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332 THE IiEADER. pfo-367, SATpRmT " —- ¦...
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r^ltiV (Jl 1*Ik ^VjbJJ ^ ^mxi 0
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„ . _ TIIB VOCAL ASSOCIATION. Wk have he...
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MR. ROBSON'S" DADDY HARDACRE." IT v^ s*y...
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HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. , Signob Giugltni...
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THE ROYAI, ITALIAN OPERA PROGEAMME. " A ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Miscellanies. A " Ramble Through The Uni...
Otley . ) - —The Two Friends meet at Paris , and their conversations are herein recorded . They talk about knowledge , tie press , deatl , a future state , French society , youth , middle age , politics , politicians , histories of the French Revolution , & c . One of the individuals "believes in his own " depth , " ether in his own philosophy ; both are eminently dull . They think Pitt led the port party , but do not name the sherry leader . They illustrate their topics with deadly-liveliness . Marshal Bassompiere had so fine a digestion that he owned he never knew where his stomach was , yet he died after a powerful supper . Theodore Hook took cayenne in his champagne ; Sheridan drank white brandy as a diluent ; the West Indians mix pepper with their rum . Gas has much to answer for . Paris is languid on a hot day . Instances and assertions are multiplied without order , accuracy , or object , so far as we can see .
The Adventures of a Cat , a ? id a Fine Cut , too ! By Alfred Elwes . "With Eight Illustrations by Harrison Weir . ( Addev and Co . J—It is a relief to quit these smoky dialecticians to find ourselves in the company of the kitten ( afterwards a cat ) biographised by Mr . Elwes , and illustrated on wood by Mr . Harrison YVeir . To flatter the fancy of a child a better book could not be selected . Mr . Weir ' s woodcuts are admirable . Whaling and Fishing . With Four Tinted Illustrations . ( Addey and Co . ) —This volume is for children of a larger growth . It is well written , varied , and incessantly amusing : it is , moreover , a good lesson-book in a special department of natural history . David , King of Israel .- tke ^ Divine Plan and Lessons of his Life . By the Rev . W . G . . Blaikie . ( Hamilton , Adams , and Co . )—Without directly
combating Bayle , Chubb , and Mr . F . W . Newman , who have assailed the character of King David * Mr . Blaikie endeavours to construct such a biography as will practically refute their accusations- We have only to remark that he has brought to his task a good deal of learning and considerable ingenuity ; but he is scareel )' qualified , vfe think , for criticism . Principles of Natural Theology . By Robert Anchor Thompson , M . A . ( Rivingtons . )—Mr . Thompson is the author of the last Burnett Prize Treatise , Christian Theism . This small volume professes to be " an inquiry into the origin of our knowledge of the being and attributes of the Deity , " the writer ' s position being " that this knowledge is a product of the
spontaneous action of the imnd , but can be verified on strict principles of reason . " The name of the author and the nature cf the subject -will recommend the book to theological students . The Epistles of Ovidius Naso , Faithfully Converted into a New Measure of English ^ Verse . By John Jump . ( Bell and Daldy . )—Mr . John Jump , unhappil y for himself , has written a preface to the Epistles of Ovid ; and a very absurd preface it is . He quotes Perry , and remonstrates : — - " Perryism , reader , pure Sheridano-Perryism , Doubletonism . " His translations are close and fluent ; but his prose originalities are execrable . The ambition of John J " has overleaped itself in his discourses on prosody .
A Twine of Wayside Ivy , ' or , Three Tales from a ) i Old Woman ' s Noie-hoolc ^ By Margaret Casson . ( Moxon . )—Miss Casson ' s Ivy droops over three abysses , in which blighted hopes are sunk—one being the grave of vanity , another of worldliness , another of confidence ; but the ivy hangs over the three . The men have noble manners and ringing voices ; the youthful heroines have their souls riddled through and through by the shafts of agony ; but all to a good purpose . No fault , is to be found with the stories , except that they have a twang of unheaLtbiness in their sentimentalism ; nor are they devoid of interest ; but the style is terribly artificial , and Miss Casson ' s people are unbearably dolorous .
The Angler in the Lake Districts ; or , Piscatory Colloquies and Fishing Excursions in Westmoreland and Cumberland ,. By John Davy , M . I ) . ( Longman and Co . ) Amphis holds a colloquy on fish , Diphilos undertakes a pilgr image in search of an honest fishmonger , Alcseos wrote a song to the limpet , " child of the rock and hoary sea ; " Di \ Davy , therefore , travels in procession with a goodly line of writers whose " fish-tattle" has been preserved . We dislike books "in dialogues , but we have no doubt that Dr . Davy has prepared a volume of agreeable reading for anglers . Not being anglers we can scarcely say . But- to those wlio love quieter sport than is to be followed on the Tweed or Teviot , the work recommends itself .
