ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN THE EVENING.

Evening Star, Issue 12764, 17 March 1906, Page 5

ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN THE EVENING.

The Otago Irish and tire Irish Irish find a permanent connecting medium-in' the celebration of 8t; Patrick's Day. Last night this coalescing .sentiment was plainly in operation at His Majesty's Theatre. Old and middle-aged persons who have had experience of the Old Land, -arid young folk ■who have only heard of the green hills and the sorrows and joys of the loved isle, were equally enthusiastic over the songs presented for the occasion, and the two sections of the one and indivisible party, supplemented by cosmopolitans who 'simply went for the sake of the music on its merits, made up.a very large "house." The proceeds were'to be devoted to the extinction of the debt on St. Joseph's Hall, and from the way the entertainment was arranged and managed there is room to hope that the Rev. Father Coffey will be gratified in his capacity of treasurer when he : makes up the accounts. One point about the- preparations that, deserves recognition is that the management supplied patrons with a book of the words of the songs. Such a favor is, always appreciated. Also, the musical director—we give Mr T. J. Hussey the credit for this-rsaw to it that the performers came on smartly in turn,-so that time -was saved and the concert ended at a reasonable hour. Further, it was judicious to cut out a verse here and there, no doubt with the same purpose. One or two changes in the programme were found unavoidable at the last moment, and Mr Hussey announced them. Mr A. Murphy could not appear, owing to a severe cold, and ms places on the programme were filled by enlisting Mr B. Stevens's services and gmng Mr Hussey an extra song. The manager also mentioned that Mr A. C. Hanlon, who was down for a recitation, had specially hurried from Roxburgh to redeem his promise, and the audience were asked to remember that in the circumstances Mr Hanlon had had no time for calm preparation. As it turned out, however, the indulgence of the listeners -was not called for by Mr Hanlon's reciting. This eentfeman,s J acquaintances are still firmly persuaded that it is in his addresses to "Courts and Junes that he appears to the best advantage, but he is a first-class reciter—natnmal y eo-and hie delivery of IngerscJl'e thoughts on Napoleon's Tomb proved to be an intellectual treat. 'Not Understood ' trie poem chosen in answer to the encore, did not go so well, simply because Mr Hanlon was not distinctly heard in the back seats Another feature of the concert was the fine playing of the Kaikorai Band, conducted by Mr G. B. Laidlaw. Their rendering of 'The beauties of Ireland' was listened to with the keenest interest, for Mr Laidlaw drew out a rich yet tender treatment of such airs as ' Oit in the stilly m ? J - J and ,The har P aat once.' made splendid contrasts by the vigor and rattle ot Kory o More* and 'The Irish washerwoman, and scored a marked musical success in Iramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching ■* which, if not Irish, was acceptable as the best-harmonised of all the tunes used in the selection. Later in the evening the Kaikorai Band also played the popular descriptive piece 'The smithy in the wbod.' It is not the piece that suits the* band best nevertheless they played.it well. Further variety was afforded by the dancing of an ™ J J § b J tittle Patricia Higgins. The child dances nicely, but the music sounded as if it was played by two persons with separate copies of the dance. The humorous songs by Mr Percy James were also well worthy of their place on the programme. Mr James was in good form, lhe serious songs of the evening were by Mrs W. Connor, Miss Violet A. Fraser, Mr P. tarolm, Mr B. Stevens, and Mr T. J. Hussey, and each of performers earned the sincere thanks of the audience. Miss Fraser was peculiarly successful. Her flr-ct song, ' Kory daxhn'/ is set half a tone too low to show off Miss Fraser's voice, but we heard the soprano register to advantage in tue encore song, ' Hearts that don't forget,' and it was a pleasure to discover that Miss Fraser's voice is not losing but gaining in quality .with further studv. The opposite of this is often the case when young singers are anxious to get on. Mrs Connor sings nicely, and gave authorised renderings of 'The dear little shamrock' and 'Killarney,' though, each was taken rather slowly. Mr Hussey, though hardly in his best form, sang very acceptably, and Mr Stevens never before appeared to better advantage at a Dunedin concert, whilst Mr Carolin, in 'Oh, Erin, my country,' proved once more that he thoroughly understands how such a song ought to be sung. Several concerted items were also given, and in one of these the Christian Brothers' boys acquitted themselves promisingly. The accompaniments were mostly played by Miss M. Drumm, who had a lot to do with the success of the concert. Miss C. Hughes helped occasionally. °