The Express.
London, England, 1860-05-05 00:00:00

THE YENDELBBOHN FESTIVAL.

The summer season commenced yesterday at
tie Crystal Palma, under the happiest auspice" The
earth winds seemed to have departed, the country was
gram, sad fresh, and beautiful, and the crowds of company,
aelabming between 17 and 18 thoueuxl, who poured into
the Pekes during the morning proved that its attractma
wad so fell of vitality as when first thrown open to the
pnbbe-
The features of the day's programme were the Men-
del/est= co•memoration, the torchlight procession, the

playing of the great fountins, and the beauty of the gardens,
whisk now have reached the highest degree of cultivation
udW imoty. It is, in fact, no poetical limes to compare
Alm sloths. to a brilliant carpet—so p 7, so
terliptrat so tastefully arranged, are the innumerable
nerbirve with which it is studded. And, within, the
grimy ad sober is as abluidant as without, the tropical
*MI oli soilimaillmw to ooksowledge the genial change
it Ito opootlow, alma by their fresh and vigorous ap-
pookoltos hatioltutiag much to the general enjoyment.,
ANIMAtke oratorio was fixed for three o'clock the
Maio mho crowded at twelve, it being one of its
Vigra. piediaritim that, no matter how early ycia
some, or hew long you may remain, there is always mow
thing to attaist, many tow to instruct, sad in tone to
grew Ito Mom l• hug busy en your hands. Perhaps just
at premed the soma ailenition settles principally shout
the Art tnios Surein, where Mr. Batten sad his
assistants keep the prises ranged in tempting array for the
incitement of intending Gobi:albeit.. Every day additions
are made to the collection, the latest being • beautiful
oxydised cup, by Elkington ; a porcelain vane for
the guinea ambit-niers, by But en and Soot ; sad
• tusk we believe by the former of the above
maid 'AWL The porcelain vase will ha • gnat
addition to the guinea prises, to which clam ft has been
liberally appropriated. A considerable number of names
wereyerierday added to this tasteful and harmless lottery.
For the musical portion of the entertainment the put
Handel Orchestra had been painted and dreamt in 'its
bast, and reidded in the front with brilliant pots of exotics.
A portrait of Mendelssohn, evidently taken in youth, was
exhibited just under the rostrum of the con-
ductor ; and additional interest was given to this
from its being accompanied by an autogrtril
letter from the Prime Consort, paying • warm
and elegaretribute to the gifts and accomplishments of the
ipeateunpuer. . Another object of considerable interest
was the insarive silver inkstand presented to Hr. Costa by
the Crystal Palace directors and Sacred Harmonic Society.
The deldn 'of this souvenir is moot appropriate. A *otos
of Handal (copied from Roubillec), oa an elaborate pedestal.
awl aziond the boot emblematical Agues illuoteries of the
divine m 4. With these specialities, the picture palmy, the
tropes, and the gardenia, the company found amplstmue
nest until Mr. Costa entered the orchestra, and, with one
loosiek of his baton, put his great army of choristers in
mottos..

The otneurt began, with Mr. Coda's usual punctuality,
at three o'clock. Of course it °misted of Mandeb:tale's
led mad greatest work, Elijah. The performance was on
the nettle scale of the Handel Festival. The chorus and
estramental orchestra numbered three thousand performers.
Thej immenaej Handel Festival choir was re-assembled ;
Indeed it had never been entirely disbanded for, 1----neiE
the View of its being called into action ea future
occasions similar to the present, it has been always
kept in a condition to be j ready whet called
on. A performance of Elijah seems to have been
in contemplation ever since the great Handel sesimbhge of
last summer. The metropolitan division has been repeat-
edly called together, end the choruses in Skink have been
carefully rehearsed at Exeter-hall under Code's epee-
Undone: ; and more recently the whole choir has been
lireeght together and exercised under the PM admirable
disciplinarien. The reselt hes been what was to be
expected, and three thousand voices and instruments have
hese brought into • state of combined
a few yore ego would have been thought impaanble.
She sole eyelids wee, Mies 'Puma, Meet Failsix
intliellfeWee7h/e rea lielenneflelellee-Dethy, lir.
Roma, Mr. Evens, Mr. Thomas, and Signor Belletti.
The performeace an the whole was very striking, and,
we have no doubt, satisfied the expectations of the multi-
tudes who assembled to boar it. Indeed it did the highest
honour to every one engaged in it—conductor, principal
singers, shoes, and instrumental archastra All exerted
themselves to the uttermost, and evidently con aware • and
tf;there were any defects, they arose out 'of physical circians•
stances beyond the control either of tgncommander or his
hoops. What these circumstances were we have repeatedly
palatal out in speaking of the two Handel performances of
1167 sad last year. We hold it to be beyond the power of
any discipline whatever to give such • vast mass of
voices that entire unity of movement necessary to the clear
utterance of mulel sounds unless they are slow and simple
—free from epid eights and intricate combinations. A psalm

