The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-13 00:00:00

THE H

FULL lIEHEARSAL YESTERDAY.
A splendid June day, an immense assemblage,
and the great orchestra punctually filled in every
portion of its vast area with vocalists and instru-
mentalists to the number of four thousand, ushered
in the Third Grand Triennial Festival magnifi-
cently. Nothing could well have been more
wretchedly mis-man,ged, however, than the railway
arrangements for taking the visitors down from
L)ndon to Sydenham. The result was a scramble
for places at the last moment within the palace,
and that, too, in a very labyrinth, the devious
windings of which it was bewildering to traverse,
leading often to a cul-de-sac, to much physical ex-
' haustion, and to no little mental irritation among
' the majority. Finger-posts at the entrance doors,
directing the public generally to their appointed
places, would be a positive benefaction before the
first of the Three Gran" Days (Mon lay), shall
have arrived. We speak from oar own personal
experience, the discovery of the scats allotted to
us being the result of prolonged search, after an
extraordinary trial of patience among those in our
immediate neighbourhood. At one o'clocl pre-
ci ely, the signal of inauguration was given by the
wand of the wizard,`the baton of the field marshal,
Michael Costa, prince and paragon of Conductors.

The whole of the gigantic audience, answering in
the rise to their feet of the four thousand occupants
of th ! orchestra, rose at the pealing forth of the
opening words of the National Anthem. But it was
with the commencement of the matchless " Halle-
lujah" that the true prelude of the whole of this
colossal celebration may be said, in truth, to have
commenced. Listening to it—

" The earth recedes, it disappeats—
Heaven opens to mine eyes ; my ears
With sounds seraphic ring !"
It was simply magnificent. At the close of the
selection from Saul, the " Dead March" was given
with wonderful and haunting effect, the impression
proluced being actually less noticeable for its
overwhelming solemnity than for the plaintive
tenderness of its pathetic funereal beauty. Sims
Reeves was in unusually fine voice and, as ever,
acquitted himself to admiration. After the over-
ture from the " OccasiGnal Oratorio" had been per-
formed with, in parts, startling power, the grand
chorus from Solomon, "May no rash intruder,'
won for itself a burst of enthusiastic applause. As
for the exquisite duet from Judas Maccabeus—
" 0 lovely peace," it was listened to with hushed
attention, and rewarded as if with a thunder clap.
The delicious, warbling air from L' Allegro, "Sweet
Bird," in which the flute and voice alternately con-
tend with and rival one another, having run—
In many a winding bout
Of linked sweetness long drawn out:
was followed by the large and massive chorus from
Alexander's Feast, "The many rend the skies,"
with the last choral crash of which the first part
of the full rehearsal was happily and most appro-
priately brought to a conclusion.
It was not until past four o'clock that the second
part commenced with the grand double chorus
from Deborah, " Immortal Lord." Madlle
Titiens then gave, with superb effect; " Pious Or-
gies," from Judas Maccabeus. The ever radiant
" Let the Bright Seraphim," from Samson, lost no-
thing of its magic splendour by its interpretation
through the silvery voice of Madlle. Carola, and
the golden trumpet-notes of Mr. Harper. Thanks
to Madame Sainton Dolby's delicious organ,
coupled with her admirable mastery of it, and the
aid of the most marvellous chorus and double
chorus in the world, the selection from Solomon
immediately following this, realized with a per-
fectly astounding majesty of effect and rolling
variations of sound, the alternate solo and choral
glories of "Music spread thy voice "—" Shake the
Dome "—" Draw the tear "—and "Thus rolling
surges." As if to vindicate the accuracy of its title
as a rehearsal, the performance of to-day was in-
terrupted at the commencement of the last-
mentioned air and chorus, and two or three times
during its progress by its master-conductor, who
was so little satisfied with the general result at the
conclusion, that he inexorably commanded its
repetition. Finally, as crowning the selection,
Madlle. Kellogg prefaced with the brilliant " 0
had I Jubal's Lyre," from Joshua, the triumphal
• pomp and electrifying grandeur of that magnifi-
cent choral song of jubilation, " See the Conquer-
- ing Hero Comes," from the s tme wonderful
oratorio. This sublime chorus was encored with a
sort of rapture—the one only encore of the day.
It was a song of triumph worthy of celebrating the
victory of Jupiter and the Gods over their enemies
the Titans. The whole Rehearsal was wound up
gloriously with a series of colossal choruses from
the Israel in Egypt—the Hail Stone Chorus - the
swarming of the flies and lice—the coming down of
the darkness, a " darkness which might be felt!"
It was sublime.
The audience was enormous for a 7s. Gd. day.
Admissions by season tickets, 13,554 ; ditto on pay-
ment, 5,043 ; total visitors, 18,597.

