Bohemian Orchestra

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 91, 8 July 1927, Page 13

Bohemian Orchestra

ETTA FIELD. TALENTED 1 AUCKLAND SONGSTRESS. ! WAS WARMLY WELCOMED LAST NIGHT - 1

! NEW DVORAK OVERTURE

Etta Field, the young Aucklander I who lias been studying abroad, was again warmly welcomed when she appeared with the Bohemian Orchestra at the Town Hall last night. The crowded audience testified to Auckland’s musical interest. There was hardly a vacant seat in the building.

Accompanied by the orchestra, under the baton of Mr. Colin Muston, L.R.A.M., Miss Field sang the beautiful “Pleurez! Pleurez Mes Yeux!” from Massenet’s “Le Cid.” The songstress was enthusiastically recalled for her delightful interpretation. Her bracketed numbers were Gretschaninow’s “Berceuse,” the familiar “Song My Mother Taught Me” of Dvorak, and, in German, the “Zueingnug” of Richard Strauss. Miss Field therefore sang in three languages, as the Massenet song was rendered in French. Her success was pronounced in each.

The Bohemians were also fortunate in securing the services of Miss Dora Judson, who, together with the orchestra, played the Schumann Concerto in A (Op. 54). This concerto showed not only the heights and depths of the master, but also presented him in his melancholic sweetness, his poetic nature, and his extreme sensitiveness. The soloist was deservedly recalled at the close of her somewhat exacting task.

Mr. W. E. Brough sang the resonant “Prince Ivan’s Song,” and Malcolm Dana McMillan’s “The Diver.” “Invictus” was an encore number. The Bohemians had the honour of being the first orchestral society in the Dominion to present the overture “Nature” (Opus 91) of Dvorak. The poetic Russian chose to relate the emotions awakened in a solitary walk through the meadows and woods on a quiet summer afternoon. Mr. Muston and his orchestra gave a really delightful interpretation of a work which called forth not a little skill. The tragic story of Desdemona was told in the Arnold Krug version of “Othello.” Particularly effective was the pleading “Desdemona” melody, which was first allotted to the oboe, with accompaniment by the woodwind and violas, and reached its climax in the full strings. Throughout the conductor had the orchestra under admirable control.

The lively “Zampa” overture, with which the concert was opened, the overture to “Rienzi”; also Mackenzie’s “Benedictus,” and the Meyer-Helmund “Serenade Rococo.” completed an exceedingly varied programme.