THE NEW OPERA AT COVENT GARDEN THEATRE.
SPOIIR'S triumph in this country may now he regarded as complete. 'Within the short space of a fortui gilt, the first vocal and instrumental talent of Great Britain has been engaged in the production of two of his compositions, totally unlike as to the class to which they are to be referred, but each in its turn commanding the attention and approbation of crowded though dissimilar audiences. Here and there, an overture, a duet, a trio of Sronn has found its way into a first-rate concert, or been the admiration of a select party of the cognoscenti ; but he has now burst upon us with the full blaze of his genius, kindling the fervour of our devotion, and lighting up the fires of our fancy. This has happened to no composer, foreign or English, with the exception of HANDEL alone ; who had all the advantages of residence, knowledge of his performers' capacities, and a host of personal friends and admirers, in aid of his own gigantic exertions. The operas and the oratorios of SPOHR have found -their way hither almost by accident ; they have been preceded by no flourish of trumpets, have employed the talents of no puffers, but have attained at once the highest elevation of success, by their own intrinsic excellence, exhibited, in both cases, by singers and players able to demonstrate it. It has been fortunate for the fame of this great artist, that he has fallen into the hands of men who had sufficient musical knowledge to appreciate, and sufficient nerve to produce him to their countrymen nnmutilated and undiluted—to present him, in short, as he is; Because, in some cases, it has been found necessary to make alterations in the English versions of foreign operas, every musical pretender thinks he has a licence to hack and hew the master-works of Germany and Italy, in order to "adapt them for the English stage." In bringing out Azor and Zemira, Sir GEORGE SMART has used the pruning-knife most sparingly ; and if a shoot has been cut off, it was only to engraft on the trunk one of greater vigour and beauty. He has set about his work not only like a musician of consummate skill and judgment, but with a sense of the responsibility which such a one would necessarily feel under the attempt to give life and reality to productions of a genius like that of &ono. The deviations from the original are few, but they are judicious. The recognized division of an English opera, is into three acts ; and having decided to conform to this, he has introduced an incantation4seene, which the poet has very skilfully appropriated to this magic tale, from the opera of Faust ; thus guarding against all that monstrous ineongrufty of style with which we were indulged in the late Drury Lane version of Fra Diavolo.
We stated last week, that the plot of the opera Was founded' on the
well-known fairy tale of Beauty and the Beat. It were a work of super. erogation to detail the particulars of a story so well known—beginning, as we yet remember, " There was once a rich merchant, who had three daughters ; and being a man of sense, he spared no cost for their education," &c. In order to introduce the scene above referred to, the enchanter is exhibited in pi•opriii personi ; bat in all other respects the main iucidents of' the tale are untouched. The characters Lsts cItersa}re as follows—.
Azor
Srander (the Merchant) Mr. Moaucv. ,Vi his Slave) ..Mr. PE NSON.
Fatima . Miss CAWSIt.
Lesbia Mks H. CAWS R.
ZeMira Miss INvERAEITY.
The overture is interwoven with the music of the first scene: the
thunder is heard rolling at intervals, and the feelings are prepared and attuned for the chorus of Spirits with which the piece opens. The wild majesty of its first movement is beautifully relieved by the strain of melody inviting the shipwrecked merchant to the fairy palace, which is seen suddenly illuminated through the dreary horrors of the tempest. The song "Cease here, my fears," is in complete accordance with the character of this scene. We have extracted a part of the Andantino (with a slight addition in order to conclude the strain in A b), because there are some %sidings who affect to have discovered that SPOIIR'S Music is destitute of melody. This extract, be it remembered, is from one of his bass songs. We have changed the clef for general convenience, and given the English version of the-theatre. The round (sung by Azor, &under, and Ali) is as elegant as it is ingenious. Azor's first song, " No, I will not falter," is pleasing, but not striking. The witches' scene forms a most appropriate terminatioa to the act ; the prevailing features of which are terror and awe, the howlings of the storm, and the incantations of hags. The climax is perfect, and the effect on the audience was most powerful. In the midst of this cave of sorcery, the dark clouds give way, and the spells of the witches discover Scan.der and Ali traversing the air in the fairy car; and by the same agency their destination is pointed out. The enchanter mounts his winged dragon, the hags sink into the earth, and the curtain drops upon his ascent.
