550 r Theatrical Review. 



engaging, but there is a spice of vulgarity about her which is not 

 pleasant to look upon. 



Saturday, April Sth. The Opera Company returned to the Hay- 

 market on this night. They played the '* Puritani," and of course 

 there can be nothing to criticise, or at least no new criticisms to offer. 

 Suffice it to say that Grisi was as charming as ever, Lablache as 

 tremendous, and Rubini and Tamburini as delightful as heretofore. 

 They met with the most enthusiastic reception, to which they re- 

 sponded by the utmost exertions to please. We long to see them in 

 the new opera by Costa, or in some old one revived, which would be 

 equally novel, and probably much better. 



Tuesday, April ISth. The " Cenerentola" was revived for the first 

 appearance of Madame Albertazzi. Notwithstanding her foreign 

 name, she is an Englishwoman, and married Signer Albertazzi, who 

 was, we believe, employed as a chorus singer at the Opera at the 

 time. During her absence from England she has devoted herself to 

 the improvement of her musical abilities with great assiduity, and. 

 after having enjoyed most extraordinary success at Paris, returns to 

 her native country to make an equally strong impression in her 

 favour. Her voice is a contralto, with a considerable compass in 

 the upper notes, and the whole of it under the most perfect command. 

 The flexibility and delicacy of the upper notes is most remarkable, 

 and told with great effect in the finale. If there be any defect in 

 her organ or acting, it is want of richness and fire ; but we must see 

 her again 'ere we give a determinate opinion on this point. 



Ivanoff and Tamburini filled the parts of the Prince and his Valet. 

 Lablache was the " Don Magnifico." All three were excellent. 



FRENCH PLAYS. 



April 3rd. The French Plays at the Lyceum this year are, we be- 

 lieve, a speculation of Mr. Bunn's, or jointly his with Madame Vert- 

 pre. The promised attractions are great. Vernet is to come, and 

 Lafont is here. For the ladies we are promised Vertpre, Plessy, and 

 Dejazet. Allan, whom some of our readers may remember thirteen 

 years since in Tottenham Street, and his wife Madame Allan Des- 

 preaux, form a part of the company. Both are very clever, though 

 perhaps^ot of the first class. There were four pieces given, all vau- 

 devilles, and depending on the smartness of the dialogue and the vi- 

 vacity of the actors for their success, and not on more solid dramatic 

 qualities. This is probably one reason why translations from this 

 class of entertainment are seldom successful, for it does not often hap- 

 pen that the point and wit of the language is transferred to the imi- 

 tation. One of the pieces, " Un Mariage sans 1'Empire," lately ap- 

 peared at the Olympic in an English dress, but was soon laid aside. 

 It turns on the peculiar manners of the French soldiery, 'a class of 

 men as remarkable in their own way as our blue jackets are in 

 theirs. " Victorin Geoffray" a colonel in Buonaparte's army, is sent 

 by him to marry a lady of noble family and great wealth. She 

 not unnaturally objects to be wooed, wedded, and quitted, in 

 twenty-four hours, especially to a soldier of fortune, whose birth and 



