The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-12 00:00:00

COVENT•GARDEN THEATRE.

Covent-garden Theatre opened on Saturday for the
season, under the management of Mr. Charles Kemble.
The opera of Norma was chosen as the opening piece,
Miss Adelaide Kemble, of course, personating the heroine.
Miss Kemble, on her first appearance, was most enthu-
siastically greeted ; indeed, so loud and long-continued
was the applause with which she 'W"is welcomed, that it
was some minutes before she was suffered to proceed with
her part. She looked pale and much thinner than last
season ; and, from her appearance,it was evident that
she was scarcely recovered from her late severe indispo-
sition ; indeed, in the early part of the evening, she
seemed still suffering from its effects. She gave the
hymn of the Druidess, however, Casta diva, with as great
power, beauty, and pathos, as ever ; and as she proceeded
with her part, her energies seemed to rise with the call
made upon them, every trace of physical weakness disap-
peared, and from the commencement of the Casta diva
to the conclusion of the opera, her performance was
one continued series of splendid triumphs. In the duet
with Adelgiso her efforts were admirably supported by
Miss Rainforth ; both ladies were loudly applauded, and
a repetition of the duet was called for. Miss Kemble,
however, evidently suffering severely from the fatigue
she had undergone, advanced to the front of the stage, and
looked most beseechingly at the audience. The hint was
taken, and although the applause was continued, and boo•
ouets were showered on the stage, the audience had too much
good feeling to persist in the call for its repetition. At
the fall of the curtain she was loudly called fir, and was
led forward by Cooper, when she was greeted with even
greater enthusiasm than she had been on her first ap-
pearance. The only changes in the cast of the opera
from that of last year were, the substitution of Giubilei
for Leffler in the character of Oroveso, and of Binge for
Clement White in that of Flavius. Miss Kemble, it ap-
pears from the bills, will perform every Tuesday, Thurs-
day, tind.Saturday, until Christmas, when she will finally
retire from the stage. We know of no circumstance
connected with the progress of musical taste in England
that has occasioned, among all those who sincerely de-
sire'to see the establishment of an English musical school,
a feeling of deeper regret than the announcement that
Miss Kemble is so soon to retire from the scene of her
triumphs. Not only is it a subject of regret to the
English musical public, but to the musical pub-
lic of Europe ; for, unlike the generality of
English singers, hers is an European fame, and, in
many of the highest characteristics of opera, she stands,
beyond compare, THE prima donna. Take the opera of
Saturday, for instance, Norma. The only other Norma
who can, for an instant, be put in comparison with Miss
Kemble, is Grisi, and, with a full recollection of Grisi in
the part, we have no hesitation in saying that the
Italian must yield the palm of superiority to the Eng-
lishwoman. There is a calm dignity, the repose of
conscious power, about the Norma of Miss Adelaide Kern-
ble, in which the Norma of Grisi is deficient, and for
which the snappish shrewishness which she throws into
the part is by no means an efficient substitute. Again,
as an instance of her immense superiority over her com-
petitors, let us look at the fate of the opera of Elena
Überti. This is one of Mercadante's operas, and one,
the success of which depends entirely on the abilities of
the singers, or, in this instance, of the singer, for Elena
Ilberti is the only part in the opera. In the hands of
Miss Kemble the opera drew crowded houses for some 20
nights. The same opera was subsequently produced at
the Italian Opera House, with Frezzolini as Elena ; it
did not run three nights, and this failure was entirely
owing to the difference between the two singers, for
Mercadante's music is certainly much more likely to
please the taste of an Opera House audience than of a
Covent-garden one. We regret Miss Kemble's retirement
the more, because we observe already a marked improve-
ment in those who have been in the habit of singing
with her : let us hope that Mrs. Alfred Shaw, who is
engaged here, and who, like Miss Kemble, is an accom-
plished musician, and has a European fame, will continue
what Miss Kemble has so happily begun, and that at
length we may have an English operatic corps worthy
of being so called, and then we shall not want for good
composers. At the conclusion of the opera the National
Anthem was sung, the solo parts being riven
excellently well by Miss Rainforth, and very carelessly
by Mr. W. Harrison ; and then followed a new two act
comedy, from the pen of Douglas Jerrold, entitled
Gertrude's Cherries ; or, Waterloo in 1835. In the first
scene we are presented with a view of the field of
Waterloo, with the mount and the Waterloo lion in the
distance, and. are introduced to Mr. Crossbone
(Meadows), an English undertaker, and his wife (Mrs.
Humby), who are making a wedding tour, and who, of
course, become the dupes of Alcibiades Blague (excel-
lently acted by Mr. A. Wigan), the Belgian guide over
the field, a gentleman who has always on hand a large
supply of toothpicks cut from the Wellington tree crib-
bage-boards, the undoubted property of the Emperor
Napoleon, and similar equally genuine curiosities, of
which he disposes for a valuable consideration to the
Milords Anglais who annually migrate from the realms
of Coekneydom to the field of Waterloo. The gullibility
of the English gobe-mouche, and manner in which that
gullibility is made merchandise of by the race of guides
on the Continent, is excellently shown up in this
character of Crossbone. It is evidently a sketch
from the life. Among the numerous parties visiting
Waterloo is Willoughby (Mr. Bartley), a hearty old
Englishman, who is accompanied by his grandson Vin-
cent (Mr. W. Lacy), awl a young widow, Angelica
(Miss Cooper), between whom he is anxious to make a
match. On arriving, however, at the hotel Mont St. Jean,
Willoughby refuses to proceed further. He tells Vin-
cent that he has an only son buried at Waterloo—a son
whom he had driven from his doors for his wild con-
duct, who thereupon enlisted and fell at Waterloo. Vin-
cent has no desire to escort Angelica to the field, for on
his road to Brussels he has seen a pretty girl selling
cherries, and is determined to seek her out. Just at
this juncture, who should arrive at the hotel but Jack
Halcyon (Harley), a former lover of Angelica, who, on
that lady's marriage with an old man, took the affair so
much to heart, that finding England, as he says, too
small to contain his feelings, he determined to make a
pedestrian tour of the world, took to walking and water-
drinking, until at length, like the wheel of a mill, he
took nothing but cold water and exercise. Vin-
cent informs him of the death of Angelica's husband,
introduces him again to Angelica, and sets forth in
search of the pretty cherry-seller. Vincent discovers
her abode, learns that her name is Gertrude (Mrs.
W. Lacy), that her father is an Englishman, who
wounded at Waterloo, had been nursed and tended in a
peasant's cottage, and had made a peasant girl his wife.
It is needless to say that Vincent falls in love with Ger-
trude, and that his love is returned. Mutual explana-
tions take place ; Gertrude's father is discovered to be
the son of Willoughby ; the father and son are recon-
ciled, and Vincent receives the hand of Gertrude ; while
Halcyon gives up his walking propensities, and becomes
the husband of Angelica. The plot is, as will be per-
ceived, rather flimsy, but the piece is beautifully written.
The dialogue sparkles with wit of the highest order,
and not unfrequently reminded us of Voltaire in his
happiest moods. The piece was completely successful,
and was announced by Bartley for repetition every even-
ing amidst loud applause. Long before the rising of the
curtain, the house was crammed in every part.