ICO 
MUSIC ABROAD. 
[Nature and Art, October 1, 18(50. 
their attention had been sedulously directed was 
the necessity of properly understanding and render- 
ing the spirit, as well as the mere notes, of the 
composer whose works they were performing. The 
singing classes comprised many voices on which 
all the lessons of the best instructors in the world 
would be thrown away. It is a singular fact, by 
the bye, that, according to the laws of the Con- 
servatory, only female pupils are taught singing. 
This is a grave mistake, and may perhaps account, 
in some degree, for the difficulty experienced in 
procuring good native men-singers, especially tenors, 
at the Imperial Opera-house. 
As in Vienna, so in Berlin, the war had, at first, 
a most depressing effect upon the stage and every 
other branch of art. Most of the private theatres, 
as opposed to the Theatres Royal, or theatres enjoy- 
ing a government grant, were placed, so to speak, 
upon a war-footing, i. e. the managers, availing 
themselves of a clause to that effect in the engage- 
ments, discharged all their artists, and then re- 
engaged, at reduced salaries, only those whom they 
considered absolutely indispensable to carry on their 
establishments. The sole private theatre at which 
this plan was not adopted, but the old engagements 
observed, was Kroll’s. The tone of the public 
mind — even despite the cholera, which was at first 
exceedingly severe — soon began, however, to im- 
prove marvellously. With every victory of the 
Prussian armies, it rose more and more, and the 
staid Berliners grew regularly intoxicated with joy. 
Of course, this exercised a marked effect upon all 
matters connected with music and the drama, and 
the scene which occurred on the opening of the 
season at the Royal Opera-house was such a one 
as had never been before witnessed in that building. 
The performance was for the benefit of the soldiers 
disabled in the war. The interest taken in the 
event by the public was enhanced by the fact that 
the King would visit the theatre for the first time 
after his triumphant campaign. The house was 
crowded to suffocation, as a matter of course. 
Immediately his Majesty appeared in his box, the 
enthusiasm knew no bounds. The whole audience 
rose, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs, the 
men flourished their hats and cheered, and the 
King kept bowing in all directions. A “ Sieges- 
marscli,” or triumphal march, by Herr Taubert, 
began the performance. Then came, by the same 
composer, the “ Lied A T on der Majestat,” with new 
words written expressly for the occasion. Three 
cheers were then given for the King, and the 
National Hymn demanded, every one standing up 
and taking part in it. This was followed by 
Beethoven’s C minor Symphony, magnificently 
executed, and the second act of Meyerbeer’s 
Felcllager in Schlesien. The numerous passages in 
the latter applicable to the late campaign excited 
tumultuous applause. The performance was 
brought to a close by Spontini’s “ Borussia,” to 
which was appended a tableau, in which art was 
again called in to the assistance of patriotism. In 
an antique hall were the bu-sts of the King, the 
Crown Prince, and Prince Friedrich Carl. Borussia 
offered them wreaths of laurel, while groups of 
warriors gathered around, and the names of the 
victories, “ Nachocl,” “Skalitz,” and “ Konigsgratz,” 
appeared in letters of flame. The receipts amounted 
to nearly 2,000 thalers. This is but one of the 
many entertainments which have been got up for 
the benefit of the soldiers who were wounded, or 
of the widows and orphans of those who fell. The 
public have liberally responded to the appeals thus 
made to them, there can be no doubt. Indeed, the 
Prussians have uniformly shown that, while re- 
joicing at the great victories achieved, they do not 
forget those who suffered in their achievement. 
The popular French singer M. Roger has been 
giving a series of performances at Kroll’s Theatre. 
He is a very great favourite in Berlin, and has been 
so for the last fourteen years, his finished and artistic 
style making even the most difficult critics his ad- 
mirers. He has appeared in Fra Diavalo, La Dame 
Blanche, Jean de Paris, and Lucia di Lmimermoor. 
Now that it is decided that Hanover, Cassel, and 
Wiesbaden are to form part of Prussia, people ask 
what is to become of the former Court Theatres in 
those towns. The theatre at Hanover enjoyed a 
grant of some 160,000 thalers a year from the ex- 
King’s privy purse, or rather for the public money 
which found its way thereinto. It could boast, also, 
of some first-rate artists. Joachim, it will be re- 
membered, was once engaged in Hanover. The 
Cassel theatre was a very good one. The same, 
too, is true of that at Wiesbaden, with an annual 
subscription of 10,000 thalers, all really coming 
from the gaming-tables, though the Duke and the 
Town were supposed to contribute a portion. The 
probabilities are that these theatres will be con- 
stituted Prussian Theatres Royal, with a subvention 
from the State. 
According to a letter from Weimar, the Grand 
Duke Carl Alexander is endeavouring to persuade 
the “Abbe” Franz Liszt to forsake the Eternal 
City and once more fix his residence in the pleasant 
grand-ducal capital. In September, 1863, Liszt 
was not disinclined to take this step ; but now, it 
appears, there are grave doubts about the matter. 
We have examined the “Sand Nodtdes” forwarded to 
us from King’s Lynn, and find them, although by no means 
as perfect as that described and figured in the last number 
of “ Nature and Art,” somewhat like it in formation and 
structural arrangement. One only had loose siliceous sand 
in it, and the cavity in which this rested was angular and 
uneven, as though a rough fragment of siliceous gravel 
had undergone the process of disintegration, instead of a 
rounded and water-worn pebble. The others appear to have 
had no nuclei, being merely rounded concretions, cemented 
and bound together by the agency of carbonate of the 
protoxide of iron, the result of the percolation of a solu- 
tion, probably of the sulphate. 
Should any of our correspondents discover more of these 
interesting substances, we shall feel obliged by their com- 
municating to us the particulars of such discovery. — Ed. 
