6,50 



Month/y Theatrical Report. 



[DEC. 



formed the style which has given him such 

 distinguished celebrity. It was highly po- 

 pular, in its day, we will allow ; but its po- 

 pularity chiefly arose from the novelty of 

 bringing the whole force of the German or- 

 chestra into the accompaniment. Mozart 

 triumphed by this new auxiliary ; but, in his 

 future pieces, he looked to the surer source 

 of fine melodies, and has, in consequence, 

 retained a rank upon the stage, which other- 

 wise would have perished with the first ho- 

 nours of the " Seraglio." 



With a vast quantity of rich accompani- 

 ment, and laborious composition, we doubt 

 whether the opera contains a single air 

 which an English audience would ever de- 

 sire to hear. But one was encored on the 

 first night, a little melody sung by Madame 

 Vestris, and indebted for its fortune solely 

 to the acting of this ingenious performer. 

 But we are glad to see managers looking to 

 Germany : the school is rich in fine compo- 

 sition. There are a hundred operas in the 

 German library, not one of which has been 

 known here, but which would, with a cer- 

 tain adaptation, be highly popular. But that 

 adaptation is necessary. A few graceful 

 airs, added from our English stores, to the 

 " Seraglio," would have given it a spirit 

 which it entirely wants, and have probably 

 gone far to insure its permanent success 

 upon our stage. This may not be too late 

 yet ; and the experiment is well worth being 

 made. 



The scenery and general equipment of the 

 opera deserve peculiar praise. Four or five 

 of the scenes were equal to any work of the 

 pencil that we remember in theatres. Bold, 

 simple, and picturesque, they united beauty 

 of design with vigour of execution, in a sin- 

 gular and admirable degree. The first 

 scene, the Ruins of the Temple of Bacchus, 

 is magnificent ; the pellucid water, the wild 

 abruptness of the mountain above, the rich 

 and time-coloured beauty of the mouldering 

 columns and statuary, are perfect. If the 

 design could be transferred with equal effect 

 to canvass, we know no price that would be 

 beyond its value. The seraglio garden, 

 with an ancient fort in the background ; 

 and the scene of an amphitheatre in ruins, a 

 bold and broken view of island landscape, 

 combined with fine architectural remains, 

 deserve similar praise. The concluding- 



scene, the Pasha's palace and grounds, if 

 brilliant, but less to our taste. Its architec- 

 ture is Indian, or Babylonish, not Greek ; 

 and the gaudiness of the colour, the quantity 

 of gilding, and the superabundant bright- 

 ness of the light, are overpowering. The 

 first scene, for us, carries off the palm if it 

 be not rivalled by the amphitheatre. We 

 congratulate Covent Garden on having thus 

 re-asserted its old claim to fine embellish- 

 ment. The processions, dances, and cho- 

 russes, were excellent. A festival of Bac- 

 chus, by torchlight, was perfectly classic ; 

 and the sailing in of the Pasha's gondola 

 was one of the most showy exhibitions of 

 the stage. The house was crowded, and the 

 opera was applauded to the conclusion. 



Giving due credit to managers for having 

 done so much, we must still ask why they 

 have so far forgotten the old sources of po- 

 pularity, as not to take advantage of public 

 events ? In the late war, the stage reflected 

 the Gazette, and every Briti-h exploit was 

 presented to the public eye with the vivid- 

 ness that nothing but the stage can give. 

 From the capture of a fleet to the cutting 

 out of a frigate, was commemorated ; and 

 nothing could have been at once more at- 

 tractive to a British audience, more gratify- 

 ing to the heroic doers of the deed, or, in a 

 higher sense, more suitable and congenial 

 to the manly spirit of the nation. Yet a 

 great battle has been fought by the favourite 

 arm of England, a victory gained, whose 

 consequences may be of the most pregnant 

 import to Europe ; a bloody, base, and ma- 

 lignant persecutor taught to feel that mas- 

 sacre must have its punishment; and a 

 Christian people, the most interesting from 

 old recollections, the most unhappy from 

 remorseless slavery, and the most meri- 

 torious from desperate risks and unwearied 

 resistance under all disasters, of any people 

 on whom the sun shines the Greek na- 

 tion protected by the shield of England the 

 first of the ancient lands of freedom lifted 

 up in its wounds and chains, by the first of 

 the modern empires, in which freedom is 

 the living principle. Yet Navarino has 

 passed by without an attempt at its celebra- 

 tion. This argues badly at once for the 

 taste, the public tact, and the activity of both 

 houses. We hope the stigma will not be 

 left to the suburb stage to remove. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



DOMESTIC. 

 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. 



This society resumed its meetings on 

 Thursday the fifteenth instant ; but the only 

 circumstance worthy of notice that occurred, 

 was a proposal for giving an addition to the 

 salary of one of the secretaries, for editing- 

 its publications. Now, as we have been in- 



duced to pay attention to the proceedings of 

 this fraternity, in consequence of some re- 

 cent exposures of the ridiculous manner 

 in which it is conducted, the prostitution of 

 its funds, and the total neglect of the ob- 

 jects for which it was formed, we are deci- 

 dedly of opinion that, instead of rewarding 

 the editor of such frivolous articles, all 

 who are in any way concerned in pro- 



