Music and Drama

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23169, 15 October 1938, Page 16 (Supplement)

Music and Drama

[THEATRICAL NOTES COMING PRODUCTIONS THEATRE AND CONCERT HALL HIS MAJEBTVB THEATRB October 29. —"Balalaika." TOWN HALL December 17. —"The Messiah." TOWN HALL CONCERT CHAMBER October 18 and 20. —Recital by Danny Malono. November 17.—Royal Auckland Choir. LEWIS EADY HALL October 20—Chamber Morte Concert November 15 and 16.—Sheridan Players' Production, "Tell Mo the Truth. ST. ANDREWS HALL November 1, 2 and 3. —A.R.T. Production, "Ascent of F<3." Organ Recital * A further organ recital will bo given in St. Andrew's Church, Symonds Street, by Mr. Stanley .Jackson, organist of St. Matthew's Church. The recital will 'bo to-morrow afternoon, and Mr. Jackson will play the first two movements of Elgar's fine sonata No. 1 for the organ, which will open the recital, and at the conclusion Bach s Fantasia and Fugue in G minor. Uyier numbers include the Scherzo in A nat, by Bairstow, Passacadia and fugue by Bach, Cesar Franch s Chorale in A minor, and a chorale prelude by Parry. Leslie Howard Farce Tho next production of the Sheridan Players is to be the farce, "Tell Me the Truth," by the eminent English actor, Leslie Howard. The. play will be presented in the Lewis Eady Hall on November 15 and 16, and will be produced by Howard Newcombe. _ Ihe cast has not yet been finally decided. The plot of the play is cast on typically farcical lines and has much witty dialogue, while the story broadly concerns the impact of a rather wild young relation on the lives of three elderly ladies who have the power to withhold the young man's legacy. Recorder of Maori Music

No musician has done nearly as much as Mr. A. F. Hill, now a resident of Sydney, to place 011 record the melodies of the Maori kainga. Mr. Hill now devotes his time almost wholly to the work of composition, in which the study he carried out many years ago during a temporary residence in the pas of the North Island takes a prominent part. Mr. Hill intends shortly to take up his residence in Auckland for a month or two, in order to compose the musical setting for a storj' that is about to be filmed illustrative of Maori life and manners. Lyric Harmonists

Soloists for Bach's "Peasant Cantata" to be presented by the Lyric Harmonists Choir on September 27 in the Town Hall concert chamber will be Miss Mary Murphy, soprano, and Mr. .Tames Leighton, bass. This secular cantata discloses Bach in lighter vein, the melodies being mainly folk-song tunes. The other choral work on the programme, Thiman's "High Tide," is a complete contrast in every way and is a modern work! The choir has been asked to revisit Papatoetoe and Manurewa, where concerts were given previously, and tlie above works will be the main items of the programme. A.R.T. Play Postponed

The plav, "The Ascent of was to have been given by the Auckland Repertory Theatre in t St. Andrew's Hall, Svmonds Street, at about the present time, has been postponed owing to sickness in the cast; measles and influenza having held rehearsals up, and also delayed the making of stage properties for the production. "The Ascent of F6" will now be presented on Novem-

ber 1, 2 and 3. The play, which concerns tho rivalry of two powers in climbing a mountain, is a comment upon tho manner in which patriotism may bo degraded. Stage settings-are of a very unusual nature. Popular Irish Tenor Concerts by the well-known Irish' tenor Danny Malone are to be given in tho Town Hall concert chamber next Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Mr. Malone, who, has just concluded a successful tour of America, Australia, South Africa and Canada, will be assisted by a number of overseas concert artists, and interesting programmes have been arranged. Mr. Malone has had a remarkablo rise to his present position, and his fine voice was first noticed when ho was singing in tho street. He quickly won popularity on the concert platform, and even more extensive audiences have been reached by recordings and radio. "Messiah" Performances Tho combined performance of Handel's "The Mossiah," by the Auckland Choral Society and the Royal Wellington Choral Union is to be given at Wellington on Saturday, December 10, while on the following Saturday the Auckland society will present the same work in the Auckland Town Hall. Over 100 members of the local society have signified their willingness to travel to Wellington to take part in the combined performance, which should be as great a success as the combined presentation was last year in Auckland. If this is so the continuance of these combined presentations, to be held in alternate years in Auckland and Wellington, is undoubtedly assured.

Role In British Opera AUCKLAND SINGER'S PROGRESS [from our own correspondent] LONDON. Sept. 22 PRIENDS in New Zealand who made it possible for Oscar Natzke to come to London to continue his vocal studies at the London College of Music, will be much interested to hear of his satisfactory progress. On arrival in the early part of 1935, Mr. Natzke began his tuition with Albert Garcia, grandson of the late Manuel Garcia. Arrangements for the singer to come here were made, it may be recalled, through Mr. Anderson Tyrer, who was in Auckland as examiner for Trinity College of Music. One day while Vladimir Rosing was walking down Wigmore Street, his attention was arrested by a fine basa voice in Verdi's "Requiem. The singer was at Mr. Garcia s studio there. Mr. Rosing made inquiries and was informed that the vocalist was Mr. Natzke. Ho made himself known to the New Zealander and arranged for him to have an audition at Covent Garden. Cornishmen's Opera As the direct outcome of_ this, Mr. Percy Heming and Mr. Rosing offered Oscar Natzke the role of De Fulke, the leading part in George Lloyd" new opera, "The Serf." which will be heard for the first time this autumn, with a fine cast. The Lloyds—George and Robert—father and son, are Cornishmen, one having written the music, the other the libretto. The story is Norman in period, conception and setting. De Fulke is a blind man, with two children. Women in the cast are Ruth Navlor (soprano) • and Edith Fumage (contralto). The other nien are Henrv Wendon, who plays Cerdic, Arthur Fear and Richard Watson (priest). Fine Future Predicted Sir Thomas Beecham, Mr. Harold Holt, and other people well known for their connection with grand opera, have heard the New Zealand bass at the rehearsals which are now in progress, and all of them anticipate a fine future for him. Mr. Natzke thinks he may go out to the Dominion on a concert tour in the near future. Meanwhile, he is to sing in "Faust," "Rigoletto," and "Die Meistersingers" during the autumn Covent Garden season. The New Zealand-born son of a Russian father who settled at Matipara as a farmer, and a Christchurch-born mother, he is naturally delighted at all that has opened up for him in the_few years since ho left the blacksmith's forge.