Jenny's first triumph during the past month was Maria, in Donizetti's "La Figlia del Regimento." She has established this hithertoneglected opera in the favouring eyes of the public. Maria, though in itself a character of lower order than Alice or Amina, is yet, in Jenny's hands, perfectly fascinating. The vivandière the adopted daughter of the regimentwith her innocent naïveté, her charming ditties, her simple-hearted love for Tonio, takes the fancy captive at once. And then when her parentage is discovered, and the "daughter of the regiment" changes into the fashionable, high-born lady, how exquisitely does Jenny depict the true woman's heart peeping through all, still keeping to the old love, and only resigning it as a bitter sacrifice to filial obedience, which at last brings its own reward! In "La Sonnambula," sweet Jenny has gathered new laurels; she does not act-she is Amina. We heard of an Elvino, who absolutely would not continue his role, so moved was he, even to tears, at the touching simplicity and pathos of the heroine with whom he was acting in the mimic scene and this was Jenny Lind. How Gardoni fares we know not. But the crowning triumph of Mdlle. Lind has been Norma. Great has been the rivalry between Grisi and her young adversary; the combatants have at last met on the field of harmony. By royal command, Grisi appeared in this, her greatest character, in which she has been without a rival until now. A crowded house acknowledged that never had that magnificent Tragic actress and singer appeared to such perfection. Jenny herself witnessed the astounding efforts and success of her rival; we wonder how her little heart felt on that moment, for it is but a timid maiden's heart after all! But then came Jenny's turn. A royal state visit a house thronged with the noble and distinguished awaited the young Swede. She peared-and she triumphed. Her Norma was totally opposite to Grisi's-an entirely new conception. The druidess is here not so much the passionate, revengeful priestess, whose very love is fearful, whose wrath is sublime in its indignant strength, but the wronged, despairing, broken-hearted woman. The distinction is one which genius alone could have conceived and executed, and Jenny triumphed. This contest between the two prima donnas is one of art against nature; it reminds us of the minstrel and the nightingale, save in the ending the sweet warbler falls dead on the triumphant lute; but our Nightingale lives to bewitch us out of our seven senses with her fascinations. ap he has, Carlotta Grisi, Lucile Grahn, Perrot, St. Leon, and a host beside of inferior magnitude, is rather hard. Still Carlotta is ever beautiful and attractive, and it takes a long time to get weary of La Esmeralda and Giselle. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. 66 This well-selected company still puts forth all its strength-nothing less would enable it to resist the Lind-avalanche. But Grisi the magnificent - Mario, the finest tenor singer, and, when he chooses, the most touching actor on the Italian stage-Tamburini, whose powers are not weakened a jot by years of popularitygentle Corbari-rich-voiced Alboni, the most beautiful of beautiful contraltos, and no quality of voice goes at once to the heart like a contralto--all these form a tower of strength, which has upheld Covent-Garden amidst the storm which has been blown from the rosy lips "Don Giovanni,' "Lucrezia of the Swede. "Borgia," the "Barbiere," and last and greatest, Norma," have been performed during the month with a success equal to their desert-" Don Giovanni" especially, in which we have never known a more splendid cast of characters, or a performance in every way so complete. Costa's leading of the band produced a worthy interpretation of Mozart's divine music; and with Grisi as Donna Anna, Corbari as Elvira, and silver-tongued Persiani as Zerlina, combined with the Don, Tamburini, and our constant favourite, Mario, in Ottavio, none can doubt that the whole execution of this most beautiful opera was such as would have gladdened the wandering ghost of poor Mozart, could such things be! Grisi stands alone in her Lucrezia. We doubt if there will ever be such another representative of that haughty, beautiful, horrible woman, most enchanting even in her wickedness. The strength of this fine company may be instanced by the fact that "Il Barbiere was performed, and most successfully, without the three who have identified themselves with the chief characters therein Grisi, Mario, and Tamburini. But Persiani's graceful Rosina, Madame Bellini's Bertha, and the fine tenor Salvi, (who