ST. PAUL’S CONCERT.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2744, 2 December 1871, Page 2

ST. PAUL’S CONCERT.

Concerts are the fashion in Dunedin. There are concerts and concerts. It is not to be supposed we are condemning the fashion: we are merely stating the fact. Indeed, if we admit the necessity of the many appeals made to the public, we will cheerfully acknowledge that a cqqcert ig thq most lespectable as it is the most powerful engine that can be used. It offers advantages over almost every other form of public amusement. It gives everybody the opportunity of seeing everybody, of which everybody avails himself or herself. If a poor woman wants a mangle, what more agreeable mode of “raising the wind” could be suggested ? If a distressed family desires to be restored to Melbourne, shall we, because the Victorian authorities choose to protest against the importation, be denied the privilege of assisting at the export ? If it be a prize fund, or a Sum lay school fund, that requires to be supplement d, a concert Will in almo t all such cases ensure the desired end. It has a talismauic power; it opens the heart-strings and the purse-strings in a manner sometimes unaccountably, but always irresistibly. There is certainly one other way, but we conceive a leas respectable way, of appealing to the public—namely, that of canvassing from door tp floor on behalf of any given object. Wp don!j; ‘ like this mode' of doing 'business '; it is like taking round the hat before a street entertainment commences—an entertainment too in which, by the way, we are not sure we may take the slightest interest. But a concert is a fona fide transaction ; it gives what it professes to give—sometimes more, sometimes less, perhaps—and the auditors, while conscious of promoting a laudable object, are always pleased with the quid pro quo. The concert given last night at the Masonic Hall, in aid of St. Paul’s Sunday School Fund, was similar to other coupertq given in behalf of cognate objects. was as a whole, neither better nor worse. Notwithstanding the heavy rain during the day, the sloppy condition of the roads, and the lowery look of the sky, there was a large attendance. The front seats were incon- »

veniently close, and inconveniently crowded; while something more than a fair sprinkling was seen in the back. Had it been fine weather, the hall would have been cram?pes; and we suppose it was in view of this pro-' bable event that the front scats were placed in such unpleasant contiguity to each other. But it required all the philosophy of a Mark Tapley to be comfortable untier the circumstances. To be compelled to keep our knees under our neighbor’s seat for two mortal hours, was trying in the extreme, though we believe onr neighbors freely forgave us. Early in the period of our torture we made up our mind t > maintain an absolute silence as to the character of the entertainment; but the seductive influence of some qf tfye sweet mugic discoursed, made us relent. We were hot proof against the witchery of the sirens art. We forgot our troubles in our enjoyment, and like the old French prisoner that was liberated from the Bastile, regretted only the termination of our imprisonment, All the songs were rendered with great correctness, taste, and feeling, and were, as they deserved to be, warmly applauded. There is a growing improvement in the behaviour of a Dunedin audience ; and “ encores ” are heard on only rare occasions. This was especially noticeable last eve, nin<r when those who received encores had certainly provoked theui.apd when they win* given with perfect propriety and discriminar tion. The duets by the Misses Jago were charmingly given, and these ladies were favored with unanimous pecals. “ flowers of the Fqrest, 1 ’ in which their voices blend delightfully was unquestionably .the vocal gem of the evening. It was a thing to hear again; and we, who condemn indiscriminate encores, approved the recals with which the

audience favored these young ladies. Of tV soloists, Miss Sinclair and Mr West contributed, we think, most largely to the public enjoyment; the former in the song “ My mother bids me bind my hair,” and the latter in “The schooner on the sands,’ which were well rendered and deservedly encored. By the rccal, the audience was favored with “ Tom the Tinker,” in which Mr West showed the possession of much of the comic element. The duet b Mrs J. Smith and Mr A. A Towscy was well received and loudly redemandod. '1 ho pianoforte duet by Miss Muir and Mr Towscy was well executed ; while the solo by Miss Bell, “ Lcs Deux Angcs,” was a great treat, executed in her usually brilliant manner, and -with, if possible more than her usual success. Mr Towsey also, who had selected a very difficult piece, executed it with his accustomed skill, and was enthusiastically applauded. Indeed the whole entertainment was eminently successful, and the audience thoroughly appreciated the efforts of all engaged. We hope St. Paul’s Sunday School Fund will mpiire to be further supplemented, if only for the selfish gratification of hearing the concert repeated.