THE THEATRES.

COVENT GARDEN.

Rossma's opera of Semiramide was brought out at Covent Garden, as we announced, on Saturday night, partly for the purpose of giving Miss JUMBLE a new character, but chiefly to introduce Mrs. ALrazn Salm to the English stage. Our opinion of the policy and propriety of exhibiting Italian operas in an English dress is well known, and this last attempt has served to confirm it. If such an experiment could succeed at all, it would be when tried upon the heroic rather than the comic opera of Italy, since the former is more susceptible of conversion into a foreign language than the latter. The graceful facilities of the Italian language, and the elegance which it infuses even into the common conversation of natives, are utterly incapable of transfer into any other. Even to the nonsense of the opera buffs it imparts a certain degree of polish. The pomp and elevation of heroic poetry can be attained in a new language with greater success, since it is the diction of books, not of conversation. Here a model is imitated which all nations equally study and copy. It is altogether artificial, and is the COSIIIIOR possession of civilized and cultivated society. Again, the peculiar characteristics of different languages—their excellencies, their deficiencies, their resources—are conspicuously apparent when applied to the purpose of translation. Every work of imagination is not alike capable of transfusion into a foreign tongue ; one is better suited to the genius of one language, another to the capabilities of another. Thus, MILTON is best translated into Italian, SHAKSPERE into German. But the attempt to transfer the lyric drama of Italy to the English stage has never succeeded. The very attempt betrays the ignorance of those who venture upon it. The English product is invariably hard, bald, and feeble—a ludicrous abortion, at which the ignorant wonder and the judicious grieve. It is this per se, antecedently to and without reference to public performance, where fresh difficulties (arising from the same cause) encounter and embarrass the attempt at every step. In order to render such an exhibition tolerable, or present any thing like a faithful representation of the original, it would be necessary to exchange one absurdity for another, and commit it into the hands of Italian singers tutored into the power of stuttering our language : for if here and there an English singer, from the possession of unusual gifts and acquirements. have acquired the true Italian style and obtained celebrity even in Italy, such instances are rare. A Brum:arm.; or a BRAHAM arises scarcely once in a generation. But even supposing the Italian style to be acquired by a singer or two in the cast of an opera, the English training of all the rest will only be the more conspicuously apparent, and stand out in more palpable and ludicrous contrast. Bu.mtroTort was too good a judge of her art to peril her reputation as a singer of Italian music by an alliance with English performers. She was a mistress of both schools, and she displayed her power over each in its proper place. In the operas of WINTER, Been, PAISIELLO, and Mozater, she was the prima donna of the King's Theatre—the associate of GRASSINI, VIGANONI, and ROVEDINO. When she assumed the character of an English artist, it was in company with INcLunorr, KELLY, DIGNUM, and Mrs. BLAND, and in the operas of ARNE, SHIELD, and STORACE. This was the wise and the successful course of one who thoroughly knew her art in all its phases and diversities. The other is adopted by persons of less knowledge, less experience, and less discernment: and difficulties multiply upon it at every step. They commence with the translation : they attend the representation of every Italian opera, in every foreign language, and by all foreign singers. Nor can they be overcome. To every one cognizant of the language, the music, the vocal training of Italy, these exhibitions invariably present an absurd caricature of their originals—the lyric drama of Italy reflected in a concave mirror, where, every feature being distorted and nothing appearing natural or graceful, nothing is pleasing. It is, therefore, a proof of waning judgment and depraved taste on the part of the Covent Garden manager to originate an exhibition of this kind, as well as of all the performers who were voluntarily aiding and abetting it. The rest deserve only pity. Think of such stuff as this being produced.on the stage by one ICEMBLE and uttered by another— the stage too which SI:ODORS once trod!— " Sernarinside. These signs unearthly, what do they portend? Tell me, de.

dare, if still the gods do frown on Babylon ? Oroe (most markedly and mysteriously.) There yet are crimes atrocious, crimes unrepented, crimes hidden, crimes unpunished!

Idre. What appalling mystery !

Semir. (aside.) Heaven! Assur (aside—quailing under the look of Oroe.) Those startling glance.!

&intr. But! then ! if!

Oroe (interrupting, still with marked mystery.) Full shortly:there may arrive the moment sacred to vengeance and pledged to peace. Semir. 0 quick return thee, Arsace. Assur. The successor to the throne!

Oroe. He will be named.

Assur. When?

Oroe. E'en on this day, soon as he arriveth from Memphis, the sacred

oracle.

