DUNEDIN ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Issue 12674, 30 November 1905, Page 7

DUNEDIN ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY.

The fourth concert of the eighteenth season of tho Duntdin Orch stral Society—the oklcst muaioal organisation in Dunedin under (ontin-tiotis management and constitut on—was given at the Garrison Hall last evenhis in the presence of a large body of snbsu'ib rs and friends, tinder tho direction of Mt Janus- Coombs, the society's pains: taking honorary conductor, with 51r G. C. 0. Naumitnn as leader. Tho. pro gramme opened with the Beethoven inarch 'J be R'lins of Athens.' In this the audi enev wero gratifitd to find the orchestr;i well in tune and producing a ".cod body of tone, the inner parts plainly hoaid, accent very nicely marked, and the tempo briskly matntab-ed. Two or thie- more fist violins would lave bien a help; otherwise this short piece was mcist satisfactoiy. Then Mis R. Hud.-xai camo forward to sing Elizabeth's greeting song from 'Taim-hau-er,' and tdl present must have b en cot on'y sin priced but thoroughly satbtied with the brilliant rendering. On the very top notes Mrs M'ldon's -.oicc boMy kept its quiiity, but sho got theru and all her other notis. high and low, and gave a peiftctly sure and sound rendering of the tiu ing swig, adorn-d w.th thought and taste. Amateurs seldom venture into these high altitudes of grand opsra with so much success. 51rs Murphy is also to be thanked for her helpful accompaniment in this and tl>o other songs of the evening. Tho third item was a 'ci 110 tudo-—a new departure for the (Jrchistral Society, anil one truit gave satisfactory resul.s. 'i'lie player's name was not announced—a matter properly within the option of the management. Further, he did not come to the front —which many regarded a.s a m:staku, for people like to see the performer. The main, thing, however, is that he played well. Once or twice the soloist founded a trille sharp to tho orch.-stral accompaniment, but he got a fine tone and showed that he und#rsto;:d the work in hand—Thorns'*, romance ' Simple aveu.' Tho violin duet that followed— Labitzky's idyle, 'Truuiu dt-r Sennerin '— was also an agreeable item, tho principal.giving the subject with delightful taste and the suing, and rcedd supplying .in aeco-T,-pan intent that wsi.s consistently kept down to a balance with the muted violins. slr 11. Drake, the tenor sing.T of the evening, created quite a surpr.so by his singing of Stephen Adams's ' What am I, lovo?' slr Drake is endowed witri a voice of rare quality and range, its flexibility is quite unusual, and ho shifts fiom one legistcr to another without in tlie least exposing the bridge. Further study may make h.m one of our very best tenors Tho first parsconcluded with the andante, tlio niinuetto, and the vivace of tho 'No. 4 iJuydn Symphony,' a work the first two movements of which were played at ihe society's last cone-it. It is a capital idea, to bring these ma--.torp.eces in such a way before the subscribers, and many pritout appreciated the plan adopted ot so cutting up tho symphony as to bring the andante, wh.ch is the chief movement, into each conceit. Wo all like best what we know beat hi standard music. Thus it came about that of the tlLree moyc-montfi on kist night's programme the aud.enco preferred the an dantc. As a matter of opinion, it was not the movement in which tho bfst play big was heard, lor the upper strings got a bit apart onoo or twice, particularly in the passage jest before the answers for flute and bassoon, and again after tlie pause and the second violin, letid ; but the audience knew tho movement to loa.e extent and that is a great help to appreciation. The iiiinuello went much better, the lirsi violins putting in excellent wx.rk, the seconds effective, the double busies very sure, and tho eolo pus-ages for clarinet and bassoon tasteful and confident. But it was m the vivace that the orchestra d:d thi-dr Tlic parts weie in capital proportion, and tho torto quality of the orchestra a.-, a whole rtally admirable. The symphony well repaid the study bestowed. In the s cond part there was some pretty and delicate playing in the fairy music that belongs to Mcndeksohu's ' sJidisummcr Night's Dream' overture, but it was not till about halfway through that the or chestni came properly together in the spirit that the conductor must liave hoped for, and maybe this beautiful composition would go better as a whole if repeated with mstructioiw to tlio brass to go more for ton; than weight, and with the wood-wind perfectly in tune. Mis Hudson captivated tho listeners- with a delightful and correel rendering of D'tLardclot.'s song "-I hid my love.' and a double recall was the jrifted vocalist's immediate reward. The ' Flying Dutchman' selection must be counted one of the pronounced successes of tbo concert. 51aybe the lower instruments somewhat dominated the introduction, but tlie character of Wagner's nrusic was here finely expressed, iind nobody would ask for any trauquil.satiren if it meant the 10.-s of such a merit. The sailors' chorus might have been the better for a little more prominence to the melody; though her© again one would not desire any perfecting of balance in the other way—viz., by lining down the supporting parts. The cornet solo was a great treat—well nigh perfect—and th" finale full of smart diamaiiceffects. Mr Drake's singing of ' E-tudiantiiia ' was not so good as bus previous contribution ; it was a 1 ttle tanv?, but he made tho most of tbo soft lins-s. With the' Mtiscctte' sclect'on the and'once- felt a 1 ttle disappointed The solo work was all right, euphonium, clarinet, and bassoon particularly good; but the full orchestral passages did not go so well, nnd we are not convinced that the arrangement does Audran justice.