"THE MESSIAH."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11302, 21 December 1898, Page 2

"THE MESSIAH."

The fact that we have now in our midst * Choral Society, well and 'firmly established, ha_ relieved'the comparatively small choirs of th. city churches of the onerous, and,; it may SlsS be added,,public, duty, ;o£ seeing that the season of Christmastide is not, allowed, ,-to,, pass without being celebrated by'"the production ol " Tli-Messiah." Tn most'places, and certainly it has been so regarded in Dunedin for a good many years back,, the .production of Haiutels masterpiece is looked upon as being peculiarly fitting at this season of the year, and it ever attracts large and interested audiences. Al-.. though few people who have any predilection for music are unacquainted with the airs and choral works of "-The Messiah," the number who possess any. l.nowledgo of the: circum stances under which'it was given to the worW is comparatively few. We leain irom the wellknown authority, Grove, that-it was not till Handel was 50 years of age that he began thai series of works'which was to make his name famous for ever' afterwards. ; In 1710 he, composed " Saul " and '.' Israel in Egypt,',' .and: two years afterwards" The Messiah "was produced in Dublin for the first time. Says Grove: In.' 1741 Handel received from the Duke, of Devonshire, Lord Lieutenant of. Ireland, • a pressing invitation to:'visit, that country. Accordingly, in the month of November, he went there, and was warmly received. His principal works (not operatic) were performed in Dublin, and enthusiastically applauded. On the 18th April, 1742, for the benefit of a charitable, society, he produced 'The Messiah,' his greatest oratorio, and that, which has-iobtained the; firmest and most enduring hold on. the .public favour. After a sojourn in .Ireland, of nine months, during which time he met with,worthy appreciation and also somewhat repaired his broken fortunes, he returned to London. 'The Messiah' wa3 performed there-for the first time on March 23, 1749. It i 3 related that on this occasion the audience was extremely struck and affected by the music in general, but when that part of tho oratorio chorus beginning 'For the Lord God' was reached, they were,, so impressed that they all, with the King, who was present, started at ouce to their feet and remained standing till the chorus was ended. The custom of rising during the performance of the;'Halle.i_jah' Chorus' originated from this incident." The performance of the work last evening, taken as a whole, may be referred to comniendably, and, what is not very frequently the case, the more praiseworthy features of the production were the choruses.: The. choii seemed to have,,devoted.a good . deal of con scientious study to that portion of the worl devolving upon them, with the result that,thej acquitted themselves with credit. A gooo volume of sound was produced, thf voices were - well , balanced,, and .the singers conveyed the impression that thejwere well.' acquainted with their work,; Their least satisfactory effort was "Lift up your heads, 0 ye 'gates," which was marred by bad attack and occasional lapses in the matter of time.' "For unto us a child is born" was capitally rendered, the passages being taken up with precision and well-marked; while " Their sound is gone out into all lands" was also admirably interpreted. " Surely He hath borne our griefs " would also have been satisfactorily, sung .were it.not that there was a suggestion of indecision occasionally, which detracted from the general effect. .The features of the performance that_; would perhaps , reasonably furnish ground for complaint were some of the: sola work and» the greater part of the orchestral accompaniments. In short, the orchestra can.not fairly be said to have been up to.their work at all, and.not a few of the accompaniments were shimmed. .The soprano solos were entrusted to a lady whose face is.new to the Dunedin concert "platform, but who is a wellknown figure in musical circles in .Wellington-" namely, Madame Carlton. She is the possessor of a flexible voice, of good quality; and extensive range, but her singing is occasionally depreciated by thin notes and. frequently so by excessive tremolo. Her'interpretation, of " Rejoice' greatly'V was markedly considerable executive skill, and earned' for her a welldeserved recall, and " L know that my Redeemer liveth" was another successful, effort; while she was accorded a sharp round of applause for her Tendering of the. air "How beautiful are the feet." .Miss V. Campbell can hardly be said to have done full, justice to the alto solos, but the fault in, several instances must be laid at the door of the instrumentalists. . 'The, recit, and air " Behold! a virgin shall conceive" and," 0 thou that Idlest" were both. weakly rendered, but a much more satisfactory interpretation was given_o_ "He was despised." .".He shall feed His flock," which was divided with Madame Carlton, was also well sung. Mr_ Eagar made his first appearance in public'as an. oratorio singer, and the standard by which those present, were permitted to gauge his abilities in this department of the"'vocal'art'wa-i a high one. It must be gratifying to him then to have found that the verdict was a favourable one. The taxing music allotted to the tenor was admirably rendered, especially .the air "Thou shalt break them," which of late years, s0 far as.can be remembered, has not been sung iv the yearly productions of tho work. His other solo 3 werf. sung with excellent effect. The recit'. and aw "For, behold darkness shall cover the earthy and "The people that walked in darkness were sung by Mr T. H'olgate, who did not receive any assistance from tho accompanists. Mr Jago is ever welcome, in oratorio. In. « perhaps lies his forte, -aid the splendid ah " Why do the nations? " was sung in a manner that elicited an emphatio demonstration OI approval. "This saith the Lord" and " Who may abide" were both effectively suug.yrhe pastoral symphony was played by the orchestra, ■which', no matter"what its deficiencies were,_in father respects, did not fail to do full justice to the beautiful composition- Mr"ViL aS?i?" Coombs was at his post as conductor, Mr ■&• Parker led the orchestra, and Miss 0. Little presided at the piano.