DANDO'S QUARTET CONCERTS.
THE last performance of the present season took place at Crosby Hall on Monday ; when MOZART'S Quintet in G minor, a Quartet of SPORE in C, and MENDELSSOHN'S Ottetto, with the pianoforte-playing of the celebrated composer himself, furnished the principal entertainment of the evening. A more agreeable one will scarcely be within the recol- lection of the amateurs of these well-conducted performances ; though, technically considered, the Quintet left somewhat of correctness to desire. Probably the presence of Dr. MENDELSSOHN, who was an attentive listener to the music, may have been the cause, by creating an over- anxiety to do well; success being not always correspondent to exertion. The elegant Quartet of SPOHR was beautifully rendered ; and the Ottetto was very successfully played in parts, particularly the first movement, and the scherzo, which was encored: though the composition as a whole lacked that thorough individual intelligence which is necessary to the perfection of chamber-music. In fine contrast with the preceding com- positions, the dignified yet brilliant first violin part of the Ottetto dis- played itself, giving expression and passage in its course sufficient to satisfy the ambition of any player. The opportunity of hearing MENDELSSOHN on the pianoforte, alone and unaccompanied, seemed to be eagerly coveted. His performance of the Lieder was confined to some two or three pieces, from books not yet in general circulation in England. But, while his audience waited in expectation of more, he broke bounds into a free fantasia on the music performed ; taking for his principal subjects the leading features of the G minor Quintet. The promptitude with which this matter was arranged and combined with that invented by himself, in the form of a regular composition replete with character and effects, was one of the marvels of improvisation, to which we can hardly find anything com- parable without recurring to the golden days of HUMMEL and WESLEY. The aplomb of the playing, the new character given to the subjects, the pleasing episodes, the well-imagined climax, and satisfactory conclu- sion, rendered this extempore performance of the highest interest : and we wish the musical public at large better acquainted with this feature of the great artist's talent.
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