The third of the present series of the " London
Wednesday Concerts," which took place on Wednesday, though not presenting any remarkable novelty, was worthy of notice on account of the judicious choice of the music with reference to the purpose of a concert intended to be popular among classes not much used to entertainments of this description. There was a selection from Barnett's fine opera The .1fountain Sylph, comprising the overture and some of the best concerted pieces and songs; there were several airs from Italian and German operas; well-executed solos on the pianoforte and violin; and popular English ballads: all performed by the best vocalists and instrumentalists now in London.
The bulk of the audience who fill Exeter Hall on these occasions are those who gain admittance at the cheap rate of a shilling; though the more expensive seats are also well occupied. To the greater part of the audience, therefore, the entertainment has the zest of novelty and freshness, and they enjoy with keen relish things which are familiar and hackneyed to the more musical part of the assembly. In their enthusiasm they encore almost everything, so that the concert may be said to be performed twice over. This is an infliction to the rest of the audience, and wearies them with a performance they would otherwise find very agreeable. It is an infliction, moreover, which they ought to be spared: for the conductor of the concert ought not to comply with an en- core unless it evidently proceed from the unanimous wish of the whole as- sembly. If the contents of the programme are fairly and fully gone through, the conditions of the concert are fulfilled, and no one has any reason to complain; whereas those have great reason to complain who are compelled either to sit out a concert spun to twice its proper length by tiresome repetitions, or to go away without having heard more than half the pieces they were entitled to expect. We recommend this common- sense consideration to the attention of Mr. Stammers.
Previous page
