PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS.
THE chief feature of Monday night's concert will be seen by a glance at the scheme.
THIRD CONCERT—MONDAY, APRIL 24.
ACT I.
Sinfonia in C Major (Letter II) HAYDN. Aria, "Voi cbe sapete," Madame CARADORI ALLAN (Le
Nome di Figaro) Morsirr.
Fantasia, Pianoforte, Mrs. ANDERSON. with Chorus BEETHOVEN.
Trio, " My lord but mocks me," Madame Cstisonar AL- LAN, Miss M. B. HANES, and Mr. PHILLIPS (Der Vampgr) MARSCHNER. Coro, Placid° a it mar." the Solo by Madame CARAINIRI ALLAN (Ido11101leo) MOS ART. Overture, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" . • . F. MENDELSSOHN BARTIIOLDY. ACT H.
Sinfouia, No. 9. composed forthis Society, terminating with Schiller's ••Ode to Joy." Principal Singers, Madame Canhoonr ALLAN, Miss M. B. HAWES, Mr. HOBBS, and Mr. Pattr.trs, with Chorus BEETHOVEN. Leader, Mr. LODER—Conductor, Mr. MOSCHELES.
The Choral Sinfonia of BEETHOVEN has been the subject of such re- peated discussion, that to renew it were of little avail. A work which was at first condemned and shelved, and which some persons now extol as the most perfect of its author's compositions, will, in all probability, neither warrant the neglect with which it was formerly treated nor the unqualified commendation it has since received. It is, above all others, necessary to be classed among those productions of its author which his biographer says " need their author's commentary on his text, and of which even his most intimate friends are unable to understand the drift and intention." Among many of BEETHOVEN'S most ardent ad- mirers in Germany, including some of the first composers and per- fbrmers of the age, the attempt to unravel the perplexities of this Sin- fonia is abandoned ; and they eat the Gordian knot by selecting for performance such parts only—and these are, happily, many—as are both intelligible and beautiful. No one, that we know of, has yet given or even attempted a plausible conjecture at BEETHOVEN'S meaning in those portions of it which stand in direct opposition not only to prece- dent but to musical propriety. The work was admirably executed by the band, and as skilfully directed. The performance of a Choral Sinfonia and a Choral Fantasia by the same author in the same concert, was scarcely judicious. The latter is now well known, for its first performance at the Vocal Concerts was so successful as to have occasioned frequent repetitions. Here BEETHO- vrais meaning is plain : the birth of melody, and its gradual expansion into harmony, instrumental and vocal, are palpable. Of Mrs. ANDER- SOW'S performance of this composition we have only to repeat our fre- quent commendation.
With the exception of Madame CaRanOur Amor, the principal singers had but a thankless duty to perform. MARECHNER'S Trio from .Der Vampyr is ill adapted to the concert-room, and excited little inte- rest ! and the principal voice-parts in the Choral Sinfonia are but queer specimens of vocal writing. May we ask why the key of " Placido e it mar" was changed?
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