would be charming were Mario not here,) as Almavivo, left nothing to desire. But even Rossini's pleasing, fanciful, and ever-favourite opera, must be counted as second-rate, compared to the grand triumph of all-" Norma." We give the following vivid description of this crowning night— The house "The effect Grisi produced on her audience on Tuesday evening, throughout her whole performance resounded with expressions and manifestations of the of Norma, was really inconceivable. one of his neighbour. most intense delight. Why is this?' asked some She has a great rival in the field, and will not have two competitors on the throne.' I have seen Pasta and Malibran in Norma,' we heard several say; 'but this surpasses both.' And then on all sides our ears were assailed with such phrases as these What sublimity!' ness!' "What pathos !'. What passion !'-'What tender-ever, being the principal object. The scene is What dignity!'- Perfection, absolute in the north of England, and a little tavern, perfection!' Such are a few of the terms that invo- called "The Crooked Billet," is the place where luntarily burst from the lips of the auditors on Murray and the lady have agreed to meet, the Tuesday ***. We shall dismiss any more general Jacobite having rashly returned to England beremark on Grisi's performance, giving only some fore his pardon had been signed. Wroughton particular points of excellence; but from them the reader can no more form a true idea of Grisi's picks up a piece of paper, dropped in the adNorma than the Grecian could of the building when jacent forest by Murray, and written by Lady the mason brought a brick in his pocket as a speci- Somerford, fixing eight as the hour, and "The men of the architecture. The first part of the opera Crooked Billet" the place of their meeting. suggests no particular observation, saving that the Wroughton goes to the "Billet," and interroCasta Diva was given as magnificently as here- gates the landlady, who knows nothing of the tofore. It was not until the scene where Norma matter. Her daughter Patty Pottle (Miss discovers the perfidy of Pollio, and confronts him Reynolds) happens to be the lovers' confidante, with Adalgisa, that Grisi overleaped the bounds of all and succeeds in putting Wroughton on a wrong her former excellence: in this scene, for the realization scent. His suspicions being lulled, not conof intense passion, power, and grandeur, she never was surpassed by any artist who ever breathed. The quered, he thinks fit to take a spy into his pay. solo, Oh non tremare, O perfido,' in the trio be- This is one John Duck (Mr. Buckstone), an extween Norma, Pollio, and Adalgisa, was given in lawyer's clerk, who, when the piece opens, such a manner as to throw the audience into a perfect figures as the waiter and tapster of the "Crooked frenzy of delight; the entire of this trio was a splen- Billet," but, being found on his knees before did display of art on the part of the singers. At the Patty, is discharged on the spot by the landlady, end of the act Grisi was called for, and received with her mother, with sixpence for his wages, and a the most deafening cheers. In the last act, through- warning never to think of Patty until he can out, she was equally magnificent; the scene with present himself with £100 in his pocket. Sir Adalgisa was exquisitely tender and pathetic. The Richard Wroughton promises him the money if most intense feeling was depicted by the great artist he will closely watch and faithfully report whatwithout an apparent effort, and the effect she produced was no less great than in the climax of her eight. To do this, Duck hides himself in a linen ever may happen at the hostelry at the hour of passion. But, in tenderness, whoever could approach Grisi? The last scene was the great triumph of all. chest. The lovers meet; but Duck, who has Here the pen falls powerless from our hands. All been locked into his box, neither sees nor hears, superlatives must needs be useless; it is enough that and narrowly escapes suffocation. Major Murthe artist achieved a greater triumph than ever she ray binds him to secrecy, gives him double what achieved on any former occasion." the baronet was to have paid him, and escapes. Duck is taken into custody, and brought before the baronet: there he meets with Murray, who, under a feigned name, has been acting as secretary to his rival. He recognizes him as the person who had given him the money, and, fancying he had gone to the "Crooked Billet" to meet Patty, denounces him. Lady Somerford refuses to marry Sir Richard, who then produces her lover's pardon, signed by the