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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd October 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 19, ? r j , * B j ' ' I i • ; : i Mb. Ruskin...

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      No.S00. Ogt. 22, 18&9.1 The Leapeb. ; 11...

      NO . S 00 . Ogt . 22 , 18 & 9 . 1 THE LEAPEB . ; 1133

      Ar01904

      ? R J , * B J ' ' I I • ; : I Mb. Ruskin...

      ? r j , * j ' ' I i ; : i Mb . Ruskin has written the following interesting letter to the Times on the subject of the new Turner Gallery . Sir , —At the time of my departure for the U > ntinent some months ago I had heard it was proposed to light the Turner Gallery at Kensington * with gas , but I attached no importance to the rumour , feeling assured that a commission would be appointed on the subject , and that its decision would be adverse to the mode of exhibition suggested . _ Such a commission has , I find , been appointed , and has , contrary to my expectation , approved and confirmed the plan of lighting ' proposed . It would be the merest presumption in me to expect weight to be attached to any opinion of mine , Opposed to that of any one of the gentlemen who formed the commision ; but as I was officially employed in some of the operations connected with the arrangement of the Turner Gallery at Marlboroughhouse , and as it might therefore be supposed by the public that I at least , concurred in recommending the measures now taken for the exhibition of the Turner pictures in the evevening , at Kensington , I must beg your permission to state hi your columns that I take ho share in the responsibility of lighting the pictures either of Reynolds or Turner with gas ; that , on the contrary , my experience would lead me to apprehend serious injury to those pictures from such a measure ; and that it is with profound regret that I have heard of its adoption . I specify the pictures Of Reynolds and Turner ,, because the combinations of colouring material emr ployed by both these painters are various , and to . some extent unknown ; and also because the body of their colours shows peculiar liability to crack and to detach itself from the canvas . I am glad to be able to bear testimony to the fitness of the gallery at Kensington , as far as could be expected under the circumstances , for the exhibition of the Turner pictures by daylight , as well as to the excellence of Mr . WornunVs chronological arrangement of them in the three principal rooms . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , J . Ruskin" . Denmark-hill , October 20 . p . S ;—I wish the writer of the admirable and exhaustive letter which appeared in your columns of yesterday on the subject of Mr . Scott ' s design for the Foreign Office would allow me to know his name . '

      Music And The Drama.

      MUSIC AND THE DRAMA .

      ?—:—: Italian Opera, Drbbt Lane.—The Ann...

      ?— : — : Italian Opera , Drbbt Lane . —The announcenient of the " Trovatore " attracted as large an audience Saturday last as we remember to have Been collected on any Italian opera night at this establishment , and the performance was not a whit inferior to the anticipations we expressed in our last number . The tone of our brief and hurried notice of the " Traviata" was , we are now convinced , just , though not enthusiastic . The excellencies indeed of this little troupe of singing swallows , whom Mr . Smith laid hold of as they were preparing for their autumn migration , appeared even greater in Verdi's masterpiece than we were led to expect from their doings in the feeble " Traviata , " while the singing of the indigenous choir and the efforts of the fragmentary orchestra were as ineffective to the full on Saturday as they were on Friday . A verylarge and intelligent audience , to make a long story short , were delighted with Madlle . Ficcolimini ' s neV reading of Leonora , which was , to our , thinking , infinitely finer , from a dramatic point of yjew , than that pf any of her many gifted contemporaries , though it must , in truth , be owned to be , to a certain limited extent inferior as a piece of vocalisation . The excelling genius of the . actress is , however , more patent than tho slight shortcoming of the singer : for this our readers may take-our word . We said in our last number that the Signori Belart and Aldighiori would be found notable acquisitions to the opera stage , Our opinion on that ahead is now much strengthened . The former , thougl ^ evidently labouring under an affection of tho throat that imparted a " woollyneBs " to hia voice , has clearly an admirable organ , though not very powerful , and excellent taste , with much cultivation . In the gem of tho opera ( for tho tenor ) the " Mai Reggendo , " which demands considerable power , he was not equal to the situation ; , but in the " Desorto sulla terra , " and the ' Ah cho la JMprte " ho sang elegantly as well , as passionately , while in much of the grand concerted music of the finales to Acts 2 and 4 he exhibited sufficient power , and no less excellent quality , than in tho more subdued passages above named . Signor Aldjghierl , the baritone , wo shall also watch henceforth with pleasure and interest . ' Ho seemed to catch tho dramatic

