CHORAL SOCIETY.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1921, Page 5

CHORAL SOCIETY.

A SUCCESSFUL CONCERT. . The concert given by the New Plymouth Choral Society at the Empire Theatre last night was in every way a thoroughly enjoyable one, and the so- r ciety and conductor alike .are to be congratulated upon a very successful and interesting programme. The assist-’ ance of Mesdames W. Fraser and Ivo Symes with Messrs. H. Carter and H. Hodges gave point and variety to the general chorus work, and proved a most pleasing quartet of solo artists. The first part of the programme was filled with two part songs, while Mrs. A. B. Macdonald sang Rodgers’ “The Wind Song” and Sanderson’s “Break o’ Day,” and Mr. Hubert Carter sang Lehmann’s “Ah, Moon of My Delight” with, great beauty. For a moet decided encore he contributed “Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes,” from the Gondoliers, in which he was evidently quite at home, and again being recalled, sang Bleumental’s “Good Night.” The principal work of the evening was a setting by Barnett to S. T. Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner.” In this not particularly interesting work the visiting artists were heard to tlje best advantage in solo, duet and quartet. The moet interesting number by Madame Fraser was the fourth number “And a Good South Wind.” k The contralto, Madame I. Symes, sang with a real beauty “0 Sleep, it is a Gentle Thing,” which gave every opportunity for the enjoyment of a beautiful voice, and most careful enunciation. This was one of the most enjoyable solos in the whole evening. Mr. H. Carter was very successful in “Down Dropt the Breeze” and “The Harbor Bay,” while Mr. H. Hodges sang with all possible fervour and declamation “Swiftly, Swiftly Flew the Ship.” The solo voices showed ' perfect combination in “Around Flew Each Sweet Sound.” The audience rather interfered with the continuity of the work by demanding very insistently an encore to this number, but the finish given to the number was possibly a valid reason for’ asking for repetition. ■The vocalists responded with the latter portion of the number. The general choral work was quite good. Plenty of variety of tone, and on several occasions, notably “And Now the Storm Blast,” and in the Finale, ■the volume o-f tone was quite refreshing and vigorous, without any trace of harshness or coarseness x in quality. In •listening to their work there was a regrettable absence, of clear enunciation, but this will most certainly be overcome as the vocalists gain experience, and with more care given to a very important part of their efforts. But they took keen interest in their work, and threw themselves whole-heartedly into the realisation of the general ensemble. Mrs. R. L. Cooper was responsible for the accompaniments to all the songs lathe first part of the programme, and* for the accompaniments to the contralto and bass solos in the choral work. She was assisted in the chorus accompaniments by a second piano played by Miss C. Douglas, who also played for the soprano and tenor solos. Mr. R. L. Cooper conducted the choral work with great care and precision.