SOCIETA ARMONICA.
THE English of " Societal Armonica " is—a series of six concerts, given at Freemason's Hall, of which Mr. MORI is the leader and Mr. FORBES the conductor. And, judging from the specimen of Thursday night, when the first of the series was given, we should anticipate a successful issue to the projectors, and (with some improvement in the arrangement) a satisfactmy one to the public. We hail all these attempts with pleasure ; and whenever a respectable effort is made to give the public good music at a reasonable cost,—which unquestionably is the case in the present instance,—we wish it prosperity, be i made east or be it west of Temple Bar. From a series of concerts, supported by a good instrumental band and respectable vocal talent, some impulse to good musical taste may be given. A conductor has then time to mature his plans, and to exercise his industry. He is not, like the individual who takes his benefit concert, at the mercy of every singer whose assistance he craves, and compelled to put up with the performance of anything which will give the least possible trouble. Above all, he can command a rehearsal—a thing utterly unknown at benefit concerts. If, with all these means and appliances in his power, he fails to make such selections as are worthy the support of the public and the approbation of the musician, the blame must rest with himself.
To apply these remarks to the concerts of the Societa Armonica. The managers have collected an excellent instrumental band, given it a first-rate leader, and an active and respectable conductor. The singers at their first concert were Miss GRANT, Miss CHILDE, Mons. BEGREZ, and Mr. PHILLIPS. Now, we honestly confess, that with these materials we were rather disappointed at the selections of the evening ; and we have no question that the fault rests with the singers, and not with the conductor. The pieces are evidently chosen by themselves, and, we were about to say, therefore not judiciously chosen. Miss GRANT, for instance, is a girl of very respectable musical talent ; her voice is clear and well-tuned, and her compass extensive ; she reads with great facility, and up to a certain point has been well taught. But are these all the requisites for the performance of " Ah come rapida ? " Very far otherwise. Here, then, the conductor should have interposed, and allotted to Miss GRANT a song more suited to her powers. The scheme, too, was poor in concerted vocal music. Three songs from one singer, and two from each of the rest, occupy too large a portion of it. Neither were the concerted pieces well selected or well performed. " Cielo ii mio labbro" may be allowed a little repose ; and " Over the dark blue waters," however effective on the stage and in the opera, does not bear the removal into the concert-room. The scheme contained only one vocal novelty,—a new ballad, sung by PHILLIPS, "The warrior's rest ;" which we presume was his first as it certainly will be his final repose. MORI played a new fantasia, by MAVSEDER, delightfully; and FORBES, who has lately profited by the instructions of HERZ, executed one of that composer's difficult airs with variations most skilfully. In fact, the instrumental music was to the audience the most attractive part of the concert. MOZART'S Jupiter, that king of sinfonias, was admirably performed. With such materials as the conductor has at his command, we exhort him again to rely on his own judgment in making his selections, and not on the whims of singers, who usually consider exclusively their own individual ease or interest. There was scarcely a single piece in the vocal part of his scheme which offered us much attraction. We hope this will not he the case in future ; and that we shall attend the other concerts of the Society, not merely to discharge our critical duty, but to enjoy some music which we have not heard one thousand times.
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