ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC.
WHO drills the orchestra of this institution ? Who is the re- sponsible chief? and to whom is he answerable? 1Ve ask these questions, because we must tell hint, that the performance of' the instrumental pieces, at the concert on Saturday last, was highly discreditable, and that a few more of such exhibitions will sink the Academy irrecoverably. We do not quarrel with defective bowing or blowing—these are imperfections which can only he remedied by continued tuition and practice : it is with time we have to do; and surely it is not necessary for us to insist upon this most essential featnre in the proper performance of a piece of musk.. The execution of ISIENDELssonsr's Overture to the Midsninwr Night's Dream, will long be remembered by those who were doomed to listen to it. We hesitate not to assert, that it was played, throughout, one-half quicker than it ought to have been—than the author intended it : indeed, at the coda, it be- came quite intolerable. The poetical beauty, the romance of the composition, was destroyed; nothing remained but an unmeaning sawing of catgut and blowing of horns. Why will the Directors, or whoever is to blame, put these young men to things so far beyond their reach? Has HAYDN become too old-fashioned even for practice? Let hint be their text-book : then MOZART, and then BEETHOVEN and his successors, may be attempted, with some success. What would people say, if a master of elocution were to take one of SHAKSPE ARE'S finest passages, and rattle it over like a schoolboy conning his lesson ? Yet the performance of MENDELSSOHN'S Overture has called forth a flattering encomium from a critic in the Morning Herald: the critic says, that it was " cleverly" performed! Dues he understand this Overture—does he know any thing of the matter?
The only agreeable and satisfactory performance was the Con- certo played by Mr. P. Joit:ssosr. He has an excellent touch, a considerable command of the instrument, and promises to do much credit to his admirable instructor, CRAMER. The Mount of Olives was respectably given; Mrs. E. SEGUIN'S beautiful voice almost atoning for the mediocrity of the rest.
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