MUSICIANS AND COMPOSERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2569, 10 June 1903, Page 76

MUSICIANS AND COMPOSERS.

—M. Diniitri S'a\i.iusky d'Agrenefi, tho Rd-dan vocalist and conductor, who for tho past forty-five years has charmed audiences ia both heniiephei€s, has b&en celebrating- hk r-rcfe.-iional jubilee. After serving for fhe years under the coloirs he studied under various Russian professors, and aL-o m IVr.e, where he was the r^F'! of Bs.-ialdi, Mario, and Gru-i. On his return to Russia he created, with the atEietai.ee of hi' wife, the Russian National Choir, an fj~*oaatioa l.a\jng as its object tho perpetuation of the old fcilav to.vgs. Ibis cho.r has been l.card all o\er the wo: Id.

— Tlie following anecdote is told of Christine- Nik*on, tho Swedish singer: — Christine was once at tho house of a retired Chicago mci chant. A distinguished cm ••.piny bad bc-ci. iii'.itcd t© meet her nt cl:nnsr. C'n laieriuj the dining room, ghe dropped her host's arm, ar.r 'hum ing in amazement to the stately young batl> r. seized him effusiiely by ih^ hand, and engaged him im oon\ereaLon, w-iul« tho oilier gut-stb stood waiting, and the enterta ; n?r locked on in astonishment. "That man." she explained, v.l.ni all were scaled .>.' the t.u !e, 'i= tic so'i of a lyud old noblcmm on wjicm* ».«talo my father worked as a day-labourer when we w<t& cluidrer. Fortune has ism-l^d on mo, while it has frow-ned on my old playm-tte."

— Jd,cf Hoiirann. ti.e iruiov, nod Polish pianist, ha« eni 1 of the mo^t ii:ter;st:ng mu -ic room? to bo se.en anyv. hero in hu hov.se in JJcrlin. Among many valuable things v. h'eh ho poises^es is the piano which btlong d to Rubinstein, mid o.i which he Jili ay» b.uchcd. Ho i^as lilanj photographs a n d icuvenirs of his great teacher. On ono photo arc written tho fijvt bai^> of the Concerto in D Minor, and also the word*, "No one but you, my deaf Jof-ef, ha.3 ever played tin- work to my sat'tf<>c!:ioii. — Auton Rubiii&t< m M

— 13.iron Attila Pagaxiiiii. tho grandson of Uie. faiuoui- \iohn:st, m going to leave all the mpmentocii of his grandfather to the toi'.n of Genoa. These mementoes include pi-(.ue:itß fio.li empcrons ard kings, valuable autographs, all tho works of the ckad \iol.nist, and amccigst otlier instruments, a \eiy ancient violin on which Paganini used to practise. In '"Some Eishtc^uth Century Men of Letters," the Rev. Vbitwell }"v in's meeting with t'>e great musician is buefly mentioned: — "Another celebrity v, hem he met at .Robert IJlw:ai's was Paganini, v. horn ho de. c crj.be<l as a gaunt, strangelookiuq man, with long, .lank hair, and unusually long, bony lingers. . Though he appeared to play with ea«o, young Elwin observed that ho was streaming with p°r.opiiaiiou at the end of the peiformruoc, Patranini cnee. told Robert Ehvn that he practised eight hours a day, c\c!usne of public playing."

— Mr Frank Lambert is one of thf> mcv>t sueee^ioful tong writers of the day. Young, high-cpiritwl, and good-looking, there is htt!e ,n his outward pppe-aranoe to lx-tokcn the accepted tyjto of the musician. He was a ]> i"by b.<y. and wh la a pupil in AVhiielaw',- Homo in that school he composed a ''Kino Elc nor.," which wa<= frrquently u«rd m i!<> sor\icn, in tho. sc'iool chapeJ. As an aicompanist he h.v? few equals, and during t'.e season h°. is kept veiy bu=y, both on ihe concert platform and in private hou=es. His tuo mobt popular eonqs are- "Sp"ak but on-> word " and a chaim'nsr setting o. ShclkyV "Tl'o night has a thousand eyrs " — Mr Ta!l~ur Anc'rews is by birth an American, who, when ho first nmc to London, wais none too pl-ntifully b!e?scd with the words qood-. 3-Jti t p^n e^prancp stood him in cood "-tcac'. and for four yrars he hud many engagen'Ci its a= a dn<w:ii(? room Fin3;oi Tlirii came the Sou'h Afncan War, a-'d foiifiqu-'Dt i-'unin in mattor^ mu«ic.ii; whereui'on .Mi Anc'rew." ob'ained i-n ongagement to tour thiough India, singing Mr Havdcii C'jfiiii's parls. I'm \ciee is a high bariroue of singiilarly sympathetic quality; at time- it has the sweetness of a t< n -r. He has been much helped by lire Mane- Tempest, whose kindnc'B to young artihts is i-rovcrbial in the musical piofesfcion.

