WELLINGTON MUSICAL UNION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 996, 10 December 1910, Page 11

WELLINGTON MUSICAL UNION.

"THE MESSIAH." Christmas without a performance of "The. Messiah" would be lilio "Hamlet" .without tho Princo of Denmark. Handel's grand old oratorio, with its inspired melodies, its glorious chorales, and its reverential sincerity, is. one "of the great vocal, recognitions throughout tho ; world of the anniversary of the Nativity, and its performance is ever new, ever welcome. Tliis year, as last, two performances are. being given in Wellington. In a city such as this, which possesses a big I'own Hall, this is perhaps . regrettable. The oratorio would gain nweh in impressiveness with a chorus of 40U or 500 voices than is possible.with less than half that number. The Wellington Musical Union was responsible, for last evening's performance, and it.was on the.whole a .very fair one. The chorus was adequate, as far as its numbers went, with the exception of the tenor divi-sion,-which was distinctly poor both in power and quality, and" the harmonic balance suifered in some of the choruses from this apparently irremediable deficiency. The defect was all. the more obvious, too, as tho soprano and basses were particularly lusty,, and did really good work. Perhaps the ■ best ■; sung chorales last evening were . "Glory .to God," "Worthy' is'the .Lamb," and tho "Hallelujah." While treating with the chorus, it is impossible to pass over .the splendid support given it by the organ, which more than compensated for tho absence of the bass and reeds in tho orchestra. There were symptoms of drag occasionally, but on tho whole Mr. A. \V. Vine, the English organist, lent ■valuable aid. An interesting feature of the performance was the appearance of two soloists new to oratorio in. Wellington. Miss Rita Lyons, the possessor of a pretty flexible soprano of silvern quality, was unfortunate enough to, commence the recitative. "There Wero Shepherds", rather sharp, and accentuated her .error by. an . inclination to take the number too fast. In "Rejoice Greatly" her effort was • almost flippant. Many will account it a.mistake Jor a , singer of. such brilliant promise to rush into ora; torio without tho adequate preparation which demands years of study. -.'.. Miss Lyons sang "Come Unto Me" much better, and her final, solo, ."I Know That My Redeemer Liveth," was very/ nicely sung though inspiration was lacking. The other new soloist was Mr. ■James Doherty, a deep baritone, : . who commenced rather foggily, but improved his later numbers. In "Tims baitli tho Lord" his voice seemed to be smothered up, .but ho did very well indeed in the recitative arid aria commencing. "For 'Behold Darkness Shall Cover.the Earth," and later,■ "Why Do tho'Nations." Mr. C. H. Stephens's lyrical tenor was. rather light for tho big hall, and at times, notably in "Thy Rebuke. Hath Broken His Heart," his pianissimo was inaudible at tho. back of the hall. Ho sang "Every Valley" with,, cultured discrimination, and .throughout his singing was artistic. Miss May Driscoll was pleasing and finished 'in tho contralto music allotted her, arid sang the beautiful solos "He Shall tfeed His Flock," and "Ho .Was Despised" with proper feeling and correct understanding. The orchestra (of strings only) 'did very well, .and-tho .'combination -with. tlio- organ was ;bn[tirely satisfactory. The" hatch''/'was wielded by Mr. Robert Parker'-with'''a' 'dexterity born of long ..experience at, the work.' '•"