September 1836. My friend, Signor Puzzi, Mademoiselle Grisi, and Lablache, on their way to the festival at Manchester, gave a concert at Leicester, in which the wonderful powers of these artists were shown, especially in two pieces from the opera 'I Puritani', by Bellini. It has been the fashion to decry this author, and to speak of him as a literary thief, stealing from Rossini. The two pieces just mentioned are sufficiently distinct in style to admit of no such imputation. The ideas are original, and very beautiful. The metallic lustre of Grisi's voice was finely shown in the long holding note upon A, in ' A te, o Cara,' to which is added an unrivalled execution. Lablache's magnificent voice I have dilated upon in the ' Music of Nature,' but in the piece just mentioned I was charmed by his vocal pizzicato, if I may so speak ; the short expressive manner of his touching the isolated quavers, an effect new and delightful.