Samson

“Took ourselves to Steinway Hall, and heard Handel’s Samson.  Parepa-Rosa, Mrs. Kempton were good, so were the other solo parts. The great massive choruses were roughly done but effective. There was a full house and people were appreciative. The ‘Dead March’ was encored and Mme. Parepa-Rosa was obliged by an imperative uproar to repeat ‘Let the bright Seraphim,’ a difficult piece of vocalization admirably executed—and not much more than that—a mere show-piece, it seems to me.”

“Dickens made way for ‘Samson’ last night, and the strong man drew a larger audience than even ‘Her.’ The performance was better than last season, the choruses being given with more spirit and precision. The soloists were Mme. Parepa-Rosa, whose rendering of ‘Let the Bright Seraphim,’ with the trumpet obbligato, was a marvel; Mrs. Jenny Kempton, the favorite contralto; George Simpson, tenor, and J.R. Thomas, baritone. The attendance taxed the evening, and, we might say, the standing capacity of the hall of the hall to the utmost. Considering the management also conducted a concert the same night at the Brooklyn Academy, with De Meyer, Rosa, and other artistes, the success of the oratorio is a matter of surprise. Mrs. Kempton, who replaced Miss Hutchings, sang the part of Micah with feeling and subtle appreciation of the composer’s thoughts.”

“When Beethoven was dying, he raised his hand toward a copy of the works of Handel and exclaimed, ‘There is the truth!’ Beethoven himself had probably the most beautiful genius ever created; yet he called the composer of Samson and the Messiah the monarch of his art, and declared that he would kneel before his tomb with uncovered head. In the grandeur of his compositions Handel never has been surpassed. He towers above other composers like a mighty giant; he rises to the loftiest hights [sic] of inspiration, and seems more nearly than any other master to have caught the spirit of sublime and awful beauty which breathes through the pen of Dante and the pencil of Michael Angelo. No one has ever equaled the magnificence of his massive choruses, and few beside Beethoven have surpassed him in depth of passion. The resources of the orchestra are better understood now than they were in his time, and modern composers have learned how to produce more striking effects with their instruments; but we cannot judge exactly what effects Handel did produce, because he never wrote his orchestral scores in full, trusting to his personal direction to fill out the parts wjhich his impatient pen could not pause to trace. His melody is inexhaustible, rich, noble, clear, elevated, and majestically simple. In the dramatic character of his music he stands alone. Rapidly as he wrote, his works were the product of deep thought, and his oratorio airs express more perfectly than any one had ever expressed before him, or than any one writing on such lofty themes has ever expressed since, both the sentiment of the words and the character of the personages of the drama.

“In this last respect, the Samson is one of the most remarkable of all his works. It was written in great haste, being commenced eight days after the completion of The Messiah, and completed in five weeks; yet it is artistically as perfect as if it had been the labor of years. What can be finer than the marvelous dramatic contrasts with which it opens—the plaintiff soliloquy of the wearied Samson, the festival chorus of the Phillistine priests, the awful pathos of the blind hero’s lament, and the sublime hymn of the Israelites: ‘Then round about the Starry Throne!’ The duet afterward between Samson and Haraphat, ‘Go, baffled coward, go,’ is another superb example of music that speaks as plainly as words could speak; and the grand closing numbers, from the announcement of Samson’s death to the trumpet song and final chorus, are as thoroughly descriptive as any composition ever written. The interpretation of this great work last night was intrusted to competent artists. Madame Parepa-Rosa is the best oratorio singer we have heard in years. Her performance of ‘Let the Bright Seraphim’ is something to be long remembered. Loud above the stirring trumpet-accompaniment rang her clear, rich voice, soaring easily, and clinging long to perious hights, and swelling in volume like the voice of some splendid organ. The vocalization was perfect, and the effect of the piece—much helped by the excellent trumpet playing—was tremendous. Mr. Simpson rendered the famous air ‘Total Eclipse’ with taste and feeling, and was throughout the evening satisfactory. He pleased us more than Mr. Thomas, whose voice is hardly sonorous for his part, although the beautiful and touching air, ‘How willing, my paternal Love,’ which fell to this gentleman’s share, was given extremely well. Mrs. Jenny Kempton was, unfortunately, hoarse, and hardly did herself justice. The chorus was much firmer than it was in The Seasons, and there was really very little fault to find with it. We must particularly commend its singing of ‘Then round about the starry Throne,’ ‘Fixed to His everlasting seat,’ and ‘Great Dagon has subdued our Foe.’ The orchestra has also improved, Mr. Ritter having apparently got his men under better control, though there is still room for some improvement to precision and for a great deal in delicacy. The Dead March received a merited encore. Altogether the performance was a remarkably fine one, and deserved to be regarded as a real benefit to the community.”

The audience was large and very enthusiastic, especially about Parepa’s performance; she has become the most popular female singer this year. The choral parts were quite good; however, we still believe that conductor Ritter takes the tempi a little too slow. 

“The principal musical event of last week was the production at Steinway Hall of HANDEL’S Oratorio of ‘Samson,’ one of the most massive and at the same time intricate works ever written by that versatile and prolific master. The taste for Oratorio in this country is growing. It is desirable for many reasons that it should do so. The form of the merely musical part has, to be sure, undergone some change, and the conductor of each generation finds it necessary to prune with care in order to avoid listening in weariness. Fugues, it may be whispered boldly, are out of date with all but school-boys, pedants and very old men. Armies do not now step up to the scratch in the same formal way that they did in the days when there were wars in Flanders, and musical ideas, like bullets, are now directed point-blank. HANDEL followed the fashion of his time, but occasionally he stepped aside into a way of his own, and never more successfully than in ‘Samson.’ This is especially the case in the recitatives and arias, which are always truthful and impressive. The choruses exhibit the technical skill of his learned pen, and the wealth of his invention—always melodious and clearly marked. But apart from HANDEL who has ceased to enjoy the monopoly of this style of composition, there are reasons why Oratorio should always be held in esteem by a large and respectable portion of the community. It deals with histories of the highest human significance, and the book whence they are derived naturally suggests a decorous elevation of style—a suggestion which we need scarcely add, has often lead [sic] to sublime inspirations. Moreover, there is always a large class religiously inclined, who derive their only sense of amusement from this unquestionably pure source. It fosters, in addition, a desire to cultivate music in its harmonic form, and so in a pleasant fashion, keeps together many a harmless and pleasant musical association. We have not gotten very far in the matter of Oratorio singing, and in an instrumental way, we are utterly beneath contempt. It is necessary, therefore, to encourage every effort, especially at this moment when we have Mme. PAREPA-ROSA in our midst. The lady is undoubtedly the greatest Oratorio singer now living.  The volume and compass of her voice give her an easy victory over the most difficult passages, and there are passages of extreme difficulty in all of HANDEL’S works, while her perfect knowledge of vocal art and clear enunciation of the words make all intricacies clear. She was well supported by Mrs. JENNY KEMPTON, Mr. J. R. THOMAS and Mr. GEORGE SIMPSON. The latter gentleman sang the beautiful air, “Total Eclipse,” with singular tenderness and pathos. The choruses were not always taken with firmness, and the orchestra either did not care for the conductor, or at all events were determined to not obey him.”