WELCOME RETURN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 20, 25 January 1937, Page 4

WELCOME RETURN

"THE GONDOLIERS"

SEASON OPENED

A recent biographer ol' Gilbert and Sullivan has again raised the rather tedious question which of the two men was the greater in his own line. The answer one is inclined to give is "go and hear them both." Together they wrote some of the finest comic operas known to the theatre, and time has not dimmed the popularity of their works. Theirs was the perfect combination of librettist and composer. In the Savoy operas Gilbert displays a fantastic humour that is often subtle, always healthy in tone, and none the worse for a slight flavour of cynicism. His is the hand of the master, though his touch is light; his quaint conceits and the absurd earnestness with which they are worked out are delectable and inimitable. Sullivan has been called by his friends "the English Auber" and by his enemies the "English Offenbach," but he owes little to either of these composers. His genius is individual and thoroughly English, and in the Savoy operas his scores are notable for their fertility and technical resource and delicate and humorous touches which have made them of special interest to musicians. Ten months ago Wellington received a visit from a Gilbert and Sullivan Company, which justly enjoyed wide popularity, and practically the same company has now returned with every expectation of another successful season. It opened at the Grand Opera House on Saturday night with a presentation of "The Gondoliers," and an

enthusiastic reception was given a packed house. The audience seemed to be welcoming back old friends as well as old favourites, and their appreciation of the opera and the performers was spontaneous and generous.

The production was a competent one, with quite rightly very little departure from traditions. The singing of some of the cast was not free from blemish, and the orchestral tone, on account of the paucity of strings, was somewhat thin, but the general staging was adequate, colourful, and artistic. The music at certain places was taken at a pace which was anything but suitable for letting one feel the full impression of Sullivan's pliant charm, but on most occasions the conductor (Mr. Leo H. Packer) did splendidly with his small resources. The chief disappointment was the failure of some of the principals to give the words with that clearness which is indispensable of Gilbert's gifts as a librettist—the verbal fecundity and dexterity which remain unassailable whether or not elements in his humour "date"—are to be fully appreciated. Mr. Richard Watson, as the Grand Inquisitor, was a model 'of enunciation, but some of the women were extremely difficult to follow.

Mr. Ivan Menzies frolicked through the role of the Duke of Plaza-Toro, the poverty stricken Spanish grandee who raises the wind by turning himself into a limited liability company. He scored a great hit with his singing of "In Enterprise of Martial Kind" and in his duet "Ho, Help Unhappy Commoners" with Miss Evelyn Hall, who was excellent as the Duchess. Unfortunately Mr. Menzies tended to mar his songs by rather mechanical vocal tricks. Miss Strella Wilson, who took the part of Casilda, their daughter, was enthusiastically welcomed back by an audience which obviously remembered her fine singing on previous visits. Her full, rich voice gives distinction to her singing, and her duets i with Luiz (his Grace's own particular drum), played by Mr. Clifford Cowley.

were outstanding. The roles of - the two gondoliers, Marco and Giuseppe, were well taken by Mr. Godfrey Stifling and Mr. Gregory Stroud respectively. Mr. Stirling gave a subdued rendering of "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes," which was not altogether convincing. but Mr. Stroud's "Rising Early in the Morning" was nicely delivered. Miss Helen Langton as Gianetta and Miss Eileen Kelly as Tessa acted vivaciously without achieving distinction in their songs. Mr. Richard Watson made a splendid Grand Inquisitor, and his enunciation was the best of the evening. The cast also included Misses Jane Orr, Nina Robbins, Augusta Poole, Valarie Walshe, Messrs. Vincent McMurray, Harry Neill, Robert Illidge, Chester Harris,* and Frank Bermingham. "The Gondoliers", will, be repeated this evening. ■