The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-05-20 00:00:00

ORATORIO 80CIETY*8 CONCERT.

Ti,. last c enoert of thy sewn of the Weymouth
°rat ri, S 'ci-ty, at the Barilon Assembly Rooms on
'fh irsday, aided but little to the hithct r brilliant
reputation which they had gained by their fine per-
formances of the Musket, AAA, ant the Ortrthoa ,•
an I the reason Id not far to WE. The at. Pouf had
been selected, and we are bound to say the chorus
were not at all pr dicieut in th r 5 rmewhat diflzult
mush. of Nlendeler ihn'e great work, and this is un-
doubtedly attributable to the lack of syatern.tie
practice. The practice., on which everything depends,
have 0.4 been so satisfactorily attioLlel a. they it. mid
have been, and althoush the chorus singers were
fairly well up in the music, they lacked thst solidity
and steadiness so emential in a suc.serful performance
of any oratorio. At the outset we must any any der a
teat., r •marks we may make will apply in n seas,
,teor r . the band, the eoloiste, or the coodoct
the latter f whom fu.filiel hi. arduous task with his
accuetomed efficiency. The ....I •i-to irritated were
Ma lame Eva So oey (S rtithssuoton). soprano ; Nis.
J. NL If aylen (first t. is .r 0! 8 eliabirry C sthe Joel),
tenor ; and Ntr. Fowles (late of le oudouderry
('arhefral). liaM. Of these Madame Saway is the
only stranger. Mr. Hayden is • well-known favourite,
thi, boiu..; his sixth comae:Wive 0.4440,13.3, by thin
asorietv, rani it will doubtleee be rememberel Mr.
Fowles made • succiewf al &Dirt in W•yen rutti in the
Crea4i s. To tbs.e must be added the name of our
local coutralt,r. Mrs. Stedman, whose dude. wero
compare' ively light'. The hand was an etc ultnt 014,
with Mr. St ins as first violinist, among the iostru-
mnitalnts being several woll.knowc local amateurs
sod pr0N1141.161 gentleman and several bands-
men of the Cheshire Regiment. The Ghosts.
numbered 80 singers, but the constituent parte wee.
not equally balsa° e I ; the sopranos ware weak, whilo
the blames were strong and of unuAlally good quality.
The overture commenced about eight and was splen-
didly played. The fine ch rrue f Christians, '4 t„.,.
alone art Go I," an I the eon rmaranyiug ch wale," To
Go I on high," ewer., among the best performances of
the chorus. The following small recitative, " Arid the
many," at once satisfied the audio... a• to the excel-
lent quality of Madams Sc irey'. voice. Now this
men eamerth not," • chorus so vividly descriptive of
the anger and tumult of the i.e 'pie, wasercli
Mr. Hayden gained hearty applause for bis fine inter.
pretstion of the lengthy, and grand recitative, " Men
brethren, and fathers." Tho exqoisite sopran r air,
Jerusalem. thou that killest," gained the only encore
rrf the eveniog, it being sung by Madame So rrey with
a chaet-nees of .1pr...1 in and • disirth f feeling
which created • market Impretsion. By the c .neeet
of the Mayor the ram ore was ackn rwledzed by •
repetition. lo striking rentrast followed the tonnul.
tuous chorus "Stone him to death," which was
extremely well sung, Mr. Hayden infused the deep-
est feeling into the pathetic recitative inn...retire of
the martyr's death. Another phasing feature was the
exquisite chorus. " Happy and blest are they," the
delightful accompaniment of which wee faultlessly
played. Mr. Fowles sang th. fine aria, " Con-
sume them all," with great power and effect,
and was loudly applauded. Mrs. Stedman
then gave • beautiful rendering of the lovely air "But
the Lord le mindful of His own." In the conversion
thorns the sopran s were by no means perfect, their
weeknoxl being Plainly apparent. The next number,
" Rise no, arias I" was the ruck on which the chortle
split. Various reasons aro asslgne.l for their complete
failure; but, so far aa we could jelere in the general
confusion, it appear. el to be ovitug to the unsteady,
beefy, an I faulty ).eittonlog of the tenor.. Mr.
Tb-re made dr sperate eff t cull-ct his scattered
yegnes, int it Ca. all in vain. The singer* were in a
piste of hopelese oonfu•lon, an I the conductor took
the first opp 'Finally of • break to nesse the struggle.
It was • humiliation and vexsUous incident. TOO
remainder of the choruses require but little comment'
the singers being nervous and florried. Exception
moat be made of the chorale "Sleeper,, wake," which
vas given with fine effect. the Gouda ling chorus of
the first pert, "0, great is the depth." and the lovely
chorus, " How lovely .me the meesengsre," bnib of
the latter being exceedingly well sung, and recalled to
wind some of is. beet efforts of the society. In
the Paced part UN principal (smarm were Ow

fine tenor d hips duet, " Now we sr•
Ambit's& lore," an wey's lovely rendering
of the resit Aire 40 1 air '• I will ging of Thy great
mronive." The egg ileite t-nor sir. "B. thou faithful
tint,' death." was esiqrhtfully sung by Mr. 11 sydeo, his
fiue • due being dieplayed t great ad.,nt e. re.
un louhted allow. id this air wan greatly °Awned ty
Mr. Aleock'a tine playing of the 'cell oAigato.
Owing to the lateness 1 the hour several c lemma
were omitted.

At tiTe--co—nelual in of the e.neert the Maroa aai,l
before the company separated he wiebed to make an
observation or two. In their name he th ,u‘ht he
ought to r.tura sheerly vote of th yoke to tnom ladie•
mai Armotlmm.m wm.., mut cows forward for their
smumment and plaques Ti. wed the ea 1.4 the
%gm ,uth Oratorio Society'. semon, en,i, .herelore,
be thanked them for the work they nst done, hord
they wind I take elm ,uragement, and th.t next *MOO
would haves greater success than thi.. A. prat tot
of the &Kist, he had to th alk t comps y for
atteinling. /le thanked them f tip. reapoime til•Y
bad given t the cireul as. It wee samseary the
lab .ur shoal I be snared, aril. by their coming f ow ad
mad taking part In the finaoclal portion of it they bad
helped t • make it a gnomes