POETRY OF SONG

Evening Star, Issue 22462, 6 October 1936, Page 6

POETRY OF SONG

RICHARD CROOKS CHARMS A MEMORABLE CONCERT When a singer can bring the whole force of. the keenest intelligence and the widest sympathy to reinforce a phenomenal voice so that every emotion that the heart and brain feel is transferred to his auditors, he has surely attained the Parnassus of his art. To such select heights has ascended that glorious tenor, Richard Crooks. The emotion ho so finely expresses reacted on the audience that stormed the Town Hall last night for his only Dunedin appearance and swept it to almost unique fervour. No more gramophone record could do his voice full justice. His radiant personality adds lustre to his song and at times gives it ethereal beauty. Only an occasional scat was unoccupied, and a section of the huge crowd bad to be accommodated under the shadow of the organ console. This superb artist did not neglect this unit of his enthralled listeners, and twice turned his hack upon the main auditorium to sing to them. It was a graceful gesture. Richard Crooks is perhaps the only American-born tenor who has achieved world-wide celebrity. He has an immensely powerful voice, perfectly true throughout its wide register, and yet one that can express the finest and most delicate shades in interpretation. Its honeyed sweetness is . captivating, its allure is irresistible.

Richard Crooks sings with great sincerity and intensity, and he invested the sharply-contrasting schools represented in this particular programme with an equal allure. The coiicert was ushered in with songs by classical composers, and ho soared to absolute artistry in each. He submerged himself in the spiritual thought kindled in ‘ If Thou be Near ’ (Bach), and revealed a truly devotional spirit in ‘Serenade’ (Havdn). Here, the lyric beauty of his voice held his already captivated audience spellbound. His other two presentations in this group were Beethoven’s ‘ I Love Thee,’ sung with tender emotion, and ‘ Per Pieta’ (Stradella). It was in that poignant vocal expression of a heart rent with sadness that he was first revealed in the role of an actor. Tho singer acknowledged thunderous applause with ‘ Have You Seen But a Whyte Lillie Grow?’ which was responsible for a dazzling mezza-voce quality that enveloped this .anonymous fteenth century masterpiece with the softest delicacy. Then the tenor gave an electrifying performance of tho aria, ‘Le Reve,’ from Massenet’s opera | Manon.’ It was sung in French and invested with rare imaginative. charm that accentuated its texture. If this thrilling experience literally swept the audience off its feet, his next operatic excerpt, from ‘ Fedora ‘ Amor ti Vieta di non Amar ’ (‘ Love Doth Forbid You not to Love ’), by Giordani—achieved something more. It gripped one with its magical potency in a way many will not forget. Mr Crooks ended a memorable excursion into opera with that touching descriptive aria (suhg as an encore) ‘ E Lucevan le Stellc,’ from ‘ Ln. Tosca ’ (Puccini). A concession -to popular tastes was made by the artist in the second portion, of the programme. He sang an admirably chosen repertoire of music of a lighter description, and sang with impeccable artistry. These numbers were ‘ Beloved, it is Atom ’ (Aylward), ‘ Sea Fever ’ (Ireland), ‘ I’ll Sail Upon the Dog Star ’ (Purcell) , ‘ Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal ’ (Quilter), ‘ Alother o’ Aline’ (Tours), ‘Neapolitan Love Song ’ (Herbert), and Schubert’s ‘ Serenade.’ Only the peremptory striking up of the National Anthem could convince the audience that a memorable concert was ended. The soloist and accompanist was Air Frederick Schauweckcr, a dignified and refined pianist with fully accredited technique. His numbers included an almost reticent performance of a subdued ‘ Intermezzo ’ by Brahms, a turbulent ‘ Prelude ’ by Rachmaninoff, the rippling ‘La Fileuse,’ by Sibelius, the poetic ‘ Romance ’ by Brahms, Debussy’s fragile ‘ La Fillo aux Cheveux de Lin,’ and tho bustling ‘ En Route ’ (Orstein).