king, and threatens to destroy it unless she surrendered her estates to him. She refuses: he places the pardon in the fire-place, and, at the moment he is about setting fire to it, Duck, who had endeavoured to escape by the flue, rolls down the chimney and seizes the pardon. The result may be imagined: a double set of marriages wind up the piece. The acting is good from first to last. Mr. Stuart made a good deal of a repulsive character. Miss Fortescue looked like one of the nymphs Frank Stone is so fond of painting. Mr. Howe and Mrs. Stanley were more than "respectable." Miss Reynolds, as the blooming Patty, created an original character. This lady, who is vastly superior to Julia Bennett's mere prettiness, inasmuch as acting well is better than merely having a pretty face, was admirably seconded by Buckstone. The inflated language and mock dignity of the lawyer's clerk (with his hair carefully tied with a bit of red tape) lost nothing that Buckstone could give them to make them effective. This little drama has, indeed, been very successful. After this, we need say no more. HAYMARKET. The events of the month at this theatre have been the re-engagement of Mrs. Nisbett, and the success of a new piece, with the double attraction of good situation and dialogue, from the pen of Mr. Planche. So much has been written about Mrs. Nisbett, that we need not give any remarks on her merits. She appears at home, and happy, on the stage; and she fully maintains that "spell o'er hearts" which her grace, vivacity, and beauty have combined to make all-powerful. Mr. Planche's new comic drama is in two acts, and is called "The Jacobite." The plot is the simplest imaginable. There is a lover in high life, with a rival; and a lover in low life, who becomes unhappy from the fear that he has one. Major Murray (Mr. Howe) is beloved by Lady Somerford (Miss Fortescue), a rich and young widow. Sir Richard Wroughton (Mr. Stuart) is the relative of the widow's late husband, and much annoyed that the estates were left to the lady instead of to himself. The lady has entreated him to endeavour to procure the pardon of Murray, who has been concerned in anti-Hanoverian movements. He obtains it, and keeps it back in order that he may use it as a means for obtaining from Lady Somerford her hand and fortune, the latter, how PRINCESS'S. Macready has been here enacting his usual round of characters with infinite success, seconded by Creswick and Mrs. Warner. Macbeth especially-so well known as one of the finest, if not the finest, impersonations of the great tragedian of our day-lost not one whit of its success. Mrs. Warner is an excellent Lady Macbeth; her stature, her voice, her manner, all fit her for the part of the remorseless and ambitious wife of the Thane. Creswick, as Macduff, is not above mediocrity; Of" Werner,' ""of which there is but one character, and that is Macready's, we need not speak critically in this play, beautiful and most successful as it always is, there is more owing to Macready than to Byron. "Lear," that most touching of all his characters, was given by this noble actor with more than even his usual success, with Mrs. Warner as Goneril. Among the lighter amusements at the Princess's has been "The King and the Piper," a musical entertainment, in which Miss Emma Stanley plays the principal character-a Scottish piper: it has been well received, as it deserves to have been, being full of pretty airs, which are neatly executed by the performers, and especially by Miss Emma Stanley. : FRENCH PLAYS. 66 Mademoiselle Denain, who has been the star here, has wandered back to her own Parisian portion of the dramatic heaven, and left St. James in a dreary state of darkness, after the loss of her beauty and graceful acting. The standard company, however, have done what they could, and not been unsuccessful. L'enfant trouvé," a comedietta of Picard's, was brought out at the beginning of the month, and is a clever piece of extravagance, turning on the endeavours of a foundling to make the parents which he has no hope of discovering. To effect this an old bachelor and old maid are veritably persuaded into believing that he is their son. Begner, as the ingenious deceiver, acted capitally. "L'Article 213, ou Le Mari doit protection," &c., is a piece of not very refined absurdity, so essentially French, that we shall say nothing about it, in spite of the very good acting which redeemed it; English fastidiousness does not like such a plot. "Une femme qui se jette par la fenêtre" is a capital quiz on family jars, in which Mademoiselle Duverger acts and looks charmingly. More