ALTHOUSE AND MIDDLETON

Evening Star, Issue 19063, 5 October 1925, Page 3

ALTHOUSE AND MIDDLETON

*>. FLAWLESS ARTISTRY. Under the direction of flic wellknown impresarios, Messrs J. and N. Taß, Paul Aithouse (tenor) and Arthur Middleton (baritone), from tho Metropolitan .House, Yew York, wilt give two concerts in His Majesty’s Theatre on "Wednesday and Friday next, each entirely different. Of these great artists, who are now meeting with wonderful success in the North Island, Helen M. Bonnet, the distinguished American musical critic, recently wrote; “Last night i heard Paul Attliousc and Arthur Middleton in n song recital of such appeal that I find it impossible to write about it without the temptation to rave. Yet why not rave? Everyone who hoard them will understand that to describe them one must use superlatives. Their concert was a sensation, because ol its wealth of tonal beauty and its (lawlessness ot artistry. Either the tenor of Aithouse or the baritone of Middleton would in a solo recital arouse enthusiasm, but to have heard them together was musical bliss. The audience at the Plaza was exuberantly applausive while the concert lasted ami afterwards —they just raved. The .Verdi opera, ‘ Force ot Destiny,’ was shelved early in its career.' Its sole claim to distinction is the duet which Caruso ami ftcotti resurrected and endowed with deathless phonographic fame; but when we heard the. living, virile voices of Aithouse ami Middleton in its stimulating harmony it seemed too good to be true. It is a trite expression that a singer cannot please everybody, but if there are any super-grouches who could not have been enchanted by the song offerings of these two Americans they were not in the Plana, last night. Another magnificent blending of the voices was in the 'Faust and Mephisto scene, ‘Ma il ceil.’ To attain such remarkable result there must exist between these singers a responsiveness in temperament and intelligence as rare as it is beautiful.” The box plans for the two concerts are at The Bristol, where particulars of students’ concessions may also be obtained.