12 JANUARY 1861, Page 20

3ilusir.

The run of the pantomimes prevents the production of novelty at the musical as well as the other theatres. At Covent Garden, however, the entertainments have been agreeably varied by the reproduction of Alfred Mellon's pretty opera, Vietorine, to which fresh interest has been im- parted the appearance of Miss Louisa Pyne in the character of the ate, which, it will be remembered, was performed last season by Miss Parepa. Le Domino Noir, one of Auber's chefs d'oeuvre, is about to be produced, we understand, at this theatre. It can hardly fail to succeed, for no opera can be better calculated to display the fair prima donna's lively acting and brilliant vocal execution. At Her Majesty's Theatre, Wallace's opera, The Amber Witch, is said to be now in pre- paration. Mr. Howard Glover had a concert-monstre at St. James's Hall, on Wednesday morning. There was a host of singers and players, an enormous bill of fare, and a crowded audience, who seemed much pleased with their entertainment. The London Glee and Madrigal Union have been giving their pleasant performances at the Dudley Gallery in the Egyptian

daily during the week, with great success.

M. Vieuxtemps, the great Belgian violinist, has revisited London after an absence of eight years. He is engaged by the spirited managers of the Monday Popular Concerts, and is to appear at the concert of Mon- day next.

Guillaume Tell has been produced at the Grand Opera for the debfit of Mademoiselle Carlotta Marchisio, in the character of ifathilele. She was perfectly successful, and achieved a fresh triumph in addition to that which she had already gained in Semiratnide. The effect of this per- formance, say the Parisian critics, will be, that it will no longer be pos- sible to commit this really fine part to a second-rate performer. Ma- demoiselle Marchiaio'a execution of the famous air, " Sombres forets," of her duet with Arnold, and of the great scene in the third act, is described as being of unparalleled excellence. Scribe, the victor of a thousand dramas, appears in his old age to have met with a reverse. His opera, called Itarkouf, with music by Offen- bach, produced the other day at the Opera Comique, has proved a com- plete failure—a failure unanimously, ascribed to the demerits of the libretto. The hero of the piece is a great dog, appointed by the Great Mogul, the governor of a province ; and the chief feature of the piece is the barking of this new species of premier sujet, to the accompaniment of the orchestra. This, from the author of Robert le Diable, the Hugue- nots, and the Propliete

The depression of the musical pitch by a quarter of a tone, adopted in the Parisian orchestras, has now been put in practice, for the first time in Germany, at Cologne. The Concert Society of that city have lowered the pitch of all the instruments of their orchestra; and the effect is said to be completely satisfactory. The stringed instruments have lost no- thing of their sonority, and the change is found to be a great boon to the singers. London stands as much in need of reform in this respect as any place whatever. The inconveniences of the present pitch are loudly and generally complained of ; and yet the attempt made last year by the Society of Arts, to remedy the evil, has apparently been allowed to fall entirely to the ground.