WORLD OF MUSIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 147, 23 June 1928, Page 9 (Supplement)

WORLD OF MUSIC.

PLAYS AND PLAYERS.

from FAR AMD NEAR.

(By ORPHEUS.)

Mr. Edwin Dennis has been appointed tSSSZ 01 tle ™

tioi ?t° r strS e !f is „ in course of formation at Stratford. Mr. J. C. McDowall of the Technical College, is doin« the' organising work. °

r> rtni e£ p re the R °y al Wellington Choral Union's "Elijah" concert the committee found it necessary to close THpv n J ißt of honorary 7 They now have a waiting list.

Miss Amy Evans and Mr. Fraser Gange have been engaged by the N apior Chora l Society to sing the soprano and baritone solos respectively in Bach's Peasant Cantata" on June 28.

With the arrival of Miss Molly Wright last March a gap has been filled JI 1 , , „ ra °k ß of Auckland musicians. lUe cello has received very little attention in the past from students in this city, who for the most part have preferred the more ostentatious charms of the violin, and consequently teachers have been few. Miss Wright studied in Manchester for four years under Carl Fuchs, and for a similar period

under Walter Hatton, and also under Brodsky. She has played under Sir Hamilton Harty, and has given recitals in Manchester. As everybody knows, Miss Wright is a member of the trio of IYA, where she has more than fulfilled expectations. She was for a time the 'cellist at the Manchester Broadcasting station, and is a graduate of the Royal Manchester College of Music.

Shnra Cherkaesky, who passed through Auckland this week, will commence hia Australian tour under the direction of E. J. Gravestock, Limited, on Saturday next. This extraordinary young artist has been playing before the public since he was nine years old, and when he was eleven years he had a repertoir& of over 200 pieces, which included the standard classics, among them the best-known Beethoven sonatas, a large number of Chopin works and various miscellaneous pieces that go to make up the repertoire of a famoue pianist. To-day his repertoire includes nearly 400 compositions.

Mr. Len Barnes has resigned the conductorship of the Wellington Terrace Congregational Choir. The Bohemian Orchestra, at its next concert on July 5, is repeating its experiment of last year with the jtmior violin choir. We can think of nothing better calculated to encourage the younger instrumentalists of the town e ' r studies It is just possible th&t on this occasion a sextet may be arranged by Mr. Colin Muston, chosen from these junior players. •Mr. John Bishop, the conductor of the Royal Wellington Choral Union, brought a sheaf of six batons on to the platform with him at the "Elijah* 'concert. He managed to break three of them during the course of the evening. Mr. Bishop is training a choir of boys to assist in Berlioz's Damnation of Faust" at Wellington in September. "He is also reorganising and strengthening the orchestra. of the Choral Union with the intention of developing it into a really first-class combination.'

There appeared in a local paper the other dayman advertisement for gramophone records, in which Mr. Ernest McKinlay was described as "possibly the greatest tenor New Zealand has produced." The writer has the greatest respect for Mr. McKinlay, and also for his voice, which is a very good one indeed. But surely, in his zeal for peddling his wares, the advertiser forgot to mention others, the late Mr. Tom Jackson and Mr. Philip Newbury? Those who remember Newbury at his best will be under no illusions. The writer has heard wiser men than himself describe Newbury as the greatest tenor, homegrown or otherwise, who ever appeared on a concert platform in Australasia. A tall claim, but one which those who heard him sing will, in the majority of cases, uphold.

Benno Moiseiwitch has had a most successful Auckland season, and con- ~ eludes his visit to-night with a programme that is an admirable blend of classical and modern compositions. Moiseiwitsch has made an irresistible appeal to Aucklanders by reason of the virility and delicacy erf his interpretations; he has dared to differ from other pianists in his conception of the old masters and his candidly original work has delighted his hearers. Messrs. J. and N. Tait had the utmost confidence in the methods of Moiseiwitsch, and when they engaged him for an Australian and Zealand tour, they realised that they were bringing to our isolation from the world's musical centres, one of the foremost pianists of the day whose name stands high in an art that has too few exponents of the calibre of Moiseiwitsch. Auckland will bid a reluctant farewell to the popular. young pianist.

Mr. Victor Stea,r, who lias been appointed musical director of the new Tudor Theatre, at Remuera, has ha 3 a varied career in musical circles. Mr. Stear received his early training in London, and this was followed by a two years' course in orchestral playing at the R.N. School of Music, Portsmouth. Later, Mr. Stear enlisted as a bandsman with the Royal Marines, and afterwards toured Italy, Greece, and the near East. He played at Kiel at the opening of the Kiel Canal by the Kaiser, in July, 1914. After. service with the battle cruiser fleet during the War, he was in charge of the orchestra of H.M.s. Victory, Lord Nelson's old flagship, for the Trafalgar celebrations of 1919, and was subsequently musical director at the Royal Pier, Southsea, and at Victori.i Theatre, Southsea. During Lord Jcllicoe's tour of the world Mr. Stear was pianist aboard H.M.s. New Zealand. He has been a musical director in Auckland I theatres for the past seven years.