HAWERA CRICKET CLUB ENTERTAINMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume II, Issue 125, 25 June 1881, Page 3

HAWERA CRICKET CLUB ENTERTAINMENT.

The concert given by the Hawera Cricket Club on Thursday evening was generally admitted to be the best which has ever been given in Hawera. Assistance, such as can hardly be rated too highly, had been volunteered by a number of persons who have never before faced a Hawera audience. Their reputation had, however, preceded them, and the consequence was that the hall was well filled, and the entertainment went off quite as smartly and successfully as its promoters could even have hoped for.

A tew minutes after the appointed hour, in fact, with a wonderful degree of punctuality for an amateur concert, one of the new-comers into this district played a brilliant overture, known as "Wollenhampt's " Grand March." The execution displayed by this gentleman is far above the average of amateurs. His touch is crisp, and every note is brought out with remarkable distinctness, and the whole piece was given with much spirit and verve. It was also played with such dash and precision that the music would have filled a hall four or five times as large as the one here. The next song was an old favorite, " Tom Bowline," and was well sung by a gentleman whose voice is known and admired in Hawera, and has exceptional range and compass. It was given in good, but also in sailorlike fashion. Glover's " Captive Greek Girl" fell, to the lot of a lady whose voice can scarely be equalled in New Zealand. From the moment when, during a round of applause, she stepped upon the stage, every note was listened to breathlessly. She sings as only a true artist can sing, without apparent effort or exertion, and music seems to flow from her lips, as naturally as from the throat of a songbird. Of course the audience would not be denied an encore, and were favored with " Give me freedom for ever," a lively little air, which runs merrily and trippingly along, and to which full justice was done. A recitation, from Tennyson, entitled " Sir E. Granville," we believe, though it ifi not one of the published poems, was next given. The gentleman recited well. His English is remarkably pure, and free from any accent, and he has the rare power of expressing feeling and sympathy with his subject, in the tones of his voice, without interfering with his elocution. It is to be regretted that his voice has not a little more power. Another stranger to Hawera concerts, the happy possessor of a nice soft and mellow voice, gave a digger's song in excellent style. He is an acquisition, and his aid will certainly be greatly in request at any future concerts. The duet entitled " Music on the waves," given by two ladies, was nicely and carefully sung. Both ladies seemed a little nervous, and their voices betrayed the feeling. It is admittedly a trying thing for amateurs to foe ea?ted upon to sfcaad and face an audience, holding music in their hands, conscious that every littl ■ movement on their part will be painfully evident to every spectator. Whenever a lady or gentleman suffers from what the Germans call "lamp-fever," it is certainly conducive to good music to allow them to stand at the piano, a little sheltered from the critical gaze of the audience. It is often done elsewhere, and with such a stage as that at the Town Hall it is a very pardonable breach of strict stage rule. Strangely enough, the "Bashful man," which was certainly one of the most successful songs of the evening, was given by a very popular amateur at the piano in this way. While on the subject, though a little out of place, we may remark that we never heard that gentleman in better voice or form. He sang and laughed, arid enjoyed himself the while, so that, as one of the bystanders put it, " one would think he had never worn a stiff stick-up shirt collar in his life." At the conclusion he was fitly rewarded, as he was greeted by quite a storm of applause, and gave another comic song about all the ailments he had suffered from in equally good style. In comic song he is first-class, especially when playing his own accompaniment, but we have to be excused for saying that in the heroic or sentimental line he is, generally speaking, quite below par. Reverting to the programme. "The Shamrock" was sung in excellent style by a favorite Hawera amateur. He was in better voice than at the last two entertainments at which he sang, and was well received and heartily applauded. Quite a treat was in store for the audience in the next piece on the programme, a pianoforte duet by the gentleman who played the overture and his sister. "II Corricolo" galop was the piece chosen, and it was played in a style seldom equalled for brilliancy of execution at any amateur performance. Capital time was kept throughout, and on the completion of the piece the audience insisted upon an encore, which was given, a part of the galop being repeated. " Madeline" was then sung by a gentleman, to whose efforts the survival of the Choral Society is mainly due. It was given with much care and accuracy, the gentleman's voice having evidently been well trained and cultivated, and being in consequence under perfect control. Mr. Freeman E. Jackson, who came next on the list, was loudly cheered on mounting the stage. But when he finished his song, which he sang with life and vigor, that gentleman was forced to look up another, and chose the " Soldier's grave," which was given with taste and feeling, and was well received. " Pat Maloy" was sung without accompaniment by a Hawera resident, who attempted his somewhat arduous task bravely, and accomplished it fairly. | After the interval, " The Mariner," by the visitor from Wbakainara, deserves a word of praise. " Sainted mother," a duet by two of the above-mentioned performers, was given in high-class style. " Rose softly blooming," a pretty little song, was nicely sung. The recitation, in character as a Devonshire laborer, given in the true West Country dialect, was as good as the previous recitation by the same gentleman, from Macaulay, was indifferent. Mr. Freeman Jackson's " Maid of Athens" made a good jinale to a very pleasant evening. Before the company rose to depart, Mi. I. Bayly thanked the audience, on behalf of the Cricket Club, for having attended, and also expressed his indebtedness, which all present felt, to the amateurs who had so kindly volunteered their services, and had given such an ample return to the audience tor the two or three shillings the latter had spent on their tickets.