31134.
At length we have had something new at the Covent Garden English Opera, but of so trifling a kind that the slightest mention of it is suffi- cient. It is an " operetta " in one act, called The Marriage of Georgette, an English version of a piece composed by Victor Masse, called Zee Neves de Year nette, performed at the Opera Comique with more success than it meets with here, being better suited to the French than the English taste. It has only two characters, and nothing that can be called a plot. A country clown, about to be married, takes fright at the last moment, and " bolts " in the middle of the ceremony ; and the story, such as it is, eons. sista of the arts and blandishments with which the girl succeeds in recon- ciling him to his fate. The music is of the slightest description, yet-full
of florid passages, enormously difficult, and quite absurd in the mouths of rustics. The only attraction the piece possesses is in Louisa Pyne's lively acting in the part of the little grisette, and the admirable brilliancy of her vocal execution.
We are glad to see that Balfe's long-expected opera is at length an- nounced as being immediately forthcoming. It is called Bianca; or, the Bravo's Bride.
The Paris Italian Opera flourishes at present. The company—strong, too, in other respects—includes three of our greatest favourites, Mario, Alboni, and Ronconi, performers unrivalled in their several lines. The result is an uninterrupted succession of splendid performances and crowded houses.
The French musical theatres of Paris shame us by their activity in the production of novelty. At the Opera Comique a new opera by Scribe and Auber is in full preparation. A fresh work after a long interval, from these illustrious veterans of the stage, who have achieved together so many triumphs, is a thing to be looked for with extreme interest. At the same theatre another new opera, called Andre, the words by Leuven and the music by Porse, has been accepted. At the Theatre Lyrique, Madame "Viardot has resumed her unrivalled per- formance in Gliick's Orphe'e, and a young singer, Mademoiselle Oruil, has made a successful debut in the character of Eurydice.
Richard Wagner's opera, Der Fliegender Hollander (The Flying Dutchman), is enjoying great success on the Vienna stage ; so great, that this composer's habitual detractors have considerably changed their tone with respect to his merits. It is vain to deny that he is a man of great and original genius, who will probably make his way with the public in spite of the hostility of critics. Madame Castellan, who was long so great a favourite at both our Italian theatres, and whose absence of late years has been deservedly regretted by our opera-going public, has been singing with great success at the Court concerts at Hanover. These concerts are now directed by another London favourite, the unrivalled violinist Joachim, who has lately received the appointment of Kapellmeister to the King.
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