NELSON HARMONIC SOCIETY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 171, 21 July 1871, Page 2

NELSON HARMONIC SOCIETY.

The concert of last wight is generally allowed to have been one of the most successful the Society has given for some timo. This is to be attributed partly to the successful debut of two ladies \ ossesaing five soprano voices who were on this occasion promoted from the ranks for the first time, the one in a duet, and the other in a solo, of which we shall speak hereafter; and partly to the exceedingly good, and well-arranged programme. The band was, unfortunately, not so strong as we had hoped, owing to. the unavoidable absence of the second cornet, and second violin, notwithstanding which their' performances in the. Rosalinda Waltz and Sebastopol Quadril les, : were. ' most creditable, considering the short time they have been practising together. The vocal part of the concert commenced with Stevens' good old glee, "Blow, blow thou winter wind" with full orchestral accompaniment, which was given with great accuracy and expression, especially those cutting lines — " Freeze, freeze tliou bitter sky,< < Thou dost not bite so nigh As benefits forgot." which were rendered in the most perfect manner. The song "My Boyhood's Home "^brought to the front a gentlemen possessed of an exceedingly powerful and musical tenor voice, but there wa3 an apparent want of sympathy between the accompanyist and the singer which seemed to point to the necessity of their practising more together in order that they might become better acquainted with one another. The glee "Winds gently Whisper" was well and carefully sung by the full chorus, and was well received by the audience. The Recitative and Aria from Mozart's Figaro was given by a lady whom we are always glad. to welcome on the platforrm, and who on this occasion sang her exceedingly difficult selection in a manner that must have compelled her hearers to fully recognise the beauties of the high class music of this standard composer. The pianoforte duet which followed was a selection of the most admired melodies from the same opera as that from which the preceding Aria was taken, and, although a most elaborate and difficult arrangement, was played with great taste and correctness. " O'er Meadow, o'er Mountain" is a simple though melodious duet, which requires a considerable amount of feeling to be thrown into the expression, ond of careto be bestowed upon itsexecution neither of which were wanting last night. The chorus " Sweet Peace descending" from Mozart's " Idomeneo " showed signs of constant practice having been devoted to its preparation, and went smoothly and well. Then came the duet "La ci darera " from "Don Giovanni." This is one of. Mozart's favorite compositions, and, when well rendered, is invariably appreciated, as was clearly the case last night, it being the first item on the programme which called forth an encore. It was in this duet that one of the ladies to whom we have formerly alluded made her appearance, and in congratulating her on the warm reception that was so deservedly accorded/ to her, we must extend those congratulations to the Society on the fact s of their having among their number a; infember possessing.' so powerful, and hfghlycultivated a Voice. The song "Oh Erin my Country" was also given by a lady who appeared as a solo singer for the first time. The touching little Irish^ballad she had selected for the occasion was one that/ was most admirably adapted to. the clear ringing tones of her voice, and it was quite evident that she was not one of- those automaton singers that we occasionally see ,w,bo;. bavjng been gifted: >y Nature with a fine voice, take too trouble to give expression to the words they sitfg. On the contrary, the feeling:- and^exqujsite pathos that were thrown into^his, charm? ing litile song wefe such as would\have delighted the composer's, heart could he have* been .present, ?and : when ithef fair vobalisifc arrived At- the ' closing i words " Lov'd Cq^H';ja^^?" o ]* Wff°^ were fairly takeOy storm, arid loudly demattddd:ian encore,. ?w;hen rtwyrreceived another treat inAhej pretty ballad "&ate . QtShane.", ;,Ia the chorus Lightly, :T>e%D gf V^n|,^ tke/fcaiss, beiogjjntten excessively high, were not distinctly given/ nevertheless it

was well sung, and was" a good selection for terminating the first part. The second part opened with the merry ; Sebastopol Quadrilles by the orchestra, followed by the popular ; chorus "The Carnival" which was given with unusual spirit. This was followed by the song "The Lover and the Bird" which brought forward a lady whom we were very pleased to see taking her place once more among the solo singers. The tasteful way in which the words were rendered, and the sparkling accompaniment, to which full justice was done, almost tempted us to take up the. refrain, and to Bsk the fair vocalist still to "sing on. " Glover's duet "We come to thee, Savoy" was charmingly suns, and elicited loud tokens of approbation. The ballad "Molly Asthore" w;is hardly suited to the singer's voice which,, we imagine, would tell to far belter advantage in music of a more cheerful character, such as would arouse those energies which on this occasion were suffered to lie almost dormant. In' the chorus "In these delightful groves " tbe voices did not get a fair start, and consequently, the chorus, in * itself very quaint, was not so attractive as it might otherwise have been. We scarcely think, .the conductor was judicious in insisting upon a repetition of it. The song "Try Again" was most spiritedly given by a gentleman who, with so excellent a voice, and such evident talent, would do well, we think, at a future concert, to. aspire to a higher class of music. The duet " The Sea Nymphs " brought out two young ladies, whose appearance on the front of the platform is always the signal for applause. On the present occasion, a marked improvement was perceptible in their voices, which, no doubt, is to be attributed to the most careful and untiring practice. Although charmingly sung, we cannot but think that the selection they had made was not so happy a/ one as that of the previous concert. The glorious song "The good Rhein wine" was really well and spiritedly sung, but, unfortunately, the cornet obligato was a little flat in part?, which rather tended to drag the voice down. The last chorus, " The Bells of St. Michael's " was decidedly one of the best, the orchestral accompaniments proving a most valuable assistance. The words\,contain a terrible warning to scolding wives, and we noticed that marked expression was given to them by the male, voices, but the trebles and altos were not to .be outdone, at) d the consequence was that the concluding chorus was the most spirited of the evening.