HIGH STANDARD OF SPEECH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIX, 29 January 1936, Page 2

HIGH STANDARD OF SPEECH

VISIT OF AUSTRALIAN AUTHORITY MORE REFINEMENT AN 13 CARE During liis visit to the North Island, Mr Roland Foster, of the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, who is in New Zealand at present under engagement to the New Zealand Broadeastiag Board, heard a number of vocal pei'formers, and he considers that. there is an abundance of natural talent in the Dominion which only requires adequate opportunities for its full development. Mr Foster, who has arrived in Christchurch, told a “Press” reporter that many New Zealand singers had studied in the Conservatorium at Sydney, and that he had invariably found them intelligent, responsive, and keenly ambitious. He quoted the case of Miss Merle Miller, the Lyttelton singer who was now successfully established in London, as a case in point. Apart from musical matters, Mr Foster said that he had found that the standard of speech in New Zealand was definitely superior to that which obtains in Australia. This was not only among those who were generally referred to as the educated classes, but right through the social strata in New Zealand there was a more refined manner of speaking, and more care taken in pronunciation. Men in New Zealand, he considered, also dressed more correctly and carefully than in Australia. It is 25 years approximately since Mr Foster was last in Christchurch, and he was then connected with the tour of Dame Clara Butt and Mr Kennerley Rumford. He said that he had noticed many changes in the skyline of the city. The many flue buildings and the large department stores were concrete evidence of progress, but he remarked that the übiquitous bicycle had not yet been superseded. Mr Foster said that he had been told in the North Island that there was more activity in musical circles in Christchurch and Dunedin than in the North Island, and he said that he was sorry that it was the holiday time and he would not be able to attend any concerts.

Though at present circumstances dictated that flesh-anci-Rlood artists had to be brought from overseas, Mr Foster said that it was probable that in,a few years New Zealand would be able to produce ait'sfs equally capable of providing high-class entertainments. The Broadcasting Board was giving excellent service and providing programmes which, as well as being varied, were comprehensive and generally of a high quality.