Wo presume that we must attribute to the desire of the public to welcome their favourite Mr. Chiarini the limited attendance at the Theatre on Saturday, when Miss Sherwin and her troupe presented Balfe's delightful romantic opera, The Bohemian Girl. Tt was given more than once last yeas by the Willard troupe, and there are few, if any, English operas better known, some of the ballads it contains being among' the most popular in the language. Tt is needless to say that the opera as presented on Saturday was a very different thing, from a musical point of view, to what it was as interpreted by Miss Hare, Miss Leamington, Mr. Fisher and Mr. Imano. The cast was strengthened by the assistance of Mr. D, Munday, who was very successful san actor in Florestein, and of Mr. Geos Compton, who made his first appearance in hai as Count Arnheim, aad fairly astonished the audience, both as a singer and actor. We are very glad to hear that the management have succeeding in securing Mr. Compton's services in the forthcoming re] tation of Faust; there is no fear that the role of Valentine will not be more than adequately acted and sung by this most excellent of amateurs.
The first act of the Bohemian Girl, as given on Saturday, was little more than a prologue, for in the absence of a chorus it d to be considerably curtailed, and under any circumstances the real interest only begins with the first appearance of Arline Qfiss Sherwin). Mr. Compton, however, shewed his quality at once by his admirable singing of what was made the opening air, 'A Soldier's life, his fine baritone voice, and evident acquaintance with the stage—though hewasnaturallysomewhatnervous—eliciting hearty applause. From this the action went on to the duet, Comrade, your hand, between. Devilshoof (Mr. Sherwin) and Thaddeus (Mr. Stockwell), capitally sung. The first success of Act LI was Miss Sherwin's singing of I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls, which was beautifully given; the purity and sweetness of her voice were never better displayed, and the expression with which she sings doubles the charm. It was enthusiastically applauded, as was the duct with Thaddeus that followed, The wound upon thine arm. Nothing could have been better than the effect of the blending ai the two voices, both the best of their kinds that have ever been heard in Shanghai. Miss Fischer was encored in her song Loco smiles but to deceive, and the quartet which closed the act was also encored, and the ists recalled after the drop scene fell.
The scene in Count Arnheim's office was made the third act, and opened with the favourite ballad, The heart buw'd down by weight of rove, which Mr. Compton sang with much feeling, and the finale, Hold, hold, which was sung as a quit Went so well that it was encored. It is a' great strain on the artists that they have to sing these ensembles without the aid of a chorus, but they sing so vigorously that, except as regards the spectacular effect, the chorus is The fourth act of the opera is the best, and it went throughout excellently. In the opening scene Miss Sherwin introduced the delightful song with flute accompaniment, Who's at my window? and it is in these ird songs with their trills that this charm-
insisted on an encore, and were gratified lady is unapproachable. The audience with one verse of Home, sweet home, which must have had an unusual reality for the singer considering how very scantily she has been appreciated in shanghai. Mr. Sherwin had a good opportunity of amusing his audience with his comic power in this act, Mr. Stockwell extended himself in When other lips, and the trio that follows, Through the world, was almost perfect. As the injured Queen of the Gipsies, Miss Fischer was magnificently majestic in Heed the warning voice. Arline's prayer to her father, See at your feet, was sung so touchingly that one forgot how conventional this introduction of a prayer into the closing scene of an opera is. The great air, When the fair lant of Poland, was ug with great spirit by Mr. Stockwell, ud he sings with such perfect ease, such entire absence of the effort with which many tenors draw attention to their range, that the audience often hardly realises what he is achieving. The whole opera was a thoroughly finished and artistic perform: ance.
Gounod's Faust is by far the most popular of modern operas, and the announcement that it would be' presented in full with such excellent vocalists as Miss Shersvin and her troupe and the amateur, Mr. Compton, in the leading reles, another good amateur as Wagner, and a chorus comprising many of the best voices in the community, sufficed, as was certain, to fill the Lyceum on Tuesday night, notwithstanding the concurrent attractions of the Circus and the audience saw one of the best operatic representations that have ever been given here. The Italian Companies that we had here some ago gave as complete performances, but they could not produce such a chorus as Mr. Gorlitz, the Manager, succeeded in enrolling. 'The ise-en-scene, aided by some of the pictures painted for the tableaux of Faust at the Country Club, was very good, the dresses were good, Mr. Clutsam accompanied with spirit, and the Town Band gave the rewired finish to the Soldiers' Chorus, and the presence of so large an audience reacted on the artists, and they played and sang with an energy and enjoyment which made the whole thing go off with enthusiasm, The "cuts" that were made in the score were only such as are usually molle at home, and are necessary to bring the performance within reasonable limits, and even with them the curtain did not fall until considerably after midnight.
The only fault to be found with the first act was that the stage was a little too dark, but there was no fault to be found with the singing, Mr. Stockwell rejoicing in the music of Faust, and Mr. Sherwin being well-suited with the part of Mephisto, very exacting part for a comparatively young actor. 'The vision of Marguerite at her wheel was very pretty, Miss Sherwin showing herself at once' to be -the ideal Muryuerite that we expected to see, The second act opened with the entry of Valentine and the chorus, which was loudly applauded. Mr, Compton was a thoroughly soldierly Valentine, Mr. Robertini a capital Wagner and Miss Fischer a most attractive Siebel, and their music went excellently, There was alittle not unnatural nervous+ ness on Valentine's part which made him now and then sing a little sharp, but he hus stich a charming Voice, and so good 4 stage presence, and seems so much at his ease in is part, thathe delighted the audience. 'The chorus was excellent in time, tune and volume, and its promptness and "snap" were wonderful, considering the few rehearsals it had had. Mephistopheles' song, Clear the ray for the Calf of Gold was very well sung, and was taken fully quickly enough, the chorus to this too being ver good. In the celebrated scene in. which the tempter is baffled by the cross hilts of the soldiers' swords, a very dificult scone for Mephistopheles, Mr. Sherwin succeeded fas well as could be expected. The entry of Murquerite on her way home from Church was the signal for @ storm of applause, and the few bars that she has to sing, in response to Favst's Highboru and lovely maid, were deliciously given, and her walk' across the stage after her refusal of Fuvst's escort, was in itself a lesson to amateurs. There was 4 hearty recall when the drop scene fell. The third act, contains the most taking music in the opera, and it went splendidly throughout. Fischer sang the ballad Gentle flowers in the dew, beautifully and drama-to Mr. Stockwell's singing of the tically, and it was encored, as it deserved
cavatina, AN hail, thow dvcelling pure and lowly, was perfection, the only drawback being the English' words, which are so terribly unmusical compared with the Ttalian. Maryuerite's scena and aria The King of Thule and the Jewel Song en-ited the house. As she sat at the spinning wheel, now spinning a. little faster, now alittle slower, as she admired herself when decked in the jewels, and knelt down in love with herself for her own beauty, her acting was perfect in its grace and naturalness, while her beautiful Voice did justice to the composer, the part, and the acting. Miss Fischer was as good in Dame Martha as in Siebel, and the"quartet between the four chief singers, and the final duet, The hour is late, were admirable, and the applause and recalls at the end of the act shewed the audience's delight. In the fourth act the Soldiers' chorus accom panied by the band, fairly brought down the house and it had to be repeated. The
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