The second concert of the New Philharmonic Society, at Exeter
Hall en Wednesday, was a considerable improvement on the first, and a great improvement on all the concerts of last year. Herr Lindpaintner, whose capacity as a disciplinarian has had time to show itself, has brought the orchestra into a state of efficiency which was tested by Beethoven's sym- phony in A—as fine a performance as we ever heard ; and still more fully by the manner of accompanying the vocal music, which was done with a delicacy that large orchestras are generally deficient in. The chief feature of the concert was Cherubini's Requiem in C minor a mighty work, worthy to be compared even with the immortal production of Mozart. The scene from Mendelssohn's Lorely also formed an interesting part of the concert. The hall was full ; and this new Society seems decidedly to be now "going ahead." Two other concerts are worthy of notice—that of the Orchestral Union, on Saturday last ; and that of the Quartet Association, on Wednesday. The former, newly established, consists of eminent instrumentalists, who have formed themselves into an orchestra of about thirty strong, for the purpose of cultivating the more delicate and refined kinds of orchestral music. The latter, begun last season, consists of only four members- Sainton, Cooper, Ilill, and Piatti; who, by dint of studying and prac- tising together, have arrived at a degree of excellence in quartet-playing quite unequalled in this country.
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