SCENES IN CONCERTROOMS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 120, 6 May 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

SCENES IN CONCERTROOMS.

Strange Experiences pf Some Famous Singers.

The sensation' rece^ n < y r at ßichard turned rebuked- some members ot the <•«' for their lack of consideration m leaving in the middle or ts ” to reeall not a few prevotls ncui ■ r.f one sort and another hit n »•) entertained concert audiences during recent Engl:.-h Many Londoners <-i>s an - naner) w’l! recall roi mt ,u 1 k’markaM- affair winch ca V & desinsl to take a rise out a well-known singer, and fol tins rnrnose thev dressed np a wax figiin him as closely as possible, and then, assisted by the arrangements f the buillin'. thrust this effig> on to Platform in full view of the audi-e-ree while the vocalist a<~uallv -is'-iimr. Naturally, th- audiwas dumbfounded for the moment, as also was the victim ot this joke, Whicl-. was. in reality, an outrage. OtiicHv recovering himself. howetei. he addressed a dignified sentence expressive of his amazement at the ocevrrence to the an-limme and then 1 ft the platform. after which the offend;n« figure was removed by tho attendants. ~ This nas certainly an occurrenco of a very unusual kint. 4 personal incident of anotV.ei orclet cccnrred in a London concert-room more - recently. This was in . tan_i. 1905 at which time, it may be rivalled a o-rear -evivalist mission was being held in London. The scene was St George’s Hall, and the occasion an afternoon ballad concert, at which it liad been arranged that a well-known society entertainer would provide a ‘humorons interlude.’’ When, however, the artiste anneared he startled tne audience by announcing that as be had been ‘ oinre ted to God through the agenev <~f the rr ission at Lie A - bert HalL” he did not feel inclined to proceed with th- task of amusing neoTile. and therefore beggeti to be excused. Whereupon he left the platiorm, ’.ever to return +o the stage again. _ The modern practice whic<i requires pl! instrumental soloists to play from memorv has been responsible not infretpicntlv for trving occurrences Die late Henrv Holmes formerly well known ns a violinist, once figured in a painful incident of this kind. He was pin'mg in a concerto of Spohr at a I hillarmonie concert some years ago. "hen. on reaching the cadenza in the Jost movement his memorv completely tailed him. and. coming tn a sudden stop, he ran right off the platform-leaving conductor and orchestra to finish the work as well a s * thev could without him. Mt W. Matthews, a famous amateur flautist of an earlier generation, had an unpleasant exo-rience of a somewhat • ‘afferent kind. He was playing a solo at one of the Leslie Choir concerts in the old St James’s Hall, when it was noticed that his tone set med to be getting weaker and weaker, till eventually not a note would come, and he liafl to leave the platform. Temporary paralysis of the lips, induced by extreme nervousness, was understood to hare been the cause of his Mme. Melba was once the victim of a rather disconcerting experience in her native Australia. After singing one of her famous songs she had returned tc the platform, and was about to sing again when a loud voice was heard. ‘‘Keep perfectly still a moment; I am going to take a flashlight photograph.” Melba had evidently not been apprised of this part of the programme, for she was clearly taken aback, but. ’•ke the laughing audience, she bowed to the inevitable and the photographer got his picture. An incident which occurred at one of Paderewski's recitals not long ago caused some little talk. The famous pianist. :is» everyone knows, is greatly admired by the ladies and on this particular occasion some of his more ardent feminine worshippers arranged for the presentation to him of a laurel wreath, a little boy being deputed to offer the tribute The result, however, was disconcerting. for Paderewski declined to accept the gift and. ignoring the boy complete! v. walked right off the platform. Afterwards it was explained that he disliked such compliments. Another eminent pianist who holds similar views is M. Godowsky—as was revealer! by a little occurrence at one of his revitals at the Bechstein Hall last year. At the conclusion of one of the item-, in the programme an attendant walked up to the platform and handed up a large bouquet of magnificent ros. -. Go lowsky. however, bluntly refused the gift, iemarking caustirallv in explanation, T am not a bal-lot-dancer ” Mme. Patti had a curious experience some years ago when she was singing ir> a duct with Santley at a concert nt Brecon. Santlev suddenly began ; laughing and they came to a stop. For ; a moment there was much mystim-a- j tion. Then I’atii explained---“ The cause i ot all this merriment is that a wasp has been trving to get into my mouth, and we could not get on."