MURIEL BRUNSKILL

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 91, 14 October 1935, Page 5

MURIEL BRUNSKILL

PROOFS OF A GREAT ARTIST

Madame Muriel BrunskilTs second concert given at the Town Hall on Saturday should long be remembered by the large audience present. An attractive and -well-diversified programme was submitted but that was not all—there were the proofs she gave of the richness and versatility. of her ar*>. She held her hearers spellbound throughout the.evening and for their part they were willing subjects of her charms, artistic and personal. A feature of the programme was the number of modern English songs by Armstrong Gibbs, Vaughan Williams, and the late Gustav Hoist, supplemented by a song, "Where Corals Lie," by Slgar. During ' the: evening she also sang "Three Fishers," most potently popular of all songs in the repertories, of great contraltos of the past, arm. sang it beautifully, too; but it is far easier to get over than; those songs of our day and generation by-the composers whose names are mentioned above. On Wednesday Madame Bruivskill purposes to sing some of the songs of Hugo Wolf which not'only make exacting demands upon the singer but call for an attentive and respectful hearing by those;to. whom they are sung. Madame Brunskill, at her first concert in Wellington last week, not only displayed the beauty of her voice and the perfection of her technique, but also, proved . the. soundness . and wide extent of her .musicianship. . She furnished additional evidence of this in her concert on Saturday in the confidence with which she submitted songs that in some respects are revolutionary in a musical sense. She began, with the glorious aria "Stella del Marinar" from "La Gioconda" (Ponchielli), followed by "Non piu di fiore,' from "La Clemenza di Tito" (Mozart), the latter number being remarkable for the exhibition of the rich gifts of nature and art bestowed on the singer. Again recourse was had to Schuberty the songs given being. "Der Tod urid das Madchen" (sung with penetrating appreciation), "Am Strome," "Die liebe hat gelogen," and "Die Allmacht" (Hymn to the Almighty). : This weUdiversified group from Schubert was added to by "Gretchen am Spinrmrde," in all of which Madame Brunskill displayed a subtle modelling in the melodic outline. . The modern English songs already referred to were "Silent Noon" and "The Water Mill," by .Vaughan Williams; three hymns from the Rig VedaUshas (dawn), Varuria (sky), and Maruts (storm clouds), by Gustav Hoist, and "Silver" and "Five Eyes", (words by Walter de la Mare); "Oh, Nightingale," "Love's Prisoner," "Sailing Homeward," and "February," all by Arm: strong Gibbs. Not all of these songs (of our era) might meet with so general an acceptance as. say, "Three Fishers," "The Lost Chord," or,the ,Seguidilla from ■ "Carmen" (which Madame Brunskill sang again- 'on .Saturday), or. even Tschaikowsky's "To toe :Forest. But after hearing modern English songs as she sang theni on Saturday and marking their effect upon' the rapt audience it would appear'that theii inclusion in Saturday's programme was welcome and justified, if on the grounds of popularity alone: ' Recalled again and again, Madame Brunskill was most gracious in the matter of' extras, ana one of these was "Vdy'ous que j'essaie,' the card song in "Carmen;" sung in English and with great dramatic effect. Mr. Carl Bartling's pianoforte solos included the Pastorale and Capriccio of Scarlatti, and short, daintily-played pieces by Chaminade, Rachmaninoff, I and Grieg, and Mazourka by Debussy. Mr. Bartling made light:of-the.difficul-ties in the Humoresque • of: Rachmaninoff, and played the Scarlatti number with refinement and ,grace; -His accompaniments in themselves were a pleasure to listen to, especially in the Schubert and English songs. ' A special "goodbye" concert \vm be given next Wednesday night, in reIsponse to many demands, and among the numbers on the programme -will be "Mad Bess" (Purcell), "Song of the iGenie" (Granville Bantock),' "The Adoration" (John Ireland), "Across the Door" (Bax), "Über Nacht." "Zur Run, "Der Frcund" (Wolf)', "Spring, the Sweet Spring," "To Daffodils." "The Garden of the Seraglio" (Delius). '.'lmmanence" (Rutland Boughton) r and five lovely songs by Richard Strauss. The encore numbers will bo chosen by the public, and requests should be left at Begc's not later than noon on Wednesday. Carl Bartling will play solos by Macdowell. Schumann, and Chopin. The box plan and unreserved tickets are at Begg's.