It is to the sort of light pieces
that are given here, that the French music is peculiarly appropriate, and
it is here that you seize and feel the beauty and melody of the national
music; these little _chansons_, _romances_ and _ariettas_ are so pleasing
to the ear that they imprint themselves durably on the memory, which is no
equivocal proof of their merit. I cannot say as much for the tragic singing
in the _Opera seria_ at the Grand French Opera, which to my ear sounds a
perfect psalmody. There is but one language in the world for tragic
recitative and that is Italian. On the other hand, in the _genre_ of the
_Opera comique_, the French stage is far superior to the Italian. In the
French comedy everything is graceful and natural; the Italians cannot catch
this happy medium, so that their comedies and comic operas are mostly
_outre_, and degenerate into downright farce and buffoonery.
[42] Major James Grant, of the 18th Light Dragoons, was made a Brevet
Lieutenant Colonel on 18th June, 1815.--ED.
[43] A phrase in prose, often quoted as a verse, from Voltaire's preface to
the _Enfant Prodigue: Tous les genres sont bons, hors le genre
ennuyeux_.
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