TOWN HALL ORGAN RECITAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 135, 5 December 1917, Page 2

TOWN HALL ORGAN RECITAL

It^is .definitely, .■stated that for the future the Town Hall will be exclusively reserved on Tuesday evenings for organ recitals- by the City Organist. Mr. Bernard F. Page, and if this is'rigidly adhered, to-a considerable increase in the size of the audience may be confidently anticipated. The new arrangement wa"s inaugurated last night, when a fine programme' was brilliantly rendered in the presence of a small, but enthusiastic, gathering. The first number was the Concerto in E flat by Felton, an English composer of the eighteenth century, the old-world diatonic music providing an excellent introduction'- to the modern works which followed. The second piece was Blazounov's "La Nuit," the suggestion of the "thousand eyes" of the night being beautifully conceived by the composer and admirably carried'out by the performer. The next number was a charming lied by Wolstenhohne. This was followed by a prelude (No. 3 of Op. 16), by Scriabine, a morceau that for unalloyed loveliness would be difficult to match. It was enthusiastically redemauded, and lost none of ite charm in the repetition. The first half of the programme ended with an exceptionally fine rendering of an able transcription of "The Entry of the Gods into Walhalla," from Wagner's ."Das Rheingold." the atmospheric effects, the thunderous calls of the gods, the crash of Dormer's hammer, the rainbow, the cry of theßhein maidens, and the procession of the gods, all being represented with masterly effect. The second part.of the recital'consisted of two of Cesar Franck's works with which Mr. Page has'made us gratefully familiar—the "Prelude, Fngue, and Variation,"- and the ."Finale in B Flat'—the "infinitely tender, mystic, and graceful character^ of the former making a delightful contrast with the overwhelming forcefulness of the latter. The next recital takes place on Tuesday, 11th December.