Don Pasquale was performed on Thursday for the first time
at the Royal Italian Opera; and the reunion of Lablache, Grisi, and Mario, must have reminded many people present of the great enjoyment and hearty laughs this opera used to give them in the days of the old house. It was writ- ten expressly for this trio, and assuredly it could not be played in perfec- tion by any other three now on the stage. After G66 and Mario's se- cession, the old house still had Don _Pasquale, but with other Norinas and Ernestos—good ones too—but the opera was no longer what it had been. At the new house it has not even been attempted till now ; for there is but one Don Pasquale in the world, and that is Lablache. There was an immense house, and the performance was as animated and delightful as it had ever been before. Lablache was evidently in the highest spirits, and gave free vent to his rich comic humour. Grisi was radiant—every- body exclaimed how youthful and beautiful she looked ; and Mario, in music so congenial to his voice and his style, sang as charmingly as ever he did. The effect was rendered complete by Ronconi's performance of the unobtrusive but clever part of Malatesta. The brilliant and dramatic concerted pieces, which show the decidedly comic bent of Donizetti's genius, were sung with admirable fire and spirit; and probably there never was a merrier audience within the walls of this theatre.
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