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570 THE LEA PER; [Satu^a ^
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ROYAL ITALIAN OPEKA. Robert ie Diable wa...
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QUARTETT ASSOCIATION, The fourth perform...
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THE NEW PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY Closed the ...
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ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION. ¦ ' • . ' y. ....
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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.
570 The Lea Per; [Satu^A ^
570 THE LEA PER ; [ Satu ^ a ^
Royal Italian Opeka. Robert Ie Diable Wa...
ROYAL ITALIAN OPEKA . Robert ie Diable was given on Tuesday nigHt at Covent Garden , with two important changes in the distribution of last year : one , however ; was purely accidental . Madame Jullienne was Alice , replacing Gnsi , who , with all her admirable resources , was never , as , it seemed to me , at home in this part ; or perhaps I should say , neither Alice enouglvnor Grisi enoueh to do the part , or herself , entire justice . Nor did I find Madame tnat
Jullienne to my taste . That she was immensely superior to many ; _ she sang with force , mastery , and ease , and with that perfect confidence and command of voice and style , which is so grateful to an exacting audience , you will be ready to believe from your recollections of the Martin ; that she acted with intelligence and unassuming conscientiousness , I need not add ; but with all her great merits , Madame Jullienne was not the Alice of the story , however efficient an Alice of the Grand Opera . Alice has no business to be showv , brilliant , and effective ; she must be all
simplicity—the simplicity of the pure heart , and the gentle courage of the artless faith . Now , in Madame Jullienne , excellent as she was from a strictly operatic point of view , I could not lose sight of the deservedly successful prima donna . _ . Marini , having undertaken the part at a very short notice , owing to the illness of Formes , deserves a kind judgment . Formes is Bertram * as Jenny Lind is Alice ; but even Formes makes up Bertram as a starspangled fiend , when he should be the high born , high bred , courteous nobleman , and quite a man of this world , as well as a fiend of the other . _ Castellan ' s voice is always delicious to listen to . The orchestra and chorus were irreproachable ; the dancing of the resuscitated nuns , as unbeand
like ladies from the tomb as corpses de ballet can . ,, as gauze petticoats are to grave-clothes . Of all Meyerbeer's operas , commend me to Robert le Diable . It is more melodic , more richly flowing , more spontaneous , than the Huguenots or the Prophete , and he will not easily excel the instrumentation of tliis , his first and freshest work .
Quartett Association, The Fourth Perform...
QUARTETT ASSOCIATION , The fourth performance of the Quartett Association was ( if possible ) even more delightful and interesting than the three preceding . The unknown work in the programme was a bold and original quartett in 0 , by Cherubini . Beethoven ' s Trio in B flat ( dedicated to the Archduke Rudolf ) so well beloved by aspiring amateurs , not because it is less difficult , but because it is more clear and melodic than therest , was the gem of the concert , played by Sainton , Piatti , and Madame Pleyel—the great pianiste waking worlds of beauty at every touch . Every finger seemed to be tipped with the fire of genius irrepressible . The execution of this trio was indeed a triumph of strength and beauty met together . Madame Pleyel held us captive at the close of the concert , with a brilliant solo on movements of Jjucia , the Huguenots , & c . ; and sent ua all away exclaiming . What marvels of force and suppleness of wrist ! What largo !
what strength ! what decision in rapidity ! what passion ! what tender delicacy ! what reckless abandon ! what impetuous defiance of difficulties , attacked only to be disdainfully conquered ! Flashing down the scale like a ray or light , or pausing to die in some cadence of divinest beauty , that lingers like a regret on the artist ' s quivering brow , and expires like a farewell on her parted lips . And so we came out again into the blank street , inwardly thanking M . Sainton and his associates for one more of these concerts , which , so unaffectedly announced , and so faithfully performed , rescue us for a brief moment from the turmoil of London life , and from the draggletailed misery of London streets in rainy weather !
The New Philharmonic Society Closed The ...
