THE ITALIAN OPERA.
IT seems to be Mr. LUMLEY'S policy this season not to aim at a succession of novelties, but rather to revive those well-known operas, of the fashionable class, which develop most advantageously the capa- bilities of his superb company. The only piece never performed here before was DoNmerris Addia, which began the season ; but, though there is no scarcity of similar novelties, the manager, from that time to this, has had no more of them. It would be too much, however, to go on so for the whole season. Linda di Chamouni, the last effort of DosazErrfs industry, is to be produced next Thursday, for Paastasn's benefit.
Since we last noticed this theatre, two pieces have been performed, which, though not new, have from the change of cast assumed a new aspect. In the Puritani, additional interest was given to the drama by Foasummu's personation of the stern and melancholy Puritan captain; whose gleams of tenderness and passion, piercing through his cold exterior, were beautifully represented by the actor. Maim, too, looked the noble young Cavalier more to the purpose than his dumpy and hard-faced predecessor, BUBINL With their excellent performance, and the beautiful acting and singing of GRIST, this opera was very at- tractive. The other was DoNiziarri's Lucrezia Borgia ; a piece founded on a revolting subject, and without a grain of merit either dramatic or musical, yet so well fitted to display the peculiar powers of Gana, MARIO, and LABLACHE, that it has been received with great favour, and repeated several nights to crowded houses.
A few words on the Ballet. PERROT, who used to bound about like a tennis-ball, limped down to the foot-lights the other night with a crutch-stick, to receive the congratulations of the house on his conva- lescence. Though scarcely able to put his hart leg to the ground, he went through the part of Le Diable Boiteux in the ballet of Alma, and made it something better than a lame affair ; supporting some danseuse round the waist while she formed an angle of 120 degrees with her legs, or giving her a lift to achieve some otherwise im- possible feat of agility, and even managing to turn a pirouette himself on his sound limb. He hovered haltingly about the stage, looking with quaint significance at the dancers, as if the &mon of lameness threatening them with his spells ; and altogether was as amusing as when he twirled round like a tetotum, twiddled his calves in the air, turned his back on himself, and performed other in- credible achievements. It would not have been out of character had he come in on crutches, with his lame leg in a sling ; and he would have made more fun in this way. So it turns out, after all, that a disabled dancer can be efficient in a ballet—that is, if he be an expert pantomi- mist. Good pantomime is entertaining without dancing ; but dancing is tiresome without pantomime. Counoat does not dance, but his ges- ticulation has the significance of speech ; and he always interests by his mute eloquence, for it has a distinctly intelligible meaning : for him to speak would be supererogatory. Graceful and expressive pantomime is one of the great merits of FANNY ELSSLER: without it, her dancing, unrivalled as it is for its combination of precision and brilliancy, power and elegance, would lose its crowning charm—intellectual sentiment. This is an excellence that other dancers want, or only possess in a limited degree; and hence their performance is comparatively unin- teresting, and soon grows tiresome. Dancing without pantomime is like singing without sentiment ; or rather, like a vocal exercise, having no meaning : in effect, the ordinary pas seal, or pas de deux, is but an exercise of the limbs, more remarkable for its difficulty than grace, and attractive only to connoisseurs of dancing—or of the human figure. These remarks have been suggested by a frequent complaint of the monotony and repetition in the ballet performances, especially since FANNY ELSSLER departed. Cum's() is both a delightful dancer and her pantomime is pleasing : her performance in Alma is as beautiful as lively. Not so with the Coryphees, who do but repeat the feats that they and others have performed over and over again, with certain modifi- cations. The fault is less theirs than the system of French dancing, which substitutes the means for the end, and treats us to an exercise instead of a performance. In character-dances, like the Cachnea, the Cracovienne, and others, this tedium is not felt; indeed they are almost always encored: there is something of the semblance of national character in them, and the face as well as the feet comes into play. But in the " exercises" alluded to, the performer might as well exhibit in a mask, for any expression the countenance wears, except the fixed smirk of complacency which is put on to hide any appearance of efforts
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