CHORAL SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Issue 14574, 24 May 1911, Page 3

CHORAL SOCIETY.

' ELIJAH.’ It would mil. U; overstating the ease, to say that Mr .lames .Ingo's line reading oi the part of the prophet redeemed from mediocrity the peiToniiiince of ‘Elijah’ by tho Dunodin Choral Society last, night. Had a less cajialile singer filled tile name part if is donh,*il whether the oratorio would have gripped such a large proportion of the big andieiice firmly enough to induce thorn to endure the bitterly cold atmosphere of the Garrison Mali right through to the last liar of ’Then shall your light.’ 'J he conductor. Mr .lames (!ounil«-, considerately " cut- ” several immlicrs in the second part, die one most missed by lovers of Mendelssohn being the quartet '() come everyone, that liiirstctli.’ By this, ami by the omission of the interval, die term ot incarceration iu what, was more like a freezing chamber than a concert hall was reduced to a little over two hours for those of the audience who were aide to stay to the end. ouch weather as has been <>. - I perienced lately is good neither for the appreciation ol an audience nor for the vocal organs of the performers. It is iinI deniable that the chorus work would have been still belter if members had not been liable, like the reel of the community, to the prevailing epidemic of colds. The sot’iiTy wpro alrt) unlucky in losing fit the last moment the servicer' of Mr John la.-ech. owing to an attack of intlucnza, while Miss Francos Grant, sang under the disadvantage of a cold caught ot the final rehearsal. However, obstacles were overcome, and on the whole success was certainly achieved. That success would have, been much more pronounced if tho orchestra had boon adequately rehearsed. Of their part in the proceedings it is absolutely impossible to write more than the entry made against every Sunday in ‘Adam’s Diary’ (by .Murk Twain) —“Pulled through.'’ In tho very opening bars of the oruicrio tho unaccountable absence of the tro.t.ixmcs was severely felt, and the treatment which tho overture received was rough indeed. In the sphere of accompaniment, tho orchestra did rather (letter work—conspicuously boiler in some sections*, notably in the ’cello obligato to ‘lt is enough,’ beautifully played by Mr Drake. Fortunately, the players avoided one fault pretty common iu oratorio, that of drowning the soloists. They cannot bo accused of ever "taking the. bit in their teeth.” We are perfectly well aware that the obtaining of an adequate orchestra, arid rehearsing them to the same degree of competence as the chorus involves Ivath money and time, and that too often those can ill be spared. Perhaps tho fault tests even more with tho public than with the society, and if tho audience failed to perceive anything in the shape of retribution ! 4 night, no more can be said beyond this: that much as music lovers like to hear a great work rendered complete in every detail as the composer scored it, there tire circumstances under which it may be preferable to sacrifice musical tradition and pride in order to ensure eertain other fundamentals. Mr Sidney Wolf did this at a recent concert. when two grand pianoforte*? were substituted tor an orchestra. As to the c'iotus, their work was good—undeniably good—and it would have been better haul the tenors been stronger. These latter were heard all through, hut they were not numerous enough lo he incisive where their part demanded it. The sopranos produced an excellent body of tone of good quality, which did not become attenuated when their music took them to the top of the stave (as was the case with the tenors). Tile contraltos struck' one a a being particularly reliable and discriminat-

j ing in a musical sense. and there was a j Ivreadth and sonorousness about the bass | part that was really refreshing. It was I evident tliai ever}' number had been thoroughly prepared. Yei. all through there wore traces of tliat fault that has worried every conductor in every ago and ■ every country—hesitancy in. attacking le.-ulr, It is very human. Crowds instinctively seek a leader, until tho path be . found. Except, perhaps, with the con- : traltos, it was not until the third or fourth i note of a passage that the normal weight of | any section developed In the chorus work leading up to ‘ Thanks bo to God ’ the basses actually missed their load, but I there was partial'excuse for them in the faltering of the soloi-st in her two concluding bars connecting on to tiro bass eutiy. The chorus work in tho “ Baal ” episodes was excellent, hut every bit as good wore the renderings of ‘lie witching over Israel,’ ‘Ho that shall endure,’ and 'Behold, God the land,’ the two fonner being firmly yet delicately treated, and the last-named full of elfectivo contrasts. The merit of Mr Jago’s work has already boon indicated. He was in remarkably fine voice, and his dramatic conception of the part is altogether right. There was a fine sense of reality in his treatment of the’ episode of the, raising of the widow's son ; in his denunciation of Ahab; | in hLs exhortations before the altar of j Baal. No one could fail to ho thrilled by •Is not his word.’ or moved by ‘lt is enough ’ —two extremes of mood as wide asunder as The poles. It may have been inimrinalion, but it seemed as though association with Mr Jago stimulated Madame Josephine Ottleo, who undertook the principal soprano music, to her very best, for she seemed more convincing in the part of the widow than at any other time. Her voice is true soprano, rather too light for oratorio, and certainly not physically equal to the demands of such a song as ‘ Hear yo. Israel.’ Mr Colin Gray, at very short notice indeed, undertook the tenor solos, which he sang with perfect accuracy and faultless taste, his phrasing and enunciation being noticeably good also. More volume of voice was ail ho needed to achieve a really conspicuous success, and that, of course. is noi. his fault. His chief air, ‘lf with ail your hearts,’ was sung with a finish and sympathy that quite won tho audience. All that he lacked was the power with which to emphasise the return of the main theme towards the. end of the number. His work last night was the best he lias yet shown tho Dunedin public. Miss Winifred Simpson and Miss Frances Grant were the other soloists and Mies I Simpson did really good work in the contralto air, ‘0 rest in the Lord.’ Of the concerted numbers the quartet, ‘ Cast thy burden,’ wont very much better thaa tho unaccompanied trio ‘Lift thino eyes,’ the three ladies not being at all certain as to pitch. Tho pronounced vibrato method in the first soprano's voice production was possibly largely accountable for this.