clearly delivered and satisfactorily illustrated. Part II. is a
continuation of the first, therefore it was hardly necessary to
separate it. This includes a few good examples, and a very useful
table, calculated on divisions into tenths, eighths, sixths, &c. of the
fourth open string, and showing in notes, the harmonics resulting from
the string when touched at any of those points of division.
* * * * *
No. 2 is chiefly made up of materials furnished by the author of No. 1.
The latter, however, finding that what he supplied had been published
in an incorrect, incomplete manner, determined on printing his own
system, or that which we have above noticed.
* * * * *
The titles of Nos. 3 and 4 fully describe the nature of the two
publications, which, we will add, display great industry and no little
ingenuity.
ANCIENT CONCERTS.
SEVENTH CONCERT,
_Under the Direction of the Duke of Cumberland, Wednesday,_
_May 1, 1833._
~Act I.~
Introduction. Chorus. ‘O come, let us sing.’ ~Handel.~
(_Anthem._)
Air, ‘O come, let us worship.’ Mr. Vaughan. Chorus, ~Handel.~
‘Glory and worship.’
Frost Scene, ‘What ho!’ (_King Arthur._) ~Purcell.~
Concerto 5th. (_Grand._) ~Handel.~
Cantata, ‘From silent shades.’ Miss Stephens ~Purcell.~
Madrigal, ‘Let me, careless.’ ~Linley.~
Song, ‘Sorprender mi vorresti.’ Mad. Cinti Damoreau. ~Hasse.~
Chorus, ‘When his loud voice.’ (_Jephtha._) ~Handel.~
~Act II.~
Overture. (_Samson._) ~Handel.~
Song, ‘How willing my paternal love.’ Mr. Parry. ~Handel.~
(_Samson._)
Glee, ‘O’er desert plains.’ ~H. Waelrent.~
Recit, ‘Ye sacred priests.’ Song, ‘Farewell, ye ~Handel.~
limpid.’ Mrs. Knyvett. (_Jephtha._)
Madrigal, ‘Now is the month of Maying.’ ~Morley.~
Recit. ‘My prayers are heard.’ Song, ‘Tears such ~Handel.~
as tender.’ Mr. Phillips. (_Deborah._)
Chorus, ‘Fall’n is the foe.’ (_Judas Macc._) ~Handel.~
Song, ‘Confusa, abbandonata.’ Mad. Cinti Damoreau ~Bach.~
Chorus, ‘The many rend.’ (_Alexander’s Feast._) ~Handel.~
Vain the search after the name of Haydn or Mozart in a concert selected
by his Highness of Cumberland! And as to Beethoven’s, the mere sound
of it in the royal director’s ear would be as the piercing, the
threatening din of the revolutionary tocsin. The illustrious Duke is
perhaps quite right--we, possibly, quite wrong; but it seems to us
that a discreet mixture of modern music (not by _living_ composers)
with that of older date, would be highly to the advantage of both,
particularly in a programme consisting of from eighteen to twenty
pieces--a number which almost unavoidably must be felt oppressive,
unless that variety, which can only be found in composers of
widely-distant periods, is as much an object of attention as contrast
in the species, sentiment, and keys of the pieces brought together.
But though there was a want of a due admixture of schools in the
present concert, the music was the choicest of its kind. The Anthem
composed for the Duke of Chandos (Pope’s Timon) is one of Handel’s
best, the only weak part being the overture. The lovely air, ‘O come,
let us worship,’ is rather beyond Mr. Vaughan’s voice, as it now is:
with a note or two more in compass, and a small increase of strength,
he would have rendered it more effective. We felt some regret that the
melodious fugue, ‘Tell it out among the heathen,’ and the gentle, the
charming air, ‘O magnify the Lord,’ so well adapted to Mrs. Knyvett’s
powers, were not included. The vocal parts of the Frost scene were
taken rather too slow: and a little more point, more emphasis, in
the chiding air, ‘Thou doating fool!’ would much have improved it,
otherwise this fine specimen of the great English master’s dramatic
music was very successfully performed. The Concerto was executed in
a manner peculiar to the Ancient Concert band, the conductor and
leader of which, and a few others among its members, possess the true
tradition of the author’s times and style. We would not exchange one
bar of the largo in ~B~ minor, as played by F. Cramer, for all
the _Friars’ Chants_ and _Witches’ Dances_ that adroit charlatanerie
can produce, or good-humoured credulity applaud. _Mad Bess_ pleased us
much, both as part of the present concert and by exciting agreeable
recollections: we admire Miss Stephens as she is and remember, with
unalloyed satisfaction, what she was. The piano-forte accompaniment,
too, deserves honourable mention,--so modest, so judicious! The
Madrigal is a _chef d’œuvre_; it was sung by Mrs. Knyvett, Messrs.
Terrail, Vaughan, Phillips, and Sale, in the chastest and most perfect
manner. Warm as we are in our admiration of the madrigalists of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we still must acknowledge that
this lovely work of the elder Linley, by surpassing all that preceded
it, proves the advance of the art; though, unfortunately, the kind of
composition not having been encouraged, little has been gained by the
exertion of his genius.
Hasse’s fine Bravura was sung with a neatness of execution which none
ever yet exceeded. The most difficult passages proved mere playwork to
Mad. Cinti, and she added to them others of her own,--very appropriate
ones though,--to show how much more than equal she is to the task
assigned to her. Her strength is not great, but the flexibility of her
voice is surprising; and her knowledge, not merely of her own part, but
of the whole of the score, is apparent in whatever she performs.
The Chorus from _Jephtha_ wanted more support from the trebles. We
advise the conductor in future to break through the trammels of custom,
and accompany the point of the fugue, ‘They now contract,’ with the
diapasons and principals only; that is, to spare us the mixture stops,
which scream most abominably when only covered by a few sopranos.
Mr. Parry’s song from _Samson_ was quietly and delicately sung. The
glee, ‘O’er desert plains,’ could not have had more justice done it,
but this really is little better than a psalm-tune. What a pity that
the beautiful verses of Shenstone have never yet been wedded to more
congenial music! The Recitative, ‘Ye sacred priests,’ was delivered
with great judgment, and the following air, ‘Farewell!’ could not
have been more delicately sung: it were, however, to be wished that
the shakes, transmitted from one singer to another, could be lessened
in number as they pass. And the cadence, another incumbrance, had
better be at once repudiated; it is an ancient abomination, which now
the English alone practise. Morley’s Madrigal is, both in melody and
harmony, free as air--all hilarity, and not a glimpse of pedantry.
The chorus should have repeated _each_ stanza, and not, as on the
present occasion, have been employed only in the last. Mr. Phillips,
in the song from _Deborah_, was very nearly perfect. Bartleman in
this was perfection itself; and so will our excellent living singer
be, when he has acquired the deep pathos, the experience of his
predecessor. In voice he has a manifest advantage; and this is not his
only superiority. The aria, a bravura of _John Christian_ Bach, (the
Christian names should have been added,) has all the prettiness, and
not a little of the weakness, of the composer, who, of the many sons
of John Sebastian Bach, is least worthy of the name. It was executed
with the utmost neatness, but not sung _con amore_. In fact, it has
nothing in it to excite any ardour in a singer possessing Mad. Cinti’s
knowledge and taste.
EIGHTH CONCERT,
_Under the Direction of the Earl Fortescue, Wednesday,_
_May 8, 1833._
~Act I.~
Overture. (_Esther._) ~Handel.~
Madrigal, ‘The silver swan.’ ~Gibbons.~
Recit., ‘Be comforted.’ Song, ‘The Lord.’ (_Judas ~Handel.~
Maccabeus._)
Concerto 2nd. ~Corelli.~
Recit., ‘If I give thee.’ Song, ‘Let me wander.’ ~Handel.~
Chorus, ‘And young and old.’ (_L’Allegro._)
Quartet, ‘Sing unto God.’ Chorus, ‘Cry aloud.’ ~Croft and
Greatorex.~
Glee, ‘As now the shades.’ ~Dr. Cooke.~
Double Chorus, ‘Immortal Lord.’ (_Deborah._) ~Handel.~
~Act II.~
Chaconne and Requiem ~Jomelli.~
Recit., ‘No more in Sion.’ Song, ‘Wise men, ~Handel.~
flatt’ring.’ (_Judas Maccabeus._)
Madrigal. ‘Dissi all’ amata mia.’ ~Luca
Marenzio.~
Chorus, ‘Let none despair.’ (_Hercules._) ~Handel.~
Concerto in ~G~. Avison.
