THE HARMONIC SOCIETY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 937, 14 February 1890, Page 28

THE HARMONIC SOCIETY.

The members of the Wellington Harmonic Society may be congratulated on the favourable results of their inaugural season. The

experiment of expanding a private musical club into a public society has been thoroughly justified by its success. The new Society has a very good record to show for its first year. It has presented to the music-lovers of Wellington such works as the completed portions of Mendelssohn’s one opera “ Loreley,” and his splendid “ Walpurgisnacht,” Dr Yilliers Stanford’s spirited “ Ballad of the Fleet,” “ The Revenge,” and the late Sir Michael Costa’s masterpiece, “Naaman.” All these were given with a care and efficiency of interpretation that reflected high credit upon the members, and on their able conductor, Mr Parker. It is further satisfactory that, notwithstanding the unavoidably heavy outlay involved in starting a new society of such magnitude, the financial results have been as satisfactory as the musical. The new season which now begins promises to be at least as prosperous as its predecessor, one specially attractive feature in the programme being Dr Mackenzie’s magnificent oratorio, “The Rose of Sharon,” which created so profound a sensation on its first production at the Norwich Musical Festival of 1884. The Society deserves cordial support. Such institutions are publicly beneficial in a variety of ways. -The main difficulty that has to be contended with is the absence of a proper concert hall, which always places the city of Wellington at a serious disadvantage. It is to be hoped that this dificiency will ere long be supplied. Meanwhile the Harmonic Society has our best wishes for its continued success.