The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-09-29
Our Amuscments-Tho Opening Of tho
Twenty-third street Grand Opera.

Our Amuscmcnts-Tho Opening Of tho
Twenty-third street Grand Opera.
New Workers. are at length ready to have the
pleasure OF seeing at home an Opera House
entitled to the name, and are to be INDUCED
with performances of Grand Opera done in
style worthy that magnificent entertainment
As this will be treat altogether fresh, we
may predict that the opening Of the new Grand
Opera to take place in November or December,
will be, in fashionable circles, the great event
of the season. II is true that we have had in
this city plenty of theatres, and plenty of
opera houses, and plenty of dramas and operas,
and all that but their glories were like circles
in the water, and the water was very poor
little puddle. They are passing away, like the
old wooden pumps Of fifty years since, or like
honest aldermen, or packet ships, or mail
coaches, or religious newspapers, or pious
parsons-one lingering here and there to stir
the wonder of the boys or move the mumbling
"reminiscences Of garrulous centenarians. For
forty years we have had theatres peculiarly
our own-dingy, mean coops, like cockpits,
into which men and women were crowded by
mercenary managers till they experienced as
many miseries as Dante saw all his old ac-
auaintance undergoing in the watts of hell on
that memorable occasion when he met Marc,
and they went round together and made q
night of it, Dante being green and Marc
mellow. Our theatres seem to have been con-
structed principally with view to retaining
the foul air to poison the people, or to tortur-
| ing them out Of the form Of humanity with
uncomfortable benches, or to preventing their
escape in case Of fire.
We have also had the drama and opera
managed on strikingly original and, indeed,
| indescribable principles. Lately there has
| been an attempt to establish the lyric drama
| by prime donne selected fer their weight We
have had, in fact, an avoirdupois opera, and
| the only scale in vogue has been that honest
| old article that required sixteen ounces to the
pound Three hundred pounds has been O
light weight Imagine the dainty Rosna pre-
senting herself to the public in the form o.
Falstaff, and imagine the happy barber calling
her "ragazza spiritosa." But this sort o.
operate idea will pass away in the whirl o
the winters splendors, and may be knocked
down, II not dragged out at the DEVILS Auc
ton, though the DEVILS Auction. from appear
ance, has daintier ware to tempt the public
fancy. Ristori will keep on with US, and viii
tomorrow night try the fiery Italian muse
Alfieri in Its Interpretation Of one Of the grand
themes Of Hellenic thought-Ristori and Alferi
There is progress. In this toward lotier Ideally
than the stage has been used to since it ceased
To be the fame Of temple. Then we have GU
exquisite Grand Duchess ofGerolssein to lighter
oil this into the laugh Of infinite nonsense, II
the happy, rafting way that only the yer.
genius of absolute fun can venture With 81
many real attractions present, and the Crane
Opera in the near future, we shall make on
The season very WELL Agraud opera that ma