MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 318, 3 October 1908, Page 12

MUSIC.

[Bi Trbdlk Ci.Kr.l < The Late Senor Sarasate. Tho eminent violinist Sarasate, whose death was announced in the cable messages this week, first appeared in - London in 1874, at tho concerts of the Musical Union, when he took tho metropolis by storm. He reappeared in tho following year, and for many years afterward. His tone, while uot of great volume, was of singular purity. In those days ho had a great mop of hair, a fact which, when Sarasato went across the Atlantic on his first tour of the United States, attracted tho attention of an American interviewer, who returned to his office and began his account of tho interview in characteristic terms: "Senor Sarasate, who arrived lately, appears to have lived in a climate where the price of shears is extremely altitudinous." One day, when he was taking a stroll through the streets of Madrid, Sarasate passed an old blind beggar playing tho fiddle. He stopped and listened, handing the old man a coin. "Don't you get tired of playing the fiddle all day long_!;i>e that?" he asked. "Indeed I do, senor,replied the beggar. "I hope sincerely you will never have to play tho fiddle 1" In the course of Sarasate's long career he received many honours from the crowned heads of Europo. The gifts showered upon him included a set of poarls from Queen Victoria, tlireo rings from tho Emperor Willielm I, a blue enamel watch from the Emperor Napoleon 111, a diamond ring from Dom Pedro, a portrait etched in gold from the Empress Augusta, and a set of diamonds from_ Alphonso XII. His playing brought him in an income of £10,000 a year and an enviable reputation. Onco when asked the secret of his success, Sarasate said: "Sis hours a day sincd I was 12." If that were true he must have been fiddling for nearly 120,000 hours. Sarasate, it is . 6aid,'.waß superstitious, and carried a mascot, without which, ho said, he could not play. It was a miniature violin case, about an inch in length, and made of silver. Insido. was a tiny violin, beautifully made in every detail, and a correct model of Paganini's favourite instrument, the Guarnerius. This was a gift from a friend, and , the violinist maintained that it had always brought him luck.' Though, as far as England and other parts of Europe were concerned, tho great violinist, never looked back, he was not so fortuuate in other countries. Once, in a Soutl\ American city, he was stranded after an unsuccessful turn. "What shall I do?" He asked of an admirer. "Teach," replied this friend, "and you will soon earn enough to pay your debts and your passage home." But nobody wanted_ to learn the violin. "Never" mind," said_ his accommodating adviser, ■ "teach singing." Of the technique; of vocal music Sarasato knew nothing, nor did he rejoice in the lightest shred of voice. But necessity knows no law. Accordingly, the violinist advertised and waited. At last a lady pupil appeared; Sarasate ingeniously producea his violin, and, with all tho assnrance in the world, played _ several vocal exercises. "There 1" he said confidentially, "sing like that." The strange part of it is that the pupil progressed- wonderfully, and brought such a sufficiency of friends to study "tho new method of voice production" that it was not long before Sarasa'to returned to Europe. The GhernlEvsklo. The last dozen years, have been remarkable for the largo number of precocious musical children who have come Defore the; public, many of them with a quite extraordinary measure of success. Franz von Vccsey,' May Harrison, Florizel von Itouter, and Miecha Elman, to say nothing of our own Leila Doublcday, have in turn attracted public attention and applause. And now we' have no fewer than threo boys, all of ono family, each of whom is an expert executant, in the three Cherniavskis, who gave their first Melbourne concert in the Town Hall on Saturday;, evening (says tho Melbourne "Argus" 'of September'2l). ■ «Thoy aro 'the sons'- ; of 'if' well-known Russian conductor, and were' born ■in Odessa. Leo, the violinist, is said to bo 16 yoars of age; Jan, tho pianist, 13) and Mischel, tho 'cellist, 12. They have been under tho best teachers in Europe—'fsayc, Leschetilzky, and David Popper—and their performance's are truly phenomenal. When one remembers tho astonishing power of muscular co-ordination which all children possess and exhibit in their rapid acquirement 'of articulate speech, it is not surprising that early and well-directed teaching should produce excellent technique in the playing of !any'instrument;' No doubt, if all children began to learn-the-violin at four or five yearsof age, and maao it their principal business, 75 per cent, of them would acquire an almost perfect technique by tho time they were twelve. What is really remarkable, about these boys is'.their gift of musical interpretation, which can hardly bo.acquired. The real musician, like the poet, is born, not made; but when the faculty is onco present' it is rather the rule than the exception that it 1 develops very early. It was so with, Handel, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and a' host of other composeis; and Joachim furnishes an example amongst executants. Assuredly these boys have that incommunicable essential of true airtistry,_ and, combined as it is in cach of them with extraordinary technical skill, it is no wonder that they pletely captured their audience on Saturday night. _. Those Terrlbfo Russian Names. Every, country has its own way of spelling Tchaikovsky's name. The spelling used in this journal is. nearly universal in England. For some inexplicable, reason tho American newspapers almost all spell it Tschaikowsky. That is the German way. Why use, the German way in a J newspaper printed in the English language? To the Germans, that, spelling indicates the correct pronunciation; to the American or Englishman, it does not. At best, we can get only an approximation to_ the original Russian, so it is foolish to mislead deliberately. Riemann, in his "Musik-Lexicon," has it Tschaikoffsky. The Bohemians make.it Cajovskij. His fourth "Symfonie" was conducted by "Vasilij 1 Safonov" on June 13 at one of the Prague Exhibition Concerts. "There was a tremendous ovation at the end," we read, "witli fanfares from the orchestra." It was tlio fourth . " Filharmonicky Koncert."—" N.Y. Evening Post." • . <

Notes. ' v Sir Julius Benedict's opera "The Lily of Killarney" was produced 1 by' the National Opera Company at Melbourne on September 19 with success. Tbe cast was as follows Eily O'Connor, Miss Aileen Hodgson; Danny Mann, Mr. Jay llyan; Nyles, Mr. Edward Wynn; Hardrcss, Mr. Wilson Pembroke; Mrs. Cregan, Miss Sara Vomer; Ann Chute, Miss Rosina Buckman; Father Tom, Mr;! &• H. Snazclle. Of Miss Buckman's performance tbe "Argus" said:—"Miss Eosina Buckman's Anil Cbuto was spirited, especially' in tho" hunting chorus and solo 'Tally-ho!' aiid 'No, no, this morning Hardrcss leaves.' The hit of the opera was Mr. Ryan's Danny Mann; Mr'. Snazelle's Father Toni was described as colourless. . Miss Irene Ainsley, tho Auckland singer with tbo London hall-mark, is making a conspicuously successful tour of the provincial towns. At New Plymouth nud Stratford she attracted the largest concert audiences known for years, and all' along tho line Miss Ainsley's splendid vocalisation has aroused the warmest enthusiasm, i The protegee of Melba returns to Wellington later on to give two concerts in the Concert' Chamber of tho Town Hall on October 13 and 15. Mr. Cyril Keightley, tho Australian nctor, will bo the leading man in the company that has been organised by Miss Billie Burke, which was to Commence a season ln ! New York on August 27 in a new play called "Love Watches." ! Miss Maggio M'Cann is having ; a successful tour through Canada. This 1 is. her third engagement in the Dominion. On tho conclusion of her Canadian engagement she contemplates a tour through Scotland and England prior to leaving for Australia.