Second Musical Festival: 3rd, Elijah

“It would seem as if the elements had combined against Lafayette Harrison in his latest essay in music. All day yesterday and especially in the evening the skies were of the gloomiest hue and the rain came down unceasingly. There was not a ray of hope for any unfortunate manager last night; yet we were agreeably surprised to find in Steinway Hall a real, bona fide oratorio audience of the largest description and the small hall had to be opened on the occasion. Mendelssohn’s immortal work ‘Elijah,’ was given by the Harmonic Society, fully two hundred strong, assisted by a large and efficient orchestra. The principal soloists were:—Miss Maria Brainerd, soprano; Miss C. V. Hutchings, contralto; Mr. George Simpson, tenor, and Mr. J. R. Thomas, baritone. Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Janes and Messrs. Tucker and Scott were also on the programme. A very able analysis of the oratorio was given in the libretto, which we suppose every one present was provided with, and there is little for us to add in the way of description. ‘Elijah’ is one of the most popular and interesting works in the oratorio line, for it is dramatic from first to last. The prophet’s terrible denunciation in the opening, ‘There shall not be dew nor rain these years,’ and the fine old style fugue, ‘Then shall your light,’ which closes the marvelous and eventful scenes of the prophet’s life, are sufficient indications of the descriptive power of the great composer and there is not a single number in the forty-two divisions of the work uninteresting. The contest with the priests of Baal and the coming of rain as described by the dialogue between Elijah, and youth and the people are dramatic in the highest sense of the word. The grand chorus, which serves as a climax to the first part of the oratorio, ‘Thanks be to God,’ is truly a flood of joy, to use the words of Mr. Dwight. The orchestra and chorus last night were unexceptionable, if we may object to the uneven balancing of the latter. The soprani were weaker than usual, and the tenors rather too prominent. Of the soloists the highest praise must be accorded to Miss Hutchings. She sang each of her numbers as a thorough artist should sing them, and communicated in her beautiful contralto voice a fire, expression and energy which took every one by surprise. Every word was distinctly enunciated by her, and she gave undeniable evidence of long and careful study of her part. She received two overwhelming encores in ‘Woe unto them’ and ‘Oh! Rest in the Lord,’ and proved herself to be one of our leading oratorio singers. Simpson sang very well and made even a more favorable impression than in the ‘Messiah’ on Monday night. Miss Brainard [sic] was not in as good voice as usual, and Mr. Thomas evidently labored under a severe cold. Yet in some of his numbers he was very successful, and his fine baritone voice came out with marked effect. The double quartet ‘For He shall give His Angels’ received a deserved encore. Mr. Ritter, the conductor, has evidently benefited by our previous strictures on his tempo, for he wielded the baton on this occasion with spirit and intelligence.”

“MENDELSSOHN’S superb Oratorio of ‘Elijah,’ the fullest and most dramatic work of the kind now before the public, was given last evening to a thoroughly appreciative and attentive audience. The solos were sustained by Miss MARIA BRAINARD, [sic] Mrs. REED, Miss HUTCHING, Mr. GEORGE SIMPSON and Mr. J. R. THOMAS. There was a full attendance of the members of the New-York Harmonic Society, and the orchestra was better and stronger in sonority than heretofore, owing, of course, to the fact that MENDELSSOHN uses instruments that were unknown to HANDEL. The conductor was Mr. F. L. RITTER. ‘Elijah’ has been so recently played with the same, or nearly the same, distribution, that it is superfluous to speak at length of the performance. The weight of the work, almost from the opening bar to the end, depends on Mr. J. R. THOMAS, and could not be intrusted to more competent hands. His style and school are entirely in sympathy with this kind of music. His voice, however, was somewhat out of order; a consequence of the weather which, as is usual on such occasions, was simply intolerable; but he delivered the earnest passages of the score with fine effect, and without the exaggeration to which they too frequently lead. Miss BRAINERD, also, was not in full voice, but nevertheless was very acceptable in the concerted pieces. Her rendering of the great aria, ‘Hear ye Israel,’ was characterized by intelligence and feeling, but owing to the causes we have mentioned it was somewhat tame. Mr. SIMPSON was more fortunate. He was in capital voice, and sang with marked effect. He is unquestionably a fine oratorio singer; not merely the best here, but one of the best anywhere. Miss HUTCHINGS has a pleasant voice, which only needs smoothness to make it acceptable in this trying class of music. She was warmly and deservedly applauded. Of the chorus we can speak in terms of the highest praise. The Society has not been heard to such advantage for many seasons. There was intent and purpose in all that was done. The audience was hugely gratified, and encored with great liberality to themselves.”

“There was another good house last night for the third of the Festival performances, and the oratorio of ‘Elijah’ was produced much more successfully than the ‘Messiah’ was on Monday. The Harmonic Society was not yet fairly up to their work, but they sang several of the numbers remarkably well. They attacked the opening chorus, ‘Help, Lord,’ in excellent time, and went through it with force and spirit. In the next one ‘The deep affords no water,’ with its striking dialogue between the male and female voices, they showed a marked improvement over their performance of last season. ‘Baal we cry to thee,’ and ‘Thanks be to thee,’ also deserved a good deal of praise; but several of the other choruses dragged painfully, and the singers were often out of tune, especially the tenors. ‘The Fire Descends from Heaven’ was very poor. The solo parts were taken by Miss Brainerd, Miss Hutchings, Mrs. Reed, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Thomas. The celebrated dialogue between Elijah and the Widow (bass and soprano) was quite effective, and the duet which follows, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,’ was excellent; so too, was the quartette, ‘Cast thy Burden upon the Lord.’ Mr. Thomas sang ‘Look down on us from Heaven’ with fine taste and expression, and we must not omit a word of commendation for the response of the chorus, ‘Open the Heavens.’ Miss Brainerd and Mr. Simpson were acceptable as usual, and Miss Hutchings, who has a great deal of natural but uncultivated pathos of voice, won considerable applause.”

“On Wednesday night a large audience assembled to hear ‘Elijah,’ and enjoyed it well, despite the drawback alluded to of poor choruses.” [see quote under Monday’s opening performance.]

“Musical Festival in New York . . . On Wednesday evening we had the ‘Elijah,’ in which the solos were taken by Miss Brainerd, Miss Hutchings, Mr. Simpson and Mr. J. R. Thomas. This performance was not quite such a butchery as that of March 19th, but it was far from being excellent. The choruses were decidedly the best portions of the entertainment: the solos were, however quite unsatisfactory. Mr. Thomas’s voice was not displayed to advantage in his part, and the aria, ‘Is not his word like a fire,’ was very inaccurate and faulty. Miss Hutchings has the merit of singing with care, and pronouncing her words with distinctness; yet her voice is destitute of expression and of sympathetic quality. Mr. Simpson improved upon his efforts on Monday evening, and really did well in the aria, ‘If with all your hearts.’ Miss Brainerd exhibited a very noticeable tendency toward singing sharp, and many of her high notes were struck with uncertainty; indeed, in the ‘Angel Trio’ she led the two other voices from the original key of D into E flat, a semitone higher. The Trio was encored by a not too discriminating audience, and the same result occurred again; when the orchestra and chorus came in on D (in the next number) the effect was peculiar! Two choruses were excellently done, viz.: ‘He, watching over Israel,’ and ‘Behold, God the Lord passed by.’ Mr. Ritter conducted.”