MUSICAL CHAT.
THE hint which we threw out respecting R Barbiere has been acted upon by the Drury Lane Managers. The entire opera of ROSSINI has been put into the hands of Messrs. BISHOP and BALL, and will be produced as speedily as possible. It will afford excel- lent scope for the display of the vocal and instrumental strength of the company. The young lady announced as a pupil of " Mr. Tom WELSH" (so the Covent Garden play-bills have it) is a Miss SHIREFF. She was originally under the tuition of Mr. CLIFTON, and afterwards of Doctor ESSEX. Her first appearance in public was at the ora- torios in March 1828. She is to come out in Mandane,—a fa- vourite part with Mr. WELSH'S debutantes. No appointment has yet taken place of a successor to Mr. GREATOREX as Conductor of the Ancient Concerts. We re- frained from any further notice of these performances last year ; the selections and the singers having been, with few exceptions, the same as heretofore. Every thing connected with them bore the unequivocal marks of decline and decay; and it was considered, for some time, very doubtful whether they would be resumed. It is certain, however, that the experiment will be made for another year. The rooms are hired for that term ; and Lord BURG- imam has succeeded Lord DARNLEY in the direction. This change may infuse new vigour into that noble body, but it is rather- likely to induce a further abandonment of the principles of the in- stitution. These have been violated whenever it suited the taste of the Directors ; and under a Director so wedded to the modern school, it is not improbable that greater innovations may take place. We hope they will take the right direction ; and, if new names are admitted into the schemes, they will be those of HAYDN, BEETHOVEN, and SPORR, rather than Rossmr, DONIZETTI, and PAcr.vi.
The Ancient Concerts are now in the crisis of their fate. If the Directors have good sense enough to commit the real control and management of their affairs into the hands of an experienced and active conductor, they will revive. With all the influence and power these noble persons can bring into the field, with their extensive and valuable library, and with all "the appliances and means to boot " which they possess, the success of the Ancient Concerts may be rendered certain. If they fail, misgovernment will be the cause.
The Philharmonic Concerts will continue to be held at the Opera Concert Room. There was some inclination to remove them to the Hanover Square Rooms ; but the new lessee of the King's Theatre intends to adopt our advice, and to render his room fit for the reception of persons who wear decent clothes and clean linen. We have heard that FRANCOIS CRAMER has left the So- ciety. We hope the report is not true. The loss would be mu- tual: the orchestra would miss the services of so excellent and ex- perienced a leader ; and to him, or to any other of its leaders, the occupancy of such a situation must be in every way advan- tageous. The united efforts of such men as CRAMER have ele- vated the Philharmonic Society to its present instrumental pre- eminence ; and in order to preserve its position, the same unity of purpose and concentration of effort must subsist. It is no con- cern of ours to enter into the reasons for this secession, but we must be allowed to couple with its announcement our sincere regret.
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