Quartet and Chorus, ‘Then round about the starry ~Handel.~
throne.’ (_Samson._)
Recit., ‘Justly these evils.’ Song, ‘Why does the ~Handel.~
God.’ (_Samson._)
Chorus, ‘Sing unto God.’ (_Judas Maccabeus._) ~Handel.~
The overture to _Esther_ and Corelli’s concerto belong to a school
which has always been protected and exhibited to the best advantage
in these concerts; both were now performed in their true spirit. The
_immortal_ chorus from _Deborah_ is a composition which can only
receive justice in this orchestra: the great number of vocal performers
collected at our grand provincial meetings certainly give more force to
it, but are unable to perform it with that precision, that nicety, on
which its effect so mainly depends. We never hear the passage where the
voices take up the point, ‘to swift perdition,’ accurately executed but
at the Ancient Concerts. The song from _Judas Maccabeus_ is generally
considered to be one of Handel’s happiest thoughts; but it rolls and
rumbles so much, and the base instruments are so continually in unison
with the voice--a defect not peculiar to this composer, but to the
period in which he wrote--that the only pleasure which it affords us is
entirely attributable to the singer, provided that singer be Phillips.
Dr. Cooke’s lovely and most masterly glee was a decided failure: it is
not at all suited to Mrs. Bishop; her school is of a totally different
kind. To Mrs. W. Knyvett this should have been assigned.
The ‘Requiem’ and ‘Agnus Dei’ of Jomelli did not find the choral
performers quite at home in their parts, although their occasional
want of confidence was only discernible to very experienced and close
observers. How ingenious, how effective, and yet how simple, the whole
of the base accompaniment to the first movement, the Requiem! Not
less admirable, but in another style, is the ‘Agnus Dei,’ and full
of original melody, which is still new, because, fortunately, never
yet imitated. The fugue, too, at ‘Lux æterna,’ is of that kind which,
while its musical learning is as indisputable as great, possesses the
superior merit of being pleasing. Mrs. Bishop is not yet familiar with
Handel; her ‘Wise men, flatt’ring’ was not what it doubtless will be
when she is become more accustomed to this music--though it was far
from displeasing. It is much to be wished that the singer would have
the courage to get rid of about two-thirds of the shakes which the
composer himself, we admit, has written. We are certainly bound by
the author’s text, which is permanent, but not by his embellishments,
which belonged only to the age that produced them. A singer in the
present day who should venture to introduce the _double relish_ and
the _back-fall_ of the seventeenth century,--both of which, as
well as other ‘graceless graces,’ are constantly found in the old
writers,--would be laughed at for his scrupulous adherence to the
original. The madrigal of Luca Marenzio is still fresh, and exceedingly
elegant; its only fault is want of modulation. The performance of this
did great credit to the singers. The fine chorus from _Hercules_ was
executed in a most perfect manner. So was the charming quartet from
_Samson_. Here science is turned to the best account: none but a great
musician could have worked out such effects, yet the whole is free from
every thing that smells of the lamp. It is the true offspring of genius
highly cultivated. We are old-fashioned enough in our taste to be
pleased with Avison’s concerto, the _soli_ parts in which were nicely
played by Mori, (in the absence of F. Cramer,) who was ably seconded
by the band, and most judiciously supported by the organ, which Mr.
W. Knyvett always manages with taste and discretion. The song from
_Samson_ is beyond Mr. Horncastle’s physical powers, and only fit for
such a voice and such energy as Braham possesses. Indeed, we so little
like its incessant divisions, and especially the puerile attempt to
give expression to the word ‘thunder,’ that we should not repine were
we never to hear it again.
NINTH CONCERT,
_Under the Direction of Lord Burghersh, for the Archbishop of York,_
_Wednesday, May 15, 1833._
~Act I.~
Anthem, ‘O sing unto the Lord.’ (_Sixth._) ~Handel.~
Recit., ‘When he is in his wrath.’ Song, ‘When ~Handel.~
storms the proud.’ Chorus, ‘O Judah, boast.’
(_Athalia._)
Quartetto, ‘Come! ohimè!’ (_Nina._) ~Paisiello.~
Concerto 4th. (_Oboe._) ~Handel.~
Recit., ‘Tranquillo io son.’ Song, ‘Ombra adorata.’ ~Zingarelli.~
(_Romeo e Giul._)
Ode, ‘Hence, all ye vain delights.’ ~Webbe.~
Duetto, ‘Son io desto.’ (_Nina._) ~Paisiello.~
Chorus, ‘Kyrie eleison.’ ~Beethoven.~
~Act II.~
Overture. (_Idomeneo._) ~Mozart.~
Recit., ‘Crudele!’ Song, ‘Ho perduto.’ ~Paisiello.~
Glee, ‘Bird of the wilderness.’ ~Clarke and
Greatorex.~
Recit., ‘’Tis done!’ Song, ‘Heart, the seat.’ (_Acis ~Handel.~
and Galatea._)
Magnificat. ~Mozart.~
Song, ‘Amor se nume,’ ~Scarlatti.~
Double Chorus, ‘From the censer.’ ~Handel.~
This was a very fine concert, for the music was well chosen, both as
regards diversity of school and contrast in style. An infusion of
Mozart and Beethoven as moderns, of Paisiello and Zingarelli who may
be said to belong to the middle age, and of Handel and Scarlatti as
of the ancient class, produced a mixture that suited every taste, and
presented a fair prospect of great amelioration in the system by which
these concerts are regulated.
The selection from Handel’s anthem made an excellent beginning; we
should have been glad to hear the whole of it, for it is one of his
best. The scene from _Athalia_ is a good specimen of that fine but
comparatively little known oratorio, the magnificent air in which,
‘When storms the proud,’ is exactly suited to Mr. Phillips, who sang
it admirably. Paisiello’s delicate quartet was not very thoroughly
understood by all the parties engaged in it, nevertheless it proved
very satisfactory to the audience. Madame Pasta, who made her first
appearance here this season, was as great as usual in the calmly
impressive scena from _Romeo_; and in the air, ‘Ho perduto,’ gave every
advantage to the work of a composer who ought again to be brought
forward. The song, as it is called, of _Alessandro_ Scarlatti produced
quite a surprise. Who ever supposed that an air of so much beauty
could have remained thus long unknown in a concert established for the
preservation of ancient music? Who ever imagined that a composition
upwards of a century old could exhibit so many of the best features
of the modern school, that it might be mistaken for the work of
Haydn or Mozart? To Signor Rubini we are, it is said, indebted for
the introduction of this antique gem, and he placed it in a highly
favourable light by his manner of performing it, which, for him, was
remarkably chaste.
The _Ode_ (a much better term for it than _glee_) to Melancholy is one
of Webbe’s _chefs-d’œuvre_, and shows how well that great composer
understood the words. It was most perfectly sung by Miss Stephens, Mrs.
Knyvett, Messrs. Terrail, Vaughan, Elliot, and Sale. Miss Stephens, in
the song from _Acis and Galatea_, pleased as usual by her captivating
simplicity. The Magnificat of Mozart was well performed, and a very
grand work it is. The concerto of Handel, every part of which abounds
in beautiful melody, and not less masterly, though not extraneous
harmony, was most ably executed. The two fugues in this prove how
possible it is to unite the learned and the agreeable. The andante of
it is delicious, and here the oboe is rendered almost vocal; as is the
bassoon in the last movement. The _Kyrie_ of Beethoven wanted rather
more rehearsing; and the overture to _Idomeneo_ required the immense
power of the Philharmonic band; nevertheless it produced considerable
effect. But the stupendous chorus from _Solomon_ was perfect, though
wasted as a finale.
TENTH CONCERT,
_Under the Direction of the Earl of Cawdor, Wednesday,_ _May 22, 1833._
~Act I.~
Overture. (_Ariadne._) ~Handel.~
Recit., ‘Brethren and friends.’ Recit., acc. ‘O thou ~Handel.~
bright orb.’ Chorus, ‘Behold the listening.’
(_Joshua._)
Song, ‘Tyrants would.’ Chorus, ‘Tyrants, ye in vain.’ ~Handel.~
(_Athalia._)
Recit., ‘Now strike.’ Chorus, ‘Break his bands.’ ~Handel.~
Recit., ‘Hark! hark!’ Song, ‘Revenge! revenge!’