We have to enumerate among reprints the third and fourth volumes of Lord Campbell ' s Lives of the Lord Chancellors ( Murray ) , a book for alL public and private libraries ; cheap editions of Mr . Charles Reade ' s Christie Johnstone and Peg Wojfinyton ( Bentley ) ; Mr . John Murphy ' s very graphic sketches , entitled liussia at the Time of the Coronation of Alexander 1 L ( Bradbury and Evans ); a third edition of Dr . " Wilson ' s Water Cure ( Triibner ) , a guide to the delights of strength-in-the-body-of-man-restoring Malvern ; and Mr . Thomas H . Gladstone ' s very interesting series of letters on Kansas and Squatter Life and liorder Warfare in . the far West , reprinted by permission from the Times ( Koutledge ) , with a map and several characteristic illustrations . Margaret Catchjwle has been reprinted in the Library of Household Novelti ( Hodgson ) ; and Mrs . Thompson ' s Anna . liolepi in the Parlour Library ( Hodgson ) .
332 The Iieader. Pfo-367, Satprmt " —- ¦...
332 THE IiEADER . pfo-367 , SATpRmT " ¦ *
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„ . _ Tiib Vocal Association. Wk Have He...
„ . _ TIIB VOCAL ASSOCIATION . Wk have heard much of M . Jullikn ' s services to music in this country , and to arci not at nil disposed to undervalue them . A man who has made BitETnovxm and Mozaut « go down' tho public palate , sandwich-fashion , between a polka ami a waltz , deserves all praise . But there have been other , and , perhaps , purer influences at work in a higher direction = we allude to the establishment of Vocal Associations for tho performance of choral pieces and part-songa . Mi \ John Hum . au had established lna singing-scUoola before M . Jujllikn was heard of in this country ; but perhaps it is to tho iwsrformancea of the Cologne Vocal Union that wo owe tlio most sudden and decided growth of musical feeling in this motropolw Jj , ngland has long been famous for her glees and madrigal *; Gtee and Madrigal Uuions and Catch Clubs abound ; there is no lack of good v 01 co 8 . But tho trannng has been infective , tho method of singing has been careless and tho atyle too ottcn course and vulgar . This has arisen from tho want of a good school of siiiging presided over by a thorough master , and , above all , from insufficient practice . Tlie convivial element has predominated too
largely m these societies . Lately a truer musical feeling has spurn ? un and ^ art is now cultivated more zealously and purely for its own sake Se of ? happiest evidences of this musical progress is afforded by the Vocal i ^ eLti ™ consisting of more than two hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen wlfr ^ ?> marshalled inharmonious array under -the bdton of Mr . ¦ Botmct We wS ! favoured with an admission to a private performance given by thisi Assorf ^ f at the Music Haix , Store-street , on Tuesday-last . It was at once an interest spectacle , and an admirable concert . The programme included Sil SS ? i > S taEt 6 sonN MozARr , and Bammc * himself , with selections from the ^ erMn Ghoir Mysic Mr . Benedict s part-songs , distinguished alike for ™ ure fiSffi andskilful arrangement , delighted the audiencf . The singing for the mnl ¦
^ nart di < l ¦ arfa . t rroi t tn + 1 iq A 0 < . / , n ; o *; .. n „„ , « __ i . _ ^ ,. " * me most part did great credit to the Association , and especially to thTS ^ itaM Z conductor . There was abundant power both ia the female and the male voices and m both , we fancied , a perceptible want of . sweetness in the more subdued SaS ? and of delicacy in the gradations from low to loud . The bell-like vibratSS 5 tone winch was so enchanting in . the Cologne Choir is not yet attained hy ihl Vocal Associations » IL this is the work of time and study , and so great fi tS zeal of all , and so effecUve is the result already achieved , that we may fairly an ticipate perfection . It is an incalculable advantage to the Association to £ under the direction of so perfect a musician , and so universally esteemed and beloved a gentleman as Mr . Bekbdxct . vctiueu . ana
Mr. Robson's" Daddy Hardacre." It V^ S*Y...