      fervour from the Piccolominl ; and while in hi ! solos be was faultless , his superb voice and hand some person , told admirably in the concerted pieces We regret that an operatic company pf such remarkable ¦ homogeneity and promise ( as regards theprincipais } should be so suddenly dispersed ; and should they again appear , as is probable , amongst us ; w * shall not hesitate to commend them to our readers . Mb . James Robinson ' s Choir , which now musters 200 strong , has given a concert in the early part oi the week in the Minor Hall , Exeter Hall , which was well attended . A splendid collection of voices , admirably trained by the conductor , who is one of oui leading metropolitan organists , performed with the greatest eclat the delicious and favourite madrigals ; "I n going to my lonely bed , " "Down in a flow ' ry vale , " and " Since first I saw your face , " besides other morceaux by Mozart , Bishop , and other composers . The instrumental portion of the entertainment was supported by Miss Boddy ( piano ) and Herr Suppus ( violin ) , with ability . The next concert will take place on Wednesday , November 16 . Olympic Theatre . —A new serio-comic drama by Mr . J . Morton , entitled " A Husband to Order , " was produced here on Monday evening with success , adapted from the French . It gives scope for the display of the talent of several prominent members of the Olympic company . Mr . H . Wigan , Mr . G . Cooke , Miss Wyndhaun , and Mrs . Emden were all well fitted , and exerted themselves with effect to secure the harmonious whole , which was warmly received by a crowded house . Adelphi Theatre . — The revived *• Willow Copse " continues to be the piece de resistance at this theatre , and despite the enormous counter-attraction of . the many new pieces brought forward at other theatres , bids fair to hold the stage , if the manager so will it , for some time , to come . And no wonder ; for the one scene ' . " In the Willow farm , " in which Mrs . Mellon , Miss Simms , and Mr . Webster appears , is worth a wilderness of every day dramas . So highly wrought is this scene by these admirable artists that few there are so hardy as may restrain the tributary tear , that last and greatest , though silent , offering an actor may hope for . No less meritorious in its pleasant way is . the scene between the needy , seedy Augustus de Boshervi'le ( Mr . Toole ) and Meg ( Mrs . Mellon ) , in the last act . The authors were certainly in their best of vein when they hit upon these characters which , if they are not of all time , at least have been of all our time . A drama is in rehearsal here by the author of " The Poor Strollers . " It is said to * be of the stirring and harrowing class , affording great opportunities for all the talent' under Mr , Webster ' s direction , to which ( rumour is our sole authority ) Mr . Emery , long estranged from the Adelphi stage , may not improbably , ere long , be added . Sadler ' s Wells Theatbb . —In our notice of the Astleian horse piece , as some would irreverently term the " Garibaldi , " we have spoken of Mr . T . Taylor as an engineer . He might , not without reason , blazon on his banner the " Ubique " of the military-scientific corps . He is incumbent of the Haymarket , and peculiar of the Olympic : Mr . Wigan takes him in his valise to Brighton , and Mr . Webster adopts him in case of need as a stop gap at the Adelphi : we welcome him in the Westminster marshes on Monday , and on Tuesday he crops up , still prosperous , on the heights of Islington . Here his new play , " The Fool's Revenge , " will probably make a sensation . To begin our report on it d la mode , we must hint at its foreign extraction . It may be taken for granted , on the authority of the most learned and accurate of out brotherhood , that the work is a pretty free translation of Victor Hugo ' s •' LeRoi s ' amuse , " tesselated with scraps of incident from other French dramas , and , as we can ourselves ' witness , with lines , fragments of lines , and images from English sources . The plot is as follows : — Years before the commencement of the action ( 1488 ) the "wife of one Antonio Bordica , notary publics of Florence , was torn from him by a noble ' ruffian , Guido Malatesta . He consecrates the remainder of his life to the idea of a grand revenge ; , he abandons his homo and follows the wrong-doer to * the Court of Faenza . There we find him as Bertuccio ( Mr . Phelps ) the Court fool , feeding his grudge with the continual sight of liis foe / scattering his ferocious jests among a hated throng of courtiers , nnd in secret cherishing a beautiful daughter , Fiordelisa ( Miss Heath )* to whom ho has revealed neither his name , his calling , or his antecedents , but whom he keeps from the sight of men as from tho tongue of snake or the breath of pestilence . M A wife for a wife " Is his master thought , and to carry out his end he abota tho criminal designs of the Duke Oaleotto Manfredi ( Mr . Henry Marston ) upon the . Countess Glucvra Malatesta ( Miss Caroline jParkes ) , and also empoisons against her the mind of the illused Duchess Francesca ( Mies Atkinson ) , who has but too good reason to land ears to his crafty tale . But while he dia- i i