(_Alex. Feast._)
Concerto 11th. ~Handel.~
Song, ‘Di quel sublime.’ ~Gluck.~
Glee, ‘See the chariot.’ ~Horsley.~
Recit, ‘Chi per pietà.’ Song, ‘Deh! parlate.’ ~Cimarosa.~
Chorus, ‘Gird on thy sword.’ (_Saul._) ~Handel.~
~Act II.~
Symphony. (_Jupiter._) ~Mozart.~
Recit., ‘Ecco il punto.’ Song, ‘Non più di fiori.’ ~Mozart.~
(_La Clemenza di Tito._)
Glee, ‘Chi mai d’ iniqua stella.’ ~Bononcini.~
Movement from the Lessons. ~Handel.~
Recit., ‘’Tis greater far.’ Song, ‘Pluck root and ~Handel.~
branch.’ Recit., ‘Our souls.’ Chorus, ‘Shall we
the God.’ (_Esther._)
Song and Quartet, ‘Fairest isle.’ ~Purcell.~
Anthem, ‘My heart is inditing.’ ~Handel.~
The overture to _Ariadne_ owes its chief attraction to the graceful
minuet with which it concludes, and this we cannot but think is
commonly played too slow at the Ancient Concert. _Andante_ in Handel’s
time was a term indicating greater quickness than it is now understood
to imply. The recitative, ‘O, thou bright orb!’ contains that risible
attempt to describe the arrest of the sun’s course by a long holding
note. The chorus, however, is a masterly work, but the voices were
not now very firm in it. Mrs. Bishop succeeded well in the air from
_Athalia_. The accompanied recitative, ‘Hark! the horrid sound!’ was
delivered in Mr. Braham’s energetic manner; and the following song,
one of the most striking proofs of the composer’s genius, is foremost
among Mr. Phillips’s triumphs. The air of Gluck was a novelty, and of
no ordinary merit. Set to the same words that afterwards exercised
the genius of Mozart,--in _La Clemenza di Tito_--it not only bears a
comparison with an admired air of the latter, but in our opinion was
superior to it. Mr. Braham, at whose recommendation we believe it was
introduced, entered thoroughly into the composer’s design, and gave
the true effect to this. But, having an unquenchable antipathy to
concerted cadences, we would willingly have spared the two, between the
voice and trumpet, added on this occasion. The glee, ‘See the chariot
at hand,’ was sung with great correctness. Madame Malibran’s scena
and aria of Cimarosa was a most unequal performance: some parts were
beyond all praise; others proved the uncertainty of her judgment. Her
semitonic passages, neither to be found in the author nor in any way in
keeping with his style, were a most unhappy evidence of her occasional
want of taste and discrimination; and the _broderies_ she introduced,
though not so abundant as is common with her, were misplaced: but her
recitative was admirable, and, with the exceptions we have mentioned,
the aria was not less splendidly sung. We have heard ‘Gird on thy
sword’ better executed: there was a want of shortness in the staccato
passages; and in some others the whole band seemed deficient in
confidence. The concerto of Handel--a composition which might furnish
ample materials for half a dozen of modern growth--was the most perfect
performance of the kind we ever heard. This is in fact a violin
concerto, and Mori (who led for F. Cramer) played it in a manner that
words cannot describe or do justice to. His two cadences, of modest
length,--in one of which was an arpeggio, that Paganini, whose chief
excellence is in _arpeggiando_, could not surpass--moved even this
audience to a general expression of applause.
In the scena from Mozart’s _Tito_, Madame Malibran again exhibited
her vast powers and unrestrained confidence in her own opinion. The
declamatory part of this was superb, though a little hurried; and
the immense compass of her voice gave an effect to the air, that, we
are almost inclined to say, has never been equalled. But though the
conductor took care that the latter opened in the exact time, the
singer thought fit to change the movement, and most injudiciously to
convert a _larghetto_ (as marked) into an _andante_. Mr. Knyvett should
have shown his independence by checking this, and his respect for the
author by insisting on maintaining the time in which he set out. Who,
in the name of reason, metamorphosed the _round_ for three voices,
‘Chi mai d’ iniqua stella,’ into a _glee_ for four? This should, of
course, be sung by equal voices, one coming in after the other, as the
author intended, or else the original design is entirely defeated. The
‘Movement from the Lessons’ is a charming orchestral arrangement of
Handel’s lovely air in ~E~, (vulgarly called _The Harmonious
Blacksmith_,) made in excellent taste by the late Mr. Greatorex. The
selection from _Esther_ was not interesting, and the remainder of the
concert demands no further observation. The room was much fuller than
it has hitherto been during the present season.
PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS.
FIFTH CONCERT, Monday, April 29, 1833.
~Act I.~
Sinfonia, No. 3 ~Spohr.~
Aria, ‘Per questa belle mano.’ (Mr. Parry, jun.) ~Mozart.~
Concerto Harp. (Mr. T. Wright.) ~Hummel.~
Duetto, ‘Che al mio bene.’ (Mrs. Wood and Mr. ~Mayer.~
Braham.)
Overture. (_Der Freischütz._) ~C. M. von
Weber.~
~Act II.~
Sinfonia, No. 2. ~Beethoven.~
Scena, ‘Per pietà.’ (Mr. Braham.) ~Beethoven.~
Concerto Violoncello. (Herr Knoop.) ~Kummer.~
Scena, ‘Sì lo sento.’ (Mrs. Wood.) _Faust._ ~Spohr.~
Overture. (_Zaira._) ~Winter.~
Leader, Mr. Loder.--Conductor, Mr. T. Cooke.
Spohr’s symphony in ~E~ flat is richer in melody and more free
from that complication which smells so much of the lamp--from that
labour which fatigues the hearer as much as it did the composer,
than any one of his instrumental works. His designs are here clearly
expressed and readily understood, and we listen to the whole with
pleasure, without feeling that any part of it has been too long. It was
most accurately performed, as was also Beethoven’s, in ~D~, one
of his clearest and most beautiful orchestral productions, sparkling
with genius from beginning to end. The calmly grand opening induces us
to hope for much, nevertheless the exquisite larghetto surpasses all
that had been anticipated. Nor are the scherzo and trio less striking
in another style. The overture to the _Freischütz_ went off admirably.
The last, Winter’s, we did not hear.
Mr. Wright played Hummel’s celebrated piano-forte concerto in ~E~,
arranged for the harp, and executed it in an able manner. Herr Knoop
comes from the city of our queen, Meiningen, and was recommended to
the notice of the society by his majesty. To do extraordinary things
seems to be the object of his ambition, and that to which his labours
have chiefly been directed; he therefore can run thirds and octaves
with vast celerity and neatness, and play with his left hand close
to the bridge, bringing out sounds too high for even a rational
violinist to attempt. But this is to please, or at least to surprise,
the mob of gentlemen who hear but cannot judge. His tone, the first
consideration, is nasal in what we call the legitimate notes of the
instrument, and hard in the highest. His taste is not bad, but he has
very little of it; and in expression, the vivifying principle of music,
he is quite deficient. In short, execution appears to be the god of
his idolatry, at whose altar he has sacrificed--if we may judge from a
single hearing--nearly all that we consider valuable in the art. The
composition he played has been extolled: in our opinion it has very
little merit, except of a negative kind. We, however, were very glad to
hear him; so we believe were all present, for he was new; and moreover,
he has not thrown our own Lindley into shade, but, on the contrary,
taught us to value him more highly.
The vocal part of this concert did not prove very successful. Mr.
Parry, jun. sang Mozart’s aria very well, but it did not excite much
interest. The duet of Mayer has not strength enough for these concerts,
and Mr. Braham was not in good voice, the influenza had just commenced
an attack on him, by which he was afterwards confined. This state of
health of course operated in the scena of Beethoven, much of which,
we may also add, is hardly vocal, especially the cacophonous run of
semitones. The company were so exhausted by the unreasonable length
of _Herr_ Knoop’s concerto, that they left Mrs. Wood to sing the
fine scena from _Faust_ to few more than the orchestra by which she
was accompanied. Upon the whole, then, it must be confessed that the
present performance was not of the most brilliant kind.
SIXTH CONCERT, Monday, May 13, 1833.
