THE GERMAN OPERA.
Euryanthe was performed on Monday night ; and, as of Der Freischutz, it may safely be affirmed, with more complete success than attended any prior exhibition of it in London. Euryanthe is the highest demonstra- tion of its author's genius as a dramatic composer. We believe that he so regarded it, although the public ratified his opinion slowly. In Der Freischutz and in Oberon he enters the world of imagination, coupling his art to that of sorcery, and giving a tongue to spells and incan- tations. In Euryanthe he is the associate of nature, in its sweetest and loveliest form ; for the Imogen of SHAKSPERE is his heroine. Bat whether dealing with the ideal or the real, WEBER has discovered the possession of powers as a dramatic composer which few writers for the stage have exhibited in a like degree and to the same extent. Many an otherwise good writer has failed from the want of this faculty, and given us, instead of an opera or an oratorio, music set to words which were better spoken, or a play with a certain number of songs and con- certed pieces, introduced at stated intervals, and unnecessary if not unfit to carry on the business of the drama. WEBER employs the agency of music with extraordinary diversity of application, but always with con- summate skill and nice discrimination. His characters never sing when they had better speak. Of many operas a correct estimate may be formed in the closet, but Euryanthe must be seen on the stage in order to its being not only perfectly but tolerably understood. It is a lesson which every composer and every singer should study. Madame IlEierezrrra added to her reputation by her exquisite per- formance of the character of Euryanthe. Independent of her admir- able execution of the music in this very difficult part, she discovered the highest talents as an actress, and that apparent disregard of per- sonal display, and entire absorption in her character, which so rarely appears in singing heroines of the Italian, English, or French dramatic, schools. TICHATSCHECK was equally successful in Adder as in Max; and in his execution of the exquisite song, " Wehen mir Liitie Ruh," exhibited vocal powers of a very superior kind ; and STAUDIOL, as the representative of Lysiurt, far outstripped all his competitors. His per- formance of the scene, " Wo berg' ich mich 7 " was one of the most splendid efforts of the kind that we ever heard.
We exhort all lovers of music to witness the representation of Eu- ryanthe. It is at once a lesson and a gratification that does not often come within their reach, and compared with which all the other musi- cal displays now presented to them are insignificant and insipid.
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