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Show in ciffl First Night of the Musical Chautauqua at Wandanicre a Success. PROGRAMME RENDERED IS GENEROUSLY APPLAUDED Work of Chorus and Soloists in "The First Christmas" Is High. Two thousand people heard the first concert of the Musical Chautauqua at Wandamerc Monday night. The aifdlcnce was encouraging in point of numbers ant helped largely to bring out the ful est efforts of the Ocdon choir and the soloists by its earnest attention and thorough appreciation of the programme- And this, too, when the baton of Director J. JV Ballantyno. of the Ogden choir, was not lifted until 0 o'clock. Thero were also probably one thousand who sat , m boats or listened from afar in the parK No more fit night for the opening coum have heen chosen, for the air at tn pretty park was cool and the moonlight shimmered on the water while the strong chorus awakened tho echoes from tne eastward hills. The audience was In run sympathy with the programme and manifested mani-fested approval repeatedly by us applause. ap-plause. While the principal number, tho cantata, can-tata, "The Flrnl Christmas," was not entirely en-tirely new. its rendition was pronounced superior to other occasions when the ut-den ut-den choir has repeated It, The chorus showed thorough preparation and In attack at-tack and unity was really remarkable. The acoustics of tho pavilion had a. fair test and disclosed themselves satisfactorily, satisfac-torily, even surpassing the expectation of the promoters of the Chautauqua. The delay in boglnnlng the programme was due more to the fault of the people who attended than the management. Thb opening was scheduled for S:l: o clock, but fully one-half tho audience came after the time. Besides, the programme was. not long and Its splendid success prevented tedlousness. Excellent Solo Work. Whitney Coombs's "The First Christmas" Christ-mas" Is an assembly of the Biblical Ideas and language concerning the birth of Christ and his music Intelligently develops devel-ops tho Ideas. There are also lyric Interpolations In-terpolations permitting a wide range In the character of the work. It is hard to tell whether It is richer In choral than In solo parts, as tho work of both chorus and soloists was of such a character that a decision was unnecessary. In tho solo work Horace S. Ensign easily showed superior comprehension of his work and greater proficiency In the use of a naturally nat-urally full and pleasing voice. His baritone bari-tone Is sweet and of remarkable flexibility flexi-bility and his rendition showed thorough sonse of tho dignity of his text. Mian Myrtle Ballanger's soprano was heard to excellent advantage In the recitative and ulr." Fear Not, Fear Not!" In quality, tone and execution her voice Is a rich possession, posses-sion, though In all the phases of her work there Is not tho same sympathetic quality. In this aria hor attack on tho high notes was perfect and she received a deserved encore for her work. Mrs. A. R. C. Smith had a splendid opportunity In tho solo "I Will Greatly Rejoice in" the Lord" to display effectively a voice of Eower and resonance united with flexl-111 flexl-111 tj- and technical finish. Mr. Graham had much responsibility In the tenor parts and acquitted himself creditably. He seemed at his best when in tho duo with Mr. Ensign, "Is This tho Messiah?" Chorus at Its Best. Of tho chorus, the same must be said ns has been said for years. It Is a well-trained well-trained organization of good voices and perhaps displayed Its best qualities In the chorus of "Is This tho Messiah?" where Its unity had a severe test and mot It with precision In attack and general color that was convincing.' A great deal might be justly said of the good work of tills chorus. Tho rendition of the cantata was followed fol-lowed by the choral numbers, tho "Soldiers' "Sol-diers' Chorus," from Gounod's "Faust" and Bishop's delightful melody. "Good Night." Several hundred were on tholr way from the pavilion when the last was sung and learned of tho beauty of the chorus from a distance. The instrumental part of tho programme pro-gramme was In the hands of Prof. J. J. McClellan. who with Mr. Graham promoted pro-moted tho Chautauqua, The Instrumental, Instru-mental, while excellent, was deficient In point of quality, the absence of orchestral or-chestral assistance being noticeable. But this was not Important to the general success of the singers and on the wliulo Mr. Graham and Professor McClelTan wero congratulated on their endeavor to bring together in a sort of musical symposium sym-posium the best that native Utah "has lo offer. Tuesday Night's Programme. Tuesday night the second concert will bo given. It will Include the following ; programme by tho Salt Lake Tabemacte choir: "With Sheathed Swords" (Damascus).. ; Costa , TaDcrnacle Choir. I See Thee Love In Every Flower"... -, Franz Abt (C. . Thos. Ashworth. "Swiss Echo Song"..., Eckert Mrs;,.f,lzz,e Thomas-Edward. w,nat. TXUh venoance" C'Lucretia Borgia ) Donizetti John Robluson. "Hallelujah Chorus" (From tho "Mes- Handel Hie second portion will ho Colerldre Taylor's "Dcatji of Mlnnohaha." from Longfellow's "Hiawatha." by the finlt Lake City Festival chorus under thed . rccllon of Professor McClellan, with Mrn Emma Ramsey Morris, soprano ami Hugh W Dougaii. baritone, ami Edward Payson Kimball as accompanist. |
