Handel naturally figured largely, while Mozart was represented by his Jupiter Symphony, Beethoven by his Symphonies in C and D and one of the Leonora overtures. Such names, however, as Pepusch, Spontini, and Salieri have long since disappeared. Again, the style of Festival programme was then of a very mixed, and, as regards some of the numbers, of a very "popular" kind. Festivals of the present day are of a much more serious character.
Mdlle. Garcia we find set down for such items as "Gratias" by Gugliemi, "Alma invitta" from "Sigismondo," "O patria" from "Il Tancredi," a terzetto from "Il Crociato in Egitto," and one of her "chevaux de bataille," "Una voce poco fa" from "Il Barbiere."
With the York Festival the visit to England was brought to a close, and at the end of the month the Garcia family embarked at Liverpool for New York, where Manuel was to take part in the first American season of Italian Opera.
Before following them there, let us seek a glimpse of some of the operatic and theatrical events between the year of Manuel Garcia's first visit to England and his trip to America.
In 1816 John Kemble was playing Coriolanus at his London season; Charles Kean was at Drury Lane; and at Covent Garden Mrs Siddons reappeared as Lady Macbeth, while Charles Mathews brought to an end his contract with that theatre.
Next year Henry Bishop's operatic drama "The Slave" was produced at Covent Garden, and a novel pantomime entitled "Robinson Crusoe," with Grimaldi as Friday. It was, moreover, on June 13 of this season that Kemble played Coriolanus for the last time, and retired. In 1818 Macready appeared in an acting version of "Rob Roy,"—a novel which Sir Walter Scott had published shortly before.
This year, moreover, saw the birth of Gounod, and the death of Mrs Billington, heroine of so many Covent Garden triumphs. In 1819 several oratorios were given under Henry Bishop, with Samuel Wesley the church musician as conductor; while on June 9, at the benefit of Mr and Mrs Charles Kemble, Sarah Siddons appeared on the stage for the last time in her life: a few months before this the beautiful Miss O'Neill retired from the boards.
Shelley passed away in 1822 (the year which followed that of the coronation of George IV.); while within a few weeks there took place an interesting benefit performance, at which "The Rivals" was acted, with the following cast:—
| Sir Anthony | Munden. |
| Captain Absolute | Charles Kemble. |
| Faulkland | Young. |
| Acres | Liston. |
| Lydia | Mrs Edwin. |
| Mrs Malaprop | Mrs Davenport. |
The next year is specially noteworthy for the production, in May, of Henry Bishop and Howard Payne's opera, "The Maid of Milan," which contained the air "Home, Sweet Home"; while in the following December, a tragedy by Mrs Hemans saw the light under the title "The Vespers of Palermo."