THE FEUDING CHOIR.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 1802, 19 December 1912, Page 4

THE FEUDING CHOIR.

A MUSICAL TREAT

TheFeilding Choir greatly delighted a largo audience in tlio Opera House last evening. Mr TempleWhite has obtained really magnificent results out of his body of singers. Even after reading the good reports about them few Palmerstonians could have expected to hear such a well-balanced body of vocal tone, such almost perfect tune, pure, quality, and such sound interpretation. These are the characteristics of the Choir's work. There is no straining of the voices; the number of singers is not large, and yet by a careful system of tonal comparison Mr Temple-White gets in most of the desired effects and climaxes. Th« strength of the tone was scarcely sufficient, for the effective rendering of the chorus "O Great, is the Depth,"from St. Paul; and a Tannhauser selection, but even these items were not devoid of their proper robust, character and in the hymns, part-songs, and anthems the soft effects were quite delightful. •The sustained notes wore organ-like and full of quality. In "Lead, Kindly Light" the phrasing was excellent. It is small wonder that encores were demanded. The contributions were all well known. They comprised—"o Great is the Depth" ("St. Paul"); "O Happy Eyes" (Elgar); "The Radiant Morn" (Woodward); "God so Loved the World" (Stainer); "Weary Wind of the West" (Elgar); and "Hymn to Music" (Bach). Two hymns were also sung and two quartets the latter by Misses Grove and Crabli and Messrs Gifford and Shelton. It is only possible to congratulate the Choir and hope that local choirs may seek to emulate their long course of patient practice. Miss Evelyn Baddeley, a young lady with a charming stage presence, sang "Orpheus with his Lute," and "Pieta Signore. Miss Baddeley has a mezzo-soprano voice of great promise, well cultivated, particularly rich and sweet in the lower register, which she used with better tonal effect than the upper. Her renderings'were slightly suggestive of nervousness and the studio, but that was only obvious to the hypercritical and she gave great pleasure to the audience and quite deserved her encores. The piano soloist was another promising young artist, Mr Sidney Harrison. Though marked by a certain want of finish in execution in parts, his two contributions were excellent readings and above all things he showed himself possessed of that rather rare capacity in young players of bringing out the beauties of the compositions. Altogether the concert was most enjoyable.