usir.
"The Season" is fast drawing to a close, and apparently will not be prolonged by the protracted session of Parliament-if, indeed, the session of Parliament be protracted ; for we much doubt, notwithstanding what Lord Palmerston and Lord John said the other evening, whether all their power will be sufficient to keep the honourable gentlemen together when once their hearts are in the Highlands, shooting the grouse. The gaieties of London cease when the Sovereign withdraws from them ; and her Majesty, it is understood, has taken leave of town for the season. The hubbub of our multitudinous conceits is over, and the Italian Opera- houses, it is expected, will both be closed in a fortnight. Then the voice of music will be silent among us, and the tuneful tribes will wing their flight to other climes, till another season shall bring them back again. Meyerbeer's long-expected opera is yet to be produced ; but this is not inconsistent with the speedy closing of Covent Garden. It has been de- layed too long, to the composer's annoyance, it is said. But the same was the case four years ago, with the Doll° du Nord, which was not per- formed till the very fag-end of the season. After all the cost and labour bestowed upon the preparation of Dinorah, or The Pilgrimage of Ploermel, (the name now given to the piece,) it can have very few nights this year, and Mr. Gye must look for reimbursement to its success the next. It is announced for this evening.
Mr. Smith, of Drury Lane, who started his " Royal Italian Opera" on the cheap system, has now carried cheapness to a degree altogether unheard-of in connexion with an entertainment of this class. His original rates were the old Drury Lane "playhouse prices ;" but he now advertises the following rates : Boxes, second circle, half-a-crown ; Pit, two shillings; Lower gallery, one shilling ; 'Upper gallery, sixpence. This is, indeed, Italian opera for the million ! But we remain uncon- vinced, either that the Italian Opera is a suitable entertainment for the million, or, supposing it were, that it is possible to bring it, properly performed, within reach of the million. The notion of its being practicable to provide a first-rate Italian Company, a fine orchestra, a powerful chorus, and all "the appliances and means to boot," which are necessary to constitute a great operatic establishment, with such prices as the above, is palpably absurd. To make the specu- lation "pay," there is nothing for it but economy-a penurious plan of pinching and paring down every item of expense : and, when this is done, the entertainment may perhaps be palatable to the million, but it will be intolerable to any person of ordinary taste. During the last period of Mr. Lumley's management of Her Majesty's Theatre, we often warned him against the consequences 'of his low prices, as tending to lower the tone of his performances and the position of his theatre-consequences which, as all the world knows, did not fail to ensue.
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