The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1850-07-22


cultivation of their vocal powers hlrle con-
'hdence, an improved aud warmer expression OF
feeling, and some minor matters which Tune will
cure, we think they are destined To shine in our
musical hemisphere. MIR. kyiiis was in good
tionable.
Miss Louisa Pyne, Mrs. Weiss, and Messrs w
III. Harrison, Weiss and Corn, have been perform
Ing in various well kn9wn operas at the Theatre
Royal. As the metropolitan paprrs were so untn-
nous in their praises of Ml,s Louisa Pyne, her
de66f in Liverpool looked forward 10 with
much interest by musi.;iovmg pay-goers,
truly good English yocalst being now some Shai
OF novelty ON our eperac stagr' The sole nval to
Miss Pyne being Miss Anne komer, whose late
successes at our Liver Theatre, qua during the pre-
sent week at the Surrey Theatre In L Iadon, are
well known to all who take an interest IN matters
musical AT present h I'VE oHly seen Miss
Pyne in the evergreen g SVi,a ,mbdla," in which
her singing was certainly musI flushed and beaut-
full Many say that In height nglre, AID appear
ance. she much resembles The Queen. She is
,petite and blonde, and evidently quite NOVICE on
the stage. Her voice Is clear aud fresh sopr mo,
OF considerable compass and brlidncy, minaged
with excellent skill. Her style aud drtic llaIion
also exceedingly good, while her vocal facility
and the taste displayed by hrr IN The most difficult
and novel forituIi, give pr"ui'se of failure excel
lence, which, with care, wa, IN tune make Miss
,Pyne the first native f,Intr sYger of the day
She is present deficient in energy, and her total
Ignorance of stage by-play, rni III; exigencies OF
athe scene, make her perform nces appear tame in
these days, when operate perorers nave to act as
well as sing. Her conception of Anliaa totally
differs from that of Mrs Wosd aud Miss Anne
Romer,; nothing but the quiet simplicity of
the village maiden was apparent, the passion
usually displayed in the latI-r scenes of the
opera being much toned down by Miss Pyne,
whose whole Personation of the eharsctsr is
one OF repOse. The first two acts went OFT fatty;
but in the last scene, Miss Pyne created storm of
applause by her exquisite siag,ug OF the g. Ah, mon
.gutwge," which was given Wuh surprising taste
and vigor-the embellishments added by the sing
'er being of the most beautiful aud difficult de-
'scripuon. This fine display euiiy eacored,
and repeated with increased effect. Mr. w Har-
'rison's voice has deteriorated since he was last
here; or twice il quite f.lled him, though, As
the opera proceeded, he warmed sufficiently TO call
forth an encore after singing The famous air, Snll
80 gently, which he gave with much Of his usual
, sweetness. With regard to hts acung of Elvino,
the least said of it the better as it is a character
which he is totally untitled adequately to embody.
Mrs. Weiss, a bold, vigorous, bat lneegant singer,
rperSOnatcd Liza with great spirit; her husband
played Kodolpho very tamely, but sang the air,
AS view,' with great taste. If Mr.. Weiss
could only act as well as he sings, he would take a
first position on the stage; it is, his fgidity and
stiffness quite spoil the effects of the in
WHICH he plays prominent part The chorusses
and band were not so good as usual, being in want
OF drilling; on the presens occasion they made
merous plumbers, which iittle study beforehand
'of SO well known an opera as "Sonnambula,"
would have obviated. The other operas in which
Miss Pyne has appeared were, The Bohemian
Girl" I" Mariana" and "Crown Diamonds in
each of which, We believe, she has been eminent.
iy successful.
