Page images
PDF
EPUB

THE KING'S THEATRE.

Drama.

The announced debut of a singer from Paris filled this house (on the 7th of March) with fashionable company, on the repetition of La Donna del Lago. Mademoiselle Blasis then appeared, and met with a flattering reception. In person, she is well-formed and pleasing, and her deportment is easy and lady-like. Her voice is a sopruno, rather inclined to contr' alto: its lower tones are so clear and sweet, as to render the warbling passages rich and exceedingly agreeable. Her feeling and impressive manner, the feminine softness of her voice, and elegant grace of her gestures, remind us of that delightful singer, Ronzi de Begnis. As her voice is not of extensive power, she on two occasions rendered ineffective the arias allotted to her, by an overstrained effort beyond its scope. This was principally remarkable in the finale, which, in other respects, was the best-executed part of her performance. Upon the whole, however, she deserves to be regarded as a valuable acquisition to the Corps Opera tique of this establishment. Madame Pisaroni was less energetic on this evening than in her former performances; but she still evinced a degree of ability which V ily and justly applauded.

[ocr errors]

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

AN opera, called the Casket, was brought forward in a boastful style, with a selection of music from the admired works of Mozart. The principal subject consists of the adventures of a young German, Ludolph, one half of whose fortune is a valuable casket of jewels. When the piece opens, he is residing with Bernhalt, a diamond merchant of established reputation, in whose integrity e reposes unbounded confidence. Bernh. It, however, is greatly embarrassed, and threatened with ruin from the hostility of a creditor, in whose power he is completely. Ludolph rescues Emmeline, a daughter of Count Blomberg, from drowning, and becomes passionately enamored of her. He resolves to seek her in marriage, and proceeds to the count's castle to solicit his consent to their union. Bernhalt gives him letters representing him as his nephew; and Ludolph, on leaving him, deposits with him a casket of the value of 12,000 ducats. Blomberg

VOL. X.

receives the youth with hospitality; and, finding him to have been the preserver of his daughter's life, feels the warmest gratitude toward him, and gives the fullest latitude to the prosecution of his suit with Emmeline. Ludolph then confesses the deceit he has practised, and states of what his fortune consists-one-half of landed property, and the other half of the jewels which he has entrusted to the care of Bernhalt, and which he offers instantly to settle on his intended wife. The count and Ludolph go together to Bernhalt for the purpose of receiving the casket, that its peerless contents may be so appropriated. During Ludolph's absence, the pecuniary difficulties of the diamondmerchant have become so desperate, that, on the suggestion of his wife, he has determined to deny that he has ever received any deposit from Ludolph, but some legal documents. In the interview that ensues, Bernhalt, with cool effrontery, so positively asserts his innocence, in which he is supported by his wife, that the count himself is persuaded that Ludolph is an artful impostor, always engaged in practising some fraud. Ludolph, in his despair, appeals to the grand duke, who at first, on his own statement, gives him little hope of success. He, however, summons Bernhalt before him to answer the charge. He attends, with the count as his friend, and succeeds for some time in eluding all the attempts to detect him. The grand duke has confidence in the apparent candor of Ludolph, and, as a last expedient, orders Bernhalt to write a letter to his wife, confessing his guilt, and directing her to send the casket, as all was discovered. Bernhalt refuses to make any admission of his guilt, and this excites the suspicions of the grand duke, who, having by a stratagem obtained possession of his signet-ring, sends it with a verbal message to the wife to send the casket. The wife rushes on the stage in extreme agony, and surrenders the casket, and Bernhalt is overwhelmed with con

fusion. The count, who has wavered during the investigation from side to side, clasps his young friend to his heart, and confirms his promise to marry him to Emmeline. The under-plot relates to Adela, the other daughter of the count, a romantic girl, who has been educated under a novel-reading aunt, and fancies herself betrothed to a cousin, Charles,

Y

who has been absent for eight years on his travels, during which he has committed many extravagant follies, and amongst the rest been entrapped into marriage. The count, who pays his expenses, is heartily tired of him, and resolves to marry his daughter to Wilbert, a man of fortune, whom she is, from affection to Charles, determined to reject. Wilbert by accident learns how matters stand, and personates Charles so successfully, that Adela receives him with joy, though she thinks time has made a great change in his appearance. Charles himself soon arrives, and is induced by Wilbert to assume his name, and some amusing scenes arise from the double deceit. Finally it is discovered, and Wilbert is made happy in his own character.

