“HIAWATHA”

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1926, Page 11

“HIAWATHA”

CHORAL SOCIETY’S PRESENTATION. GREAT SUCCESS ACHIEVED. The Choral Society are to be very heartily congratulated on the success of their presentation of Coleridge Taylor’s Hiawatha in the Opera House last evening. The work is laid out so as to give the choral body abundant scope, and often contains passages of considerable difficulty. To make a presentation of such a work in any adequate manner entails long and careful preparation. Such presentation was abundantly evident, and at times a splendid sense of the right atmosphere was apparent, so that one forgot everything but the beauty and picture of the whole scene. Cold print can very inadequately, describe the character of the composition, the frequent syncopation or disturbance of the rythm, the subtle changes of harmony, both diatonically and chromatically, and yet with it all, exactly fitting the whole poem, so redolent of North American Indian idiom and allusion. The audience was greatly assisted in following the work by having the fully printed poem in their hands. Considering the Singular character of the work it might have been very difficult to grasp the full significance of any particular passage without this assistance. The additional expense involved was more than compensated by the assistance and pleasure given. That there were moments of anxiety it would be impossible to deny. “Till the Wind Became a Whirlwind,” “There's the Merry Pau-Puk-Keewis,” “Thus His Name Became a By-Word,” “And the Warriors and the Women,” were the most noticeable, and yet “O the Wasting of the Famine,” “Lay there Trembling, Freezing, Burning,” “Calling to Him in the Darkness- Hiawatha,” and other such places, really portray ed the scene and carried conviction. There is also a noticeable improvement in the articulation of the chorus, but without being captious, a greater smartness and emphasis of final consonants, almost amounting to exaggeration, would have rounded out many a word. But the technical difficulties were great, and much credit is du? for the advence the chorus has made.

In Madame Winnie Fraser, soprano, Mr. Harold Prescott, tenor, and Mr. Ashley Macdonald, bass, the society had a well chosen trio. The <q>ening of part 111. gave Madame Fraser her best opportunity, full of the joyousness of returning spring, and the coming back to the forest of the wild fowl and birds of the thicket. Contrasted with this was the gloom and sorrow of Hiawatha after tl::j death of his beloved Minnehaha. Wonderfully successful was the contrast made, the first so full of life and freshness and in the latter sorrow and gloom. "Onaway! Awake, Beloved,” and later on “Then the Black-Robed Chief the Prophet,” gave splendid opportunity to Mr. Prescott. The first of these is fairly well known, being a favourite concert number, but the latter is hardly ever heard apart from the work. Mr. Macdonald had some difficult and most dramatic work, particularly in part HI, "True is ail lagoo Tells Us” being a difficult and exacting number. A word of commendation must be said for the accompaniments, the wood wind of the orchestra being most effective, and with the acid sweetness of the oboe imparted much beauty and tonal contrast, while the unobtrusive support of the piano was excellent in every way. Mr. R. L. Cooper conducted in his usual st vie.