‘SONGS OF THE FLEET’

Evening Star, Issue 25893, 10 September 1946, Page 9

‘SONGS OF THE FLEET’

MALE CHOIR’S FINE PERFORMANCE An admirable performance of Stanford’s 1 Songs of the Fleet ’ was the outstanding feature of the third concert of the season of the Royal Dunedin Male Choir in the Town Hall last night. These popular settings have seldom been heard to better effect t in Dunedin, the choir rising to a high pitch of dramatic intensity and capturing all the atmospheric,colour of the music.

It was one of the best performances that the choir has given under the oonductorship of Mr Ernest Drake. This is the second year since he took charge, and as the choir has regained its pre-war strength he has developed highly its quality and its precision. Ho he got the singers completely away from the tendency to sing with a fairly constant level of tone, and there are now fine effects of shading. The effect is at times most dramatic, the voices working up from delicate pianissimos to what seems a fine strength of tone, only to prove that they have a good deal in reserve for a grand climax. In the “ Fleet ” songs the soloist was Mr Bryan Drake, whose deep, rich voice was well suited to the music. He sang the four numbers with much sympathetic feeling. After a quiet opening in the tentative first song he developed strong effects in the song of the 4 Sou’-wester ’ and the 4 Little Admiral.’ The final sombre song of 4 Farewell ’ Was a masterpiece. The choir reached ite peak of dramatic effect in the 4 Sou’-wpester ’ song, and sang the 4 Little Admiral ’ with a rollicking air. In the ‘ Farewell ’ the deep' richness of tone could be greatly admired.

Unfortunately the choir had one or two slight lapses in,other items; a tendency to go out of tune being rather more marked than in recent concerts. The general effect, however, was very good, the rhythmic precision _ and control in dramatic passages being excellent. The other items by the choir included the'fine part song 1 0 Father, Whose Almighty Power,’ from Handel’s 4 Judas and Maccabaeus,, the vocal arrangement ‘ Goin’ Home ’ of the t slow movement of Dvorak’s ‘ From the New World 1 Symphony, ‘ Roll the Old Chariot Along ’ (Stuart Young), • the 'hymn ‘ Blest are the Humble Souls,’ ‘ Song of the Bow ’ (Aylward), a ‘ Plantation Medley ’ arranged by Arnold, in which the soloists were Messrs E. C. S. Falconer and A. B. Dotting, ‘A County Clare Song/ ‘Pleading* (Kramer), aud the ‘ Border Ballad.’ Choir soloists were Messr !R. McDougall (tenor), who sang Schubert’s ‘ By the Sea ’ and Lehar’s 4 Wayside Rose/ and Mr Geoffrey de Lautour (bass), who 6ang Gounod’s ‘ Vulcan Song and'- 4 Wade in the Water/ both enjoying considerable success. Miss Mona Ross was the Contralto soloist, whose singing of Delilah’s aria from Saint-Saens’s 4 Samson and Delilah/ Massenet’s 4 Open Thy Blue Eyes/ and ‘ Love Went A-riding ’ was most enjoyable. Mrs Barbara Paterson was the soprano soloist, her voice being well suited to two dramatic operatic arias by .Puccini. An instrumental trio consisting of Misses Thelma Lupp, Dorothy Rush, and Sybil Baker played the finale of Mendelssohn’s Tno in D Minor and Liszt’s ‘ Liebestrajume,’