STAGE FOLK

Evening Star, Issue 22026, 11 May 1935, Page 8

STAGE FOLK

Mendelssohn's music has been barred in Nazi Germany. Even his incidental music to ‘ A Midsummer Night’s Dream :—one of the brightest gems in that nation'*! musical crown—has been ordered to be replaced by new music for performances at. the Stadttheatei of DussoldoiT.

On May 18. in the Town Hall, a concert arranged by the New Zealand Broadcasting Board will be. given in aid of the mayor’s relief fund. The following artists arc, taking parW=-Mr Liouollo Cecil, Australian tenor; Mr Walter Kingsley,- English baritone ; Mr John Robertson, cornetist; Paul Vinogradoff, the noted pianist; Miss Mary Pratt (contralto); St. Kilda Band (champion band of Now Zealand), while the 4YA orchestra will'play-the accompaniments for the singers. With such talented artists taking part, the concert should bo_ the most outstanding of the year, and is sure to bg rewarded with a full house. Popular prices will be charged. *

Not for many years has there been such an outstanding personality on the Australian stage as Oskar Denes, the famous Continental comedy star, who plays his original role of Count Ferry in the J. 'C. Williamson production of ‘ Viktoria and Her Hussar ’ at His Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne. Bubbling over with good humour, ho radiates happiness and communicates it to his audience. Ho is live, vivacious. and virile. Speed seems to characterise bis work,, and the agility of bis dancing is remarkable for a man of his build. No sooner has he made his entrance on the stage than he is immediately on tho best of good terms with bis audience. His performance _is full of deft little touches and details that indicate perfect artistry.

When Yehudi Menuhin played to a vast audience in Sydney on Satnrady, May 4, he was acclaimed as undoubtedly the greatest musical sensation Australia has ever known. Heralded by Messrs J. and N. Tait. the lad came and conquered, and cable advice received at Wellington headquarters of Messrs Williamson and .Tait enthuses over the 5 young violinist’s triumph. New Zealanders will see Yehudi in turn, as he is to play at all the centres, and the arrival of such a musical celebrity 'as a seventoen-year-old genius who has drained critics of superlatives, in which to praise his playing, will bo another qpocli in the history of the- dominion.: Yehudi’s piano ac-, ,compnmst is Hephzibah, a shy gazelle' ‘of a girl, whose association with her brother is one of the happiest. They arc in wonderful accord, and she _is content to worship, but her brother insists on her sharing .in all Ins successes. Vast audiences in-all parts of the world have cheered the pair at the conclusion of memorable concerts. Now Zealand n/usic lovers are indebted to Messrs Tait for the forthcoming privilege.

With the adVent of a new Williamson company to play ‘Fresh Fields’ and ‘ While Parents Sleep,’ two diverting comedy dramas, New Zealand {theatregoers a§ - o in for a season of fun. Ivor Novello wrote the former, and Anthony Kimmins the latter, and both have been box-office successes in London and elsewhere. ‘ Fresh Fields ’ tells of an Australian invasion of a London mansion, and in Jus gallery of types, both English -and Australian, the author cleverly exaggerates the faults of both for the sheer purpose of proving how a closer understanding can bring about a proper appreciation of The hidden good points. 1 - It is all hilariously attractive- entertainment, presented on a scale'of production for which the firm is noted. ‘ While Parents Sleep ’ too, provides a maximum of entertainment; it is a play for adults and adolescents dealing with the problems of life as they affect parents and .Romance, humour, and pathos have been subtly blended.

Oskar Denes, the star of ‘ ATktoria and her Hussar ’ at • Melbourne His Majesty's Theatre, pair a remarkable compliment to the chorus of the J. C. Williamson Ltd Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company when he visited them at rehearsal shortly after his arrival in Melbourne. “ I have heard a lot of the very fine voices you have in Australia,” he said, ‘‘but I am completely surprised at the wonderful singing of this Gilbert and Sullivan chorus, both the men and the girls; Th© voices blend perfectly, too,” be added, “and the beautiful tone is simply wonderful. What a wonderful asset your beautiful, Australian voices should be to this country, that gave Melba and other great singers to the world! ” , ,

The Melbourne season of Yehudi Menuhin, the world-renowned genius of the violin, will open at the Town Hall (says a Melbourne journal) on Saturday evening, May 18, and reeitals will follow on May 21, 23 ; 25, and 28. Already Melbourne nuisie lovers are brimming over with excitement over the approaching visit, of this celebrated young artist, who is the, greatest musical .sensation of the age. _ His repertoire is colossal and amazing. It includes over 50 violin concertos, representing practically all there arc in violin literature; -all the sonatas of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Hamid, Mozart, and Schumann; over 150 smaller recital works which he usually includes in recital programmes- in groups of four to six pieces. In New York recently Menuhin played his seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth completely different concert programmes.

