80 Theatrical Mailers. [^July, 



soprano, and the rapidity of her cadences can alone be surpassed by 

 Miss Paton. 



The King's Theatre has been the most triumphant of our winter 

 establishments. Laporte's activity has been very striking, and the 

 theatre has never had in our recollection, so powerful and complete a 

 vocal company. The ballet is weak, and there is not among them a 

 single performer above the common class of Parisian secondes. But 

 ]Malibran and Sontag are twin stars, such as have not sparkled together 

 for many a year. Sontag's voice is incomparable for subtlety, fluency, 

 and ease. Her execution of the most difficult passages totally excludes 

 the idea of difficulty, and her perfect command over her voice, in its 

 most rapid flights, her exquisite decorations of style, make her perform- 

 ance as high a treat as can be expected from the xmce. Her person is 

 thin, and her physiognomy has lost the roundness of health, but her 

 stage powers are unimpaired. 



Malibran is an actress, and with finer conceptions, we do not hesitate 

 to say, than Pasta. But her youth has still much to learn ; and Pasta's 

 judgment was, like her time of life, more mature. Malibran is the most 

 genuinely impassioned actress that we have seen upon the Italian stage. 

 Her voice is vigorous, but still harsh, and its fluency is imperfect; but 

 she has taste and genius, and with these she will yet do wonders. Her 

 Tancredi was her finest serious performance, her Rosina, in the Barhiere, 

 her most animated and picturesque. In Semiramide she played the 

 great Babylonian queen. The vocal part of the character was given by 

 Aladame iSlalibran witli accuracy and effect. She gave much dramatic 

 force to the address in the 12th scene, wherein the nation,is convoked to 

 swear obedience to the new king about to be proclaimed, so impressive and 

 interesting a scene in the hands of Pasta. In the whole thu'd scene of the 

 seecond act with Assur, in which reproaches and threats are exchanged 

 between him and Semiramide, and to which the composer has assigned 

 music of a highly dramatic and striking character, both the acting and 

 singing of Madame IMalibran were a close imitation of IMadame Pasta's. 

 Discontent was manifested by the audience in the early part of the per- 

 formance, in consequence of an attempt to omit the whole of the 7th 

 scene, in which IMadame Pisaroni and Zucchelli had two or three of the 

 best duets in the opera to sing. The clamour rose to such a pitch as to 

 suspend the performance; but the malcontents were finally appeased 

 by the appearance of Arsaces and Assur, who gave the scene as usual. 

 The plea of the omission was an accidental lameness which had occured 

 to Signor Zucchelli, and on which account, indeed, the public indulgence 

 had been solicited in his behalf in printed bills posted up in various 

 parts of the house. But while Pasta's style deserves the praise that 

 makes it a model of imitation, we wish to see IMalibran following her 

 own ideas, and they will not fail to lead her to truth, nature, and the 

 highest successes of the drama. In the Gazza Ladra, her success was 

 still more striking. Her Ninelta, was highly effective. In the finale of 

 the first act, and in the last scene of the opera, Slalibran was greeted by 

 the whole audience with vehement applause. After the fall of the cur- 

 tain she returned to the stage, on a loud and unanimous call from the 

 audience, who renewed their applause with great warmth. Zucchelli, 

 who played the part of Fernatido, was in fine voice. He played with 

 spirit and sang Avell. 



