WILLIAM HEUGHAN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19443, 31 March 1925, Page 4

WILLIAM HEUGHAN.

The possessor of a. remarkable voice, expressive of every mood, and of infinite clarity of tone,* Air William Hueghan, the noted basso-oantante, again dengtned a large audience at the Burn’s Hail last night witiH a programme cf mixed songs ranging from classics to folk melodies. Mr lleughan is undeniaoly versatile, and his personality is such that the audience is completely carried away. Opening with “Happy we are a’ the gittier,” (Burns) the singer followed with “ih© bong of Jttybnas the Cretan” (Bnnsley-Korsokow) a stirring composition trom the Greek. An old Devonshire song melody “Widdicombe Fair” (arr, Sayer) proved highly diverting and was excellently rendered, The “Two Grenadiers” (Schumann) gave the singer every opportunity to display his histrionic abilities and dramatic power, and he did not fail in any respect. A dainty Scotch song "Jess Macfarlane,” met .with unstinted applause, and Mr lieughan then delighted with “Phil the Fiuter's Ball,” a rollicking Irish folk song that created great amusement. Perhaps Mr Heughan’s best number and tho one in which he rose to great heights as a dramatic singer was “Incantation and Church Scene," from Faust, With true interpretative power lie sang the song as only a great singer could, and the audience were not loath© to show appreciation. A plaintive old Gaelic song “hum Ye To Me’’ was favourably received, and that was followed by Mozart’a “Within These Sacred Bowers,” which earned appreciation from those present. In all his renderings the singer imbibed the atmosphere of his subject and recorded success in every item. As a violinist Mr Hyman Denser has proved himself a great artist, and his numbers last night were well chosen and rendered with distinct ability. Hie favourite “Humoresque” (bchubert) was his opening number. Ho treated the composition with every delicacy and with due regard to expression and technique, and was loudly applauded. His playing of “Concerto E. Minor, Second Movement” (Mendelssohn) was delightful. Tho andante movement was played with plenty of tone, colour and the double stopping was a revelation in smoothness. Tho player gave a fine exposition of “Caprice No. 20” (Paganini). The opening movement was beautiful legato and th© double stopping was excellent. The second movement showed good technique, and tho treatment of the harmonies was of a high order. In his playing of “Liobeslied” (Kreisler), ho displayed temperament, and showed a great sense of interpretation. He also rendered a graceful and appealing little number “Snake Dance” (Burleigh), and for all his contributions he received resounding applause. An artiste that could be heard more often is Moss Gladys Sayer, who handles the accompaniments in a masterly manner. Her contributions to the programme were “Hepentauz” (M’Dowcll) and “Irish Folk Song” (arranged Sayer), for which graceful and charming execution she received due and deserved recognition. The programme for this evening will bo comprised of all-Scottish son 's.