thr illtatrts.
The Opera season has been very short this year-just four months, from the 11th of April to the Ilth of August-'but very successful in a pecuniary sense. The houses have been uniformly good, and the lessee has put money in his purse. Notwithstanding the war, and the taxes, and public anxiety, and private mourning for so many of our best and bravest, the theatres, concerts, and all places of public entertainment, have seldom been more flourishing than they have been this season. The public of all classes must have their amusement under any circumstances ; and it has been remarked before now that the Parisian spectacles never were so crowded, so gay, and so brilliant, as during the Reign of Tenor.
There was little novelty, however, and little variety, in the entertain- ments of the Royal Italian Opera. We have had two new operas-the Trovatore of Verdi, and the Dale du Nord of Meyerbeer ; all the others 'have been the usual stock pieces of the theatre. And we have had two aew performers of note-Mademoiselle Jenny Ney, and Signor Graziani; ill)1 the rest have been our old and familiar acquaintances. This slender sup- ply of new matter would scarcely have satisfied the public demand had it not been for a lucky circumstance which at the beginning of the season seems not to have been expected by Mr. Gye himself-the return of Griai to the theatre, after her formal and tearful farewell of last year. How this was effected matters little, but it was sufficient of itself to save the aeason. Griai reappeared about the middle of May-at first announoed as only for a few nights ; but her performances were continued almost to the end of the season, with houses crowded to the ceiling every night; and when she took her leave after a splendid performance of the Hugue- nots, there was as much excitement as attended her adieus last season,- though, this time, there was not a word said about her retiring from the stage. Mario shared her triumphs as well as contributed to them; for 'they could not have been so complete as they were without his coOpera- tion.
The large portion of the season occupied by the performances of this gifted pair made it easy for the manager to fill up the remainder of the period. The first novelty, the Trovatore, was produced early in May, and had great success ; owing more to the fine performance of Made- moiselle Ney, Madame Viardot, and Tamberlik, and to the splen- dour of the spectacle, than to the merits of the piece itself, which as a drama is a string of unnatural horrors, and as music is noisy, common- place, and inartistic, with plain popular tunes, which recommend it to vulgar ears. Soon after its production Mademoiselle Ney was seized with a severe illness, which stopped the performance, and continued till she was recalled to her post at the Dresden Opera : but this accomplished performer is expected to return next season. The Etoile du Nord was not brought forward till the middle of July : its production and success are fresh in the memory of our musical readers. The only opera of Mozart was Don Giovanni, carelessly got up and in- differently performed. Tamburini, as an actor, was still the beau ideal of the high-bred libertine, but he cannot now do justice to the music. Mo- _tares masterpiece, thus treated, made no impression, and had only two representations. The Prophlte, too, was brought out with a f rest dimi- nution of its pristine splendour. Tamberlik, with all his ment, does not fill Mario's place as John of Leyden : the choruses were coarsely sung, and the opera was strangely mutilated. Meyerbeer by this time had left London : he would not have been much gratified by this manner of per- forming his work. The other principal operas were-Fiddle, with Made- Ney ; B Conte Ory, with Gardoni ; the Elisir d'ilinore and .Dots Pasquale, with Lablache, who throughout the season has showed unabated vigour; Otetio, with Tamberlik and Madame Viardot ; and Ernani and the Puritani, with Mademoiselle Bosio. This lady has become one o the greatest favourites of the public : her singing is the perfection of the florid style. Besides the above, she appeared in Zerlina and several other parts but her greatest triumph was the performance of Catherine in the Dad du Nord. Graziani, the new baritone, made a favourable debut in Ernani, and contributed to the success of the Trovatore : his voice has the softness of a tenor, but his singing lacks grace and polish, and as an actor he has still much to learn. Formes, as usual, has held an import- ant position : his principal parts have been Marcel in the Huguenots, Basilic* in the Barldere, and Peter in the Etoile du Nord,-a character assigned to him at the composer's express desire. Mademoiselle Marai has through- out the season been a most satisfactory seconds donna.
The Ballet never has been made a feature at this theatre. Cerito has been engaged during the season ; but she has danced only in one or two trifling divertissements, which have attracted very little attention.
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