BROADCASTING SERVICE FORECASTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 152, 30 June 1938, Page 30

BROADCASTING SERVICE FORECASTS

Overseas Artists. During the week ending July 9 the three overseas artists at present touring New Zealand under contract to the N.S.B. will give further broadcasts. i Alexander Kipnis, whose concerts in Wellington were enthusiastically received, will make two appearances in public in Dunedin. He is to sing at the Dunedin Town Hall -on July 4 and 7, and his performances will be broadcast by 4YA. As in Wellington Noel Newson will be the assisting artist and accompanist. Danny Malone will be heard from Station IYA on July 3, 6, and 9, while Frederic Collier's attractive bassbaritone will be a feature of 2YA's programmes of July 3 and 6. Radio Serials. The weekly presentation of recorded dramatic features is the vogue at present, and the listener is well cater- ■ ed for in the series now being broadcast from the National Stations. Among the most popular is "Coronets of England," episodes of which will be heard from IYA on July "6, and from 3YA on July 9. The latter station also has-"The Fourth Form at St. Percy's" for the same evening. "Westward Ho!" a dramatisation of Charles Kingsley's novel, is broadcast by; IYA on July 7, and "Told in the Mystery Club" on July 4. This station will' present a further instalment of "The Strange Adventures of Mr. Penny" on July 7. This feature has proved exceedingly popular and maintains a high standard of entertainment. "Mr. Penny's" experiences can also be heard from 3YA on July 5, with the dramatic "William the Conqueror" and the musical comedy attraction "Hotel Revue." The evening programme from 4YA on July 6 will include another episode of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." "Personal Column," described as "drama from the agony. column of a . daily newspaper," can be heard from 2YA on the same date. On this evening 2YA will also broadcast "Shanghai," ■air original serial of the China Seas, written by Edmund Barclay. Another outstanding radio feature is "Ports of Call," which 2YA broadcasts on Saturday evenings. This "presentation closely follows the form of James Fitzpatrick's Travelogues, and has proved splendid material for listeners. DRAMA. The drama department of the N.B.S. is very busy at present. Among the large number of scripts submitted several of outstanding merit have been purchased, and listeners will have & rich and varied bill of fare offered them. One of the outstanding scripts IS "The Strange Story of Louis de Rougement," which was recently broadcast with great success by the 8.8.C. Written by James Potter, this story, which once rocked the world with amazement, has been extremely well dramatised in chronicle form and should provide much food for thought as. well as entertainment. Another new script is "My Life with Ernest Rule"— the story of a modern Bluebeard, simply but very powerfully told. The author is Lieutenant-Commander Horton Giddy, who, it will be remembered, wrote those tense radio dramas, "In the Shadows" and "Off Finisterre." Devotees of serious drama will be pleased to learn that the N.B.S. has at last obtained permission to broadcast a number of Ibsen plays. These should be of great interest, for Ibsen's works have been very rarely seen or heard in this country. Two plays by c! at T b £ im « nt . writer 01 light drama, at. John Ervine, have recently been purchased and adapted for broadcast™g' These are " The shi P" and "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary." The former is saia to have been inspired by the Titanic disaster. At present in production is a new Tnfi f W I U succeed "Shanghai." lnis is Into the Light," a radio serial of the Middle Ages written by that prolific Australian dramatist, Edmund Barclay. The scope of this serial is extraordinary. It is set in one of the most interesting periods of history I and introduces all the great characters '' of every country in that age. The ! ] characterisation is particularly strong. 1 From the same writer's pen, 2YA to- ' j night broadcasts "Mingled Yarn." It . is a play based on imaginary incidents 1 in the life of S,hakespeare, f and intro- £ duces such contemporaries of Shakes- t peare as his fellow-actors, Edmund t Alleyne and Burbage, and his fellowpoets, Ben Jonson and Kit Marlowe 1 SOME SPECIAL ITEMS. C Attention is drawn to the following 6 special broadcasts:— E July 3.—Recorded presentation of the opera by Leoncavallo, "I Pagliacci," by r principals,, chorus, and orchestra of t the British National Opera Company , (3YA.) Complete presentation of Gil- , bert and Sullivan opera "lolanthe." >(4YA.) ... s July s,—Recorded recital by Oscar " Natzke (bass-baritone), a young Auck- c land singer wh<j> went to London two I years ago to further his studies. (2YA.) July B.—Broadcast of Grand Scottish r Concert. (3YL.) At 2.45 p.m. (ap- v prox.) commentary on women's hodkey 0 match in first Test match, England e versus New Zealand. Relayed from . Lancaster Park by 3YA. 11 July 7.—Studio performance by "The £ Civic Players" of two plays, "One Goes ~ Alone," by Edward Williams; "Murder ' in the Silo," by Edmuhd Barclay. (3YA.) Vincent Aspey and the Studio Orchestra play Mendelssohn's "Con- s certo in E Minor for Violin and Or- v chestra." (IYA.) v July B.—Rebroadcast by all stations r of third Test, England v. Australia, played at Old Trafford. " ti COMING TALKS p fi p Professor Jagan Nath, manager of the Indain hockey team, is to speak b at 3YA this evening on "India Today." A Talks by Mr. Douglas Cresswell on tl material covered by him on a recent E visit to the Nelson and Motueka dis- ri tricts will be heard from 2YA on sue- tl cessive Monday evenings. Mr. Cress- 0: well will speak on Monday next on ci the asbestos fields in the back country p; of the Motueka district. Thi§ will be u: followed by talks on tobacco growing, P hops, and.apples, .iincL.the. series cl

