MUSIC AND THE PUBLIC

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21919, 3 April 1933, Page 8

MUSIC AND THE PUBLIC

HIGHER STANDARD DEMANDED MR JOHN BROWNLEE'S IMPRESSIONS. After having motored 2000 miles in the course of his tour through the North Island, the noted Scottish-Australian baritone, Mr John Brownlee, accompanied by Mrs Brownlee, arrived in Duneclin by motor from Christchurch yesterday afternoon. "My two enthusiasms besides music," he said to a Daily Times reporter last evening, "are motoring and golf,' and so charmed have I been with your delightful country and its people that I hope to add considerably to my mileage before I leave." He had been particularly struck, during his recent tour of Australia, said Mr Brownlee, with the increased demand among the people, especially in the country districts, for music of the better type. This remarkable change, he considered, had been brought about by broadcasting, which had played a large part in educating the taste of the people, and in the country districts he had visited he had been surprised at the high standard of musical taste. Requests for special encore items had included operatic numbers (by no means of the " popular" variety), and such songs as " Ich Grolle Nicht," "The Erl King," and "When the King Goes Forth to War," and a pleasing feature was that the audiences showed not only appreciation of such programmes but understanding. Commenting on the influence of the "talkies" on the legitimate stage, Mr Brownlee expressed the opinion that they would have a " weeding-out" effect, which would tend to spur the producers of drama, comedy or opera, to give their audiences nothing but the very best. Mediocre performances would become a thing of the past, stage equipment would be modernised, and the theatre, the opera house and the concert hall, although they might never oust the pictures, would again come into their own.

It was noteworthy that all over Europe the methods of arranging and lighting the great theatres and opera houses were being revolutionised. Germany especially was far ahead of other countries in this respect, and in many of the theatres, the old drop scenes had been completely done away with. Instead everything was set up on the floor of a revolving stage, so that as many as four scenes could be established on one stage, and each could be brought into place as soon as required, resulting in a considerable saving of time, more natural scenic effects, and elimination of any break in the sequence of whatever piece was being performed. Italy, always keen to adopt new ideas, was following in Germany's footsteps, and a huge opera house in Buenos Aires had been turned over to a German professor, who had worked wonders with the arrangement and lighting of the stage.

Mr Brownleo had some interesting comment to make on the encouragement given in their own country to French artists. France, he said, was one of the most national countries in Europe, and while the general trend among AngloSaxons was to push their own artists into the background and employ foreigners, the French were not ashamed to have their own artists to sing their music. In France, there were conservatoriums of music all over the country, and there were between 30 and 40 good opera houses in the provinces where the enthusiasm was even more sincere than in Paris. Any young student with ability had the opportunity of graduating into the Paris Conservatorium, and if he went through that with honours he might be given a chance in the Opera. House or the Opera Comique, both of which institutions were subsidised by the Government. Unfortunately, opera in most countries was having a hard struggle to keep going, and it was a sign of the times that there would be no opera at Buenos Aires this season for the first time in many years.