THE CHRISTYS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3352, 22 November 1871, Page 3

THE CHRISTYS.

&- For many reasons the very crowded attendance at the Odd' Fellows' Hall la3t, evening ■wus as gratifying to us ns ib could possibly have been to the members of the troupe. The result will be a welcome augmentation of the fund being raised in behalf of St Paul's echool, in addition to the gratifying mark of appreciation which such an attendance denotes. Added to the feelingu of pleasure which so numerous an attendance naturally imparted to alt concerned was the agreeable evidence that the Chrietys are being steadily supported by those of our citizens who are recognised followors of good music as well as supporters of all efforts in the cause of charity.- The audience of last evening, if uot a fashionable one, was whnt might well be designated an intelligent one, and the Christys having obtained what politicians call an intelligent support, should relax nothing to retain it. On the occasion of their previous performances we endeavored to point out where mistakes lay with the view of aiding to carry out what we believe to be the desire of the mem ■ bers of the troupe, namely, that the company shall take its place with our musical society as a permanent institution. As a matter of criticism, we would prefer to acton Pope's maxim, and, avoiding any individual shortcoming, speak only of the general effect. By this method of computing their standard of excellence, the reputation of the Christys lias not receded ; there are points in which improvement is perceptible, while there are others in whioh there is an evident falling off. The accompaniments are fuller, and are played with an endeavor to sympathise with the voice?, but the error is made of allowing too much latitude, and a rallentando or diminuendo passage is permitted to degenerate into a drawl. On tho other hand, the pianissimo passages could not have been sung better, j This only showed that the singers do possess the power of subduing and swelling the I volume, but have been taught to exercise it only in one particular place. The subdued passages were well sung, eimply for the reason that tho voices felt each other, and why could rot this very small portion of a musical education be extended to the ordinary choruses, some of which were very badly sung. As an example . we will take the song and choru3 " Where are i my Schoolmates Gone." The eolo, though ; weak, was sung with capital taste ; tho chorus immediately following wns a wretched piece of singing, each part, particularly the alto, standing quite independent of the others, while the piano chorus, where each singer felt that he had a duty to perform and that duty to sing softly, could not have been beaten by any company of minstrels, professional or otherwise. This chorus, wo may add, did not meet with the appreciation it deserved. The glee " Let us be joyful" suffered from a general want of culture. The duet " Army and Navy" was a bad selection badly rendered, one of the voices not being equal either to solo or duet singing. Many a lesson in Binging might have been learnt from the members of the Excelsior troupe. Eliminating all the objectionable leaturcs inseparable from professional singing, there were many trivial points to be observed which help \ to the success of a solo, tho chief of which is the careful watching of the breathing places to insure that the voice shall bo ready to take tho crescendo and forte passages, and to fall away where necessary. This small point and its effect were particularly observable in the "Beautiful Isle of the Sea," which was the beet and moßt enjoyable piece of solo pinging of the evening. There is one fault about this voice, and that is, that it is too sparingly used as a solo voice. "Rocked in tho Cradle of the Deep"was very well suug,but a fault that we have before noticed was too perceptible ; .that is to say, there was too ]itle vigor where such an expreeaion was essential and too much iageing. The corner men and their conundrums contributed greatly to the amusement, much of the success of the entertainment being due to the outrageous jokes and puns perpetrated by these sable brudders. In the composition of tho programme we were disappointed. To remedy j an error that millitates against continued success it is advisable that the company should arrange that the funds of the next concert should go towards tho purchase of new music. " Annie Lisle," " When Johnny Comes Marching Home," and "Toll the Bell" have had their day. Our old English glees, like good wine, improve with advanced age, but it is j genei'ally admitted that in the composition of j Chriety songs the tendency of the day is | towards improvement. Many of the recent songs produced, being of a higher order and I easily procurable, would form an agreeable change from those which have neither merit nor application to time or circuniß'ance. Bones and Tambourine each received an encore, tho former for '' Tho Dutchman's Wee Dog," the latter for " Tapioca," both of which were excellently sung. At the conclusion Mr John Maginity thanked the audience for their attendance and at the same time acknowledged the kindness of Mr Murray in closing his circus for the evening, an announcement which mot with a hearty round of applause.