~Act I.~
Sinfonia, No. VII. ~Haydn.~
Aria, Signor Rubini, ‘O cara immagine.’ (_Il Flauto ~Mozart.~
Magico_)
Concerto, Piano-forte (in ~D~ minor), Mr. ~Mozart.~
Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Aria, Madame Cinti Damoreau, ‘Deh vieni, non ~Mozart.~
tardar,’ (_Le Nozze di Figaro_)
Overture, _Bibiana_ ~Pixis.~
~Act II.~
Sinfonia, MS., composed expressly for this Society, ~F. Mendelssohn
and first time of performance Bartholdy.~
Duetto, Madame Cinti Damoreau and Signor Rubini, ~Rossini.~
‘Ricciardo che veggo!’ (_Ricciardo e Zoraide_)
Concerto Violin, M. De Beriot ~De Beriot.~
Aria, Madame Cinti Damoreau, ‘En vain j’espère’ ~Meyerbeer.~
(_Robert le Diable_)
Jubilee Overture ~C. M. von
Weber.~
Leader, Mr. Weichsel.--Conductor, Mr. Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
Whatever defects were apparent in the fifth Concert, were fully atoned
for by the sixth, in which the most fastidious critic could find only
one piece of a doubtful kind, and but one that was not performed in a
perfect manner.
Haydn’s symphony, in ~D~, is too generally known and admired to need
any remark. M. Mendelssohn’s, composed in pursuance of a resolution
of this Society, by which he was requested to write a symphony,
overture, and vocal piece, on liberal terms, is a composition that will
endure for ages, if we may presume to judge such a work on a single
performance. The first movement, an allegro vivace, in ~A~, without
any slow opening, speaks at once the highly excited state of the
author’s imagination, and the fine flow of his animal spirits, when he
wrote it: so full of brilliant conceptions is this, and so rapid their
succession, that it would be a hopeless attempt to analyse it without
either having heard it several times, or having the score to refer to.
We may say the same of the finale, which has this peculiarity--that it
is in the minor of the key in which the symphony commences. The slow
movement in ~D~ minor is not less distinguished by ingenuity of a very
rare description, and beauty of the most discernible kind, than by its
undisputed, unquestionable originality: this was loudly encored. The
scherzo, in ~A~, and trio, in ~E~, shew genius of a high order in every
bar. And, to be brief, the manner in which the whole work was received,
by the most critical, the best qualified audience that London (now full
of eminent foreign musicians) could assemble, bears us out in what we
have said, and would justify us were we to add still more in praise of
this masterly production.
The Overture by M. Pixis, now performed for the first time here, begins
in a promising manner, with some good harmony, well distributed among
the wind instruments; but as it proceeds, it falls off most lamentably,
and the greater part of the composition is nothing but noise without
design or order, and really seemed to us as if written for that fair
which is annually held on the site of Smithfield market.
The performance of Mozart’s Concerto by M. Mendelssohn was perfect. The
scrupulous exactness with which he gave the author’s text, without a
single addition or _new reading_ of his own, the precision in his time,
together with the extraordinary accuracy of his execution, excited the
admiration of all present; and this was increased, almost to rapture,
by his two extemporaneous cadences, in which he _adverted_ with great
address to the subjects of the concerto, and wrought up his audience
almost to the same pitch of enthusiasm which he himself had arrived at.
The whole of this concerto he played from memory.
A not less admirable performance was M. De Beriot’s on the violin. As
a composition, his concerto, in ~B~ minor, is entitled to high and
unqualified praise; his subjects are new, pleasing, and skilfully
treated, and his instrumentation, the orchestral parts of his work,
prove him to be a most able musician: but his execution of this indeed
‘beggars description.’ Words cannot convey a just notion of the fulness
and beauty of his tone, the certainty of his double, his triple, stops,
the truth of his harmonics,--which, useless as they are, he introduced,
we conclude, merely to show his power--the brilliancy of his execution,
and the delicacy of his taste. We certainly never heard the violin so
played, and the only fault we have to find with M. de Beriot is, that
he condescended to introduce once, it not twice, certain _pizzicato_
notes, and thus seemed to sanction a piece of quackery which he must
despise. The room rung with the plaudits he drew forth, and it is said
to be the intention of the directors to engage M. de Beriot for the
eighth concert, being the last.
Signor Rubini refrained, as much as with him is possible, from
roulades in the aria of Mozart, and his alternations of fortissimo
and pianissimo were more moderate; indeed, he pretty nearly equalized
his tones; but this is the only commendation we can bestow on his
performance of ‘O Cara Immagine.’ In his duet with Mad. Cinti, his
passionate style told better; and here again he spared us those bursts
by which he caricatures so much of what is assigned to him. Mad. Cinti
was delightful in the aria from _Figaro_. A universal encore of this
proved how completely she had charmed her audience. She was not less
excellent in the air of Meyerbeer, though this did not tell so well as
the other. In fact the concert was long, and many people were moving
off to evening parties.
EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF A DILETTANTE.
[Resumed from page 109.]
_April 28th._ One of the greatest _prôneurs_ of Signor Paganini has
been the editor of _La Revue Musicale_; but in his last number,
speaking of this artist’s recent performance in Paris, he says,
Paganini was not on the present occasion equal to what he has been, and
it appeared to us that he was not quite satisfied with himself. Is it
not more likely that the fit of enthusiasm, excited by novelty, or by a
well got up exhibition, is giving way to dispassionate observation and
cool criticism?
* * * * *
_May 6th._ England is about to possess one of the finest rooms, and the
largest and most powerful organ in Europe. What the other qualities of
the latter will be, remains to be proved. But the metropolis of the
kingdom will not have to boast of these advantages, the credit of them
will belong to a provincial town, to Birmingham, where a townhall is
nearly finished, the interior of which is 140 feet long, 65 wide, and
65 high. In this is to be placed--chiefly for the use of the musical
festivals there to be held for the benefit of the General Hospital--the
organ alluded to, the following description of which accompanies a
lithographic print of the gigantic instrument now building.
The organ case will be forty feet wide and forty-five feet high.
The largest metal diapason pipe is to be five feet three inches in
circumference, and thirty-five feet in height. The largest wood
diapason pipe will measure in the interior upwards of two hundred
cubic feet. In the full organ are to be ten open diapasons, and all
the other parts must be in calculated proportion to this. There will
be sixty draw-stops, and five sets of keys. To supply so stupendous
an instrument with wind will require many sets of bellows, the whole
superficial measure of which will exceed three hundred and eighty feet.
And to give, if it can be fairly estimated, some further idea of the
magnitude of this organ, it may be stated, that its weight will amount
to upwards of forty tons.
It was intended to open this grand hall, and still grander organ, in
the autumn of the present year; but to prevent any injurious haste in
the completion of the building and of the instrument, the grand musical
festival, which will prove to the county of Warwick that it possesses
one of the most splendid rooms, and the most magnificent organ in the
world, is deferred till October, 1834.
* * * * *
_8th._ In the bill of the Ancient Concert this evening is an odd
junction,--‘The _Chaconne_ and _Requiem_ of ~Jomelli~.’ It should have
been _Overture_ only, this including the Chaconne; and neither have
any connection whatever with the _Requiem_, though they make a very
good introduction to it. In future, let us hope that the name of a
ballet-tune will not be coupled with the _Missa pro defunctis_; unless
it be intended to have a musical as well as graphic _Dance of Death_.
* * * * *
_11th._ The Glee Club this day decreed their prize for the best
cheerful glee to Mr. Hawes. Last week, Mr. Goss obtained the prize for
a serious glee.
* * * * *
---- This day died a singer, not unknown to fame in her day, Mrs.
Dickons, who, at nearly the close of the last century, held rather
a prominent station as a performer, both on the stage and in the
concert-room. This lady manifested a decided talent for music at a
very early age, and at eleven years of age, her father, Mr. Poole,
placed her under Rauzzini. At thirteen, the Court Journal tells us, she
appeared at Vauxhall; but no notice is taken of this in the account
given of her in the Dictionary of Musicians, the heads of which were
probably furnished by her direction. Afterwards, but at what exact
time I am not aware, she was placed under Mr. John Ashley, jun., who
instructed her generally in music, and through the interest of his
father she was allowed to sing at the Ancient Concerts.
In 1793, she appeared for the first time on the stage, in the character
of _Ophelia_, and afterwards, progressively, had many principal vocal
parts assigned to her; for though her style of singing was far from
refined, it was correct; and though her voice wanted fulness, and was
reedy, yet her intonation was perfect, her knowledge of music gave her
a firmness that few possessed, and she could be relied on both for
ability and punctuality.
