A concert of a brilliant character was recently given by the horn virtuoso, M. Lewy; he was assisted by Demlle. Heinefetter, and MM. Thalberg, Titze, Hürt, and Sachner.
Romberg is at present sojourning here, and has played on the violoncello at a concert in the Kärntnerthor Theater. Age seems to have produced no effect upon his mighty powers; his reception was enthusiastic in the extreme.
BERLIN.
Spontini’s opera Alcidor, after an undisturbed repose of many years, was lately reproduced here. Its success was but indifferent, notwithstanding the laudable exertions of the singers and the splendour of the scenery and decorations. Dlle. Gerwer is about to leave us; her place, however, will be supplied, for a short time at least, by Dlle. Heinefetter.
A. M. Liebrecht, aged thirteen years, a pupil of M. C. M. Möser, has given a concert here, showing the degree of perfection to which such a child may attain by assiduous and persevering application; he exhibited an extraordinary mastery over his instrument—the violin. Shortly afterwards M. Wagans gave a concert, at which he played a concerto on the trumpet with a degree of taste and brilliancy calculated to sustain the fame which he has already acquired. Other concerts have been—that of the three brothers Gabrielski, in which two of them distinguished themselves as clever flute players, and the other as an accomplished pianist; and one at the theatre, at which Dlle. Fürst, from Dresden, sang; her voice is rather powerful than sweet, and tolerably flexible.
At the Singing Academy the Passion music of St. Matthew the Evangelist, by Seb. Bach, was performed; and on Good Friday the annual performance of the oratorio Der Tod Jesu took place before a very crowded audience; it was subsequently given in the Garrison Church under the direction of M. Hansmann.
MUNICH.
The performances during the present year have comprised the operas Johann von Paris, Zauberflöte, Figaro, Fra Diavolo, Der Maurer and der Schlosser, (Le Maçon) Die beyden Füchse, Freyschütz, Der Schnee, &c. The management of Baron von Poissl terminated on the 28th February, when he was succeeded by M. Küstner.
STRASBURG.
During the last year it was our good fortune to have a German company, under the direction of M. Carl Bode, exclusively devoted to the opera; and their productions were therefore comparatively of so perfect a nature, that the direction of the French theatre was quite unable to compete with them. They performed during the season, Fidelio, Die Schweizer Familie, Freyschütz, Die Weisse Dame, Preziosa, Die Stumme von Portici, Don Juan, Koskiusko, Der Dorf Barbier, (The Village Barber,) Tancred, Oberon, Das Donauweibchen, (The Nymph of the Danube,) Wiener in Berlin, Der Kleiner Wilddiebe, (the Little Poacher,) Sargin, Zauberflöte, Wilhelm Tell, and Robert der Teufel. Among the company, consisting of about forty members, the most distinguished were Madame Brauer Düringer, whose principal characters were Fidelio, Donna Anna in Die Weisse Frau, Elvira in Die Stumme and in Don Juan, Sophie in Sargin, Mathilde in Wilhelm Tell, Isabelle in Robert der Teufel, and Tancred. She has a powerful, rich voice, which is of extraordinary effect in the concerted pieces, and she sings with much taste. Madame Mayer, too, was delightful as Annchen in Der Freyschütz; in fact, in all the characters which she sustained. Demlle. Liszevsky also called forth great admiration as Emmeline, Agathe, &c; but particularly as Jemmy in Wilhelm Tell, and Alice in Robert der Teufel. M. Wagner, from the Würtzburg Theatre, as principal tenor, was successful in all his efforts; he sang with equal skill and excellence the high part of Sargin and the low one of Don Juan; as Robert and as Arnold, he has few equals. M. Heisel, as second tenor, was not without merit. The other singers were MM. Popp, Netz, Krieg, Fischer, Kaibel, &c. Great credit is due to M. Bode for having by his judicious management cultivated the taste for classical productions.