WORLD OF MUSIC

Southland Times, Issue 18990, 11 July 1923, Page 10

WORLD OF MUSIC

At Home and Abroad

(By

“Presto.")

Arthur Honegger has written incidental music to Shakespeare's "The Tempest.” At a concert of the Concertgebouw Sextet recently a quintet by W. F. Bach was played* that had been unearthed by Mr Lowensohn in a forgotten corner of the Royal Library in Brussels. John McCormack's Paris recital , for the benefit of the devastated regions netted 80,000 francs to the committee’s fund. The audience, which was entirely American, was a brilliant gathering. Charles Hackett, the American tenor, gained new laurels when he was invited by the British National Opera Company to take part in a series of performances at Covent Garden during the season. Mr Hackett arranged to sing in Italian, a rare exception to the London company's rule, which was broken previously only by Dame Melba. Mr Hackett gave a gala performance of “Rigolctto” at the Paris Opera on May 16. Bachelet's opera, “Grand la Cloche Sonnera,” given at the Opera Comique under Albert Wolff’s direction and thought by some to be of great importance,' struck Rene Chalupt, writing about it in the Chesterian, as “a kind of Grand-Guigno-lesque melodrama accompanied by turgid, ear-splitting and crabbed music whence all harmonic and melodic charm and all musical luxuriousness are carefully excluded. To some severe people this puritanism apparently means the highest art. The work, at any rate, is saved by its undeniable dramatic intensity and by the matchless talent of the principal singer, Mme. Balgueric, who managed to insure the success.” The Paris Opera has restored to the stage Andre Messager’s ballet "Les Deux Pigeons.” first represented there October 18, 1886. Messager recalled to an interviewer that he was commissioned to write the piece by Vaucorbell, then director of the Opera, on the recommendation of Saint-Saens. But Vaucorbell resigned, and Messager’s piece was the first one mounted by Ritt and Gailhard, who succeeded him. It was revived first in 1892, in the bill with “Gwendoline,” by Chabrier; but this opera lasted only a few nights, which Messager had the pleasure of rescuing for a while during his incumbency as director. Then “Les Deux Pigeons” was revived a second I time in 1913. John McCormack, in his Berlin appearance with the Philharmonic Orchestra under Bruno Walter, pleased Professor Max Chop, writing in The Signale, mightily. Here, (he says) is a master of song, a fullblooded musician, an artist of the highest rank, who has a really wonderful voice and gains effects with it, especially in the middle register of radiant beauty. The secret of legato, of the great line, is here revealed in an amazing manner, and there is nothing calculated for exterior effect, but everything is gained from the music itself and with the greatest naturalness. A rondo of Mozart was genuine in style and finely wrought. The power and endurance of his interpretation reached moving grandeur in the *rarely sung aria from Beethoven’s “Mount of Olives.” A carillon of forty-two bells, the largest in New York, has been ordered from the famous Croydon, England, foundry. It is to be a gift from John D. Rockefeller to the Park Avenue Baptist Church. The harp belonging to Mr Albert Torzillo, who is assisting Miss Amy Castles and her party during their tour of New Zealand, has a history (says an exchange). It was rescued from its hiding place in a French cellar during the war, where it had been taken to escape the chance of destruction by gunfire. Mr Torse ilo’s own harp had been captured by the enemy, and the Australian troops, grateful for the pleasure he had given them on many occasions, bought his present instrument for him for 3000 francs. On it he played at the memorial thanksgiving sen-ice in Amiens Cathedral on the Sunday following the signing of the Armistice. Offenbach's life has been used as a subject for a comic opera called “A Waltz,” by Oskar Ulmer. It has been produced in Zurich. From station W.E.A.F., the largest radio broadcasting centre in the world, on Broadway, Netf York, Irma Caron, whose charming artistry is known to New’ Zealanders, presented an entertaining and instructive programme recently dealing exclusively with Maoriland (says “Pied Piper” in the Christchurch Sun). This is the first time in the history of the instrument that material of this kind has been heard over the radio. It is estimated that over 5,000,000 “listeners in” were reached. The management of the broadcasting station (a magnificent building sumptuously equipped* says her work provided one of the most successful and certainly the most unique programme that has been sent out. Particular mention has been made, of the artistic rendition Miss Caron gave of Te Rangi Pai's Maori lullaby and Alfred Hill’s “Waiata Poi.” She has been invited by W.E.A.F. to broadcast another programme of exclusively New’ Zealand material this month. Performances such as these should prove a good advertisement for the Do minions. Rene Maxwell is to leave Australia very shortly to join the famous Peruvian con tralto, Madame D'Alvarez, on a world tour, speaking act on the bill. The M'Leans then went to Berlin, from where they were booked for the American Orpheum circuit. At Hamburg, where thev appeared two weeks before the war broke tu. they used to show- at 1 a.m. M'Lean says .it “was interesting but wearying.” In 8 record of New York shows, E. J. Tait writes thus of "Little Nellie Kelly.’ one of the pieces for production in Aus tralasia by the Fuller-Ward enterprises:— “Good musical show—very like a younger sister of ‘Mary’ and ‘The o’Brien Girl,’ ” Early in May, Connie Ediss was appearing at the Palladium, London, in a one-act comedy by Keble Howard, entitled “An Order To View.” Alfred Frith has left London on his return to Australia. He is accompanied by Harry Burcher, one of the Williamson firm’s producers, who went to America and England some six months ago in search of the latest, ideas. Frith will in every probability open in "The Cabaret Girl,” and Mr Burcher will produce it. Dramatic aspirations seem naturally to follow’ success in musical plays (says the Argus'. This is not surprising in the case of Miss Gladys Moncrief (now of "Sybil,”) for her best, musical parts have had much dramatic interest, and she has treated them so well that the thought naturally arises of possibilities in drama without music. Several leading dramatic actresses have begun as singers. One of the most distinguished was Dame Gene vieve Ward. Marie Tempest, Ethel Irving, Gladys Cooper, and Nellie Stewart, "queens of comic opera,” in their early stage years, have shown how well drama may follow that type of woik. It is not remembered by many that Mrs Brough and Emma Temple made early Australian appearances in comic opera and burlesque. Mrs Brough played the Fairy Queen in “lolanthe” when her husband appeared as the Lord Chancellor. Among burlesques staged by the Broughs were “Little Jack Sheppard,” and a travesty of ‘The Silver King-” called “Silver Guilt,”

