The music-halls of to-day do not call for such censure; they have even become fashionable; but one is tempted to wonder whether there is any modern counterpart in Labour journalism to the austerely Puritan Beehive.
Opera in 1858
In the world of opera the domination of the Italian School of composers and singers, though intermittently and not unsuccessfully assailed, remained practically unbroken throughout this period, 1857-1874. Still, the formation of the company for the performance of English operas by Louisa Pyne and William Harrison in 1856 is a landmark that must not be overlooked. The partnership was dissolved in 1862, but the performances given at the Lyceum, Drury Lane, and Covent Garden theatres in those years anticipated the good work done in later years by the Carl Rosa and other companies. The general musical situation in 1858 is not badly summarized in the lines published at the end of June under the heading "Musicians and Maniacs":—
Three Traviatas in diff'rent quarters,
Three Rigoletti murd'ring their daughters!!
Three Trovatori beheading their brothers,
By the artful contrivance of three gipsy mothers!!!
Verdi in the Haymarket, Verdi at the Lane,
Green's in Covent Garden, and Verdi again!
Was ever a being so music be-ridden,