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Leader (1850-1860), 4th October 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 949, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      THE GAME OF SPECULATION . Seldom has a more unequivocal success attended the production of a new piece , than that which was achieved at tbp Lyceum on Thursday night , by The Game of Speculation , never more deserved success . The audience Was kept throughout m a state of interest at the story , and amusement at the dialogue . The play may be called an original

      translation . De Balzac wrote the comedy of Mercadet , a satire on the bourgeois trading spirit of Louis Philippe ' s regime ; Mr . " Slingsby Lawrence , " as the English writer pleases to call himself , has written a comedy with the same number of acts and the same plot , a satire on the trading speculative spirit of England . The details are altered ; the dialogue retains little trace of theFrench ; a returned partner " from India " is the incident most obviously from the French repertoire .

      The success of the piece is distinctly ascribable to two sources ; The story is capital ; instinct with a good broad verisimilitude , though not over probable in all its details . A ruined commercial gentleman has degenerated into the mere scheming adventurer , whose creditors approach him in numbers and in rage , melt under the influence of his winning ways , and become anew his moneylenders—with their eyes open ! How he talks over the bully , browbeats the shameless jobber , wheedles the " friend , " and cajoles the begging

      creditor But no , we will not attempt to tell how ; and when you have seen Charles Mathews as Mr . Affable Hawk , you will know why we do not attempt it . The adventurer is almost , but not quite , a heartless schemer ; he has still in him enough stuff o' the conscience for you to sympathize with him , and- you relish his successes The situations are masterly—the deceptions which turn back upon the man himself in the concurrent schemes of others , the grand blow which explodes in its own unexpected realization , are great strokes of invention .

      But if the action is capital—quick , eventful , ludicrously triumphant , truthfully improbablethe dialogue is still more piquant : it is terse , fanciful , suggestive , witty . The application of incidental hits at the mercenary spirit of the time , the railway precipitancy of speculation , the selfishness , even the political hollowness—as in the Protectionist who feels so " respectable" on playing " the farmers' friend" —told upon the audience with all the force of direct hits .

      The master of the stage is Mathews—easy , cool , successful , yet not inhumanly impassible : liis picture of the rake of trade is equally animated and finished . Frank Matthews made up admirably as the whining creditor : and the actors may be commended for much cooperation in their division of employments . Such is the spread of Socialism ! Hut ( he audience shared the heresy ; for they cooperated in keeping- up ( he spirit of a first performance by a constantly recurring and spontaneous laughter , which filled the theatre with life . Tn . II .

      Untitled Article

      THE SEASON OF THE SACRED IIAltMONIC SOCIETY . The progress of Music in this country lias been most worthily exhibited in this wonderful year by the Sacred Harmonic Society , which on Friday terminated the longest and most prosperous season of it « career by a splendid performance of Elijah ; the principals being Madame Clara Novello , Miss

      K . Birch , Miss Dolby , Miss M . Williams , Messrs . Sims Reeves , Whitehou . se , and llerr Formes . The hall , which throughout the season has been intensely crammed , on this occasion exhibited a climax of pressure and overflowed to the very doors . Throughout the evening it was difficult to repress the ; enthusiasm , which at the close broke out into loud shouts of applause , terminating with three hearty cheers for Mr . Costa . This extraordinary season , extraordinary for its HiicceHH in many particulars , commenced on Friday , November ' 29 , 1 H 5 O , and comprised thirty-two performances ( not thirty-six , an stated in the morning papers ) , ten of which were- subscription nights , iind one an extra night not included in the ( i ul > Hcri pt . ion . The first ; performance- of the season wan the Messiah , which , from its overflowing ; ui < Ji <; nc (\ s , was twice , repeated in nuecession . On 'lit' ' 2 Md of December , the Elijah was the worst Performance ever given by the Society since , the advent of Costa . It wus of service , however , in N'liupening the careless energies of the executive , und the result was two consecutive performances

      of the Elijah in a style which fully atoned for the former defective presentation . Israel in Egypt , produced January 30 , was performed twice , and the magnificent double choruses were rendered as they were never before heard . Saul , an oratorio which will never , we apprehend , become popular , was given on February 26 . On March 11 , Samson was revived with great success , and was twice repeated . The subsequent performances have been one of St . Paul , and alternations of the Messiah , the Creation , and the Elijah .

