"ST. PAUL"

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 130, 6 June 1927, Page 12

"ST. PAUL"

CONCERT BY CHORAL UNION

The Koyal Wellington Choral Union ap-f^ « 1927 Beaaon on Saturday night with the Mendelssohn oratorio, "St Paul " lho Town Hall was crowded. Hie performance on the whole was an enjoyable one and well up to the standard of the Union. St. Paul" is an interesting work, although it cannot be classed with Hau?.w- ,Mesßloh or v >e with Mendelssohn's j]i i Tnere IS symmetry of design and balance of music and thought, while Mendelssohn's sincerity is beyond question but one feels that the romantic school to which the composer belonged has made ior delicious yet never enervating melody There are not the majestic, easy-flowing tuques and the compact, resounding harmonies in which Handel excelled, but rather tone-pointing and unprecedented skill of .beautifying counterpoint. It has been said that Mendelssohn cannot tell us of the deeper things of life, and there are times when one tires of his sweet expreusiyeness Interesting comment on this is made by Groves, who says: "All Mendelssohn s sacred work is as sincere as we could desire, and, however we may criticise the musical results, the purity ot the aim,is beyond question. And as in technique, so in temperament, the oratorios very rarely show the really -great Mendelssohn. They express very sincerely and adequately the religious emotions of the Protestant of the mid-nineteenth century, not those that know neither period nor place. The 'light that never was on sea or land' rarely ever shines over these amiable pages, many of which are redolent of a sort of spiritual bourgeoisie, that to any one fresh from reading or hearing Palestrina, or Bach, or Beethoven's Solemnis,' or BrahmsV Deuctsches Requiem' would seem almost unbearable were it not so obviously well mentioned" This statement seems a little harsh, but few will cavel with its sentiments. It might be better to say there is nothing in "St. Paul without beluiy, bu that they lack that feeling of immensity. The performance by the Choral Union brought out all the majesty of the work, but one would have liked to have seen it performed by a smaller chorus. On Saturday night the women overwhelmed the mcl, Ji w *he crescendi there was too much volume for one to appreciate the music. The fetish for huge choirs seems to be having a detrimental effect on melody, lewer voices of quality would have given St Paul' adequate treatment, and it is to be hoped that for two operas which are to come later in' tiie yea?, ther™ be a weeding-out of voices. The orchestra lacked body at the commencement, but the cenductor Mr. H. Temple White? moved it to grander heights and the organ gave it more depth. Tlie choral onenfn" announced by the bass instruments^ the orchestra gives the keynote as it-were y° tofW^ I'"™ «d! iy aone. ihe bt. Stephen episode ivw vividly indicated and the delicately scored aria Jerusalem" was beautifully sung ■by Miss Naomi.Whalley, a soprano. She made adequate use of the half voice in the sweet cadenzas, and her tone was round and full and always sweet. There was feeling and expression in the two choruses ''Take Him Away" and "Stone Hlm i t0 ,r6 P ea% and the contralto fragment, "But. the Lord is Mindful of His Own, was sung wtth all its loveliness of tone J>y Miss Nora Greene. After the fire of the chorus "Rme Up! Rise and bhme, there was a tranquil contrast in the opening of the choral, "Sleepers, Wake, a Voice is Calling," and the choir also excelled in the sweet-flowing theme

of "How Loyely are the Messengers." All the fervency of the bass aria, "0 God, Have Mercy Upon Me," was brought out by Mr. William Watters, who seemed to strike a more dramatic note than any other of the soloists. There was a good blend in the duettino for tenor and bass, "No, We are Ambassadors," by Mr. Edwin Dennis and Mr. Watters, and the cavatina for the tenor, "Be Thou Fnithful Unto Death," Mr. Dennis gave with admirable colouring. But perhaps the artistic gem of the performance was Miss Whalley's singing of "I Will Sing of Thy Great Mercies." The quartette anil chorus, "Jbar be From Thy Path," was a brilliant example of Mendelssohn's skill in counterpoint, and it was splendidly sung. The final chorus, "Bless Thou the Lord, O My Soul," with its bright fugal second part, was a fine olimax, and there were several rounds of applause for both singers and conductor.