REMUERA SOCIAL HALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9124, 4 August 1888, Page 6

REMUERA SOCIAL HALL.

At Remucra Serial Hall laafc evening a grand vocal and instrumental concert was given by a number of ladies and gentlemen of the district. There was a good attendance, but not so large an audience as the concert merited, the selections given being of more than average merit, and the singing, taken as a whole, was more than creditable to the performers. The stage was very prettily and neatlv decorated with flowers, making the picture a very pretty one. The first item on the programme was a song, " Good Company" (Stephen Adams), by Mr. T. M. Jackson, which was given fairly well, but with some little seeming reservation, Mr. Jackson doing the sour more justice than he did his own voice, which is good if he would only allow it more play. A trio, " Tell Me, Flora" (Reinhault), by Messrs. Martin, Edwards, and Charter, was well rendered by all three gentlemen, leaving little to be desired in its expression. Mr. S. Hunter followed with the well-known and always favourite song " Tom Bowling." Mr. Hunter was in splendid voice, and sang the number so wall as to earn an enthusiastic encore, to which ho responded with a repetition of the last verse ot the song. A duet, " Angel of Peace and Gladness" (Bellini), Misses C. and J. Knight, was given with considerable animation, and with such success as to earn a long-demandcd-encore, to which they responded by bowing their acknowledgements. Mr. A. L. Edwards cave a selected song. " When George the Third Was King," and sang it so well that an encore was insisted on, Mr. Edwards responding with " The Convent Gate," and again he delighted his audience, and was rewarded with a most emphatic demonstration of approval. The first naif of the programme was concluded by Miss C. Knight singing "Till the Breaking of the Day" (Pinsutil This number was given with great expression, and although there was no fault to find with the rendition of the song, we have heard this lady to better effect. After a longer interval than was necessary, and which was rather impatiently endured by the audience, who evidently felt the interval might have been better utilised, and who more than once reminded the performers that they were waiting, Miss Hunter appeared and gave a piano solo. " Mazurka " (Chopin), in the playing of which she showed not only proficiency with the instrument hut played the number with composure, excellent touch, and enough animation to render it entirely successful. A departure waa here made from the programme, Mr. Martin interposing with " Watch With Me To-night." The. song helped to swell out the programme, anil earned some applause; but it went weak, and without the expression it might have had. A song, "The Nichtleas Land " (Pinsuti), by Miss Julia Knight, was one of the undoubted gems of the evening. Miss Knight was in splendid voice, and sang firmly and with clear enunciation and most excellent tone, and was rewarded not only with a determined encore but a bouquet. She responded by a repetition o the last verse of the song. A reading, " The Roll of the Kettledrum, or the Lay of the Last Charger as Narrated by the Horse " (Adam Lindsay Gordon), by Mr. S. Hunter, was here given, but, while the enunciation was clear and firm, the reading was too hurried, and the expression was sacrificed to a large extent in consequence, although Mr. Hunter improved >.s the reading reached its conclusion. The next number was a song, " The Lifeboat," by Mr. T. Charter, and was one of the best things given during the concert. Mr. Charter's voice coming out fine and strongly. The song was given in that hearty, cheery fashion that make sea songs so popular. Here another alteration in the programme took place, the duet " Love and War," to have been sung by Messrs Edwards and Charter, being left out altogether, and the concert was concluded by Mr. T. M.Jackson singing "My Life for Thee " (Stephen Adams). Mr. Jackson was in fine voice, much to the pleasure of the audience, for his rendition of this song was far and away ahead of his first selection, and was applauded proportionally, the audience insisting on an encore, Mr. Jackson being compelled to re-appear, singing " Let Me Like a Soldier Fall,' and doing it all the better for the success he achieved in the preceding song. Miss Hunter was the accompanist, and deserves a compliment for the effective service she rendered in this respect. The concert was a very enjoyable one, the only drawback being ita brevity.