      During the season , the principal singers have been - . —Soprani—Madame Clara Novello , Misses Birch , Catherine Hayes , Louisa Pyne , and Eliza Birch ; Contralti—Misses Dolby , M . Williams , and Madame Macfarren ; Tenori—Messrs . Sims Reeves and Lockey ; Bassi—Messrs . Stockhausen , Whitworth , Whitehouse , and Herr Formes . The return of Madame Clara Novello was most opportune , but her rentre ' e in the Creation and Messiah was

      unfortunate . Fresh from Italy , she appeared to have forgotten the chaste beauty of Oratorio Music ; and an overloading the text with meretricious ornament elicited a well-merited rebuke from all the principal journals as well as from the public . Madame Novello , like a true artist , saw the error , and in St . Paul and Elijah made ample atonement . In the latter , her pure and powerful voice and her faultless intonation rendered the Oratorio

      more attractive than ever . Her delivery of " Hear ye , Israel , " and the " Holy , Holy , " was such as never before was heard within the . walls of Exeterhall . We trust , for the cause of Music , Madame Novello ' s name will appear frequently in the Society ' s programmes next season . Miss Catherine Hayes made no addition to her operatic laurels in her reading of Elijah . She appears physically unequal to sustaining the principal Soprano part , and her study showed a neglect as annoying as it was unsafe to her own reputation . Miss Louisa Pyne was successful on her only appearance in the Messiah . Madame Macfarren , who took the place of Miss M . Williams and Miss Dolby during their

      absence at the festivals , acquitted herself well . Mr . Sims Reeves has done all for the Tenor part of Elijah that Madame Novello has effected in the Soprano . His delivery of " If with all your hearts , " and "Then shall the righteous shine , " is unapproachable . Herr Formes , at length , can almost sing English , though we doubt whether the people of any other country would have tolerated his learning their language in a Concert Room . Our thirst for foreigners is carried to a ridiculous absurdity , when we invoke their inferiority instead of employing the competent among our own countrymen . We have , however , now passed the ordeal , and may rejoice in the acquisition of a voice so well suited to give effect to the German school of sacred composition .

      The Messiah , though it will ever rank among the first of Oratorios , is no longer supreme ; the Elijah shares its supremacy . The twenty-six times that Mendelssohn ' s great work has been presented have only added to its popularity , and it is a most gratifying evidence of the advance of musical appreciation that a work , really requiring so much acquaintance , has made such way in the hearts of the people . Next to Elijah stands the Creation , which , also , will hold its position , not only for the breadth of some of its parts and its very vocal form , but also for the imagery which it has been the fashion of some to decry . The Israel in Egypt is now a stupendous performance ,

      and belongs to the Sacred Harmonic , for no orchestral body has heretofore produced it so effectively . « SY . Paul , an earlier production in Mendelssohn ' s career , though abounding with beauties , will not , we think , ever occupy the position of the Elijah . It is undramatic in form , and , therefore , isolated in its parts . The Klijah , on the contrary , is intensely dramatic . The whole scene is brought vividly before the eye , and from the prophecy of famine , through its fulfilment , to the rapturous thanksgiving for the bount y of Heaven , we have an unbroken chain of events of absorbing interest . Moreover , aS 7 . Paul was never intended to be sung by so large a body , being originally written for a choir of two hundred voices .

