commencement all the names whom, in succession, he intended to
produce. Thus the subscribers had a show of great performers A NEW WATERING-PLACE.
try by M. LAPORTE, but positively here in spite of him. Who, "To see the children sporting on the shore, till June, of the season just closed ?—Madame VESPERMANN, And hear the mighty waters roaring evermore."
FODOR, VESTRIS, and CAMPORESE, BRAHAM, CRIVELLI, or GAR- Hayling Island is near to Portsea, and about the same size as that , island. It. has a fine sandy beach, five miles in extent, looking south. CIA, NALDI,ABIBROGETTI, and ANGRISANI were the principal ward ; commanding an extensive sea-view, enriched by the picturesque singers, not for a month or two, but for a whole season. shores of the Isle of Wight, which is an object of great beauty and an During this time Don Giovanni was produced ; and the other interesting feature in the prospect. More to the right are seen Spit. operas either produced or revived were Cosi fan tutte, Figaro, head and Portsmouth, and stretching along to the north are Portsdown Tito, II Raul() Magico, Griselda, Agnese, Zaira, Proserpina, La Hill and the South Downs ; Havant and Chichester completing the pa- Cosa Rara, La Molinara, Penelope, B Barbiere di Siviglia, Ii norama. The bathing is excellent, the sands sloping gently into the sea Matrimonio Segreto, and L' Baliana in Algeri. Let this list be for a considerable distance. The air is mild, and not so moist as might compared, as to number of pieces merely (leaving their respec- be supposed from its insular situation; as the soil is dry and for the tive merits out of the question), and what has M. LAPORTE to most part gravel covered with a rich loam, in which shrubs and plants thrive well. show ? The present season, like the former seasons of his manage- it has introduced to us only two new operas, and those just as parated by an esplanade where is the bathing-house. Here the races it approached its termination. Therefore, in all respects—operas, are held every year. The new buildings consist of a crescent and ter- singers, and orchestra—his career has exhibited the most race of first-rate houses, a handsome and "commodious hotel, a villa wretched poverty, relieved now and then by the appearance of an or two, some smaller houses, and an inn—a boarding-house is a dee individual singer or two of great eminence. sideratum. We should hardly have gone over the irksome task of summing As I write, I see, from the windows of the hotel, the ships coming up the various and glaring defects of M. LAPORTE'S directorship, and going in and out of Portsmouth, and hear them salute as they but with a view to stimulate to a different course those who are to pass Spithead. Yesterday, the fleet under Sir EDWARD Coortmorox succeed him. were seen upon the horizon, bound from Plymouth to the Scheldt (as The public expect from the new lessees a company capable of we suppose) to give check to his Dutch Majesty. performing, during the whole, or the greater part of the season, the Nothing can exceed the beauty of the scene on a clear day. The bine best operas in the best manner. An opera-house from which these and serene waters flashing in the sun, and the varied and fertile shores of the Isle of Wight, studded with towns and villas, enlivened by the are doomed to exclusion, is a disgrace to the metropolis of England. continual passing and repassing of vessels of all sorts, from the fishing. M. LAPORTE, having the control of the Italian opera at Paris as smack and pleasure-yacht to the merchantman and line-of-battle ship, well as at London, has had no inducement to concentrafe here an with their white sails relieved against the sky. • This is one half of the efficient company. His best artists have been made to vibrate be- picture. On the other hand, a mass of foliage invites with its cool and tween his two theatres, just as his own interest or caprice might refreshing shade ; and entering a lane between two tasteful villas, you influence him; while he has endeavoured to make up for the come upon the rural part of the island, which is as sweet a combination want of a permanent good company, by a succession of new singers, of English rustic scenery as I ever beheld. It is intersected with green good and bad. There is no need of this eternal shifting and lanes, bounded by luxuriant hedges and shaded by trees. There are no changing. BILLINGTON was Prima Donna five years, GRAS- villages, but at every turn you come upon some neat and substantial SINS four years, CAMPORESE fouryears ; TRAMEZZANI was Primo farm-house of old times, when the farmer was not a squire, but the Tenore six years; and ROVEDINO Basso Cantante, and NALDI true English yeoman. These snug dwellings, mostly of red