Miss Poole married a Mr. Dickons in 1800, and retired from the stage,
finally, as she supposed, but her union did not prove so happy as
she had reason to expect, and she returned to her public employment,
and was engaged at the King’s Theatre, where she performed as second
to Madame Catalani, who, in 1816, engaged her at the Théâtre Italién
in Paris, (then on lease to Madame C.) as prima donna, where I heard
her in two or three characters. Her success was such as a second-rate
singer has a right to expect from a polite audience; she was listened
to with much attention, some applause, but not, after her debut, by
very numerous auditors. I was present at her first performance, and
immediately discovered Madame C.’s design in engaging an English
vocalist who could never be her rival. Mrs. D. only made a very few
attempts in Paris, then retired. She was subsequently engaged at
Venice, also at one or two other cities in Italy; and on her return to
England, was engaged by Mr. Harris, at Covent Garden Theatre, where
she made her appearance as _Rosina_, in Rossini’s _Barber of Seville_,
adapted to English words. In 1818, she finally abandoned all public
employment, and shortly after was attacked by a cancerous disease, from
which she never recovered, though paralysis was the immediate cause
of her death. Mrs. Dickons was much respected by the public, for she
maintained a most irreproachable character, and was not less beloved
by her friends for all those qualities which contribute so largely to
social happiness.
* * * * *
_14th._ The premium of twenty pounds annually given by the noblemen and
gentlemen of the Catch-club, for the best glee, was this day awarded to
Mr. Walmisley. The candidates were but few, and the prize was decided
by a majority of one vote only; Mr. Walmisley’s composition having
nineteen in its favour, and Mr. T. Cooke’s eighteen. None are allowed
to become candidates for this prize but the professional members of
the club, the competition therefore is confined in a narrow sphere; an
evil, certainly, but unavoidable, for were there no limit, more glees
would be sent in than could by any possibility be tried without an
expense both of time and money that no club could support.
* * * * *
_20th._ The Directors of the Ancient Concert have announced their
determination respecting those performances in future; or at least for
next season. The plan and conditions are as follow:--
‘That there be Eight Concerts, to take place every alternate Wednesday
from the commencement of the season, with the exception of the usual
recess during Passion and Easter weeks.
‘That the Subscription be Six Guineas for Subscribers retaining the
privilege of attending Rehearsals; Five Guineas for those who do not.
‘That the transfer of tickets between Father and Sons, and between
Brothers, also between Mother and Daughters, and between Sisters, be
allowed.
‘That the Subscribers retain the same privilege, as during the present
season, of recommending for single tickets for the evening.
‘In order to carry on the Concerts on the same scale as heretofore,
and with the same vocal and instrumental power and excellence, it is
necessary that the number of Subscribers should not be less than 500.
The Directors therefore give notice, that if, on the 1st of February,
1834, the Subscribers reported to Messrs. ~Lonsdale~ and ~Mills~, of
140, New Bond Street, do not amount to that number, the Concerts will
be discontinued.’
Let us hope that what is here proposed will be successful in upholding
an institution on which the preservation of good music in this country
no much depends. To the study of the ancient masters the great modern
composers confessedly owed their knowledge; these introduced a new
style in instrumental music, undoubtedly, and extended the limits
of modulation, but the foundation was prepared for them, and no one
has established a permanent reputation who has not built on this. In
the words, therefore, of Fra Paoli, I pray for its continuation and
prosperity:--_Esto perpetua!_
FOREIGN MUSICAL REPORT.
VIENNA.
_Hofoperntheater._--The opera _Ferdinand Cortez_ has been reproduced,
with M. Wild as _Telasco_, Madame Ernst as _Amazily_, and M. Breiting
as _Cortez_; the minor characters were also well sustained. Donizetti’s
_Anna Bolena_ has also been given, and with even greater success than
at the _Josephstadttheater_.
At the _Hofburgtheater_ a new oratorio by the organist Assmayr has
been performed; it displays great ability, and the music is eminently
expressive of the words; it was well received.
At the first and second of the _Concerts Spirituels_ have been given
a symphony of Mozart composed for the Concerts Spirituels in Paris in
the year 1778, Vogler’s overture to _Castor and Pollux_, a mass by
Cherubini, symphony in ~C~ minor by Beethoven, chorus from _Jephtha_ by
Handel, a new _Te Deum_, a sterling composition, by Tomascheck, &c. &c.
For the third and fourth concerts were announced Beethoven’s symphony
in ~B~, the ninth psalm of Fesca, Weber’s Jubilee overture, the Abbé
Vogler’s Litany, Mozart’s symphony in ~E~♭, chorus and fugue from the
oratorio _Der Tod Jesu_ by Graun, Beethoven’s festival overture, and
the _Gloria_ from the second mass of Cherubini.
The annual concert at the Conservatory of Music, to display the
progress of the pupils, took place a short time since, when their
performance of Mozart’s symphony in ~D~, and the meritorious efforts of
the vocalists, gave great satisfaction.
A concert of a brilliant character was recently given by the horn
virtuoso, M. Lewy; he was assisted by Demlle. Heinefetter, and MM.
Thalberg, Titze, Hürt, and Sachner.
Romberg is at present sojourning here, and has played on the
violoncello at a concert in the _Kärntnerthor Theater_. Age seems to
have produced no effect upon his mighty powers; his reception was
enthusiastic in the extreme.
BERLIN.
Spontini’s opera _Alcidor_, after an undisturbed repose of many
years, was lately reproduced here. Its success was but indifferent,
notwithstanding the laudable exertions of the singers and the splendour
of the scenery and decorations. Dlle. Gerwer is about to leave us; her
place, however, will be supplied, for a short time at least, by Dlle.
Heinefetter.
A. M. Liebrecht, aged thirteen years, a pupil of M. C. M. Möser, has
given a concert here, showing the degree of perfection to which such a
child may attain by assiduous and persevering application; he exhibited
an extraordinary mastery over his instrument--the violin. Shortly
afterwards M. Wagans gave a concert, at which he played a concerto on
the trumpet with a degree of taste and brilliancy calculated to sustain
the fame which he has already acquired. Other concerts have been--that
of the three brothers Gabrielski, in which two of them distinguished
themselves as clever flute players, and the other as an accomplished
pianist; and one at the theatre, at which Dlle. Fürst, from Dresden,
sang; her voice is rather powerful than sweet, and tolerably flexible.
At the Singing Academy the Passion music of St. Matthew the Evangelist,
by Seb. Bach, was performed; and on Good Friday the annual performance
of the oratorio _Der Tod Jesu_ took place before a very crowded
audience; it was subsequently given in the Garrison Church under the
direction of M. Hansmann.
MUNICH.
The performances during the present year have comprised the operas
_Johann von Paris_, _Zauberflöte_, _Figaro_, _Fra Diavolo_, _Der Maurer
and der Schlosser_, (Le Maçon) _Die beyden Füchse_, _Freyschütz_, _Der
Schnee_, &c. The management of Baron von Poissl terminated on the 28th
February, when he was succeeded by M. Küstner.
STRASBURG.
During the last year it was our good fortune to have a German company,
under the direction of M. Carl Bode, exclusively devoted to the opera;
and their productions were therefore comparatively of so perfect a
nature, that the direction of the French theatre was quite unable to
compete with them. They performed during the season, _Fidelio_, _Die
Schweizer Familie_, _Freyschütz_, _Die Weisse Dame_, _Preziosa_, _Die
Stumme von Portici_, _Don Juan_, _Koskiusko_, _Der Dorf Barbier_, (The
Village Barber,) _Tancred_, _Oberon_, _Das Donauweibchen_, (The Nymph
of the Danube,) _Wiener in Berlin_, _Der Kleiner Wilddiebe_, (the
Little Poacher,) _Sargin_, _Zauberflöte_, _Wilhelm Tell_, and _Robert
der Teufel_. Among the company, consisting of about forty members,
the most distinguished were Madame Brauer Düringer, whose principal
characters were _Fidelio_, _Donna Anna_ in _Die Weisse Frau_, _Elvira_
in _Die Stumme_ and in _Don Juan_, _Sophie_ in _Sargin_, _Mathilde_
in _Wilhelm Tell_, _Isabelle_ in _Robert der Teufel_, and _Tancred_.
