MISS GARVEN'S CONCERT.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17936, 3 December 1923, Page 13

MISS GARVEN'S CONCERT.

Tho well-filled scats o? the Theatre Royal on Saturday night gavo proof of tho widelyepead interest in. Miss li.&thlcen Garven # return to our ooncert stage. From the first appearance ofthe gifted singer the exceptional quality of her voice was recognised and duly appraised. Experience and had yet to be sained. That more .extensive study was needed, if her ambition of gaining tho car of a wider sphere w<lj to bo realised, she clearly perceived and acted upon. The voice was therebut to ucquire and combine tho hundred ingredients necessary for mature artistio expression on tho #ta.se, not meroly personal advice of the best must bo sought, but alflo influences bo allowed to operate, "which may only be found in thatbig schoolroom without boundaries wo call the world. Tho fact remains that after a comparatively short interval, Miss Garven established her claims on tho platforms of such art centres a& London and Paris, obtaining flattering opinions in each and gratifying to lis. At tho renewal of our acquaintance on Saturday night it could hurdly be expected that the voice itself, which wo have Jinown from tho first, should cause surprise, fliuco it was fairly delimtely tset for food or ill bcioro her dcp-ariurc. iiut tile lniwcdiiito impression \y«uj, gamed 011 baturday of a vastly improved siil'i. in ixmtrol, in inanij)'-'' ulaiion aim modulatory' art, as it likewise advanced in emotional capacity. .Moreover, the freedom o£ movement on tno ctage, the raady facial responao to uho spirit ol tha woras, sup pot tea in her case by gestures, could be 'plainly perceived. And ad. tho»a attateuents aro valuablo acquisitions in buildiag up the prestige of a singer mid grout factors in determining her 6U.nda.rd. Hisa Garven presented an elaborato program©, including some operatic Axitse, in tho choice of wrhioh contraltos aro .amintably restricted if Gluck is left out. Compoaors worship in preference at tho shrino of sopranos. Among the fsw avaiiablo ariaa Handel's "Ombra ittai Fu" still serves well and was enthusiastically received. For their length the Cavalina and Aria from Meyerbeer's "Prophet" are not exorbitantly attractive, and tho Gavotte from "Mignon" ia little suitable for the deep voice. _ But tho field of ballad and song is unlimited and therefrom we heard some very fino specimens. When eongs iro bracketed together care should bo taken to introdtieo them in well-contra-atcd sequence. Tho chosen songs by Schumann and Brahma lacking tho olecent of decisive change fell rather short in effect from this cauac. On, tho other hand the French songs, particularly Reynaldo Halm's finely drawn 'D'un-e i'rison" and. 'L'Heuro ISxqui&e" ancl Go<lard's lovely "Jo souviens Tu" "tvoro better grouped and ranked with "Caller Herrin,' "Tho Three Fishers" and "Tho Wind and the Leaves," us her most conspicuously cffectivo interpretations. Sometimes a tendency towards over-refining obaoureo the voiie more than desirable. Miss Garven was moat flatteringly received and deluged with applause and floral gifts unending. Ab aocompaniste, Mias Tsellie Hayward proved reliable in tho main, excepting the "Almond Tree." Were sho less ansious she has it in her to do much better. A full share of the concert's attractions •was provided by Mr Ernwt Empson. One could have wished him in the performance of Chopin's "Fantuisie," tho benefit of a full-sized ooncert-grwnd sis tho weaker instrument could not do jusfice to his powers in tho dominantly martial iiud imposing work. But there followed a succession of delightful sensations wholly unmitigated. The elegance of the Chopin Valso, the forceful interpretation in Liszt's mighty transcription of tho "Erl Kin?;," tho tonal and expressive beauty of Schumann's "Romance" all merited equal praises. Tho charm oonveyed by dainty conception of D'Albert's "Scherzo" wis irresistible. Similarly he scored with the brilliant "Scherzo bv Moszkowski and the quaintly imaginative "Garden in the Rain" by Debussy, while Chopin's "Nocturno" in B revealed itself in all its e-weetness. Brilliantly toned outbursts of applause as they were, "that fell to his share, they imperfectly replaced the flowers strewing the path of liia lady associate. It is just one of tho many hardships man silently endures.