MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 98, 18 January 1908, Page 13

MUSIC.

(By Treble Cuzt.) 1 , '' A Plea for (he Pianola. ' ! There is food for thought. (Bays JSnglislf ;s 'Truth") m tho statement recently pub- <. that; uithm.tho, Inst twelve months .over . a.. lnn]drcd,.tl]ousaiul piano-players I liftv.o bcpu imported, hi to: this .country; Here, v,:w.!' |at all evonts ( is no threatened trado or dying , .- nidus ti 3. YfjtjWhcn tho-piano-pliiycrfirstj appeared thero fteto plottty who declared that'r-;:;k Its leigu would bo Bhort lived, and that m-< struments. of this kltul would never-acliip.vc. ■ ' anythiliji. liko poimanont popularity: MU'I'O are Kcorcs of dilf oi'ent mnkos: of* thesO '- 1 -' . machines, and tho industry which they ro-; ■ -i' has attained < eiiormous > dimGnsioliß. : ' v -: Iticvo is lib doubt, indeed, that a vast amount .of .cant ■ is. uttered on tho subject ofi ■ ss tnoso hibcliniical aids to pidlio pfiiying. SW'o ® a .'l/t'heni soulless contrivances, ' tallt" • l with derision of 1 music by machinery," and so oil, but, what, after all, is tho amliof all'. piano players,, aliko, human and mechanical ?. .'.-ft.« piano-player, : of, tho - future, may bo as:. superior m its etpressue possibilities to its nninau n\als as it jg-alrcAav.<tO'OM''Md v aUi'F'>°^ , >'- •oyen iv.Godowslsy or.a Rosenthal, m the mftbirw©' tor of more technique. • ;'lho absurd' luistako'i ■ . isi. bin uys rnado, moicovci- l _..when the pi:Wit>-' .limyoi .ls.rdiscjissed, of comparing its'rosults,' not.withi.thos.e of tho average human pianist,' ' lml\ with tho ptrformances of tho greatest professional petitioners Undoubtedly, if all pianists oould play as.Well-aS Godowsky- of Do I dchnianii, thefo would,be less, occasionor tho, pmnola and its like Udfoitunately, however,, tho avorago.-pmmst is liot so gifted.; ' It is sometimes fiiglled, again, that ululei listening ; to music is all very, well; it is,better K' still to tiy to play it, evou if impcifectly but ■ this surely tells ih"favour; of: the piano-' ■ {ihyei rather thali against it Mofcart, it 1 < maj bo femombortd, wroto ono of his most 1 I' .oxfjimito cdmposll ions for a mUsical-bo\. /) . d 9 hot some,of. the-l&ttor-xlay.composera'' -V / lmitato his, exauiplo, ; and -givo us some com- ■' J positions equally enhancing for the piantM V piaytjf i Tj