brick, wee. Buffo, for ten years. The constant change of performance pre- ther-stained with grey, and covered with roses, jasmine, vines, or honey. eludes the possibility of maturing any plan for the season which suckle, with their little gardens in front, their orchards and homesteads, all wearing the appearance of comfort and homely luxury, in the midst shall embrace the getting up or revival of first-rate operas. The of fields of waving grain engagements with PASTA, RUBINI, and DAVID, for the late sea- son, were understood to be coupled with the express condition e Or globed driver, full of honeydew," present an appearance of old English rustic life, which is rarely to be that they should have nothing to study. But, conditioned or not, seen in these days of large farms andkentleman cultivators. The cot• the fact has been that they have performed only such operas as tapes of the labourers have an air of neatness and comfort, very different they had previously learned ; and we have been surfeited with the from that squalid poverty which too frequently mars the pleasure derived be prepared to take our equal chance with the rest of the OM- reiteration of Medea, Otello, Tancredi, and Semiramide. This ex- munity of the peculation or negligence of the Duke of Rica- periment cannot be repeated with any chance of success. alosne's subordinates. At present, we are the objects of heavy Whoever undertakes the task of manager, will have to en. taxation, and common justice demands that we should enjoy ad- counter every difficulty that fashion, influence, " envy, hatred, quate protection. and malice," can fling in his path; but firmness, when guided by sound judgment and correct taste (which the manager must either MANAGEMENT OF THE ITALIAN OPERA. possess or hire), a liberal and comprehensive view of his various M. LAPORTE'S reign at the King's Theatre ended on Saturday duties, with a zealous determination to give them effect, will enable last. It is understood that he has pocketed not less than 30,0001. him to overcome them, and not only to deserve success, but to during the period of his management ; much of which has been command it. gained by practices that no liberal mind could have stooped to, and From what we have heard of the new lessee, Mr. MONCK that have often inflicted distress and misery on the poor wretches MASON, a renewal of the good times of the opera may be antici. who had the misforttine to come within his gripe. In his parting pated. He is a gentleman by birth and education, and therefore address, he took credit for having supplied, during the term for incapable of his predecessor s dirty tricks. Artists of eminence which he had held the theatre, a greater quantity of talent than will be treated with the respect due to their talents, and not the public have usually had collected for their entertainment. subjected to the degradation of being compelled to associate with, Numerous as have been the experiments which he has made on much less to receive orders from, swindlers or convicted felons, the patience and immobility of his audience, this assertion exceeded What he lacks in managerial experience, may be more than coun- them all. We have always been accustomed to consider a good terbalanced by other requisites : a frequent intercourse with those orchestra as a necessary part of " the talent" employed in the Continental cities in which the Italian opera is in the highest state performance of an opera. M. LAPORTE discharged all the best of cultivation, and an intimate acquaintance with most of the Eu- players which his orchestra contained, at one swoop ; and after ropean languages, together with a commendable zeal for the ad- having struggled through a season with a band which would have vancement of the opera considered as a school for the improvement disgraced the Circus, he was compelled to restore LINDLEY, HAR- of the national taste, are advantages which Mr. MASON is said PER, WILLMAN, and other principals to their places. This is one to possess, and which cannot fail to operate beneficially for the specimen of " the talent" which he endeavoured to furnish. But public. His predecessor has done all in his power to degrade the his orchestra, with about four exceptions, has been notoriously in- Italian opera of England ; to Mr. MASON may belong the glory of ferior, man for man, to that of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. restoring its waning splendours, and of reviving those days when Now as to his vocal talent. His principle has been to employ one the greatest treat the musician or the man of taste could enjoy was singer of eminence for a part of every season, announcing at its a visit to the King's Theatre.
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