Volume 1

The Farington diary / edited by James Greig.

  • Joseph Farington
Date:
[1922?-1928]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Farington diary / edited by James Greig. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    heard the Banti* at the Opera last night and does not think her equal to Mara.f She has a very fine voice and a good ear, but has no knowledge of musick. He thinks her action, which has been much extolled, very indifferent. July 5.—The Revd. Mr. Lawton resides near Daventry in North¬ amptonshire. Althorp is abt. 7 miles distant. Ld. Spencer is con¬ sidered as being very retired, as to his neighbours, in the country. He has withdrawn all political views on the Town of Northampton, & never interferes in their elections. The late Ld. Spencer supported a Charity School for 40 poor children. This is not now maintained. The Northamp¬ ton people regret the Spencer family having forsaken them. Lord Spencer is much respected. Lady S. loves her ease, and is attached to her amusements. The Northampton family is recovering a little from the ruinous state in which their affairs were. Ld. N. having long resided in Switzerland has been enabled to do this. July 7.—This evening went to Drury Lane Play House with Opie. The entertainments were LodoiskaJ and the first of June in honor of Lord Howes victory. The Burning the Castle in Lodoiska is admirably managed. The first of June is heavy and ill-suited I think to work on the people properly, it dwells too much on the consequences of war. Drury Lane theatre is an instance of the worst taste I ever saw in a large building, disproportioned in the design and frippery in the execution. The seats in the Boxes are convenient. Sir F. Bourgeois was there. He told me He had for 3 or 4 years past purchased a Ticket for the season for which He paid 6 guineas & was free of every part of the House. It is not transferable. He seemed to have apprehensions from some conversation with Trumbull [the artist who came to England as secretary to the American special Ambassador] of the question with America being amicably settled. He told me the King had much noticed my view of High St. Oxford, and remembered all the buildings. July 8.—Smirke informed me this morning that at a meeting of the [Royal Academy] Commemoration Medal Committee last night, His design was adopted. Hamilton, who receives his information from Mr. Dryander [Librarian to Sir Joseph Banks at Dean-street, Soho-square, and afterwards librarian * Brigitta Giorgi Banti, believed to have been the daughter of a Venetian gondolier, was bom in Lom¬ bardy in 1759. She began life as a street singer. At the age of nineteen she set out for Paris, singing on the way at inns and cafes. She made a triumphant debut at the Opera in “ Iphigenie en Tauride.” Dance heard Banti on her second visit to London, and subsequent criticism supported his opinion of her qualifications. t Mara in her youth supported herself by singing and performing on the guitar, and when John Taylor, Editor of the Morning Post, first became acquainted with her “ she brought with her the reputation of being the first female singer of Europe.” After many years Taylor again met her and was asked to induce her to accept £50 a night to sing in oratorios, instead of the £100 usually paid to her. She refused. “ She was evidently not aware that her musical powers had declined,” says Taylor. She was a native of Hesse Cassel. The names of Banti and Mara are almost forgotten to-day. } Lodoiska : Comedy in 3 acts, written by Fillette Loreaux, with music by Cherubini, was produced at the Feydeau Theatre, Paris, on July 18,1791. Another version of the same story, the words by Dejaure and music by H. R. Kreutzer, was first given at the Italian, in the same city, on August 1, 1791,