MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 948, 15 October 1910, Page 9

MUSIC.

i: ■ . : ' ■ ' ; (Br. Treble Clef.) y Municipal Orchestra,.; .'lt. is with.:'sheer delight that' I note that Mr. J. Jlaughan Barnett has fixed oii .October 20' as. the date of the first concert to bo given by the'newly-formed municipal' orchestra.:\ .In this prosaic age_ it was. naturally'-a difficult! matter, to induce the. City Council- as a body to accept what appeared to be from almost every .point of "view" an opportunity to municipalise 'orchestral music in' Wellington." It, is,-unfortunately in some instances, the. age,'.of. muriicipalisationiand nationalisation, ,but :to extend a 1 friendly'"tentacle to anything savouring- of artseldom■_comes , .within the. scope of ' the ' activities ■of our local bodies. Yet. in. Wellington thero was an j. admirable opportunity. •' For - years orchestral music - ■ ill .Wellington, had been dead or moribuild-r-killed ,by indifferent management, petty:'jealousies,, ■and - .the.; usual circumstances ;,ovor which ■ nobody -appeared'tov'.have. arty.' control.. Mr.: Maughan- Barnett having been_ appointed City Organist probably had it forced -.on-- him that organ music alone' did not attract the bull: of the music-loving.'.people that lie desired to reach,- and having read of municipal orchestras in' Europe'-- at'-.longth proposed: that a start should be made hero.. He ..laid; his "plans carefully, secured reliableguarantees''that' practically ' relieve ,-the :council .of -all monetary, risk tor ..at least a -year, and after answeiy ing .'all , objections raised, by doubters, and: -securing; thci hearty corporation of all really interested -in 'music, ; .'thc-.'prb-; posal;;-. to 'an. orchestra : was passed .'by- the council. The first- concert should ib'e-'aii'important" event, for this; will, be, ijhe first municipal orchestra in. Australasja, i and,- -the -eyes -of every liocalvbody will, be.pn, Wellington-,to see how' "this, lapse • inW the artistic"' will, t'urri'out. -i: PijrsonaUj,.' can-; not-.f4il. , :':,Qfc)iestral':^musiq-ranks .next .Sheavi[si<)f. : .works',■;ofstlie i (pitvest .'.delight?,: by ; '.;;ai;v pro'perly-constitutqd.ii, .orqhe'irti'av andi,theso]liaVo 'necessarily, beon [unheardiir -Wellington; for. - over, a' decade:; ' In the' meantime other . composers' -of ■ orf oliest-ral: music •'■;liav6'' , opin»';-pn I i? but 'we' know them not. "'lt is to be. hoped;that Mr:" Barnett!'ivill! 1 . later; .bn,-.'gi vo ! ..us 'a : ;y(# • liermit ■; ,<>F meyitajble r-.i*ison; with v ''the ; gloriouscompany of ' old masters;": 1 , ,';Ui ' ! j -wr-';- 1 h' Spencer Lorraine's pupils. ;• v : i ', Those/ interested in vocal instruction .will,'';be'Vinterested* to learn that Mr. Spencer' .Lorraine,' 4 the* talented, London teacher, who has been ' 'domiciled' in .Wellington' for -the" past'., yeair, has been persuade4/.into ."giving" a. 'conqertj -at which;'the ; cream i-of.-his local pupils will, appear., 'Mr-i'Lorrains has been wbrking. very; hard, .but; a'lmosV^ 1 as quietly', as' a, on- . Eiome very -likely,, materiali. aiid'one anticipate some vocal knowledge,' I' can speak in- praise-; of (Mr'. Lorraine's method, well/awai'e of tho 'imprpvemeiit which, hei has effected irt, several- amateur 'vocalist's .''of my '^acquaintance—in production'. andV interpretation/.particalarly.- Among'those .who may contribute, willprobably . bo Miss, May "Newman, Miss Lyons,, Miss Fernandez,' and Mr. Ernest Parkes. The concert is almost sure to be a. success. America's Great Prima Donna. "!Now that all the'returns are m from b the Mozart! Festival' ill ■ Salsburg," ' writes "Musical America," "0110 fact that stands out from the rest -is the unanimity of the tributes paid'tu Geraldine Farrar by tho bevy of critics pre'sent." Arthur Neisser, in his 'review of "the "Don Giovanni" performance in the "Allgenieino Musik-Zeitung," refers to her as'-Masetto's; "mcistcrpartnerin, tho incomparable Geraldine Far- : rar, the- very best Zerlina that wo iiow' possess; By l virtue of her glowing: temperament, she emphasises the Spanish blood in this beautiful- alluring peasant girl in a captivating manner." Tho "Frankfurter Zeitung" refers to her "simply delightful (ganz kostliche) Zerlina." In the Paris "Gaulois," Louis Schneider declares that "if Mme. Leh:mannwas tho queen of,this occasion, Miss Farrar, was tho princess. In her acting she - brought out deliciously tho flirtations! vexation of Zerlina. She . sang exquisitely. Her voice; was soothing, caressing,'her manner resigned and 'mischievous at the same time, : -a musical smile one might ' call her singing; there was in it' an assurace,. a seductiveness which amounted to enchantment. And what realism in her accents, what, truthfulness in her dramatic expression!" Famous Old Violins Discounted. Are the old Italian instruments overrated? Tho other .day Pablo Casals invited an audiencc consisting of Parisian violoncellists and teachers, and played the same piece on twelve different instruments, six of them by Stradivarius, Guarnerius,-•Gagliani, and six by a modern French maker, none of these six" being over twenty-five years old. After him, the 'cello virtuoso, Loovcnsohn played' another piece on the same twelve instruments.. Tho auditorium was pitch dark.' - Tho judges, guided by their ears alone, -gave the modern instruments 1484 points, as. against -883 for the Italian, although the prico asked for these aggregated .30,000 dollars, .while the six French 'cellos cost oiily 800 dollars. Saint-Saens wrote' the text, as well as tlie music of his latest opera "l)e----janire," which lie lias just completed, and which" has already been secured for the Royal Opera in Berlin.