2-888-717 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Scene from Halevy's New Opera of "La Tempesta", at Her Majesty's Theatre, [London], 1850. '...one of the most beautilul specimens of scone-painting that can be imagined. A gorgeous vessel under full sail is seen advancing to the shore, while the chorus sang once more the tune of " Where the bee sucks" - a most happy idea of the composer's, who deserves no less praise for the manner in which it was introduced than for the admirable relief given to it by the instrumentation. At the close of this magnificent display, the curtain tails as the vessel reaches the shore; when artistes, composer, author, conductor, and impresario, were all called forward to receive the reward their exertions so well deserved. Such a truly artistic work has seldom been seen on any stage; it is full ot charming contrasts, employs every resource of modern art, and is free from all that is meretricious, glaring, and noisy'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.