The Express.
London, England, 1864-09-08 00:00:00

BIRMINGHAM MUSICAL FESTIVAL

(rams OUR ors coaessmaen-r.)
BIRMINGHAM, WEDXESDAY, Sr M. 7.
The concert of last night drew a great audience,
though the hall was not quite so crowded as in the
nsornmg. But we have seldom or never seen the
hall so lull on the first evening LA a festival. The
concert on the whole was excelleut, but, as usual,
a great deal too long, having lasted from eight
o'clock till midnight. It wt.- divided into three
parts : the first couitisted of Mr. henry Smart's new
dramatic cantata The Erid, Durk: even ; the
'send and third were selections. !
Duakerrois was completely successful. It is
• work of a very high order, and will add fresh'
honour to the name of one of the most eminent of
living musicians. The dramatic cantata is a de-
scription of music of which, till lately. we have a!
scanty supply; specimens of it are still to be found
in the works of the old Italian masters, and one of
the most remarkable among them is the Jen/Is/ha of
Cariasimi, a work to which Handel is indebted for
more than the subject of one of his finest choruses.
Till within these few years our stock of cantatas
has been almost wholly contributed by
Handel, and has been confined to Ads and
Galatea, Alexander's Feast, and the Allegro
and Feturiero ; but our English composers
have found that the cantata affords • great field
for the genius of the musician, and the recent pro-
ductions of Bennett, Macfarren, and Benedict (to
whose names we may now add diat of Smart) are
well known to the public.
Dunkerroti is founded on an old Irish tradition,
which has been made the subject of a ballad by
Mr. Crofton Croker. The story is very simple.
The lord of Dunkerron is enamoured of a " sea-
maiden who returns his passion, but warns him
of the Perils attending its indulgence. He follows
her, nevertheless, to her spirit home ; but her
kindred are incensed by her union with a mortal,
and the unhappy pair became the victims of their
rage. But for the fact of its Irish origin, we
should have believed this legend one of those an-
busies which abound in the traditional lure of Ger-
many, and have been turned to such ample ac-
count by the poets, romancers, and musicians of
that country.
The piece begins (after a short instrumental pre-
lude) with a chorus, in which the young chiefs
Tassels express their surprise at the mysterious
spell which has come over their master, while they
listen with alarm to the distant song of the sea-
maidens heard floating on the midnight air.
This chorus, full of wild awl picturesque beauty,
miens the subject very strikingly. The lover is
then introduced, wandering on the sea-shore. He
invokes, in a sweet and tender nieloly, the object
of his passion. She appears ' • and the love-dialogue
which follows is a beautiful and highly dramatic
duet. She avows her love, but laments that she
cannot—may not—be his bride. But his ardour
prevails ; she shares his raptur,-, and the lovers
plunge together into the waves. We are now in-
troduced to the Sea-King, who sings a fine aria,
descriptive of the wonders of his watery domains,
His subjects, the storm-spirits, tells him of the
disgrace brought upon their race by their daughter's
union with a mortal, and demand the doom of
death for so great a crime. The King assents ; the
doom is pronounced ; and the rising of the storm is
described as a chorus of great power. Meanwhile
the stranger, arriving with his bride, is joyously
welcomed be the sea-maidens, her attendants ; and
aunts beautiful music follows. The pair indulge in
dreams of love and happiness ; but the maiden tells
her lover that, before she can be his, the
eocsent of her sire must be obtained to
their union. She departs for this purpose, and
Dunkerron is left alone. The storm rhos—the
voices of the angry spirits are heard, and the
maiden returns, accompanied by her stern and
unrelenting father. The catastrophe is described
in a most powerful trio and chorus. The King pro-
nouncea the doom of death, the maiden fades from
her lover's embrace, and be is overwhelmed amid
the raging waves. The piece terminates as it be-
gan, with a chorus, in which the sea-spirits lament
the fate of the maiden, and the vassals mourn
the death of their chief. This subject has
the disadvantage common to all things of
this kind—it somewhat lacks human interest.
we cannot sympathise very deeply with joys and
sorrows so fantastic ; and this story, like the nume-
rous legends about the numberless tales of the
Undinea and Lurlines of Rhineland. may be said
to be addressed lees to the feelings than to the
imagination. But this does not detract from the
beauty of Mr. Smart's music. Dunkerroti is a
charming work. It is highly origin-a, rich in fancy, ,
full of exquisite and expressive melody, and dis-
languished by a clearness of construction and I
purity of style which are too seldom found, even in
the most successful music of the present
day. The performance was in all respects excellent.
The character of the heroine was sustained by
Madame Ruderadorff in a manner worthy of her
reputation es an accomplished artist. She sang not
ouly with great brilliancy, but with impassioned
expression. Mr. Cumming'', who is rising every
day in talent and position, sang, as Dunkerron, with
admirable grace and sweetness ; and Mr. Weise gave
impressive effect to the part of the Sea-king. The
reception of the work was such as it deserved. The
principal morceaux were warmly applauded • and,
at the conclusion, the hall resounded with prolonged
acclamations.
It is unnecessary to dwell upon the rest of the
concert, as it did not present anything novel to the
musical reader. Its most interesting features were
the grand scene or monologue. " Out on this weary
life," from Benedict's Richard Cant de Lion, sung
by Bantle y ; Meyerbeer's air from L'Etoile chi Nord,
sung by Madlle. Adelina Patti, and accompanied
on two flutes by Means. Pratten and De Folly ;
Madame Sherrington's "Ombre Legere," from
Dinorah, sung with marvellousbrilliancy ; Gounod's
scene, " L'abbandonar," from Minute, splendidly
sung by Madame Titiens ; and Mendelssohn's pia-
noforte concerto in D minor, played by Madame
Arabella Goddard as it has never been played by
any one save Mendelsohn himself.
The following were the receipts :
President and Vies-President's sesta,
at levee each
Sewed nabs. 13a. each 507 .. 380 ii 0
Daseeuredsesta, 84. each

