THE COMPETITIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 456, 18 May 1932, Page 12

THE COMPETITIONS.

Festival Continued at Civic Theatre. ADVICE BY MR W. HUTCHENS. A fair attendance was present at the Civic Theatre last evening, when the competitions festival was continued. Sections of classes not yet decided were heard as follows: Vocal duet, man and woman, own selection; ballet, twelve and over; humorous character sketch, man or woman; vocal solo with obligato. In addition, the last section in the instrumental item, own selection, . appeared, and the final results were announced. In the latter class, the judge, Mr Will Hutchens, Wanganui, said that the difference between the possibilities of a string quartette and a brass quartette had made judging difficult. A string quartette was better able to approach the composer’s ideal aimed at in writing the music for strings. Referring to the piano duet, Mr Hutchens remarked that some of the players had evidently learned their selections bar by bar. This tended to obscure the theme, and competitors should aim at learning the melody and outline before attempting the technical features. By learning the notes only, students would find that one slip was often fatal. Good Selections. Three good selections were heard in the English song for sopranos. open class. The winner, Miss Dc-rothy Sligo, sang the “ Blackbird’s Song.” Miss Sligo possessed an expressive voice, a pleasing feature being its flexibility. There were two competitors equal for second place, Misses Dorothy Roberts and Dorothy Wiltshire. A pretty middle register marked Miss Roberts’s work, and although her diction was generally clear, she showed a tendency to tighten some of the notes in the throat. Miss Wiltshire’s offering was “ The Willow Song,” and except for one or two unsteady notes, she gave a steady rendering. The non-recall class. the Dominion recitation for men, own selection, also produced four good choices of poems The “ Ballad of Dick Turpin ” gave the winner, Mr Denys Cow, plenty of scope to display a well-developed sense of interpretation. He told the story of the famous ride interestingly. The other recitation class was for girls, twelve and under sixteen. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the humour that the three finalists contributed. Miss Gladys Rose, equal first, gave the whimsical “Sneezles,” which depends more upon onomatopoeia and alliteration than on its stcry for effect. The other first prize-winner was Miss Loretta Kay, who drew many laughs by her amusing account of the country competitions. Miss Kay deserves credit especially for her versatility in mimicking the various elocutionists. Miss Norma Brown, second, impersonated the two characters with a fair sense cf restraint. Popular Duet. Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody,” No, 2 ” has received much attention both from piano duettists and soloists at this festival. Consequently, much of its charm has diminished, even though competitors render it artistically. In the piano duet, fifteen and under eighteen, there were four finalists, and two of them played this composition. Owing to the age of the competitors, much of the tonal weight and contrast was lacking, another reason for this being the incomplete development of finger and wrist control. A meticulous reading of the expression and tempo marks-on the music led to pedantic renderings of several passages, while there was also a. tendency in some cases to exaggerate ners were Misses Gwen Barber and Merle Cunningham, who gave a dashing interpretation of M’Dowell’s " Hexantanz.” Their performance indicated the existence of a complete understanding between primo and secondo, their only fault being to hurry some passages, thus blurring the distinctness of the notes. Miss Jean M’Lcod and Master Ashleigh Fetch filled second place with the Rhapsody. Their emphasis and tempo tended to make this piece somewhat unusual and different from the normal conception. Their individual styles enabled them to overcome such technical difficulties as pedalling.

In the Sword Dance, fifteen and under eighteen, an improvement was noticeable in the dress. Every competitor danced gracefully, and none touched the sword and sheath. Miss Betty Carnochan, the winner, gave an even exhibition. The other competitors, Misses Valmai Skilling, second, and Phyllis Gale, also performed well, although Miss Skilling slipped, through no fault of her own.

