“THE DAMASK ROSE.”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 12

“THE DAMASK ROSE.”

MR G. H. CLUTSAM’S NEW SUCCESS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 27. Mr G. H. Clutsam. a New Zealander who has lived in England for very many years, has come again prominently into the limelight with the presentation of “ The Damask Rose,” at the Savoy Theatre. This is a musical romance based on the. themes of Chopin. In addition to adapting and composing the themes, Mr Clutsam is responsible for the lyrics and, jointly with Mr Robert Courtneidge, for the book also. In a previous musical play which had a deservedly tremendous vogue, Mr Clutsam had take*- Schubert as his inspiration, music arid. story as well, and all the ,world knows .“Lilac Time”: enthusiasts heard it many times over. And there seems little reason to anticipate any less successful career .for “The Darriask Rose.” If it does not prove so popular it is more likely to be on account of its comparatively conventional story than. for want of melodious airs. “Lilac Time” was written round Schubert’s life story with Schubert’s music; tlie story of “ The Damask Rose ” centres round an imaginary adventure of Stanislas Poniatowski, the last King of Poland, Chopin’s themes haunt* this light opera—the production must not be put into the musical comedy category-— 1 which is beautifully produced, staged, dressed, and jsurig. There is . a magnificent and'well-trained chorus.

The star is Miss Wilma Berkeley, the Australian soprano, who now happens to he related to Mr Clutsam, as a few months ago she married his step-son. Miss Berkeley has a lovely, fresh young voice, which she uses with ease and fluency, and she is provided with many opportunities of showing her vocal equipment, which includes ‘ very effective coloratura work. She is also very attractive in appearance. Her part is that of Wanda Volny, a Pole. The hero, Stanislas, is played by Mr John Morel, a new actor, with a very good voice. There is a lover, Count Karol Tarlo, played by Henry Millidge. His part provides the surprise oi the story, for, when everything points to the marriage of : Stanislas and- Wanda, the coquette goes back to her first love leaving a disconsolate king, who decides to marry no one but his country, Poland, which will probably keep him busy •enough. . , Comedy is cleverly introduced, primarily by the inimitable Walter, Passmore (who has long enjoyed fame in connection with Savoy productions) and Amy Augarde, whose record with operatic and musical comedy successes is longer than that of most contemporaries. As the mother of Stanislas, she plays with distinction, finish, and grace, and j.she still sings well. Her comedy scenes with her old lover, Count Theodore Volny (Walter Passmore) are Katisha-like, and delightful, and provide much merriment. Another comedy provider is Mr Billy Leonard as ■ Jan (Stanislas’s servant). There is not a great part for Miss Nancy Lovat, but she • does everything that can be done with it as Wanda's maid, who has been made love to by the King when on his adventure in Warsaw.

Of course, most criticism will centre round Mr. Clutsam’s arrangement of Chopin’s music. The Telegraph comments': “The ]ilay as such really doesn’t matter much, since its main purpose was clearly to serve as a peg for Chopin’s musicr—as transcribed. No doubt the purists will have some hard things to say to Mr Clntsom, who has certainly taken greater liberties with Chopin than he took with Schubert But he must, have had a far, harder job with the Polish composer, who, however lyrical his thoughts, expressed them in terms •■of the piano, without regard for the human voice and its limitations. Hence not a few changes in the melodic line in Mr Clutsam’s score of which the purists, I imagine, will particularly disapprove. Yef some of his rhythmic changes seem to me less easy to justify. There is in some of them remarkable ingenuity, .just as in a good deal besides, there are plain tokens of the adaptor’s ,musicianly skill and taste. But I . would cite as misguided the ingenuity*-that I .turns the chief, theme of the -P major Ballade—Chopin in , his dreamiest! twilight mood—into a frisky, duet,: adit .tacks on q melody from the A flat Baljadc for the rollicking, dance that follows it. On the other hand, the A flat Study (from the.'second set), changed to sit-eight measure for a quartet and choral serenade, is charmingly treated in its unaccustomed guise, while the beautiful E major Study, though made to sound rather like a ballad —as also does the E. flat Nocturne in the 1 form of a love duet—is delicately shaped to its new use as a contralto song.' But, melodically unadorned, as the refrain of n kind of patriotic hymn,, the chief themo of the second P major Study becomes strangely, sqiiarc-toed. As scored * for’- it short entr’acte, a fragment froin the first movement of the B flat .minor Sonata' sounds extraordinarily well. The whole, for that matter, is charmingly orchestrated.” . ,

However, the first night audience was a most enthusiastic one, and one may not be far wrong in anticipating that there will be many more equally so. For the Savoy production Mr Courtneidge has taken the greatest pains to get every detail of the dress true to the period. The Damask Rose ” has, indeed, undergone various other important changes as well since it 'started on its career outside the Metropolis about a year ago. There are many very lovely melodies, and the compliments paid Mr Clutsam outnumber the criticisms. ■