She received her first stage opportunity when Mr H. D. Mclntosh gave her a leading part in “The Lilac Domino.”

Miss Ina Bosworth (Auckland) has gone back to England after four months’ recuperative holiday spent at- Santa Margherita. near Genoa. Naturally, she did not go away without her violin, and only a few’ days after her arrival in Italy she was heard practising by Maestro Van Leon, who is a violinist of great eminence in the musical centres of Europe. The result was very gratifying to the New Zealand violinist, for M. Van Leon, realising her talent, at once offered to give her daily instruction throughout her stay, which thus became a long feast of music. It is ten years since Miss Bosworth went to England to study and naturally she says she would like tremendously to revisit New Zealand. Indeed, she hopes to be able later tP make a professional tour in the Dominion and in Australia and she has booked her passage to sail on July 12 on her way back to Auckland.

Of Charles Hackett, the American tenor, one London critic says after hearing him in Rudolph’s song in the first act of “La Boheme”:—• Mr Haskett has a large, free, easy voice, and is so far to be admired. But he has the nasal quality, and this, in my judgment, is not so admirable. Moreover, from sentimental motives no doubt, he uses it sloppily, taking very few leaps cleanly, and sliding up and down the banisters rather than running up and down the stairs. These qualities so delighted the Covent Garden audience that they completely stopped the performance until Mr Hackett had made them seven or eight modest but courtly boweA Further, whilst the rest of the cast sang in English he sang in Italian, an utterly inartistic proceeding which denies opera dramatic standing and is therefore not to be tolerated in a company with the high artistic aims of the British National Opera Company, and least of all in the case of an English-speaking artist, who should, of course, if he wishes to sing with them, give himself the preliminary trouble of learning the part in his own language.

