CHORAL SOCIETY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue XXI, 2 April 1884, Page 5

CHORAL SOCIETY.

Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise "was performed yesterday evening' by the Choral Society, under the conduct of Herr Carl Schmitt. Before the concert commenced Judge Fenton advanced to the frout of the orchestra and said.: "It has been dqcidedto express our syinpathy with tho Royal Family on account, of. the .death of H.R.H. Prince Leopold, who was the brother of .our President (the ,Duk« ; of Edinburgh) by play-, ing Chopin's '' Funeral. Maroh. 1 " ; " There were nearly 130 ladies and gentlemen , in the choir; "there was a full orohestra, .comprising more than 30 instrumentalists,- and the hall was filled to the -.doors. < ;The-whole .-assemblage arose, and remained standing while the .• marah was ,* beiag <' played, 1 Herr Carl Schmitt. also . conducting this" speoial feature of the _evening. The effect was solemn and impressive. -As to.the concert itself, there were, as: already stated,! 130 voices in tho choir, viz.ls.tenors, 52 sopranos, 30 altOß, and 29 baiißes and baritones. The symphony was admirably played by the orohestra.. The opening chorus, " All Men, All Things," drew general attention by reason of . the completeness of the harmony and the precision of -the "leads." Miss C. Kempthorne took the soprano solos. . In some passages the music was rather too high, for her,-but she sang 4 with. excellent effect, throughout. . Mr. Harker -sang :.ihe tenor recitative : . " Sing Ye" and the • air " He 1 Cometh." The most effective. vooal. perfor-. mance of the.evening' wsa perhaps the duet and ohorus "I Waited on the. Lord" (Miss C. Kempthorne and Mm. Cbadwick). The tenor air " The Sorrows, of Death,had closed ail.round Me" was well sung by Mr.;Harker. The chorale, "Let' all Men Praise the Lord," was . also vei-y good.: The duet (soprano and tenor) was capitally sung, and. the concluding chorus was also remarkable for the fine resonant quality of .the basses and baritones. The 'tenors : were too few, but they did exceedingly well. The. second part of the. concert; .comprised the overture, to " Fingal's Cave" (Mendelssohn); the duet, "In Israel's Camp," sung with admirable effect by Miss Bleazaijd and Miss Corbett, The audience could not. refrain from applauding , this performance!.' '.' The most remarkable' and succeaafal instrumental performance was ' the " string' quartette, . "-Andante con, moto" '(from quartette No 4, in ,D ' minor), of Schubert./ This was followed by the finale of part I.' of "Moses in Egypt," the conv certed parts being taken' by the Misses Bleazard and Miss. Corbett, -Messrs. Harker, Hogg, and Stewart. Both the chorus and the part singing was excellent.' The concert concluded with Carl Schmitt's fancy fair. As a general rama'rk upon the performance, we may state that all the ohoruses "were good, the'first being particularly so. The. only drawback was that it was nearly eleven o'clock before the concert was over.