MUSICAL RECITAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 27

MUSICAL RECITAL.

I A remarkable feature about the attend" ance at the recital given by Miss Violet M'lntosh and Mr Max Scherek in Burns Hall on the 2nd inst. was the almost totaj. absence of gentlemen. The ladies, however, were present in large numbers, and evidently keenly appreciated both the voca' and instrumental portions of the concert. It was just a little unfortunate that a pianoforte solo so long; as the four movements of Grieg's Sonata in E minor, op. , 7, should have been selected to open with. | Late-comers are inevitable at a concert, and common politeness demands that they should not disturb player and audience by; tramping into the hall while an item is in progress, and the late-comers of last evening had a rather tedious wait before the sonata was finished. Several, therefore, missed what was in many respects a superior piece of work by Mr Scherek. The allegro moderate, with which the sonata opened, was conspicuously free from blemish, and was quite a brilliant performi ance, and the three subsequent movements were all more or less clearly treated. The sonata gave Mr Scherek a fine opportunity to distinguish himself, and demonstrate his admitted ability at the piano, and though it would not perhaps appeal Largely to many who are not devotees of the piano, it met with distinct favour from those present, from -which it may be assumed that it -was a musical audience, with cultivated' taste. Miss M'lntosh's singing of the aria, " Divinites du Styx," from Gluck's " Alceste," was a really splendid piece of vocalisation. It alone made the recital worth attending. Miss M'lntosh has been* highly favoured by Nature in the matter of voice, and has evidently studied well and with profits That was abundantly, evident ir her treatment of the aria, -which.' earned for her a recall. Of the three bracketed items —"Lilies" (by Barry), "Four by the clock" (by Mallinson), and! " The sleepy song " (by Barry), —the lastnamed was exquisitely rendered. _ Miss M'lntosh sang all three well, but if the opinion of the audience could have been taken there is little doubt the palm would have been given to " The Sleepy song." In the " Song of thanksgiving," given as an encore number, Mies M'lntoeh was noi. quite so successful, but perhaps that was not due to the singer. When Mr Scherek next occupied the 6eat at the piano he -played a nocturne, and a waltz 'by Chopin, and two compositions by Schumann, -with considerable skill, and concluded the programme with a capital performance of a tarantelle by Rubinstein. All these solos were greatly appreciated, and Mr Scherek I had to reappear. Miss M'lntosh's final appearance was in the recitative and air, " Che faro," from Gluck's " Orfeo," which, ; well sung as it undoubtedly was, did not equal her opening solo. "Three fishers" was given by Miss M'lntosh in response to the redemand.