MISS ESTHER ATKINSON'S CONCERT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5654, 27 August 1896, Page 4

MISS ESTHER ATKINSON'S CONCERT.

of the highest class<cnmndt always j bo relied upon toattract^alarge audience. in Christchurch. This tfact, perhaps as! much as the unfavourable nature of the; weather, was responsible ;f or 'the compara- 1 tively small attendance at Miss Esther! Atkinson's concert at the Oddfellows' Hall! last night. Those people who were there , must, however, have beenthoronghly satis- : fied that their enterprise in attending was ; well rewarded, wKile those who were not, if they include real lovers of the! artistic, may rest -assured that they; missed an entertainment from which they ' could hardly have failed to derive a I good deal of profit. Miss Atkinson, 1 who has studied at the Berlin Gonservatorium under Hen- Karl Klindworth, and j at the Royal Academy under Mr Walter Bache, bears the iiighest credentials from both these eminent instructors. As a pianist she is entitled to take a front rank in our comparatively small musical world, and any person who may have some' difficulty in distinguishing the really able musician from among a largo number of people who profess tto be artists, 'may, 'with, confidence, take her as an example of the former. Perhaps she is a trifle deficient in expression, but her execution fully counterbalances this, and as evidence of her absolute correctness .of detail, her accompanying was decidedly her weak point last night. Evidently Miss Atkinson shines as an exponent of Chopin, as she played a ballade in A flat major :as only .a person wild -has made a study of the works of this composer can. " KammenoiOstrow," by Rubinstein,. and a waltz study by Raff were the other solos which she selected, and a highly-finished performance of each was only marred by an inability to. remember a certain portion of the latter,, due evidently to the failure, under extreme pressure, of a highly strung nervous temperament. Together with Mr P. M. Wallace Miss Atkinson played Grieg's Sonata in G for piano and violin, a work consisting of four movements, of which the last was perhaps the most enjoyable, and, with Messrs Wallace and L. Bonningnto, Beethoven's trio in E flat for piano, violin and violoncello, which went excellently, the andante movement being especially good. Mr Wallace played an introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, by Saint-Saens — a composition full, in some portions, of fascinating intricacies — most brilliantly; and by tho manner in which he played the obligate contributed in no small degree to, the success of Mrs Burns's song, " Golden Springtime," by Kalliwoda. The latter number was deservedly recalled, and was a much greater success than "L'Ete," by Chaminade, which Mrs Burns sang hardly so well as usual. Mr Hugh Reeves was not in his best voice, and, in addition, his singing was, for him, a trifle dull and expressionless. This was particularly noticeable in " A Resolve," by Lassen, while, although he infused more passion into "All Souls' Day," by the same composer, want of verve was again noticeable in Mendelssohn's "On Wings of Song."