Semir. At that I tremble !"

The author of this precious combination of words bearing the semblance of English is announced to be a Mr. REYNOLDSON—a feigned name, if report speaks truly as to its real parent. But we ask in sober sadness, can it be matched by the poet of the 'Whitechapel or the City Road Theatre ? is such stuff recited at the Pavilion or the Eagle Tavern ? would not their butcher and Jew auditors feel themselves insulted by it? Musically regarded, the character of the libretto is still lower. The recitative is written in prose ; and every song and concerted piece (which ought, correctly, to preserve the metre of the original) is disfigured with defective rhythm, false accent, and limping stanzas. Its nonsense-verses have not even the right number of feet ; and the libretto is not a translation of Semiramide, but a vile burlesque. And this at Covent Garden, and under the management of a KErant vl—fie, fie ! If Miss KEKBLE and Mrs. SHAW possessed the true spirit and feeling of artists, they would have regarded the proposal to adopt and utter such trash as an insult, and have rejected it with merited contempt.

Of the opera itself we have frequently had occasion to speak, and as frequently have derived pleasure from hearing it. Certainly on the present occasion we received little. A more wearisome infliction, regarded as a whole, we have rarely had to endure. But let us not lay the blame on ROSSINL He would seldom have been able to recognize. his work, and we often could scarcely persuade ourselves that we were actually listening to it. Miss KEMBLE has gained no increase of fame by her performance of Semiramide. It is a part to which she is not equal. Norma has few vocal difficulties ; Semiramide has many, and Miss KEMBLE was subdued by them. Her singing was often coarse, and in the endeavour to get through her passages tone and tune were unsparingly sacrificed : in place of Italian voicing and Italian grace we often heard all sorts of uncouth noises. Her articulation was so bad that with the book in our hands we often could not follow her.

Mrs. Smaw will scarcely be forgotten by our readers ; but, after several years' absence, it may be necessary to remind some of her, first as Miss Poszaria, and afterwards under her married name, as a promising concert-singer. She was, a few months since, brought under their notice by a warm and eloquent panegyric, partly prompted by the kind heart of the writer and her pleasure at witnessing the success of a countrywoman in a foreign land. The portrait was a flattering one, but the likeness was on the whole correct, and Mrs. SHAW returns to England to assume a higher station, as well as to occupy a more prominent position, than the one she left. Her voice was scarcely susceptible of improvement at the age at which she quitted her country—it is precisely what it was, but her manner of using it is greatly improved. Her recitative is the most perfect of any English singer's—not a syllable was lost ; her sostenuto is equally excellent, and all her fioriture were in the best possible taste—that is, they were in strict accordance with the style of the eantilena, and executed with ease and accuracy. GIUBILEI was a respectable Assur; and with him our commendation of the singers must end. The others were to be pitied. Completely out of their element, they were unable to give even a feeble realization of the music of Rossini. The only piece encored was the wellknown duet " Giorno d'orrore"; which being a mere quiet succession of thirds, was more welcome to the audience than the previous longer and more difficult duets.

The opera was got up with a degree of splendour that throws its scenic display at the Italian Theatre completely in the shade. In the first scene the tributary nations of the vast Assyrian empire are represented by successive groups bearing presents to their sovereign, until the stage is thronged with the motley and many-coloured crowd. The dresses are gorgeous, the scenery is splendid. In all these points the skill and taste of the manager are conspicuous. But we doubt the at tractive power of this Anglo-Italian opera. To the audience in general it is a mere spectacle and concert ; there is no story that pantomime can tell, and without the English version it is nothing else. Of the dialogue, that only spoken by Mrs. SHAW was intelligible, save here and there a word. Of course, none of the persons or incidents excited the slightest sympathy ; and when the dead bodies of Semiramis and Assnr lay on the stage, few understood why they were brought to such an"untimely end."

The house was well filled; and the ladies were greeted with the most flattering applause—Mrs. SHAw having, deservedly, the largest share. DRURY LANE.

