On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (7)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
¦ . . =-(dblttf __t*f 2f Wl| * ArtvlAU
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Untitled Article
heap of do ^ grel than this Mr . Ainsworth ' s . So much for the book ; and a sweeping condemnation is really , in this case , more merciful than the mildest forax of detailed criticism could possibl y be . Of an author himself no one likes to speak except in the way of compliment . But Mr . Ainsworth has just been challenging public notice by one of the most grotesque devices ever resorted to for propping a rickety reputation . L . et us turn once more—only for a moment—to Mr . Ainsworth ' s book of songs , just to observe that the first and most absurd composition , among many rivals , is a ballad entitled " The Custom of Dunmow . " This custom consisted in the delicate and appropriate bestowal of a flitch of bacon on any happy pair who should take oath , in public , that they had been ter-rew to each other for a specified time ; and it would be , of course , a very great pity if a custom which belon ged by chance to a rude and remote age , but which is so beautifully consonant with the feelings and manners of our own , should not be roused from a slumber into which it fell , some time ago , in consequence of the decline of
national taste and sentiment . Mr . \ V . Harrison Ainsworth , who has done so very much by his writings to elevate the same national taste and sentiment , resolves , first , on " standing"' the time-honoured reward of constancy ; and next , on going the whole pig , and instituting a supplementary flitchnot because happy marriages are more numerous than formerly , or because people are more prone to mention their connubial felicities to mixed audiences , or because bacon is cheaper ; but because " an opportunity occurs of celebrating the alliance of England and France ! " A French literary gentleman is united to an English literary lady , on -whom he dotes to the fond extent so desirable for the success of Air . Ainsworth ' s puff . The next
«* feature" of this interesting event is a cheap excursion train , which was advertised to take people from Shoreditch and to bring them home again the same day , giving them ample time to see the French literary gentleman (" weather permitting ) climb the greasy pole , and the English literary gentleman ( D . V . ) present the bacon . And all this , or something like it , did actually take place last Thursday . The British Barnum , Mr . E . T . Smith , gave his congenial presence to the " rustic sports and festivities ; " and a daily paper , with charming alacrity in the cause of " good old English" revivals , published , on the very morning of the event , a carefully prepared narrativetreating the affair as an accomplished triumph !
, The weather was scarcely so mild as the bacon was warranted to be , and large piles of Mr . Ainsworth ' s new novel , the Flitch of Dunmow , were not sold at the different railway stations .
Untitled Article
L'ETOLLE DU NORD . The production of Meyerbeer ' s latest , we cannot say his greatest , opera at Covent Garden , on Thursday , was the event of the season : it was in every respect what our friends over the water call a " solemnity ; " we only wish our solemnities of home manufacture were half as amusing . "We certainly incurred the charge of raising the expectations of our opera-going readers to a high pitch by our preliminary trumpet last week , but we have the satisfaction of feeling assured that the highest expectations were not disappointed . We spoke more particularly of the mise en scene , the orchestra , and the chorus : no one who was present at the Royal Italian Opera on Thursday will deny that the vast scenic , orchestral , and choral resources of that establishment were never more magnificently and triumphantly displayed . As for the mise en scene ^ we have been accustomed to miracles from Mr . Beverley : we knew the prodigious
fertility of expedient and the profound science of " effects for ever to be associated with the name of Mr . A . Harris — the Napoleon of " Supers . " But Mr . Beverlev has never enriched the stage with pictures more powerfully and delicately real than the Village on the Coast of Finland of the first act , and the Russian Camp with the mountain gorge in the distance , in the second act of the Etoile du Nord . Nor has Mr . A . Harris , whose exploits of generalship we well remember in tho Huguenots , in the Prophete , in Masaniello , ever inspired his legions with more zeal , animation , and intelligence—ever disposed his groupings with more taste and judgment , with a finer eye for colour and variety of pose than in the two grand scenes which Mr . Beverlby has so brilliantly * illustrated . The chorus too , which for the last few seasons had rather fallen off in spirit and correctness , has suddenly regained its old celebrity for vigour and precision of ensemble . The presence of the illustrious Maestro has worked wonders , and struck new life into the flagging pulses of tlie troupe .
