A "SMELL" CONCERT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 47, 25 February 1901, Page 3

A "SMELL" CONCERT.

THE LATEST THING IN ENTERTAINMENTS.

Rhlnotica (nose - music) is the latest Paris novelty, ana Slgiiora Rita Plsellt is its prophet. Artists who sing through their noses have always been plenty, but to appeal to the musical understanding through the sense of smell is a novelty—■ at least in public performances. On the Midway Plaisance stands the pavilion where the mistress of the musia of the future holds forth. Cards admitting- several hundred Invited guests at her opening night bore the proviso, "Gentlemen who smoke and ladies using perfume cannot enter." The hall was bare of decorations. Not a banner or flag, riot a garland or curtain, visible. Under the big opening in the ceiling was an arrangement of fans. There was an organlike instrument on the stage, the unoccupied space being shut off by board walls, plainly painted. Alter a while a gentleman stepped be-. fore the audience to explain. ■ "Music," he said, "has grown to be a power which overshadows the rest of the arts and threatens the health of civilised nations by excessive Irritations of the nerve of hearing. . "Directors of insane asylums say that music sends them thousands of victims, mostly women, who succumbed to attempts at Paderewskism. or to the div of barbarous brass, combined with the bellows of trumpets, violins, drums, and what not." Here the speaker dropped his voice to a whisper: "Ladies and gentlemen," he said," "you are all conscious of the power of smell. There isn't one ampng you who was not at one time or another carried back to long-forgotten scenes by coming upon 'a rare flower or perfume which you knew in the past was the favourite of some person dear to you. We have harnessed the perfumes of the world to servo the new art. He withdrew with a bow to make room' for the signora. Signora Rita also unburdened herself. She said she had decided to give her first smell-symphony with word accompaniznent. The theme was "The Voyage." The room was darkened and presently; the stillness was broken by a"click" from the organlike instrument. It sounded as if a valve had been opened, and the smell of fresh tar invaded our nostrils immediately. Then the signora's persuasive voico told of the Gulf of Naples, its shipyards and forests of masts, of the red-capped lazzaroni, of sailors lying- on the strand, or working because they got tired of beingidle. Next a gust' of wind; the fan was chasing tar and lazzaroni heavenward, and some more pressing of the button emphasised the atmosphere of the story. The lovers were going to some flowerstrewn island. We sniffed, one after the other, saltladen ozone, balsamic land air, the fragrance of mille-fleurs and southern orchards. Signora Rita's poetry took a Mignonesque turn and citron turned to incense. We were in church. A wedding: being "on," there were plenty of dressed-up and envious women and girls; hence the magnolia perfume descending from the organ. It was a telling trick.

The audience had warmed up little by little, but now succumbed to. the charm, and expressed its interest in whispered exclamations, surmises, and prophecies.

After the magnolia intermezzo .therS was more incense. One could imagine ho saw' the good priest bless the happy, couple, his white hands stretched out.

"Now off for the wedding trip!" Happy people, they went by carriage! Witness the smell of horses.

The journey went through, a. sunny • landscape; you could smell the leather of the carriage broiling under the sun. After a while they sat down to an impromptu, lunch. The practical bride fried eggs over a chafing- dish, adding slices of bacon; it was most appetising. After lunch a stroll into the country. "New-mown hay!" cried six or seven ladies at once, and everybody applauded. We accompanied the travellers through a pine forest, and put up for the night at the bridegroom's ancestral hall. 'The steward had arranged five o'clock tea; the aroma came across the darkened footlights. The lovers had broiled sardine* on toast. Finally the tenants appeared to offer congratulations. We smelled the smoke of their torches and almost heard the boom-ltoom of the cannons, so lively was the odour of powder. As to the instrument producing the various perfumes, it is on the order of an organ, is played by finger keys and pedals and consists of a large number of pipes, at the end of which the perfumery reservoirs are located. The smells are released as soon .as the keys are pressed down, whereby a valve opens, supplying?, the necessary wind.