The opening of Drury Lane on Saturday was most auspicious : the house was well attended, and a tempest of gratulation, which raged throughout the evening with intermissions of calm, bursting forth with redoubled vehemence at the close of the performance, rewarded Mr. MACREADY for his successful efforts to please the public, and restore the spirit as well as the text of SHABSPERE to the stage. As You Like It was represented on this occasion as the poet wrote it, for the first time in the memory of the present generation of playgoers, and, it may be said without presumption, as he would have wished to see it represented—at least so far as the scenic accessories are concerned. The spectacle is not merely correct and elegant, but suggestive; aiding the fancy in realizing the local and other characteristics of every scene, according to the poetic indications of the dialogue. The architectural views are designed in the old French style ; and the sylvan scenes have a wild and primitive aspect, denoting the remoteness and seclusion of that "desert inaccessible" the Forest of Arden: old trees of giant growth spread their gnarled and knotted arms, forming a "shade of melancholy boughs" for the banished Duke and his sylvan court; the swift brook brawls along its pebbly bed; the sheep-bell's "drowsy tinkling" is heard from the fold on the hill-side ; and the lodge in the wilderness, overgrown with creeping plants, is musical with birds. The scene of the wrestling is admirably managed, and a prominence is given to it which is due to its importance as the incident on which the drama turns : the stage crowd of eager spectators pressing round the roped ring and cheering the wrestlers showed as much excitement as the larger arena of the audience. The last scene, a stately vista of lofty trees, in which a floral temple is erected by the foresters for Hymen's altar, is a pretty fancy in pastoral taste. In short, nothing is wanting to complete the scenic pictures ; nor is any thing overdone. The acting is less unexceptionable. Mrs. NisnETT'a Rosalind is no personation of the character, being utterly devoid of sentiment, and deficient in depth and earnestness : it is a very pleasant performance of the "saucy lacquey " that Rosalind affects to be, the arch manner and joyous spirit of the actress giving piquancy to the assumption ; but there is no under-current of tender and impassioned feeling. The Celia of Mrs. Swarm% is more Shaksperian ; cordial in its sprightliness, and showing a deep sensibility underneath its graceful vivacity. Mr. ANDERSON'S Orlando is manly, energetic, and chivalrous ; and he wrestles well. Mr. PriErani as Adam gives touching expression to the homely pathos of the devoted old servant. Mr. MAcrtEADv's Jaques is excellent ; he has caught the true spirit of the character, and develops it admirably : Jaques is no misanthrope, but a wilful man of a melancholy mood, 'whose contempt for humanity is more nearly allied to pity than hate his sarcasms are humorous not bitter, and his brusquerie any thing but savage. We never heard MACREADY deliver a speech with such spontaneous ease as the famous one of the "seven ages of man": he spoke it as giving utterance to thought suggested at the instant by the foregoing remark of the Duke. A Mr. RYDER made his first appearance as the banished Duke, and acquitted himself with propriety ; bat neither he nor Mr. GRAHAN, as the elder brother Oliver, made any impression. Mr. G. BENNETT, as the usurping Duke, is taiperlittously brutal and coarse—a tyrant need not be a bully : G. BEN. awry is one of the most conspicuous of those maeadamizers of dialogue who break sentences into bits with the hammer of their emphasis. KEELEY'S Touchstone is a pleasant mixture of clown and courtier: he is a kind-hearted fellow whose gibes are uttered in the exercise of his craft, angering no one ; and his quaintness is quite in character. Mrs. KEELEY is amusing as Audrey ; but she does not look the stolid, unsophisticated, and ungainly country-wench. Mr. ALLEN, as Amiens, sings the two beautiful songs that fall to his share very sweetly : both they and the concerted pieces, in which Mr. H. PHILLIPS takes a part, glide as naturally into the business of the scene as the dialogue itself, in place of being an excrescent nuisance, which introduced music commonly is. Mr. MAcEEADv's system of stage-management Is now conspicuously successful. Completeness and finish in the various parts of the representation, and a careful fitting of them together so as to form one entire whole, are the points aimed at. The action and progress of the successive scenes are continuous ; the integrity of the drama is preserved ; there is no sacrificing of unity and propriety to exhibit this or that particular performer : MACREADY, as Jaques, for instance, takes his place as one of the Duke's retinue ; and whatever prominence the character has is that intended by the author, and legitimately given to it by the tamers of the actor. This is a new and admirable feature in modern stage-representation ; the effect of which is felt by many of the audience who do not perceive the cause, and are not therefore aware of the great pains bestowed to .give this value to the performance. Rich as the Drury Lane company is in talent, it is impossible that every part of a numerous cast should be perfectly filled; but individual deficiencies are merged in the general propriety and excellence of the representation, to which individual merits contribute more powerfully than ever : the gems and the paste are alike well set, and the lustre of the real stones diverts attention from the false.