At the Morecambe competitive choral festival (England.) there was a male chorus competition for the singing of Schumann's "Forest Fay.” The Times critic says: “Considering the immense popularity of male-voiced singing in the North, it was rather surprising to find that there were only four entries here. One is inclined to add that it was also something of a relief. The fact is that male-voiced singing has been cultivated technically to perfection, I yet it is always rather monotonous to listen to, and there has been very little good music written for men’s voices at any time. The result has been a tendency to vary the monotony by elaborate ‘stunts’ applied to poor music. It is difficult to see how the art can grow and overcome these defects until a composer arises with a genius for dealing with voices moving in a narrow compass low down in the scale.” Concerning the mixed 'chorus, he says, “there has been the keenest competition, including some really magnificent performances here. Twelve large choirs, numbering not less than forty or more than sixty singers, appeared, and when in the afternoon they had sung a partsong by Parry, "Tell Me, O Love,” and Waddington’s “Cherry Ripe.” Sir Walford Davies, who judged them, declared that five instead of four out of the twelve must compete again in the final evening contest. Even outside the five there were several who might but for small details be considered equally good. Indeed, there was only one choir which fell noticeably below a first-rate standard. That means that choral singing is on such a high level that technically there is little or nothing to be gained, and the moral is that the biggest things of music lie awaiting these choirs, and there should be a more daring choice of works year by year. It is good news, says the Morning Post, that the Poetry Society is making a strong move to secure the musical use of good verse. Headed by Lady Maud Warrender and a special committee, the society is instituting a search for musical settings that “fit and interpret” poetry in song. As soon as possible a concert will be given of settings of lyrics by twentieth century poets by the younger composers, while later there will be concerts of songs of nineteenth, eighteenth and seventeenth century poets. Much is frequently “wedded to verse,” but it is more often, as Sir Walter Scott said, “divorced by the singer.” The Poetry Society’s idea is sound. DICTION IN SINGING. By what means can the standard of the interpretation of vocal and instrumental music.be raised? This question was raised in London recently by a complaint that a prominent vocalist interpolated aspirates. The complaint itself was:— ; I have been to the Albert Hall concert this afternoon, where an accomplished artist, good to look, on, and with good platform manners, sang good songs, and sang them well—but for one thing. That one thing was so irritating that I have felt compelled to sit down and write to you in the hope that you can handle it in The Observer soon. It is the interpolation of aspirates in the middle of words sung to more than one note. One. song, for instance, was ‘The Lass with the Delicate Air.” This was practically spoilt by it. The conclusion became: “How to wi-hin the’he’ de-hear la-hass wi-hith the-he de-he-he-he-li-hi-ca-hate air.” I have noticed that nearly every professional singer does this sort of thing, particularly in opera, and no doubt it helps a lot, and is a trick of the trade in long florid passages. But there can be no possible need to use the trick in a simple and delicate song like this. Commenting on this Percy A. Scoles in The Observer remarks that faulty articulation is not checked because the audiences tolerate it. He quotes the explanation of a singer that the goodmatured • tolerance of British audiences is to blame and we may take this statement as applying to all interpretative work: The Anglo-Saxon race is the most good-natured in the world. It has a peculiar horror of wdunding the feelings of the public performer, and out of sheer good-fellowship it' puts its telescope to its blind eye rather than hurt. This happy relationship between performer and audience has made public ringing a pleasant life for the professional wherever the English language is spoken. But, like every other form of lasser aller it has worked for harm unconsciously. The "Basta! basta!” of the Italians may be cruel in its immediate application, but it is cruel to be kind. It is a protest against the lowering of certain standards long accepted by the people as compulsory. The singer who has not trained himself to them knows what to expect. He makes no complaint, and generally tries to right himself, for he has had the inestimable benefit of directly realising where and why ho falls short. The British singer has suffered badly from the other extreme. For hi* faults of diction he is hardly to blame, soeing that his public has never remotely demanded a standard of him. That public has either never realised that it has a language of incomparable beauty of its own, or ha* from long acquiescence in bad habits learned to accept, those bad habits as inevitably associated with the musical expression of words. This is by Plunket Greene and will be found in his “Interpretation in Song.” The goodfellowship which makes audiences applaud, where Italians, Spaniards, Germans or Frenchmen would hiss, is really the obstacle in the way of a higher standard of singing and playing in this country. But is must be remembered that composers often set singers such terrible tasks in putting their vowel sounds on top notes that some variation is necessary. Even Greene admits this in places. An “ee” sound on a high note is to be avoided if possible, because the thinning effect makes bad results and even danger at tintes.