ELIJAH

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 40, 15 August 1918, Page 3

ELIJAH

CHORAL UNION COMPLIMENT-

ARY PERFORMANCE.

After forty years of musical conducting in Wellington Mr. Robert Parker will have no cause to look back with feelings other than of pleasure upon the last performance of "Elijah." It would be an , exaggeration to say that Mendelssohn's great oratorio has never been better rendered in Wellington. Old residents will recall other performances, and say that the work in parts was finer, with a chorus not so strong, but more responsive to the baton of the same conductor, and an orchestra whose work was finished to the last degree. 'But the delights of the past always attain a higher value as they become more distant; and performances long gone cannot fairly be compared with those of which the recollection is still most vivid. In last night's performance in the Town Hall there were certainly many parts which would bear comparison with anything previously heard. Even the most critical agreed, for example, that it was long years since they had heard the music of the Prophet snng so well as Mr. John ProuEe sang it. It is thirty years since Mr. Prouse first took the music of the Prophet in this city, and those who heard him for the first time last night couid well understand how rapidly he made his reputation in this part alone. After thirty years of public singing, Mr. Prouse's voice is still clear, resonant, 11 and powerful; and the passage of time has not diminished his .gift of interpretation. Last night he gave genuine pleasure 'to the musically learned and unlearned alike. In declamatory passages he displayed all the fire known of old. "Is not His word like a fire" was a capital example of the spirited style in which Mr. Prouse excels. The invocation music, "Lord God of Abraham," and challenges to the prophets of. Baal also took a new meaning. But most perfect of all was the Prophet's prayer of despair, "It is Enough." Miss Mina Caldow may always be rolied upon to 1 give a capable rendition of the contralto music, and she was not disappointing last night. . t "Woe Unto Them Who Forsake Him," sung with fine feeling, was her best number,'though naturally "0 Rest in the Lor-!" won her much praise. In recitative and air, duet and trio, Miss Caldow was alike proficient. The principal soprano was Madame Bella Russell (Auckland), who proved to have a.sweet voice of remarkable clarity and moderate power, but with a tendency to a marring tremolo. Madame Russell's singing was otherwise excellent in point; of technique, and exceptionally expressive. Her duet with Mr. Prouse, "What Have I to/da with Thee, 0 Man of God?" was marked by the deepest feeling. Miss N. Lankshear's name also appeared on the programme, but she sang only in the beautiful trio "Lift Thine Eyes'' (with the other lady principals), and the female quartet "Holy, Holy, Holy" (recitative -by Madame Russell' with chorus). This latter was one of the most perfect gems of the performance. The tenor was Mr. Martin Duff, who won the popular esteem with the famous recitative and air "Ye People Rend Your Hearts" and "If With All Your Hearts." Mr. Duff's production is apt to be nasal, and last night he slurred his words occasionally in a manner that was not pleasant to hear. In the short recitative, "See, Now He Sleepeth," Mr. Duff avoided those faults, and his effort was distinctly praiseworthy. The choruses were well taken,' some exceptionally so. The "Baal" double chorus lacked nothing in volume, attack, or precision, and "Thanks be to God" was also a* number to be remembered.

Taken as a whole the choral work was of a high order, and occasional lapses in the more trying choruses were forgotten in tlie pleasure derived from the many that were without blemish. The orchestra, led by Mr. H. H. Tombs, gave efficient service, and Mr. C. Kerry was quite satisfactory as organist. 'Cello, oboe, and flute obbligatos enhanced the charm of several solos. Mr. Parker's conducting at all times indicated his most thorough understanding and artistic sympathy. It was he who introduced "Elijah" in Wellington forty years ago —the first big work he conducted —and his services' to music in the intervening four decades cannot ht measured. The audience last night was numerous and appreciative of the conductor's work; but it could not be regarded as expressing even in the most inadequate way the debt which the community owes to Mr. Parker. ■ „';