AUSTRALIAN MUSIC

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18896, 23 June 1923, Page 16

AUSTRALIAN MUSIC

LEADING LONDON. A MUSICIAN’S TOUR. LONDON, June 1. Mr Edward Gall, the Melbourne pianist, who is at present in London, states that he lias attended numerous London concerts by the younger generation. He found the standard of Australian music higher than in London. He was interested in the Royal College of Music concerts arranged to assist young British composers to secure a performance of their own compositions. “Beechnut's reappearance at the Albert Hall,” he said, "was a magnificent performance. The London Symphony Orchestra is one of the best in the world. ‘f attended the Max Reger festival at Vienna, and found tremendous enthusiasm for Reger’s music. _ . "Australian music, except for Dame Nellie Melba, has lacked advertisement. I was able lo give the Vienna people quite a different picture of Australia's musical standard. ■‘Australia is practically unknown to the Continental musical world, and these people marvelled to hoar that Reger’s and other masterpiece s had been already performed in Melbourne when Europeans are only beginning to appreciate them. "I heard wonderful performances at the Vienna Opera House, including Richard Strauss’s ‘ Legend of Joseph,’ which is magnificent from every standpoint. The scenery was the grandest I’ve ever seen on tue opera stage. The production cost

2,009,000,000 kronen, which, considering tho country's financial plight, was a colossal expenditure. It shows the great influence of Strauss’s name. “I am chagrined to think that Strauss s work could never be staged in Australia, because of the smallness and lack of facilities of Australian theatres. The orchestra consisted of 150 males, and the impression on my mind, both of the music and scenery, was too grand for words. , “The performance of Puccini's ‘La Tosca in Vienna will live ever in my memory. I paid 2,000.000 kronen for a scat to heajJerilza as Tosca. She is one of the greatest singers in the world. I never heard such a magnificent voice combined with the greatest artistry and acting. , "I met Puccini, who looked wonderfully well. He was overcome with emotion by tho nerformance and the public ovation. Puccini knows, through Melba, all about Australian opera.”