be concluded with two talks on the work of the Cawthron Institute.

An intriguing title has been chosen for a talk on Wednesday next at 3YA, by Mr. Arthur Harrison—"Otira, Land of Plenty." Those who know the Otira district will probably be able to guess what the plenty refers to.

Under the auspices of the New, Zealand Hard of Hearing League, ' two short plays have been recorded by the National Broadcasting Service il-

lustrating the need for knowledge and sympathy in diagnosing and treating ear troubles. The first of these is to be heard from 3YA this evening at 7.35. It dramatises the problems of a school boy who is blamed for inattention and laziness when what is really the matter with him is that his hearing is affected. An institution which New Zealanders should visit when they go to England is the Public Records Office in London. It is one of the chief repositories of historical documents and other relics, and many of; these, such as the Doomsday Book, are on yiew. Mr. W. C. McCymont is to give a talk on the Public Records Office at 4YA on Tuesday next, MAGNETIC STORMS 8.8.C. ENGINEER'S COMMENT Mr. J.- J. Reich, of Belmont, sent the chief engineer of the 8.8.C. a newspaper clipping relating to the magnetic storm and auroras which occurred in New Zealand in April. He has received a reply expressing lively interest in the report. "The cutting was ,of particular value," says the letter, "as the ionospheric and magnetic storm on April 16 was characterised by brilliant displays of aurora borealis in North America and apparently there was an equally brilliant display of aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere. "A considerable amount of information has been collected about the storm on April 16, and one of the most interesting points is that the observatory at Abinger, Surrey, which checks the records of the magnetic trace, reported that the maximum fluctuations during the height of the storm were equal to one-eighth of the total deflection. This was, in fact, the most Severe magnetic storm in living memory. , "Unfortunately there was a similar storm on May 11, but this does not appear to have been quite so severe, and although Short wave circuits all over the world were affected, th 6 fade-out was of considerably shorter duration than that caused by the storm of April 16. From our observations it appears that solar activity is remaining at a fairly high level and there appears to be rather an unusual number of large spots of a particularly active type. If this activity continues, it is probable that we shall have to expect further storms of this nature, at least during the summer period. . , "Although there is at present no cure for the accompanying fade-out, the latest researches indicate that when a highly specialised form of directional aerial is used, communication is not entirely interrupted during storms of this nature. The cost of such an equipment, however, would be completely prohibitive to any but the largest organisations."