DISTINGUISHED VISITORS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 291, 2 September 1908, Page 5

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS.

INTERVIEW WITH MR. AND MRS. : MALLINSON. Mr. and Mrs. Mallinson, who aro giving a song recital hero to-night, are not strangers to New Zealand. Sixteen or seventeen years ago' Mrs. Mallinsou lived for a year in Auckland, and it was in Duncdin that Mr. Mallinson married her. "I have always loved New Zealand," said Mrs. Mallinson, who came horo from Copenhagen, -'und when I went to live in Melbourne 1 always spent, three months' vacation o;ich year in your country." It was during ono of theso holiday trips,that she becamo engaged to Mr. Mallinson, and they were married at Duncdin. Ino brido sang the Danish wedding hymn at the conelnsion of tho ceremony, and the bridegroom accompanied her on tho organ, lhey .spent their honeymoon at the Lakes, and always remember with amusoraent that when they went to Paradise they were shut in by the heavy rains for iivq days. From Melbourne they wont to England and then they have travelled frequently, giving concerts in Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Copenhagen, tho Danish provinces,, and London. At a series of four recitals given in London last year over eighty of Mr. Mallinson s songs were heard. . , " .Mr. Mallinsoii's distinguished career as organist and composer is cquallod ' by . that of his wife, who is by many of her countrymwi regarded as their finest singer. ' Their homo is now in Dresden,'and from thoro they mako their tours, travelling in a leisurely way, never giving more than two concerts a.week, enjoying their work with, all their heart, and loving it far too much to spoil it with-rush andnasto. ■ ■ It may be that for months at. a tirno. Mr. Mallinson composcs ; .no new songs, and. then whiin the silence of thoso months is entleij the new compositions come quickly, several of them ono after another. Ho does not reckon that those idle months are fruitless, tor all the timo tho ideas havo boon maturing, to corno to life. Mr. and Mrs. Mallinson tako their i work seriously,. not solemnly; but with a veiy high conception of the artist, s calling, a ooncoptionthat Mrs. Mallinson confesses has developed with the years. ■> In setting exquisite poems to exquisite music Mr. Mallinson. has always aimed at interpreting the wholo meaning of tho poot, the thought that lies between the lines as well as that which has been expressed, and in singing theso songs it is Mrs. Mallinson s desire to give to the audienco that combined, thought of poet and musician in its fullest; meaning. She feels, that whatever' she is singing, whether it is a joyous little song or a sad ono, slio has a distinct message to give to her audience. It is not her mastery of her voice that sho wants l them ■to'-adihire,-but ■that through her mastery she shall be able to convey-to-.them unchanged tho subtlest thought. Sho, does not like singing in a hall as large as our Town Hall. That may be well enough for oratorio or OTchostral, .but when the , thought inHho music is so tender and intimate'that -the singer /must bo in 1 close, tonch with the mind of cach mombcr nv the audience!then they must have a.smaller hall, and Mr. and Mrs. Mallinson aro both charmed with the Concert Hall, whero their, two concerts are to bo given...