recently Bouffé has appeared, and by his transcendent talents made amends for every other departure. A young and graceful dancer, Marietta Baderna, has added much to the attractions of the French Theatre. MUSI C. THE MUSICAL BOUQUET; Parts XXXII and XXXIV. Thanks to the evident classical predilections of its editor, the "Bouquet" still keeps as fragrant as ever. In these two monthly numbers we have Beethoven, Donizetti, Schubert-composers of whom one is never weary. The eternal, ever-hackneyed, and yet always beautiful serenade from "Don Pasquale" is given with new English words, which though quite as good as those of the well-known Summer Night," yet scarcely suit the air. Our hard English consonants are difficult to unite with the soft liquid Italian melody. Beethoven's arrangement of Goethe's exquisite song, "Das gluckliche land," is prefaced by avery good engraving from Ary Scheffer's picture, Mignon regrettant sa patrie." This is as it should be: Music, Art, and Poetry going handin-hand. Of instrumental music these two " Bouquets" give a reasonable supply. A set of Musard's capital Quadrilles-opera airs, and some of Beethoven's lovely Waltzes, which are always welcome and always new to a musical ear and heart; though they must prove at once, to all votaries of Terpsichore, that worthy and noble Beethoven never was and never could be a waltzer, or he would not have given them such a misnomer. "MORE EXQUISITE STILL." Music by C. Oberthur. (Wessel & Co.)-This lied, from the German, carries its parentage in its face: it is in the regular German style, beginning with something like an air, then wandering by interminable modulations through half the keys, major and minor, of the instrument, and at last coming home again for two or three bars, just to show that it is not lost altogether. "More exquisite still," however, is a pretty love-ditty, and the composition evinces knowledge and ingenuity, if not much originality; but we must protest against a little poetical piracy in the translator, who ends every verse with, "Oh, no-she is something more exquisite still." Did Miss Smead ever hear of such a song as Moore's "Meeting of the Waters?" ""Twas not the soft magic of streamlet or rill; Oh, no-it was something more exquisite still." Now, to peculate a whole line is rather too bad. Except this, the words and music are such as will please many. FINE ARTS. COUNT D'ORSAY'S EQUESTRIAN PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN. The works of this accomplished amateur have often-when brought into comparison-put to shame the productions of professed artists; and the present is certainly a case in point. The discrepancies between the different portraits of her Majesty are so many and so marked, that the circumstance has passed almost into a proverb; here, however, not only is the absolute likeness of features perfect, but the very soul of expression will be recognised by those who have had even ordinary opportunities of studying the countenance of the Illustrious Lady. The portrait is life size, and Windsor Castle being seen in the distance, fixes the locality. Count D'Orsay has so far availed himself of an artist's privileges, as to adopt something of the picturesque in costume; and the massive folds of the crimson riding-habit contrast not only with the hue of the grey charger, but with the rich tints of the back-ground; and the Spanish hat, with its floating feather, is no less becoming. The whole attitude is full of ease, and grace, and life. The horse is exquisitely painted, the head especially being a perfect study, which would do credit to any of our first animalpainters. We know not the ultimate destination of this fine work, but we are delighted to hear that it will be engraved; indeed that its recent exhibition at Mr. Griffith's Gallery in Pall Mall has taken place with a view of making that intention known. FASHIONS FOR JULY. Our fashionables are now deserting Paris very fast, the majority for the watering places, the minority for their chateaux or villas; but these departures are rather useful than otherwise to the subject of my letter, as they are the means of bringing forward summer novelties in various departments of the toilette; for let our fair travellers go where they will, they take with them, or have sent after them, all the different articles of dress that the ready invention of their modistes and couturières can supply as likely to enhance their charms and do credit to their tastes. But before I begin speaking of these, I will just give a glance at their travelling costumes: the materials for robes are Nankin, foulard de