19 MAY 1838, Page 11

At Drury Lane, CHARLES KEAN appeared as Othello on Wednes-

day. The principal feature of his performance seems to have been his death—" no act in life became him like the leaving of it : " he dropped stone dead! 0. SMITH could not have died better. Mr. CHARLES KEAN iS a clever pantomimist : his fencing in Hamlet and his dying in Othello will be remembered long after the rest of his tragic doings are forgotten.

A comic opera, called Diadeste, or the Veiled Lady, manufactured from the French in the usual playwright fashion, by the industrious Mr. FITZRALL, and composed by BALFE, was brought out at this theatre on Thursday. With the want of judgment almost always ex- hibited by our English composers, BALEE has thrown away some very pretty music on a worthless piece. TEMPLETON is a jealous husband —a cross between Othello and Count Almaviva; and PHILLIPS is a gay young fop, (fancy him in such a part !) an &mune a bonnes.fortunes,

who imagines every lady to be in love with him. Then TEsteLEToN

(we forget his stage name) has a wife, and PHILLIPS has a mistress,— two clever ladies, who devise various plots, not of the most intelligible

kind, to laugh the gentlemen out of their jealousy and conceit ; and

succeed of course, by the help of a Negro servant and an intriguing chambermaid. The whole thing was exceedingly dull, and did not raise a smile throughout the evening. It was only lt.tt.rE's clever and

lively music which kept it up ; and its existence, after all, will be brief and languishing. It gives us, however, satisfactory grounds for belief

that Bar.rs: is improving in his art, and getting rid of some of the defects of his style. There were both variety and character; and some traits were decidedly original, particularly the very pleasing rustic chorus which opens the second act. There is an excellent duet, too, by Miss ROMER and TEMPLETON, the subject of which is uncom- monly graceful. The overture is well written and spirited ; and the orchestral parts, throughout th piece, are more ingeniously combined and delicately finished than in any of his formtr operas. The music, in short, does Mr. HALVE credit; and gives us good hopes of his Italian opera, Falstaff, now in preparation at her Majesty's Theatre.