Covent-Garden Theatre.
The Times, 1824-10-15T00:00:00

Webet'j German opera,, Der Freiselhuz, with the super- adde(d -tifle of Tlhe Black Hautsr7an o' Bohemia, was brought out last night at Coventogarde' Theatre. The piece is acted almost througlhout by the same performers who lattcrly played in the 1'reischuitz at the Lyceum; and, tlhougli the mnusic sufffers something, of coiulse, from the previous wearing, therc is still Cenough attraction in it to repay lie cost of getting u). The plot ot'the Covent-garden drama diffurs a little firom that of the Lyeeutm. A part of the cha- Tacter of The lermtif, as it stands in the German, is pre- served; and( pretty nearly, as well as we could understadi, thc origi nal catastrophe. A farthernoveltyis, tllat the doomted forester, Caspar, varies in thc selection ot'iis prey. Tfilelm7z, the favoured lover of thc warden's daughter, is exonerated from even witnessing the casting of t'he magic bullets ; and Killiati, a peasant who wins the shot in tlie first scene,is the tempted party, antd also the Buf/l of the piece. These variations tend to vcry little, either good or ill, because the dlrama, in all its shapes, is a (lull one. The necessity of' having a gentleman for his lover who shall sing, obliges tie authlor to niake two heroes whlere hchad business oiily fbr one; the consequence is, that Signor Caspar, the r oguc, has a character goodl for very little, andl his ihtroduc- t.ion mak(es the part ot IVliteis , asfar as interest is concerned, good for nothing. It. is the music only,of course, under these circumstances,with the seneryand machinery,thathavebeen the strongobjects of attraction; and a greatdleal in both these ftatures is admirably given as the piece is dlonie at Covent-ll garden. The performance of the overture merits especial men- I tion,and it commanded an universal encore: the hornmove-1 inents surpass any thing of the kind that has been done in an English theatre. Most of the concerted pieces are well executed; and they lose none of' their charn by repetition. It woul(d he difficult, perhaps, to select two moderti pieces of' more characteristic spirit, tlhan the finale to the first act ot the opera, and thbu forest chorits, previous to shooting for the prize in the last scene. In the second act, the change of plot, to which we have already advcrted, occasions a considerable loss of music. 'Ihe chorus and accom- paniment, while Caspar makes the circle, are abridg- ed, ancd almost with too free a hand; although that niovewinent, powerful as it was, struck us ratlher as too protracted (Cor a mixed audienec) at the Lyeeum. A slight excision, perhzps, would do no great mischief in the previous sene-that lonlg recitatitir and business, first by l\Iisa laton, and afterwards betwveen her and her lover; ttat is, looking at the piece as it is cast, and desiring that it should hang as little as possible. 'Thc introducing of h fllian to the l'iend, instead of' W"i1,el,o, Slihuts out all the vMocal music whkich belo,ngced to the incantation scene, or at least all the song-,s which were used to fall to the lot of Mr. Pearman. 'lTh'- scenery of'tthe piece iloes credit to the taste .iiil liberality of' the house: and the Wolf's Glen, especially, is more horrible and imposing than ever. The gradual darkeiiing over of the mlloonl, at the commencemecnt of the storm in thisscene,i.s cleverly manage;d; and the tremendous crashes behind the scenes, as of ro es, or other immense bo- dies, fallitng, produce ail eflect in all probability far beyond that wlhich the (levisers counte(d uipon. Mr. Arnol.l's witches and Iragons were very laud(ablv alarming : we dlon't know that t irey rc surpassed upomi the larger stage of CoNveit- gardlen. T'he toads seemed as usual. Bats andl ravens, (litto ilitto. But the appearance ot 7'1re Blerl. JIuntsO(lf is ain improvement upon what had gone bef'ore. He was a sad rogue, we always tlhought (under correctioni), that Zoa mniel of thi Lyceum ; with his red glass eyes, anAt iis steeple hat-very like a conjuror outside a booth at Bar- tholoenew fair : the Huntsmani at Covent-garden looks like a demoni of mor e (legree. A fewv difficulties oc- curred in the nmanagemnent of'the machinery, as must ge- nerally happeni at thie first working of a verv compiicated arrangement. The stag hunt in the air failedl to act: we can't say what commendation-if it hail been visible-it might have been entitled to. The colossal skeleton of fire, however, mounted on a sort of velociniedie, is a new idea, anti if' it hadl been the spirit of Chifriey himself, could not have kept its course better. Many of' the other scenes, hoth as to painting and tlevice, deserve tmore cominnenda- tioni than we have paper to bestow. 'Tije cottage, at the rising of the curtain, is extremely well drawn ; it resein- bles the farm-house in the last D'r,iorama picture-the view in the valley of' Sartiaii. For the iniusic, as we have al- readly hintedl, the chorusses and concerted pieces tell best. Pearinan cannot (o justice to the songs of Wjilhde1r; arid lsaacs murdelrs the (irinkinig song of Hernun, entirely. Plhillips deserved great praise inthat sonig; he sang andA acted both extremely well. It was hike a German yyager, or hius- sar, half tipsy, andI divertiig himselt in campT) after dinner, wiLh a due mixture of ferocity. Upoii the whole, thet piece is worthi sitting out, almost for the sake ot' the overture; andt, besides the overture, there is a great deal worth hearing and ieeiig, too, to be foancd in it. Kieely acts pleasantly enough, atd i3anchard; and Mr. Bennet, as usual, imitates Mlr. Macready. Nottwitlhstanding which, if Mr. Benitet will take care to keep two notes always in key, below his original, (for any tlhig like exaggeration or pretence in a inere copyist aiinihilates him for ever,) lie will be aii immense benefit in small characters, to us andI to the public, compareil witlh some of the minor gentlemen iinder whoin we oceaeionally suffer. In tine, tinc piece might lhave beci nmore strongly cast, andl probably it would have been, if the manager had possessed stronger performers to put into it, as it is, lhowevor, there is a great dleal of me- rit about it, and it was receivedl with applause, by a hLouse thronge(l from the pit to thle very cieling. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. ... 4