“ISRAEL IN EGYPT

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27642, 26 April 1955, Page 11

“ISRAEL IN EGYPT

GOOD PERFORMANCE BY HARMONIC SOCIETY

The Christchurch Harmonic Society, conducted by Mr Victor Peters, sang Handels “Israel in Egypt” on Saturday evening in the Civic ’lTieatre to ji large audience. For choral societies capable of performing it. this should be a favourite work because the greater part of the oratorio falls to choir.

The Harmonic Society is eminently capable of giving a good performance of it and certainly did so. There was a rolling massiveness of tone in the great choruses. Even in the eight part work there was excellent clarity of melodic lines, and a pleasing flexibility in the many florid passages. The performance, for the most part, had plenty of colour. The v more robust choruses, in which the work fortunately abounds, were the best. Neither “Hp led them through the deep” nor “And with the blast of they nostrils’’ were entirely successful, but such choruses as “He gave them hailstones.” “Thy right hand. O Lord” and the great “Horse and his Rider” werp splendidly thrilling. Strangely enough “The Lord is a Man of War,” sung by the male choir, seemed to need rather more bite. However, all in all. the chorus work was very good indeed and Mr Peters’s interpretations were well-thought-out and convincing.

The solo work in this oratorio seems largely intended to give the choir an occasional well-earned rest. The best aria. “Thou Shalt Bring Them In” was movingly sung by Vera Martin. The duet for two sopranos was sung with clarity and precision by Edna Boyd Wilson and Margaret Richards. Edna Boyd Wilson, with her customary charm of voice and good artistry, was heard to advantage in “Thou didst Blow with the Wind”—not to mentioh the wood wind, which seemed to be making rather heavy weather of the accompaniment. Malcolm Haines was the tenor soloist. When he warmed to his work he sang with easy and flexible phrasing and with good clarity. His voice, which has a very pleasing lyric quality, was too light in texture for most of the work. The aria “The Enemy said, ‘I will pursue’ ” must be sung by a robust voice with plenty of fire in it. It would be better to omit the aria if a soloist who can do proper justice to it cannot be found.

The 3YA Orchestra, led by Romola Griffiths, played the accompaniments and, except for the occasional raggedness, played them adequately. Mr William Hawkey’s incisive and rhythmical pianoforte playing made an excellent contribution to the accompaniments. —-C.F.R.