Total 873

£543 0 0

- -
The total receipts of the first day amounted to
2,125/. 24. 4c1.. being a fall off as compared with
1861 of 577/. se. Gd. Amongst the donations on
Tuesday morning were, Thomas Walker, Esq.,
1001. ; William Halliday, Esq., mayor of Birming-
ham, 25/. ; Mr. Simpson Ilanbury, 251. ; the Right
Hon. C. B. Adderley, M.P. 20'. ; Mr. John
Hardy, M.P., 201. ; Mr. Thomas Pemberton,
101. 10s. : Mr. Arthur Pemberton, 10'. 10s. ; Mr.
Samuel Beale, M P., 101. ; Messrs. W. Touke and
Bon. 7/. 7s. ; Mr. Jesse Bartleet, 51.—Total,
233/. 7s.

Costa's Naaman was the performance of this
morning. The performance was excessively long,
baying lasted from half-past eleven to near four.
This was not owing to the work itself being of un-
due length, but to the profusion of encores called
for by the noble President, with praiseworthy
desire, no doubt, of doing honour to the composer.
Every piece encored was certainly worthy of the
compliment, but everybody knows that the general
effect of a work is far from being improved by so
many repetitions. In the present case, however,
this disadvantage was not apparent, for the entLu-
Niasm expressed by an overflowing audience at the
conclusion of the performancecould not have been
exceeded. The hall literally rang with acclamations
for several minutes.

My present observations on this great and pro-
found work must uectrestrily be slight and hasty.
It is M. Costa's second effort in the most lofty and
arduous walk of his art. His first, Eli, it will be
remembered, was produced in the same place in
1855, and laid the foundation of the author's re-
putation as an oratorio composer, which will be
*shamed by its successor. There can be no doubt
that Norman evinces, if not a higher genius than
Eli, a greater maturity of artistic: skill and judg-
ement, the fruit of nine years' ardent and energetic
Medy of laisart. Nauman will give its author a right
is a place among the foremost musicians of the
olr•
In the production of this work M. Costa