VISITOR FROM VIENNA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22260, 7 November 1935, Page 3

VISITOR FROM VIENNA

MUSIC-LOVING AUSTRIANS WIDELY-TRAVELLED TOURIST r "Already I.am charmed with your New Zealand; it is like my Austria; it has variety," said Madame F. Marsi, of Vienna, who arrived by the Wanganella from Sydney yesterday. Madame Marsi is accompanying the party of boy singers from the Institute of the Singing Boys of Austria, who are at present visiting New Zealand. Small, very vivacious and dressed with Viennese smartness, she has travelled widely in most countries of the world, but this •is her first visit to New Zealand. " Years ago, in Vienna," said Madame Marsi, " I was very interested in bees, and in every magazine dealing with the keeping of bees I found some reference to New Zealand apiarists. I thought then that New Zealand must be some remote little island that I would never see. It was the last place I ever expected to visit and now, suddenly, I am here, but with no thought of bees at all." International Outlook For the last four years Madame Marsi has lived in Melbourne, returning every year to Vienna, where she owns considerable property. She has travelled extensively in Australia, where she is the Austrian representative of the International Club of the League of Nations Union, in the work of which she is keenly interested. Her travels in Europe and the various countries of the world have given her a splendid opportunity of observing people and the surroundings and conditions in which they live, and she is intensely interested in the different in-' ternational attitudes of the countries she has visited. Among her many friends all over the . world, Madame Marsi numbers the lato Dr. E. Dolfussj Chancellor of Austria:,' as one of the most valued and generous, She said that shortly before his death, when the party from the Institute of the Singing Boys of Austria was about to leave for Australia, the Chancellor wrote her and asked if she would, oh account of her experiences in many I countries, accompany the boys on their tour of the world. Madame Marsi received the party on its arrival in Australia and accompanied the boys on their tour of the capital cities. In Australia and in New Zealand the party is known as the Vienna Boys' Choir. This, however, is not their correct name. They are the Singing Boys of Austria and members of an institute founded in 1492 by the Emperor Maximillian and housed always in a special wing of the Imperial Palace. Until a few years ago they were never allowed to perform in public and their recitals were given only at Royal entertainments. Born to Music Madame Marsi, who is herself keenly interested in art, said she had, long been attracted to New Zealand by reports that New Zealanders were fond of music. In Vienna music was the soul of the people. It was not regarded as a pose, an extra quality of culture or learning, but it was born in the people. f Vienna is the home of music," she said. " Children are born to music. They grow up with it and it is as much part of their life as the food they eat." She said that in every home in Vienna, at least once a week, a musical gathering was held. Popular songs such as the United States and other countries knew, were not favoured in Austria. There music was loved as music and even the poorest people would make countless sacrifices for the pleasure of visiting the famous Vienna Opera House. Madame Marsi is herself the possessor of a fine mezzo-soprano voice and she also plays both the violin and piano.