THE ITALIAN OPERA.
IF the managerial faults of commission at this theiere have been mani- fold, those of omission have not been less in number or weight ; and among these may be reckoned the disregard of (limsnosa, one of the brightest ornameets of the Italian school. lisnssene's good taste, to which may be added the consciousness of his unrivalled power in the character of Gestation?, prompted the revival of 11 Matrimonio Scgrete for his benefit last week ; and, to the great joy of many an old Opera goer, it was repeated on Tuesday night. 'rhe Matrimonio was pro- duced at Vienna about 1792; and no opera was, for a long while, more, or more deservedly popular in the Austrian capital, as well as in the country of its author's birth. It is, in truth, the most finished and perfect speeimen of the Italian opera buifa. Graeeful gayety is the character that pervades it from first to last. It requires eminent vocal talents from every performer, for none is feeble or insipid; but when these are supplied, the opera is complete. CIMAItOSA was not one of those writers who are fain to eke out their poverty of invention with incessant repetition, or to hide a meagre phrase under the accumulated shrieking and braying of an orchestra. His command of melody is un- bounded ; and, with none of the orchestral resources which the German school unfolded, and withont the glare rend glitter of his Italian suc- cessors, he fastens on the attention of his hearers simply and solely by this exertion of his power. Which of the modern Italian writers would hazard the experiment of producing an opera without a chorus, with no other brass instruments than is pair of horns, and with a suc- cession of melodies which need only be sung as they are written ? Yet thus has CI M A ROSA constructed this opera. Oh, the relief it was, for one night, to be rid of the ceaseless din of trumpets and trombones ! to hear every phrase of every singer in the pure and natural tone of the voice—no screaming or bawling., but the legitimate and graceful exer- cise of the vocal art—no " damnable iteration" of worn-out phrases and modulations, but pure, fresh, and fragrant melody. II Matrimonio Segni() is less know to the Italian opera stage of Lon- don than of any other European capital. Several reasons of different kinds have conspired to keep it out of sight here. There is no character that eclipses all the rest : Lissetta and Fiduka are not foils to Carolina—if she is prima donna, they are only scconda e terza. Hence, during the reign of CATALAN1, and whenever the interest of the Italian opera has centered in a single singer, the Matrimonio was unheard. But it had also to struggle against the power of Moister- CIMAROSA'S gigantic contemporary; and when the former had fought his way into our Opera-house, the claims of his Italian rival were um. heeded. There is yet another reason. If the Matrimonio is destitute of those noisy appendages which are attached to modern operas—if it requires the presence of six persons only on the stage—it also requires no mean exercise of vocal talent from each. Every one must lie a singer—not a doable. There is no place or part for the CssaTtsss, thenams, DR ANGELIS, and other bangers-on of the King's Theatre. It requires indeed few performers, but they must be a " chosen few :" and probably never was the opera so strongly cast as at this revival of it. The women were GRIST, A SSANDIO, mud Aserscrszzt ; the men
TAMBURINI, Mid We have beard individual characters better sustained than tome of these, but never such an en- sent We. GRIM entered into her part with evident liking, and sting it with a true feeling of her author's style. Assssamt too, (to whom, as we have been informed, this opera was unknown when she left Italy,) playedLiggetta with spii it and success. Why was she curtailed of her song " Sc son vendicata?" In all that appertained to singing, ALLIATAZZE was excellent ; but her dress became rather the daughter than the sister of t7cronimo, and her acting had too much of the tragedy queen for her pare 1Walma, if not precisely a 3/es. Ileidelbery, is (we speak on the brother's authority) but one of the " plebei." '1'Am:closes
Como was a finished performance in action and in singing ; and was only surpassed by that of 1,AIIT-WilE, Who kept the house in a continued roar of laughter. The well-known trio by the ladies, and the still better known duet, " Se unto imu corpo avete," were amongst the richest exhibitions we ever witnessed. Bum' was the only performer who marred the success of the piece. His acting and singing was, gene- rally, listless and careless; his exertions to deface and destroy were re- served for his song. Here be certainly took pains, and contrived to spoil one of the most perket compositions of its kind. The beautiful andante sostenuto, with which it opens. was, in truth, an atalante ma non sostemoo: every sustained note of the text was, by the singer, frittered away with shakes and ornaments, falsely so called, and its melodious and finely-rounded phrases buried under a tawdry and vulgar load of roulades. We thought of PoNzEsis with a sigh : but the au- dience, as is their custom when any unusual offence against good taste is perpetrated at this theatre, rewarded Itemst with an encore.
The house was crowded; and if the Manager were at liberty to con- sult his own interest only, this opera would be repeated to crowded houses; since, in addition to the regular frequenters of the theatre, who take little interest in the musical entertaiuments of the evening, it would attract a set of auditors for whom " music has charms," though noise has none : hut COSTA has stronger interest here than CIMAIIOSA and his new opera is annum ced,
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