CHAMBER CONCERT

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 113, 15 May 1930, Page 5

CHAMBER CONCERT

THE WELLINGTON PLAYERS

.Their first, concert of the season was given last'evening at the Concert Chamber by.-tlie Wellington Chamber' Music Players. The programme , consisted of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Dr. Frank. .Bridge, and ~ three , Elizabethan songs. ' In point of numbers the audience was'disappointingly small, but the fact did not appear to damp the spirits of the performers or the ardour of their listeners " On the face of it the instrumental part of the programme in its entirety sug■gested ah immense amount of work tor the performers, and all for a brief hour, and a half ot artistic .'.entertainment, but irom the' manifest pleasure with which the works' were; received arid from the enthusiasm with . which . they were, performed it would appear that the players themselves felt their labours were adequately rewarded. Those who took part in the instrumental numbers were Messrs. Leon'' de Mauny (first violin), Desmond Lavin (second violin), tfrank Crowther (viola), Claude Tanner ('cello), and Mme. de Mauny (pianoforte). The works undertaken were Quartette for, pianoforte and strings, No. 1, in Gr'minor (Mozart), Quartette in F major, Op. 18, No. 1 (Beeth-oven),-Trio'(violin, 'cello, and pianoforte) in E flat, Op. 40 (Brahms), and a "modern" quartette for. strings based on the traditional' Irish melody .'• "Londonderry Air" (Bridge): The numbers were noteworthy for their conscientious and artistic rendering, and the ensemble of the players, was a conspicuous 'feature of tho whole performance) It was not easy to single out any number as being rendered better than, another; for each had to be appuoached-and-interpreted in a different way:, between thevMozart and the Bridge quartettes, for instance, was a gulf almost as' wide as. that; \separating Dives from ,Lazarus, but the Players proved equal to the tasks they took up,' revealing the structure and beauty of each work in turn,' especially in the second movement of the Beethoven quartette and the whole of the Brahms quartette. Dr. Bridge's treatment of the "Londonderry Air" called for lucid explanation as an example of virtuosity, and received it. Mrs. Clinton Hunt's three -! Elizabethan songs were "Man First. Created Was" (Thomas Greaves), "If Flood of Tears" (Thomas Bateson), and "Cuckoo" (Richard Nicholson) .They, were sung with feeling ,and understanding, and as their fitting background had the quaint original accompaniments rendered 'by the string quartette. Mrs.' Clinton Hunt, was cordially and deservedly applauded for her contributions [to the artistic success of the concert. ...