THE NEW PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY Closed the series of six concerts , on Wednesday , with a magnificent performance of Beethoven ' s Choral Symphony ( sufficient , alone , to establish the fame of the Society ) , and Fragments of Hector Berlioz ' s Faust , which fairly transported the immense audience to an enthusiasm rarely known in England . Madame Pleyel ' s appearance at the piano nobly crowned the success of the evening , and of the season . The success , as a matter of art , cannot bo doubted ; pecuniary success is quite another standard , and , I should think , had never entered into the expectations of the directors at least , for their first campaign . Of course , all the promises of their programme were not fulfilled . What programme ever was fulfilled , except Mr . Mitchell ' s ? But Berlioz and the Choral Symphony may fairly represent a great promise , and a very admirable result . Now , in taking leave of this Society , with best wishes for its future success ffor tke sake of art in this country ) , I must emphatically remind all who
are concerned , that it is not enough to bring together a superb orchestra , under one of the most remarkable musicians in Europe : it is not enough to perform tjio best music in the best style . You must condescend to make the public , who come to listen and to pay , tolerably comfortable You must condescend to study the convenience of the public . Now , what did I witness the other night ! In that most detestable hall in Europe , scorched as it is by the flaming reminiscences of the platform , some two thousand follow-mortals were jammed together . It was a seething Pandemonium . What with the crash of the orchestra , tit a Jrlnrn nf tho mis . and the sense that when once you arc seated you
cannot find your way out again , do you wonder at ladies being ready to faint before tho concert is half over P Then , tho comfort of an enormous room , to which there is only ono impracticable entrance , through a labyrinth of rooms , and staircases , and passages : of a room into which you enter aa through a trap-door , close under tho orchestra ! But I have a worse complaint to bring against tho Secretary , or whoever that young man was , with fair hair , confident exterior , and complacent whiskers , who appeared to pass his evening in asserting his person and prerogatives , and Lullvinc the door-keepers , when ho should have been attending to the
reserved seats . A gentleman and lady have taken " reserved , seats : they enter , confiding in the reserved seats . When they hand the tickets to ono of the countless and usoless officials , he glancos at them ana
at the tickets with a bewildered stare ; he gives them the seats named in their tickets . Presently , for some unexplained cause or other , they are politely requested to move , as these seats are taken ; and away they go , all across that staring , glaring , Pademoniuni , backwards and forwards ) consigned from one useless and bewildered official to another , until at last , in sheer desperation , they sink into the first vacant corner , and vow they will gono further . And all this dreadful time , Beethoven ' s Choral Symphony is being played ! Now , is this common decency in the management , or common good faith P Depend on it , if the New Philharmonic Society is to succeed , as I hope it will , you must look to your reserved s eats , and not boil your public aliyei . t .- * chat-huant .
Royal Academy Exhibition. ¦ ' • . ' Y. ....
ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION . ¦ ' . ' y . . ' ; . - . ¦ ¦ ¦ WEBSTEB ' s PIiAYGBOtTNI ) . Historical painting , if we understand by the term the representation of human life in action , under movements of passion , or important influences , has contracted to the style which is so admirably represented by Mr . Webster . In English society , perhaps , there is no field for the genuine display of natural passion or masculine energy , bestowed without stint upon objects of enthusiastic devotion , like the school playground ; and Webster has rendered himself the first master of historical painting , according to thei present English style . Besides his larger picture , he has ,
indeed , two others in the present exhibition- —the " . Letter irom the Colonies , " and one of those studies of h . omel ^ domestic life , which exercise rather than exhibit the powers of his painting . The "letter from the Colonies" is a close companion to the " Game of Whist , " without , however , the vividness of that composition , either in the character set forth , or in the colouring , or the costume . It is upon the " School Playground " that he has bestowed the fuU force of his power for the year . Xet us understand why itis that pictures like these are valued . There is a
pleasure in the contemplation of life reflected in painting , even when that is no more than the mere copy of tangible and superficial objects ; and the pleasure is all the greater to many minds , inasmuch as it is easily comprehended within a grasp . However long it may take a spectator to learn the meaning of a picture , there shouldT > e some point of time by which he may arrive at the comprehension of the whole in one view ; and evidently , with a small object , that point of time arrives the sooner—is , mdeed , to many minds , a point of time attainable only for small subjects . But when to ttiat material imitation of natural objects you add the beauty of natural effects , especially the play of light and shade in masses , you irationat skiii
introduce new pleasures of a double Jnnd—adm .. xne wn , n which the difficulty of imitation is overcome , and the instinctive delight at the aspect presented ; as in Eembrandt . Add beauty in the obiect itself and you admire the skill of Nature , as well as the emulating skill oi the fainter . In the vivid , yet delicate crocus , in the sharp , firm , yet fragile fibres of a mayblossom , W . Hunt makes you feel the beauty ol Nature , the organic force , the life ; and you admire Nature and the painter in one object . - . ' ¦ . e If we add the feelings in which human nature itself shares , the passion ot emulation , of pleasure , of triumph , we extend the double admiration to a much larger field . In this field the painter encounters new difficulties , not only in the changeable aspect of the traits by which he is to express his obieet , but also in the constant tendency of art to be depraved by « ., i . « j .: i ,+: «« «« r , Tr ^ T ,+ ; r . Tinl nv nr + ifimftl Tnockmsrs of the real aspect , lor
that which he intends to paint ; and his difficulty is increased when he lives not only amidst a school of art , corrupted by many departures trora the natural standard , but also in a society itself under constraint m the outward expression of feeling , and under the aberrations ot tear or ^^ Sy nature in its higher workings , the artist must go to scenes where it is less restrained , or , backed by the force of his ownm stmct « nrt imagination , to times when a rougher freedom prevailed . Jiut then , i proportion as he arrives at a region more congenial to art , lie depart from the experience and the daily view of those who are to undewtantt his picture . It is in the field which Webster cultivates that you gtttno full swing of human activity in , a form familiar to present spectator ^ , hence th ? admirers that surround his pictures ; hence the value ^^ to painted truisms which all can understand , so few fix and retain upo '
tho canvas . n , e nrn in The boys who are engaged in watching the conflict of peg-top , im the attitudes , and under the emotions that all of us who aro men at WJ have witnessed hundreds or thousands of times ; and yet , bec ^ u thoroughly enter into tho feelings of anxiety or triumph , because ^ recognise unchecked human nature in its genuine impulses wftm ourselves have'felt , we can understand what tho painter has done ,
live again—in his work . . . ,, 1 ) r 0-If you give a high sense to tho phrase , a picture is odmirao o > « I portion at it is matter of fact . Tho weaknesses of Webster's pictui o Uo ^ its departure from strict fact . The painting of tho boy who is gone > to speak to his mother , for example , and still more , tho painting « mother herself , must be regarded as conventional and vogue ,, i ^ mo painted after tho fashion so common for getting over the y English pictures . There is a certain handwriting m tho sot 01 w tumo , an % in tho sweep of the handling in tlm flesh , winch fi ™ "" 8 ftmi certain expressions of form very well understood amongst paini ^ , ^ tolerably intelligible to ordinary spectators , but yet having n . v » J . JH alliance with actual nature , Tho twist of the fingers in ™ ° ^ oy . grasping his top , tho twist of the features in tho mild boy Mflo > i » h ^ to buy pastry , are matters of fact bo strictly within memory / thai , a ^ all swear to them . Such passion and inoidont must bo Btuaieu r eventful field , and there alone ; tho artist must acqun ^ by paiie ™> teV the power to observe , to remember , and to reproduce ; lor no w « ] lifl who cannot work without pencil , as well as make hifl F , ^^ mind . Such history as this , in tho flold of school chivalry , is ueuw dead diagrams called by classic names .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1852, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12061852/page/22/
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