Oratorio

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 419, 4 July 1947, Page 9

Oratorio

ENDELSSOHN’S oratorio St. Paul was the choice of the Dunedin Choral Society for presentation at its last con‘cert, a choice which would be bound‘to appeal to the majority of the audience, for the average concert-goer, while clinging with vice-like affection to old favourites like Elijah and Messiah, never- _ theless welcomes something not quite so familiar, provided it can be readily appreciated and understood. S+t. Paul fulfils both these requirements, providing yvigorous choruses, dramatic recitative, /-and arias invested with that flowing melodic line of which Mendelssohn was master. The chorus singing was fine, and exploited a wide range of dynamics; it would have been even better had the male section been more apparent. The careful attention to detail which had evidently gone into the choral rehearsals was not so evident in the work of the’ orchestra, which at present, however, has its numbers depleted by the National Orchestra. When Warwick Braithwaite

conducts the Choral Society in Elijah, the 4YA group will have the addition of its original members and others from the National Orchestra, and the male section of the choir will also be augmented, so that an excellent balance is promised. It is to be hoped that Elijah will be broadcast on that occasion, for the benefit of northern listeners; Dunedin enthusiasts, naturally, will all be attending the performance in person.