Musical.

Southern Cross, Volume 6, Issue 35, 10 December 1898, Page 7

Musical.

“ THE MESSIAH.”

■ Ifc is all over —that which may he termed a ‘ red letter day ’ in the of the Invercargill Musical Union, and on which a music-loving section of the community spared neither time nor pains to bring to a successful issue. Thus the sunshine and shower of committee meetings, practice and rehearsal, steadily but surely, was productive of first the bud and then the flower, and it is to the performance of ‘ The Messiah when radiant in all the wealth and beauty of full blossom that we would direct our readers’ notice. It is but seldom that the sitting accommodation of the Theatre Royal is taxed as it was on a recent Friday might, when an expectant audience assembled to hear a recital of Handel’s ‘ Messiah,’ which great work was reproduced by two hundred performers, consisting of the combined choirs of the local churches, members of the Orchestral Society and friends, all of whom had banded together with one common aim in view, namely that of augmenting the funds of the Musical Union. Behind the scene the most perfect of management was installed, every committee doing its work ‘to a man,’ so that by eight o’clock a long row of white-robed and black-coated choristers was seen to enter, and noiselessly fill the scarletdraped terrace of seats awaiting them.

As usual, the baton was controlled by Mr Charles Gray , to whose skill and indefatigable zeal may be attributed much of the evening’s success ; and he as conductor received most valuable assistance from Miss Findlay (pianiste) and Mrs Wood (leader of the orchestra). ‘ The Messiah ’ has been aptly described as tbe musical interpretation of ‘ Paradise Regained.’ Tbe oratorio opens in a prophetic strain, taking one back to the time of ancient history, when seers foretold the coming ot the Messiah; next the Nativity is introduced, and thus recitative, air, and chorus connect with each other as the links in a chain, until between tbe last chord in the overture and tbe final Amen there is unfolded to the listener a narrative in its entirety. The first soloist was a stranger to an Invercargill audience ; we refer tc Mr E. Eager, one of Dunedin’s leading vocalists, who came by special engagement to undertake the heaviest work in the oratorio. Mr Eager has a powerful tenor voice, even and flexible to a nicety, but with all its good points it lacks expression of feeling, and for the want of that one gift is robbed of the subtle charm it would otherwise possess. Its flexibility came into marked prominence in ‘ Every valley shall be exalted,’ which was one of the singer’s best efforts, and again in ‘ Thou shalt break them.’ His remaining numbers were : ‘ Comfort ye my people,’ ‘ All they that see Him,’ ‘ Thy rebuke bath broken his heart,’ ‘ Behold and see,’ ‘ He was cut off,’ But Thou didst not leave,’ and ‘ He that dwelleth in heaven.’ Miss M.Robinson (Riverton) contributed ‘ Behold a virgin shall conceive,’ and ‘ O Thou that tellest good tidings.’ Her voice is pleasing, but not strong, and in her latter number was at times lost in the greater strength of the orchestral accompaniment. An enthusiastic reception was accorded Mr J. E. Taylor, and that gentleman wasted no time in proving to his audience that the compliment was a merited one ; from first to last he did splendidly, and showed how completely he had that deep bass voice of his under control. His numbers were —‘ Thus saiththe Lord,’‘But who may abide,’ ‘ For behold ! darkness,’ ‘ The people that walked in darkness,’ ‘ Why do ‘the nations,’ 1 Behold I tell you,’ and ‘ The trumpet shall sound.’ All were good, but his two masterpieces were undoubtedly ‘ Why do the nations,’and ‘ The trumpet shall sound,’ for both of which he -secured an encore; in the latter

Mr J. Glennie won laurels for the artistic cornet obligato he supplied. A quartet of recitatives, descriptive of the Nativity, was entrusted to Mrs Ross, To say that she treated them with her usual skill will be sufficient, for everyone knows that lady’s genius and how she simply revels in oratorio. Mrs Blue, another of our favourites, kindly filled Miss Organ’s place, and sang ‘ Come unto Him ’ very sweetly ; her own solo, ‘ I know that my Redeemer liveth,’ was a musical treat, her soft, silvery notes falling as so many pearls on her delighted audience. Mrs H. Macdonald sang ‘ He was despised,’ and Mrs F. Scandrett joined Mrs Blue and Messrs Eager and Taylor in the quartettes ‘ Since by man came death,’ and ‘For as in Adam all die.’ The air, * How beautiful are the feet,’ was allotted to Miss A. Smith, but she was not in her usual good form, and narrowly escaped bringing a high G to serious disaster. Miss Winnie Royds, our latest contralto, contributed two numbers; her interpretation of the recitative ‘ Then shall the eyes of the blind ’ was exquisite, while in the air, ‘ He shall feed his flock,’ Her rich, low voice was just laden with tender pathos and feeling. The overture was played most efficiently by the orchestra, and on their rendering of the pastoral symphony enough praise cannot be bestowed. Before passing away from the instrumentalists, we would mention their good service in ‘ For unto us a child is born,’ and in ‘ Why do the nations.’ The chorus work as a whole was excellently done, all the parts being well balanced. In ‘ For unto us a child is born,’ the male voices were heard to advantage, and in ‘ He trusted in God,’ the altos gained prominence. Pre-eminently above all the other choruses was the soul - stirring ‘ Hallelujah,’ ‘ That jubilant flood in praise of Him ’ — maintaining the old-time custom, the vast audience reverently stood, and as the glad hallelujahs rang ont with i all the exultant force of well nigh 200 voices, one only regretted that conductor and choristers could not listen to the peifection of their most perfect work. As a fitting conclusion to ■ all that bad gone before, came the grand ‘ Amen ’ chorus, and as its last cadence died away, we realised that the blossom, too, had faded and only the fallen petals remained to remind us of its former glory.

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