We are sorry to observe that the opera is ill-written, and that the dialogue is remarkable for its insipidity and witlessness. There were many situations well adapted for effect; but the talents of Jones, Harley, and Farren, lost their effect by the author's inability. The

chief part of the plot is said to be founded on an event that happened lately to the grand duke Constantine of Russia; the under-plot is derived from a French piece, called Les Premiers Amours. Braham had several excellent songs, which he executed with skill and taste. Miss Love was in good favor with the audience, but could not overcome the tiresomeness of the dialogue. Miss Betts made her first appearance as an actress. Her reputation as a singer was already established she supported it ably, and was greatly applauded in all her songs. During the two first acts, occasional manifestations, both of applause and disapprobation, were made; but, in the third, the applause considerably preponderated: yet the piece has not been successful.

A new farce was brought forward under the strange denomination of All at Sixes and Sevens. The plot chiefly consisted in the whims of a young lady, who, though the daughter of a Hampshire farmer, has been blessed with a genteel education-that is to say, has learned to waddle à la mode in her walk, and to talk bad French. She cuts her true lover, and agrees to visit Gretna-green with Whirlton, who once had a fortune, but, by mortgaging it without his guardian's consent, has forfeited it under the provision of his father's will: at the end of the first stage, however, the young lady is over

taken by her father, and also by her senses, which, united, induce her to return to her home and her original lover. Meanwhile her Gretna companion is arrested and sent to the King's-bench prison, whence he is at length released, after a declaration from his guardian, that he had only insisted on his right, for the sake of giving his ward a salutary lesson, and is now willing to give up the property. Miss Love personated the vulgar heroine with spirit, and Jones and Liston also acted well; and, although the audience seemed at times to be dissatisfied, applause was finally predominant.

The interesting comedy of the Provoked Husband has been revived with great applause. Mr. Young's Lord Townly is excellent; Miss Philips, though not perfectly at home in the lively part of the drama, shines in the scene where an open rupture is prevented by seasonable reconciliation; Mrs. Jones is a pleasant Lady Wronghead; and Liston is an amusing John Moody, though he does not fully enter into the true spirit of the character.

COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.

A COMIC piece was lately produced at this house with the title of the Widows Bewitched. Mrs. Frankly, a widow, who, although bent upon a second marriage, is determined to preserve her independence, rejects the offer of Captain Fairwin, whom she has never seen, because she hears that he is a gentleman; and resolves to marry his brother, because she believes that he is a lout who will be perfectly submissive, and let her have her own way uncontrolled. The rejected captain presents himself in a rustic dress, and with the uncouth manners of his supposed brother; woos the widow and marries her. He then appears in his own character, and, as may be imagined, makes her regret her choice. The explanation follows, and the widow is made much happier than she either deserved or expected to be. Another part of the plot is this. Mr. Hippias Hyperwell is on the point of marriage with the other widow, Mrs. Delamere, when Captain Frankly, an old lover of her's, arrives. He proposes to supersede Mr. Hyperwell, but is rejected by the widow, who is about to marry fa man whom she does not love, for the singular purpose of putting an end to a litigation in which she is engaged. A contrivance of the captain's sister promotes his suit. The scene lies at Harwich, of which port an officious quack,

whom Mr. Hyperwell, although in excellent health, consults, lest he should fall ill, is the Pratique-master. Mrs. Frankly persuades this empiric that Frankly has landed clandestinely from an infected ship under quarantine in the harbour. Hyperwell is infected by the quack's fears, locks up his intended bride with the captain in his house, and places sentinels at the door with orders to fire upon them if they stir out. In this situation, the captain persuades the widow to alter her resolution, and accept his hand.

Fairwin, Mr. Kemble's part, is a sort of parody, not a clever one, upon that of Leon, in Rule a Wife and have a Wife; but the spirited manner in which he went through it, made it very amusing. The perfect contrast between his coarseness and vulgarity as Felix Fairwin, and th quietness and polish of his manners as the captain, was very effective. Power personated an Irish soldier, the widow's servant, who is excessively impatient of female domination, and hails the prospect of being under the command of a master with great satisfaction. He acted his part with great comic force. The scene between the widow Delamere and Frankly, under their quarantine, would have been an amusing one if the lady's part had been more ably sustained; but Mrs. Chatterly was more spiteful than comic. Miss Chester played very agreeably. Mr. Bartley acted the part of Hyperwell whimsically, and excited much laughter. The dialogue is vapid and tiresome; there is no strength of character, and at wit not the slightest attempt, except some stale Irish jokes and military phrases, which were given to Power. The piece seemed to be favorably received; but it is not likely to become a standard play.

