24 JULY 1847, Page 19

MUSIC.

A Collection of the Operatic Works of the most Eminent Composers. Edited by J. Wrey Mould. The Musical portion of the work revised by W. S. Rocketro. Part L This is the commencement of a serial publication which promises to be of great value to the musical public. If it meet with the encouragement -which from the specimen before us we can say it well deserves, and if, consequently, the spirited design of its publishers be completed, we shall possess a body of the masterpieces of the Italian, German, and French mu- sical stage, adapted to English use, and given with a fulness and correct- ness which we have not found equalled in any similar publications. In this country, and indeed for the most part on the Continent, editions of operas do not deserve the name. They-never contain the whole or nearly the whole of the work, but are confined to the airs, duets, and the most simple and popular of the trios, quartets, &c.; while the dialogue in recita- tive, the scenes carried on in concerted music, and the choruses, (often the finest and most dramatic portions of the opera,) are either altogether omitted or cut down to mere fragments. It is only in the full scores which are pub- lished in Germany and France, (never in this country,) and which are not destined or fitted for the use of the general public, that the whole of an opera is to be, found. The present publication of the standard operas is to contain every word of the libretto and every note of the music; a feature sufficient of itself to stamp-the work with a great and peculiar value. But this is not its only distinctive feature. We have examined the number now pub- lished, which contains a considerable portion of Le Nome di Figaro; and we find the arrangement for the pianoforte of the orchestral score is by no means a transcript from previous arrangements, but it has been freshly executed, with skill and judgment. The part for the pianoforte is as full as it can be made with due consideration for reasonable facility of per- formance; and Mozart's beautiful instrumental effects are very happily preserved. The most difficult part of the task, the adaptation of English words to the music, in addition to the original text, has been carefully, and on the whole successfully executed. We meet with awkward expressions occasionally; but such things must be tolerated as unavoidable; and, gene- rally speaking, the original words are paraphrased with fidelity and spirit.