CLEMENT MAY RECITAL

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 29, 29 October 1928, Page 15

CLEMENT MAY RECITAL

SUCCESSFUL ENTERTAINMENT. In connection with the National Art Gallery and Museum Fund, an enjoyable Dickens recital was given in the Concert Chamber on Saturday night by Mr. Clement May, assisting artists being Mr. Leon de Mauny (violinist), Mrs. Wilfred Andrews (vocalist), and Mr. Frank Thomas (at the piano). Mr. May's make-up was excellent, and his characterisation m the Dickens sketches was quite good, the ten extracts given being: A portrait study of the author; “The Artful Dodger, from Oliver Twist; “Uriah Heep,” from David Copperfield; “Wilkins Micawber, from David Copperfield; “Nell’s Grandfather," from the Old Curiosity Shop; “Sydney Carton,” from The Tale of Two cities; “Wackford Squeers,” from Nicholas Nickleby; “Dan’l Peggotty," from David Copperfield; “Fagin the Jew,” from Oliver Twist; “Scrooge,” from A Christmas Carol. In addition, Mr. May gave two recitations, Appleton’s “The Woman Who Understands” and “Karl the Martyr,” by Willis. The vocal items of Mrs. Wilfred Andrews, “Silent Moon," by Vaughan Williams, and “Thine Only,” by Carl Bohn, and the violin studies of Mr. Leon de Mauny, Vieuxtemps’s “Ballad Polonaise,” Massenet’s “Meditation, from “Thais.” and Kriesler’s “Liebestraume,” were also much appreciated by the audience, and the three artists were all encored. Mr. Frank Thomas was an able accompanist. In a short speech at the commencement of the recital, Mr. May referred to Dickens's detractors, who, he said, were merely endeavouring to make names for themselves by assailing one of the greatest names in our literature. In his opinion the characters from Dickens which he was about to portray would long outlive the memory of these individuals.