Messiah Sung In Church Was Big Success

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 29, 30 December 1938, Page 4

Messiah Sung In Church Was Big Success

GHOULD the "Messiah" be sung within church walls or’ in a concert hall? Dunedin Choral Society seems to have found the answer-within church walls. Because the society has given the "Messiah" for years, and lately

to 2 public showing less and less interest in this finest of all oratorios, it decided to add another link to the chain by presenting it just prior to Christmas. Seating accommodation in the Town Halil is more than 3,000; when the "Messiah" had been pre-

sented there in recent years practically the only seats taken were the "more than." Society’s finances could not stand up to this sort of thing, so this year it was decided to stage the Handel masierpiece in First Church-the father of Otago’s churches. Whether because the spiritual atmosphere of worship was appropriate, or whether the departure from custom pricked the conscience of the public, may be debatable. Fact remains First Church-and it is no small build-ing-was more than filled. Wizard conductor Alfred Walmsley led the choir through the finest rendering of the "Messiah" it has ever given. Sung within church walls, the oratorio assumed its full, rich religious dignity and significance, far more so than had is been sung in the vast Town Hall.