CONCERT.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 21, 19 August 1893, Page 9

CONCERT.

The choir of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church gave a very enjoyable popular concert last Tuesday evening in Hanan’s Hall, the object being to create an organ, fund. The attendance of the public was such as to give every encouragement to Mr Lillicrap and his choir in their most laudable work. The choir opened the concert with a good rendering of the part song “ England,” and subsequently sang “ The Hardy Horseman’s House of Yore,” “ Good night, thou Glorious Sun,” and “ Softly Fall the Shades of Evening,” all these numbers being nicely sung the second one especially so. A strong orchestra under the baton of Mr W. Lillicrap played a rather lengthy selection of “ Maritana.” The orchestra would have played with better effect had they indulged in a few more rehearsals. The accompaniments all through the selection were too powerful, this being particularly noticeable in the clarionet solo, “ Alas ! those Chimes.” The euponium rather marred his solo, “ Happy Moments,” by playing flat. This fault, however, disappeared later in “ Ho ! My Courage,” which sounded very fine. With the exceptions mentioned and the fact of the first movement being taken much too quickly for the first few bars, the peformance of the selection was a very good one. During the second part of the concert the orchestra favoured with a pretty little fantasie, which the programme told us was “ Un Eeve ” (a dream). This was really a clarionet solo, with orchestral accompaniment, and was very nicely played by Mr Frank Lillicrap, who, however, was rather overweighted, as the orchestra would have their say, and declined to be kept down, notwithstanding several very audible “hushes” from the conductor. Their next and last selection —a gavotte pizzicatto—was perhaps their best performance, the first violino particularly showing well to the fore. Miss Innes sang “ Home, dearie, home,” for which she received an encore. Mr W. Lillicrap essayed to sing Pinsuiti’s “ Bedouin Love Song.” This was not a happy choice on the part of the vocalist, his voice proving much too ponderous for the song, his best effect being in “ sotto voce,” in which he rather freely indulged in the earlier part of the solo. Mr Grenfell’s rendition of Denza’s “Funiculi Funicula ” was undoubtedly the best vocal effort of the evening, his voice sounding free and natural, and his enunciation district. The want of appreciation shown by the audience was evidently attributable to a very faint-hearted chorus of male voices. This, however, could not be said of the chorus in the part song, “ The song of the Miner.” Here the soloists (Messrs T. Watson and J. Boyds) and the chorus hit it off very happily together, and the effect was a decided success. Itneed hardly be stated Mr A. Ferguson’s euphonium solo was a good performance. This item was an arrangement on a theme from Anna Bolena. A quartette, “ The Chafers,” sung by Messrs George, Rout, Lillicrap and J. L. Watson, was highly appreciated, and their hearers would not be refused an encore. “ The Sobbing Quartette,” contributed by Misses McKenzie and Innes and Messrs George and Mac Gibbon, was a most amusing one, the vocalists entering heartily into

the 1 spirit of the composition. The most imperative encore of the evening’ was accorded them, to which they responded by repeating the last verse of the nnmber. The choir, with an appropriate part song, Happy be thy Dreams,” concluded a very good programme and highly entertaining concert. Miss Findlay played the accompaniments in her usual faultless style.

Sir Arthur Sullivan’s cantata “ The Golden Legend,” has been performed by the gigantic Handel Festival Chorus at the Crystal Palace. Madame Albani, Miss Marian Mackenzie, Mr Ben Davies, and Herr Henschel were the soloists. In London the National Electrophone Company is offering to place private houses in telephonic connection with the Gaiety, Criterion, Lyric, Empire, and other theatres, so that shortly the “ theatre at home ” may become a recognised institution.