DUNEDIN PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY

Evening Star, Issue 18736, 11 September 1924, Page 9

DUNEDIN PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY

THIRD CONCERT OP TWENTIETH SEASON. A largo and representative audience at His Majesty’s Theatre last night gave frequent evidence of satisfaction in respect to the third concert of the Dunedin Philharmonic Society’s twentieth season. The programme was made up' of diversified music well worthy of study, and much of the playing was well up to the society's high reputation. Signor Squariso had fifty-six performers at his service. Maybe ho would have liked a little more strength in the upper strings. At forte in the full orchestra, playing tiro first violin part was a little weak. That was one of the things that the conductor had to wrestle with. But there was not , much to 'worry him otherwise. The reeds were in particularly. good form. Solo flute (Mr J. W. Stewart) seemed to rejoice in the special difficulties that presented themselves to him on various occasions. He romped over them. Leading clarinet also played in fine musicianly style. Philharmonic subscribers have now got into the habit of looking out for any tiling that may give Mr A. George an opportunity. Ho is developing into a great player - . Mr H. W. Pains was of immense service, with the piccolo. Ho is singularly alert and sure. And it is only fair to state that tire woodwind generally had a really good innings. The brass is another section that has much improved of late. There wore thirteen in, that group, and thirteen brasses can do a lot of miscirief if at all careless or slack at rehearsals; but on this occasion the numerical strength was employed to great advantage, being absolutely under control, and one may guess that Signor Squarise recognised the obedience he got from that quarter, particularly in that he could always draw good tone from it and tiro exact weight required. It - may bo mentioned incidentally that for once in a way Mr E. H. Eagar took a cornet. He used. to bo a cornet player, but of late years has adopted the double bass. That section was this time strong enough without him, there being a party of four at tiro long strings, all effective, listening as well as watching. After the National Anthem had received duo respect—Signor Squarise always sees to it that this is properly handled, not rushed through as a form—the concert proper opened with the Spanish march ‘ Juarez,’ by Schattino. This quickstep for the full orchestra was very satisfactorily played with spirit and firmness, the orchestra beautifully in tune and getting lovely tone in great variety. Piccolo was amazingly helpful in the melody. The overture to Massenet’s opera ‘ The Cid 1 was opened nicely by horns in unison.; then, for a moment, the introduction seemed to bo in danger, but the brass restored discipline. The short duct for clarinets was a feature of the overture ; flute got in his solo bits effectively; and the brass did splendid work in the ending. The only drawback to this performance was that in places tho orchestra was a little bottom-heavy. The serenade by Tilt, written, as a duo for flute (Mr J. W. Stewart) and horn (Mr W. Smith), compelled tho audience to admiration and a vehement encore. Each instrument was beautifully used,__ and there was a perfect understanding between the two, though stationed far apart. The accompaniments, too, were nicely played, though in certain passages a trifle heavy. Tho repetion was not quite so successful, horn scarcely as reliable in tone. Gounod’s ‘ Dance Bohemienne ’ gave a high degree of pleasure, the playing being good and tho treatment duly airy, bright, and fall of tho change that is characteristic of such compositions. In this work tho first violins, led by Miss M’Artbur, were at their very best. The first move-, ment of B'eotlioven’s ‘ Eroica Symphony ’ the allegro con brio constituted the show piece of tho programme. This stands as the third of the German Shakespeare’s great symphonies. It was composed in 1804, as a tribute to Napoleon’s greatness, when Beethoven was thirty-four years old. If all tho truth, must bo told, the Philharmonic did not thoroughly master this famous allegro. The playing was a little too serious, as .though tho players were feeling oppressed by the responsibility of the task in hand, tho result being that the varying musical thoughts hardly came out with all the needed, distinction and depth of moaning. Yet there was much to praise in tho treatment, particularly towards the end, and on tho whole the patrons found reason to be thankful to the society for putting on such a masterpiece, and for fairly exploring much of it up to the possibilities of an amateur orchestra. A greater degree of confidence is all that is required next time tho ‘ Eroica - is undertaken. All concerned, conductor os well as conducted, are to be complimented on the performance of the Spanish caprice, ‘ Moraima,’ by Espinoso. It is a light piece of the fandango character, and could bo utterly spoiled by a touch of heaviness—a trap which the orchestra took care to avoid. The playing was not only crisp and bright, but had in it tho true Spanish impromptu and warmth, whilst the various themes were well individualised. If tho playing at this concert had been before a judge, for marks, he would probably have placed this caprice very high in the list. No. 13 of the Hungarian rhapsodies, by Liszt, had evidently been thoroughly studied. If the performance was not uniformly meritorious it included some very creditable work. Acknowledgments aro due to the soloists — Mr J. \V. Stewart (flute), Mr G. W. Carter (oboe), Mr A. George (clarinet), and Mr W. Ridden (bassoon), and tho full orchestra invested the andante with meaning and character, following on with a perfectly glorious delivery of the presto. The finale was delightfully inspiring. . Tho soloists of tho evening were Miss Elsie Bryant (soprano) and Mr A. Walmsley (tenor), their accompaniments played by Miss Langley. Miss Bryant is a promising debutante, endowed with a voice of agreeable quality and ample resource, and in all her _ singing there was evidence of sound training. _ Her _ chief contributions were ‘ln the Silent Night ’ (Rachmaninov) and 1 The Bird with tho Broken Wing’ (Golson), but it was in tho second of Her ‘'encores, ‘ Sacrament,* that the audience hoard her voice at its best. By that time Miss Bryant had acquired confidence, and was thus able to open up quality and strength. She is on tho road to success. Mr Walmsley began with 1 Wher’er You Walk,’ tho Handel song in which Philip Newbury electrified Dunedin, and lie went on with ‘ When Other Lips,’ ‘ There is a Flower that Blooraoth,* and Elumenthal’s ‘Evening gong’—quite a revival of old favorite subjects, for which Mr Walmsley is to be thanked. They recall the successes of Amies Beaumont and other great ballad tenors. Mr Walmsley is a young singer, but he has a voice to work on, and soma day, when he feels that he _ can safely employ more warmth and variety, he will no doubt take rank amongst New Zealand tenors. Last night he appeared t® have a slight cold.