AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14386, 2 December 1908, Page 6

AMUSEMENTS

CHORAL ioCIEfY'S ;..'.' ' The s Garrison Hall was well;.filled last hear the'" performance 'of Ullin's Daughter ■" and Gado's 'V Cbnlkla "' by the Dunedin Choral Society.' .'.These have been in aotivo rehearsal for. some time, and a-wonderfully good gijip.had been obtaiuecl of tho two works, particularly-the latter. There, wa«some 1 , room/for improvement in the performance of' "Lord Ullin's.'.Daughter."' Both tcnore: and basses exhibited a' tendency towards weakness when left to'them-" selves,., biit Avhere tho : chorus was sung: full the'elfect was exceedingly, good. .At the .conclusion of ".the. performance of. V Lord Ullin's Daughter" the audierico signified its appreciation in a, very hearty manner, and!| Mr .Geo,Gurr 6ahg: "The- sands of Doc/' with considerable taste, and narrowly escaped an encore. ; Of course the real ' performance of the evening was "Comula," which is founded on. the loves of Com'aja and Fingal, King of Morvjn. A'short-orchestral introduction, the rendering pf-wh'ich presented no'special feature wai;followed'by'the-chorus for male voices'■'■ Up, 'sound ye'the horn." . This was given Wi'h really fine effect. There wasV:a gootl, swing about it all through, and.'-'it was''attacked ..wit!} confidence and decision, 1 and may-be-regarded as one of the'best of .the' male choruses given, Tho recitative and: duet for soprano and bass, " Farewoll, my beloved," which falls to tho lot of Comal* and Fingal, represented by 'Sirs R. Hudson' and Mr Geo.' Gurr respectively, was very creditably, givon. Mr Guri';sang the "recitative with .very good declamatory , effect, 'but Fingal's music 'is better suited/to a heavier type of bass than that' possessed by Mr Gurr, • It is in music of.a lighter character, where sympa-. .thetie treatment'is required, that Mr Gurr is heard, to the best and this was .-.shown by the manner in which be isling. his part in the duet. The chorus "Up for the light": was another good pjece of .chorus work:' ''I'ho spirit of the ohorus seemed to impress itself upon tho singors, and the vigorous, stirring rendering meMyith the. reception it was entitled to:- From'' this-'/chorus'emerged a fine piece of rccitativp -for: Mm Hudson, to which that lady did'.ample'justice. Connected with it vyas'a cKorus for ladies' voices.' ' " Sori'o\v not, why art. Thou weeping?". The manner in which this and other choruses wore 9ung -justifies the impression that the.' lady members of tho -chorus devote a great deal of study, probably in their-homes, to the. music they are called upon' to interpret. Practically throughout; the evening : they exhibited mora intimate 'acquaintance with their work than, the gentlemen', of the chorus did with theirs. Ono of the most taking items in "Comala" is the soprano ballad, with chorus, " One day there came from Lochlin,'.sung by • D'ersagrena. Thi3 was ontrusted to ivlits Frances Grant, and wa6 very well sung indeed. 'Still'd is the light" was Mrs Hudson's test piece of the evening, and she asquitted herself exceedingly " well' in it. In tho chorus that accompanied it, however, the singers got a little astray,'but quickly recovered themselves. , It was the only occasion on whioh any real -.inaccuracy was- noticeable, The orchestra is to ■'■. bo congratulated / upon its playing up to this, point, but in tho accompaniment to Mrs Hudson's solo, just referred- to, the .instrumentalistsrather buried, the voice. The verdict of the audience 'would probably be .that tho succeeding .number,'- 1 "-Our'pathway is the storm,"'was tho finest piece of vocalisation it listened to.' This-chorus was sung full, and was given with' great effect. On the other hand; the '.chorus ■" Far fled is tho foo" fared badly when compared with the-ren-derings of.lhe other choruses. The singers didi'notappear to be at their ease, and sang with sqmo degrco of uncertainty. Mr jGurr, Who had had a rest since his duet with Mrs Hudson, sang the solo "Lot-me gaze on my beloved" expressively, and the chorus ■'" In"-t-h'o darkness of'thc clouds " j concluded the concert, Mrs J. R, Glovor sang tho contralto ' part of . Melicoma, which is'comparatively small, satisfac ; totily. -Mi'.'Jas. Coombs, carried out the duties of conductor efficiently, / .. HIS .MAJESTY'S THEATRE. "The Breaking ol tho Drought" was presented with all its-realistic and artistic effects' to another largo' Hudieuoo at His Majesty's Theatre last evening. The great forest fire scene again roused enthusiastic applause, and "The Baths" scene, equally realistic and-complete, in its stage presentment, evoked wonderment and hearty 'appreciation-. Tho varied and elaborate, soenic" and pictorial effects of tlie melodrama compare more than favourably with t-lip best of: the Bliind Holt productions in this city,, and. the staging, combined with the -interesting-':dramatic incidents running

