COUNTRY NEWS

Southland Times, Issue 18975, 23 June 1923, Page 2

COUNTRY NEWS

GORE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) A good deal of snow has fallen in the vicinity of Gore during the last day or two, and the Hokonuis and other hills around the town all have white mantles. The weather generally has been very cold and miserable. Clark McConachy, professional billards champion of New Zealand, visited Gore on Wednesday, and gave an exhibition of billiards, snooker and trick and fancy shots, in the Soldiers' Club. There was a good attendance of the public. Mr Inglis W. Todd’s Orchestra gave their second concert of the 1922-23 season in the Princess Theatre on Thursday evening, when, despite the unfavourable weather conditions, there was a fair attendance of music-lovers. The Orchestra maintained the high standard of its last concert, and bore eloquent testimony to the ability of its founder and conductor, Mr Inglis W. Todd, L.A.8., L.T.C.L. The orchestral numbers were as follows:—Selection, “Bohemian Girl” (Balfe), Reverie, “La Voix Des Cloches” (Luigini)—a pretty number daintily played, the bell eqffects being excellent; “Plainte D’Amour” (Tellier), by the strings only, was not very satisfactory. Prt II opened with Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffman,” to which the orchestra did full justice. The Barcarolle was well executed, except for a temporary weakness of the cornets. Brahms’ “Hungarian Danaes’ were nicely rendered, but the best item was Luigini’s suite, “Ballet Egyptien,” Nos. 1 and 2. This is a beautiful piece of de scriptive writing, which the orchestra rendered with understanding and art, giving the listener a vivid impression of the desert scenes envisaged by the composer. The instrumentalists acquitted themselves creditably throughout, but special mention must be made of the wcod-wind section, which was particularly good. The brasses have been strengthened since the last concert but are not always correct. Mr A. W. Kummert, of Invercargill, delighted his audience with his baritone solos. His programme numbers were Schubert’s “Two Grenadiers,” and “The Cobbler’s Song” (Norton), but his numerous enccre numbers were more popular. “The Crown of the Year,” and “The Company SergeantMajor” were very well rendered, and suited Mr Kummert’s fine voice to perfection. This is Mr Kummert’s first appearance in Gore, but his next visit will be looked forward to with pleasure. Miss H. Liddell, also of Invercargill, sang “My Ships,” and “Down in the Forest,” being accorded encores on both occasions. She possesses a sweet but not over strong voice. Miss Gladys Gee, of Gore, replaced Mrs J. Cooper as the other vocalist, owing to the indisposition of the latter lady. Miss Gee sang “O Ship of My Delight,” and “The Bird With a Broken Wing,” very nicely, and was encored. Mr I. W. Todd and Miss J. Ferguson (violins), Miss O. Ferguson (‘cello), and Miss Bowler (piano), contributed an instrumental quartette, “Airs of Haydn.” Miss Bowler, L.A.8., was an efficient accompanists for the vocalists.