ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16965, 29 March 1917, Page 5

ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

The concert given by the Dunedin Orohes-'* tral Society last evening in the King's;;,;-: Theatre may be regarded, admitting /that-') the performance had its limitations, as being-';.v : well up to the standard reached by amateur;-t orchestras. Perfection' is not to bo looked v for, yet in some of the selections played the"*; orchestra reached a very high levels even the face of certain minor defect*. . Verve is the one thing, in particular, that seerriss to be lacking in practically all amateur perV-jv. formances, and its absence, or partial ■■ abX v sence, may' be accounted for in a variety of.~ ways. A want of confidence, of familiarity<: with the music, to be played, and it; niusi;fbe added, of artistic perception conduces';;: to bring this about. Hence it is. better t tojij attempt what it is felt can be well; dopSiS: rather than high flights which are hazardpas;V: and apt to lead to disastrous results. 1 Ttjsvnot suggested that this applies to the Orch'es-";'. tral Society, but there is a general 1 tendency.* among amateur musicians', laudably tious to mount higher, to essay the or singing, of music not yet withm their v reach. Quite capable vocalists fairly oftenX> fail to achieve all the success they are well.? 1 able to attain for this very reason,.and"evenv , ; when, their selection is judiciously made the | tenor will attempt a phenomenally high note£l or the bass a phenomenally low one to finish?; with, and as they do not happen \toy be; - good, they seriously impair an' otherwise; 'i excellent effort. Put tersely, there seemslto-s bo an overwhelming desire to attain;"what-;'■ is in the meantime impossible. ButVthese;}' remarks are by the way, and do not directly ■; touch the concert given last evening.-.';Asi? usual, the National Anthem, followed ;;by:V "Rule, Britannia," formed a prelude' , :to-"" the concert, which was opened by theVor-ss chostra playing the overture to "Egmont." It is a tragic story' that'has'£ been set to music,' and the theme has been)? observed by the creat composer, yetVthe't music is not what is commonly "heavy!" It is exceedingly tuneful," and/i does not strike the listener as being; as % taxing as much of the music the orchestra frequently plays. The overture?:; was one of the best rendered items on the!; programme. It was played with precision,;; and very little exception could be taken to ~ its treatment generally. The same cannot U be said of the selections from Rossini , " Semiramide." The playing of these disappointing. Some .of the excerpts were'," not taken as briskly as they might have J; been, and some of the climaxes were; riot"; worked up to, and were not, therefore, effoc-,? tive. It was, in point of fact, a rather:', laboured effort at times- The Lardelli suites ? "Enfantinc" was lacking in brightness and:; crispness, but in spite of that there was:a," good deal of -enjoyment from listening): to*, the four sections played, the most pleasur-'--; able being the " D arise des Galante." This ;' selections from Verdi's "La Traviata" were i : given with considerable success, and in them;;; the orchestra easily secured the good of the audience, as indeed it did moiiior!.;-; loss all through the evening. Verdi's- rnusiog is generally by ho means difficult to follow,"? and more familiar than the works of .rnahyy/, : other composers; two. factors that tell in .its';': favour with an audience. Batiste's " An-? danto.in G," a very charming . piece, f of., music, was skilfully treated and played .w?th\ very fine effect, and Suppe's march " Teu- ; : fels" completed .the orchestral items. .Asong recently written by Mr J. C. Eastbnt was sung with most satisfactory results by./ Mr R. Bryant. It has been named "Ai Cavalier's Song," and is a fine spirited com-J position with an excellent swing_ about. :itf?; Mr Bryant quite caught the spirit of'rth'o' song, to which he did justice, and later , b.6;,' sang Sanderson's "Shipmates o' ]Vlnie,"'i Miss Kathleen Carter's solos wore "GJaro/ Mio Ben" and "Break, Break, both of which she sang very well.. Miss;. Carter has a contralto voico of good quality;;; and power which sho uses very well, butcher singing would bo improved by a little ' moro animation. Both vocalists were hon- ;i 'i'ircd with recalls. Mr J. Coombs oori?'; tho orchestra with his accustomed; skill. . ■ ■■■:■; ']. : f~<}'