N.P. ORGAN RECITAL

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1933, Page 9

N.P. ORGAN RECITAL

MR. R. N. RENAUD AT ST. MARY’S.

Outside, a night as warm and clinging as velvet. Within, subdued light, an audience expectant, eager, over all the throb, the thunder and the appeal of music. Such was the setting for- a brief organ recital given at St. Mary’s Church, New Plymouth, by the organist. Mr. R. N. Renaud last night. The large proportion of the .congregation which remained was a tribute to the high reputation Mi. Renaud has earned, and it included many visitors who waited to hear the first item and then were more than content to hear the rest.

There could not have been a more arresting choice than Mr. Renaud’s as the closing item of his programme. It was the introduction to "Wagner s Tannhauser, and Mr. Renaud’s interpretation of the music was a tonic, and a challenge to any lethargy of mind' or spirit due to the heat of a long summer day. Taimhauser is a big conception. It was intended for wide orchestration and it remained “big” in Mr. Renaud’s hands.“Why rush the discords in, but that harmony should rise” sang Browning and one could almost imagine he was thinking of Tannhauser as he wrote. But if Mr. Renaud ended last night’s programme with music that was greatly daring he gave amply .of melody that was equally seductive though in different forms of charm. The recital began with two movements from Boelmam’s “Suite Gothique.” The modem Chanson Rustique by P. Mansfield came next, and as a contrast to the Tannhauser which was to follow Mr. Renaud chose the “small” E Minor Prelude'and Fugue pf Bach. There was artistry in the alignment of the programme as well as in its performance/ '