WAIATA-CONCERT.

Northern Advocate, 25 July 1923, Page 4

WAIATA-CONCERT.

GOOD PROGRAMME GIVEN.

MALE CHOIR SUCCESSFUL.

A gentleman who. held very high office in New South Wales oncerrema T'ked that the one aesthetic trast ■possessed by Australians was a liking ifor bftd music. The implication was, of coiflrsd, that' the people wore deaf to the beautics of good music, and the 1 suggestions probably was ill-founded. The i'emark would be at lekst as 'undeserved in New ; Zealand, though if the Australian critic* liaS looked in at the Whangarei Town Hall last night he might have wondered whether Whangarei people were losing their liking for good music. The concert given by the Waiata Society, with the object of contributing to the funds of the Whangarei District Court Committee, failed to attract anything like as large an attendance ae the previous concert had done, and this was regrettable from several points of view. The cause for wtoch the concert was primarily arranged is a good one, a really pleasiiig programme had been prepared, and on such a C9H nigkt a well-filled hall would have been far more comfortable than a half-empty one. However, colds and influenza, and perhaps the fast that conceits have been numerous in the immediate past and are to continue in the near future, combined to keen away many people who can enjoy goo I music, and certainly would have found much to enjoy if they had been present. The only fault to be found with the programme was its length. Encore numbers too numerous, "Vd that the ente/taifnirient ended half an hour later than" it should have done!

The Waiatte' Society's; . Male ' Choir made its "sceo'iTdi'iippenranqe of the season, singing i»>~ all eight >. part songs, four of Which, had been given at the earlier concert and were repeated encore numbers. The choir is stronger numerically than it was two months ago, and it is undoubtedly an improved choir. Mr Albert Dobson, the honorary conductor, is obviously a wholesouled enthusiast, and the singers have responded well to his instruction. He is .to be congratulated on the progress that has been achieved in the moulding of, raw material. The balance of tho choir is not perfcct, Whangarei evidently experiencing the same difficulty j as. most places do in finding an adequate supply of tenors, and the basses last night were not quite as considerate of the other parts as they might have been. The weakness of the tenors | perhaps accounted for the tendency of the choir to -become flat- —a tendency that the pianoforte accompaniments, handled very effectively by Mr C. F. Collins, could not fail to reveal. TVit while the choir had its • faults last night, the part songs were Toally very pleasing, especially " The Four »Tol]y Smiths" and "The Carnovale," in which the choir showed vigour and dash. In the "Bonnie Banks o'Loch •Lomond," a melodious number that ?s very sweetly harmonised, the ch.vr overcame the technical difficulties with much facility, giving a musicianly p«!Vformance. One or two of the more delicate numbers were less. satisfying, though the choir undoubtedly has a far better conception of light and shade j than it had at the previous concert. Another point of marked improvement was discernible in the attacks and re- ; the conductor - kept his choir j together very well indeed and the sins*- i ers have learnt something about watch- ] ing the beat. To suggest that the choir is still capable of improvement, which it bids fair to achieve, docs not mean that it is unable to give a good programme. Each of its four programme -numbers was deservedly encored, and the appreciation of the audience was well earned. The choir is still a young organisation, h-as done very well in the. time at. its dispovil, j and should become very firmly cstiblished in the favour of Whangarei audi- j

cnces. . The two quartette parties from choir that gave items were recalled by a rather generous audience. Messrs A. Calder, F. Home, P. Bryant and Marsden Woods sang et The La3t Rose of Summer," but ifr was no<j, altogether a • successful .performance, the ba-.-ws rather overweighting,their companions. One gathered the impression that the ■party had ' not: had siifticiynt practi-u'. A more pleasing, number was "TUe Chapel," • sung by Messrs .P. Dudl >y, L. Hrtdeji, A. Long and H. E. G. Smith. The voices blended better than thoso of the ■ other . party,; the basses showing a particularly-nice appreciation of j the foi}j-pait»work. Each party might with-advantage .havo shortened its eneorc; number. ' , la compiling the programme the , choir- had the,,help of two visting "»r:.lists, Dorothy Baker .and Mr McLennan, and of Mrs A. Dobson ari l Miss; Eva. Cutforth. jjdiss Baker, who had previously appeared in j is h :yoting violinist who possesses very. •pleasing .characteristics.-. ' Her <».\p'} .i----tive ability is considerable. ' she wields | a bow of impressive. strength, and her i Vork is crisp and bright, though there | is nothing temperamental in her,play in?.. ;- Her, first, number, '.fiSpipish ; rov<\'ilc(] the facility pf .her jnijd her encore' number, " I/ondondeny Air," wiis daintily played. In "Vienense I«e----rfrain" (Iyreisler) she again played gracefully, and the audience appreciated her work so keenly that she wis honoured with a triple encore, playing "Gavotte" (Gossett), "Sehon Rosmor-'

fr" and an uafonrlisr* '' Swing Song, '' In these *s> clever is" in tiito ealfiletf 3#3iberßj she produced a resonant tone. <'S What has" been i said t about Miss .<• Baker •would apply al'most equally , to- . Mr McLennan, a young flautist who- £ handles his' instrument with precision l and ease. His first solo, "By the "Brook" flowed as sweetly; as ita titlesuggested it should, Mr McLennan 'bfongueing being exceedingly adept.. For a recall ntoibcr ho gave '' Tiny - Comet, rr a bnlliatit-fcxpositfon of thoK/\ possibilities "6f tirc piccolo; »tfbd also of.' its' shrillness. '"Thru 1 ' tße v/ Air M mi another flute solo in which''Mr McLennan was well suited, antt'wWen he produced "The Wind Among*fihe Trees'* oh his 'piccolo he obtained'such, realistic effects that soirffe' of those in thefront seats declared that they felt Uw draught. Mr McLennan ladles nothingin the way of technical'facility, and should, make progress as a concert > ; player. The two instrumentalists combined with Mr Dobson to give a"' couple 1 of" trios; which were very greatly appreciated. The first was ftorn the "Peer j Gyiit" Suite, while Titl's'"Serenade' r . r; was selected for the second programme number. In each case ' the players earned a recall, Gounod's " Serenade and Elgar's • " Sal'ut d'Amour" being- . af pleasing as the earlier efforts had | been. ;

Mrs Dobson and Miss CutforthweT4j ? down for two duets, Farewell to , Mummer" and " Love is Meant 4o - ; :rf Make Us Glad," and they were two» </: r inost acceptable numbers. The voices * •blended admirably, both singers wereat their best, and they interpreted 'Lomusic with a keen artistic appreciation. Their .encore numbers, ''/Till* Dawn ,r * " 1 and "Tiny Bird,'*.were also of admir- "1 able quality, the last-mentioned beings " as sweet shtd dainty as it was quaint' 't and unusual. Though the Waiata? Society is doing good service in bring-- y jng visiting. musicians to Whangarei, ifc ■■■■■-;* is gratifying to find that local talent fe' ..->4 not overlooked. Last night's pro*gramme wfls all the better for the in" elusion of the very enjoyable numbers* given by the two local ladies.

Mr Dohsoa . played the accompani* • 3 ments for all the items except the* part, songs and quartettes, and aceopn— if plished a very big evening's work in - f| faultless style. The of course, iR" \i| well served with Mr Collins at thepiano. . "1§