1807.] 
voice in its improved state are altogether 
inimitable, It is not a matter of wonde 
therefore, that we hear with so much 
delight and interest the singer, whose 
voice has been reudered by cultivation 
at once the vehicle of thought, feeling, 
and diversified melody, 
On this account it 4s, that we have all 
paid our tribute of applause to the three 
singers who have most distinguished 
themselves in this couatry, Mara, Cata- 
lani, and Billington, ‘To ascei tain, how- 
ever, the degree of commendation due 
to each, it will be necessary to estimate 
their comparative merits. .The task is 
not an easy one, and it is with ditidence 
that I submit the following remarks to 
the judgment of the reader, 
To begin then with something hke a 
eriterion, If it were asked, what are 
the essential qualities of a good singer 
common to all the different departments, 
in which the buman voice may be em- 
ployed, the followmg four would easily 
sugvest themselves, 1. A full, clear, 
and flexible voice capable of wide com- 
pass, aud perfect in its tones. 2. An 
easiness and nicety of articulation. 3. A 
variety of ornament suited to the cha-~ 
racter of the music. 4. An appropriate 
pathos. These four at least, it. must be 
allowed, are obviously requisite, and, 
assume d as a criterion, may enable us to 
enter upon the comparison with vreater 
confidence. 
I do not conceive Mara to have been 
deficient in any of these qualifications. 
With a voice equal to any province of 
music, she excelled particularly in ine 
oratorio. Despising the frippery of < 
style at the present day too much ad- 
mured, ber expression and modulation 
were equally chaste and elegant. She 
never condescended to prettinesses. Her 
cadenzas were appropriate and dignited, 
yet varied at every repetition. J need 
but appeal to those who ever heard her 
sing, ‘ET know that my Redeemer liveth,” 
or “FE arewell ye limped sprigs,” to con- 
- firm me in the assertion, that she had a 
wonderfil command of the passions of 
her audience. She seemed to have 
taken pains to divest berself of the gri- 
mace of the country in which she was 
educated, and, with very few exceptions, 
to have succeeded, Compared with 
Billington or Catalani, her voice was not 
extensive, yet this renee was never suf- 
ficiently perceived to be regretted. Ina 
word, to those who admire Handel, (and 
I wish he were more generally admired I) 
Mara would appear, of all others, the 
Singers, Mara, Catalani,and Billington. 5 
best adapted for the noblest. purpose to 
which her art can possibly be applied, 
viz, the true expres@on. of the sublime 
and pathetic. ; 
Mrs, Billington, 1n compass of voice 
and rapidity of execution, as far as 1 am 
ale to judge, stands unvivalied. Yet 
her defects are many and great. Though 
possessed of great facility of modulation, 
she scarcely ever vanes her cadenzas 
upon a repetition, ‘The lower notes of 
ber voice are not so firm as those of 
Mara, who is imferior to her im the 
strength and sweetness, of the higher, 
It is perhaps the bad taste of the day 
which induces her to dwell so long and 
so frequently upon a shake, to the utter 
disgust of every admirer of genuine orna- 
ment, In pathetic music she seldon, 
shews sensibility, and consequently sel- 
dom excites it. I remember to have 
observed. in that exqinaite part of the 
sony above mentioned, “ Farewell thon 
busy world, Mrs. Billington exhibited as 
little feeling as the book which she held - 
in her band. Songs of the same cha- 
racter with the <‘ Soldier tired of war’s 
alarms,” or bravuras as they have been 
termed, which would by no means suit 
Madam Mara, serve to ‘place Mrs. Bil- 
lington’s powers in their proper light. 
Tn ‘fides she may be characterised as a 
brilliant and astonishing singer, who 
never. nates the finer feclings, who has 
contributed in no small degree to pervert 
the public taste, and who, compared to- 
Mara, appears as inferior as the lowest 
species of Lyric poetry is to the Epos.” 
Of Madam Catalani there are a variety 
of opposite opinions. t shall express my 
own judgment freely, without: wishing 
to bias or to eee Tn the dramatic 
music of the Opera, this singer seers, if 
not perfect, at least far Superior to any 
performer ever heard in this countrys 
for, besides a voice equal to the most 
dithcult execution, she possesses an In- 
teresting countenance, graceful gesture, 
and elegant person. Nothing can he 
more puerile and absurd, than the report 
that she does not sing in tune. It is in 
Opposition to the judement of the first 
musicians, who not only deny the fact, 
but give her credit for a most accurate 
ear. Every one must instantly be struck 
with her easy and clear articulation, 
which is so essential a qualification tor 
the stage. Her tones are full and liquid: 
her cadenzas appropriate aud masterly 
In chromatic passages, which, it may be 
observed, should be seldom introduced, 
she has acquired a wonderful clearness 
and 