throughout. Mr Shirley's.typical Australian play, must ensure for it a successful run. The comedy element is in the hands of Bland Holt,' and as ho wears, older ha grows youngor in the art of rousing laughter and merriment. Marjory and Judith Galloway, the selector's daughter and wife, ar© interesting impersonations' in' the eapablo hands of Miss Pollock and Miss Major, and Mr- Styan throughout is a natural and effective Jo GalloWay. Mies Ireland is well cast as' Oliv- Lovettc, and the other characters incidental' to the development of a series of dramatic situation's brimful of exciting interest aro all in capable 'hands. "The Breaking' of tho, Drought" will bo staged again- this evenmg ' '' ' ■ v. ' " MISS LANCASHIRE, LIMITED." 1 ' .A. fairly large audienco witnessed the production of "Miss Lancashire, Limited" at tho Princes-Theatre last evening'.: The ntial performance of tho season will bo, on '* ridgy night, Miss Baines and tho company leaving for Wellington on Saturday morning. '.-,■.'' \ WEST'S PICTURES. i -' L ano^ er 6 P !cndid attendanco,: at thn Alhambra ast night to witness the \ exhibition of West's moving •pictures. '■ Avery satisfaction was axoretsed with the bill put forward and, in particular, tho pictures of the champion pugilists-Tommy Uurns and Jack Johnson-in their training exercises for the great fight on Boxing Uay, were received with warm encomiums. Wo same programme, which deserves patronage, will bo repeated to-night. EARLY SETTLERS' SOCL\L. '"'.'■ A most enjoyable dance and social ovcsr>, jng among tho workers at the stalls at :the recent bazaar and their gentlemen assistants, who were practically composed jof the descendants of early settlers, was •held in the Early Settlors' Hall last night. [Over a hundred couples were present. During the evening a number of musical items we.ro given, and -the Misses Leylarid' ooiw! tributed one of their much-admired hornpipes. { The' ladies who had been conV nected with the bazaar themselves pro-'V vided the refreshments, and'the duties oi ; . M.C. wero efficiently carried out by Messrs J. W«>d and \V.. G. Hay. ' It may, do mentioned that though .it is anticipated that; there will be a considerable surplus from' the bazaar: funds after the objects for which • it was organised have, been carried out, no' • portion of the bazaar funds havo been usaj ■ m connection ;with the social. During the ', afternoon Mis C.H. Hay ward,' Who was'' in charge of .the refreshment 'rooms, while' the bazaar was running, was. presented ;'with ■ a handsqme'gokl brooch [rom.her assistants ■ and.from the. young'ladies.of. the jumble > stall. Mr ■• John Wood made .the-prcsenta-'V tion on,-behalf of th'ejdonors. ; ■■''. .■'-•> . -'■-V LONDON PIERROTS; ; 'f' ?\k The London Pierrots gave; an open-air '' concert last night at Caycrsham,'-to a.'la'rgo/' crowd. The programme ,was thoroughly' enjoyed. The children's competition caused' roars of laughtor, and was ,won by Master G. F. Ford, a clever .little child, who sahg ■very Well. ,; The Pierrots 'will appear tonight at St. Clair; '.;^') : • ■•'.■, '■■>'■ Tim&ALLINSONS/ ' -f. ~/' . ; . Mr and Mrs Albert, Mallinson, will give • their farewell recital at the Burns-Hall on." Friday ovening ~ This will be ffcheir last'■.' '■'' appcavaneo in Dunedin..' Tliey-' will :pre- ,' sent the finest possible selection' 1 of Mr Mai-., linson's eonga.- The programme includes' not only, tho Very beautiful sdng-oyclo. entitled ".My," garden," but a number, of-. songs not.hitherto heard im\Dunedin. ', Mrs MaJlinson has received a great mimber,of requests for; certains songs 'to be .included, in this programme, and shje will;, thereforesing,' amongst other songs; " Snowflakes,'! "Violet," ' T Babyi" and "Gloriana." The ; attention of, "musical _ students should ' be ' drawn to .the educational value: of ihese,. recitals. Special concessione,' aro ;to be'-, made-to musical students attending'in'>par.' ties of'not'less than 207 ■ '■:•■" -.-v-V. ; , ,■