Thirty Years' Musical Recollections

Henry Fothergill Chorley

Thirty Years Musical Recollections, first published in 1862, is a year-by-year commentary in two volumes on the European operas, ballets, singers and dancers popular in London from 1830 to 1859. Its author was music critic of The Athaneum for over thirty years and also wrote book reviews, novels, plays and poems. Volume 2 covers the period 1847–1859 and serves as a valuable reference work to the musical life of London during these years. It begins with an account of the deterioration of Her Majestys Theatre and the opening of the Royal Italian Opera. Chorley intersperses discerning observations about the changing trends in public taste with descriptions of famous opera singers – including Mademoiselle Alboni, Signor Ronconi, the Countess Rossi, Madame Ristori and Madame Pauline Viardot – and highlights their more noteworthy performances. The book is an entertaining eyewitness account of the lively musical scene in mid-nineteenth-century London.

Bibliographic Details

Contents

• 1. The year 1847. Mademoiselle Alboni. Signor Ronconi
• 2. The year 1848 (Her Majestys Theatre)
• 3. The year 1848 (Royal Italian Opera). M. Mayerbeers operas. Madame Pauline Viardot
• 4. The year 1849 (Her Majestys Theatre). The Countess Rossi
• 5. The year 1849 (Royal Italian Opera). M. Meyerbeers operas – “Le Prophète”. M. Aubers operas
• 6. The year 1850 (Her Majestys Theatre)
• 7. The year 1850 (Royal Italian Opera)
• 8. The year 1851 (Her Majestys Theatre)
• 9. The year 1851 (Royal Italian Opera)
• 10. The year 1852 (Her Majestys Theatre)
• 11. The year 1852 (Royal Italian Opera)
• 13. The year 1853 (Royal Italian Opera)
• 12. The year 1854 (Royal Italian Opera)
• 13. The year 1855 (Royal Italian Opera)
• 14. The year 1856 (Her Majestys Theatre)
• 15. The year 1856 (Royal Italian Opera), Madame Ristori
• 16. The year 1857 (Royal Italian Opera)
• 17. The year 1857 (Her Majestys Theatre)
• 18. The year 1858 (Her Majestys Theatre–Royal Italian Opera–Drury Lane)
• 19. The year 1859 (Royal Italian Opera–Drury Lane
• 20. The last chapter.