The commencement of the second act introduces us at once to Nature in her loveliest form. All is sunshine and joy. The three daughters appear, and sing the exquisite trio, of which we have before had occasion to speak in terms (as far as the performance was concerned) of less unqualified praise than we are now warranted in giving. Nothing could be more finished, more thoroughly to our hearts' content, than Miss INVERARITY'S execution of it ; and she was ably seconded by her corn panions. The audience interrupted it by an eralmsiastic. encore of the first movement, and a subsequent encore of the second. In the beautiful air, "Rose, softly blooming," Miss INVERAR1TT was not so successfui—. the simplicity of the song was marred by too much effort in the singer. Miss Sraenrois, in her best days, would have insured in it a nightly encore. The finale to the second act is rich to overflowing in melody, in science, in masterly instrumentation.
In the third act, Zemira meets Azor • and here Wn.sox evinced a degree of cultivation as a singer for which few of the audience, we believe, had previously given him credit : his delivery of "0, lovely maiden, stay," was marked by very correct taste and strong feeling ; and his manifest improvement as an actor was very generally noted. The introduced duet from Jessoncla has been curtailed, and we think its effect thereby injured : we should advise the restoration of every missing bar. Zemira's grand scena follows ; and Miss INVERA(ITY proved herself completely mistress of all its difficulties : to her, indeed, they did not seem to exist. In neatness of execution and perfect tune, she rivalled Madame STOCKHAUSEN'S performance of it, and in power and. expression, far, very far exceeded her. The conclusion of the opera did not call forth the same enthusiastic expression from the audience as was manifested in some of its other parts. A little more noise would have insured a sympathetic desire to rival it on the part of the Gods. Still, the piece was emirtently, as it was deservedly, successful. Of most of the principal performers we have spoken. MonLEY was the least effective : his intonation was often imperfect, and there is a twang of the Surry or the Coburg about his singing which does not assort with SPOHR'S music. Oh, how we longed for a bass of IthuLicues power and skill ! l'Exsox went through his. part creditably, but its deinands upon his vocal powers are greater than nature has enabled him to answer. But Ali is a character which very few of our comic actors could touch ; it is, in some points, as difficult as any one in the piece. The Chorus was excellent, and showed the beneficial result of good rehearsing ; the same may be said of the Orchestra. The scenery is magnificent, and all the appointments on the liberal scale which characterizes this theatre.
Having said thus much of the stage and its appurtenances, living and otherwise, we shall finish by commending the discernment of the audience. We have usually observed, and sometimes recorded, the execrable taste of the audience the noisy part of it) who frequent the Italian Opera, Whenever a mountebank, like DAVID, exhibits any extraordinary violation of propriety, it is sure to be followed by cheers; whereas, for the most part, the approbation of.the .Covent Garden audience was awarded precisely where it was deserved. The murmurs of applause which followed some masterly idea, or combination, proved that no inconsiderable portion of the house knew when and why to praise. Some of the lackbrains who move in what are called fashionable circles, have been venting certain notions, which they call opinions, through the appropriate vehicle of the Mornin I Past, on the unaccountable mania for SPOIIR'S MUSIC. To them it is unaccountable, and for this simple reason—it is the result of mind, and mental exertion is' therefore, demanded, in order to comprehend it ; an
n
operatio of which these critics are guiltless. The superior discernment and more correct taste of the Covent Garden audiences must have been palpable to every musician ; and it affords another proof of the increased knowledge and true-refinement-of the middle classes. Yes—as /Imams Twiss says, these persons are growing" very dangerous," and have taken an odd notion of thinking, judging, and acting for themselves. We will finish by saying, that if anadmiration-Of Spona's music be a mania, we have taken the infection, and we intend to use our best endeavours tosproad is•
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