... OUR. CAPTIOUS CRITIC. ASCOT RACES of the year 1884 can scarcely claim the title so proudly claimed by past years of Royal Ascot. The mourn ing of the Court denuded the week's campaign of even the faintest recognition of Royalty, and the pageantry of the customary procession, which attracts so many to Ascot Heath who know and care nothing about racing or horses, was, of course, entirely ...

... ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.-- Madame Patti reappeared at Covent Garden on Saturday, and was received with the enthusiasm due to a popular favourite. The opera was La Traviata, and Madame Patti's Violetta is ...

... THE preparations for the production of Twelfth Night at the LYCEUM are actively progressing, but whether so early a date as this day fortnight can be kept is, we believe, not quite certain. Although t ...

... . IT is fortunate for the directors of the German Opera Com pany if the statement is correct that before the current season commenced an amply large subscription list had been filled. Except on rare occasions, the general public have shown little interest in the undertaking, and the reason for this is not diffi cult to find. Many of the chief male artists attached to the company have shown ...

... . THE annual concert of Mr. W. G. Cusins was given last Monday at St. James's Hall. The programme presented a special attraction in Mr. Cusins's Grand Trio in C minor for pianoforte (Mr. Cusins), violin (Herr Straus), and violoncello (Mr. E. Howell). This masterly work-- crowned last winter by the celebrated Cecilia Society at Rome-- was received with warm applause by the large audience, and ...

... . THE appearance of Mme. Sembrich as Queen Margherita, in the recent performance of Les Huguenots, added greatly to the attractiveness of that opera, and drew a large audience. How brilliantly she sang the florid passages of which the part of Margherita chiefly consists, it is hardly necessary to say, nor would it be generous to compare so gifted a vocalist with the two debutantes who had ...

... . Indi in Game from Quail to Tiger Shooting. By Wm. Riots, Major-General, Retired LiBt, Indian Army. London: W. H. Allen and Co. IT is nearly thirty years since the author established his reputa tion as a sportsman who could write well of sport. His book, Tiger Shooting in India, may still he read with interest and advantage. The present volume, with its wide range of subjects, its ...

... EDWIN ASHDOWN.-- Both words and music of The Weaver's Daughter, the former anonymous, the latter by Annie Armstrong, are piquante and original; this song is of the narrative school, and of medium co ...