These remarks apply equally to the performance of Hamlet and Marino Faliero, in each of which the principal character, personated by MACREADY,. stands more alone ; for even in these, though the stagepicture often presents but one prominent figure, the background and the scenic context, so to speak, form part of the composition, and neutralize any notion of' monodrama. MACREADY'S assumption of age in the choleric old Doge, Marino Faliero, supplies the only element of Sympathy for the petty, selfish pride, and vindictive vanity, which could resent a personal affront by a wholesale slaughter of the Senators : his mortification and spleen, and his frantic exultation when he hears the bell that tolls the knell of his enemies, are expressed with great intensity. But no acting, however fine, can redeem the inherent vice of this and other dramas of BYRON—Ihe absence of noble motives and generous sympathies in the principal characters. Miss Hsi T.N FAIN= made her first appearance as the young wife of the Doge : but she has to declaim boastfully when a true woman would have thought only of her husband's peril : so the Doge, when he ands he cannot address the people, treats the Senators, whom he affects to despise, with a magniloquent dying-speech, more calculated to excite their contempt than admiration. The scenery is Venetian, and therefore eminently picturesque ; and the costumes are superbly correct.

Nor is it tragedy and SHAKSPERE only that they care for at Drury Lane: the same attention to minutite, and corresponding propriety and elegance, are shown in entertainments of a lighter character. Madame VESTRIES and MY. CHARLES MATHEWS made their first appearance On Wednesday, in a French vaudeville, translated by PLANCHF, of which the mire en scene is as splendid as it could have been had the theatre been under their management ; it was their Olympic on a grand scale. The Follies of a Night is a bustling, petite comedy of intrigue ; the main incident of which is the Duke de Chartres pursuing his own wife at a masquerade, and having for a rival Pierre Palliot, the son of a country blacksmith, who has come to Paris to seek his fortune. Mr. C. MATHEWS was received with remarkable cordiality : the first words he utters, "Well, here I am at last—who would have thought it ? " were applied by the audience to his change of situation, as they were meant to be ; and this good-humoured recognition gave the tone to the whole performance. Madame VESTRIS was welcomed with equal enthusiasm : she looked extremely well, and sang two little songs very charmingly. CHARLES MATHEWS as the adventurer throws a tinge of rusticity into his gallantry and address, and is a most mercurial young spark ; and VESTA'S plays the coquette with her wonted elegance and ease. Mr. HUDSON, in the Duke de Chartres, appears to better advantage than he has ever done, his vivacity not being too boisterous, and he sings a song of rakish sentiment with gusto and piquancy. Courson, as Dr. Druggmulraft, a court physician in a perpetual state of bewilderment, is droll without buffoonery. The effect of the little songs, unintroduced by symphony, as if they were but vocal terminations to the dialogue, is very pleasant : we are glad to see the practice of the French stage in this particular naturalized at an English theatre. The opening scene of a masked ball in the time of Louis Quatorze, and the closing one of a saloon in the Duke's palace, are magnificent and brilliant. With a little curtailment, this lively vol-au-vent will pass off with the lightness and rapidity necessary to its unsubstantiality. The performance of the Rivals last night is an exception to our general commendation, even as regards the setting-out of the stage. The changes in the cast were not for the better, saving in the solitary instance of Fag ; whom Mr. C. MATHEWS made a prettier fellow than any of the gentlemen were, yet preserving the obsequious alacrity of the lackey. Mr. LAMBERT has neither the force, presence, nor high breeding necessary for Sir Anthony Absolute: he often missed obvious points of the dialogue; and his passionate temper, instead of exploding like a mine, only fizzed like ill-corked ginger-beer. Nevertheless, Mr. LAMBERT has some good qualities, that may be useful in less weighty parts ; his voice is good if his face is not, and his style is cordial and easy. KEF.LEY makes Acres comical ; but the character does not suit him, and he seemed to feel this. Still greater was the misgiving of Mr. IlEwsors, who made an imperfect attempt on the character of Sir Lucius 0' Trigger, that only flashed in the pan. Mrs. C. JONES'S Mrs. Malaprop is the best we have seen since Mrs. DAVENPORT; surpassing even Mrs. GLOVER'S in the dense unconsciousness of her "derangements of epitaphs." Mrs. NisnErs's Lydia Languish is wilful and winning enough, if too sprightly. Mr. ANDERSON'S Captain Absolute and the Julia and Falkland of Miss HELEN FAtrar and Mr. PHELPS are sufficiently well known and appreciated. Mr. C,omproat's David deserves praise for clownish dulness unalloyed by coarseness or violence. As a whole, this representation of the Rivals is inferior to that at Covent Garden last season.