ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY

Evening Star, Issue 16777, 4 July 1918, Page 4

ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY

•The second concert of tha 1918 season I of the Dunedin. Orchestral Society was given last night before a crowded audience in the Kin&'s Theatre. The high standard of playing which this orchestra has exhibited of late, under Mr James Coombs, has before been remarked on recently in these columns, and it was fully maintained last night, If briefer recognition of their efforts than usual is •liven Hereunder, nothing to the contrary on that score must be interred. Last night tho bulk of tho programme m point of'space was given to eo-lo items. The orchestra, after opening the programme with Su'ppe's tuneful enough overture ' Tantalusqualen,' did not play again until, just before tho interval, they repeated, by request, the ' Othello ' suite given at last concert. We have nothing fresh to add about Coleridge-Taylor's beautiful music except that it improved, if possible, on a second hearing after so short a. lapse cf time—which is paying it a high compliment. In part the orchestra deserve credit for the heightened impression, for there was a heightened polish and an artistic finish about last ni'-ht's interpretation which revealed fresh beauties. The richness of the orchestration and a bint of the composer's methods were shown up more plainly ; and if any particular number stood out in this respect it was the funeral march with its persistent figuro for the horns, afterwards taken up by the first violins. The clarinet solo m the. children's intermezzo and the cornets' work in the willow son.g, helped by perfect accompaniments u-om the other sections, made those numbers memorable. A performance of Menholssohn's ' Fingal's Cave' overture by this orchestra can always be looked forward to, and _ there was "no disappointment about last night's. The backbone of this overture is provided bv the 'cellos, and in this orchestra the 'cellos are just now very fine indeed— Dcver too obtrusive, always reliable, and really delightful to follow. Mr Coombs mado the tempo of this work a trifle fast, and the 'cellos seemed to be bustled a shade at tho opening. Their theme is the perfect translation into music of a groundswell surging up to breaking point off a deep-water coast, and then falling back rhythmically from the cliffs. It must not be too hurried; for it is a sea settling down after a storm well past, the sun now shining, and the breeze .steady. Thero are, of course, the lulls between ilkusual succession of big waves, and one of these the clarinet pictured beautifully in the andante passage. The oboes' plaintive wail nearer the end was hardly distinct enough, it the flute's part thioucbout was taken with perfect discrimination, and the last word of tbe overture, to:!,.' -iven to that instrument, was inimitably spoken. The orchestra'?-, other chief item was a selection from ' Rigoletto,' the players exhibiting some very clean staccato playing in the finale to Act 1., and Messrs G. W- Clark- (violin). •, . Paine (flute), and E.Kerr (cornet) doing excellent work in their solos and incidental cadenzas. The, ' Sword and Lance,' a favorite march, ended tho pro-

gramme. As to the polnists, Mr Trevor d:i Clivc Low came from the 'cello ranks and played, to Mr Kitchen'* piano accompaniment, the 'Thais' meditation by MarFa net, a rather rambling composition, and Popper's well-known gavotte. The f-nlnist gets a nice tone from hi= instmnumC and his intonation is good. His 'lir.r.m'-.Tiics in both, items and his double slopping in the gavotte were, however, so far a!v\-irl_of the fluency of his bow band in changing from string to string, cspccia.'ly on the two lower strings, as to suggest, that loss: specialisation on solo work on tho upper strings and more practice in quariet find trio playing, not to mention orcho-,t.:-'.',] playing, would make him a better rllround 'cellist. Ho and his equally youthful accompanist were recalled, and added an encore number. v Vocal duets for soprano and tenor, so well sung as were 'A Nte'V. in Venice' and 'The Dav is Done' bv Miss Natali-ia M'Callum and Mr W, Harrison, arc a real treat. These, singers not only make their voices blend so as to produce, real harmony and not merely two individual voices singing in tune, but they rise merge individuality so as to give one interpretation. Thev had to partly repeat the ' Night in Venice.' and might .ilso have taken a recall for the other item, only they had to hurry away to catch the Port Chalmers train—as did many of the audience also, so nte'sing the treat afforded bv the 'Fingal's Cave' overture. Miss Ethel Pridham. a mezzo-contralto with a voice- of distinctive quality, vns encored for ' Still as the Nic-ht.' adding 'An OVI,-fa.shioned Town.' She refused repeated venuests for an addition to lirapiquant and sure rend°ring of ' Fairy Piners,' to which Mis* E. Hartley provided the most gossamer of accompaniments. Miss Tvuby Harraway accompanied the' duettists.