It has been like the face of " the Chief" to an army demoralised by inaction . We can easily imagine the effect of Meyerbeer ' s superintendence in stimulating the jaded energies of the theatre . Not only the prestige of the composer , but the unassuming kindness , the finesse , the bonhomie of the man must be irresistible . As for the principals , let us at once , without any invidious prepossession , particularise IjAblachb as Gritzenko , a Caluiuck converted into a corporal . Not one of his comrades would object to the first place of honour being given to the glorious veteran . Surely it is an example worthy of imitation—the zealous heartiness with which an artist , whose reputation has long been European , studies a minor part , full of very difficult , laborious , and complicated music , and by the admirable humour of his acting , and the masterly excellence and finish of his singing , gives a new importance to the part and a new pleasure to the audience . Labi . ache ' s make-up as a Calmuck was something terrific and Gargantuan in its grotesque savagery , and as the Corporal he reminded us
of a colossal Bonze . He acted throughout with the careful ^ zeal , spir and vivacity of thirty years ago , and the round richness of his voice contrast pleasantly with the hard , harsh tones of FonMBS . Madllo . Bosio looked ml restingly as Catherine : once and again she even made a praiseworthy effort act ; but she cannot get rid of that lady-like lassitude and indifference , win are redeemed by her graceful looks and manners , and by that exquisite vom clear and sweet as a silver bell , sparkling as a fountain . Mademoiselle Marai as Prascovia has made a decided advance m her a She was always agreeable , intelligent , and conscientious , and her appearance singularly engaging ; but on this occasion she looked a true Scandinavian beaul all archness and simplicity , and she sang with a delicacy and elegance very c liffhtful to the listener . The two vivandieres were most effectively represent *
so far as music was concerned , by Madame Rudebspohfj- and Mademoise Jenny Bauer : perhaps , however , we observed a certain taracness in the less * a certain excess of emphasis in the larger , lady . Returning to the gentlenx let us say how charming in voice and aspect was Gabdoni as Danilowi M . Scribe's version of the original Meksohikopp , the pie-seller : how u affectedly pleasant and refined was LuCHEsr as George Skawronskt . Peter \ seems odd we should be celebrating that imperial savage just now !) claims sentence to himself . Formes looked tho character wonderfully , and played with remarkable force and intention : but In the tent scene there was a want nuance , of transition in the acting , and he seems incapable of expressing t tender emotions . _ _
.. Need we add our testimony to the universal report of the success of the Etc du Nord at Covent Garden ? It has been a success all over Europe ; but the discharge of an honest critical duty—the duty we mean of expressing calm and serious opinion on the merits of a work without reference to the ci cumstances of its production , to the prestige of the composer—let us be permitt the audacity of expressing our conviction , which we have formed after hearii this opera repeatedly , and which we express with the deepest deference ai humility , that the Etoile du Nord does not add a laurel to the brow of the ilk trious composer of Robert le Viable . Let us forget for a moment thnt t Etoile is an opera of Meyerbeer's , and in momentary ignorance of tho eoi to t
poser ' s name , let us ask our musical conscience whether its success belongs music or to the spectacle ? Let us ask if there is in the music that cohcrei * that continuity , that creative energy which belongs to works of genius , it not fragmentary , patchy , ceaselessly clever anil effective , seldom emotional ai affecting f Is not tune sacrificed to trick , melody to noise , spontaneous feolii to ingenious combinations ? No doubt all this abominable heresy of oura may put down by the overwhelming appeal of the technical critics to the consumma science of the music . But we have not now to learn for the first time th Meyerbeer is a consummate musician . We only say on behalf of the 11 learned public that no amount of cleverness will be accepted as a substitute f
tune . To say that the Etoile du Nord is the greatest work of the composer of Ro 6 le Diable , of the Huguenots , and the Prophkte , seems to us simply preposteroi We could not help fancying that the composer had thrown the scores of the immortal works into a crucible , and , like an alchemist , had worked the Eto du Nord out of the fiery process . There is no law against a man stealing frc himself , and there is probably nothing in the Etoile that does not belong to t composer of the Huguenots and the Camp de Sildsie ; but the effect is that of : opera put together , rather than composed . All this does not prevent us from i cognising every moment the hand of the master in the grace , the strength , t fancy , the invention , the variety scattered over the opera with a prodigality tli would exhaust fifty of his imitators . We take the liberty to judge Mbveriiei by the standard of his own works : to judge him by any lower standard is impertinence .
