The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-18 00:00:00

THE NORWICH FESTIVAL.

NORWICH, SErr. 17.—The first concert took place yester-
day evening. It opened with " God save the Queen," the
first verse sung as a solo, by Miss Poole; the second, as a
trio, by Hobbs, Hawkins, and Machin ; and the third, by
Madame Caradori Allan. The effect of the chorus was ex-
tremely.grand. Alexander's Feast followed, forming the first
part of the concert. This composition was perhaps never
better performed. They played the music with the true ex-
pression and the utmost _precision, and, in the accompani-
ments, did not overbear the voices. The vocal parts were
sung by Madame Caradori Allan, Miss Poole, Mr. Hobbs, Mr.
Hawkins, Mr. Machin, Herr Staudigl, and a fine chorus of about
200 voices. Mr. Hobbs eang his portions of the ode very chaste-
ly ; his voice is scarcely of sufficient power to fill the hall, but
he sings with great expression, and delivers Handel's compo-
sitions in the legitimate style. Mr. Hawkins, a true Han-
delian, acquitted himself uncommonly well. Machin had very
little to do, but that little was admirably executed ; as was
the portion allotted to Herr Staudigl, who gave the song
which Bartleman was once so famous for, "Revenge, Timo-
theus cries," in a firm and energetic style, and with wonder-
ful power. It was the first time this excellent vocalist had
been heard in Norwich ; and he was very enthusiastically
applauded. The ladies were in fine voice, and sang delight-
fully. The great charm, after all, in Alexander's Feast is the
choruses. " The many rend the skies with loud applause,"
is one of the most elaborately-worked out of them. As
usual, Mr. Lindley played the violoncello obligato to Hobbs's
recitative and air, " Softly sweet, in Lydian measures," and
this, as well as the others, went well. .

The second part contained a very good miscellaneous
selection. It opened with Mozart's symphony in G minor,
an exquisite composition, finely played. The parts were
not repeated. Madame Caradori Allan sang an air from Ida
ddle Torre, an opera by Nini, very charmingly. The song
from Mozart's Il Seraglio, " Hat wic will ich triumphiesen,"
was magnificently given by Staudigl, and encored. Madame
Grisi then made her debut at the Norwich Festival. Her
reception was most cordial, and she sung " Bel raggio," from
Semiramide, in her usual brilliant style. The applause was
very great at the conclusion. In the next piece, the beauti-
ful trio from Guilliau►txe Tell, " Troncar suoi di." Mario and
F. Lablache also made their first appearance at these festi-
vals. The trio was completed by Staudigl. Master Day
then played one of De Beriot's concertos (No. 3), on the
violin, and was warmly applauded. Schubert's " Ave Maria,"
was most expressively sung by Mario. Miss Poole then
sang Benedict's pleasing song, " By the dark sea waves,"
from the Brides of Venice, delightfully. The exquisite duet,
" Sull aria," which was exquisitely sung by Grisi and Cara-
dori Allan, and it would have been encored but for the late-
ness of the hour. A cavatina of George Linley's, " The forest
glade," introduced Miss Dolby to the festival. She accom-
panied herself on the pianoforte, and sung it admirably. The
buffa duet, "Cop pazienza" (Madame Grisi and Signor F.
Lablache) ; the aria, "Tu vedrai" (Signor Mario) ; and the
polacca and quartet, from I Puritani (Madame Grisi, Signor
Mario, Signor F. Lablache, and Herr Staudigl), concluded the
concert at a quarter past twelve o'clock.
Although the evening was very unfavourable, there were
quite as many persons in the hall as on the first night in 1842,
and no fears are entertained of the success of the festival. The
Bishop of Norwich and party, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord
Colburne, the Deans of Norwich and Ely, Edmund Wode-
house, Esq., M.P., and a large number of fashionables were
present.