The week's proceedings at the two Italian houses have not
been very remarkable. At Her Majesty's, however, there have been a new singer and two new dancers. Madame de la Grange, a Frenchwomah and a French singer, not unknown to fame on the Continent, has performed Lucia, with moderate success. She is neithet Very young nor very hand- some, has a voice of considerable power and eornpass, slugs like a mu- sician, and in her acting shows intelligence and ekperienee. One of the new dancers, Dona Pepita Olive, is a Spaniard, and dances the national ineasures of her country with quaint prettiness. The other, Mademoiselle Regina Earle, °Without exhibiting any striking characteristic, is a doter and agreeable danseuse. Gardoni, after a long holyday, performed the part of Edgardo along with the new Lucia. He looked strong, was in full possession of his voice, and greatly pleased the audience. By the way, the advertisements of this week's "long Thursday" afford an instance of the puffery we have reprehended in a paper on Opera ganagement This "grand extra night" is announced as exhibiting an " extraordinary combination of talent," while it happens that there was o"combination" of talent at all. First, Cruvelli appeared in Norma ; then Rosati danced in a divertissement; next Madame de in Grange sang the last scene of .Lucia; fourthly, there was a Spanish dance by Dona ours; fifthly, Angri sang the "grand scene" of the Cenerentala; sixthly and lastly, Mademoiselle Forle danced in a selection from the Sylphide. Thus there was care taken to prevent any "combination" of talent, for no two stars were allowed to shine together. The talent was dispersed and frittered away, as it always is at such exhibitions.
At Covent Garden, there have been—what rarely occurs—two no per- formances of pure Italian music. One evening the Puritan'', and another the Barbiere, were given with a strength of cast and a completeness of ensemble which delighted overflowing houses. Grisi, Mario, and Ron- coal, seemed to feel themselves at home in pieces so congenial to their tastes and powers, and exerted themselves accordingly. The performances of this theatre are certainly more satisfactory and successful than they have ever been before ; and they may now be said to promote the pro- fessed object of the establishment, the advancement of art, whatever mo- tives originally actuated its founders.
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