31 MARCH 1838, Page 14

THE ITALIAN OPERA.

THE Italian Opera-house opened on Saturday last, with La Sunnam- beta. Later than usual, in consequence of some coquetting between LAPORTE and the Opera Buffa company, who slipped through his fingers and left him unprovided. Nevertheless, he has opened with an efficient if not a strong company—a much better one than for some years past we have been accustomed to hear before Easter. The prima donna, Signora PERSIAN!, is not so in name only, but really and truly. She ranks among the very first singers of the present day—highly gifted by nature, and in a state of high cultivation. Her voice is pure and sweet, whenever its true and unforced tone appears; her compass large; her execution quite perfect. We must judge of a singer by the standard of her own school; and so we measure PER- SIAN!. The tendency of that school is to break down and destroy all time first and chiefest attributes of the vocal art, and to substitute in their place rapidity of execution and noise. The true cantabile of the Italian opera can scarcely be said to have any present existence: a song is but a vehicle of display, which the singer turns and twists and shapes to her own me and purpose. It is no longer an expression of feeling, dictated by the genius of a composer and exhibited by the power of a singer, but a succession of unmeaning sounds, so contrived that a singer may make it just what she pleases, and which is nothing at all when stripped of her addenda. Take the first song of Amine in La Sonnantbula, for instance—" Come per me sereno;" in which we have successively heard PASTA, MALIBRAN, GRIST, and PERSIAN!, not to mention other singers of inferior note ; and in each of their bands it is essentially a different song,—by which we mean, that if the notes sung by each of these great singers were exhibited on paper, they would be found to differ much oftener than to agree ; and in no case would the notes of the singer exhibit, as compared with those of the author, more than the proportion of one in twenty. It is the aim of every new per- former to give it a new dress, and precisely that dress which is most easily worn by and most becoming to herself. Now if the song were intrinsically good for any thing, such a practice would be perfectly in-tolerable : suppose, for example, Mozmer's Porgi amor ' were to ie thus besmeared, and his exquisite melody plastered over with wessive coats of vocal whitewash—we should be ready to pelt the sailer: but BELLINI, with becoming modesty, traces only an out. tine which the singer must fi'l up in order to its acquiring any interest, relief, or value. We, therefore, judge of PERSIAN! by the standard of her own school ; and thus estimated, her rank is very high. The nwdern opera songs tend to the destruction of the voice by constautly demanding a larger volume of tone than the singer „woes, without such a degree of exertion as to injure its true 'quality. Every voice is good only to is certain point ; all beyond this, if not positively bad, is less good. Whenever we heard PERSIANI'll true voice, it was delicious—not remarkably brilliant or sound, but sweet and fascinating ; whenever she found it necessary to pass the limit which nature prescribed, it became reedy and comparatively harsh. Every passage, even of the greatest height and rapidity, was delivered with the most accurate precision ; and she vaulted more than two octaves at a bound with facility and certainty. The opera of La Sonnambula is a very mediocre affair, regarded as a musical compo- sition; but the interest of the story always awakens the sympathies of an audience, in whatever form or language preseeted : and hence, it is a safe piece for a debut, especially if the representative of Amino have any talents as an actress. And such is the ease with Signora PERSIAN!. Her personal attractions are Dot striking, but her face indicates intel- ligence, and is not wanting in expression. She was received with un- equivocal applause, and has established her reputation at once, and firmly. Signor TATI is the new tenor—the double or locum tenens of BEBINI ; to whom we much prefer him. His style is more truly re- fined than that of RUHINI—not so ostentatious, not so florid, not so noisy, not so impertinent. TATI'S thoughts are evidently on his author and his putt: BUIIINI thinks of nobody but himself. Signor BORRANI, the new Cored RotioUis, is but an inferior performer : he did wisely in not aiming at more than he could fairly accomplish. Of Madame SMOLENSK!, who personated Lisa, little in the way of com- mendation can be said.

The orchestra has undergone scarcely any alteration since last year ; and it is scarcely susceptible of improvement. Not so the chorus ; which is both augmented and improved : we never before heard choruses so well sung at this theatre.