THE NEW ENGLISH OPERA.
THE judgment Of MACREA DT'S musical adviser, Mr. BODWELL, was put to the test on Saturday ; for in all matters that concern the Operatic department of this ;theatre, we presume the manager to hear, Judge, and decide by his deputy—and we cannot compliment the latter on his discernment. The Barbers of Bassora will assuredly not live many weeks. The music is by Mr. HULLA/L and the drama by Mr. !thaws: junior. Let us address ourselves first to the latter ; for with its merits or defects the fate of the opera is indissolubly bound up. This is a truth which our composers of the present day are, one and all, slow to learn, and one of which even experience fails to work con- viction. One cause of the speedy demise of Fair Rosamond was the incapacity of the dramatist; and to the same cause may in part be attributed the sudden death of Catherine Grey. That "the words of an opera are but so many pegs on which to hang the music," is an assertion sufficiently trite ; and it is a commonly received opinion that the success or failure of a musical drama has nothing to do with the libretto; yet nothing can be more untrue. The most popular English operas on record are The Beggars' Opera, Contus, and The Duenna. Now allowing all possible merit to the music of these pieces, the cause of their success must, in at least an equal degree, be ascribed to the fact that the audience knew and felt they were listening to GAY, MILTON, and SHERIDA N, as well as to ARNE and LINLEV. In MT. HuLLait's first attempt be had the advantage of possessing Mr. DICKENS as a coadjutor ; in his present one he has been yoked to Mr. MORTON. With the former be rose, and with the latter he has sunk. The dialogue of the Two Barbers of Bassora is quite worthy—no, not quite worthy of the Surry. The -jokes were as stale as they were vulgar, and the audience gave frequent and audible manifestations of impatience and disgust. To overcome this feeling, (were it necessary to bestow such a needless waste of labour,) is above Mr. HULLAH'S power. Composers and singers might perhaps be found who could compensate for the endurance of such a dialogue, but even they would have a hard task of it; and Mr. HULLAH is quite unequal to such an encounter. We have a right to speak on this point, having at the very Outset of Macneagor's managerial career warned him of the rock on which so many operatic adventurers had been shipwrecked. He has chosen to steer directly against it, and his vessel has foundered. His operatic company is strong,—Miss SHIREFF, Miss P. HORTON, WILSON, PHILLIPS, MANNERS, and LEFeLea,—all singers Of re- spectable, some (as times go) of first-rate talents ; and hence the production of such an opera us the Barbers of Bassora is wholly without excuse—a mere display of gratuitous folly.
In the music, simply regarded as music, we see no reason to change the opinion expressed of Mr. HuLLates first essay ; but the Village Coquettes was a piece of humbler pretension—a pretty ballad opera, little more than a succession of songs whose words could scarcely fail to inspire a musician and propitiate the favour of an audience : the Barbers was intended for a grand work; and to this lie is, as yet, unequal. The English dramatic composer of the present day has
a perilous encounter to sustain. The public are familiarized at our national theatres with the operas of Mozutx, BEETHOVEN, and Wrarat ; and they have no relish for mere prettinesses. Mr. Hut- LA ICS melodies are sometimes graceful, but he wants the knack of turning them to the best account. Two of his most polished phrases were casually thrown into his concerted pieces, instead of being made the staple of his songs. Of the latter, one only has much chance of popularity, a chance which the short career of the piece will almost extinguish : we refer to the ballad—very beautifully sung by PlitL- LIPS■•••" Home of our youth." If it bad as good a chance as " The light of other days," it would deseive to be as well known. PHIL. Lirss other song was quite unworthy of him, and wholly ineffective— one of the composer's trump cards thrown away. The duet " Wilt thou roam the wide world," is exceedingly pleasing, and well wrought up for dramatic effect ; and the trio "Evening's shades around us fulling," is truly beautiful, something in the style of the well-known quintet " Hope a:dist:int joy." These, with the fragments before mentioned, are the best portions of the opera. In his accompani- ments, Mr. liesLata is not uniformly happy ; he has yet to study the proper use and combination of his wind instruments—a most impor- tant point in a modern orchestra, and one in which Bmilor has no English rival. had he done so, the egregious mistake of accompany. lag a tenor solo with the trombone all' °nava would have been avoided, as well as several other injudicious combinations. In performance, bating the faults which, in English theatres, always attend a first exhibition, the opera received ample justice. We never saw) or heard Miss SHIRR EFT to more advantage : her acting as well as her singing left us nothing to desire. WILSON did his best to give Importance and interest to a very meagre part ; and PHILLIPS'S singing must have outrun the composer's expectations. With such talents at his command, M ACREADY ought to make opera an attractive feature at his theatre ; and he will have only himself or his musical adviser to blame, if it be not so.
There were several other inherent defects in the libretto, which, even supposing it to have been worthy a composer's attention, ought to have been removed. The first scene is almost the first act ; during the greater pert of which the two basses—Putuars and LEFFLER—share the vocal business, between them, relieved, or rather perplexed with the addition of BARTLEY. The tenor (WILSON) is not beard till the very conclusion of the act, and then only in a trio—another trump thrown away. The chorus, too, is silent till the same scene, and just winds up the first act with a few bars. For these errors the composer is sure to suffer : the constant reiteration of the same voice, of necessity palls on the ear, which requires the stimulus of variety. Let us do Mr. Ileudin the justice to say, that he has not had recourse to the poor and vulgar expedient of mere noise. If he fails to delight, he never disgusts us. He has never stooped to the petty artifices of his trade, but aimed throughout at a pure and classical style. For the reasons we
have stated, this opera can scarcely be regarded as a fair display of his power in dramatic composition, of which we still think favourably.
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