She has a powerful, rich voice, which is of extraordinary effect in
the concerted pieces, and she sings with much taste. Madame Mayer,
too, was delightful as _Annchen_ in _Der Freyschütz_; in fact, in all
the characters which she sustained. Demlle. Liszevsky also called
forth great admiration as _Emmeline_, _Agathe_, &c; but particularly
as _Jemmy_ in _Wilhelm Tell_, and _Alice_ in _Robert der Teufel_. M.
Wagner, from the Würtzburg Theatre, as principal tenor, was successful
in all his efforts; he sang with equal skill and excellence the high
part of _Sargin_ and the low one of _Don Juan_; as _Robert_ and as
_Arnold_, he has few equals. M. Heisel, as second tenor, was not
without merit. The other singers were MM. Popp, Netz, Krieg, Fischer,
Kaibel, &c. Great credit is due to M. Bode for having by his judicious
management cultivated the taste for classical productions.
With regard to the French theatre, as matters were not going on very
prosperously, the direction was taken out of the hands of M. Deville,
and the company continued to perform to the end of the season on
their own account. Under these circumstances, many new operas were
not to be expected; one only was given, Auber’s _Liebestrank_ (Le
Philtre). The company consisted of Mesdames Lamotte, prima donna,
possessing a rich voice, but often out of tune; Langlade, an agreeable
second singer and excellent actress, Demouchi and Després; M. Vernet,
principal tenor, with a flexible but thin voice. The rest were scarcely
above mediocrity, and the wretched apologies for choruses were below
criticism.
LEIPZIG.
Under the management of M. Friedrich Seb. Ringelhardt, the
_Stadttheater_ has lately enjoyed much of the public favour and
patronage; the music director, too, M. Stegmeyer, is an active young
man and a thorough musician, and the Regisseur, M. Hauser, who is
also a clever musician, is a very good bass singer. M. Eichberger,
the tenor, is excellent. Of the female singers of the establishment
Madame Steinert ranked first; then came, after the departure of Dlle.
Nina Sontag, whose place she supplied, Dlle. Livia Gerhardt. If want
of novelty in the productions has been a fault to be imputed to the
management, for new operas have been scarce, those which we have had
have been given in such a manner as to compensate for what might
otherwise have been a matter of regret. For instance while Madame
Schroeder was here we had _Fidelio_, _Don Juan_, in which she performed
_Donna Anna_, and _Otello_; she was great in them all and efficiently
supported.
Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s overture to Shakspeare’s Midsummer Night’s
Dream, was played for the first time in Leipzig, at a concert for the
benefit of the poor, and received with great applause; on the same
occasion Beethoven’s symphony in A major was given, and M. Poland
played a violin concerto by Pechatschek with delicacy and spirit.
The Euterpe, the season of which is now closed, has given various
symphonies, overtures, and concertos. In the last selection were a new
symphony of M. F. Kähler, Beethoven’s overture to _Egmont_, Weber’s
overture to _Der Beherrscher der Geister_, &c.; M. Sipp placed a violin
concerto of Rode, and M. Faulmann a concerto of Hummel on the Oboe.
Dlle. Henr. Graban gave a concert on the 21st March to a brilliant
audience. The selection was good; among the instrumental pieces was
Marschner’s overture to _Hans Heiling_, which, it is said, will shortly
be produced on our boards.
An interesting sacred performance lately took place in St. Peter’s
church, conducted by the organist, C. F. Becker; the selection
comprised a fugue by Handel, and fugues and choral subjects with
variations by Sebastian Bach.
PRAGUE.
Gretry’s _Blaubart_ (Bluebeard) has been once more produced here for
the benefit of M. Strataky, and experienced a favourable reception,
notwithstanding the fact that the whole of the characters were not well
sustained. Demlle. Lutzer however as _Maria_ was all that could be
desired; her voice has acquired increased strength, and she may soon
prove a dangerous rival to the gifted Madame Podhorsky. _Zampa_ has
also been given again, and _Die Unbekannte_. The performance of the old
opera, _Der Lustige Schuster_ (the Merry Cobbler), was attended with
little success. Demlle. Lutzer has lately performed _Zerlina_ in _Fra
Diavolo_, _Helena_ in _Das Fraulein am See_, _Desdemona_, _Semiramis_,
_the Princess of Navarre_, and _Camilla_ in _Zampa_, in which latter
opera she shone particularly.
There has been a concert given by the pianiste Dlle. Nina Trenkler;
one by the pupils of the Conservatory of Music; and a third by M. J.
B. Hüttner, the professor of that institution: they were all good and
attractive.
FRANKFORT.
Aloys Schmidt’s opera, _Valeria_, was given here for the first time
a few weeks ago. Although the opera displays some beautiful original
ideas, it also abounds in reminiscences of Beethoven, Cherubini,
Mozart, &c.; it was very successful.
CASSEL.
Motives of economy, and the state of affairs in the grand duchy
of Hesse-Cassel, have occasioned the breaking up of the musical
establishment of the chapel, and the closing of the court theatre. The
consequence of this suppression is distressing to the artists, who were
quite unprepared for such an event. Our celebrated composer, Spohr, is
thus deprived of a very lucrative appointment. The greater part of the
performers, instrumental and vocal, are dispersed, and endeavouring
to find in the different German courts those resources which they are
deprived of here. This is an unfortunate occurrence for the musical
art, for the ducal chapel was one of the best-organised establishments
in Germany.
WEIMAR.
The celebrated Hummel has just received the decoration of the order of
the White Eagle from the hands of the Grand Duke. All Germany applauds
this mark of distinction conferred on a great musician who is a living
honour to his country. M. Hummel has just set out for London, where
he is engaged to direct the German opera at the King’s Theatre. It is
said that he is to receive a thousand pounds for his services, and his
travelling expenses. [The Weimar editor is much misinformed on this
subject.]
MEININGEN.
An opera in two acts by the Ducal music-director Nohr, under the title
of _Die Wunderbaren Lichter_, founded upon a Thuringian tradition, was
lately produced here. This is the second great effort of M. Nohr as a
composer, and was received with well-merited applause; he was called
forward at the conclusion.
BRUNSWICK.
M. Albert Methfessel has, since his appointment as Kapellmeister last
year, strained every nerve to raise the opera to a degree of perfection
to which we had hitherto been strangers. The prime donne of the grand
opera are at present Mesdames Cornet and Franchetti, the former a
most delightful and finished bravura singer. The principal tenor is
M. Cornet, the idol of the frequenters of the opera, who is not less
gifted and accomplished as an excellent dramatic singer than as a
sterling good actor.
There is at present here a Dlle. Bertha Lewig, aged fifteen years,
a pupil of M. Methfessel, who displays wonderful proficiency on the
piano-forte.
BERNBURG.
A series of subscription concerts, which commenced here in December
last, terminated on the 9th March; they were under the direction of
M. Victor Klauss, a young and talented composer. The principal solo
performers were MM. Probst and Fischer, on the violin; M. Wustenhagen,
on the clarionet; M. Bosse, sen., on the oboe; M. Klotzsch, on the
violoncello; and M. Bosse, jun., on the flute. M. Klauss, too,
himself also delighted us with two very excellent performances on the
piano-forte. Some overtures and symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven
were not only faultless in their performance, but really presented a
very rich source of musical enjoyment. The singers consisted of a few
members of M. Atmer’s theatrical company, besides some dillettanti of
great ability.
ATTENBURG.
The New Dessau Opera Company of M. Jul. Miller, commenced their
performances here on the 10th March. The music director, M. Ed. Theile,
a pupil of Fried. Schneider’s, is already known to the public as the
author of some clever piano-forte composition.
THE DRAMA.
~King’s Theatre.~
After nearly a season has passed away, in which nothing but old, mostly
feeble, operas, filled by second and third-rate performers, have been
given to the subscribers--for the _public_ have been too wise to pay
their money for nothing,--we all at once find the theatre so crowded
with singers that they actually jostle each other in the lobby. When
the house stood in need of attraction, when the best management, the
utmost activity, would hardly have enabled the lessee to pay his
expenses, he furnished neither opera nor singer, ballet nor dancer,
that drew enough to meet the rent. When Easter was turned--when that
season had arrived in which, if the doors are opened, the house is
lighted, and a set of puppets are placed on the stage, multitudes
will go to see them--at that season we find a double _troupe_, and
fragments of different operas given on the same night, in order that
the performers may have some employment, and not lose their voices for
want of use!