MR . ROBSON'S" DADDY HARDACRE . " IT v ^ s * yery h / PPy idea of Mr . Pai . « ravE Simpson ' s , the adaptation of La Fzlle deFAvare for the Olymhc ; and dexterously has he performed his task . At length , Mr . Hobson has been provided with a part worthy of his powers , but it 1 S ? T Pranc lf' and from the repertory of a great French actor , that the pLv and the part have come . ^ Of Mr . Robson ' s Daddy Jlardacre ^ e may simply and truly say , that . it-is one of the finest pieces of acting that lias been witnessed on any stage in Europe for many years ; it places the actor at a bound in the firstrankof his profession , and among the very few dramatic artists of the a Pv Hl Sj ier P raise it ™ mld be impossible for us to invent than we heard from the lips of a gentleman whose criticism would be accepted as the most xinde
liiable authority in any court , and who pronounced Mr . Robson superior to Boufte m the level parts of the play and in . the details , and not inferior to him in the ^ reat explosion of rage in the second act . It is some time since \ re saw Boufib ihLaFille de TA vare , but from what we remember we should be disposed to accept this opinion , unreservedly . The wonderful truth , and subtlety of the actor ' s instinct was evident from the moment he appeared to the last scene . There was not a symptom of effort or of exaggeration ; all was natural unforced , spontaneous , and yet subdued by the nicest and most delicate art . Such a performance must draw the town to the Olympic . We suggest to Mr . Palgrave Simpson another look through M . Booffe ' s repertory ; it is a rich vein
to wort for Mr . Eobson , in default of an original play , in which the actor ' s genius should not be sacrificed to any conventional grimacing , or to any mere mannerism .
Her Majesty's Theatre. , Signob Giugltni...
HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE . , Signob Giugltni and Madlle . Spezia appear on the opening night , Tuesday , the 14 th inst ., in La Favoriia . Madlle . Pocchini makes her debut in a revival of the ballet of La Esmeralda . The same performance is to be repeated on the second night , which is to be what is called an opera Thursday .
The Royai, Italian Opera Progeamme. " A ...
THE ROYAI , ITALIAN OPERA PROGEAMME . " A Messing on both your houses 1 " Contrary to expectation and to hope , Mr . Gye has been compelled to take refuge again at the Lyceum for this season . As Mr . Gye himself very fairly admits , the lioyal Italian Opera is for the present excluded "from a great portion of the general public , " and although he " has the satisfaction of being able , by judicious alterations in the building , to accommodate a very considerable number , " it is only a very considerable aumber of the regular subscribers . This is cold comfort for the general public , which , and which alone , the public press is supposed to represent , and in that capacity we
do not feel ourselves entitled to join the subscribers in " preferring the smaller theatre , on account of the facility in seeing and hearing the entertainments , as well as for the elegance and exclusiveness of the audiences . " The principle of exclnsiveness would exclude the opera from the domain of publicity altogether . We therefore prefer to look forward witli Mr . Gye , confident as we are in his energy and resources , to the restoration of the Eoyal Italian Opera for the season of 1858 in " a home equal if not superior to that of which it has been deprived . " Meanwhile we cordially recognize the completeness of the programme for the present season , and the judicious selection of operas peculiarly fitted for the smaller stage .
Fra Diavclo is to be adapted expressly by MM . Scribe and Auhek for the Italian stage . Hekolu ' s Zampa is to be produced ; and ( delightful anticipation !) the Matrimonio Segreto and the Nozze di Figaro are to be revived . This is really good news . Don Pasquale is to return in the person of Lablache , and Mercadantj-i ' s masterpiece , // Giuramento , will bring forward Ronconi in one of Ills finest tragic parts . La Traviata , in spite of all the howling proprieties , is to reign supremo at both houses this year : at the Lyceum , in the person of Madame Bosio , whose singing , however , will not eclipse the charm of Piccor . oMiNi . But Signor Mario , who has been singing like himself again in Paris , will strengthen the cast as Alfredo , and Signor Gkaziani will not suffer by comparison with Signor Benevkntano . Among the engagements for the season
we note the reappearance of Grisi , who has quite forgotten her farewell and the debut of Mademoiselle Vicxoiue Balfjg , the daughter of the composer . We hear the most promising accounts of this young lady ' s graces and . talents : she is described to us as young , pretty , and piquante , witli a rich voice , admirably disciplined , while as an actress she is said to display a singular sellpossession and confidence , and a true dramutie instinct . We are sure she will receive the hearty welcome due to her name and youth , and wo shall nil be proud of her success . Signor Neiu Baualdi , a pleasing light tenor , is now regularly engaged , and Signor Tamhkrlik , we rejoice to say , is promised an engagement on his return from the Brazils , having cancelled his engagement at Rio .
Fur the ballet we arc to have Madlle . Ceiuto and Madlle . Plcnicutt . It is sullicient to stato that Mr . CoarA returns his baton in the renowned orchestra , wliich , although necessarily reduced in numbur , is to bo in quality worthy ol its chief . THEATRICAL NOTES . Mr . Dii-i-on ' m firat season at tho Lychl-m closed on Thursday night . On the previous Tuesday niglit , Mr . Tooi-h had n . benefit , ut which ho acted in four i > icccHThe Wonder , Jhnninlqua the Deserter , The Goodfor-Nothing , and My lYiewl J ><> ' « LcatherhciKl—in all which lie exhibited great humour ami power of clinractemalioi' - Mr . Toolk is nn actor of much promiHo ; and wo wero therefore pleased to ihul tuo thcatio crowded to inconvenience , though we suffered somewhat from tho fact .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 4, 1857, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04041857/page/20/
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