ey, Webbe, and Calcott,
are the leading names of a numerous class who are chiefly remembered for
their anthems and glees, amongst which may be found the
_chefs-d'oeuvres_ of a school of which we shall more particularly speak
hereafter. The dramatic compositions of these masters are, for the most
part, consigned to oblivion; nor has any permanent impression been made
upon the public, by a native opera, for many years. While our national
school has been thus barren, the Italian opera has been long cultivated
and esteemed. The first opera, performed wholly in Italian, was given at
the Haymarket theatre in 1710. Handel began to write for this theatre in
1712, and continued to produce operas for many years. The Italian opera
appears to have been in the most flourishing state about the years 1735
and 1736. London then possessed two lyric theatres, each managed by
foreign composers, carrying on a bitter rivalry, and each backed by all
the vocal and instrumental talent that could be found in Europe.
Porpora, by Rousseau styled the immortal, at the Haymarket, and Handel
at Covent-Garden--the former boasting the celebrated Farinelli and
Cuzzoni among his performers, the latter supported by Caustini and
Gizziello. The public, however, appears to have been surfeited by such
prodigality; for Dr Burney observes, "at this time"--about 1737--"the
rage for operas seems to have been very much diminished in our country;
the fact was, that public curiosity being satisfied as to new
compositions and singers, the English returned to their homely food, the
_Begger's Opera_ and ballad farces on the same plan, with eagerness and
comfort." In 1741, Handel, after producing thirty-nine Italian lyric
dramas, and after struggling against adversity, with a reduced
establishment in a smaller theatre, was compelled by ruin to retire for
ever from the direction of the Italian stage. The opera then passed into
other hands, and was continued, with various success and few
intermissions, down to the present time. It has been the means of
introducing to our countrymen the works of an almost innumerable host of
foreign composers. Bach, the first composer who observed the laws of
contrast as a principle, Pergolisi, Gluck, Piccini, Paesiello, Cimarosa,
Mozart, Rossini, and Bellini, are the principal names, among a long list
of masters, of whom we might otherwise have remained in utter ignorance.
Performers of every kind, singers of the highest excellence, have co