ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE OPERA 

 IN LONDON. 



The opera season in London is to me ever attended with feelings 

 of humiliation, inasmuch as it exhibits the weak part of a great 

 nation. All that money unaccompanied by knowledge can procure 

 is, at this establishment, to be found in abundance. To obtain the 

 first singers of Europe sums are lavished which no other nation 

 would dream of expending; yet compare the performances with 

 those of Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfort ! A musician will at once 

 perceive that the arrangements in these cities are dictated by a per- 

 fect acquaintance and familiarity with every part of the art ; 

 whereas in London, provided the manager can secure a Pasta or a 

 Grisi, he is completely satisfied, and remains indifferent respecting 

 the (to him) unimportant points — the character of the music, the 

 precision of the orchestra, and the efficiency of the chorus. But the 

 fault cannot justly be said to rest entirely with him while the public 

 continue in a state of musical ignorance which renders them inca- 

 pable of discovering the most glaring faults and obvious deficiencies 

 in these important particulars. 



The tickets are ten shillings and sixpence, and the performance 

 takes place three days in the week during the season, and yet only 

 three or four trashy operas are to be heard, and these, with the ex- 

 ception of the first-rate singers, indifferently performed ; whereas 

 in the greater number of the German capitals a seat in the boxes 

 may be obtained for two shillings and sixpence ; such singers as 

 Fischer, Aehter, Schmezer, and Dobler, and occasionally Schreeder 

 Devrient, Wild, and Haitzinger, are either permanently engaged 

 or fill the gasUrolle;^ the best operas, ancient and modern, are 

 given during the whole of the year. The orchestra, likewise, not 

 only contains the best performers to be procured in the town, but 

 is always under the direction of a man of superior talent, as Spon- 

 tini at Berlin, and Juhr at Frankfort, while the choruses, half as 

 numerous again as our own, are well trained and effective. 



Reasoning from these facts, what other conclusion can we arrive 

 at, but that this striking difference originates, on the one hand, 

 from a complete acquaintance with the principles and objects of the 

 art, while on the other there exists an absence of knowledge and a 



• Literally, guest part, or part taken by one who is unattached to the es- 

 tablishment of the place. The guest usually sustains the principal character. 



