WORLD FAMOUS TENOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23001, 2 October 1936, Page 4

WORLD FAMOUS TENOR

APPEARANCE OF RICHARD CROOKS Extra clerks have had to be added to the box office staff to assist with the booking for next Monday night’s concert of Richard Crooks, who is probably the best and most popular singer in the world to-day. Since the plans were opened on Tuesday there has been no “ let-up ” at the D.I.C. box office, and the large number of seats which have been reserved indicates that even the record established by Menuhin here will be broken on Monday nieht, Unfortunately, owing to important engagements in New York, Richard Crooks can only make one appearance in Dunedin, and after his concert here he will proceed to Auckland for two recitals, after which he will leave immediately for America. “ Gramophone records, wrote a Sydney critic, “of the voices of great singers are surprisingly good, but excellent as they are they fail to convey a certain quality m the voice, nor do they express completely the personality of the singer Thousands of people recognised that on Saturday night, when one of the largest audiences that has ever squeezed into the Sydney Town Hall awaited the appearance of Mr Richard Crooks. They were satisfied in every way. The singer not only exceeded their anticipations, but he provided a delightful contrast with temperamental performers. Mr Crooks is not handicapped by temperament. Noises do not throw him off his balance His poise is natural, and therefore easily maintained Eager patrons were still pouring in after he had ended his first song People hung about the side of the doors of the hall, afraid of disturbing the singer. It was a memorable evening. Richard Crooks greatly 'refers appearance before an audience than singing for broadcasting, because he likes the feeling of a personal contact with his audiences. To step out on the stage and see the people who have enough personal regard for him to come to hear him, to watch their reactions and feel himselt warming to their response, means more to him, he declares, than simply collecting a cheque for singing before a microphone. Another reason why the famous singer prefers concert singing is that he is entirely free to sing whatever songs he chooses. The great mistake of broadcasting, he says, is its insistence on a limited repertoire. In the mistaken belief that the fpeat classics are “ over the heads of the public,” the radio officials insist on popular songs, or at best the endless repetition of perhaps a dozen popular classics. As an actual fact, says Mr Crooks, the public is, musically, far more intelligent than the broadcasting officials give it credit for. “ Sylvia,” “ Long, Long Ago ” and “ The Last Rose of Summer " are all very well, but one can get too much of them. There are a number of s.ongs by Mozart, Strauss, Wolf, Schubert and Brahms which are just as melodic, just as easily comprehensible, and just as pleasurable, and which the public would delight to hear if only it got the chance.