Remenyi's Third Concert.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5221, 29 January 1885, Page 3

Remenyi's Third Concert.

A very good attendance in the front seats, and scarcely standing room behind and in the gallery, was the -very satisfac- ; tory state of affairs at the Oddfellows' Hall last night when Remenyi appeared here for the third time. In addition to his own compositions and arrangements, the celebrated violinist played Mendelssohn's beautiful concerto, which was given a few days ago by Herr Schmellitscheck. Remenyi's performance of this, the fii st great , classical composition he has given since his arrival, was of course looked forward to with j the greatest interest. The opening i andante, with its dreamy, ear-haunting melody was taken, it seemed to us, a shade j slow, but it was played with that sustained purity of tone and wonderful smoothness : of execution which is so marked a cha- : racteristic of the famous Hungarian. The airy, bewitching grace of the finale, and , the beautiful, delicate lightness with which ' it was played, rendered an encore inevit- i able. Chopin's Nocturne in G minor, j solemn and religious in character, and j played with the series of wonderful pianis- j simo effects, was another great treat. In : the second part of the programme Remenyi i drew principally from the more popular portion of his repertory, and gave the '"Scotch Melodies" with extraordinary imitation of bagpipes, the " Marseillaise " and the "Carnival of Venice,"— already '■■ familiar matters for wonderment. Miss ; Downing was encored in her songs " Waiting " and " Sing, Smile, Slumber," but favoured the audience with only one addition, " Some Day." Mr Rudolph Himmer's contributions to the programme were "Kathleen Mavourneen," and Schubert's "Wanderer" and I " Haidenroslein." For his beautiful execution of the last he was complimented with an encore, in response to which he gave Lassen's " It was a Dream," also in German. Mr Isidore Luckstone, in addition to playing all the accompaniments, gave Chopin'B " Nocturne in D flat," " Etude No. 22," and Liszt's " Polonaise in E." The concluding number was a duet from " H Troj vatore," sung by Miss Downing and Mr , Himmer. To-night there is to be an entire change of programme, one of the items of which will be Remenyi's "Australasian Hymn," which made a great sensation in Dunedin, where it was composed. His Excellency the Governor, Lady Jervois and j suite have signified their intention to be present.