PROFESSOR SCHMITT'S CONCERT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9184, 13 October 1888, Page 5

PROFESSOR SCHMITT'S CONCERT.

"ART AND MIND." Quite a unique interest attaches to Herr Sclimitt's concert, which is announced to take placo in tho Choral Hall on Thursday evening noxt, and no ono with a genuine love of music, o: - possessed of a desire to advance the culture of the finer forms of art in our midst, will rightly miss ib. It is not merely notable on account of the choiceness of the programme, but a fortiori that that programme embraces so much that is the outcome of local tnlcnt. The piece de resistance, of course, is the cantata which was composed to celebrate theopening of our Art Gallery, and which is now to bo performed for the first time in public. Speaking from a cursory glance through it we can promise our readers a sure treat. The work is distinctly local. Not only was it inspired by a local event, but both poetry and music have been produced in this community, the words having been written with unmistakable poetic taste and .spirit by Mr. W. Outhwaite, and the music being in Professor Schmitt's best style. The orchestral introduction suggests at once the jubilance of the motif, and leads up strikingly to a tenor recitative in the nature of an invocation. Then follows a descriptive chorus and a quartette of angels which gives the cue, as it were, to n choral refrain. A declamatory bass recitative introduces a pretty aria, and then the work fittingly concludes witli a chorus of praise. Both poet and composer have acquitted themselves admirably, and a powerful orchestra ha.4 been carefully trained for the successful performance of the cantata. The soloists are Mr. Hosking and Dr. Mnitland Gledden, and for the quartette Mrs. Tayler, Mrs. Lewis, Mi.ss Knight, and Miss Scraggs. The remainder of the programme includes Professor Schmitt's dramatic overture (dedicated to King Humbert of Italy) and his national fantasia for chorus and orchestra, Beethoven's splendid overture to " Fidelio," and Scholtz's " Gipsy March," as well as an operatic quartette and trio from " Maritana " and " Ernan; " respectively, two morceaux by the Grafton Orpheus Club, violin solos by Misses Buckland and Maud Hogg, and songs by Miss Whitaker and Miss ELeight.