“CARACTACUS”

Otago Witness, Issue 4033, 30 June 1931, Page 60

“CARACTACUS”

AN EXCELLENT PERFORAIANCE. Despite the fact that the attendance, consequent on the weather conditions, did not altogether come up to expectations, the keen interest with which the audience followed the work of the ehoir and soloists, in Sir Edward Elgar’s cantata, “ Caractacus,” must have been very gratifying to the conductor (Air (Alfred Walmsley) and the vocalists. “ Caractacus ” is not a work which can be either treated or listened to lightly, and the expressions of warm appreciation demonstrated clearly that the audience was fully cognisant of the many difficulties which the choir had to overcome in its rendition of this complex work.

From the outset the choir was somewhat handicapped by a paucity of male voices, the soprano section, which constituted the greater proportion of the choir, being more than inclined to overshadow the tenors and basses, especially in the more robust passages. In fact, had it not been for the excellent assistance given the male section by Dr Galway at the organ, the sopranos would probably have held undisputed sway with a resultant loss of balance. Dr Galway, however, gave the tenors and basses a splendid backing,_ which was never obtrusive, and yet which did ’much to prevent the

sopranos from gaining too much prominence. The opening choral number, “ Watchmen, Alert! ” was attacked rather diffidently, but after the first few bars the choir gained confidence, and responded with excellent spirit to the conductor’s directions. The finale to the first scene, in which, the spirits of the hill on which the Britons are camped, call a message of peace to Caractacus, weary from exhorting his men to great deeds against the victorious Romans, was sung with, admirable restraint, excellent balance and tone being maintained. The invocation scene in the second portion of the cantata was given most effective treatment by the choir, which went on to further successes in the following concerted numbers, the triumphal march in the last scene of the cantata, and the grand finale being, perhaps, the most striking choral sections of the performance. In all its work, however, the choir gave of its very best, a fact which the audience was quick to appreciate.

Aliss Teresa AUEnroe, the soprano soloist of the evening, who took the character of Eigin, the daughter of Caractacas, was responsible for an excellent performance, her pure, excellently controlled voice being heard to very good effect in the solo and concerted numbers in which she was prominent. Mr Herbert Carter, as Orbin, Eigln’s lover, early demonstrated that he was a vocalist of unusual qualifications. He is possessed of a tenor voice of excellent quality, his performance being enriched by an unerring conception of the emotional and dramatic requirements of his part. The society’s choice of Air Wilfred Kershaw to take the part of Carac- | acu s was a singularly happy one, for Mr Kershaw’s rich bass-baritone voice was admiraly suited to the numbers which fell to his. lot. His fine declamatory style was in excellent keeping with the requirements of the role he assumed. A vocalist of wide experience and undoubted ability, Air H. P. Desmoulins, who sang the base parts of the arch druid, the bard, and the Roman Emperor, Claudius, acquitted himself with conspicuous success.

The society’s orchestra, under the of Mr J. A. Wallace, gave a most creditable performance of a difficult task. Although there were times when the strings were inclined to be a trifle harsh, the balance and control of the orchestra was excellent, and at no time did it obtrude during either the choral or solo numbers. »