MADRIGAL CLUB

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23016, 20 October 1936, Page 5

MADRIGAL CLUB

RECITAL IN CONCERT CHAMBER FINE PERFORMANCE BY VISITING PIANIST The concert by the Madrigal Club of the Dunedin Choral Society, which was presented before a large audience in the Town Hall Concert Chamber last night, provided an attractive evening of choral singing, the ch«lr, under the direction of Mr Alfred Walmsley. giving evidence of thorough rehearsal and displaying admirable enthusiasm in all its work. From the purely technical viewpoint there remains something to be desired in the composition of the ensemble, for the occasional thinness of the soprano tone and the lack of resonance in the baritones, the latter being more particularly noticeable in the pianissimo singing, were due apparently to the quality of the voices rather than to any lack of numerical balance. From the point of view of attack, cohesion and spirit, however, the choir performed very creditably, and followed the directions of the conductor-with the closest attention, maintaining good precision and showing a sound sense of appropriate colouring.

The recital opened with a vigorous presentation of a Ballad to Queen Elizabeth of the Spanish Armada. Precision of attack was one of the outstanding features of this number, the choir’s work being crisp and clean, but the soprano tone Occasionally took on a rather hard edge in the more robust passages. Three folk songs, “ Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,” “ Mann in Veen,” and “Dear Harp of My Country,” saw the choir in better form, the first number of the bracket being sung with attractive restraint and good tonal balance, while the contrasts in shading presented in the second were finely controlled. In the third number of this group the male section of the ensemble made one or two ragged entries, bu,t on the whole the performance was distinctly pleasing. “All Suddenly the Wind Came Soft,”' a part-song by Temple Bevan, was an appealing composition which was sung with nice attention to expressional detail and tonal shading, Roger Quitter’s "Non Nobis Domine” provided a sharp contrast in styles, with its triumphal atmosphere, which whs admirably maintained, the final climax being exceedingly well sung. Two songs by Roger Quitter, “To Daffodils ” and “To the Virgins,” both settings of poems by Herrick, were treated with good attention to appropriate atmosphere and expression. A group of four Scottish songs, which, opened the second half of .the programme, presented a variety of emotions. The first number of the group was .“ Hail to the Chief,” a martial and vigorous work by • Bishop, which’ the choir attacked with spirit. “ Mary,” by Richardspn, in more romantic vein, was sung with good restraint and cohesion, and “The Wee Cooper, of Fife,” an old ballad arranged by Roberton, was presented with such zest that it had to be repeated. The final number of the group, “Celtic Hymn,” was inclined to be patchy, the passages allotted to the various sections being occasionally ragged, but in the concerted singing the choir achieved excellent tone and balance, especially in the pianissimo passages. Two numbers by the. men’s section of the choir, Mozart’s lovely cradle song, “Sleep,”, and the traditional “Old Man Noah,” were both popular items which were well sung, the latter portion of the second number being "repeated. The ladies’ section also sang Markham Lee’s “Morning” with fine balance and good tone control, and “ The Frontier Line,” by Villiers Stanford, a number which was given effective treatment, but which might more appropriately have been allotted to the men. Two nursery rhymes, “Ba. Ba,' Black Sheep,” and “ Rock-a-bye Baby,” in which the solo parts were very prettily sung by little Miss June M’Call; Were two pleasing trifles, the choir then proceeding to present two excerpts from , "Tantivy Towers,” a modern work by A. P. Herbert and Thomas Dunhill. The opening selection, “A Hunting Wo Will Go,” was sung with fine spirit and precision, the rollicking character of the number being well sustained. In the second number, “The Battle of Love,” the choir had the assistance of Mrs N. R. Henderson, a soprano of excellent quality and range, as soloist, who was admirably supported by the choir, which sang with good attention to expressional colouring. The traditional “John Peel,” in which Mr F. G. Taplin sang the solo part, was also presented by the choir in good style, the recital concluding with the part song, “ Hymn Before Action,” by Walford Davies, in which balance was occasionally sacrificed for vigour.

Mr Noel Newson, the gifted young Christchurch pianist, who afforded Dunedin music-lovers an indication of his executive and interpretative. qualifications when he appeared in this city with the Spivakovsky-Kurtz Trio at the beginning of the year, was the instrumental soloist of the evening. This young musician has at his command technique of a singularly impressive order, and in the two groups of compositions which he presented last night he demonstrated that he has undoubtedly an exceptionally promising future in the musical world. In his first appearance on the platform he presented a bracket of three Brahms compositions, Rhapsodic in G minor, Intermezzo in C major, and Capriccio in B minor, in each of which he not only overcame the technical difficulties with ease but sustained the character of the work in a manner that showed to what extent his musical studies have been

advanced. In response to demands for an encore he played Smetana’s “ Bohemian Dance ” in brilliant style. His second bracket opened with Schumann’s Romance in F sharp, which he played with delightful fluency of expression, then proceeding to give glittering performances of the two exacting Chopin waltzes, the E flat and the D flat, embodying masterly exhibitions of executive skill. As a further recall number he played the difficult C major Etude, also, by Chopin. Mr F. G. Taplin, in addition to having a solo part in one of the choral presentations, sang “ Impatience,” by Schubert, in attractive style, and in response to insistent demands for encores presented “The Trout.” also by Schubert, and “ Sunday," by Brahms. The pianoforte accompaniments during the evening were artistically played by Miss Mavis Macdonald..