On the 27th of April _La Cenerentola_, one of ~Rossini’s~ most insipid
operas, was performed, Mad. ~Cinti~ as _Angelina_, whose musical
and flexible though not strong voice, and refined taste, the result
of a perfect knowledge of her art, imparted a charm to what was
originally weak and has been hacked for years. ~Donzelli~ was _Ramiro_,
~Tamburini~ _Dandino_, and ~Zuchelli~ the _Magnifico_, all of whom
sustained their parts well; but the two sisters very nearly spoiled the
whole, by the contrast they formed with the rest, and ~Tamburini~ only
reconciled us to his excessive flourishing by the beauty of his voice
and intonation.
On Thursday the 2nd of May, Madame ~Pasta~ reappeared, after an absence
of two seasons, in _Anna Bolena_, an opera indebted for its continued
existence solely to her performance: in ordinary hands it could not
have survived one night in London. This admirable performer is just
what she was, in person, voice, and action; and we have only to refer
our readers to the opinions we have formerly given on the subject, for
those entertained by us now. She was received by a crowded house in the
warm manner that her great and yet unabated talents gave her a right to
expect.
_Tancredi_ was the second opera got up for Madame ~Pasta~, and in this
she afforded even more pleasure to real connoisseurs than in the part
of _Anna Bolena_, for the music is not only goad, but to be reckoned
among ~Rossini’s~ best. Her _entrata_ was splendid; the recitative ‘Oh!
Patria!’ and aria, ‘Tu che accendi,’ with its popular second movement,
were perfect. Madame ~Cinti’s~ _Amenaide_ was, as regards singing,
not less excellent; and her very different voice, so far from being a
disadvantage on the present occasion, operated favourably, by giving
a greater individuality to each character. ~Rubini’s~ _Argirio_ was
a continued series of roulades, except when, by sudden bursts of his
voice, he made those near him start, and by pianos alternating with
these, he became inaudible to all but such as he had alarmed by his
sforzatos. We have never entertained but one opinion of this singer,
who has been so vaunted in the French journals, and find that an able
contemporary agrees with us. The _Spectator_ says of this performer,
that--
‘Of true feeling he has not a particle. _Per esempio_--when he visits
his daughter in prison and in chains, and she asks--
‘Tu quì, o padre! a che vieni?’
his reply was delivered with as much indifference and flippancy as if
the question had related to the weather, or the last new bonnet; and
yet the words are these--
‘---- ad abbracciarti;
A seguirti alla tomba. In sen di padre
Si tenta in vano suffocar natura.’
The truth is, that with singers like Rubini, the art of dramatic
singing is a mere effort of the _muscles_; with Pasta, one of the
_mind_.’
~Zuchelli~ had but little to do, but did that well. Many changes were
made in the opera; original pieces were left out, strange and not
appropriate ones put in, just as the caprice of the singers dictated;
and the choruses were wretched. _Il Pirata_, another old opera, is
getting up, and this is certainly Bellini’s best work; indeed the only
one of his known to this theatre that has the smallest merit.
Drury-Lane Theatre.
What properly is called the _English_ stage is at its last gasp. Covent
Garden is closed except to foreign performers: its company has been
obliged to seek refuge in a theatre which most of our provincial towns
would scoff at. Mr. Arnold has prudently withdrawn from the Adelphi,
and his performers are doing what they can for themselves; that is,
just keeping that small house open three times a week. Mr. Morris feels
the necessity of closing his doors when the two _national_ theatres,
the _legitimate_, the patent theatres, are opened by foreigners, and
nothing but German, or Italian, or French productions heard therein. A
Sunday paper of the 5th ult. well observes, speaking of the banishment
of the English drama from Covent Garden theatre,--‘This feared event
has, at length come to pass. What Laporte means to do with Covent
Garden we have not heard; but he is in treaty with Paganini, and we
suppose that he will resort to some other foreign performances. It is a
singular fact, and it can hardly fail to produce its effect, that ~OUR
NATIONAL DRAMA~ was finally expelled from one of our great theatres,
while “a native of France was its lessee.” What would have been said
by the French, if an English actor had been director of the _Théâtre
Francais_, and had adopted measures by which the plays of Corneille,
Racine, and Moliere were driven to the Port St. Martin?’ And with what
show of reason do certain writers in our journals exclaim against the
salaries of English _stars_, as they are called, when they know, but
are silent, that Madame Devrient receives nearly three times as much
per night, and Madame Malibran more than seven times, what our first
and best performers could ever obtain? Farren, Braham, and Liston, it
is said, have, or had, twenty pounds a night: Madame Devrient has at
least _fifty_; and Madame Malibran _one hundred and fifty_, though she
does draw enough to pay her own salary!
* * * * *
On the 1st of May, the Italian opera of ~Bellini~, _La Sonnambula_,
with English words adapted to it, was produced at this theatre, for
the debut of Mad. ~Malibran~. The drama is well known to our readers;
the music is of the most flimsy kind, and worthless in every sense of
the word, whether as relates to art, or to the theatre. Our English
operatic composers have not much distinguished themselves of late,
and the undoubted superiority of the German and French schools has
generated a taste among all classes in London for foreign music; but
this is no reason why anything so feeble as the work now under notice
should be patiently listened to, nay applauded. However, we will not
waste our reader’s time by further notice of so inferior a production.
The acting of Mad. ~Malibran~ as the somnambulist, is of a very mixed
kind; sometimes she surprises by traits of extraordinary genius, and
occasionally she exhibits extravagancies that prove a want of any real
knowledge of the first principles of the histrionic art. As a singer,
she certainly is much more perfect. Nature has bestowed on her a voice
rarely equalled, and education has made her an excellent musician. Her
natural taste we believe to be good, but, following the fashion of the
day, it has become vitiated, and her ornaments are so redundant as
often to be ridiculous. These however, are so nicely executed, that
they seduce even the best critics, and lead them to applaud what in
their sober senses they could not but disapprove.
Mad. ~Malibran~ has since appeared in the English opera _The Devil’s
Bridge_, as _Count Belino_, and if her roulades, her admirably
performed freaks, are absurd in Italian arias, how much more so in
English songs! She entirely failed in this attempt, and though the
opera was performed a second time, the public, prejudiced though they
now are in favour of foreigners, whatever their pretensions, could not
be brought to witness another such performance.
Beethoven’s _Fidelio_ has been produced here, Mad. ~Schrœder Devrient~
and M. ~Haitzinger~ in the characters they sustained so well last year
at the King’s Theatre. The number of subscription and benefit concerts
which we feel it a duty to attend, have prevented our yet being present
at the performance of this opera at Drury Lane.
THE MUSIC OF THE PRESENT NUMBER.
Who the composer is of the trio, ‘Like a bright cherub,’ has long
been a matter of dispute, and the point most likely will never now be
settled by any decisive proof. The question, however, lies in a narrow
compass, for it is agreed that to either Handel or John Christopher
Smith[57] the work belongs. Prevailing opinion ascribes it to the
former, and we believe correctly, judging from internal evidence as
well as traditional testimony. _Gideon_, the oratorio of which it forms
a part, was a pasticcio, a selection of music by various authors,
adapted to a dramatic poem by Smith, but when and where performed the
most diligent inquiry has not enabled us to ascertain; in fact, no
record whatever of it seems to be in existence; it was never published,
and we cannot learn that a copy of it remains. The trio now inserted is
the only part of it that ever came under our view, and was printed some
fifty years ego by Birchall, about the time when sung at the Ancient
Concerts. The sweet melody of this, and its effective simplicity when
the three parts come together, ought to recommend it to private musical
parties.
* * * * *
The aria by Mozart is No. 20 of his thirty _Gesaenge_, or detached
airs not appertaining to any of his operas, published by Breitkopf and
Härtel, at Leipzig.
* * * * *
The two movements by Avison are from his fourth Concerto, Book
IV.--a beautiful and clever composition, still performed at the
Ancient Concerts, and always with applause. To these we may apply an
observation which appears in Avison’s Preface to his Concertos,--‘If
music be composed agreeably to principles founded in nature, the true
judge of harmony always approves it, whatever name, style, or national
character it bears.’
