The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1867. CONCERT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 234, 5 October 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1867. CONCERT.

The Nelson Harmonic Society gave a . concert on Thursday night, at the Pro- ' vincial. Hall, which may well deserve to be rauked amongst their most successful efforts. In spite of the very inclement weather which prevailed during the later part, of the day the attendance was very numerous, the floor of the Pall being filled, and the heat, from the want of- proper means being taken to secure sufficient ventilation, was very oppressive throughout the evening. The programme comprised a selection from Handel's pastoral serenata Acis and Galatea, including some of the best known airs and choruses. This composition was given by the Society some few years ago, and was therefore familiar to very many amongst the audience. The soprauo air 'As when the dove' was given very pleasingly by a lady whose appearance in the orchestra is ever welcome, as was also the solo 'Must I, my Acis;' and the lovely trio ' The flocks shall leave the mountains' was perhaps the most noteworthy item in this part cf the programme, if we except the fine tenor air ' Love sounds the alarm,' which was giveu in excellent style by the Conductor, Mr Walcot, the cornet accompaniment adding materially to the effect. The second tenor air 'Would you gain the tender creature?' was also sung 'con amore' by another valuable member ofthe Society. It is unquestionably an effort which calls for considerable intrepidity when an amateur essays the performance of so difficult and so celebrated a scena as that in which the hideous Cyclops declares his unwelcome love for the beauteous Galatea, and reminiscences of Henry Phillips, Staudigl, and Formes, whose names are inseparably connected with it, rise inevitably to the mind. Perhaps the ►best praise we can give in this instance is to say that the gentleman who undertook the task acquitted himself most conscientiously. The omission of such* an essential feature in the serenata would have been tantamount to the play of Hamlet with the part of the Prince of Denmark left out The choruses, with the exception of ' Wretched lovers,' the first part of which was a 'fiasco,' all went very fairly. We must again protest against the appearance in the orchestra on these occasions of members of the Society who systematically absent themselves from the practices, and by the consequent ignorance of their parts which they display tend provokingly to mar the efforts of the rest. We would suggest to the Commit'ee that, in order to prevent this, performing members should not be allowed their tickets or to take their places in the orchestra on concert nights, unless they have been present at three consecutive practices, at least, before the concert. The pianoforte accompaniments, for alas the Society is still without orchestral assistance, were played with consummate taste and judgment throughout. The second part of the programme was of a far more popular character, and commenced with a selection of airs from the Lucia, for the harmonium, played in very masterly style, especially the concluding scene ' Fra poco a me ricovero,' which was given with the happiest effect, and nothing but the excessive length of the selection saved it from an encore. A ballad by Augustine Wade, very much in the style of C. E. Horn, introduced a lady who is sure to prove a very useful acquisition to the Society, and who sings with an amount of expression and distinctness of enunciation very rarely met with amongst amateurs. A hearty aod well-merited encore testified to the gratification of the audience. We were delighted that one more opportunity was afforded us of listening to the glorious contralto voice which came upon us so unexpectedly at ths last -concert giveu by the Society, and the grand tones of which were heard to . the beet advantage in a ' Reverie,' ono of *.

J. L. Hatton's many fine compositions, which of course provoked an encore ia the form of a ballad of a lighter character, given with a charming 'abandon' and power which displayed the remarkable compass of the lady's voice most effectively, The very successful appearance of two youug ladies, certainly the most juvenile members of the Society, was another noteworthy incident in the evening, and their fiue resonant voices, aided iu no considerable degree by very remarkable sellpossession, were greeted with evident delight by the audience, who insisted, though the evening was far advanced, on an encore. We trust that such excellent 'materiel' as the voices of these young ladies possess, may be matured by proper culture, and we may then confidently expect to see them take rank amoagst our leading vocalists. Bellini's much admired scene from the Sounambula, ' Tutto e sciolto,' sung in English by Mr Walcot, was given with all his usual taste and sweetness, though he was evidently suffering from indisposition, and his voice was not so clear as it would have been uuder more favorable circumstances. A duet by Glover, • An Italian Boat Song,' of somewhat less trashy character thau his compositions generally are, was very sweetly given, and received an encore. The exquisitely harmonious quartet from Lurline, pilfered by Wallace from one of Mendelsohn's part songs in the Orpheus collection, which abounds with chromatic difficulties, and which should have been sung without accompaniment, went very creditably, and might be repeated on some future occasion with mutual advantage both to the executants and to the audience, for it is one of those compositions the beauties of which increase on acquaintance. The part-song by Schneider • Let us be joyful' (unaccompanied) was so well sung as to merit an encore; and presented a decided contrast to the chorus 'The open air' by Mendelssohn, the only blot upon the second part of the concert, the tenors being frightfully flat and the general effect poor. The sparkling chorus from Lurline, and the Gipsy Chorus from Preciosa, which were both given with much spirit and precision, made ample amends for this shortcoming} and Rene Favarger's pianoforte o duet, introducing the Mermaid's Song, and other airs from Oberon, constituted another very acceptable feature in the programme, though we may be permitted to remark that a less abundant employment of the pedal would have displayed the executive powers of the two fair performers to far better effect. The Concert, which was not concluded until close upon eleven oclock, was certainly the most successful which has been given for some time past, and reflected much credit upon the Conductor, and upon all who took part in it.