— II"rr Geor^ Ij^bling, the brilliant piuuint, has returned to London fiom musical triumphs in Beihn— that niC'=t cntieal of citie- — md on on* oecar-ion he played tho iclo part of ihree- pianoforte conceilos by Sc-iiuinann, Liszt, and Tschaikowsky. Ue> lumself has written a concerto which has gained him many, admirers a-, a compeer lfcrr Li'jblm^; began \cry indeed; he whfc a p-ofe-L-nr at the a?e of ]6. Ho ir, a muc'i dcco.M'ed man ; the late Duke of (r.ixe-Coburg qavo him the Ord> r for Arr; ar.d Sme-i cc, and appointed him tc the post o' C' urt Pj-nist. For the rest, he> has a charming- wife, and he hoYs a re«pon=i'i!o po-iti'-n :it <h/> Guild'iaU School, where he is very popular.

— In the April number of the Paris "Word appears the fo!lawina| remarkable otory of tlie origin of Chopin'» "Marc-he FuniHe " It ie fold by Zi«n, m whose studio the fctii© too*k place: — "Late one summer sftrruoon Chop n and I tat tal'kinjr iv mv studio. In on 1 ) coiner of the room stood v piano, and in another the com] Let-e tkole ton of a man, -\\,t!i a Lirgo white dVh tli own, ghost 1 ke, ibout it. I i oticpd t'mt ii^w and again Chopin's gaze would wander, ni d, from my 1 row'edg-e of the man, I know that his fhouur'its uc-re far rway from mo ard lii- Mirrmnditi'y. Morr> than that, I kiifw nr* wan compoMn^. PfSTitly. lm lose fium 1 i-» frat \titlirnit d word, walked o\<>r to t'le s-kcl' ton, and removed the> c'oth. Tie th«*n earned it to the pbno. and, seating lt.mFelf, took the hid<-nns ob|»»ct upoii hif> knee?. A b'rmp.. pcfure of Me- and dratli. Th^n, drawing Ihr white doth round hh.iiHf and tl-o «k«*l' ion, he 'aid flip lat'er's finciv ovr his own. and besrin to p'wy. As the. mti-ic <--.>•»■ I'fd m a louder sira'n I dosed mv «'('«. And I knew I v.is l'.-temn- s - to a coinpo-itrn wl mb would h\t> foi »\rr. Tie iiui'-.c c ;i-'c', j'irl v.'cii I \ ',(•(! i p tho ;•' r .o r^f\ v v.a^ i mntv. and > n th.- "our liy CiO>'iii'i> uw m-<r n-< ioi.u fcrm, .I*-' b' -\ !e Ii 'ii "na h"d al to pif(*n, was xb .>■'. '< t < nT j r.z dl o mi'ch. T 1 c icieat < '. vi) -l had ,<-'uo.ii'<.l, b'lt h.-. inaich flis foui.d '

- The fat t tl.ar "\railunv Paffi if 1o make a'if/t' < r <■■ ' 1 tour ' ?i- fii'r'l mu-ic !o\ mr; per'" v'lli vo'irl r ci d r-rn'din? it thr-y a]l - i-( . . i"' ih^ f< " .ni'i"- • i-rry •— Slip was out w.ik"? <n? <'<iV, .ii'J fmlin? thirsty r-l'^J r* a ro'l '-" ly t' « vay >'■* to a. V for a p 1 c<3 <if n.'k, and when s'.o oFered lo piy ''" l"- 11 -'' 1 - "'-man raised her hand 'i ? n*l" r'mniflrar^. Fa%:p.p;- ' Th-ere is iK) J ' i".' to iav for tie nv'k, but w.fl rrui- ,'..,» ] i (lly mi g to in one of her sweet -■)• >- " V' i r'ltprfd t!ie humble- linme, ;m r' ,a' cr in h' i !>io»t superb fctyl«\ ''TTome. <■« rt h' ni' '"' Tho astonished and cVhjrlited c A' izrr, 111 1 - 1 <- )' .1 in raptures, and tendered >iin>i Ji.u'ii'iu.-vi" 1 '! v^fijror -Harnieit thai\k»>.