A new musical piece, called Yelva, or the Orphan of Russia, was performed without the desired success. The interest of the drama, such as it is, consists in a dumb young lady undergoing various disappointments and vicissitudes. This part was played by Miss J. Scott, who, with the help of Mr. Bishop's music, which was intended to supply the place of speech, made a sort of tragic Columbine of it. The story is absurd beyond all endurance, and the drama so utterly contemptible as to defy criticism. One song was good, and was given by Wood with great taste; but we cannot praise the rest.

An

opera called the Maid of Judah has been repeatedly performed. The story is founded on the romance of Ivanhoe, and

the music is selected from the best works of Rossini. The performer who shone most in the piece, was Mr. Egerton. His part was that of Isaac of York, and he succeeded to no small extent in pourtraying the contrasted feelings of the character; in the dungeon of Torquilstone Castle, in particular, where he is threatened by Guilbert with the most inhuman tortures, he acted with considerable energy; and when it came to his turn to beard the Templar, he received the warm plaudits of the house for the spirit with which he acted. Miss Paton, who played the Jewess, likewise obtained great applause in the course of the piece. The best thing that she did was in the trial scene, where she threw down her glove in token of her demanding the ordeal by single combat. On this lady depended the chief musical attraction of the piece. The song that described the manner in which she had been waylaid by Bois-Guilbert and his party, was given in a simple and unaffected style, and with action exceedingly appropriate.

The rest of the music chiefly devolved upon Wood and Philips, the latter of whom was expressly engaged by the Covent-garden manager for the purpose of giving effect to this opera. Some of the concerted pieces produced a good effect; but, upon the whole, the music seemed to us feeble, and inexpressive of the bustling action of the pice. It was, however, much applauded, and more than one piece was encored.

The opera seemed to go off heavily: too many of the scenes were thrown in merely to connect the different parts of the plot, without having any thing in themselves to command attention. The last act, however, brightened the prospect, and Ivanhoe, as the champion of the con demned Jewess, greatly pleased the audience by his "gallant bearing" and chi

valrous zeal.

Another opera soon followed, and was more successful. It is called Home, sweet Home, or the Ranz des Vaches. It is a translation from the French; and, though sketchy in detail and light in its materials, it is lively and sufficiently full of point to give it interest and fix the attention of the audience. A young Savoyard, before he sought honor in the field, promised marriage to a maiden of his own village, who during his absence has become both wife and widow, with proper excuses for both. Henry, the glory-seeker, having reached as high as a colonelshi, thinks

of returning to his native land, but is willing to see his betrothed under an assumed name, having some qualms of fashion upon him as to the capability of a simple Savoyard being able to act comme il faut at the head of the table of a colonel of chasseurs. This ruse of the lover is betrayed to the widow by his father; and she, to be even with him, contrives to way-lay him, and practise on his heart, not as Maria, the humble village maiden: she succeeds, and he loves; but, on her ceasing to be the lady of fashion, and becoming the simple Savoyard again in a subsequent scene, she succeeds also in that way; and he, not knowing that the lady and the rustic are one, is in some dilemma as to which of the two he shall choose. Old recollections, however, do wonders, and with a magnanimous effort he determines to discard the widow for his first love; on his declaring as much to the lady, she faints, and, while he is busy in endeavouring to extract the cork from that panacea for fainting fits, a smelling-bottle, she throws off the outward and visible sign of the high lady, and again appears to his astonished eyes in her simple village dress. This explains all to him; and, in spite of all laws and ordinances against bigamy, he resolves to marry both the lady and the rustic. All this told very well, the dilemmas of the colonel coming entirely within the orthodox code of gallantry, while the manauvres of his mistress were a genuine extract from the female system of attack. In addition to this, we had the story of a deserter, first in distress, and then pardoned just in time to make a delightful finale: the incident, indeed, was not new, but it served to introduce Mr. Wood in an interesting situation, and gave an opening for some pretty music.

The acting was as pleasant as the piece. Madame Vestris, equally amiable as the widow and the rustic, acted, sang, and danced, as if she had the true Savoyard vivacity in her eyes, tongue, and toes; while Warde, as her lover, though somewhat more sedate, was by no means less impressive; he did not do so well, however, after he had put on the fine coat of a colonel; but that, perhaps, was the tailor's fault, for he had pinched him in most villainously-a terrible obstacle to easy acting. Wrench, who played an agreeable go-between-a gentleman who liked Switzerland very well, but Paris much better, and who only stayed in the former country because the latter place

notoriously abounded with creditors and long bills, some of which had fixed their fangs on him-was perfectly at home, though not in Paris. He made love to every woman who crossed his path, died for each in turn, and yet had still life enough in him to do a friend a good turn, or to make one at a party of intrigue-and all with as much nonchalance and unconcern as if, by long practice, that which had begun as pleasure, had ended as business. Miss Goward, too, topped her part, and ran about as saucily as if she had the whole world at her feet, and could kick it which way she pleased. Poor Keeley was quite overwhelmed by her determination; and, when she had once made up her mind that he should soldier it, as a substitute for the deserter, he found it impossible to gainsay her.

