1-821.] Letters fron, 
tiers over the thousand objects present¬ 
ed to view, in admiration and delight. 
If we place ourselves upon the sixth 
form on the violoncello side, we shall 
find it the best place to enjoy the music 
and to see the ballet: as in this situation 
we shall just catch the feet of the dan¬ 
cers. The overture announces by its 
dark harmony, the fatal career of Don 
Giovanni. Ambrogetti’s performance 
of the Hero is the finest specimen of 
acting exhibited in this country. His 
vocal powers are not even of a second 
rate order, but his fine conceptions, 
fits spirit and vivacity, so counterba¬ 
lance every defect, that the impulse 
which he gives to our feelings, carries 
us over all his faults as a singer.. De 
Begni, in Leporello, is scarcely infe¬ 
rior to Ambrogetti as an actor, but as 
a musician he ranks much before him. 
He has a fine bass voice—execution, 
science, and taste. Madame Ronzi 
de Begni, his wife, takes the part of 
Donna Anna, and most beautifully 
does she perform it. Her superior 
science, both in singing and acting, 
makes her a great acquisition. In 
former years this character was ill sup¬ 
ported, but in the hands of Ronzi it 
becomes the finest part of the Opera. 
Madame Camporese has long been a fa¬ 
vourite for her refined manner of act¬ 
ing ; but her singing is characterised 
by a rusticity that ill accords with 
the elegance of her person. Her tones, 
though rich and powerful, are, at times, 
vulgarly broad—they emanate from a 
wrong part of the throat, and are desti¬ 
tute of those fine inflections which the 
songs of Battibatti and Vedrai carino 
demand. It is more than probable 
that the Opera would be improved, if 
she and Ronzi were to change places. 
The latter has the prettiest tone that can 
be conceived ; in accent and neatness it 
resembles the hautboy, and in tune it is 
perfection itself. Miss Mori’s voice has 
been much beautified by the introduc¬ 
tion of the 44 mezza voce ,” which renders 
her singing much more agreeable. Ca¬ 
talan i was unquestionably the finest 
actress and singer that ever appeared 
upon this stage, but her knowledge in 
music was not sufficient to carry her 
through the elaborate compositions of 
Mozart, and the Opera was sacrificed 
to her individual performance; but 
now we have a greater distribution of 
talent—though not so brilliant, the su¬ 
periority of its combined power is stri¬ 
kingly shewn in the sestettos. 
The finale of the first act, where all 
Pompeii. 5 
the Dramatis Persona? surroUud Don 
Giovanni, charging him with his 
crimes, together with his defiance and 
intrepidity, is the very acme of drama¬ 
tic and musical effect. The conclusion 
of this extraordinary production is not 
less striking than its commencement. 
At the moment when the Ghost gripes 
the delinquent by the hand, the screams 
of the wind instruments, mingled w ith 
the howl of the trombones, are truly 
appalling. The musician has displayed 
all the terror of his art— 4 discord on 
discord mounts ,’ until the effect be¬ 
comes almost overwhelming, and we 
have no hesitation in asserting, that for 
those to whom the slightest cultivation 
of the ear has opened an additional 
avenue to the imagination, the com¬ 
bined effect of the sounds and scenery is 
superior to any thing the dramatic art 
has yet attempted. 
Jidy 10t/<, 1821. Wm. Delharp. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
letters from pompeii, iv i th illustra¬ 
tive Engravings. 
Pompeii , June 20,1819. 
SHALL now proceed to describe 
this city, which has been preserved, 
to all appearance, by the ashes from 
Vesuvius, in order to shew us that the 
pretended perfection of the existing 
state of things, is not so obvious as the 
conceit of the moderns has prompted 
them to believe. Situated about four¬ 
teen miles from Naples, Pompeii leaves 
Vesuvius to the north-west; it is 
scarcely upon the declivity of the 
mountain, and it maybe imagined that 
its inhabitants believed themselves 
completely sheltered from the effects 
of its eruptions. Strabo, who flourished 
some years prior to the destruction of 
this city, tells us, that he conceived 
Vesuvius to be an ext inguished volcano. 
A vehicle which is procured at Na¬ 
ples, conducts- you in three hours to 
Pompeii, when you traverse Portici, and 
even the royal palace, which is found 
in perfect reparation, and furnished by 
Murat. Under Portici, Herculanum 
lies buried; you then proceed by Torre 
del Greco, and Torre del Aununziata, 
the former of which is rendered famous 
by the reiterated devastations to which 
it has been subjected by the volcano. 
One might be led to believe that each 
shock of the mountain had communi¬ 
cated its effects to the neighbouring 
people, but, on the contrary, they live in 
a state of the most perfect indifference. 
After having passed the Torre del An- 
nunziata, 
