PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 70

PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY'S CONCERT.

The public of Dunedin assuredly cannot be charged with failing to support local musical institutions, whether they be vocal or instrumental. Choral Society, Liedertafel, Orchestral Society, and Philharmonic Society — which gave the fourth concert of the season in the Garrison Hall on the 3rd inst. — all succeed in attracting large attendances to their concerts. The concert opened with a funeral march composed by Signor Squarise himeelf, and played as a mark of respect to the memory of the society's late vicerpresident, Dr Coughtrey. Both composition and performance were good. The two best played items were unquestionably a larghetto from a serenade by Elgar and a pizzicato " Mandolinen serenade " b^ Eilenberg. The former is a succession of magnificent harmonies, and the orchestra seemed as if it felt on safer ground in this than in several other selections played, and reached a unuch higher standard of perfection. It must, however, be admitted that in other instances the orchestra had greater difficulties to contend with. The pizzicato is a very pretty little composition and was nicely and crisply played, and in it the instrumentalists succeeded in keeping well together. It was such an item .as an audience is apt to want repeated, and those present just went to the verge of encoring it. The march " Call to the fight," a brief composition by Signor Squarise, with a good swing about it, was a most creditable performance, and the symphony in G minor of the same composer was by no means devoid of merit. Its performance was, however, patchy, and the same remark applies to the playing of the overture to Dvorak' 6 " Carneval." In this the orchestra started off brilliantly, and it seemed as if it was going to be one of the best performances of the evening, but there were some stragglers among the instrumentalists afterwards, and they did not really get well together again wntil the coda, with which the overture ends, was reached, and even in it there was not the precision that marked the opening allegro. Both strings and wind were noticeably out of tune in the early part of the prelude to Ponchielli'« opera "La. Giooonda,"' and the performance generally was not such as an audience could enthuse over. " Dance of the hours," from the same opera, was a much better effort, the final movement (allegro yivacissimo) being admirably played. The audience was not lacking in appreciation of the orchestra's performance during the evening, and Signor Squariee was on more than one occasion called upon to bow his acknowledgement of the applause. Mm W. S. Jago, a lady from Masterton, sang Gounod's " The worker," and " When the swallows homeward fly," by Maud Valeria Whit?, and gave a satisfactory rendering of the latter song. Her accompainments were played by Mr D. Cooke.

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