CHORAL SOCIETY'S CONCERT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16667, 12 April 1916, Page 6

CHORAL SOCIETY'S CONCERT

" KING OLAF." ' . (1 When Sir. E. 'Elgar wrote the music of King o]af" he naturally adopted the characteristic stylo of Norwegian composers in order to give a national atmosphere to his work. A conspicuous feature of his qqusic, untrammelled b.y such considerations, is its tunefulness and flowing rhythm. It appeals directly to the British ear just as Norwegian music appeals to the Norwegian ", ar "- listening to the performance of 'King Olaf" by the Choral Society m His Majesty's Theatre last evening, the impression conveyed' to the attentive lis:ener was that, judging from the manner n which , the work was rendered, the composer had set himself a difficult task in idopting a stylo of composition very different from that which ha 6 made his name amous. His great talent alone has enabled lim to surmount the difficulties of thr lituafcion, and has given to the world i vork of undoubted worth in "King Olaf.' tt is, however, just a matter of opinior vhethar amateur talent can be expected tc )e entirely successful in such music, anc ilso whether it altogether belongs to the •lass from which complete enjoyment is lenvable by an audience. Some portion! if " King Olaf" approach the music ol nodern times, and are somewhat analogous 0 that of English composers, and it is in uch cases that the best results are obamed, and the greatest pleasure experinced in listening. An instance of that is let with in the chorus with which the 'ork closes. The chorus, under the direcion of Mr Sidney Wolf, acquitted itself reditably throughout, and much more than reditabl.y in places. The challenge of Thor, tie god! of war, was splendidly rendered, nd was characterised by immense vigour nd emphasis.- Tho wraith of Odin was □other instance iin which the choir put >rth a really fine effort, though the chorus lay not have been consistently good iroughout. The ballad chorus, " A Little ird in tho Air," is also well deserving of social mention; in fact, there was nothing 2tter heard during the evening; and again, t the long descriptive work .of Olaf's deiat and death, tlie choir scored a very L'cided success. The one verse, But seaard, •'"landward, cape and bay," in this u>rus may be singled out as being posblj- the most pcrfcct and best-finished icce of work the choir did. A striking ature of the final chorus—introduced by ay of epilogue,—which has already been entioned, was the beautiful harmonies. It as remarkably well rendered. Tile ladies e to bo complimented on the way. they, ng the chorus of maidens, " Sigrid Sits Her High Abode," which was thoroughly 1 joy able. "King Olaf" is full of iragentary chorus work, and it was here that o choir was not always completely successyet, taking the performance as a hole, it was more than creditable. The soloists were not so happy in their wijrk. It is true that Miss Violet Barth's first solo, "On King Olaf's Bridal Night," was sung commendably, and fully justified the appreciative demonstration it received'; but Miss Bartli did not always reach the same level, albeit she sustained her part well. Mr W. Gcmmell oan scarcely bo said to have had any solo work to do. in a strict sense as ba£s, but he nevertheless filled an important position in recitative and conceited music, in which he was satisfactory. M. Saldaigne laboured under the disability of being compelled to sing in English, and the orchestra, which was unusually large was frequently the dominating factor. In'deed, M. Saldaigne was not the only sufferer in this respect. He entered upon tho tenor solo, "And King Olaf Heardi tho Cry," with what appeared to be a lack of confidence, and did not seem to sing with that abandon that is one of the features of his vocalisation. As tho work progressed he improved, but at no time,did he appear to be in his element and completely at his ease. It has to be borne in mind that the music tho three soloists were required to interpret presented considerable difficulty It does not belong to the order of melody, and makes unusual de°mands upon a singer. The orchestra performed its duties well, but for tho one thing, and that was a frequent tendency not te> remember that one voice alone was bearing the burden. Tho National Anthem was sung by Miss Barth prior to tho commencement of tho concert, after which Mr G. M. Thomson, president of tho society, spoko a few words of welcome to Captain Stenhouse, of the Aurora, who, with some of his officers, occupied seats in the dress circle. The concert terminated with tho singing of the National Athcm.

WOLFE'S SCHNAPPS is suitable alike for men and women, and is in every sense beneficial.