Music a0 . tbt rant .
SIGNS of returning animation in the musical world are now visible, and concerts have been rather frequent during the past fortnight. The Musical Society of London held the first of its series of four concerts on Wednesday week, St. James's Hall being, as usual, nearly filled with its members alone. Spohr's rather unintelligible prelude to Der Alchemist produced but little effect ; but Hummers concerto in A flat for piano, by Miss Arabella Goddard, restored the tone of the concert, which was further heightened by Sterndale Bennett's Naiades overture—encored,—and culminated in a magni- ficent performance of Beethoven's 8th Symphony, the audience being "played out" by Nicolai's overture to Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor. The only drawback was the injudicious selection of a sceua from Henry Smart's Bertha, which, though admirably sung by Miss Parepa, was rather out of place at a concert of so high a class, to fay nothing of its extreme length. The Monday Popular Concerts have recommenced, M. Sainton leads the quartets in a manner which makes his audienee- regret_ that they have to regret the absence of Joachim. Miss Arabella -biter a long absence, has ' reappeared, and, in addition to all her other qualifications as a pianiste, seems to have acquired an etherial delicacy of touch and execution in pianissimo passages which is absolutely incomparable. The vocal portion of re- cent concerts has been principally drawn from the works of Glinka, the great Russian composer. The fact that such a store of original merit should hitherto have been overlooked, proves alike our musical isolation from the rest of the world, and our debt to Mr. Arthur Chappell, for at length breaking through the routine and red-tape round of selection which formerly prevailed at similar concerts. Glinka certainly possesses a power -of" Melody-painting" which renders his songs a most interesting study. The " Lullaby," sung by Miss Banks, exquisitely beautiful as a mere cradle song, also expresses the cares, fears, and troubles in after life of the sleeping infant with striking power. In the " Orphan's Song," sung by Madame Sainton-Dolby with consum- mate art—the apprehensions of the " Lullaby" are presentiments but too certain of fulfilment, and anything more expressive of dull, heartbroken despair than the corresponding phrases of melody it is difficult to conceive. Schubert's elaborate and beautiful song of " Le Berger stir la Montagne," sung by Mademoiselle Florence Lancia, was the other vocal feature -of the last concert. The Crystal Palace Concerts have also been resumed, that of Saturday last, however, not possessing any peculiar Merit. Hadyn's Sym- phony in D, and Mendelssohn's overture to " Alelusina," were the principal orchestral pieces ; and that tenore ,'obustissinem, Mr. Miranda, and Madame Vinning, the vocalists, while Herr Pokitzas played a rather uninteresting violin solo of his own composition. The National Choral Society gave the Creation, on Wednes- day, with much success, aided by their new and powerful ally, Mr. Sims Reeves. At Covent Garden, Balfe's new opera, The A rmourer of Nantes, is announced for Thursday next, Gounod's Faust having apparently been abandoned for this season. Mr. Mapleson, notwithstanding his great undertakings at Naples, promises to open Her Majesty's Theatre before long, and will, doubtless, give us La Forza del Destino with all its extravagant horrors and Kilkenny cat-like denouement.
At the theatres the only new piece brought out during the week is The Merry Widow, written in the only sense in which English dramatists now-a-days do write, by Mr. Leicester Buckingham—that is to say, adapted by him from the popular French Jeanne qui pleure et Jeanne qui sit, and produced at the St. James's Theatre. Jeanne qui pleure —or, as she now appears, Mrs. Delamere—is a consummate hypocrite, who only affects her sobriquet as an attrac- tion for a second husband, on the notion that men would be anxious for a weeping widow as a sort of widely advertised laudatory epi- taph, in case she a second time proved the survivor. The Merry Widow, on the other hand, is the relict of Colonel Mildmay, killed, as she believes, in India. Colonel Mildmay's mother, however, is still alive, blind, and in a state of health which would render any sud- den shock fatal. Her daughter-in-law, overcome with her own grief, had not courage to break the news of the Colonel's death, and per- suades Florence, his sister, to join in the concealment. In order to carry out the deception, Mrs. Mildmay has to abandon all signs of mourning, mix in society, and from time to time undertakes the wretched task of reading imaginary light-hearted joyous letters from her husband. Such being the state of things, Arthur Aylwyn, an old friend of the family, and engaged to Florence, returns from India, bearing the last words and wishes of Colonel Mildmay. He sees the widow and his fiancee at a ball, and utterly disgusted at their ap- parent heartlessness, falls into the snares of the designing Jeanne qui pleure. Ultimately, through the agency of a bustling, acute, and business-like, though warm-hearted attorney, Mrs. Delamere is exposed, the state of the case gradually dawns upon Arthur, he and Florence are reconciled, and ultimately a real letter arrives from the Colonel, announcing his recovery and approaching arrival, and all ends well. Startlingly improbable as all this is, it may easily be imagined that there is room for the most intensely pathetic acting. The scene in which the widow has to satisfy the anxiety of the doting mother by reading a long and joyous letter, while suffering under the additional pang of the thought that by her deception she has brought about Arthur's abandonment of Florence, is admirably acted by Miss Herbert as the so-called " merry -widow," and Mrs. Frank Matthews as the mother, and brings more tears into the eyes of the audience than have been seen in a London theatre of late. When the real latter arrives Miss Herbert's task is more trying still. She listens at first with indifference, thinking it merely the old, miserable mockery, and the revulsion of feeling on discovering its reality is a still greater proof of Miss Herbert's power. The attorney, who is finally lost in bewilderment at the fact thatrthough he has worked all day without earning a penny, he never felt So ilsppy in his life, is capitally acted by Mr. Frank Matthews. Mr. But:al-2211am has " written" the piece neatly, and altogether The Merry 1Vidow may be pronounced a success.
AMATEUR.
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