SINGERS AND PLAYERS

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 279, 22 November 1913, Page 14

SINGERS AND PLAYERS

An heroic feat was accomplished at the Munich Opera House by Frau Morena, who sang through the long and trying role of Isolde in Wagner's great opera, although she dislocated her arm at the opening of the second act. She was waving a veil in the scene with Tristan, when, with a shriek, her arm dropped limply to her side. She had dislocated it. There was a moment of confusion in the audience, and on the stage, when it seemed as though ahe would swoon, but, in spite of the intense pain, she was suffering, ehe persisted in going on with the part. Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria, who plays a violin in the opera, and is also a doctor, rendered first aid to the injured prima donna between the acts. Atter an absence from London of 15 months. 'Madame Tetrazzini was heard in London at the Crystal Palace on September 20, in conjunction with .Sir .T. H. Wood's Queen's Hall orchestra. An audience of 15.000 assembled to gTept the prima donna, who sang with remarkable brilliance and purity of tone. Her programme numbers were the Jewel Sons: from "Faust." the recitative and aria "Ah, fors p lvi' from "Traviaru." and '" The Last Rose of Summer " and "Home. Sweet Home."' Her florid Finding In particular was astonishingly fin..', and resulted in frenzied encores. At the conclusion of this engagement .nrad-a-me will go into the provinces arvd be absent from England for a considerable time as she will tour th-e United States and Canada. hoping to reach Francisco during fciic currency of the Espoeition.

David Popper, whose death was recently recorded in this column, was an accomplished pianist, as well as one of the greatest of the 'cellists. A number of his compositions are popular, and are much favoured by 'cello players. His solas for this instrument include " Papiflon," " Harlequin," " Warum." " Gavotte and Musette in D," " Menuet," and "Elfentanz," which is also played as a violin solo.. "Concert roionai.se." "'TaranI tella," and "Romance."' He also conposed a number of concertos, and tine well-known suite. "' Ira TV-aide." His daughter, the only child of his marriage with Sophie MenteT, the daughter of the 'cellist, Joseph Mer.ter, was educated in i France, where she still lives. | H-.irry Lauder, the famous Senttish | comedian, whose first tour of Australia I occurs next year, is the hero of a story |in which this alleged parsimonious habits I are held up to ridicule. The story goes ■ that Gus Elen. a London comedian, who | is arcirsed of bein-g canny, like his Scotch I contemporary, was much exercised re- ! garding Lauder's economical habits, and ! determined to see that worthy to learn j a few points about saving money. Po. I one night. Elen took a "bus to the house where Lauder was living, and, tbotnr'n ihe arrived comparatively early in the [evening, he found the building in darkness, but for a feeble glimmer of light in lan attic. Ascending the stairs to >!isi cover the source of the illumination. Elen 1 found Liuder in bed, reading by the ' light of a single can.De. Lauder welcomed him briefly, and when the other bad put the cause of his mission as eu\- ; iphatieally as possible, the great one : said: " Put out the candle, Gus, and 111 : tell you." : Richard Strauss has "the genius of 'self-advertisement." as Gerald Oumber- : land writes in the " Musical Times." ,'' With cold and deliberate calculation he 'courts the favour of the world by the most el.-vbo-ate and subtle trickery. . . . Everv work he has written since 'Em IfeJdenleben ' has contained some colossal piece of artistic impertinence which has aroused the animosity of musiclovers a" over the world, and which has secured hundreds of performances of .music which otherwise would have been heard only infrequently. The 'Domestie' Symphony had a baby and a bath; ' Electra ' had earnape and insanity; ' Salo-me ' contained a lady suffering from ! 'psychical disease: '' Rosenkavalier' was decorated with two bedrooms; 'Ariadne' : had an orchestra of sola instruments. ■ and so on. There is genius in each of these works, but there is also an e^ual i amount of charlatanism." ' At Leeds Festival this year the singers j included Mme. Edyth Walker, Misses ; Muriel Faster. Carrie Tubb. and Phyllis i Lett, and lleesre John Coates. Gervase i Elwes, Van Rooy, Robert Radford, and . Thorpe Bates, with Mme. Carrcno as solo pianist, and Mieeha El-man as solo ! violinist— a distinguished assemblage of artists! Chief amongst -the new i music was Sir Edward Elgar's symphonic ! study. "FaletalT." This work, while admitted to be immensely clever, is described by the London "Daily Telegraph" j critic as "bewilderingly complex, unI cannily resourceful, orchestrally speak- ! ing -and not infrequently ovcrpoweringly i resounding." | Mme. Eleonora de Cisneros, who bad ithe distinction of being amongst the star singers invited to appear at the Verdi j F"estiva! in Italy -this year, sang the role !of Ebol-i in "Don CaTlos." The only English artists invited were Mme. White, Miss -Maggie Tetye, and Mr Allan Hincki lev (ihe basso of great volume wbo was ' with the Qninlafl Company in Australia

I last year). I A musical item of considerable interest which has found its way into the programme of the promenade concerts at tbe Queen's Hall. London, is the introduction i and .lance from "King Harlequin" (act ,3), the opera by Mr GeoTge Clutsam | (formerly a resident of Auckland), which : created such a favourable impression on ■ ils first production in Berlin a year ago. Sir Henry Wood is the conductor. The Royal Wellington Choral Society this week produced the oratorio "Judas Maccab.ieus" with tbe following principals:—Mre Arthur Meade, of Christchurch (soprano). Mips Nellie Castle ntralto), Mr Harry Neil, of Sydney (tenor), and Mr Reginald Gooud, of I Sydney (baritone). i Says -Mr Arthur Hartmann, the American violinist:—'Trtim the very standpoint of health the ; jiger has an : advantage over the. violinist or pianist in that every process of his public perfonrranec. ie heatth-giving:. from his deep ' brc-athin? to the exercise of the d'rai phram, etc. The instrumental>Bt, on the 1 other hand, uses up all his nervous j energy in the performance, and oomes I out as limp as a wet rag." ! The French composer, Debussy, has : set a tenn : s game to music. The work . s a dance pantomime entitled "Jeux." I and it is being performed in London bv the Russian dancer, Niiinslcy. Soon we will no doubt h:ive a football opera bv Strauss. and in time it may even hapnen that Puccini will realise the operatic possibilities of billiards. It is recorded that Madame Clara Butt's first s'n<rng mistress, a Bristol lady, thought Lh.it as her pui.il could t-j'.-e high B, she T.i.tst be a soprano. However, she pventuallv consented to try the lady with a s-.f? j n a j 0 w key. One dav. while sins-it';, the "deep part." ■ a v;»rtor in an adjoining room remarked -.. Mrs Rtttt. "What 1 lovely voice your son has!" Fin.line; that the "nop" was a ; .i.ius'iicr. the visitor persuaded Mrs Butt j -..-. have Clara's voice properly tested bv a well-known authority on the voice.