ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

Evening Star, Issue 7444, 13 February 1888, Page 4

ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

The first concert of the season by thoDunedin Orchestral .Society was givenat the Harrison Hall on Friday night. 'J he attend mcc was not so large as the merits of the entertainment deserved; still, there were several hundreds present—as many perhaps as could have been expected considering the stormy weather and the fact that there was opposition just across the street, The opening piece was the overture to ' Domino Noir,' and this was certainly one of the bestphyed of the orchestral selections, The lively music was given throughout with charmirg piquancy, and the artistic maimer in which the rapid crescendos were taken was the theme of gcneraladmiration, it being evident that thcselection had been exhaustively rehearsed. The selection from 'Brnani,' ono of the show pieces of the evening, was graced with a cornet solo by Mr Coombs (arranged by Mr Mai tin) and a euphonium ;iolo by Mr Uook. It is needles:! to say that the performance of this selection gave great satiufaclioii, though wc fancy it would have nounded oven better bad the players on the brass irjiitmmentu been kept more in cheek by tho conductor, for the strings and reeds were overpowered in the forte passages. _ The violins, too, were slightly behind the timo in tho filial movemont. These faults, _ however, would not be worth mentioning if the performance of tho selection had been of a commonplace character. We take it that the players gave an exceptionally good rendering of the piece, and therefore earned the compliment of unreserved criticism. A well-arranged selection of the music: of '(iirollt'Ciirollii' thoroughly pleased everybody present, the sparkling airs bping t-akpn with appropriate sprightliness, In the second part the audience were treated to a remarkably accurate interpretation of the overture 'Ncbucodonosor,'the stately opening passages being especially admired; and later on the music of Mercadente's ' La Vestale' gave the players an opportunity of showing the extent of their study in the higher branches of the art —an opportunity which was taken advantage of, though the unequal balance as between the brass and stringed instruments again caused the success achieved to be less pronounced than would otherwise have been tho cusp. The audience, however, recognised the performance of this selection as one that reflected great credit ou the players all round, dud thb anpldU'ifc it tho (.oucluoion waa of the fcecutitufc (bsuGi'iption, Th*-/ coucludiri 3 '

items were the gavotte ' Queen Christian' find the Spanish dance 'Santiago,' the last-named a delightful composition that all present would gladly have heard more of. The dinging was disappointing. Mrs Israel, who was down on the programme for a pretty ballad ' How fair art thou'and a sweet little ditty called 'Pack clouds away,' was hoarse from the effects of a cold, and was further handicapped by having to sing through the orchestral accompaniment; and Mr Adams was at times barely audible in his songs ' The Desert' and 'flybrias the Cretan.' With a lighter accompaniment these vocal selections would have been pleasant interludes ; as it was, one could not help sympathising with the singers, and it was this feeling, probably, that caused the hearty applause following each of the songs. Mr G. A. Martin is entitled to great praise for the high state of proficiency to which the instrumentalists have attained, and we hope to hear many more of these truly enjoyable concerts. We noted with satisfaction that the performance began promptly on the »ti - °kc of the clock, and was over in time to enable those present to catch their tram-cars.