MISS AMY CASTLES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9410, 21 April 1902, Page 4

MISS AMY CASTLES.

RECEPTION IN MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE, April 8,

Miss Amy Castles sang for' the first lime since her return to Australia at the Town Hall to-night. The building was packed throughout, and the enthusiasm was intense. The Age critic, speaking i;f to-night's performance, says : —"Miss Castles comes back with a voice of considerable beauty, and full of sympathetic quality. Her training, it is admitted, is not a* yet completed, but in (his respect she has literally made gLant strides in the right direction, and however much her judgment may be impugned for this as the unfinished product of the trainer's art challenging public triticism, both here and in London, the motive which prompted so early a return is certainly intelligible enough. Taking her as she is, we already find in her technique which arouses honest admiration. Her florid passages are done clearly and with certainty, at times with brilliance. Her intonation is usually above reproach, and her singing of the pianissimo notes may be praised without reserve. She still "needs to acquire a more decided attack, but this small shortcoming ought to present no especial difficulty in surmounting; so that on the whole Australians have cause for legitimate pride in Miss Castles. In one respect, however, the arduous work to which she was subjected three years ago seems to us to have wrought a"change. She is a, far better singer than when she made her debut, but the quality of her voice has altered. Then she was a genuine dramatic soprano; now, as regards quality of tone, she is an ordinary soprano, whose voice, however, is purer, richer, and finer than is possessed by the common run of even successful sopranos. There is every reason to expect her to prove a very valuable addition to the ranks of the world s great singers."