An innovation in this type of work was seen in the character dance, thirteen and under sixteen. “ Pirate,” danced by the winner. Miss Gwen Smith, owed its success to an effective make-up and costume and to a characteristic entrance and exit. This competitor not only danced well, but told an entertaining story. The “careless abandon” usually associated with a Russian dance was fairly well carried out by the second prize-winner, Miss Shirley M’Clatchy. The other competitor. Miss Margaret Kerr, fulfilled the requirements of “Hungarian” with satisfaction. Results:— ENGLISH SONG. Soprano. Open class. Twenty-two entries. Miss Dorothy Sligo (Dunedin!, “Blackbird’s Song,” SI points .. 1 Misses Dorothy Roberts (Merivale), “ Flight,” and Dorothy Wiltshire (Merivale), “The Willow Song,” 80 points (equal) 2 DOMINION RECITATION. Men. Own selection. Four entries. Mr Denys Cow (Christchurch), “ Ballad of Dick Turpin.” 80 points . . 1 Mr Clarence Paine (Dunedin), “At the Ford,” 79 points 2 Mr Fred Stevens (Riccarton), “Young Fellow, My Lad,” 77 points 3 CHARACTER DANCE. Thirteen and under sixteen. Not Spanish. Eighteen entries. Miss Gwen Smith (Christchurch), “ Pirate,” S 3 points 1 Miss Shirley M’Clatchy (Dunedin), “Danse Russe," 82 points .... 2 Miss Margaret Kerr (Granity), “ Hungarian,” 79 points ...... 3 Highly commended: Misses Eunice Fowler (Christchurch), Valerie Cater (Riccarton), Russell Brown (Christchurch), Nan Darby (Hokitika). PIANO DUET. Fifteen and under eighteen. Own selection. Nine entries. Misses Gwen Barber (Opawa) and Merle Cunningham (Sumner), " Hexantanz.” 81 points 1 Miss Jean M’Leod (Linwood) and Master Ashleigh Fetch (St Albans), “Rliapsodie Hbngroise No. 2,” 7S points 2 Misses Isabel M’Lean and Dorothy Sanders (Riccarton). “ Rhapsodie Hongroise No. 2,” 77 points .... 3 Miss Daphne Stewart (Richmond) and Master John Mahoney (Sydenham) were the other finalists. HUMOROUS RECITATION. Girls, twelve and under sixteen. Own selection. Nineteen entries. Misses Gladys Rose (Linwood), “ Sneezles,” and Loretta Kay (Dunedin), “Country Competitions,” 79 points, equal 1 Miss Norma Brown (Dunedin), “In the Tram,” 78 points 2 Very highly commended—Miss Daphne Lye (New Brighton). Highly commended—Misses Joan Thomson (St Albans) and Gladys Wallwark (Greymouth). SWORD DANCE. Fifteen and under eighteen. Eight entries. Miss Betty Carnochan (Hillmorten), 82 points l Miss Valmai Skilling (Timaru), SO points 2 Miss Phyllis Gale (Riccarton), 79 points 3 Highly commended—Misses Marjorie Fraser (Sydenham) and Joan Sutherland (Fendalton).

INSTRUMENTAL ITEM. Own selection. Six entries. Christchurch String Quartette Party, No. “ First Movement, No. 4 Quartette ” (Beethoven), 82 points 1 Christchurch String Quartette Party No. 3, “ Adagio Quartette, No. 77 ” (Haydn), 81 points 2 Woolotcr. Band Quartette Party, No. 3, “Lohengrin,” 80 points 3 READING AT SIGHT. Boys, under twelve. Six entries. Master Ivan Souttor (Christchurch), 84 points 1' Master Douglas Hall (Sumner), 80 points 2 Master Hugh Taylor (Opawa), 76 points 3 PIANO SOLO. r Bristol Scholarship. Fifteen and under eighteen, (a) Test solo, “In a Boat” (Camille Zeekwcr) ; (b) Own selection. Fifteen entries. Recalls: Misses Merle Cunningham (Sumner), Jean 'Webley (Papanui), M. Morrison (Opawa). , In the song for girls, eight and under twelve, “ Tip-toe,” Miss Clare Korlegast (Christchurch) was highly commended. TO-NIGHT'S PROGRAMME. To-night’s programme at the Civic Theatre includes: Violin solo, under twelve; recital w r ith musical accompaniment; saci'ed solo, bass, open class; Irish Jig, under twelve; sacred solo, contralto, open class; humorous recitation, women; ballet, twelve and over, fourth section; piano solo, Bristol Scholarship, fifteen and under eighteen; song in character, not comic, man or woman, first section: Dominion test recital, men; English song, mezzo, open class; operatic dance, sixteen and over. The first class of church choirs will be heard to-morrow evening. There arc two entries, each of which will sing an anthem, “God is a Spirit” (W. S. Bennett), and a hymn, own selection.