CHRISTCHURCH MUSICAL UNION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11887, 10 May 1899, Page 6

CHRISTCHURCH MUSICAL UNION.

“ SAMSON."

j?oc two reasons,-the conceit the Opera House last night with an. unusual amount cu was the first appearance before .lb of Che Christchurch Musical On.on , _ Christchurch Motett Society SII h c ,dies porary amalgamation of the • an and it afforded lovers of_ oratonO i musician opportunity of hearing aamso , which has not been performed m church for mmy years. The of those ance were fulfilled. In nearly n the oratorio went so well as to O J expression of regret ..at the actioni erf local Societies in delaying, its ff" for a long period. To discriminate between the merits of Handel’s orator-p ■ 7, which even the most recldesscnt-cm gh feel diffident about- attempting; but. it could scarcely be considered rash to hazam the opinion that in “Samson ; ® 6 composer has obtained effects w 10 grand simplicity may rank with, t e ;of his efforts. Like ail Handel’s oratorios .‘‘ Samson ’’ is long; but last night .cerfcun judicious excisiors- were made from tE© score, with the result that the concert finished before even the _ most superficia listeners had become wearied. Of the matures of the performance deserving praise the choruses certainly come first, bung by an unusually largo number of voices, they were given in a manner which may have been equalled), but has rarely been ex*, ceeded in Christchurch. A lead in , Brmg the Laurels”- was commenced Unevenly, but in no other instance was any serious defect apparent. Where nearly every number was well sung it is not easy to particularise, but if one did stand out in front of the others it was the chorus of the Israelites “Then Round About Ihe Starry Throne.” The orchestra performed its task creditably. Imperfections, there naturally were, in its work, but they were mostly of a minor character, and many of them will doubtless disappear before the oratorio is repeated. While its playing of the familiar “ Dead March ” left something to be c.esired, its rendering of the overture, particularly, of the minuet, was most comme. dable, and it may also claim that it never overpowered the vocalists. * Of the soloists, Mrs Bums, who sang the soprano music, contributed materially to the success of the performance. It may be urged, of course, that Mrs Burns’s voice is scarcely robust enough for some of the trying passages which abound in the oratorio, but it cannot be said with any degree of correctness that any deficiency in this respect was not fully counterbalanced by her artistic singing and the refined quality of her voice. In the opening passages of her first solo Mrs Burns, owing, perhaps, to the fact that she was suffering from a cold, lacked decision, but as the evening progressed she improved until, in her last number, “ Let the Bright Seraphim,” she sang very finely indeed. , Miss Dray, to whom the contralto soles were assigned, accomplished her task in a manner which shows that -she is making steady improvement. Throughout, she sang care-, fully and sympathetically. The wisdom of allotting Mr Day the baritone solos may he open to question. Yet, although the greater portion of the music was obviously be ow his compass, Mr Day managed to negotiate it satisfactorily. His rendering of the various recitatives, with which the. part is interspersed, was fiarticularly good, and he was scarcely Jess effective in his principal solo, “How Willing! My Paternal Love,” In spite of an occasional difference of opinion" with the orchestra, • in which, it must, be confessed, he was not always in the- wrong, Mr Millar ma.de a good deal of the bass solos. lie. sang the celebrated air, “Honour and Arms,” freely and vigorously, and, with Mr Puschel, he achieved a distinct success in the duet “Go, Baffled Coward, Go.” BuE to Mr Puschel is undoubtedly due the credit of doing the best work among the male soloists of the evening. ‘ Seldom has Mr Puschel sang better than in the inspired “Total Eclipse,” and' he also made a very fine effort to surmount the difficulties of “ Why Does the God of Israel Sleep?” Mr H. Wells conducted, and he was principally re.spon.dble for the success achieved by the combined societies. Miss Packer led the orchestra and Miss C. Lingayd presided at the organ! Samson ” will be repeated, to-morrow night.