Music and Drama

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 18 (Supplement)

Music and Drama

theatrical: notes COMING PRODUCTIONS THEATRE AND CONCERT HALL HIB MAJESTY « THEATRE To-day.—Stanley McKay's Gaieties.^ April ao.—"GiiorKe and Marcaret." TOWN HALL CONCERT CHAMBER j^ a y 5. —Royal Auckland Choir. LEWIS EADY HALL April 12. —Recital by Mr. T. Rex. April 27. —Chamber Music Society May 24 and 25—Sheridan Players.

Royal Auckland Choir The first concert this season of the Royal Auckland Choir will be given in the Town Hall concert chamber under the conducto:rship of Mr. Harry Woglley, who succeeded Dr. W. E. Thomas upon the latter's retirement last November, A varied programme of part songs, both serious and humorous, will be presented, and the main works will be "Lochinvar," based on the ballad by Sir Walter Scott, and a version of the "Blue Danube" waltz by Strauss. Assisting artists will be Miss Sybil Phillipps (soprano), Mr. Vincent Aspey (violitiist) and Mr. James Leighton (bass-baritone). "Fresh Fields" to be Presented The Sheridan Players will present the play "Fresh Fields" as their first public production for the season, the Lewis Eady Hall having been booked for the performance on May 24 and 25. The cast has been selected and comprises Mrs. Arawa Hinkley, Misses Marjorie Kyle, Leonore Pigott, Nancy Warren, Nancy Prichard and Edna Crump, and Messrs. L. Hyan, Tredrea and C. Marks. The producer is Mr. Howard Newcombe. Lily Pons in New York Opera Donizetti's "Lucia di~ Lammermoor" received its first performance of the season at the New York Metropolitan Opera House at the end of January, with the French opera and screen star Lily Pons in the title role. It was as the tragic heroine of Scott's tale that Miss Pons made her debut in New York, and in no other role she has essayed since has she proved more completely sure of herself.

Seven-year-old Pianist A large audience last month heard the debut recital at Mexico City of Joseph Kahan, seven-year-old pianist, who has won the praise, in private performances, of Josef Hofmann, Jose [turbi and Mischa Elman. The boy, son of Saloman Kahan. Mexican music critic, is preparing to bo si conductor. Spectators stood 111 the aisles as the child played selections from Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Haydn, Corelli. Bloch, Poldini and Gretchaninoff. Wagner Translation The New York Richard Wagner Society sponsored a concert on February 27. in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. An all-Wagfier programme enlisted the services of Elizabeth Rethberg, Florence Easton, Lauritz Meichior and Ludwig Hofmann, accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of 1' ritz Reiner. The proceeds of the concert will be directed toward the creation of a fund with which to commission a translation of tho complete "Ring of the Niebelungs" of Wagner, which, according to the society, will be given during the World Fair in 1939.

Royalties on Play-Readings SOCIETIES' LIABILITY Amateur dramatic work has been a little slow in getting under way this year, and one of the main causes of this probably is the uncertainty which still exists over the liability for royalties on plays. Amateur dramatic societies have, of course, paid royalties on plays which they have produced, but until recently they have not been charged for play readings. Now, as a result of a test case in England in 1936, they find themselves liable for royalties on play readings amounting to 7b 6d for one-act plays and £1 Is for three-act plays at readings where there are more than 25 people present. As the number of people present increases, the charges amount automatically. It appears that these royalties are about to be demanded by a Dunedin firm of solicitors on behalf of English authors and agents, and as the fees are retrospective to 1936 small amateur societies, including the numerous drama circles of Women's Institutes, are faced with the prospect of paying quite considerable amounts for readings at which no charges were made. The national executive in Wellington of the New Zealand branch of the British Drama League has the matter in hand, and is attempting to reduce the scale of fees and to assist amateur societies. The matter is a very serious one, and if no more suitable arrangement is found it will mean a deathblow to many small societies in the Dominion.