The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-22
Mu SIC A L.

o-Sssfon Concerning Home Vaien'.
lIaat evening, every available portion Oh suo
,paoious horticultural Hall was occupleu' 'ue
attraction being the rendition OF HaydnY nHs
niheept oratorio OF "The Creation, In WIZ
phe choruses were sustained by the hanuo, "IN
HAYDN Society, and the solo parts oy "r' ., te
1.-,or. nj this caty; Nj. George Simpson, oi new
yo,l, and M,me Pareps-Rosa, of nowhere IN,
....,,or1or INT assuredfy not of Philadelph IA
wo are prepared, with all who were preset, to
nroropnce this rare musical entertainer. .t an en
t,ro sucoess. but little being needed to have rem
aered II perfection. In truth, it coold not we'll
havs resulted otherwise. Madame Parepa-Rosa
MA an oratorio singer, is even more attractive
tban In most OF her celebrated operate roles,
ond there are few, if any, better choruses in
Ahe country than the Handel and Haydn Society.
when Rossinis Stobdt Mater was given by
similar combination at the Academy, last winter,
the other roles were assigned to Brignol, Fer
ranti, and Fortuna, and the Incidence of the
6rst, the inevitable vivacity of the second, and
the general obtuseness of the laet, came near
making failure of the whole affair. But last
evening the Handel and Haydn Society were so
fortunate as to secure the assistance Of one Of
the most eminent teRors in the country, in the
person of Mr.. Simpson, while Mr.. Taylor pos
sesses fine bass voice, which fully and triumph
antly encountered all the difficulties of his role,
But, Notwithstanding the great success which
was achieved last evening, there was one feature
of the affair against which we wish to enter
protest. Ostensibly, "The Creation" was given
by the Handel and Haydn Society, assisted by
Nine Parepa-Rosa and her colleagues. The
realty sOds precisely the reuerse and the handbiHs
should haze stated that the entertdinnl enL IUds
to be gtUen by Nine Parepd- Rosa, assisted by
ne Handel and Haydn chorus etc. We uu-
derstand that it was the original intention to
have the soprano part sustained by another
lady, whether OF this city or elsewhere we are
not informed; but that the presence of the great
songstress in Trenton, N. j., on Tues
day evening, led to a successful effort
In securing her services for the
occasion. We have no objection to listening to
Nine Parepa-Rosa once or twice week through
out the year; but we sincerely regret that the
original scheme was changed by her employ
ment. The Handel and Haydn, and similar
musical associations of this city, were organized
with the ostensible view of fostering and bring
ing out home talent; and yet year after year. they
adopt the lameRtable device OF employing foreign
artists for the sake of overwhelming houses.
As a financial experiment 1t probably pays we'll,
notwithstanding the tact that from 5000 to $500
were withdrawn from the Handel and Haydn
exchequer to pay the exorbtant fees demanded
by the eminent artists from abroad who ap-
peared last evening. But if these amateur
musical societies are to be thus devoted to
mere agency tor the exhibition of foreign pro-
fessionals in our opinion their original pur-
poses are being perverted, and they need re.
organization on more fitting basis.
We suppose that we shall be met by the
the ranks of our home societies who are capable
Of sustaining the leading solo roles with sufii-
eient ecIdt and brilliancy. Even if thus were the
case, it does not avail the societies which thus
habitually depart from the path marked out
Tor them at the beginning 1t is just as
reasonable to claim that the Walnut Street
Theatre would have been crowded to
gufOcation last evening, If Mr.. Edwin
Forrest had not been on the boards, and one
of the regular stock company had appeared in
fhe disguise of the Cardinal Duke. In all like
MhOod there would have been beggary array
OF empty benches to reward the audacity of the
manager; but it should be remembered that the
avowed object of our theatres is to present
succession of stars, to whom the assist
Ance OF the stock company is
indispensable in more ways than
One while the avowed object of our mu-
Nical societies, as already stated, is the encou-
Tagement and development of home talent. Yet
We do not feel disposed TO acknowledge that
there are no amateur singers resident in this
city who are not abundantly qualified, both by
nature and training, to interpret all the turns
and crooks in Haydn's difficult score, and that
with success. The lamented Perelh conclu-
siYely established the fact that the great
maestros were not above the comprehension OF
cur own amateurs, but wes imagine that his
success wOHld have been sadly marred il he
had impressed Brignoli or Parepa-Rosa
into his service. 1t is only necessary
for our musical societies to accept
the truth Of this demonstration, to bring about
change which will be hailed with Joy by all
true lovers of music in our midst. We trust
that the Handel and Haydn, the Mendelssohn,
The sengerbund the Mennerchor and all the
rest OF ouradeservedlY celebrated musical asso-
Citations, will join in determined effort to
bring about this desirable change. We have
not the slightest hesitation in predicting both
An artistic and financial success as the result.
.