THINGS THEATRICAL. 547 



chesra is admirably selected ; powerful in point of numbers, and com- 

 prising the first instrumental talent in this, or, perhaps any other 

 country. And considering the difficulties under which the manager 

 laboured in procuring artistes, particularly Prime Donne, it required 

 no slight energies to produce an opera in a style at all worthy of the 

 high character, and distinguished patronage of the King's Theatre. 

 But this month has introduced not only Rubini, Tamburini, and Zu- 

 chelli : but also the far-famed Grisi, the Russian Ivanhoff, and a 

 native artiste of very considerable merit, Mrs. Seguin. The former are 

 too well known to require criticism. 



La Grisi made her debut as Ninetta, in "La GazzaLadra. The English 

 version of the same drama, The Maid and the Magpie, is familiar to 

 all. Who is there who does not recollect the admirable acting of Miss 

 Kelly in this Character ? And yet, with all her excellencies fresh in 

 our memory, with our predilection for our countrywoman strong 

 upon us, we must confess that La Grisi, as an actress, is fully her 

 equal. In personal attractions she has an advantage which Mies 

 Kelly did not possess : her figure is good, and her countenance full 

 of expressive beauty. And not only is she an actress of genius and 

 .feeling, but also a finished singer of the very first order. 



Her voice is a soprano, rather inclining to a mezzo soprana ; easi- 

 ly reaching from B *> below to the two octaves : rich, firm, and flexi- 

 ble. And it is quite evident from the purity of her intonation, the 

 clearness of her articulation, and the perfect sustentation of its powers 

 to the very fall of the curtain, that the beautiful organ has been care- 

 fully formed under tbe guidance of sterling masters. Her style is 

 ornamented: richly but almost universaliy judiciously ornamented ; 

 and her execution of her embellishments as certain, and as delicate 

 as that of Centi, or Sontag. We could not but contrast her whole 

 performance in our own minds with the meretricious school of soi 

 disant artistes, who have of late attempted to pass off their tinsel or- 

 ament for genuine science. 



Her delivery of the exquisite cavatina Di Piacer, was, in many res- 

 pects a new reading of that well-known song. Were we to criticize 

 strictly, we should say, that in the commencement of the allegro 

 movement, Tutte somdere, she seemed for a moment to forget the 

 actress, in the singer, and sacrificed the bounding expression of elastic 

 joy to the prolongation of sound. But perhaps we are hypercritical; 

 at any rate her duet with Giannetto in the prison, her parting with 

 her Father, and her prayer before she is led off to execution, were as 

 perfect as science and feeling could render them. They were tri- 

 umphs of art they were true out-busts of nature. 



After such a display of excellence in a character so closely border- 

 ing on the tragic, we were most anxious to witness her representation 

 of the heroic drama, and accordingly went to hear her as Anna Bo- 

 lena. We know not why this opera was chosen, except it be that a 

 comparison might be instituted between the debutante and Pasta. 

 Otherwise as a whole it is very dull and heavy : it draws largely 

 on the powers of the heroine to give it effect. La Grisi fully answer- 

 ed to the demand, and was to the full as successful as in the more 

 popular and captivating composition of Rossini. 



