SINGERS AND PLAYERS

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 121, 22 May 1909, Page 12

SINGERS AND PLAYERS

Maseagni positively refuses to .write lother note. His countrymen have 4isayed euch ingratitude of late that the ■inposer of "Cavalieria Kusticana" has solved to inflict a punishment in proution to the magnitude of the crime. Xnrviewed on the subject by a newspaper preventative, Signor Maeeagni expressl his opinion that Italy was . suffering om a fresh invasion by r bat irritates him is that his foolish mntrymen, instead of repelling the atick, yield at every step before the music i the. ; sonjbre Goths. "It is a species of .sanity tha.t has, taken hold of them, Angled with no small degree of snotobishsss/ eaid Maseagni. "They- welcome aything.: foreign just because, it is tteign, and they spurn true Italian art, hieh-is, the source'of all that deserves >. music-." Regarding the concert given by Huberte I nn,~at Genoa, on Paganini's violin, in id;,of the sufferere iby the Messina e arth u*ke, it is. interesting to read of the recautipns. taken to ensure the ife return- of- the instrument. Uβ city notary was present at tie removal, accompanied by the layor, the. aldermen,, and. a dozen witesses. The notary drew up a document siting forth the : ciroumstances under 'hick the violin had been temporarily reioved from- the .laairie; placed in its oriinal caee, andi tied with, the national oloiirs, and transported to the theatre ua>r ; ded by soldier*,under arms. At the heatre - famous, violin was ivea into the custody, of th&-Mayor nd iplaced in his.-box. The chief magisvate passed the; inetniraeat: fron\ his box t each tum-ithM H,ubeifm*iu!;- appeared. it the conclusion- of- the,, concert the ■iolin, itjll guaj.de<ic toy soldiers, was aken back.to the m*iri& and -returned to ts accustomed, places A,--third,-notarial nstrument ceitified aad.-.thea the hree ■ documents were=- in- the ity archives. UnsucceesM: overtures vera. made, to obtain the violin ..for the •"lanco-Britieh Exhibition! ofeflas* year, .'.though the Duke- of Conna-ug-h-fe offered 0 deposit £40,000 for its safe return, md to take it to England in a man-0- ,- ---var. Chopin had the eccentricity of musical ;enius. There is a story of his Funeral VTarch. dashed off extempore at the >iano, himself wrapped in a windingheet and nursing De Polignae's studio keleton on his knee! There isthe letter •xtant wiiich he wrote to his motherrom Vienna, in 1831: "I have left my vliiskers only on the right cheek. They rrow very well there, and there is really io occasion to have them on my left ■heck, as I always sit with the right one owards the audience." And then there s his extraordinary request to be buried n the dress suit which he had -worn at lis last recitals—this whim being granted in accordance with Polisn custom. A prominent Xew Yorsei recently rrote to an agency asking the charge foi -arious grand opera stars for a few lours , evening musicale. The following irice list was received: Enrico Caruso £600, Geraldine Farrar £300, Olive Fremstad £300. Johanna Gadski £300 Alessandro Bonci £300, Emma Destine £240, Louis Homer £160, Antonio Scott £160, Carl John £150, Marie- Rappo-ic £il'2o, Pasquale Amato £120* Ricard< Marten £120, Robert Blass £60. .Herbert Witherspoon £.60, and Allen Hinck lev £60. In Sydney the municipal authorities are arranging a series of free Su-ndaj afternoon organ recitals in the Towr Hall there. They commence at 3.15 am last for an hour- The attendances havi been very large and the utmost interes is evinced by the people in them. Sydney organists are keenly interest ed in the matter of the appointment o an nFtift to preside permanently at til Town Hall organ. Applications elosei mi the 24th of last month, and specula tion is rife us to wbo has entered ani who has not. Thirty-three application have been lodged, including nearly ever; organist of any consequence in the citj Four of the number are from ladies. The London "Evening, standard" n calls the followirfg satire upon the melc dies of .). L. Molloy and his school:----"Sins mc a drawing-room soog. darling Sinp by the sunset's slow-; Now while the tshnriows are long, darling Now -hhiii' tue flisUts are low; Sotnprhing: so rhasto and so cot, darlinj Sonjetblnsr that melts the chest: Milder tbnn e"eu Molloy. darlitißi Better than Blacham's best!" It is always pleasant, and not a littl instructive, to listen to an experience artist upon the subject of his or her ar And when the artist holds so distil guished a position, as Madame Albani, may betaken for iraated that th|L" info niation will be-both illuminating and ci tertaining. As everyone knows, the famous singer lias recently been nia-kir acquaintance with the vaudeville stag 1 nnd it lias seeraed. timely to invite h< Ito =ay some-thing on the subject. In r sponse, Madame-Albani writes: '"I hai I now sung in ei-sht towns upon the vaud ville stasre, ajid have been so favourab impressed b-otli by the personnel of t] thesatres and by the audiences attendii them that 1 shall never regret the ii portant step I have taken in acceptii these engagements. The emploj-ees these theatres are wonderfully we drilled in the work they have to do, ai I carry it out in a surprisingly quick ai effective way; while tie artists are clev hard-working, quiet people, ivho general disappear directly their ' turn' is h' ished. As for the audiences I can only s> that I have been- delighted with the and that it has afforded mc real pleasure sing lo them. 1 had been told that music-hall audience csred only for balla< but I started by singing Mozart a Handel, and found that they appreciat the work of those composers as much : or even more than, popular music. Wh greatly strikes mo is that when I eon us 1 sometimes do. immediately after comedian who provokes shouts of laup tcr. the huge audience, of. perhaps, 30 people., relapse into absolute silcnco Jisti'ii to ?cinc classical selection. 1 lia sung to them every description of inn* but nave so Sar failed to discover ay