Then, from an inner apartr&ent, came a feeble- voice : "Please sing that again ; it was so beautiful !" "lhat is my daughter, who is dying ot consumption," said the cottager; "she is so fond of singing." Patii visited tho eick girl, sang the song to her, and gave her a »ympathetio word. The milk had been paid for by melody for which th& world would Jiave gladly paid 1 thousands of dollars.

— Ono of the most rising pianists of the day is Miss Grace Smith, -nlio for her age has attained gieat success. She was educated originally at St. Margaret's School, JhSita.'.ey. (Sue was nine years of age when it w-as lirst discovered tha.t she possessed any special talcut for music; from that time cnwvu's she was trained with a view to her particular bent. Her first public success afc the piano wag scored at a school concert afc tho ago of 13, when she> made a great hit by playing a Rondo by Dussek. She was at the time one cf Madame Colmac'-.e-'a pupi's; she continued to study under her until p l ie was 21. Mies Grace Smith gave her first concert at the Salk-Erard, whioh was followed by cne at Windsor, under tha pationago of Princess Christian, who had heard her at a school concert. Her lato Majesty showed her interest in the young performer by tiking tickets. Other notable people before wkom M:es Smith payed included Sir Frederick Bridgo, Sir Water Pairatt, Sir Hubert Pairy, Lanreuthcr, and Birmgtr. At the age of 21 Signo? Buconi lrarJ Mi:s Smith, and in\ited her to- join las class in We m ir. There she spent 6e\cral months, after whioh sh© spent a year at Bchu under Madame Carreno.

— Sir Alex.uul- r MackeVzio, who has just conducted the first of his scries cf musical festivals in Canada, comee of a musical family. His father and grandfather were \iolinists, and his great-grandfather a member of a Militia band, so that tho fact t'-afc the pieecmt representative of the family ha? a gicat gift of melody is not to be wondered at. When he- firtt came to Ixmdon aft^r studying in Germany, young Mackenzie earaed his livelihood by playing in thejtre orchestras, and later on he took to teaching, perhaps his most thrilling experience b un^ in an Edinburgh academy, where eight yourg ladies performed the same exercisa or scale on eight pianos simultaneously, while the unhappy instructor was supposed to ikeep an eye oiv 16 hands at once. The composer's most remarkable appearance was at Glasgow, whon he conducted an overture, of his own at one of Bulow'a oreheGtral concerts. It was no use protesting that he had no dross clothes, for Bulow promptly bonowed a suit from a musical critic. Th ■ critic was a very well-nourished gentlcnm.i , and Mackenzie, owing to long-cont.nued il - hea'tli. was of a remarkably spare -figure?, co that the ccfitume- was suggestive of the s:ttoriaJ eccentricities of an Irish music hall comedian. The audience, however, did not appear to notice anything unusual, and after tho first few painful moments Mackenzie forgot the size of his waistcoat and became absorbed in his wctlc.

—In March laet. at the London Albert Hall, ths Royal Choral Society produced for the first time since- 25 years have papspfl Hir Aithur Sulluan's oiatorio. "The Licht of the World." The phrase "Sulhvanssque mani'er" has been eoimd — that there is sjch a thiug cannot bo doubted. Sir Arthur had a method peculiarly his own; it v. as shared in some measure by Mr Frederick Clay, who a'so <li n d before his really gica . work was accomplished. It was dchghtfvi. to rralise how frcsli "The Light of I. World"' sti'l ii? It has all the charm < .Sir Ar.l.ur Sullivan's pT*ona l ity. Fi honality— that 15 tho -word. £ir -Arthur v i a man of prcat charm : everybody liked h 1 and ho lnve<l life But he never quito c! 'I the. tilings that he should have done. As a writer of th» mu-rc of light oncra 'a ])iob.ibLy ranks evei luglier than Offinib-r''. He vas more accomplished in the n-att^r of technique, more subtle, more intneat" l h s treatnifnt of the orchestra, and infini c " mere plajftil in fancy. But he never rm : i arrived in ecrious music. His opera "Iva. hoe" can only justly bo described ss •< brill irnt failure. The mest enduring nil his works will eventually r>ro-"'e to T-\ his s tting of the- hymn "Onward Chri'tl.'a Brjk'icr«8 r jk'icr«" — a very fine and striking prot'-'c-tnn urid*r the e'rcumst-ancej, for Sir Arthur Hullivan was of Jewish exfnetion. — Men and Women.

—By a law recently enacted in Ru c sia, any university or high school student who creates or causes disorder shall be draft'-d into the army for a period of from one to three years. This is to curb tbo rauhiurs and fondnciis for mischief of college students, who imagine they have the privilege of annoying awynn* they pi cue.