“After this, he suffered the orchestra to be heard.
“Gabrielli, however, was not flattered into spoiling her flatterers. Probably she liked the spoiling too well to make it over to them. Be that as it may, she still kept expectation on the rack, by giving us only recitative, till every other performer had tired our reluctant attention.
“At length, however, came the grand bravura, ‘Son Regina, e sono Amante.’
“Here I must stop!—Ah, Mr. Crisp! why would she take words that had been sung by Agujari?
“Opinions are so different, you must come and judge for yourself. Praise and censure are bandied backwards and forwards, as if they were two shuttlecocks between two battledores. The Son Regina was the only air of consequence that she even attempted; all else were but bits; pretty enough, but of no force or character for a great singer.
“How unfortunate that she should take the words, even though to other music, that we had heard from Agujari!—Oh! She is no Agujari!
“In short, and to come to the truth, she disappointed us all egregiously.
However, my dear father, who beyond any body tempers his judgment with indulgence, pronounces her a very capital singer.
“But she visibly took no pains to exert herself, and appeared so impertinently easy, that I believe she thought it condescension enough for us poor savage Islanders to see her stand upon the stage, and let us look at her. Yet it must at least be owned, that the tone of her voice, though feeble, is remarkably sweet; that her action is judicious and graceful, and that her style and manner of singing are masterly.”