MADAME CARANDINTS CONCERT.

Southland Times, Issue 999, 7 August 1868, Page 2

MADAME CARANDINTS CONCERT.

The attendance was somewhat hette*? on Monday night when the performance was for the benefit of Miss Bosina. To save unnecessary repetition, it may be remarked that on every night the execution was almost unifOrmally excellent* and, as a rule, the singers were all in good voice, especially Madame Carandini, whose magnificent high notes could hardly have been finer at any period of her career. Miss Bosnia's wonderful power of expression was invariably put ' forth to the utmost in the beautiful ballads of which her- repertoire -chiefly consists, and Miss Fannies glorious contralto, so marvellously rich and full in the low notes, so clear and sweet in the upper register, Was never heard to greater advantage than during the last foTftriighk It must be admitted that the grace a.nd \ personal attractions of both young ladies' ! add immensely to the effect of their I admirable singing. Mr Sherwin has j been in good voice throughout, and always sang and^acted like the thorough artist he is. , ; : /. -'": : £V : ':'- : -•■ : On Monday, Madame Carandini gave 1 Auld Robin Gray,' with her unrivalled power of voice and skill. Miss, Bosina . exhibited her brilliant execution in Venzano's florid valse, * Ah che assorta/ and threw intense pathos into the doleful ditty, ' Kate O'Shane.' Miss Farm/a great song was the 'Lady of the Lea/ (introduced as an encore) which not only well displayed the beauty of her ' voce di petto,' but gave her great scope for expression and taste in rendering, and showed the vast improvement in her style since last year. Mr Sherwin gave the ' Red Cross Banner' capitally, but was less happy in his reading of the * Star of - Love,' in which he took too many liberties with the time, and ended weakly by omitting the final cadenza. "We have formerly noticed the duets by Glover and Donizetti, the latter was both sung and acted with immense force. The harmonies in 'When shall we Meet/ are very clever, but in one bar at the end of the soprano, so strikingly original as to be more curious than pleasing. The grand success of the night was the cele-" brated ' Deb^! con te/ from ' Norma/ in which the Druid Priestess was personated by Maidame Carandini, and Adalgisa, by Miss Bosina. Both sang superbly, giving the andante ' Mira/ with profound pathos, and the allegro, 'Si fino all'ore/ with sparkling vivacity. Their use of the sottovoce in the repetition of the leading subject, was one of the finest effects. As ' I've "Wandered in Dreams ' has now been presented to the Invereargill public on six different occasions in the course ot the year by various singers, a few words of criticism may be added. The opening solos for soprano and tenor are identical, except that the soprano ends with a roulade which is not given to the tenor, but was always introduced^ by* Braham for whom the part was written, and who interpolated other ornaments in. questionable taste which are wisely omitted by Mr Sherwin, but he would improve his solo by adopting the terminal roulade as written for the soprano-r-Miaa Bosina performed her solo rather brilliantly than expressively, we should prefer a little more of the cahtabile. The polacca ensemble was excellent up to the antepenultimate bar which is occupied by a graceful cadenza cleverly arranged to form a short summary of the chief subjects in the duet. This was given much too slowly and greatly spoiled by the addition of several extra words. These are the only exceptions that can be taken. "We commend the good taste shown in ' cutting ' — the objectionable buffo duet 'Maria.' On Tuesday the. attendance was deplorably small, but the performance beyond* all praise nevertheless, and the small audience applauded with the power ot ten times their number. Madame Carandini's scena, ' It is not form/ with its rondo 4 One gentle heart/ (from Wallace's 'Matilda,') was her masterpiece, and those who were not present lost the opportunity of hearing the prima donna at her best — voice, execution, and acting were all perfect. Miss Bosina wa» delightful in TU watch for thee/— a lovely song, described as composed by Haynet Bailey, but certainly borrowed by him from Schumann. Miss Fanny's singing was better than her songs, she too was in splendid voice. Leslie's exquisite trio 'Memory/ was the treat of the evening. The two buffo duets were rendered with immense esprit, and were, moreover, really good music, and far above most of their class. "We wish IMjJr Sherwin would try the effect of singing 'Maud' a little more slowly — we made the same observation last year. He, left out his second song ('The Death ox Nelson/), one of his happiest efforts, much to the disappointment of the audience. On "Wednesday, Miss Fanny's benefit was attended by a large number of her admirers who as usual, were enthusiastic in their applause. The piece of the evening was her grand scena from 'La Favorita' which she sang magnificently. Madame Carandini did wonders in ' "Why do I Weep ' and fairly brought down the house with 'Coming thro' the rye.' Miss Bosina gave 'I heard a brooklet' with her invariable taste and skill, and Mr Sherwin won an encore in the ' Muleteer.* The other pieces were old favorites which already have had their share of notice. Last night was the event of the week, and attracted a good house. The gems of sacred music by the great masters, were admirable rendered by thi» ; talented company, but the late hour at which the performance terminated compels us to reserve our full report until our next issue.