, 1877-03-25
MUSIC.

TIE VERDI nEqCfEM.

| OF Vesdis " Manzoni Requiem" on last Thurs
day evening. We doubt not that the cxccllcnc
| OF its performance, all things considered, was
surprise to the musical connoisscurs Of the city
who, knowing the difficulties OF the work, hard
" believed the Society could perform 1t
to the conductor Of tho Society. Wit
more than once III tho progress Of it.
study has wished he had never undertaken it
aud lastly to the Society itself, whose perform
cnce must have exceeded their own anticipa
tions. The production of the work was greeted
by large audience which was both kindly dis
posed and enthusiastic, and quick to recognize
the good points.
The Society turned out aboat 1i5 voices (al-
most Us large chorus As that which first pro-
duced the work in Milan), fifty tenors and
bassos, and almost twice as many sopranos aud
altos. AS compared with the chorus ol
last season, this shows decided fall
ing off in numbers hut the shrinkagc
has been Tor the better. Ono fault OF the chorus
last season was the considerable amount Of use
less lumber in its material. This having been
discarded, the 145 voices are vastly more elect
I've than the 200 or more used to be aud more
susceptible to discipline. One little illustration
is to the point. Never before IN the history Of
or iii any order, This may be little thing, but
the straw shows which way the wind Is
blowing. Never before has the Society
shown such conscientious devotion to
work. such patience in study, such enthusi-
asn in performance. It is by no means yet 2
perfect chorus but its Improvement is SO marked
US to augur for It Il large degree OF future cx-
.celle11cc. The balance u parts yet remains to
be strengthened. The tcno:s, Us the most
faulty section, need some strong, true leaders
to keep them up to the key and give them q
more DECISIVE quality Of tone. The altos, so fur
as they 70, arc good laltos always are), but they
need strengthening. The sopranos and bassos
are better than usual. 1n precision Of attaclS and
stcadiness oftcmpothcy show great Improvement
phrases aud involved tugal work Us abound in
The "Ee3uiem," and the same may be said asto
tune, considering the chromatie confusion and
the abrupt and inconseequcntial key-changes that
confront the singers almost on every page. In
expression there vet remains something to bc
done. The Society llas learned the art of stop
ping when 1t gets through with phrase, - Bit
ing it off, as Thomas told them in Cincinnati.
It has developed q magnificent Jortissinao,
with less OF noise and more Of power. It has
not yet, however, mastered good pianiss;mo
It is sill admirable piano. but that hardly all
swcrs for such infnilesinal divisions oil piaao Us
Il y y y y, which may be found III Ferdi's s:orc.
This, however, will COME with practice, ana the
Society need not yet despair o. neius ablc to
tion Ct tue 1lguc in the last chorus, which vas
cloudy, tile choral numbers were ex-
oelicntly giseti, especially those i'll the s'Dics
Irae.'' and the ''Sanctus'' received very cn-
Lhusiastc encore. This is no small praise, for
The singing OF this ditficnlt work is not chld's
play.
The ensemble Of the solos was less effective
than thai Of the chorus. Aliss Thurston is eli
Titled Tn great credit for the handsome manner
in w1lici. she acquitted lersrlf- Her singing,
both 1T expression autl execution, showed great
9are and Intelligent Is well Is faithful Study.
She also DISPLAYED great tact in tile Use Of her
ruice and preserved it III alt Its freshness and
strength to the very close Ut the LiJsrn snt" al
though the trying forte passage Just before the
u strength aud range. In Miss Dc rcl~ron.'s
york there was ouc drawback almost constantly
apparent which WaS us lnac|. q misfortune
or herself as an injustice to the other soloists.
W. refer tn ter aggravated aud simply outrage
DIS 1lse Of the trc,no'o. Miss Dc rclgro1n has
register that cDnll larllybc improved, and very
dramatic ability. Why size should |
:hoose to mar such brilliant qualities with |
refnolo, depressing her voice at times full half
'nly on her own part but on tile part Of those
inging with ler,--Why she should insist upon |
N effect tl:t Kills true blending OF
'oiccs, or why she should use this
ntiquated. miserable. artificial attempt at emo
ional effect is 4 mystery. Apart from this, |
Hiss DE Pelsro,"'s singing would have been
good. Mr.. Dexter showed the effects
i recent illness it, his singing, but ny the trans
osition Of some Ut his most trying numbers he
urecdcd very crcditably, his principal failing
efng tendency to get cut Of tune. Mr.. Berg
tcin sang in manner tfl.t indicated very
borough appreciation Of the sentiment Of the
'ork, and with "a genuine artistic sur
U.s.. if we may except the ono tn1l
l!lcd for. in lis score, the per-
5 to be funny Mr.. Eddy deserves the hi!shcs;
raise for his accompanuents-thci skill, cor-
,ctncss, anu exquisite TASTE When ot1e con-
ders the cxtrc1ne difficulty of reproducing or
lcstra} effect upon The organ, especially when
ley are as dramatic as those i'll the 1'Reqletn.'
c rapidity with which the changes must b3
ade, the lightning-iikc runs Of pydafn. that
Occur in this score, and the fact that
e was playing upon 4 strange organ, Mr..
ddy's performance deserves to be clAsscd as
lnt OF vrtuDsO.
The moral of this performance is ycry short
ne. It shows what may be douc when tue
cethoren Socicty sets itself to work, aud that
lrcc months Of rehearsal are better than three
eel1s, and that discipline IS better than dlllc-
ntisln. as for Mr.. Wolfsohn, he deserves no
her praise than that Of the success Ut his
myers. It shows what lie has done better than
e can tell it. lie is to be congratulated that
ter having travelled through the woods so |
ny he Is emerging into the sunshine Of the
,eu landscape. Tic public in general will be
ad to know that the * Requiem" will be re-
ated for tho benefit Of the whole public OH
xt Thursday evening, Holy Thursday.
THE OLE BULL CONCERT.
The concert by the Ole Bull troupe on Friday
ening at McCorn,ick's Hall was one OF the
ost remarkable popular SUCCESSES ever known
Chicago, aud the greeting which welcomed
e veteran OF the violin exceeded in enthusiasm !
ut Of any former occasion. The hall was lit
lily crowded to oyertlowine, as large num-
r l.al to stand, and many could not gain adj
ssion. The enthusiasm Of the vast crowd
ew no bounds, anu as every one OF the artists :
5 cncorel, with tho exception of the pianist
no, by the way, deserved one much more J
IN some OF the other artists, tue concert was
>longcd to very late hour.
TO the crowd Ole Bull was the centre Of at
ction. His numbers were his own compost );
u.s." Mountains Of Norway" funciful fam {
tic, and the familiar "Siciliana Tarantclla." I
IN accompanied by the piano and organ, for 7
Icll latter instrument. he seems to have a spe- =
fancy without any special reason, and for r
cncores lie gave medlcys Of American airs 7
weet Homc,'' sf 1ail Columbia,' s:Yankec 9
odlc,'' "Star Spangled Banner,'' :sArkansas !
]o.1t 1s:.>