The Express.
London, England, 1858-09-01 00:00:00

LONDON, WIDNESIAY EVENING,

BIRMINGHAM MIIBIOAL FEBTivAL.

OWN 001 OWN 00-Aaseetweece„)
BIRMINGHAM, Trzonzr Bruns°.
The performance of F,lijoh this morning satisfied
every expectation. It began at half-put eleven.
Long before that tima the streets in the neighbour-
hood of the Town EAU were crowded with carriages,
' gaily-dremed wal'Aing parties, and multitudes of
people gathered to gaze on "the quality" as they
hastened towards the scene of entertainment.
Thanks to the excellence of the arrangements, the
'vast ball was filled with great quickness, and the
utmost order and regularity. They who had re-
served seats were shown to them at once ; and they
who had not were readily and comfortably accom-
modated. When the performance was about to
begin we could not perceive a vacant seat in any part
of the ball. The morning was fine, with alterna-
tions of sunshine and cloud, which, in fact, height-
ened the variety and interest of the coup-
d' ceil within the hall, as the light some-
times streamed through the windows and
was sometimes obecured, the brilliancy of the
toilettes of the fair visitors being heightened by the
effect of contrast After the whole vocal and in-
strumental forma bed takes op their polities, the
commander-in-chief (Costa) took his place, and was
received with a general bunt of applause, in which
the orchestrajoined.
A performance of BlijaA cannot properly give
room for much comment. It is idle at this time of
day, and in a notioe of this kind, to enter iqto criti-
cisme and descriptions of a work which has been
criticised and described till there is really nothing to'
be said on the subject which has not been said a thou-
sand times before. And in regard to the performers,
they have all been heard again. and again in the same
parts. Still, however, there is something to be said
about a performance of this oratorio at Birmingham,
the place where it was made known to the world,
and where it is to this day given in a manner un-
equalled anywhere else—unequalled, at least, in the
impression it makes on the listener. We must ascribe
something to the effect of association, and much more to
the unrivalled excellence of the locality. Technically
speaking, the music is undoubtedly as well executed
at Exeter Hall. The conductor is the same, the in-
strumental orchestra is almost identical, the prin-
cipal singers are the same individuals, the chorus is
as thoroughly disciplined, and the aggregate strength
of the whole is greater ; yet no one will compare the
effect of Elyah in Exeter Hall to its effect in the
Town Hall of Birmingham. In London the com-
bined mend of such an enormous host degenerates
into noise, and becomes oppressive and physically
painful. In Birmingham, the whole thunders of the
band and chorus, diffused through so wide a space
and so vast a mass of atmosphere, are powerful and
grand; while such us the admirable qualities of the
hall, that the most delicate tones and inflexioas at
every voice and instrument are as clearly heard as
in a chamber. It is from this cause, no doubt, that
Biejah has given me more pleasure to-day than I
have derived from it since the Birmingham Festival
three years ago.
_ _

The perfenaanee of to-day suggested • few de.
salted remarks, which I shall set down without
e to method or connexion. Mr. Weiss sus-
tained the part of the Prophet—a part in which, by
general consent, he is admitted to have no superior.
His manner is dignified and even lofty; his vocal
execution is simple and unaffected, bat powerful and
impressive, and his elocution, on the whole, is better
than any other person's who has essayed the character.
It is not, however, faultless. He sometimes mis-
takes the rhetorical accent of a phrase; as, f•r
example, when Elijah directs the Prophets of Baal
to select and slay a bullock, " and put no fire under
it," Mr. Weiss, forgetting that the swami of the
direction is that there shall be no fire, passes slightly
over the word no, and lays the emphasis on the word
fire, depriving the passage of its meaning. He
injured, also, another striking passage. When the
Priests of Baal have exhausted themselves in
frantic calls on their deity, to which there
is no response, a dead and awful silence
takes place ; but Mr. Weiss deprives it of
its impressive effect by cutting it short, and pro-
ceeding at once to the following recitative, " Draw
near, all ye people." Mr. Weiss, moreover, commits
the English fault of taking the recitatives too slow
—singing, in place of speaking them. These are
slight spots on a splendid performance ; but, slight
as they are, they are spots which may easily be
removed. Mr. Sims Reeves sang his two airs, "If
with all your hearts," and " Then shall the righte.
etie shine forth," with remarkable beauty and ex-
motion ; but, even in his case, we desiderated more
rapid and emphatic declamation in his recitatives.
In this respect, nobody equalled Madame Viardet.
In the grand scene, where Queen Jezebel stirs up
the people against the Prophet, and exclaims, with
eeiwnttated ferocity, " Slaughter him—do unto
him as he bath done," this great tragedian's voice,
action, and expression were such as might have
belonged to a Siddons. In the exquisite air, too,
" Woe unto them who forsake him!" her expression
of divine sorrow and compassion was exquisite in
the extreme. Madame Cltra Novello showed her-
mit as she always does, a great artist.
But she was less successful than usual in the greed
air, " Hear ye, Israel," which opens the second
part. There was nothing to find fault with in her
vocal execution ; but the fervid, inspired expreesion
of this sublime air was wanting. Madame Castellon
sustained the beautiful scene of the widow, whose
son is restored to life by the Prophet, with great
sweetness and feeling ; and Miss Dolby's "0, rem in
the Lord," was charming, as it
Mr. Montem Smith had nothing but a recitative,
which ought to have been sung by Reeves. The
solo concerted pieces were beautifully sung, especi-
ally the unaccompanied trio, " Lift thine eyes to the
mountains." which, as warbled by Madame Novella,
Madame Viardot, and Min Dolby-, was absolute per-
lbstion. One more remark, which is only the men-
tion of a tact several movements, particularly the
great chorus " Thanks be to God," which concludes
the flint part, were taken bj, Mr. Costa considerably
quicker than Mendelssohn himself used to take them.
We venture not to decide when doctors—and such

The receipts of this morning's performance were
DO less than 2,4851. 6s. &I.—an immense sum, ex-
ceeding the receipts of the performance of Aida in
1855 by no less than 8001.
- - -

Among the parsons of distinction present at this
performance were the following:—The Earl of
Dartmouth, president of the Festival ; the Countess
of Dartmouth, and party ; the Lord Chancellor and
party, the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury, the Earl
and Countess of Bradford and Miss Monereiffe, Lady
Ward, the Earl of Denbigh, Lord and Lady Leigh
and party, Lady Hartopp, Lord Fowls, Lord Cal-
t
and party, Lord Bandon, Lord Sandy., Cap-
tia2Lrcarker-; Mr. Adderley, M.P., Mrs. Adderley,
and party ; Sir Francis Shackburgh and party, Lord
Wrattly and party; Sir F. Scott, Lady Scott, and
party Sir John Radcliffe, Mayor of Birmingham ;
the High Sheriffs of Staffordshire and Worcester-
shire, Lady Guernsey, W. S. Dngdale, Esq., J. F.
Larissa, .q., W. F. Taylor, Esq., Lady Greeley,
W. V. Posts, Esq., and many other persons of note
in this district.

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