tune, consisting of longrnotesjinhplain mantle
sung by any number of voices—the greater the number the
greater the power. But rapid mileages in Amid counter-
point cannot be so sum iilLattempted, they become a
confused inarticulate noise. Amother thing is that when
' voices are numbered by thousands they require • corre-
sponding space, otherwise they would be intolerable. Bat
a space suitable to a volt chow—such as the centre tran-
sept of the Crystal Palace—is unsuitable to single voices,
unless etch voice were the •Oke of • giant. While
the choral rolass at the Crystal Palace are softened down
no more than they ought to be, the voice of a solo singer
becomes so weak as to be often inaudible—and so, to gain •

hearing, the male singer must shout and the female mud
scream, to the destruction of vocal refinement, delicacy,
and expression. It so happens that the admirable artists
whom we heard yesterday did not choose toYeacrifice Lthe
beet qualities of a singer for the sake of beingg dia.
tinctly heard; and the consequence wee that not
one of them was distinctly beard. The voice of
the highest register, and the highest notes of that voice,
were the most clearly heard. Miss Panes, like
Madame Clara Novello at the Handel Festival, was heard
the best of all. In bar great air, "Hear ye, Israel," her
high notes rang beautiful through the building ; but she
gained this brilliancy at the expense of distinct utterance ;
and the same thing was the cape with Mr. Sims Bee►es.
He sang the divine sir, "If with all your hearts ye truly
seek me," with his usual flowing sweetness, and his notes
were very well heard ; but it was impossible, even for those
nearest the orchestra, to distinguish a word he said. Of
course the contraltos, Miss Palmer and Madame Dolby,
suffered still more ; the former indeed was all but inaudible.
And even Signor Belletti's superb baritone was SO weakened
Out his admirable dramatic reading of the part of the
Prophet lost much of its impressive power.

The choruses suffered much less than the solo parts.
Nome of them, indeed, seemed confused and indistinct, but
others were exceedingly grand. For instanoe, the chorus
le the first pert, "Yet duth the Lord see it not," which
coMains many points of response and imitation in close
counterpoint, in quick time, did not strike the ear very
clearly till it arrived at the chorale, " For He the Lord our
God is a jealous God," when the slow grave notes, of equal
length in all the parte of the harmony, had an effect inex-
pressibly sublime. There were similar diversities of effect,
arising from the same cause, in various parts of the per.
romance. The magnificent chorus which closes the
trot part, "Thanks be to God," descriptive ot
the welcome storm of rain which bunts upon
the earth, was given, considering its difficulty, with mar-
vellous power : but we cannot help thinking, with mincers
deference to Mr. Costa, that in this, ea in other places, he
would have increased the power by moving more slowly:
It is held by the beet authorities that the time of a move-
meet is not to be always strictly the name. The larger
the locality, and the greater the number at performers, the
slower the time ought to be ; and what may be every
proper pace at Exeter Hall may be too quick at the Crystal
Palace.

We do not expect that *very reader of these marks
will agree wit► us. Bet they express opinion. imitally
(corned, end strengthened by axperienoe. No oratories ars
so well fitted for performane on the oolornal sails of the
Crystal Palace as thorn of Hawk/ They bare a broad
and massive simplicity not to be Moll `the mode at any
other composer, not OVUM merlin Mirodelesoba ; and
therefore we think, If theme tearless podermaces are ear