ON TH? PRESENT STATE OP THE OPERA IN LONDO . 47 



cibly struck by a want of precision^ not only in the time, but in the 

 observance oi pianos, fortes, and crescendos ; he feels the absence of 

 that thorough understanding which, in the best German orchestras, 

 pervades the whole, from the conductor and leader down to the 

 drum. This want of understanding is the reason why, in a band 

 containing so many first-rate musicians, we seldom hear a passage 

 well-executed in piano by the whole band ; the fortes thus necessa- 

 rily lose much of their effect, and long crescendos are scarcely at- 

 tempted. Yet listen when they accompany one of Pasta's or Ru- 

 bini's arias, or when they play the introductory symphony ! It is 

 the heau ideal of elegant and graceful instrumental execution, and 

 surpasses any accompaniment I have had an opportunity of hearing 

 on the continent. 



When an orchestra of upwards of fifty performers executes pas- 

 sages where all its powers are brought into play, they cannot pos- 

 sibly succeed in expressing the meaning of the composer if they 

 have not undergone much previous training, and if the eye of a 

 skilful conductor is not constantly upon them. This preliminary 

 training is not requisite when ten or a dozen of the most consum- 

 mate masters, on their respective instruments, in the constant habit 

 of playing together, have to execute the simple symphonies and ac- 

 companiments to modern Italian airs. IMori, Lindley, Dragonetti, 

 Nicholson, and Willman, require no prompting in their respective 

 parts, and they, moreover, enjoy the inestimable privilege of accom- 

 panying constantly the finest singers in the world. 



No orchestra can excel in the performance of difficult music if 

 the conductor is not au fait in reading a full score at sight, and ca- 

 pable of instantaneously detecting the most trifling inaccuracies in 

 the performance ; it is equally indispensable that he should be per- 

 fectly master of the manner in which every style ought to be exe- 

 cuted. The Italians are seldom adepts at making out a score ; their 

 knowledge of composition is usually superficial, and they are easily 

 satisfied in regard to execution. It is a fact perhaps not generally 

 known that Italian orchestras are incapable of getting through even 

 the notes of such operas as Der Freischuiz, Robert le Diable, &c., 

 not only from the difficulty of the keys in which they are written, 

 but on account of the precision required in the performance of the 

 concerted pieces ; to Italians any other music but that of their own 

 country and time is as an unknown tongue. In these circumstances 

 we discover one great disadvantage under which our opera has long 

 laboured, namely, that the conductors have been, with few excep- 

 tions, Italians. Were a German musician of eminence to be ap- 