      3 ports himself demoniacally in his intrigue , the fowlers - discover his own . dove ' s-nest , and to avoid their . violence Fiordelisa is compelled in his absence to - leave their home , and by chance is sheltered in the - house of Malatesta . nay ,-in the very chamber of his I wife . Thither ^ at the same hour , Bertuccio , in puri suance of his plot , guides the libertine Puke , and aids , unwittingly , in the forcible abduction of his own i child . Thus closes Act II ., and in the third we see f him triumphantly scoffing at his supposed victim , t Malatesta , and urging the wronged wife of Manfredi to poison her supposed rival . But the tables are turned on the entry of Ginevra ( Malatesta ' s wife ) > from the . country , and the climax is , of course , the Fool ' s discovery that he has been caught in his own sprynge . This is , of course , to all intents and purposes , the end of the play , though for the comfort of the spectators we are shown that Fiordelisa has escaped the poisoned cup of Francesca and the arts of the Duke , while the latter lays stiff and stark in his chair at the banquet table . It is superfluous to say that Mr . Phelps is equal in all respects to the fine situations above indicated , rising at times to a high tragic level . As the loving father and the biting jester he is equally excellent : he seems almost to sanctify the " passion of revenge , and sufficiently illustrates the tempest that rends the outwitted fool at the climax . The many o ther ladies and gentlemen engaged in the piecea mong them most strikingly Mrs . H . Marston as a waiting-woman , Brigetta—all worthily second the exertions of the manager ; and the decorators have equalled if not excelled their former feats on this stage . The play is skilfully composed and well acted throughout . It abounds in stirring situations , of which the most powerful , bordering , indeed , upon the revolting , is that in Act HI ., where the injured Duchess and the jester watch the door of the apartment Wherein Fiordelisa is subjected to the proposals and perhaps force , of the licentious Manfred . KTo pains or cost have been spared , as regards the scenery and appointments , and there is no room for doubt that the exertions of the management will be rewarded with a prolonged success .

      Crystal Palace. The Companies Of Hand-Be...

      CRYSTAL PALACE . The companies of hand-bell ringers from Yorkshire , who made their first appearance inLondon on Saturday last , at the Crystal Palace , are styled the Holmfirth and Barnsley Bands , and each corps numbers , with its conductor , twelve members . The bells employed vary in size from the smallest ever carried by the muffin crier to the largest ever rung by the dustman , and are ranged upon a long table . The number used varies according to the key of the music to be played and the effects to ^ be produced , so that each af the musicians has constantly to lay down one bell and take up a fresh one , and sometimes to play two at once . The skill , rapidity , and neatness with which these operations are conducted , can of course only be the result of long and incessant practice . The concert took place in the central transept , an area too large for the due appreciation of Camr panological delicacies ; but still a great deal of delight was manifested by the select company present . The programme included a selection from "Lucrezia Borgia , " two of Haydn ' s choruses , with some dance music and popular tunes . The balloon ascent , on Tuesday , was so successful in one sense , and so unsuccessful in another , thut in something ' over a minute the machine was lost to the view of a gaping crowd , Many who had averted their eyes « fora brief space , in full security , were utterl y scared at finding the place of it no more . Tlie display of the fountains on the same day was u , ll that could bo desired . There was very little wind , plenty of light at the time , and the devices preserved their proper outline in a manner wo should hardly have expected so near the equinox . Mr . Strange , tliw purveyor , * gave a second fete on Wednesday , Tho novelty oi the day was a capital boat-race on tlio luko . - Some hundreds wore present on the margin , and Mr . A . Wentzell , of Lambeth , directed . ,

      Astjlhy's Amriiixinsatnio.—Astley's—Timo...

      Astjlhy ' s AMriiixinsATnio . —Astley ' s—timo-honoured Astloy ' e—opened on Monday , and , although tho same evening was chosen by tho Olympic management for the presentation of a new drama , a select party of connoisseurs were drawn to Lambeth by the mngic of a name . A hippodrame by Mr . lorn Taylor , of Haymarkot , Olympic , Lyceum , Princess s -in fact , of worldwide celebrity , as an author of ordinary dramas , comedies , and comediettas , serious , serio-comic , comic , and domostio— -was , indeed , novelty enough to attract them . And though some noodles , who having ftilsoly planted the clever dramatist on an heroic pedestal on tho strength xrf an originality »> e never claimed , or was entitled to , pretend disgust at his descent from the high horse ^ Wvah-street to tho Lambeth cob , or , more property , from the Olympic mount of Wych-street to > iho Olympic sawdust of Stangate . we nui & t own that tho master-hand is apparent Jn tho ( 8 o-oallea ) original

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 22, 1859, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22101859/page/19/