THE MESSIAH.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3905, 25 January 1884, Page 3

THE MESSIAH.

Tho Napier Musicial Society last night gavo Tho Messiah before a friendly audience in the Theatre Royal. Ambition may be and doubtless is a good thing, but the society was very ill-advised when it resolved with ten or eleven troblo voices to produce such a pieco. Several times last night tho soprano part was absolutely lost. "Wo do not think the society need bo discouraged ■with tho result, oven if it did not accomplish all its members and admirers would have liked it to have achieved. Had it succeeded in giving such a work in a faultless manner it would have done something to be proud of. Tho production of such a piece in a town of. tho sizo of Napier speaks volumes for the industry and musical sympathies of tho place. Notwithstanding that excisions •were numerous, and tho ontire absence of encores, tho work took nearly three hours, due to tho more than usually slow manner in which tho andanto and largo movements wore given. The society in so strong in soloists that each of the leading parts was divided, and two soloists shared the part. The rendering of " He shall feed his flonk" by Mrs Primo, and "The Trumpet shall HOimd"byMr Aplin were decidedly the best solo efforts of the . evening. Miss Large sang " I know that my Redeemer livetb," the rendering of which was given in too jerky a manner to please us, although, in justice to tho lady, we must say it seemed to meet with the approval of the audience. Mr. Slado guvo " Who may abide the day of his coming" in a very acceptable manner. "He was despised," by Miss Ellison, pleased tho audience greatly. The chorus succeeded best in tho Hallolujah chorus and "Lift your Heads," each part taking up its beat promptly, which is more than can be said of some of the other concerted pieces. The orchestra could scarcely do themselves justice, as they had to bo subdued on account of the smallness of the chorus, but their work as a whole was, however, the most satisfactory of the evening. Tho various parts were filled as follows:—Sopranos, Mrs Sheath and Miss Largo; contraltos, Mrs Prime and Miss Ellison ; tenor, Messrs Finch and Stephens; bass, Messrs Slado and Aplin. Tho instrumentalists comprised Messrs Spackman, Chapman, and Allan, violins ; Humphries, violincello; Sheath, basso; Philson and Chamberlain, clarionets ; Withers and Maddigan, cornets ; Tankard, horn: Callaphan, trombone ; Lounds, flute; Garry, piano ; Aplin, organ ; Gilliard, drum; Mr Brown, the society's conductor, as a matter of course, wielding the baton.