Muir.
At Her Majesty's Theatre there has been a series of" last nights" of Mademoiselle Titiens in consequence of the supposed necessity for the fair prima donna's immediate departure for Vienna ; but., fortunately for the theatre and its habitues, she has obtained a prolongation of her leave of absence for three weeks more. She will not now, it is believed, ap- pear in any new part ; but when she returns next season she will, it is expected, bring with her a greatly extended repertoire. Mademoiselle Titiens is, as yet, new to the Italian stage, having gained her great re- putation entirely as a German singer. All the characters in which she
has appeared here have been studied by her, in Italian, expressly for Her Majesty's Theatre ; and the admirable manner in which she has conquered the difficulties of a language to which she had previously been unused, shows the extent of her capacity, as her grand and beautiful performances have shown the greatness of her genius. Neither has any fresh novelty been presented by the Royal Italian Opera. But something is expected from Flotow's Martha, which is an- nounced for this evening. From what we know of this opera, which is of several years' standing, we wonder it has not been sooner produced in England, for it has had much success abroad. It is a lively comic piece, on the subject of the popular French drama Lady Henriette which has been brought on our stage in several shapes, and, in particular, in that of a clever opera called The Maid of Honour, by Balfe which was pro- duced at Drury Lane several years ago with considerable success. Since the appearance of Madame Viardot at Drury Lane (which we noticed last week) that theatre has had another important accession in the person of Madame Persiani, who has appeared as Elvira in the Puritani. This lady, so long one of the brightest stars of our Italian stage, is certainly no longer what she has been. But she still looks sur- prisingly youthful ; her voice, though weaker than formerly, continues to be sweet and flexible, and she retains those qualities of a great artist which resist the influence of time. She is still a charming Elvira; and, as such, was received by the Drury Lane audience with all possible 'warmth. Another accession to this theatre is spoken of—the veteran Tamburini who, it is said, has actually accepted an engagement offered him by Mr. Smith, and is about to appear.
As the season draws to a close the Concerts thicken. This week there have been many, great and small ; but we can notice only a few of the most remarkable.
The Philharmonic Society concluded its season on Monday with a most brilliant performance, which was honoured by the presence of the Queen and Prince Consort, the King of the Belgians and the other illustrious foreign visitors to the English Court. The selection of music was of the usual kind; - but one thing was remarkable as showing the great im- pression made this season by the celebrated young violinist Joachim He was engaged for the third time at these concerts this season and played two concertos, one of which (Mendelssohn's) he played for the second time. It is universally allowed that we have had no such vio- linist in England since Paganini. The Philharmonic Society has had a most successful season : its temporary depression a few years ago, has been changed to prosperity since Professor Sternda1e Bennett has been placed at the head of the orchestra ; and its reputation throughout Eu- rope is even greater and more confirmed than it has been at any former period.
On Wednesday there was a "Juvenile Choral Meeting" of the Tonic Sol-fa Association at the Crystal Palace. This Association, whose labours we have noticed more than once, is doing great things in diffusing a knowledge of and taste for good music among
the people. In their schools, singing is taught by a simple and ingenious method, the efficacy of which is proved by ample ex- perience. On Wednesday 3500 children were assembled, gathered from above seventy public and private schools of all Christian denominations in and round London ; and these, together with 500 adult pupils, formed a choir of 4000 voices, who sang a great variety of pieces—psahns, chorales, secular part songs, &c.—with a purity of harmony and beauty of effect which delighted the vast multitude who came to hear them. The number of visitors to the Crystal Palace on that occasion was stated to be above 29,000.
A concert on a great scale was given at St. James's Hall on Wednes- day evening for the benefit of the Royal Academy of Music - the funds of this national institution, we regret to hear, standing in need of such assistance. The Queen was present, together with a great number of persons of distinction ; and, as the hall was full, and the price of admis- sion was a guinea, a large sum must have been received. The only re- markable feature of the concert was a Mass composed by the Earl of Westmoreland, which did honour to the talents of this noble amateur.
M. and Madame Otto Goldschmidt, with their two children, arrived in London a few days ago, with the intention, we understand, of residing permanently in this country. There is reason to hope that we may once more hear the song of the Swedish Nightingale.
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