MUSICAL CHAT.
THE Directors of the Ancient Concert have made their election, and Mr. W. KNVVETT is appointed to succeed Mr. GREATOREX in the office of Conductor. Of Mr. KisyvEris fitness for this situa- tion, in many important respects, there can be no doubt. His musical training has been in that school which it is the design of these concerts to perpetuate; his rank as a composer is far higher than that of his predecessor; and though reared in the old school, no man has a more just appreciation of the real beauties of the new : his devotion to the genius of MOZART was prompt and ardent, even while, among his associates, such a feeling was deemed heretical. He has no musical bigotry in his composition ; and, often as we have heard him, we should task our recollection in vain for a single instance of bad taste in his singing. Yet, with all these requisites, we announce Mr. KNYVETT'S appointment to this situation with some misgivings. It is true, that in addition to his professional qualifications, he has the manners of a gentleman; and his undeviating courtesy to all his brother professors has left him, we sincerely believe, without an enemy among them : but we fear that his appointment must be taken as an earnest that "the Concerts" (to borrow a phrase from the Directors) "will be con- tinued as usual." Mr. KNYVETT'S habits are those of obedience rather than command, and we have no doubt that the noble Directors anticipate in him a Conductor who will surrender his judgment into their hands—one who will content himself with dis- charging his duty at the organ, leaving to them the selection of the music and the beating of the time. As the Duke of WEL- IINGTON thinks of the House of Commons, so they believe the Ancient Concerts, under their direction, to be " absolutely incapable of improvement ;" and that "Sound the loud timbrel," " Wind, gentle evergreen," and "St. Matthew's Tune," are the very per- fection of classical music. If they had to consult only their own tastes and prejudices, this sort of musical- administration might prosper; but there is a party in addition to the Directors and the Orchestra, whose opinions it may not be altogether epedient to disregard—we mean the subscribers. These, having no voice in the Council, which is wholly self-elected, are rapidly seceding ; they are fewer by hundreds than they were; and a continuance in the present system will probably reduce the list to the immediate friends and dependents of the Directors. Perhaps they desire it ..Ahould be so. The new lessee of the Opera-house is proceeding with great spirit and liberality in his arrangements for the forthcoming sea- son. His band, we can already pronounce, will be first-rate—not a few great names and the rest good for nothing, but a real bond fide combination of excellent players. We hear that he has en- gaged a company of German singers, to perform operas in their own language alternately with those of Italy. We give this as common report, although we suspect the truth of it. The engage- ment of German principals would imply the engagement of a Ger- man chorus; and would, besides, insure the implacable hostility of all the dandy dilettanti of the Opera,—to whose folly Mr. MASON will find it expedient, in the outset of his career at least, to pay some little deference. We have no doubt of his setting about the work of reformation with heart and good-will, and, for the most part, with discretion; but we fear that he is holding out some ex- pectations wl Lich cannot be realized, and which, if they were, would gratify no one. For instance, we hear that HANDEL'S Giulio Cesare is prepared for performance, with the addition of new ac- companiments. Now, to the success of this opera there are two small objections,—it will be impossible to find singers for it, and equally so to find hearers. If MARA or BILLINGTON were living, or if Die KONS were in her prime, and if BARTLEMAN were also "on this mortal stage," and would have "trod the boards," BRAHAM might have found coadjutors in such an attempt but the singers capable of giving effect to this opera, with the exception of the latter, do not exist; and if they did, who would go to hear it? Here and there a flash of the author's genius breaks through the general insipidity of his operas; but to sit one of them out, we take to be impossible. No—let HANDEL'S fame be suffered to repose, where it safely may, on his Israel in Egypt, his Sumnvm, his Deborah, his Ne,yhth: but let not his (compared with these) puny operas be dragged into notice. Failure in such an attempt were abso- lutely certain.
We understand, and all lovers of classical music will rejoice to hear, that the Idomeneo of MOZART is to be one of the earliest operas of the season. We presume this will be chiefly intrusted to German singers. Pretty work our RUBINIS and DAVIDS would make of it ! We remember the "II mio tesoro " of the former too well to encounter, if we can help it, any similar exhibition.
SPoun's last new opera, the Alehymist, has been prepared for bringing out at Drury Lane. It is a splendid work, and we think may be effectively cast at that theatre.
We observe that the particulars of the late broil at the Philhar- monic, which led to the secession of F. CRAMER, are to appear in the Harmonicon. Any necessity for silence, therefore, on our parts, is at an end. The facts were simply these. Three ladies—Mrs. BISHOP, Miss CRAMER, and Mrs. WILLIS—were proposed as As- sociates ; the first was unanimously elected, the second had one black ball, the name of the third was withdrawn. We have ex- pressed our regret at the consequence of this ballot, and we dismiss the subject with two remarks. 1st, If the chairman were to confine himself to the simple announcement of the admission or rejection of the candidate,—which is all that is necessary to be known,—a repetition of this unpleasant bickering would be avoided. 2nd, We would remind Mr. CRAMER, that there may be members who, on principle, would object to any further extension of the number of Associates ; and that any society would soon be at an end, if the slightest possible opposition to the wish of a member were to be followed by his instant secession. To have obtained all the suf- frages of the Philharmonic Society, save one, in favour of his daugh- ter, ought rather to have been regarded by that gentleman as a compliment than the single black ball as an insult.
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