ANOTHER. ACCOUNT.
The following appeare I in our Latest Edition of yesterday
evening:—
The full rehearsal of the principal pieces and
choruses to be performed during the approaching
great Handel Festival took place this afternoon,
and drew one of the most remarkable audiences it
has ever been our good fortune to witness
within
the great glass palace of the people at Syclelahatn•
The attendance differed altogether from that of
popular days, when the millions are invited, and
the number of persons present is represented by
tens and twenties of thousands; yet, as many persons
assembled this afternoon of the higher and edu-

cated class as ever yet filled the centre transept,
the space beyond it on either side, the galleries, and,
in fact, the entire Palace. The co:npany was re-
markable for the attendance of so many
ladies,
and the elegance of their costumes gave such bril-
liancy and animation to the scene as to render it a
sight of itself. The immense orchestra was filled
by chorus and band, and altogether the interior of
the Palace presented a scene of extraordinary gran-
deur. The artistes taking part in the
" rehearsal " consisted of Mdlle. C. Nillson,
Mdlle. Titiens, Madame L. Sherrington, Mr.
Sims Reeves, Mr. Sautley, Mr. Cumming, and
a number of others. The programme consisted
of a selection from the concerts set down for the
three days of the festival, and embraced nearly the
whole of the pieces that have become world re-
nowned. The first of the choruses " rehearsed"
was " And the glory" and " II Illelujah" from the
,‘ Messiah." To convey an adequate idea of the
performance of the latter would be quite impossible ;
it was one of the most extraordinary massings to-
gether of sound that has ever yet taken place in

the world, and to endeavour to give even a
faint impression of the enthusiasm and excitement
its performance elicited in a hasty notice like the

present would be simply and entirely impossible.
We can only say that the majestic words and the
grand music were given in a manner that created

unusual wonder and astonishment. Madame L.

Sherrington sang the lovely soprano air from
"Saul," "An infant raise]," in the most finished,

yet trae, Handelian style. Mr. Santley then made
his appearance, and, having received a hearty
come, he sang superbly a recitative from Han-
del's Italian oratorio composed in 1807. But
one of the gems of the afternoon was Made-
moiselle Christine Nillson's rendering of the air,
" Wise men Flattering." Words can but faintly
express the deep feeliug and pathos this accom-
plished artiste threw into the air ; every note she
sang was Mandel's, and the applause at its conclu-
sion was tremendous. After the great triumph of
Ntllson came forward the great and
general favourite, Mr. Sims Reeves, and sang
" Deeper and deeper still" and " Waft
her, Angels," from " Jephthah,'' in his own
incomparable style. The great tenor was in
capital voice, and his extraordinary organ made
itself heard throughout the entire audience. It is
needless to say one word in praise of the execution
of these two lovely compositions by Mr. Sims
Reeves ; he sings them irreproachably, and every
critic has said so a dozen times over and over again.
The next selection for the chorus was, " He saw the
lovely youth," from tha same oratorio, and it
was executed in map ificent style, '.EO test the