SONG AND PIANO

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20463, 1 April 1938, Page 8

SONG AND PIANO

AN ENJOYABLE RECITAL JAMES LEIGHTON-OWEN JENSEN One of the most enjoyable recitals ever given in Hamilton was presented in the Winter Show Hall last night by Mr. James Leighton, bass-baritone, and Mr. Owen Jensen, pianist. Mr. Leighton, a recent arrival from Scotland, where he had much experience in concert and oratorio work, has a voice of particularly good quality, rich and resonant, and he sings with great artistry. As a result, his songs last night were a delight. They covered a wide ground, ranging from dainty love songs to fiercely declamatory numbers. In his first group were “Si tra i ceppi” (Handel); “In questa tomba oscura” (Beethoven) ; “So Sweet is Shee” (arranged by Arnold Dolmets) ; and “Anacreon’s Defeat” (Purcell) ; in the second group, “Wie bist du, meine Konigin” (Brahms) ; “Zueignung” (Strauss) ; “Der Doppelganger” (Schubert) ; and “Widmung” (Schumann) ; in the third group, “Summer Schemes” (John Ireland) ; “The Vagabond” (John Ireland) ; “Full Fathom Five” (Martin Shaw) ; “The Watermill” (Vaughan Williams) ; and “The Sergeant’s Song” (Gustav Holst); and in the fourth group, “The Hapoy Lover” (D. Lane Wilson) ; “My Love's an Arbutus” (Stanford) ; “Come My Own One” (George Butterworth) ; “Johnnie Cope” (Michael Dlack) ; and “Kishmul’s Galley (Kennedy Fraser). Mr. Owen Jensen, who was a resident of Hamilton before he was appointed official accompanist at IYA, Auckland, is a gifted pianist. He, too, chose widely-differing items, opening with the beautiful Fantasia and Fugue in G Major by Mozart, and playing on his second appearance the Prelude in A Minor by Debussy, Claire de Lune (Debussy), Windmills (Moeran), Sussex Mummer’s Christmas Carol Percy Grainger) and "The Hunter in His Career” (Percy Grainger). Mr. Jensen also played the accompaniments / for Mr. Leighton’s items very sympathetically. Altogether it was an interesting, stimulating and enjoyable evening.