The Press.
London, England, 1856-02-23 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

The canonic chorus, " The Lord is good," the revel-
ling chorus, " The viol, the tabret," the lovely chorus
for sopranos and altos, "No evil shall befal thee,"
the two fugues, ending the first and second parts,
will enlist the sympathies of the choralists.
The vision of Samuel will strike the ear of
the uneducated amateurs as strongly as it
commands the admiration of professors. The
stately grandeur of the War March, with its pictu-
resque orchestration in the first instance, and its
masterly choral combination subsequently, would
make cowards fight. This march is so striking in
its individuality that it is sure to be everywhere
heard. The ingenious instrumentation and beautiful
voicing displayed throughout Eli are admitted on all
hands. On the whole, when it is taken into consi-
deration that no plagiarisms have been discovered
in the oratorio, even by the most, erudite commenta-
tors—that there are no servile imitations of the great
masters—that there are the qualities of smoothness
and evenness in the most minute details—that there
are many points on which indi%iduality of style can be
indicated—that the musical interest rarely flags—and
that the situations ara often soul-stirring, there is no
danger in asserting that the musical audiences
of Birmingham and London have been quite accu-
rate in their verdict in favour of Eli. The contra.
puntists must be content to accept the decision. At
Exeter .hall there are changes in some of the
chief singers. Mme. Riidersdorff replaces Mme.
Castellan; Miss Dolby instead of Viardot sings the
music of Samuel ; and Weiss has the music of Eli.
Mr. ➢lontem Smith, a new tenor, replaces Herr
Reichardt; and Mr. Thomas, a very promising new
basso, sings the music assigned to Weiss at Bir
mingliani. Mr. Sims Reeves alone retains his
original music, and magnificently does he sing it.
All the artists we have cited merit especial eulogium
for the care and attention they have bestowed in
studying their parts. Eli' was repeated last night.
The hall was crowded to excess, and the enthusiasm
was unabated. There were four encores :—The
battle song of Sims Reeves; the bravura air, " I will
extol thee," admirably sung by Mme. Rudersdorff;
the unaccompanied quartet, " Hear the Lord," given
with perfect intonation by Mme. Rudersdorlf, Miss
Dolby, Sims Reeves, and Weiss ; and the lovely air,
"This night I lift my heart to thee," delivered by
Miss Dolby with such intense feeling, that the
breathless silence, and the tears of many of her
auditory, were higher compliments than the rede
mand. Weiss deserves great praise ; he has raised
himself in public estimation by his singing of Eli.
In the air, " Although my house be not with God,"
he has one of the gems of the oratorio, the orchestra
undercurrent being most remarkable for its pictu.
resqueness. The wailing notes of the oboe in 6US
taming the resigned tones of Eli, and the novel and
ingenious employment of the stringed instruments
in an undulating figure, would alone insure the com-
poser a place in the first rank of oratorio writers.
The Choral March created a great sensation, as did
the graphic choruses, " Hold not thy peace," and
"Save us, 0 God of our salvation." Every hearing
of the work, in short, must satisfy the amateurs of
the masterly handling of bis subject by the com-
poser—of its evident purpose, and varied yet digni-
fied treatment. The very naturalness of the music
will be the permanent passport to all places where
musicians most do congregate. What a relief to be
freed from German grimness, from French frippery,
from Italian imitation, and from British plagiarism!
How refreshing to be enabled to carry away the ear-
haunting themes, and to be abled to sing them.
This is the secret of Costa's triumph ; he has
eschewed distortions and mysticisms, and given us
genuine tonality, both in his orchestration and
voicing.