... . SIGNOR LAGO'S first season of Italian Opera at Covent Garden closed on Monday last with a repetition of II Barbiere di Siviglia, the cast being identical with that when Rossini's comic master piece was produced on the previous Tuesday. Mlle. Ella Russell as Rosina repeated her previous success in that character, although her intonation was not always satisfactory. M. Maurel as Figaro sang ...

... MESSRS. DUFF AND STEWART.-- In spite of the numerous new and often admirable songs and other musical compositions which hourly make their appearance, we find that standard old songs and duets are cons ...

... j|i^ ill 1 1 p|| A HISTORY OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS AND ELECTION EERING IN THE OLD DAYS, by Joseph Grego (Chatto and Windus), is a very interesting and entertaining volume. It is a history of part ...

... . Watery Wanderings in the Western Lochs. By T. H. Hold ing. Marlborough and Co. The narrator tells of a canoe voyage over the western lochs of Scotland, with its pleasures and difficulties. The trip is interesting, although the literary style is not absolutely perfect. The Tape Indicator Map of London. Messrs. C. Smith and Son, of Charing Cross, publish a good and strong map of London, ...

... . THOSE who are visiting the Princess's Theatre just now will certainly do wisely to arrive there in time for the new lexer du ridean, which is from the pen of Mr. Theyre Smith. But they must not be disappointed to find that My Lord in Livery, as the piece is named, has little in the manner of its fun to recall the author of those witty trifles, Uncle's Will and Which is Which. My Lord in ...

... . SATURDAY last was for true lovers of music one of the most interesting days of the year that has nearly reached its termina tion. On the 18th of December, 1786, Carl Maria Friedrich Ernest von Weber was bom at Eutin, and the centenary of his birth was the occasion of musical manifestations, in honour of him, in almost all parts of the civilised world. The name of Weber has always been ...

... . The transfer of Messrs. Cellier and Stephenson's comic opera Dorothy-- as graceful and tasteful a piece of work as has for some time past been given to the stage has been effected without the loss of any of the characteristics which gained for it such well-deserved success at the Gaiety. Dorothy' X new home is the Prince of Wales's Theatre, now for awhile under the management of Mr. Horace ...

... . Yet another new ballet attests at once the fertility of Mr. Hansen's invention and the terpsichorean resources of the Alhambra. The brilliant display of Dresdina is, of course, far from having exhausted its powers of attraction. But, together with it, the Alhambra now presents an equally pretty ff less magnificent spectacle in the Ballet of the Season, which presents a fanciful allegory of ...

... . FOR many years past, Mr. Walter Bache has been in the habit of giving concerts and pianoforte recitals, at which the composi tions of Liszt have been largely predominant. This field of action has been left entirely to him; he has had no competitor in the onerous task of preaching Liszt-worship to stubborn unbelievers, and must have made heavy pecuniary sacrifices on behalf of the cause with ...

... . THE seventy-fourth season of this venerable society will open next month, and the prospectus just issued by the directors shows that these zealous and untiring workers have been indus triously employed during the last six months in making such musical arrangements as should ensure a prosperous season. We have been enabled to announce, from time to time, important measures taken by the ...

... . Mrs i rui. of its special reputation, the Alhambra follows up one brilliant ballet with another, and its latest production, Cvpid, iB at li att equal in picturesque grace and freshness of idea to its predectf sore. The ballet is invented by M. Hansen, whose pretty, i tory, if not too intelligible, does full justice to its really magnificent setting on the handsome stage. The woodland dance ...

... . The Wife's Sacrifice, by Messrs. Sydney Grundy and Suther land Edwards, is by no means the kind of piece in which Messrs. Hare and Kendal have made either their own reputation or that, of the theatre which they direct. It is an adaptation of Martyre, and Martyre, which was produced a couple of months ago at the. Ambigu in Paris, is exactly the work that one would expect M. d'Ennery to ...