,nt on the lyric stage. He was shortly afterwards
oiVered an engagement by the impresario of Pavia, and
iii that city he made his debut in Donizetti's opera of
Anna Bolena. From that time the fame of Moriani
continued to spread. Italy quickly recognised in the
Florentine artist one of the finest tenors the present age
had produced. prOin Pavia, . Moriani went to Padua.
and theatre_ to Cremona and Turin, and subsequently to
Parma, Venice, and Genoa. The impresarii of :Naples,
-Rome, and Milan simultaneously proff'-red him engage-
ments, and his first performances at the two most irn-
: ..portant theatres in Italy—San Carlo and I.a
Scala—
,were successively bailed with a furore of delight.
_ It would occupy inure space than we can afford ti
`recerj but one-third of the triumphs which hare at-
tended Moriani in his artistic career. He is as much
• esteemed at Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin as at Rome.
-• nfrence..and