‘ The Spectre's Bride,’ the brilliant Bohemian legendary cantata by Anton Dvorak, will he presented by the Dunedin Choral Society in the Town Hail next Tuesday. It is a remarkable composition, hauntingly beautiful, yet realistic in the extreme, the dramatic narratives sung by the baritone, Mr Arthur Lungley, being forceful and yet never at any time rough, or lacking in the polish associated with this com-

poser’s work. The feature of thjp work is probably a number of melSiiously lyrical duets for tenor and soprano, MV L. E. Dailey and Mrs Leonard Cronin being-the soloists. The string accompaniments to these duets aj-e also most effective. The society is to bo congratulated in importing this 1 original and interesting work.

While the jubilee concert was in progress on Monday evening some of the local musical people who were giving their services on this occasion recalled that, 25 years before they were associated in another tribute to the present King—a concert held in -the old Garrison Hall in Dowling street in honour of .the coronation. It was an important and highly successful presentation. The chairman and speaker was Mr Wil-: liam Burnett, then Mayor of Dunedin, add associated with-hint bn the platform were the mayoress, Mrs (Inter Lady) Roberts, Father Coffey, Father Tubman (Timaru), Colonel Smyth, Cr Stilling, Messrs (later Sir) John Roberts (acting-consul for Italy), G. L. Denniston (consul for Belgium), F. 0. Bridgeman (consular agent for the United States), T. Cole (an ex-mayor);' and H. Y. Widdowson, S.AI. The programme will doubtless recall many, pleasant, memories and associations. It was as follows:—National Anthem, the Garrison Band; song, ‘ Long Live tile King,’ Mr , R. Angel; song, ‘There’s a Land,’ Mrs \R. Hudson, jun.; recital, ‘ The English Flag,’ Mr S. H. Osborn; song, ‘Rule, Britannia,’ Mr James Jago; song, ‘ Tom Bowling,’ Mr John T. Leech; song and chorus, ‘Land of Hope and Glory,’ Trinity Choir (soloist, J. T. Leech; conductor, Mr F. Lawn); sextet, ‘ Comrades in Arms,’ Messrs Leech, Gray, Brisbane, Haggitt, Timlin, and Rawlinson; a film of London, by permission of Messrs John Fuller and Sons; selection, ‘ Light Cavalry,’Gnrrisoivßand; tableau, ‘The Coronation ’ (King, Air Colin Gray; Queen, Miss Vida Waters; Maori maiden, Miss Helen Gardner). The accompanist was Mr R. Bennell, who is now manager of the Regent Theatre. The decorations were effected 1 by Air D. Tannbck. Air Percy James was stage bianager. There was no charge for admission, and the hall was packed.

Tin’s month tlie Dunedin Operatic Society can claim a record of theatrical prominence unparalleled in the dominion. Ten of the society's members are at present appearing in a locally--1 made talkie, another member will appear next week in the cast of a Hollywood production', another is producing an amateur play to he presented hero

during the coming week, the cast of wliich also includes three operatic members. Of the fifteen people referred to six are included in principal roles of the forthcoming Operate! Society’s production of ‘ The Girl in the Taxi.’ A newspaper interviewer asked Oskar Denes, the comedy star of ‘ Viktoria and Her Hussar,’ at His Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, what his opinion was regarding the films and the stage. “ I suppose I should bo something of nil authority on this said Air Denes, “ because T have been associated with both for some years, and when t leave Australia I go to Hollywood to make som ceomcdics. There is plenty, of room for both in the world of entertainment, but I have no hesitation in saying that the pictures will never wipe out the stage. Just think of this point: When someone goes to the films, and after yomc time ’there is st discussion about the pictures, there seems to he a haze over the memory—the effect has worn off, and the memory is dimmed. But after a stage performance, every detail of the story—Droplet, and 'the artists—is fresh in tho memory. That is where the living stage has the advantage over the shadows—it is alive, vital, and real.’ That is what makes real and lasting entertainment, with memories that can he enjoyed long afterwards.”