Bridgeton Choral Society, City Hall, April 1889

From page six of The Glasgow Herald, on Wednesday the 10th of April, 1889:

 

“BRIDGETON CHORAL SOCIETY:- With the approach of the end of the musical season, our local societies are giving their closing performances. That of the Bridgeton Choral Association came off in the City Hall last evening, in the presence of an audience almost quite filling what was for a good many years our largest public hall. The Bridgeton society is under the conductorship of Mr George Taggart, who in this and other connections has shown distinct capacity for the training of choirs. Dr Bridge’s new cantata ‘Callirhoe,’ [sic] produced in Paisley last week for the first time in Scotland, was the principal feature of the programme last night, the chorus being supplemented by an orchestra including Mr Cole’s band, assisted by gentlemen amateurs. Considering the composite character of the orchestra, the instrumental score was interpreted with as much regard to the nuances as could have been expected. The music for the voice, as regards both the chorus and the principals, is not by any means easy. It is highly dramatic, and much of it is cast in the upper register. The members of the society sang fairly well, although one could not help feeling that further rehearsal would have been desirable in the case of a work comprising a chorus of such exceptional difficulty as ‘Oh, horror.’ Of the principals, Miss Minnie Duffus (soprano), Miss H. G. Mainds (contralto), and Mr George Neil (tenor), the honours of the evening fell to Miss Duffus, whose clear, telling voice was equal to all the demands made upon it, and they were not few. At the close of the cantata the audience cordially applauded the performance. The second part was given up to songs and concerted pieces well within the powers of the vocalists.”