THE MUSICAL WORLD

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 202, 23 May 1936, Page 23

THE MUSICAL WORLD

By

C.J.M.

Stray Notes. - The Royal Christchurch Musical Society, in response to many requests by music-lovers, decided recently to repeat its performance of “Merrie England” next month. Ruth Scott, who is on a health recuperating visit to her home in Auckland, has recovered sufficiently to take up singing again. She expects to return to Sydney shortly to resume her professional career. ■Word has been received from Trinity College. London, by Miss Theo. Halpin that Miss Edna Bunting has been awarded the 1936 Higher Local Examination for New Zealand. This promising young Auckland pianist also won the Auckland medal at the Trinity College examinations last year. The April number ot "Music in New Zealand” discusses a question asked in a recent examination paper: “Could you justify to the musically conservative the compositions of the last 30 years, either in aim or in accomplishment?” Mr. L. D. Austin, a frequent contributor, has an article on “Leopold Godowsky and His Miniatures”; Mina Langley writes about “Syncopation” ; there is “A Page for String Players,” by Reg. Sutton and Grace Kennedy; Harison Cook has contributed a most interesting account of how Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” was produced as an opera by the MoodyManners Opera Company in Liverpool on February 21, 1912. “London Concerts” are described by Trevor Fisher, and there are a few notes about musical activities in Dunedin and Wellington. Boy Prodigy. A. boy prodigy, who at 13 is already hailed as a second Yehudi Menuhin—he knows every violin concerto by heart —made his appearance in England recently, when he played at the annual dinner of the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund at the Savoy Hotel, London. Born in San Francisco of RussianAmerican parentage, this child wonder, rJriQhn rjnlnhnff <rvnvn hie firef- pnttPPl’T

Boy Prodigy. A. boy prodigy, who at 13 is already hailed as a second Yehudi Menuhin—he knows every violin concerto by heart —made his appearance in England recently, when he played at the annual dinner of the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund at the Savoy Hotel, London.

Born in San Francisco of RussianAmerican parentage, this child wonder, Grisha Goluboff, gave his first concert at the age of five. Three years later “hearers gasped at his genius” when he played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

A thin, serious little boy, with a heavy fringe of brown hair and a low, husky voice, Grisha is allowed to give only one performance a month.

One critic said of him: “He has a faultless technique, and plays with the assurance and depth of feeling of a man with 40 years’ experience behind him.” While Grisha was in Paris in 1932 President Lubrun attended all his performances. At the fund dinner the British-born baritone, Tomasini, who has a big reputation in Italy and the United States, made his first appearance in England. Opera Queen Retires.

Lucrezia Bori sang her farewell to opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, last month. In the building she loves, the soprano ended a carere of 28 years and an association of 26 with the Metropolitan Opera itself. It was an occasion of glamour and sentiment. The entire personnel of the Metropolitan Opera Association joined with a distinguished capacity audience in honouring the woman who has done more than anyone else in the company that the institution might live. Even more significant was the

tribute they paid to Lucrezia Bori the artist. Respect and affection for oue of the outstanding personalities of the Metropolitan’s history were the keynote of the evening. The thought was uppermost that the an revoirs were for an artist who united within herself unusual gifts: a voice of plastic and subtle beauty, penetrating musicianship, warmth and emotion as an actress, and the vigour, tact and spirit to make for leadership off the stage. Miss Bori sang only twice during the evening—at the beginning and the end. First she appeared in the second act of “Traviata” as the Violetta, whose joy and sacrifice Miss Bori makes profoundly touching. At the conclusion she was the pleading, irresistible Manon in the St. Sulpice scene of Massenet’s opera. A Local Prodigy. It was my privilege and extreme good fortune to have a special audition of this marvellous little musical prodigy Alan Loveday, who hails from Palmerston North, and has just reached his eighth birthday, writes Mr. L. D. Austin in “Music in New Zealand.’ Standing on the stage of the De Luxe Theatre, he played, from memory, the following items: —Mazurka de Concert (Musin) ; Cappricieuse (Elgar) ; Theme and Variations (Corelli-Kreis-ler) ; Scherzo-Tarantelle (Wieniawski) ; Ronde des Lutins (Bazzini). All these were executed with consummate ease, almost impeccable intonation, and an air of musicianship and general mastery that one usually associates only with the mature artist. It will be an act of negligence, amounting to culpable folly, if steps are not taken by New Zealand musical enthusiasts to secure for this wonderful boy a thorough European training. A Visiting Examiner. Practical R.C.M. examinations this year will be conducted by Mr. Michael Head throughout New Zealand. Mr. Michael Head, A.R.A.M., is the son of a London barrister and journalist. He showed signs of musical talent at an early ago, and in 1919 entered the Royal Academy of Music, winning the Sir Michael Costa Scholarship for composition, which he held for five years During this period he studied composition, piano, organ and viola, winning many prizes, including the Charles Lucas medal for orchestral writing. In 1925 he was appointed to the staff of the Royal Academy of Music as a professor of pianoforte. Mr. Head has given recitals in London, the West Indies and Canada, and has appeared at the Queen’s Hall and other London concerts. He hag also broadcast frequently, singing groups of his own songs to his own accompaniment. In 1929 he adjudicated at the first musical competition festival in Kingston, Jamaica, and paid a return visit there for the festival of 1933. Mr. Head’s principal publications are his songs, many of which are well known. His unpublished works include a pianoconcerto (performed at the Royal Academy of Music centenary celebrations, and since broadcast and performed in England and South Africa), a tone-poem and a scherzo for orchestra.

Mr. Head has for some years been an examiner for the Royal Schools of Music in the United Kingdom, and on their behalf Ims examined in Canada and the West Indies.—“ Music in New Zealand.”