We must not conclude our notice without bestowing high praise on the scenery. It was beautiful, and truly Swiss. The last scene, in particular, with its cottages, its church, and its valley beyond, excited admiration.

THE ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE.

THIS theatre is well attended by those who wish to improve their knowlege of the French manners and habitudes. A vaudeville, called La Somnambule, has been Madame Lalately acted with success. font, lately Mademoiselle Colon, performed the chief character with such skill as to excite great applause. She was, indeed, the star of the company; but she has returned to France to shine in her native sphere. Another piece of the same description has been still more successful; it is styled Les Bonnes d'Enfans. It commences with a circular dance of nurserymaids and their little wards in the playground. Jean-Jean, a raw good-natured recruit, introduces himself into the playground, and makes love to a nurserymaid, in the rustic style that becomes his character. The maid is sitting on a bench with her charge, a little roguish boy, and Jean finds her "nothing loth" in accepting his amorous advances. The little fellow is sent out of the way by giving him a pretty walking-stick to ride upon. The battery of a soldier's courtship is then opened on the unguarded girl with full effect. The advances to the amorous siege are conducted with professional rapidity, and the captured maid confesses that the young recruit has made her heart his prize. A few of his comrades are now introduced, and make their attacks on

other nursery-maids. The rapidity of the several attacks and surrenders, and the playfulness with which the young people conducted their operations, were highly amusing.

THE ADELPHI THEATRE.

MR. COOPER's novel of the Red Rover has been dramatised by Mr. Ball with considerable effect. The hero of the piece is represented by Mr. Yates in a very spirited manner, and the Fid of Mr. T. P. Cooke rivals his Long Tom Coffin. Mr. Hemmings renders Wilder a more important personage than the author could have anticipated; and Paulo, the

best clown in London, proves that, like his great prototype Grimaldi, he can excite pathetic feelings as well as risibility. His Guinea nigger is a most interesting and natural picture of "God's image cut in ebony." The ladies, Mrs. Edwin and Mrs. Hughes, have little to do; but they do that little well; and the same may be said of Mr. Saunders, the two Smiths, and the rest of the dramatis persona. The nautical scenery and machinery are almost perfect. The last scene of the first act, particularly, is as correct a picture of a vessel getting under weigh, as the stage is capable, we should imagine, of producing.

Fashions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

DINNER DRESS.

THIS graceful costume consists of a white or light-colored satin dress, and is trimmed at the border by scaloped rouleaux of crape, the point of each scalop being terminated by a rosette of satin riband. The body is finished in front en guimpe; the stomacher straps across are formed of embossed satin, and ornamented down each side by points à la Vandyck. A beret of white velvet or of crape, the brim laced by white satin riband, constitutes the head-dress.

BALL DRESS.

We have the satisfaction of presenting to our readers a very elegant fac-simile of a ball-dress recently prepared for a splendid party: it is of white crape over white satin. A broad border of exquisite workmanship surrounds the skirt next to the feet, representing flowers and delicate foliage; this is either of embossed white satin, silver embroidery, or, it may be, of various colors, as most accordant with taste or fancy; all are equally beautiful. The corsage is of white satin, and the sleeves, which are à la Marie, are of blond. The hair is arranged in full clusters of curls, on each side of the face, and crowned by a white ostrich plume.

FRENCH EVENING DRESS.

This is a dress of white Greek velvet, painted en colonnes, of various colors. At the border are large leaves of the same material as the dress, bound round with yellow satin, and between the leaves are puffs of white crape; these leaves depend downwards, and are surmounted by a narrow yellow satin rouleau, over which are scrolls of the same material as the dress. The body is plain, and the long-figured blond sleeves are of remarkable width, confined at the wrists by broad bracelets of gold clasped with a cameo-head. Round the tucker part of the corsage is a notched ornament, like the dress; every notch is bound with yellow and purple satin, alternately; and this part of the dress is surmounted by a broad and very full triple falling tucker of blond. The head-dress is a white Greek turban, ornamented with gold and white plumage. The ear-pendants and necklace are of opal, the latter clasped with an elegant souvenir of blue enamel, surrounded by pearls.

« PreviousContinue »