AT THE OPERA.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4017, 20 January 1892, Page 2

AT THE OPERA.

(By Our Own Correspondent,) / Wellington,,, Wednesday. "The Yeomen ot the Guard"is, musically speaking, undeniably the best operatic work whioh has fallen ; from tho joint pen of Messrs Gilbert and. Sullivan,.lt maylaok the popular and " catchy " air—in fact it does—. which abound in the otherß, but it is)k ; of more oven quality throughout, anif Borne of its concerted music is very charming to the' ear." This level character of worth, when nil must be done well to attain success, makes it by no ii)6aiiß a simple thing-comic opera though it is—for amateurs to undertake. There is not : recurrence o( sparkling items, the olever interpretation of any one of which, will reap a tumult ot applause aud so atone for much previous went- v hess, no, the" Yeomen of the Guard" depeiu'j move upon the genuine music which is in it, and to have justice dona to it there must be capacity and merit in the performers from the first bar, oE ; the overture to the fall of the curtain, Well, the Wellington Amateur Operatio and Dramatic Society are now in tlie proud position of having won their greatest successwitli "The Yeomen/' for last evening's performance was a remarkably deserving one. In fact, after my re» membrance of the first night of "lolanthe"—a very shaky production which improved vastly tow*jjtap» the end of the season—laßt nigunf representation was a surprise to me. The first solo aud chorus over, I re> oognised that tho singers were to bo trustod this time, and tlio anxiety which one always feels if things ate in the scale of doubt, at once left me, . The curtain rose to the pretty scene on Tower Green where was discovered Phcsbe Meryll (Miss Newton) spinning, Intthe opening sblo, Miss Nowton was apparently nervous, but in spite of that temporary drawback she sang the air yery nicely indeed and was warmly applauded, The ballad " Were I thy Bride!" was sung with equal taste, except that perhaps the last line'' I'm not thy Bride I" lacked the spirited and contemptuous defiance it should have expressed, This, however, by no means marred the enjoyment of the song, and Miss Newton's voice was sweet and her singing tunoful in this and throughout the opera; Miss Samuels, bb Elsie Maynard.a strolling singer, was particularly pleasing and is a wonderful success in the par**. She looks bright, dances gracefully® 1 sings sweetly and with expression, and has entirely lost the uncertainty of ■tune which in a degree hampered her in" lolanthe," Her solos were eaoh good, while in concerted music she seemed to revel in the charm of harmony. In the trio nearthe end " 'Til Said that joy in full perfection," in whioh Phoobo, - Elsie, and Dame Carruthers took part—and which by tho way struck me as the gem of the performance this was particularly noticeable. Miss letham (Dame Oar* ruthers) did well, too. She sang tho music correctly and with both ease and. taste. In spite of nervousness her firstsong, " When our Gallant NormanFoes," had every justice done to it, and later on her share in the duet ; " Rapture I Rapture I"-with Sergeant Meryll was an exceedingly creditable bit of vocalisation, whioh was suitably acknowledged by the audience, Miss Mowatt (Kate) should have a word of praise. She rendered valuable seryico in the choruses andtock prt in tho (juartette" ytrnngo ' , venture," in, which tt distinct pjicceas was scored. Her singing in thil latter was excellent, while her , bearing and' gestures .Ijoipg ab- , sqlntely frpo jropi selfniojisoiopsnpsg ! were njost natural and appropriate i ,Tq turn tq the gentlempu,. J an) ■ inclined tq put Mr W. j. Itfor) first, I have not seen a better exponent of I the part of Wilfred Shadbolt, I lie head jailor, in Wellington yet, and I even Mr W. H. Denny, whom I reI member hearing in the first produo- [ tion ot" Tho Yeomen" at tho Savoy f in could not give Mr Lyon r many points m the part. The latter's voioois rather lighter, but the dialogue ! and the singing otherwise lose nothing , and sooro everything in Mr Lyon's j hands, Mr G. H. Munt (Colonel j Fairfax) is also very acceptable. He has an uncommonly sweet tenor voice . well suited for light opera, always i seems to know his part well, and sings ; throughout with tuneful expression, . Mr Morris Fox was perhaps hardto ( at his best last night, As Jack Point,' f a stroUiiig jester, he somewhat failed [ in his conception of the oharaoter at I the outset, although later on he re- , deemed himself considerably. Ha was . very good in "I've jest and joke," whioh i he sanf, briskly, also in the 'duet in act-between Wilfred arid i Ijohit, and finally "in tho quartette near the end When a jester i 3 oiiti witted,'!, Apart'(roin this, Ijr : Fix r at times Bacri(|ced' enunoi{j,'tiori' of 't)]p I words ff>u speei aqd at jj'rst j]p' wag incjinct) tobe ejlfavagantly giptesjijue. - Lack of emphasis in the musical dialogue was, by the way, rather general on several, occasions. The other . principal characters were successfully , taken by Mr A, E, Mabin (Sir Riqhard ; Oh'oltjjondijlyJ; Mr' Gcoi'fjo' BarsQns| i (Sergeant Meryll) f ana Mr&q! D, Woodward jlieoriarfl Meryll). Tljo . chorees were al( carefully and correctly I sung, while the trio between' Wilfred, Fairfax and Phojbonear the end of the | first act, the quartette "Strange Adventure I Maiden Wedded," an the trio (Fairfax, Elsie and Phamj " ut Mfi '.vbo wo aid woo a fair maid," were Bach distinctly enjoynble fea-i tureß of the evejiijtg's mys|c,; The scenery w'as li'ndonjalilyprett, tlie fiecotid act Exquisitely so, an'd Mr Brigqs has by no means forgotten tiifj i 4rV Tbs dl'Sfea'feß w6r6' Appropriately ■ correct and were"both'riclranjj i sqme. The limelight was elso effectjye in its gleaming beaujsy.' '' ' ; '' 1 To say tliaf the orchestra under i MrMcDujfßoydi Wftsftbqut'iiß goad as jt could be, would not bo idle 1 praise. The acoompaniments were played with exquisite taste and careful sympathy throughout; Mr Tallin • Trimnell conducted, i "The' Yeomen of the Guard" can be warmly recommended on its merits, i and I venture to say with a full knowledge of thoiy comparative qualU : fjes, ijiijt' in that patellar 'djieri omf • amateurs will,' after yery feif hp.equal to or t|an tlje jajl adqit (hr? per, and Miisgrfive Company visited Wellington, The Beaeoq isEoj nine nights, On Wednesday evening there will be no performance, owing to the Duke of Clarence's funeral 1 being on that'day. : I should not ' oinit to mention that last night ; there was a large attendance in all parts of the Opera House, and that the encouraging plaudits were most: numerous and flatterine, •• A - ... ,I'v i