FOREIGN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5256, 11 May 1895, Page 6

FOREIGN.

Humperdinok is a fortunate composer. He has made £10,000 out of Hansel and Qretd. Pretty well for a single opera, and about bb much as Beethoven earned for the labour of a life.

Paderewski is alleged to have declared recently that there are two musical nations in the world, the gypsies and the Jaws. With all others the love of music is acquired by cultivation, bnt gypsies and Jews are naturally musical. The Paris papera record the death ef M.' Geffroy, the once famous aotor of tha Com6dle-Francaise, at the age of ninetyone years. He made hii dfbut as far back as 1823, and had been a Secie'taire sinca 1836. He was besides a fine painter, exhibiting regularly at the Saloa. The demise of Mme. Alexis, the best "old woman" of;the Frenoh stage, at the .ripa old age of eighty-five years, ib also chronicled.

The Boston " Herald " has the following on a performance recently' given in that town by Madame Melba*— * c Whatan audience it was that greeted her! Was ever mogic-hall quite so jammed, and was v ever the flower of Boston so liberally represented aB in this monster gathering? For once the expression 'hanging on oy: the eyelids* reoeived veritable ooular expression, for it is not believed another I human being could have squeezed into the 'ball and found a roosting-place."

.. The -Scottish clans retained their war, orfes untilthe.im^