Of the minor concerts of the week, Mrs. Anderson's has
been the most remarkable ; though it can hardly be called a minor concert, considering the very great scale on which it was got up. It was given on Wednesday morning at Covent Garden, and employed the whole strength of the Royal Italian Opera—principal singers, orchestra, and chorus—with only the exceptions of Grisi and Mario, who do not sing at any concerts. There were also several first-rate singers and instrumentalists not connected with the theatre, particularly Madame Clara Novelle, Miss Louisa Pyne, Signor Piatti, and Signor Bottesini. The musical banquet was not only ample but recherché, and so judiciously varied as to keep up the appetite. Mrs. Anderson was unable to play, having not yet recovered from the effects of a severe accident ; but she appeared by proxy in the person of her niece Mrs. Jewson' to whom, by her instructions, she has imparted a great deal of her own firm and vigorous style. The theatre was filled as on a fashionable opera-night.
At the Musical Union, on Tuesday, in addition to masterpieces of Beet- hoven, Mozart, and Onslow, admirably played, there was a performance which excited much curiosity and interest—a solo for the violin (one of a set of six) composed by old Sebastian Bach. It is a chaconne, in D minor, with variations ; often in harmony of three or four parts, and full of divisions and arpeggios of the most astounding difficulty. One can scarcely imagine why Bach composed these pieces, as there was not a violinist in his day who could execute three bars of any of them, and it requires no less than a Vieuxtemps to play them even now. Ile was the performer on this occasion ; and he did complete justice to the old master's quaint and graceful ideas, which he himself certainly could never have heard realized.
Mr. Frederick Chatterton, the eminent harpist, had a crowded concert at the Hanover Square Rooms on Wednesday morning ; and gratified the audience by several excellent performances on his instrument, of which he is a distinguished master.
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