A droll anecdote is told of the Nepaulese am
bassador, now in London. AT Mr. Lumley's
grand fefe, he asked 10 be introduced to Carlotta
Sris, with whose dancing he had been enchanted
at the opera house. The lady was presented, and
the prince made some remark, which, on being
translated, was found to be, that He did not
Anow her with her clothes on %
Miscellaneous
THx GREAT INDIAN DIAMOND Her Majesty's
eteam-sNoep Medea has just arrived at Portsmouth,
with freight more precious in nominal value than
.sxss, ever carried from Peru to Cadiz. Majsr
.Mackessn, one of her passengers, a meritorious
and distinguished officer, brings with him that fa-
nous diamond of the East, called in the fondness
of Asiatc hyperbole, the Kohl moor, or Mountain
OF Light, which, after symbolising the revolutions
OF ten generations by its passage from one con-
dqueror to another comes now, in the third centen-
airy OF its discovery, as the forfeit of Oriental
faithiessness, and the prize OF Saxon vaor, TO
the distant shores Of England 1t was in the
year 1860, before the Mogul dynasty had been
established by the prowess OF the great Akbar,
that this marvellous stone was first brought TO
light in the mines of Golconda. The " Mountain
of Light passed in the tram Of conquest, and
the emblem of dominion, from Goiconta TO Delhi,
from Delhi TO Mushed, from Mushed 10 Cabul,
and from Cabul TO Lahore. Excepting the some
what doubtful claims of the Brazilian stone among
the crown jewels OF Portugal, the koh-i-noor Is
the largest known diamond IN The world. When
first given 20 Shah Jehaun sill uncut, weigh
ing Il is said in that rough state, yearly 500 caras,
which were reduced by the unskilfulness of the
artist TO 279, its present weight. Ii cut by
8ortonsio Borgis, Venetian. who, instead OF re-
ceiving remuneration for his labor, was fined
10000 rupees by the enragrd Mogul la form II is
90 cut that IL To saw, ~ Is cut To point in
eerss of small faces or facets" without any Ia
,bulsr surface. good general idea may he formed
of It's shape and size by conceivng IL the pointed
half Of small hens egg. though It is said not TO
have risen than half an inch from the gold
setting in which IL was worn by RunJeet. Its
value is scarcely computable, though two millions
sterling has been mentioned as Justhaoie price,
AZ calculated by the scale employed ia the trade,
The Pitt diamond, brought over from Madras by
the grandfather of Lord Chatham, and sold to the
Regent Orleans in l1i7 for fl25oOo, weighs scarce
y $50 carats; nor does the great diamond, which
supports the eagle the summit OF the Russian
sceptre, weigh much ss 300. Such IL the ex.
traorc,nsry jewel which, Ia virtue of conquest and
sovereignty, has passed into the sslon OF Eng
land. II was prndenty secured among the few re-
rnsiuing vsluables Of the Lahore treasury, at the
commence ment Of the last instruction, and al
though even its nominal vaiue would be- an made
quate compensation for the cost Of the Sikh wars,
we may look upon this acquisition hitting SYM
boil OF that supremacy which We have 80 falriy
won.
DoNA MARn LoRKro MARTINEZ DIR NORMA,
TIE BlAcK PRMA DoNNA.-r The subject Of the
present short biography was born at Havana,
in the island Of Cuba. Her parents were tree
blacks, of the pure Of Gomba the little
Maria was, therefore, not subj 'cted TO the User
.she consequences which rrsult from slavery.
Her father was carver Of great artistic rePuie,
whose skill and probity procured for him the notice
and respect Of ths principal families of Hnvana
Indeed 40 hiQhly was he esteemed, that the Inten-
dant. Don francisco Agular desired that the little
Maria she Md be received iato his family Some
few years had elapsed. when Don Francisco was
ordered hy the government to a different post On
his departure from the Havana, the family were
doth 20 leave their young grOfegts behind and her
parents equally wishing io retain thri child, yet
were unwilling 10 mar her fortune. They evenfu-
ally sacrificed their feelings, aud Maria accom-
panied her patrons on their voyage. Evincing an
extraordinary tatte for music and voice singul try
melodous and unerring IN intouatiun, her friends
engaged the best masters Tor Its Cultivatlpn. but
the AcuiiaTs We're destined to return to Spain,
where thew fixed their residence at Seville. This
was to Maria means OF not only enlargng her
views of musical art, hv listening to the best
yocalists Of Spain, but of learning the nationsl
melodies at their original source After few
years, Maria returned 70 the Western world,