Trinity Church Choral Festival: 2nd

Only gives dates and the hall.

“Master Toedt, the famous boy soprano, sings Mendelssohn’s great Aria, “Hear ye Israel,” at the Choral Festivals, May 15 and 17.”

“The Odell Organ will be played by Messrs. Cutler and Morgan.”

“There could not be a stronger proof given of the merit and public appreciation of Dr. Cutler’s admirable chorus of one hundred male voices, than at Irving Hall last night.  Although it was a wet, disagreeable evening that would deter many persons from venturing out to a place of amusement, there was a much larger and more fashionable audience than on Tuesday night.  Dr. Cutler’s descriptive lecture on the cathedrals of England was concise and good and illustrated by numerous pieces sung by the antiphonal choir. The magnificent chorus ‘Round about the Starry Throne,’ from Samson, was given in the first part of the programme. The last time we heard this in New York, we pitied the unfortunate son of Manoah, for he had decidedly fallen into the hands of the Philistines. Last night it was unexceptional. In the selections from Elijah, Master Toedt, Bourne, Granadin, And Raeburn, and the chorus were such as all true lover of music would wish to hear. The angel trio, by the three first young artists, and the dialogue between Elijah and the youth carried the audience back to Palestine and Mount Horeb.  The scene where the aged prophet announces the will of Jehovah to the knelling multitude, the passionate appeal for mercy, the end of the long continued drought, and the heartfelt thanks of Israel to God, ‘He laveth the thirsty land,’ were electrical in effect. The spirit of Mendelssohn seemed to breathe in the choruses. We would certainly like to hear a more dramatic and finished rendering of Elijah than Mr. Aiken’s, but the youth, Master Raeburn, left nothing to be desired. In the part, ‘Behold a little clowd ariseth now from the waters,’ the accompaniment was particularly beautiful. Staccato chords like drops of rain and the succeeding crescendo portrayed the coming storm. In the closing chorus the two pianos, played by Messrs. Gilder and Johnston, formed with Dr. Cutler’s accompaniment a fantastic and beautiful wreath in the vocal parts. Mr. George W. Morgan conducted the choruses admirably.  He also played his brilliant fantasies on “God Save the Queen.”  It is seldom that such hearty and extraordinary enthusiasm has been displayed by an audience during the present concert seasons as was last night during the scene from Elijah. . . . We know not of anything in music in this city that appeals more directly to the heart than the fresh young voices of those sixty boys, supported by forty tenors and basses and an admirable instrumental accompaniment.”