Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-27 00:00:00

THE VOCAL UNION.

This society gave a performance; of the " Messiah"
'44 Saturday evening last, at St. George's-halls and. we
litere seldom heard an oratorio so well performed with
small means. Considering the limited number of
‘ne voices, the choruses were given with surprising
tteet, and Mr. Best rendered the accompaniments on
the organ with the greatest skill, though he, was some-
-1133.es a little too loud in the solos. : The organ is,
.deed, a very ungracidus instrument for, accompanying
single VOices.; however softly it may be played, there is
-always a Certain degree of heaviness about it which
ferns to weigh down and obscure the voice more or less.-
solo_ parts in the oratorio were taken by Miss
-miles; Miss Clara Hiles, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Bran-
the two latter from Lincoln's Inn' Chapel, London.
Mss Riles sang better than we haye ever heard her.
Clara Hiles sings very correctly, but the
11,11akitp of her voice is not very pleasing, and
8" Wants more variety and expression. Mr. Morgan's
singing, was very good, but he unfortunately wants.
Power- in his upper notes, and ,was occasionally rather
Ikt of tune. Concerning Mr. Brandon, we may safely
44Y, that we have rarely heard the bass airs in the
Messiah" sung better, and we'hope, we may have the
Pleasure of hearing him again in Liverpool. "
The oratorio was considerably shortened by the
.%4ssioauf a good many pieces,' but it was a mistake to
stlike out the chorus "He trusted in God," which is
one of the finest and' most original of Handel's cona
Positions. The hall was well filled except in the reserved
488t3) Which were all but empty. The performance
leemed to be much enjoyed by the audience, and -in
°j°l Y
respect did great credit to the' society. X.

•
THE PANTOMIME AT THE THEATRE
ROYAL.
•
•
41. LITTLE SNOW-WHITE; 9R HARLEQUIN, PRINCE
OttoRNHEART, AND THE FAIR MAIDEN WHO NEVER
"„,-VW HER FACE IN A GLASS."
,A.:41-ICII is the title, as we announced in our 'columns of
titerday, of the gTand Christmas pantomime produced
,night at the Theatre Royal, for th 6 first time. Our
teltders are already aware of the authorship, and those
ho attended last night will, we feel sure, add their
as to ours, that the clever manner in which. it
tn" represented has already stamped its character as
ti,-e,of the best, if, indeed,lifot: the, vett best, pantomime
has been produced in Liverpool for many years.
°.„,111 past experience, the public can place confidence
*to 'Copeland's endeavours to please; .and it was
rho ,ear Prising to see a -very well-filled house. The
and le scenery in general is gorgeous—magnificent—
gli`..•tbe representation of the fairy bower of the
Qn Zephyrus was of the most dazzlinc, description.
nogg the performance some of our local buildings of
to
c,are shown with good effect; arid a scene represent-
.l4 °I. George's-hall and the Lime-street railway ter-
Tn,,437 is deserving of highly commendable mention.
.4,„,"
ninth scene is the model prison and lock-up in the
,flions of King Squander, where the king, in pro-
'cinging sentence on the prince, says : •
A dreadful doom is yours, we here decree it,
Although we scarcely have the nerve to see it, •
Prepare yourself for poison, slow and sure,
';* drug that kills most whom it tries to cure;
• With mixture of "Dock Board proceedinys,"
'vith a devotion of "choice Vestry pleadings,"
, "Tow,: Council speeches," we will then infuse,
Ar,d stupefaction in a trice ensues.
9f this choice mixture you shall have your fill,
" it won't.finish you, why, nothing will.
to :thiB 8
oPfeeCh produced an explosion of laughter and
41148
applause.
It wo
ziad in.2lld be useless to go through the story again,
gun ~,ad, we will pass on to the harlequinade, where
ori.,-..,sure to follow. The droll tricks are almost all
ca:l',,_‘u'u, giving to the entertainment quite a .different
Ilesirer from what it would be were they the old and
see _Y Itsed up. ones that we .have been accustomed to
Maur and over again repeated.
tleanY witticisms made use of by the laugh-provoking
,
oa1,1; . his partner Pantaloon are purely local, and,
tile-Liv 1'1(1
erpool audience, are, of course, doubly amusing.
ktat; again, are national in -their character ; as, for
otir ,e.,e,, when Pantaloon discovers in a piece of cloth a
Ilotou that runs, the clown shows the union jack as the
.that never runs. The early closing 'movement is
toZl_ to such an extreme that even fires are hot allowed
Atte e Place after eight o'clock. It would•be useless to
Place pt to relate half the fun that is to be found in this
Why
thosemusement; but we say to the public—and
the I,,,have a good taste will take our advice--go to
",eatre
With In Royaliverpool and you
or willof find a treat seldom to
• •
~poß
Liverpool
out it.
tats_
Dtrnmo Tux YEAR.-Tl3.e Progress of all rural
Nein --
the year .bas been most satisfactory,
.c°llrBl,, ng having eich: po*.p. a steady striae
4jet.l.wii-Ctherir'• ste.l4le-ellasing,' hough not keeping
Y part ..'n'yet at events not retro ng. e
oof 1. summer was so dry plat the legs' and
. ‘Lorses in training suffered severely, and the
apparent°l)e '
°flly an owner were oruslied just prior to their
rawblfikaent. But the g eyhounds have had no
Cphieanfl the two haivei,r.'ef.their seasons, which
I.of Itoone; current year, have only be,:n interrupted
414
evi,Dee.k, namely, tha.t just 414. The courts of the
n Jna, have also" been held in the, grcenw°°4
4.1,.t/x05t171.1,, 1Y: tte yornipfitlie huhier 're-echoing' there
'ter 11,--esantlY ; for even in the hot summer niouths
ands have been at work.—The Field,