THE CLARK-CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINMENTS.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 255, 6 April 1875, Page 2

THE CLARK-CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINMENTS.

Yesterday evening a very large audience assembled in the Oddfellows' Hall to meet the Rev Charles Clark on the opening night of this, his second short season in Christchurch. On this occasion, however, Mr Clark does not trust entirely to himself, but he is the means of introducing to us Miss Christian, whose popularity as a cantatrice extends from one end of the Australasian colonies to the other. It has been our good fortune to hear many well known and gifted ballad singers, and Miss Christian will take her place in our recollections amongst the very foremost of them. To a singularly powerful voice, of a quality distinguished for its rarity, she adds the most distinct articulation, and she also sings with an amount of feeling which we have rarely heard equalled. Never before in Christchurch have the lovers of the less florid order of music, had such a treat as hearing Miss Christian sing such a ballad as Kate O'Shane. Four times did the artiste appear, once being in answer to a vehemently demanded encore, and in each of her efforts she had her audience at her feet. We expect that this lady will become the greatest favourite that ever appeared before a Christchurch audience. Mr Clark's portion of the entertainment consisted in various recitals from some of the best known of Dickens's works, and also a reading from "The return of Enoch Arden." In each of his varions selections Mr Clark was as remarkable for the vivid manner in which the scene was described, and for the wonderful memory which never failed him even for a moment, as he was when he last made his bow to the Christchurch public. To night the programme consists of various recitals and readings by the Rev Charles Clark, from Tennyson, Dickens, and Longfellow, and three songs by Miss Christian, " The Lime Trees by the River" (Macfarren), " Will he Come" (Arthur Sullivan), and " Come Back to Erin" (Claribel).