| Alberto Zolmart. I I. Signor Alberto Zelman died Very suddonlyj •: - 3 I ,M t' lo ' usual- grotesques •"•• I in Wen s inUMc shop doorway, on the l3lock, ' f!I7 11g ?A m()rnm g Was found dead in Ins * S bcu Zclm.ni was tho quaintest; of Mel- I bourne s many cfidciitrics , All tho conno - 1 artisfaihavohad a cut at lnni, but even Will' • ! Wsoh cbuldn t.- caricat-uro • linn, because l tho' ■' ■ ' old man Wig so much "over tho odds" that i ho nas a cancaturo m hiinsolf, and art couldi no .further go. Ho -woro a mass neglected hair and whiskers,. on top of which vr-is perched a' 'small,. dusty felt;iint that soemcdijv ? : s to have-been - forgOtteii ;- his clothes - weto neven^''' --i Im trcuseis advertised "no con- ; iicction with. his*, vest,.., -Alberto• usually earned his hands dipped Under tho ivaisti ■oaiiu of. his pants, liko a- conscio'ntibui"mein--;'y .i'? society. On ono tremendous occasion-,an effort -was mado tto crowd' the ■old. niusiciau i into a . new frockeoat and 'a! - - ' glossy bolltopper, but ho resisted violently. n?tf^V^ S0 ) u f grTod.-" Zclman-no, ; Tho Coming Event. ' ' tho coming week the native-born" ? are to liavo another opportunity of hearing 5 a world-famous vocalist sta.'-or, rather, tno " \ World-famous stars, for Mr. Kennerlev Rumfora s reputation is also great at Homo as a' i light baritone As tho years roll on tho ' 1 enteinnso of theatrical management enables ■'! ' -1 A®! to make acquaintance with ' - artists -whoso;'art,. through -intervening , dis- '-■■■■'■ ■' tancp, has beta merely a name,-and probably before : very long there mil,', bo . few of tho i greatest singers whom people in this country j will.have to admit they hoard. And w'fcn/.PPPJ'Iat expectancy!'Ksrts; warlike it' -4 takes little ; count' ob-t stacles as guinea and.'half-guinealulunssion' leos.,n e had a demonstration of this tluriiia : '■ ' .of ■ the booking '• | oHicc; people leaving their beds ' early and V ' '.rushitig along liioney, iiuliaiid.V Tlic r 'sequ6l A!!' -it ,' i( t ii^JiiiflbubiJvVin. • v"- a crowded hall on Tuostky ' night.- As , to thoy artists themselves it, will .be in- 5 teresting id readers'perhaps .'to give a list of > the songs-, which, so far tney havo.sUng oil their presciit tour: Madame Clara Butt's great: song: is Liddlo's "Abide with me," i:. •- which was specially;'arranged for her, and '- ' which has organ;.accompaniment-. She has . : .v; also siing Goring -Thomas's recitative "My Heart is weary'' (Nadosda), -"Oh rest in tho Lord" (Elijah); tho.'"Lost Chord," a liltlo cradlesong. "My- Treasure" (Trevalsa), '! ' Dmwitcs Bu Styx" (Oluck's groat aria), a Bralim .tl'iflo (Wicgonlad); and filgar's "iJand of Hopo and Glory," Mr., Kenncrley Rum- i fPr!-?. ?'. m " Clay's dramatic composition ! The bands of Dee," "Tho Yeomen of Kng- i land, '■ "Kmg Charles,'-, "The Little Red lfox"—.all .popular; items—and the ; old rol- I hcker Off to. Philndolphia." He has also > givbn."Largo al Factotum," from Rossim'a . r.l "111 Barbiero,;' and "When Swallows Homeward Fly."The two artists have delighted Austrahaii aiulienncs also with . the duets "Maying!',and' "Tlifc .Kcys of Heaven." iv Madame Patti. . A year ago (states a,London paper of No» ■' vcniber 30' last), almost to the very day, tha Albert Hall Wa3 tho sceno of a memorablo • farewell, when Adelina Patti, tho idol of the '1 public for more than 40 years past, tefiiii-; ; ijated a public career of exceptional bril-> ■V; liance. Last night this marvellous singer : i came forward onco more. .It is not only by : 5 tho memory of Jicr past triumphs that Mriio.! ■, ] l'atti, is held in -such warm esteem by tho • ; public. As lior voice rang through tho Al- : bert Hall, the placo where sho has so often , J charmed-immense audiences and sent them" ~ i away ..enraptured, in. one of her most cele- ■; ' brated, arias'— the "Angels, ovor bright and' fair" of Handel—it was indeed difficult to 3'i realiso how.many years it is since .this „ : j divinely gifted singer was at tho zenith of 1 her powers. Her omotional feeling is prei cut ' still in a high degree, and, if her highest \ notes lack a little of their bell-like resonance, - ' '• there remains the easy production, the finish' of style, and a doxon other qualities that v-J make her a siiwer of a generation, and which time apparently cannot t-ako away. : As bright and as young-looking as ever," in palo pink satin and a blaze of diamonds on her <A corsage, Mine. Patt i - responded to her enthusiastic reception with simple grace and pi unalfcctcd charm of manner, and sang an- i;i other old favourite, "Pur lj>icesti," in a way i 7' that, whilo i it delighted her hearers, was a y 1 fine education in the/art of beautiful sing* • ■ Tho "March King." ■ , Mr. John Philip Sousa, whose illness is causing a great deal of anxiety, is not, as is generally supposed, an American,, for his father was a Portuguese and his mother a- • Bavarian. Sousa's real name was John Philipso, but ho found this awkward, and determined to chango it for something mora American.- For a long -time he could not think of n suitable, name, until a friend of- I his hit upon a brilliant suggestion. Notic-' ' ing on tho _ musician's luggage tho words "John Philipso, U.5.A.," ho" advised tho V dividing of tho name "Philipso" and the add- ■' ;j ing of U.S.A. to tho last syllable, which gave ' the now famous names •' of "John Philip J Sousa." Sousa has toured all over the world with his famous bund, having visited Canada, Franco, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Russia- 1 Denmark, Austria, ami the United and has naturally had many strange oxperi-' dices. Once, on his nrriyal in St.' Petersburg, he was somewhat mortified to find tho town placarded with tho name of some rival. ; Wherever ho went he saw the name CVZA 1 -'"'"' in huge letters on all tho hoardings, and : i romonstratod with his advertising agent be- - 1 cause he could not see any of ins own bills 1 about. Afterwards it turned out that 3 "C.vza" was tho Russian way of spelling Sousa, and his reception by his audioncoa moro than compensated for the curious error. As a very small bov. tho future March King showed a marked talent for nnisic, and he was only eleven when he mado bis ))übl ; c debut. Ho appeared in tho role of i violinist, and he was not an overwhelming '" , '- success. Tho perfornianco was given at a lunatic asylum, and the future composer wis '' j so extremely nervous that ho could not do ' himself justice. "It seemed to mo," he, said - i afterwards, "that there wore about two mil- / : lion pooplo \n the room." llalf-way throii 'h his porformanco he was soiw.d with yf bad attack of stage-fright that ho broke down out-iroly and fled from tlia' ' . - , ■>