STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 22, 26 January 1924, Page 18

STAGE JOTTINGS.

An unpublished Schubert trio, for piano, violin and violoncello, has been discovered, and the manuscript deposited in the Municipal Library of Vienna. Written in 1812, it is now published, and, being of no great difficulty, -will be of especial interest to schools and amateurs who love this master's work. Ernest Van Dyck, who at the height of his career was the most eminent of Wagnerian tenors, died recently at Antwerp. For some years he had held the chair of dramatic singing in the Conservatoire of Brussels. He was the first to sing " Tristan" and " Parsifal" in many of the leading opera houses of the world, and for many years was one of the pillars of the Bayreuth Festivals. The Italian Committee of the International Chamber Music Festival at Salzburg during the first week of August withdrew Italian participation in the event. A letter signed by the composers, Alfano, Cassella, De Sabata, LMalapiero, Molinari, Pizetti and Kespighi, declares that 'In view of IMb large number of representative works submitted by Italian composers and the comparatively small number chosen for performance, unfair discrimination baa •been exercised against that country." One of the most striking features of the grand finale of the J. C. Williamson pantomime "Aladdin" at Melbourne Her Majesty's is the livin-j cliimdelier. A great sphere of glittering cut-glass is suspended in the centre, and sparkles with the light of a million jewels. Around it, suspended by silver chains, arc some of the loveliest girls ever seen on any stape. These girls wove selected by the producer of the pantomime as the finest for face and figure he had ever seen. Annie Hughes, who appears as Madame Denaux, in the brilliant drama "French Leave" at the King's Theatre, Melbourne, has a record that any actress might be proud of. She ha 3 been with the late Sir Henry Irving, Sir Charles Wyndham, Lewis Waller, and other well-known managers. She has appeared in almost everything from Shakespeare to "The Private Secretary." and has toured in four continents. She was in America for some years, and would not like to say which is her favour part, as she has undertaken so many. Maseagni is again busy on his opera, "Vistilia," Which he began when 18 years of age. The plot is drawn from a novel of Bocco De Zerbi which hae been done into a libretto by TargioniTorzetti, also the librettist of "Gavalleria Ruetieane." It is built about a passionate love story of the old Imperial Roman life. It ie interesting to know that for " Cavalloria Rusticana" the composer has received royalitcs in the sum of 2.500,000 lire; for'•lris," 1,700,000 lire; "L'Amico Fritz." 1,500,000 lire; and "Piccolo Marat," 1,000,000 lire. Miss Una Buddie, whose norn de theatre is Miss Una Dysart, achieved a striking success recently in Liverpool when she played the leading part in Joseph Conrad's play "Victory." In referring to that performance a wellknown English dramatic writer, under the heading of "Charm anXl Directness," said: "Anyone else but Miss Una Dysart would have converted the part of Lena into an absurd unreality. As it was she played with a charm and directness that made up for the shortcomings of the story itself- Miss Dysart is the possessor of a fascinating manner, a tine emotional discrimination, and a sound understanding of character delineation. Her acting last night was the outstanding feature of the production." iliss Dysart, who has been in England several yeara qualifying for her profession, is a daughter of Mr. ana Mrs. C. F. Buddie, of Auckland. Mr. E. J. Gravestock has secured the American tenor, Mr. Charles Hackett, for a tour of Australia and New Zealand, commencing in Sydney Town Rail on May 3. Although he has sung many times in New York, Mr. Hackett was not well known to the general public in Europe, and he took London 'by etorm when he made his first appearance in the Royal Albert Hall, London, in May last. After two or three appearances there, he sang as a "guest" artist for the British National Opera Company at Covent Garden. His debut in "La Boheme" packed the vast theatre, and he created a, remarkable furore: The "Daily Express" headed its article, "Best Tenor Since Caruso," "Triumph of Charles Hackett." The "Daily News." "The American Caruso." "Triumph at Covent Garden." The London "Star" said "A Wonder Tenor at Covent Garden." The London "Daily Telegraph" said, "Mr. Charles Hackett was one of the outstanding Rodolfos of his time. His voice is magnificent in ', timbre, of the Caruso type indeed; it | is used with consummate ease, his mezzo voce beinj; of especially- lovely oiiaHtv. and he was altogether most convincing. In point of fact, the enormous audience for once forsrot it=plf in it« enthusiasm, and compelled Mr. Hackett to bow some half-dozen times at the close of the Poet's song in the first act. It was a generous gift of Mr. Hackett to help iso substantially the good cause of opera >in English." Mr. Hackett will be supI ported by Brntza, the brilliant young i Serbian violinist, who has made a big ! name for himself in England. Post-war reconstruction regulations in British Columbia are having a decidedly ] I disastrous effect upon certain phases of Western Canadian life. Some years ago this part of the British Empire imposed ! a tax on amusements that called for ; the payment into the Provincial Treas- | . ury of* 10 per cent of the gross receipts of all places of amusement within the province. The owners of theatres, concert halls, moving-picture houses, ball parks and hockey rinks, now declare that if the tax is not reduced to 5 per cent the entire nmusement industry of British Columbia is likely to collapse to the serious hurt of all other provincial interests. The associated amusements, in a memorial, assert that the Columbia theatre circuit, handling fourteen houses in the province, has gone into bankruptcy. The Allen theatres have followed ! ; *uit. The Empress Stock Company and J three of their successors have been put I out of business. The Orpheum theatre in Vancouver for the past three years has suffered losses that run into six figures and has been forced to cut its ! show to half a week. The Capitol ! theatre in Victoria, shows a net loss on two years' operations of 42.000 dollars. One of the leading moving-picture theatres in Vancouver, whose shareholders are practically all .British Columbia people, has paid no dividends for two years, and in fact last year showed a net loss of nearly 10,000 dollars. Professional baseball is a thing of the past. The hockey interests art seriously contemplating moving out of I tlie province.