* * * * *
The _aria_, as he calls it, of Beethoven, is one of the most exquisite
_morceaux_ of this great master. There is a calm dignity in it which
excites a wish that it had been set to words--to poetry worthy of it.
The two variations, selected from many, are not less striking proofs of
the richness of his fancy.
* * * * *
The song by Labarre is from a recent number of _La Revue Musicale_.
The originality of this recommended it to us, and will, we have no
doubt, be apparent to all; though some may at first think it rather too
elaborate for a _chanson_. It will, however, be more admired the more
it is known.
[Sidenote: July, 1833.]
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JOHN TRAVERS, WILLIAM HAYES, ~Mus.~ D., THOMAS
SAUNDERS DUPUIS, ~Mus.~ D., ~and~ EDMUND AYRTON, ~Mus.~ D.
John Travers received his musical education in St. George’s Chapel,
Windsor, and having gained the good will of Dr. Godolphin, Dean of St.
Paul’s and Provost of Eton College, was by him put apprentice to Dr.
Greene. About the year 1725 he succeeded Kelway as organist of St.
Paul’s, Covent Garden, and subsequently became organist of Fulham. On
the decease of Jonathan Martin, in 1737, Travers was appointed organist
of the Chapels Royal, when he relinquished his situation at Fulham. He
died in 1758, and his successor in the King’s Chapel was Dr. Boyce.
‘Travers,’ says Sir John Hawkins, who knew him well, ‘was a sound
musician; he commenced an early acquaintance with Dr. Pepusch, and
received some assistance from him in the course of his studies, which
by sedulous application he was very careful to improve. In the Chapel
books are sundry anthems of his composition; but as composer he is
best known to the world by eighteen Canzonets, being verses and songs
taken from the posthumous works of Prior, which he set for two and
three voices, in a style as elegant as it is original. Besides these he
published the whole book of Psalms for one, two, three, four, and five
voices, with a thorough-bass for the harpsichord[58].’
Dr. Burney, speaking of Travers, says, ‘His compositions, however pure
the harmony, can only be ranked with pieces of mechanism, which labour
alone may produce, without the assistance of genius[59]’. But this
criticism is no less inconsiderate than severe. To his compositions for
the church it may apply, but his canzonets--many of them at least--have
stood the test of time, and, popular as they were when first brought
forth, are still as much as ever admired for their genius, their
originality, as well as their beauty and contrivance, by all impartial
judges of English music; among whom Dr. Burney certainly cannot
properly be reckoned, so strong were his prejudices in favour of the
Italian school; though latterly the German composers, Haydn especially,
had some share of his esteem.
In Arnold’s _Collection of Cathedral Music_, are a Morning Service, a
Te Deum, and one Anthem, by Travers, which do not exhibit any creative
powers: his best sacred composition is the anthem, ‘Ascribe unto the
Lord,’ and this is still occasionally performed in the King’s Chapel.
* * * * *
~William Hayes~, Doctor in Music, was born at Gloucester, in 1707, and
giving early proofs of a musical disposition, was admitted a chorister
of the cathedral, under Mr. Hine, the organist, where as a boy he early
distinguished himself as a solo singer, and soon arrived at a high
degree of excellence as an organ-player. On quitting Gloucester, he
was appointed organist of Shrewsbury, and shortly afterwards succeeded
to the same situation in the Cathedral of Worcester. But after the
lapse of a few years, a vacancy occurring in the office of organist and
master of the choristers at Magdalen College, Oxford, he obtained that
appointment, which having been the ultimate object of his ambition, he
retained till his death. In 1735 he proceeded to a Bachelor’s degree in
music, and some years after, on the death of Mr. Goodson, was elected
Professor of Music to the University. On the opening of the Radcliffe
Library, in 1749, he was honoured with a doctor’s degree, to which he
was presented by Dr. Bradley, Savilian Professor of Astronomy, who, in
an elegant Latin speech, represented him not only as a man eminent in
his faculty, but as possessed of other estimable qualities, among which
sweetness of temper was mentioned as not the least remarkable.
In 1753 Dr. Hayes published his ‘Remarks on Mr. Avison’s Essay on
Musical Expression,’ which were drawn from him in consequence of
what he considered a covert attack on Handel by the author of that
well-known, and in many respects able, critical work; but he here
manifested more knowledge of his subject than control of temper; and
his observations,--though many of them are very just, while some are
rather hypercritical,--lose much of their force from the asperity of
language in which they were uttered, a fault only to be accounted for,
in one of so mild a disposition, from his enthusiastic admiration of
the illustrious composer whom he vindicated.
On the establishment of the Catch-Club, Dr. Hayes, in 1773, obtained
three out of the six prizes given that year, one of his successful
compositions being that exquisitely beautiful but brief piece of simple
counterpoint, the Glee, ‘Melting airs soft joys inspire.’ This, and the
lovely Round, ‘Wind, gentle evergreen,’ are enough to transmit his name
to posterity, had he produced nothing else; but his _Cathedral Music
in Score_, comprising a full service and upwards of twenty anthems,
published after his decease by his son, Dr. Philip Hayes, will continue
to be highly valued so long as this species of composition shall
continue in use. His Canon, ‘Let’s drink, and let’s sing together,’ is
mentioned by Dr. Burney (in Rees’ Cyclopædia) as ‘the most pleasant of
those laboured compositions which go under the name of Canon.’
Dr. Hayes, after suffering three years from the effects of a paralytic
stroke, died in 1777, and was succeeded in all his appointments at
Oxford by his above-mentioned son[60].
* * * * *
~Thomas Saunders Dupuis~, Doctor in Music, was in 1733 born in this
country, though his parents were natives of France. His father held
some situation at court under George II., and this probably was the
reason why his son was placed in the Chapel Royal. The first rudiments
of his education were received from Mr. Gates. He afterwards became a
pupil of Travers, at that time organist of the King’s Chapel, and for
whom, in the early part of his life, he officiated as deputy.
‘On the death of Dr. Boyce, in 1779, Mr. Dupuis was appointed organist
and composer to the Chapel Royal; and it is probable that the Bishop
of London (Lowth) never exercised his taste and judgment more properly
than by nominating so worthy a man to so respectable a situation.’
_Bingley’s Musical Biography_, ii. 215.
In 1784 he was named as one of the assistant-directors of the
Commemoration of Handel; and in 1790 was admitted to the degree of
Doctor in Music by the University of Oxford. He died in consequence
of taking an excessive dose of opium, at his house in Park Lane, on
the 17th of June, 1796. His successors were Mr. Knyvett, senior, as
organist of the Royal Chapels, and Mr. Attwood as composer to his
Majesty.
Dr. Dupuis published several compositions, among which his _Organ
Pieces_ and two _Sets of Chants_ are the most valuable; but his
reputation is more permanently based on his services and anthems,
written for the use of the King’s Chapel, a selection of which was
printed after his death, in two handsome volumes, by his pupil and
friend, John Spencer, Esq., son-in-law and nephew to the late Duke of
Marlborough. These consist of four Services, and fourteen Anthems in
score; and in Page’s _Harmonia Sacra_ are two other of his Anthems,
‘The Lord, even the most mighty God,’ and ‘I cried unto the Lord,’
which were published during the life of the author.
Great knowledge and taste are more conspicuous in Dr. Dupuis’
compositions than any very great brilliancy of genius; but they are
by no means deficient in invention, though this was curbed by his
devotedness to the school of music in which he had been educated,
and of which he was to the last a most uncompromising defender. His
Services, particularly those in ~E~ flat and ~C~, are as beautiful in
melody, as they are skilful, considered as specimens of writing in
parts. Of his anthems, ‘The souls of the righteous,’ ‘Bow down thine
ear,’ and ‘Be thou my judge,’ will long continue as records of his
ability as a harmonist; and ‘The Lord is my shepherd,’ ‘Lord, what love
have I unto thy law,’ together with ‘Teach me, O Lord,’ can never cease
to please the admirers of graceful, flowing air. As a performer on the
organ, he was excelled by no Englishman of his time; his extemporaneous
fugues were the admiration of all lovers of this kind of music, and
drew multitudes to hear him at the conclusion of the service at the
Royal Chapel.
Dr. Dupuis was a most worthy and amiable man, successful in worldly
matters, but unfortunate in his family. He followed his eldest son (a
clergyman) to the grave, and bequeathed a handsome fortune to an only
remaining one, who thoughtlessly dissipated the whole of it in his
power, and died at an early age.
* * * * *