DUNEDIN LIEDERTAFEL

Evening Star, Issue 15137, 19 March 1913, Page 8

DUNEDIN LIEDERTAFEL

If the Liedextafel had been singing befdm.S;Cpmpoti,tipn» judge last night tliey "would have got low markings in some of the part songs. Points would have been lost in. '.The Martyrs of the Arena* for' want of compactness and wobbly chords and swallowing the words—these faults, probably traceable to the men burying their faces in the books instead of watching the conduotor, quite spoiling what wonld othei*wiao have been good singing, for the voices were in nice balance and well in tune. 'A Hush Song' (Baynon) was feeble rather than soft. In 'Sign. No More' there was a glorious second tenor lead, solid, true,, and the words beautifully distinct, but the chorus could have been much better. ' Salamis' broke up the first Unors, and they could not or did not provide the required counter to the fine volume of bass.' In thi« part song we also heard " paean " pronounced " pav-an," and this seems to be against English authority. At the opening of the second part the Liedertafel regained, form by. singing 'Thor's War .Spng'. with delightful accuracy and impresThe audienec noted the improvement,' arid gladly gave an imperative encore. The singing was really good, full of energy that was well under control, and in the-double fortes the' upper tenors supplied a splendid top line for the basses to thunder at. Hatton's old song, 'Goodbye, Sweetheart, Good-bye,' fairly well harmonised, was well enough sung in a way, but rather on the formal side, and Mr J. Simpson, who undertook the solo, was not in good voice, besides which he measured off the time too strictly, thus missing the effects which old-time singers used to get in this song by the'fee of the rubato. 'Fill the Shining Goblet' usually draws a big round of applause. This time it did not. What was the matter? We suggest that It was taken a wee bit too slow, and thus lost its vivacity. The last of the part songs was ' The Spider and the Fly.' the points of which had been fully studied, so that the interpretation was very pleasurable, and if Mr Timson had been so minded, he could easily have construed the applause into an encore. Mr Easton played the ar -mpanimenU to at' the accompanied pa. "lngs and also supported the soloists, { this gentleman's work deserves recognition. Miss Violet Barth sang 'Ah, Fors e Lui' (from 'La Traviata'), and as an encore song chose "The Gardener,' by Hugo Wolf. In the •econd part Miss Barth gave Rubinstein's 'Spring Yearnings' (a difficult song), and. being forced to reappear, she obliged with ' The Song of Plorian,' by Benjamin Godard. Her most emphatic success was probably in the Godard song, but they were all given with scholarly taste, an important matter in which this lady is always reliable. Miss Myers contributed two violin solos, De Benot's 'Fantasia Ballet' and the '.No. 3 Suite,' by Franz Ries. This young student is distinguishably honest in her playing, scorning the subterfuges by which i some , violinists endeavor to cover up their incompetency, and, valuing that characteristic,' we think that Miss Myers is to be thanked for her successes, an" example of these being the central passages of the ballet, rather than blamed for, any shortcomings that were apparent elsewhere. The other soloists came from the Liedertafel ranks. Mr C. H. Taylor stepped forward to give Til Sing Thee bongs of Araby,' and as an encore ' Rosann?,"d ',Tr nd , Mr C ' J> Stew art contributed Ihe Wanderer,' supplementing this with Soldier and Slave.' Mr Taylor has a sweet tenor voice, but should guard against a tendency to effeminacy. Mr Stewart sings well in most respects, and has a really good voice, but he ought to let it out and show off its quality, and in 'The Wanderer he gave away points bv hurrr- \ n « *, he *' lme - -The- concert was'the lak for Mr Timeon prior to his trip Home.