The age-herald., 1900-05-11
Brilliant and Artistic Perform
 anCe at Auditorium.
WAS A MUSICAL TRIUMPH
Seloists, Chorus and Orchestra Covered Themselves With Glory-M Matinee This Afternoon and Closing
 Concert Tonight
large and demonstrative audience.

this city! Splendid artistic triumph gener- ally! In those three sentences the story of l the opening concert of Birmingham's sec- | ond annual musical festival last night is | briefly told.
 Relating the story in detail it must be | stated that the audience was not only one of the largest and most brilliant ever as- | sembled in the Auditorium. but that it
 was the most appreciative and altogether | the most delighted ever gathered in this | city.
 Last years festival was, judged as a | whole, highly creditable, and was called
 artistic success. But it was poor compared | with last nights performance. In Haydn's 1 Creation" there were number of soloists
 who came loudly heralded but who fell be- l low expectations. In the oratorio music | last night-eXcerpts from Mendellsohn's | 'Elijah'-the soloists, without much adver-
 Using in advance proved themselves artists | of the first rank. Each was fine, unusually | fine, and it is no exaggeration to say that l such quartette was ever heard together in l Birmingham as Miss Florence Provan, so- | prana; Mrs. Benjamin Guckenberger, alto; | George Moore, tenor, and Gwilym Miles,
 baritone. And on the same programme was | Signor Campanari, in solo numbers. This | world-famed artist was in his usual splen- 1 did voice and met with his usual ovation. l The oratorio chorus was excellent last
 year. but it easily surpassed itself in | Elijah There was not a single weak | or ragged number, but in each it acquitted | itself in manner to provoke warm ap-- | plause from the most critical musician in | the audience
 | The Boston Festival orchestra which | supplied the instrumental music was de. | cidedly better than it was on former visits | 10 thls city and every number it rendered | was applauded
 l Audience Late in Assembling | The audience was late in assembling, and | notwithstanding the fact that it was a l quarter past o'clock when Mir Mollen- | hauer, the conductor of the orchestra 1 made his appearance on the stage, hun l dreds of persons had to be detained at the door while the "Juber' overture was | being performed And many persons con-
 ing late even missed Brahms two Hun l garian dances, the latter proving so popu- | lar that it had to be repeated. l But for the next number Campanaris | first solo. Gloria a Te-the audience was | fully made up and from that time to the | end of the performance there was rapt at | tention, with unbounded applause after | each song and chorus.
 "Gloria a Te" was written by Buzzi- SoNi, d DIlllldDI cOntempOraneOuS com | poser, especially for Campanari and this | great artist learned it from the manu- | script copy. It is a beautiful hymn of l praise and includes tender prayer. For | an encore Campanari sang the ''Toreador' | song from Carmen and brought down | the house."
 The second part of the programme con l sisted of Part I of "Elijah'-soloists chorus and orchestra. MT. Guckenberger | directed and his entrance was the signal Tor a warm demonstration. The Elijah overture, on account of its length, was omitted and after few measures the per- formance began with the baritone recita- tive, "As God, the Lord of Israel Liveth" Mr. Miles was in magnificent voice and proved himself from the start an artist of the highest merit He has a rich charming voice and his vocalization was faultless. Throughout the oratorio music he was a pronounced favorite. When he | finished the solo, "Is Not His Word Like
 Fire: and Like Hammer That Break eth the Rock Into Pieces?" the audience broke into a storm of applause. Mrs. Guckenbergcr's Singing The second solo 70, Rest in the Lord" was sung by Mrs Guckenberger, and never did this fair artist acquit herself with higher credit.
 MT. Moore sang the great tenor test solo, ''1f with your hearts you truly seek Me-" w4lh strong religious feeling and with fine enunciation and phrasing.
 In the long and dramatic solo-"Hear ye | Israel: Hear what the Lord Speaketh"- | Miss Provan achieved a notable triumph | This young woman has a very high clear | sympathetic voice-a voice of exceptional | purity-and her school is of the best. And | her beautiful face and her graceful and re- | fined bearing were almost as much appre- l ciated by the audience as her delightful I singing. Miss Provan, indeed, made a splen- 1 diG impression.
 The first phoruS "TIeln l only grand in mass, but in attack, it was even sure and strong. Humidity, which so | often characterizes chorus work at the starting point, was entirely missing. Each subsequent chorus number was sung with the same smoothness and confidence and with intelligent expression. Never was such
 chorus heard before in Birmingham and it may be long time before the same sing
 CTS will again be able to do quite so we'll One of the gems of the oratorio was the short quartette, sung mostly capella in which the voices blended with singular beauty. The orchestra supported the chorus and the soloists in a most musicianly man. ner, and no little of the success of the per | formanee was due to its work The Third Part
 | The third part opened with Strauss | Kaiser waltz and MT. Mollenhauer gave | it a poetic interpretation worthy of the | famous waltz king" It was one of the | best performances of the evening. Campanari followed with the monologue | from Verdis tFalstaff," and in response l to tumultuous applause sang in his own 1 matchless style the Figaro" song from l the Barber of Seville" But once was not l enough, and after repeated calls the oblig- | ing artist sang it over again. The concert closed with double number | from Berlioz's "Damnation- of Faust" 'Dance of the Sylphs and "Rakoczy" | march. The former was light and airy, md ffo,,l -Ixr hut | wild and stirring Hungarian march was doubtless more enjoyed by the audience. The afternoon concert will begin at 9 o'clock. The programme is as brilliant