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admirable portamento; I never heard any one sing with more ease, or in a manner so totally free from affectation. The rest of the vocal performers were all above mediocrity; a tenor with both voice and judgment sufficient to engage attention, a very fine contralto; a young man with a soprano voice, whose singing was full of feeling and expression; and a second woman, whose performance was far from despicable. Such singers as these were necessary for the music, which is in a dif- ficult stile; more full of instrumental effects than vocal. Sometimes it may be thought rather laboured, but it is admir- able in the tout ensemble; masterly in modu- lation, and in melody full of new passages*. This was the first rehearsal, and the in- struments were rough and unsteady, not being as yet certain of the exact time or expression of the movements; but, as far as I was then able to judge, the compo-
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