It is generally understood, though it has not been formally
announced, that Grisi and Mario are on the eve of retirement, and will not reappear on our opera stage. They took leave of the publio for the season on Mon- day last, and immediately afterwards set out for Italy. On their return they are to make a tour through the provinces, which is announced by Messrs. Cramer and Beale as a "farewell tour previous to their retire- ment." They then go to the United States ; and, after reaping a golden harvest, no doubt, among the Americans, they intend, it is said to settle down quietly in a beautiful residence on the Arno, close to Florence. No foreign singer has ever enjoyed so long and uninterrupted a period of I
public favour in this country as Grisi has done. During nineteen years she has not been absent a single season,—a thing quite unprecedented, except, we believe, in the case of Lablache. Mario arrived three or four years later, but has been equally steady to England ; which has been, indeed, the scene of almost his whole artistical career.
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