      1 he audiences at Exeter-lmll have , tsince May , been chiefl y composed of strangers from the country and foreigners . The numbers have been so great that the hall has on each evening been inconveniently full , and on one occasion not Ichs than a thousand persons were denied admission . The performances at Exeter-hall have been almost the only national entertainment presented to the foreigners who have thronged the metropolis ; and

      it is satisfactory to know that in Sacred Music at least the English are allowed to possess excellence . Early in April the Committee issued , throughout London , the provinces , and the principal continental cities , prospectuses in various languages , announcing their intention of giving these extra concerts . The result must be most gratifying , as " it is calculated that the receipts will nearly double the property which it has taken the society fifteen years to accumulate . "

      The Sacred Harmonic Society commenced its labours in a very amateur style at Exeter-hall , on June 28 , 1836 , with the performance of the Messiah . The concert of Friday made the 258 th since the commencement . These performances have been attended by nearly 490 , 000 persons , and the sum of £ 35 , 000 has been paid out of the funds to vocal and instrumental performers . The position of the Society , both on account of its prosperity and the degree of efficiency to which it has now attained , involves it in new responsibilities . It is no longer an amateur body , but a Society to assert the degree of musical attainment in the metropolis . The application of art is as progressive as

      artitself . What has been done by the Society will only lead to greater expectations . The baton , skill , and energy of Mr . Costa have done wonders , but there is much yet to be done . We believe the Exeter-hall chorus to be very defective in one respect , in taking up the " leads . " There are in each departmentexcept the Trebles , who deserve to be excepted—a certain number of safe men on whom the body of the chorus appears to rely . By these the lead is taken up , the others coming in gradually on the second or third beat , or even on the first beat of the succeeding bar . Thus a scrambly effect is produced and precision constantly endangered . The cause of this is to be traced to carelessness at

      rehearsals . Mr . Costa may labour untiringly , but he will bring the Society no nearer perfection , until some plan can be adopted for enforcing attendance , or calling for the resignation of those whose engagements prevent their presence at rehearsal . There are numbers of competent persons anxious to join the Society , and they should not be excluded nor the progress of the Society jeopardised for the sake of those who will not take the necessary trouble to insure its efficiency . The Society has taught the people to enjoy a highly intellectual class of performance , and they will hypercritically demand the most efficient presentation of that which they have been led to appreciate .

      Another procedure , fraught with bad consequences , we have observed in the performances this season—the practice of giving some ungracious but difficult parts , written for the principals , into the hands of inferior performers . We allude particularly to the Elijah . The difficult duet , " Zion sprcadeth her hands for aid "— -difficult , principally from its following the flattening Choral Recitative , " The deeps afford no water , " is almost always marred by this practice . The commencement is terribly grating , the two voices seldom hitting the note purely ; and in the rest of the duet they appear to bo ever tuning up to one another . This duet requires the most careful singing to make it effective , and should certainly be rendered by the

      purest voices . Then the lovely trio " Lift thine eyes , " which produced such an effect when the Oratorio was first given , now always falls flat ; its sparkling quality is all gone by the withdrawal of the principal Soprano voice . The duets and trios of Mendelssohn , especially those written for female voices , so abound with syncopating and chromatic passages , that the attempt to render them by novices must prove abortive , and only tend to mar the completeness of the performance . The exertions of Mr . lirownsinith as organist deserve much laudation . His safe and discriminating taste in the use of the organ has been apparent throughout the season ; and that which was once a complete nuisance in the Exeter-hall performances ia now rendered charmingly effective .

      It is scarcely fair to quarrel with Che Society for the sameneHH of its performances , becau . so it was perfectly good judgment to present tho stock favourites to strangers , lint to the Sacred Harmonic Society is now intrusted the effective advance of Sacred Composition in tin ; metropolis , and the 1 ' ublic has aright to expect , not only the performance of several works new to London , though well known in the Provinces and on the , Continent , but also those works by composers of the day which shall on ti iul bo found worthy of presentation . We will not gloom the triumph of the present b y doubts of th « future ; but congratulating the Society on tho Huccess of its season , look forward , with confidence , to the performances of ' 5 ' 2 .

      &Lt;&H Stria.

      < &h Stria .

      Untitled Article

      Oct . 4 , 1851 . ] jg |» g ILt&tttt . 949

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 4, 1851, page 949, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1903/page/17/