6 OCTOBER 1849, Page 10

THEATRES -AND MUSIC.

The Princess's Theatre—swept and garnished—opened on Monday, ' with a performance of Don Giovanni greatly superior to anything that the previous proceedings of that house had given us any reason to expect, The manager seems to have taken new views of the exigencies of a musical theatre, and has made ample provision for all the accessories of a complete performance. His company, without exhibiting any brilliant stars, (but in- deed there are none on the English stage at present,) is well chosen, and strong enough to supply a respectable cast for any opera whatever. The orchestra, under the able direction of Mr. Edward Loder, is both sufficiently numerous and made tip of excellent materials. Its qualities were fully tested by Mozart's rich and brilliant accompaniments; which were played with a degree of force, delicacy, and mellow smoothness of tone, sufficient to satisfy the most fastidious ear. The choral and con- certed music was admirably Sung: the wonderful finale to the first act, in particular, had an effect which we have scarcely heard surpassed on the German or Italian stage. None of the characters were performed in a style of first-rate excellence, but their ensemble was highly satisfactory. Harrison was the Don Gio- vanni, and gave us much more pleasure than usual. Though his voice is a tenor while the part is for a baritone, yet his low notes are the best part of his scale, being free from that nasal tone which he emits in his altitudes; and, by the help of a few necessary alterations, such as making an ascend- ing close instead of a descending one, he got through the music, on the whole, very well. The low pitch restrained his propensity to exhibit his "flexibility " by means of abominable flourishes; and this restraint was increased by the fulness and obligate character of the accompaniments: nevertheless, he did contrive to break loose now and then, and especially made sad work with the charming little serenade, " Deh vied i elk finestra "; which be loaded with one of his vulgar claptrap cadences,—claptrap, hap- pily, no longer, for it evidently prevented, instead of producing, the encore be aimed at. We don't know the extent of Mr. Loder's prerogative as chef fforchestre, but he is surely entitled to insist on the singer's allowing the instrumental part to be properly played, and to refuse to break off in the midst of a fine strain of orchestral harmony in order to make room for some vocal flight entirely at variance with the composer's design. Mr. Harrison's personation of the character, though of course much wanting in elegance and refinement, was bold, dashing, and, on the whole, by no means ineffective. MademoiselleNamas Donna Anna, was ladylike and graceful: her English elocution was almost free from foreign accent, and she sang like a sound musician, though she betrayed a deficiency of vocal power and passion- ate expression. Miss Louisa Pyne, known as a promising young concert-singer but a debutante on the stage, was the Zerlina: she looked the little rustic admirably, acted with great naivete and archness, and sang deliciously. Her reception was most cordial, and she seems in a fair way to become a prime favourite of the public. The part of Elvira has seldom been better performed than by Mrs. Weiss. Weiss's Leporello was well conceived, though somewhat stiff and laboured: his superb bass voice told splendidly in the concerted pieces. Allen, in Ottavio sang with sweetness and deli- cacy: his voice is well-toned though weak, and he very wisely avoids straining it; knowing that Nature has denied him power, he aims at pleas- ing, and always succeeds. The Conemendatore was capitally acted and sung by Herr Hermann, a German who appeared on our stage for the first time; and the jealous bumpkin 2fasetto was quaintly and amusingly per- sonated by Mr. H.- Corn. In short, there was not a single character in the piece that was not respectably sustained; a thing that can very rarely be said of a dramatic performance.

The English version of the opera is well executed. The whole of the music is preserved, excepting only the merely conversational portion of the recitative; the dialogue, as on the German stage, being simply spoken, un- less where it rises to poetry and passion, and then it is given in recitative with the orchestral accompaniment. The opera, moreover, was exceedingly well put upon the stage. The costumes and decorations were rich and tasteful, and the scenic effects pic- turesque and striking. If we have a continuance of such performances— and if Mr. Maddox, besides producing the classical pieces of the great masters, shall open his theatre to new works of merit by our own com- posers—there will be no occasion to go farther in search of that long hopeless desideratum an English operahouse.

A new farce followed Don Giovanni,—a version of the well-known French vaudeville Le Pere (Tune Debutante; in which the talents of Mr. A. Wigan are displayed the character of the" father."