8 APRIL 1854, Page 11

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The Royal Italian Opera opened on Saturday, for the ante-Easter season ; a season unusually short this year, having been only of a week's duration, including four performances. Tonight the theatre closes till after the Easter holidays, when the proper season may be said to com- mence, and when the great stars begin to blaze together in full constella- tion. Meanwhile, the company has been as strong as it usually is before Easter. We have had Tamberlik, Ronconi, Bosio, and a competent num- ber of useful performers of the second class. The orchestra, under Costa, has lost none of its power ; the chorus is strong ; and the accessories of the stage seem to be complete.

All this was shown in the representation of Gugliclnio Tell, chosen for the opening of the season. The two great parts-there are only two, Arnold and Tell- were filled as well as possible, by Tamberlik and Ron- coni ; the secondary parts were adequately performed ; and the ensemble was as magnificent as ever. This opera, however, proves unattract- ive, as it has always done. On the opening night, the theatre of course was full ; but on Tuesday, the second night, it was miserably thin ; and neither on the one night nor the other were the audience warmed into anything like enthusiasm. That this should be the case with an opera which is esteemed the masterpiece of its author, would be surprising were it not explained by the wretched construction and uninteresting nature of the drama,-an obstacle to popularity which the finest music in the world will not overcome; witness the mighty .Don Giovanni itself, which, though the delight of every musician, never commands more than two or three representations in the season. On Thursday, Ernani was per- formed ; an opera which, musically, never rises beyond mere prettiness, but which has a strong romantic interest and a most pathetic catastrophe ; and it was curious to observe how differently it was received from Gugliebno Tell. Performed by Mademoiselle Bosio, Tamberlik, and Ron- cord, it excited the sympathies of the audience is well as pleased their ears, and was applauded most warmly from beginning to end. So will it be tonight, and as often as it is repeated during the season. To return for a moment to Guglielmo Tell. Its most fatal defect is the want of an interesting female part, without which no opera succeeds. The character of Natilda is a most ungrateful one, and it placed the debutante, Mademoiselle Marai, under great disadvantage. She was enabled, however, to show that she possesses a pleasing face and person, a high soprano voice of pure quality and remarkable flexibility, brilliant and articulate execution, and the style of an accomplished artist. She seems intended to replace Castellan.