The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-01-28
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
HANDEL'S MESSIAH
IS WELL RENDERED
A TREAT TO LOVERS OF ORATOR
10 BY FARGo-MooRHEAD So
cIETY-soLoIsTs, SATISFYING
ENSEMBLE WORK OF CHORUS
AND ORCHESTRA EXCELLENT.

Rich and inspiring, Handels Won
derful oratorio, The Messiah, was pre-
sented at the First Baptist church, last
night, in a manner that satisfied the
large audience and it was by one of
Fargo's newest organizations, the Far
go Moorhead Oratorio society, under
the direction of A. j. stephens.
The work of the immortal Handel
has been criticised and described so
much that it is a well worn story and
one distinguished critic has been i'm
PEELED to say that it would take a gem
ius to write anything new about pro-
duction of the work, whether rendered
by professionals or by amateurs. The
presentation last night was by anna
tours, except the four soloists which
were drawn from ST. Paul and Mime
apolis professionals, Miss Clara Will
liams, soprano; Mrs. Alma Johnson
Porteous, contralto; J. Austin Will
liams, tenor, and Harry e. Phillips,
bass. A quartette of true and tried
singers, two of them heard here be-
fore. and who have each and every one
made themselves signally felt in their
divers artistic capacities wherever they
have appeared The smooth beauty of
Miss Williams voice was equally at
nome in the difficult air of Rejoice
Greatly as in the large and authorita-
tive dignity of the aria, ] Know that
My Redeemer Liveth. Mrs. Porteous
gave splendid account of herself
throughout the performance. She was
in a splendid mood, her voice was veil
vety and melodious and seldom has the
He Was Despised been rendered here
with better understanding Mr.. Phil
lips needs no further mention, since
the Messiah is one Of his artistic per-
quisites wherever it is sung, by rea-
son of his splendid authoritative work
in the part. A little departure from
the arranged programme afforded him
the opportunity to sing the air, But
Who May Abide the Day of His Conn
ing in which he was at his best, and
the solo was received with long and
well deserved applause.
Austin Williams won applause in
the tenor part. He sang the Comfort
Ye with appealing tenderness and in
the subsequent air, Every Valley his
phrasing was a joy. His clean cut
enuneiation was the subject of much
favorable comment.
Beyond all question there were hon
ors of the evening due to A. j. Steph-
ems, the conductor. who trained his
vocal and instrumental forces with
such degree of efficiency as to arouse
the admiration OF, the audience. Spleen
did, splendid, was heard from scores
of threats as the people filed out of the
building. A delightful feature of the
chorus work was but little fault could
be found in the very important matter
of enunciation- amateurs are so likely
to make themselves unbearable in this
particular, but it was not SO last night.
The attacks were precise and the cli-
makes well understood. The orchestra
was home one and on the whole that
work was done remarkably WELL The
string section was excellent and the
tonal quality revealed was satisfying.
The baton Of Mr.. Stephens seemed to
be followed diligently and intelligently
by both orchestra and chorus Dwight
Simmons presided at the organ and he
too came in for share of the achieve
ment of the evening. The Fargo
Moorhead oratorio society has nothing
to be ashamed OF, not even the rendi-
dition of the Hallelujah chorus.