MALE CHOIR CONCERT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22121, 27 November 1933, Page 2

MALE CHOIR CONCERT

AN ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE For many years now the Royal Dunedin Male Choir has had a steady following among the musicloving public of Dunedin, and the reason for this is the high standard that its performances consistently reach. Saturday night’s concert, which was held in the concert chamber of the Town Hall, realised fully the expectations of the audience, whoso enjoyment was evident from the applause which greeted the conclusion of each item, and Dr Galway and his choir are to be complimented both on the selection of the items and on the manner of their presentation. All types of songs were introduced, and in this way the capabilities of a choir of 70 or 80 voices, well trained and properly controlled, were fully demonstrated, while variety was lent to the programme by attractive solo items, vocal and instrumental. The choir’s opening number was the choral prelude, “ Salutation,” by S. 11. Gaines, a tribute to music, which was sung with much feeling, and immediately established that intimacy between performers and audience so necessary to the success of any concert. The choir again made a good impression with the part song, “Sigh no More, Ladies” (R. J. Stevens, arr. T. F. Dunhill), a quaint and humorous fragment. The spirit of the piece was admirably caught, and it was sung with a verve that the audience keenly appreciated. In the beautiful old Irish air, “ The Meeting of the Waters” (arr. Percy E. Fletcher), in which rvords and music are so delightfully co-ordinated, the choir gave one of its best renderings of the evening. The item was notable for the fine tone achieved, and the musical blending of the voices, and for the sympathetic interpretation it was given. Mr Cecil Hawes, a firm favourite with patrons of the choir, had fujl play for his resonant baritone in Stanford’s “The Old Superb,” in which he combined with the choir. He sang with commendable vigour, and the choir was at its best in the chorus, which called for rollicking and spirited singing. An entirely different note was introduced in “ Christmas Eve ” (Stanley Marchant), in which the choir had the assistance of Miss Dorothy Sligo. The varying moods of the composition were well defined, and good tone was maintained throughout, while there was a desirable sense of co-operation between choir and soloist, the climax being particularly effective. It was probably in Hugo Jungst’s “Spin! Spin!” however, that the choir achieved its greatest success of the night. The theme of this plaintive little melody was admirably brought out, and it was sung with such sincerity and feeling that the audience demanded its repetition. The choir’s Concluding number was the festival carol, “ Ring Out, Wild Bells,” in which Tennyson’s stirring poem has been set to music by Percy E. Fletcher. It was a piece that provided opportunities for contrasted types of singing, and full advantage was taken of these, with the result that light and shade were admirably defined in a performance that brought considerable pleasure to the audience.

It is always a pleasure to hear Mrs H. C. Campbell play, and in her first pianoforte solo, the Chopin “ Scherzo in B flat minor,” a composition of much charm and power, she vas enabled to display to the full her clean, crisp technique and her keen interpretative sense. In order to satisfy the insistent demands of the audience Mrs Campbell played for an encore a Chopin etude, of which she brought out the full beauty, and later in the evening she played a toccato by York Bowen in competent and musicianly fashion. Mr R. I. Douglas, the possessor of a light baritone of rich and pleasing quality, immediately made a, good impression with his singing ,of r The Lowland' Sea” (Branscombe), and followed this with a spirited rendering of “ MacGregor’s Gathering” which earned him unstinted applause, Mr R. A. Mitchell clearly pleased his hearers with his tenor solo, “ There is a Flower That Bloometh ” (Wallace), and for an encore he sang “When Other Lips” (Balfe). Dorothy Sligo’s solos were “My Soul’s Delight” (Donizetti), a striking and difficult song, and “Poor Wandering One" (Sullivan), to each of which she was obliged to add an encore. The choir quartet, comprising. Met us R. A. Mitchell. R. W. Dunbar, G. Salmond and J. A. Haggitt, attracted favourable recognition from the audience with its singing of “ Sea Fever,” and had to respond with an encore number. The concert will be repeated this evening.