We are persuaded that the Opera Comlgue does not bear adaptation to Gra Opera . There is a certain charm to us in that form of opera in which the spea ing is interrupted , at certain pauses in the action , by music : this charm is coi pletely lost in recitatives . We miss M . Scribe's facile and sprightly dialogt with its thin but pleasant wit , and its sentimental ingenuity . After twen minutes of recitative , we begin to apprehend the fate reserved for us by t " music of the future . " This transplanting of the Opera Cotpique , which is music what the genre school is to painting , is as unfair to the composer as would be to compel a Watteau to paint his figures of heroic proportions . But we have already exceeded our space : let us only add that the princip
artists were called for after each net , and one after the other , and i together , enthusiastically cheered ; but that tfie triumph of the evening , a just ai noble one , was reserved for the great composer himself , that modest and retirii man of genius , who has given to the Opera a grander destiny than to bean cil minate relaxation , or an idle luxury , and who has already taken rank with tl Immortals in the Pantheon of the divinest of all Arts . VVc trust Meyeicrki will leave England impressed with tho admiration and sympathy which ha almost laid siege to him during his stay among us , convinced that we are n quite barbarians even in music , and resolved to write an opera expressly f Covent Garden .
Untitled Article
Tho proprietors of tho Albert Life Assurance Company , at their annual general meeting on tho 10 th instant , voted a sum of 10002 . to G . G . Kir by . Euq .,-their managing director , in recognition of his valuable services .
Untitled Article
Madlle . Rachel is announced to appear at tho St . James ' s Theatre , inul the auspicious direction of Mr . Mitcukll , on Monday the 30 th inat ., in h great part of Camille in Lea Horaces . On Wednesday , August 1 , in Phhdr on Friday , August 3 , in Adrienne Lecouvreur ; on Saturday , August 4 , Andrommjue . As the celebrated trag&licnne is en route to America , her enffay ment is necessarily limited to these four evenings . We uliall be curious to s what effect the success of her great Italian rival may havo had on Miull Rachel . By the way , wo must demur to the supposition that Madlle . Uacii ; is accompanied by " several of the principal artistes of Paris . " This is not fjui accurate ; she is accompanied by various members of tlic Felix family , in attended by a select suite of illustrious obscurities .
¦ . . =-(Dblttf __T*F 2f Wl| * Artvlau
€ fo $ tte .
Untitled Article
704 ^ THE Ii E ADiEB . [ No . 278 , Satpbpat ,
Untitled Article
WILSON— TODD . — July 17 . at St . George ' s , Hanoversquare , W . U . 'Wilson , Esq ., late Captain 39 th Regiment , to Jane Marian Rutherford , only child of tho late John Todd , Esq ., of Halnaby Hall , and Tranby Park , in tho county of xork . DEATHS . IiB BLANC—July 18 , at the house of his eldest son , Clifton * down , Bristol , Colonel Lo Blanc , forty-one years Major of the Royal Hospital , Chelsea , late Licut .-Colonol of the 8 th Veteran Battalion , and formerly of tho 71 st Regiment , aged 70 . MANSFIELD . —Juno 28 . at Sobaatopol , of wounds received in tho action of tho 18 fch of Juno , Captain William Henry Mansfield , 44 th Regiment , aon of tlio lato Alexander Mansfield , Esq ., of Morristown , Lattin , in tho county , of Kildare .
BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , ANJ > DEATHS . BIRTHS . BARRY . —July 12 , at hi * residence . Forest-hill , Sydenhana , Kent , the wife of Charles Barry , Esq .: a son . HANSARD . —July 1 « , at No . 14 , Park-square , Mrs . Honry Hansard : a eon . MARRIAGES . DEAR—DEAR . —July 12 . at All Saints , Huntingdon , Mr . kr Xdinand Dear , of London , to Catherine , second daughter of James Dear . Esq ., of Huntingdon .
Untitled Article
FK 0 M THE LONDON GAZETTE . Tuesday , July V ?\ BANKRUPTS . —Jon William JMbeaiis , Croydon . cli mint—John and Chahi . es Kllih , Trlnity-nquaro , Uiixto builders—William Wood . Wei la-street , South llnckm grocer — Gkouob Wild , Oxford-street , grocer — Tiiom Kbklky , Son ., St . Mary extra , Southampton , butcher Thomas Toykdbe , Slough , horiedealcr — Josbi'M ai ltooBUT Dfiwr . Atherstono , Warwickshire , builders Robbbt Lyniiam Courtnby , Wo » t Bromwicn , auctlonc —William Poojlb , Klngaton-upon-lIuU , provision mo chant—Isaac Dbnton , Bradford , Yorkshire , draper—Jox Orippin and AViixiam Robinson Rooster , Rock Von Cheshire , and Liverpool , ferry proprietors—Jonw Grbbt Liverpool , tobacconist — - Francis IjLOTD Bayihy ai Samubl MiLLNEtt Babtoh , Manchester , small woro \ ntui faoturers—Tuomao Bobtook , Manohestor . maker-up .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), July 21, 1855, page 704, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2100/page/20/
-