“Bellini’s celebrated work was given in German last night at the Stadt Theatre, with the following cast [see above]. The disappointment on Friday night, when, on account of the sickness of the basso, the opera of ‘The Jewess’ was not given and the house was closed, militated heavily against the attendance last evening. It is a serious mistake to dress up a purely Italian opera in German habiliments, as it is to give ‘Der Freischutz’ or ‘Fidelio’ in Italian. The smooth, melodious phrases of Bellini sound very strangely in the guttural accents of the Teutonic tongue. ‘Casta Diva,’ one of the loveliest melodies that ever emanated from the brain of an Italian musician, sounds very queerly as ‘Keusche Gottinn Silberklange.’ We may make similar remarks, although in a somewhat modified form, of this opera, when presented in English. The Germans, doubtless, love their native tongue so well that they will consider even an Italian composer honored by placing such words as zersplittern, branigervand, or, in a cadenza, druidensitze, to his music. The German language is sturdy and rugged, expressive in its disdain of the sensuous elegancies of the Italian tongue, and it has plenty of first class musicians of its own to do it justice without calling upon Bellini or Verdi. Therefore we protest uncompromisingly against the production of Italian operas in German, as we would decry ‘L’Allandese Damnato’ (‘Fliegende Hollander’), in Italian. Regarding the performance last evening, a great deal of praise is due to the ‘Norma.’ Madame Lichtmay is a reliable artist, and she has had an experience of an enviable character, in German, France, Belgium and America. In Paris she sang in French the leading rôles in Meyerbeer’s operas, even at the time that Marie Sasse was the reigning favorite of the French capital. Her rendering of ‘Casta Diva’ (we cling to the Italian words) was marked by a depth of religious feeling and a wealth of expression that brought back the memory of Lagrange and Grisi. The tenor, Mr. Horn, made quite a success among the audience, as he has a voice of considerable power, and at the same time kept within the bounds of true art. He was called before the curtain four times after the second act. Madame Beckmann was a very unsatisfactory Adalgisa. She took unwarrantable liberties with the score, and at times one would think that she never heard of such a composer as Bellini. There is a great deal of dramatic recitative in ‘Norma,’ but even Madame Lichtmay, among the rest, failed to do it full justice last night.”