SACRED MUSIC—MRS. SIINDERLA_ND.
Among the many performances of The Messiah appropriately given at this Christmas season, there was one by the London Sacred Harmonic Society, on Monday evening, at Exeter Hall, which was specially no- ticeable for the appearance of Mrs. Sunderland, a singer in a great mea- sure new to the London public. She sang several times at Exeter Hall some eight or ten years ago, without making any great impression ; but she has since acquired a great provincial reputation, in that extensive Northern, district which, from its high cultivation of sacred and choral music, has been called the Germany of England. Among the musical people &Yorkshire and Lancashire Mrs. Sunderland holds undisputed supremacy ; she is the prima donna of every .local concert and music- meeting; and when she threw up her engagement at the last Bradford Festival on account of some slight at the hands of the Committee, the whole neighbouring country was thrown into a state of agitation. The local press fulminated ; and great meetings and musical performancea were held in various towns expressly in her honour. To be a general favourite in that musical land is no trifle, and we expected a good deal from Mrs. Sunderland's appearance on Monday. She surpassed our ex- pectation : we found her, in voice, execution, and style, an artist worthy of a leading place in any performance that England can furnish. She made a strong impression on a crowded assemblage, and her success was complete. Whether she thinks of following it up, we know not. Pro- bably her wisest ambition would be to maintain her present high posi- tion in her native district. Here, she would meet with rivals or supe- riors; there, she has none.
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