Music, Song, and Story.

Southland Times, Issue 12007, 30 March 1892, Page 2

Music, Song, and Story.

Mr Snazelle gave a second entertainment in the Theatre Royal yesterday evening, when the stalls and pit wore crowded, aDd the circle fairly filled. The programme was practically a new one, but the audience, so far a 9 their actions were concerned, wa3 that of Monday night. They followed the example of tlieir predecessors with Chinese fidelity, which is only another way of saying that the lovely views exhibited, far surpassing anyI thing of the kind previously seen hnre, called fort :i round after round of applause, that Mr Snaze!lc:'s clever character sketches and tine vocalisation caused his hearers to part from him, even momentarily, with unfeigned regret, and tli-it the beautiful music rendered by Mr H.iwkins completed the charm of an entertainment that is, from whatever point of view regarded, artistic, literary, or musical, emphatically " a thing of beauty" — a something that, once witnessed, leaves none but pleasurable memories. For two hours and a half, broken oaly by a Bhort interval, the audience were treated to a succession of delights, and, as already indicated, expressed tlieir approval in the orthodox fashion. Aft expending ten exceedingly pleasant minutes among Scotland's hills and vales, and gazing on some of the places associated with her romantic history, theaudience were soon after listening eagerly to the pathetic fortunes of " Enoch Arden," as set out in the pocn of that name by the Poet Laureate. The noble lesson of self-abnegation therein recorded lost nothing by Mr Snazelle's sympathetic exposition, and the musical and scenic effects introduced stamped the whole on the mind in a way that the mere utterance of the words, admirably though that part was done, could never have accomplished. In the first part the song " Nazareth" was again introduced by request, and occasion was also taken to present the likeness of the late Duke of Clarence, the Dead March being given by way of accompaniment. Miss Snazelle contributed several solos, and also took part in au instrumental duct, displaying in each ca.«e irue artistic skill. The second part of the- programme opened with an organ and piano solo by Mr Hawkins, in which several g-iii;s of Irish minstrelsy found a place, and to this succeeded what were very truly described as " Some beautiful places of the earth." The Old World's historic monuments challenged comparison with Nature's wonders in America and on the Continent, and their pictured loveliness induced momentary forgetfulness of all else beside. Then came Mr Snaz?lic's opportunity once more. He threw one of hisownyarns,a Whitechapel sketch entitle! "The Coker Nut Man's Story," and hit them every time he tried. We won't attempt to retail it, but rest content with saying that the transition effected from the sordid coucernments of a weli-knownphase of London life to a. stirring scene in the Indian Mutiny was a masterly stroke — the one touch that brought the narrator and his hearers into thorough harmony. At a later stage Mr Snazelle retold his experience with " The Whistler " in Switzerland That it was enJo3ed goes without saying — some among the audience literally laughed till they cried —we saw the handkerchiefs — and others, fat old fellows with an apoplectic tendency, grew red in the face and coughed and choked in an alarming manner — fortunately relief soon came, for " The Whistler," unlike "The Brook," does not go on for ever. During the evening Mr Snazelle also gave a spirited rendering of Watson's song " The Powder Monkey," and repeated, with even better effect than on Monday, Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith." The entertainment closed with a beautiful exhibition of the kaleidoscopic order entitled "Silent Fireworks." The way in which the varied shapes, constantly assuming a succession of lovely colours, danced hither and thither in time with the music, was something to remember. Tonight, the last, unfortunately, of the Invercargill season, a most attractive programme will be presented. The solos will include " Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep " and "The Lost Chord," and tha views n. series illustrative of "The Cottar's Saturday Night," and of scenes at the Paris Exhibitiou.