MUSICAL VETERAN.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13637, 3 July 1908, Page 7

MUSICAL VETERAN.

• TALES OF NOTED SINGERS.For sixty years Mr William Ganz has occupied a prominent position in the musical life of England. No man has been s«en more often on concert platforms \iian this veteran, who has played accompaniments. for -all the leading vocalists and instrumentalists of his ..tune, and has a.so won lame as a composer, conductor and impresario. In the latter capacity he has introduced to the public many singers who are now famous. Mr Ganz makes no secret of his' age. A stranger would say that his years were 45 at the most." His fresh colour and jaunty bearing tend to belie the fact that he is 75. " 1. was. born towards, the v close of 1833 at Mayence," said Mr Gariz to a I'ress interviewer. :"My father was conductor for the opera there for twenty-five yeais. To with, I learned to play the triangle:; afterwards I studied the violin, ana eventually 1 accompanied the singers on the piano. In 1848 my father and I .came.to England, and,we were both engaged by Balie at, Her _ 1- our years later 1 was appointed organist at. the Uerman Lutheran Church at Savoy. "When Mr VVylde started tie i\ew Philharmonic' conceits I piayed "the eecoiiu violin, and inlßr4, when he told me that he wanted to give up the*" enterprise, i agreed to assist, him actively in the management, and the concerts.were kept going tni ia/y." During, this period Mr Ganz produced several works' lor the first time in rihgJund, among .them Uszt's "Dante" symBerlioz's. "Episode dans la Vie -it'air.'"Artist," isymphouies dn'd- pianofocie concertos by Cumiile Saint buiens, tue latter piayed by the composer biuiseif. He 'also brought out. several distinguished musicians, including Eusipon, wno was recommended to him by Voii. Bulow, Sophie Menter and Pachmann. It was in 1855 that he gave his first miscellaneous concert in London.' This was at tlie HarioverHsquare Rooms.As Mrs. Nellie Armstrong, Mme. Melba. made her deput here at one of Mr Ganz's concerts at Prince's Hall in 1886. She sang " Ah, fors e lpi," from " Traviata,"; and his own "Sing, sweet bird." : Mr Ganz was so charmed with her voice that as he himself says;—" I spoke to Carl Rosa about her, feeling siiie;■.he would like to hear hex sing. He pencilled an appointment on his shirt-cuff for.i.the'.foir lowing lutsday afternoon, and Mrs;: Armstrong duly called at .my house at; the time fixed. Carl Rosa, however, did not come, for he had forgotten about the arrangement, and thus he lost ahi/artist' who- would have been invaluable'to. him for his opera; company. 'As it was; Mie. Armstrong went to: -faris- to, study ; : wkh. Mme. Marche&i, and later came out in grand opera. ' " Temberlik was unequalled as a .robust, tenor. ;;in the early tiities -he studied with me. I used to. go to his residence; on Havestock-hill at:'seven in the morning. When he awoke ;he had; not much voice but after an hour's fencing and his breakfast he. could.'sing all right. .His 'Prophet4" in which his high chest notes .served him so well, was a magnificent performance. ' • "The finst- time I had the privilege of meeting Adelina Patti, ' whose friendship I have had the honour of enjoying for so many years, : was in 1870,- when she appeared at a concert I gave at St. James's Hall. She sang the ' Beiraggio,.' from ■•'Semiramide,' with cadenza* specially written for her by Rossini, and my soug, "The Nightingale's Trill,' both b.ing enthusiastically encored. "the Baroness Cederstronn as rhe is now, is the most gifted woman 1 : have ever, met; 7 ;She speaks Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, French, and '■'•Spanish, .fluently,.- and ; her English, .as-we all know,- is perfect. She'- has. a repertoire., of some eighty' operas," all of which she remembers even now. She is a fine pianist, and can play the guitar and man- : doJine. She is.: fond of lawn tennis and crequet, and is a good ' whip.' ' And how' clever she is with the needle! All the world loves t<S hear Patti sing, but how few 7 .people know, of her goodness of heart, ' her wide sympathy with the poor. When 6he> is at Craig-y-Nos she spends every evening knitting, comforters for the children■. living on the estate. .'"During the many years I have lived in London I have noticed a great, though gradual development- of public interest in music,',and I have also noted the increasing number of native-born musicians ("who have received their entire training jat 'the principal London institutions. Look aronnd to-day and you find British., singers, British instrumentalists, and British composers famous in the musical world, a; world that has no barriers of nationality. '• .1 recall the time when you very seldom heard an English singer, and if one. did venture to appear in public he usually Italianised his name, because fifty years ago Italian scerias and Italian singers; were the rage. Very few believed in the possibility of Englishmen being much good in music. . The change that has come about is nothing short of a.revolution in public taste, but the' wheel has- not fully turned yet. British musicians have not achieved all the distinction awaiting them." The great singers and artistes —the'prominent women who often owe almost as much to personal appearance as to personal genius and charm—unanimously praise and wear P. D. Corsets. Why ? The P. D. Corset is perfectly'modelled. It supports and emobles the figure. It retards no natural motion, checks no natural development. Perhaps you are wearing some other corset. Why?,.. ,