The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-12-25 00:00:00

MR. BOTTOM SMITH'S CONCERT.

Charming se have been the concerts given lately at the
Ra. al Rotel not one of them has by any means surtemstel
the admirable ane which Mr. Dayton Smith arranged, and
that drew on Menday night a select but highly delighted
tin 'any. Meshed c itinideseurs were there, for they
toen hew excellent a is leer Mr. Boytati Smith was
sure to present ; hut the outside public ought ta have
gathered in far greater nt there, and by not doing no the
absentees lest lam of tle. ' xesatest *ST.'S -of the season.
The .. teh.e- was 'foci, y respettable. to number, hut
fil
the roam should have been crweeled ta excess if genuine
music, d exi•ellenre WAS to le ran Inised. In acknewledg-
ing in high terms the great p:tasure obtained at the Monday
night concert, we are at no 10,W to diecover the causes •
which combined to wake it as good. It was not so much
a saper-excellence on the part of the stamina& though
Madame Whitaker reeks as one of the hest of contraltos
(its her particular line), whom we have heard, and
Madame Wells as a soprano, awl Mr. Orlando Christian
as bees or baritone, me.t be marked as pleasing and, to a
certain extent, satisfactory. The-excellence of the concert
rather was bneight about by the charming variety intro.
ductel with so much skill. Mr. H. Nicholson, who makes
the flute vibrate tt the softest and most musical tonw,
hail four opportunitice of delighting hi< amlienee, awl lie
well used them all : Mr. J. P. C Reit, master of the first
violet, kindly join. sl in a duiebrillent, and played with
all that eri.mnese and meaterfal spirit whi -h distinguisheo
him. net Mr. Boehm Smith, whose" touch" is beautiful,
delighted even those who often *etre' of pianoforte solos.
So tile beauties of the concert were skilfully diet. [bitted
amine the venous classee of etude lovers, while, to crown
the whole, although eight Piety. Appeared in each part,
there was wily one sariate in from the progrentme, the
order of which was maintained throughout, end no briskly
wen: on the whole that the concert terminated about the
sensible lemr of ten, when everyone was fresh, anti Mr.
Boy tan Smith bad given us, it was felt, not only a pleasui e
to be long remembered, but a concert which might Net
taken as a m -del if it, Cite& Those whit missetl the
opportunity will be glad to kuow how this model concert
wee made up. it Wili started with Macfarren'e trio—
The Troubadours," and, bringing the whole of the
vocalists on the platform, this awakened criticism, Mr. 0.
Christian and Mattaue Wells being primounced good as to
voice, and experienced as to vintner, while the contralto,
Madame Whitaker, WAS declared the hest of the three.
Mr. 0. Christian gave the song "Over the tea," in a good
rollicking etyle—(ruay we say a little bit rough !)—antl
decidedly English-like. Mr. 11. Nicholson played
it- lique s solo, andante, and andante it was; the sweet-
hens and purity of the notes, awl the correct feeling
permeating the whole, were felt as wella< hear I. Madame
Whitaker tang J. le Rattan's 'Rescued,' and her Machete
full round v.iire and cm:melees+ of tune were sensuously
delightful : but at the risk of bettee judges charging on
with heresy, we venture to hint that the expression of
feeling scarcely came up to our expectations; still the
singing was fairly artistic, and some of the notes were
particularly good.—Mr, Myelin Smith next gave a couple
of solos—" Cynthia" by Mr. Sidney Smith, the peculiar
melody of is bich was piquant ; but our favourite was Mr.
Bayten Smith's own " Nightingale and Zephyr," wherein
the song of the bird of night was imitated with the utmost
taste, while an undertone meet harmonious ehorded
softly in. The awakening of other sounds towards the
cleat was also enlivening, though never noisv, and again
we had to confess, involuntarily, the poster of sweet minsie
alone t, soften or stir the soul, even without worda—The i
' next piece was "The Gipsy awl the Bird," euhstitiited for
"The Bird that came in Spring." Thin WAS the tinly
alteration on the programnie, and it was scarcely noticed,
, in feet the canine-0r was the same—" The Gipsy and the
Bird" being Sir Julius Benediet's latest new song, and
hardly yet puldisheyt It mad written when Sir Julius
was suffering from the loss at a beloved daughter, on
pimp:a-a for the celebrated flautist, Mr. Nicholson. who
' had the M.S. Sir Julius in spite of the grief which
i &filleted him, has produced • songewhich connuencing in
, a sparkling manner, maintains that spirit very fairly
1 throughout. There seemed ever and anon to be a bright
rivalry between the fluni-t on his perfectly managed
i instrument, mid Machette Wells with her well-trained
voice; the effect was very much to interest the audience,
, and some very pleasingly harmonised passages gratified
, exceedingly. The applause was continued till it became
' a call for encore, whieh was kindly acceedel to.—Mr. 0.
l Christian attempted Emmanuel's germs "The Desert,"
and rendered it with considerable feeling and fair power,
; while the musical part owed much to the accompani-
ment so ably reseed by Mr. George Thorne.—Bishop's
duet, "As it fell upon • day " allowed the
two ladies Mestlamee Wells and Whitaker to exhibit
' their mooed, and the piece being of the pleating-at-the
' ,' beginning and all-heppy.atdhe mid character was suitable
! for these two happy-diep sitioned vocalists. The spirit of
' ! the duet was we 'l renderel, and they gained mach are
, i plause. The well-knawn "La ci tiaretu" (Mozart) was
; . both snug and, if we may eo term it, acted well by
, 1 Madame Wells and Mr. Christian, who themselves rip-
, i peered to enjoy it much, and wore much anplauded. Mr.
&view Smith favoured Ilri with the "It itapemie Hen-
' I grove" of Liget. Madame Whitaktr followed with
' I Smart's ',ailed "The Saibtr's Story," and sang it with a
1 rich and well-tined vide. One of the most stirring
I "bits" of the concert teao the dno brillant by Mr. .1. P.
I Gtllett and Mr. Beyton Smith. Mr. Collett almost our.
pivoted himself by the crispness and freshness with which
, he dashed off hie part, and Mr. Boyton Smith no ably sup-
perierl him that even one casually acquaintet with
"Faust" could recognise the incidents pourtraved In this
! selection. Mr. Christian next esaayed Mr. Boyton
' Smith's new song "The love who's all to me," aid sang it
well emough to prove that it is a valuable aeditiiin to our
rtpertoire of songs Mr. Nicholson again appeared on the
platform with hie aegis: flute anti gave a solo of his own
on "National Airs. The very pretty trifle '' ()nee upon
a time" (Roeckel), was sang by Madame Wells, and the
,L i concert concluded with Doniaetti"e trio "The Daughter
i of the Regiment"