BALLAD CONCERTS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XX, Issue 1415, 24 December 1887, Page 3

BALLAD CONCERTS.

Those who did not take the opportunity of patronising the ballad concerts given in the Town Hall last evening and Thursday evening have every reason to regret it ; for, in the light of a first-class musical treat, it is not too much to say that nothing approaching it has previously been submitted to the L iwrence public. The local public are so often disappointed with travelling shows— not to oajU them by any worse name — that they are naturally very chary about what they patronise; «nd so it is generally the case that vety good entertainments frequently fare as badly as very bad ones. It. is a peculiarity of the British public that they will rush to see the antics of a circus clown or a nigger breakdown, and pay well for the privilege, while an entertainment of real merit will fail to clear expenses. When it is considered that Thursday night's concert was made up almost entirely of favourite Scotch ballads, it is astonishing (hat the attendance was so thin ; for if a first-class concert of Scotch music will not take in a community peculiarly Scotch, it must be extremely difficult to hit the popular taste. We will not venture on a detailed criticism of the singing, bat content ourselves with the remark that it was one unbroken success throughout, every item meeting with a positive encore, and the demands were readily responded to. It is seldom that a Liwrence audience listens to such singing as that of Miss Mary Hume, who is j'lst'y entitled to rank amongst the first vocalists of Australasia ; and to those who failed to hear her we would say, loss is theirs. Mr Mr Fraaer'a rich and powerful voice was heard to great advantage ; and Mr Jago's beautiful baritone was listened to with rare acceptance. It is a treat with which we are seldom favoured to hear a pianoforte aolo rendered by such a masterly artist as Mr A. J. B*rth ; and as musical con- \ ductor and accompanist, this gentlemen is j deserving of very high compliment. j

The concert last night was nude up of English ballads, and though there was a fairly good house, the attendance fell a long way short of the singular merit of the entertainment. Every number was encored, and each recall was heartily responded to.