Kemboul, (it is a twilled material,) and tulle de Chine. A good many are made in redingotes, some without any other trimming than a row of large fancy silk buttons of the same colour descending down the front of the dress; others have the front of the dress ornamented en tablier with passementerie, but in a very quiet style. The corsage is high, and tight to the shape, and with long tight sleeves. A mante of the same material, trimmed with fringe to correspond, may be worn with the redingote or not, as the wearer knots of taffeta ribbon. season, I have seen among the fancy chapeaux several pailles dentelles, decorated with bands of narrow velvet; they are almost always lined with pink crape, but the velvet is either blue, green, or violet. A shade of green, vert cher, which was very fashionable some years ago, both for coiffures and robes, is again come into favour; it is a good deal adopted for capotes of crape and tulle, and is trimmed with the flowers of the season, and also with feathers. There are also a great many taffeta capotes of that colour, made and trimmed in the same manner as the lilac one which I have sent for our plate. I must refer also to our plates for one of the most elegant models of rose-coloured crape chapeaux, trimmed with ribbon and lace. I may cite also some chapeaux of pink crape, the material laid on plain; the garniture is composed of narrow biais of tulle of the same colour, and a bouquet of roses placed on one side; the bouquet is sustained by a lappet d'application, which, after encircling it, figures en couronne round the crown. Several chapeaux of pink crape, entirely covered with tulle, both the crape and tulle being laid on plain, are decorated with a bouquet of roses, and a very narrow lace lappet; the latter goes plain round the bottom of the crown, and turns very full round the bouquet, descending from it in two short ends, upon which a shower of buds falls upon the lace. I may cite among the prettiest of the tulle chapeaux, the white ones, bouillonné, strewed with small round spots, embroidered in yellow straw; the only support of these chapeaux is composed of stiffened silk blonde, also embroidered in straw spots. The trimming is composed of epis, accompanied by yellow-tinted foliage, and a branch of green thistles. Several chapeaux of tulle bouillonné over crape, are trimmed only with long lappets of the same, descending on the brim, the interior of which is also decorated with tulle. There is a great deal of simple elegance and lightness about these As the materials for chapeaux and capotes in public promenade and carriage dress, which latter is also the same for demi-toilette, are still the same as last month, and will be equally adopted at the eaux and the chateaux, I have only to notice among the crowd of new ones those that I consider most worthy of the attention of my fair readers. Those of fancy straw, particularly the paille dentelle, are in great request for the promenade; so also are those of horse-hair, and chapeaux composed of alternate bands of fancy straw and horse-hair; these are lined with coloured silk or crape, and trimmed with the flowers and foliage of the season; those of paille de riz à jours are trimmed also with flowers, and in a very simple style. A new style of garniture has appeared for those of plain rice-straw; it consists of coloured blonde cablée or perlée, and always harmonizes in colour with the flowers or feathers that decorate the cha-chapeaux when made in white or very pale pink peau. Crape, tulle, lace, and a mixture of crape and tulle, and crape covered with lace, are most in vogue for carriage and half-dress; paille de riz is adopted both for it and the promenade, but in the latter case the chapeaux are more frequently those of fancy, that is to say, they are of paille à jours, or bands mingled with horsehair. Some capotes for morning négligé are composed of gros de Naples, the brim edged with a very narrow chicorée of the same, and the crown decorated with a fanchon similarly edged. Notwithstanding the warmth of the tulle; but the effect is not so good when they are made, as is sometimes the case in full colours. White is much in vogue, both for chapeaux and capotes. Several of the former, of white crape, have the material laid on plain, covered with tulle bouillonné, and ornamented with branches of oak leaves, intermingled with green epis. The brims of these chapeaux are the smallest I have yet seen; the mancinis, equally small, are composed of petite foliage, formed of feathers, and interspersed with brins of heath blossoms. A great many coloured crape chapeaux are en |