The Sun. — 1844-10-01 (London, England)

THE THEATRES. DRURY-LANE. Drury-lane Theatre opened last evening for the winter season, with Balfe s chef (Failure, the Bohemian Girl, and a new grand ballet, in three acts, entitled The Corsair. The plot of the ballet is taken from Lord Byron's poem, and the original has been closely followed. The subject of the first act is the parting of Conrad and Medora. At the rising a the curtain, we find ourselves amidst the wild romantic scenery of the Corsairs' Island. A prize has been brought in and the Greeks hold high festival. This festival gives occasion for the introduction of a very pretty divertissement, in which Mademoiselle Auguste Delb s (pupil of Monsieur Albert) made her debut on the English stage, and a most successful debut it was. This young lady promises to be, ere long, at the head of her profession; there is a neatness and precision about her dancing, which prove that she has been well taught, and in the rapidity of her movements (her feet literally twinkle), and the charming abandon of her manner, she reminded us not unfrequently of Cerito. Her Tarentalla with Delferier would have been quite worthy of the fascinating Neapolitan herself. Add to this that Mademoiselle Delbes is very young and very pretty, and we think that we are not risking much in prophecying that she will become a universal favourite. A Pas de Deux by Montessu and Clara Webster, decidedly the first of English dancers, was also introduced into this divertissement, and was much and deservedly applauded; and a new Polka by Mademoiselle Delbes, Monsieur Delferier, and the corps de ballet, concluded the divertissement. The act concludes with the parting of Conrad and Medora. The scene of the second act is laid in the Hall of " Seyd of Pacha," where he holds " A feast for promised triumphs yet to come," and this feast is made the occasion for another divertissement, in which, after a very pretty danse d' Odalisques by Mademoiselle Delbes and the corps de ballet, Gulnare is introduced in the person of the majestic Adele Dumilatre. We remember, when Adele Dumilatre appeared at the Opera two seasons since, she was not unfrequently reproached with want of animation. Her Gulnare is certainly not open to such reproach. It is the very Gulnare of the poet. She looked, in the opening scene, the very personification of haughty beauty. Her grand Pas de Deux with M. Desplaces, which is introduced into this scene, quite took the house by storm ; her tours de force in this pas was truly astonishing. They were not merely tours de force, but tours de grace also ; and as she bounded across the stage, seeming to float, sylph-like in the air, she was greeted with the most rapturous applause ever heard within the walls of a theatre. The act concludes with the attack on the Pacha's palace, and the defeat of Conrad. In the third act we find ulnare interceding with the Pacha for the pardon of Conrad ; and here Adele Dumilatre introduces her Pas de Seduction—a pas the most fascinating that can possibly be imagined. The Pacha, however, is obdurate, and the ballet ends by the murder of the Pacha by Gulnare, and the destruction of his palace by the comrades f Conrad, who arrive just as he is set at liberty by Gulnare, the fate of poor Medora having been previously shadowed forth to him in a dream. At the conclusion, Adele Dumilatre was loudly called, and received with all the honours. This ballet was most successful ; indeed, it would have been surprising if it had been otherwise, for it has in it every element of success. The story illustrated is well known. This is a most important feature towards securing the success of a ballet, inasmuch as the audience understand it from the beginning, and an interest is consequently at once awakened. The plot is well developed, the scenery is beautiful, the costumes are magnificent, and the music is appropriate. Taken as a whole, this is by far the best ballet that has yet been produced at Drury-lane, and there cannot be a doubt of its having a long run. The house was crammed in every part. Previous to the commencement of the opera, the National Anthem was sung by the whole of the corps operatique, the solo parts being sustained by Miss Romer, Miss Rainforth, and Mr. W. Harrison.