Music and Drama.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 2, 13 July 1910, Page 14

Music and Drama.

By

BAYREUTH.

BOOKINGS. (Dates Subject to Alteration.) ) '■ ~~ 'AUCKLAND—HIS MAJESTY'S. ■ ' July 13 (Matinee), 14, and 15 —Carreno. July 18 to 31—Hugh J. Ward. 'August 1 to 13—J. C. Williamson. September 1 to 3 — Auckland Boxing Asso elation. September 5 to 24 —J. C. Williamson. September 26 to October 19—Allan llamll ton. October 20 to November 4—Fred Graham. CHORAL HALL. July 8,9, 11—Uarreuo. the opera house In Season—Fuller’s Pictures. WELLINGTON.—OPtSRA HOUSE. July 4 to July 23.—Clarke and Meynell. August 1 to August 13.—Hugh Ward, bept. Ito Sept. 14.—J. C. Williamson. Oct. 7to Oct. 26.—J. C. Williamson. Oct. 27 to November s.—Allan Hamilton. Nov. 12 to November 24.—Fred H. Graham. December 24, six weeks' season.—J. C. Williamson. THEATRE ROYAL. (Vaudeville (permanent). Carreno—One of tlie Few Great Pianists. exception, Carreno is 111 4,116 16 f ew B ,ea t pianists in the world of to-day. Some people may from sheer temperamental inclination prefer Pachmann for his Chopin, Busoni for his Beethoven, or Paderewski for both in his own singularly artistic treatment of either composer. Most pianists of the day are distinguished for some specialised treatment of an individual composer. Thus we have Emil Sauer interpreter of Schumann, Lamond a profound scholar of Beethoven, Pugno, the finest player of Mozart and so on through the list of foremost names. Carreno is exceptional in that she has not built up her reputation by specialising. ■ Her greatness lies in her versatility, her extraordinary Tange and masterly eotieepfibn of composers so diverse as Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, Liszt, Tsch'aikowsky and Schumann. One must hear her again and again to realise her unusual breadth of interpretation. It would be phenomenal if it was incapable of explanation, but the secret <>f the pianist's transcendental quality is that she is in all things intellectual—intellectual not in its academic sense but in the power, the scope and the vigour of her psychology. Sentiment with her is invariably subservient to reason. That is to say her mind is never clouded by her heart. ' Music is something more to her than a sea of unschooled feeling or a world of exquisite sensibility. Its highest interpretation she finds in the supremo expression of intellect. In everything Bhe handles there is a characteristic virility of thought—the big unswerving virility of the master. To hear her in the “Appassionata,” one of the noblest sonatas Beethoven ever gave to the piano, is to realise that behind her musicianly qualities is conception that suggests Michel Angelo, power and beauty that visualises Hodin. Carreno is in the maturity of her art. She is a grave, magnetic and regal woman in ' whose smile there is a wonderful blending of sweetness and melancholy. Iler intellectual force is quite consistent with her eplendid womanhood. No observant being can remain unmoved by her power, Iby the masterly technique which responds Bo dramatically to the. mind behind it oil. She stands on the pedestal of fame like some prophetic figure of the woman to be—a super modern type of femininity moulded alike with virility of physique and mentality. She points to an age of women, emancipated and triumphant (oer the inglorious male—an ago in which genius rising through the psychology of Woman may give to the world a music end an art that no vision can forsee. The Versatility of Carreno. Every musical enthusiast will be gratefid to Carreno that she lias not been niiisled like many artists on tour in New Zealand into lowering the quality of her programme to popular taste, fine recitals that have been heard, and ere being given this week, are notable for their wide selection of works from the masterpieces of chiefly classic com posers. To anyone following the recital* from night to night they afford a fairly

comprehensive insight into the Tealm of pianoforte com'poeitions, although perfeonartly I should have preferred to see the moderns more liberally represented. Out of the multiplicity of numbers, two Beethoven sonatas—the “Appassionata” and “Op. 27 No. I”—stand forth for the extraordinary fidelity of treatment, combined with vigour and directness of interpretation. Throughout the four movements, with their varying tempos, affording contrasted moods of the composer, the pianist never loses grip of the conception. It seems to come to her as readily as the scheme of columns and arches flowing to a combined effect came to the builders of mediaeval cathedrals. It is that simplicity which is greatness itself—the highest thing in act. The renderings of the Chopin A flat Ballade and the Polonaise, written in the same key, were both supreme and virile. Some artists are apt to sacrifice the rich and sonorous beauty of the tone poet through sheer excess of feeling. There is nothing cloudy or indefinite in Carreno’s mentality. Chopin is to her serene, profound and intensely poetical. She realises his varying moods with singular fidelity as may be readily detected in the joyous treatment of the familiar “Black Note” study or the lovely little “Berceuse” that shimmers away from her fingers like a rain of light. There is no

player living who can impart such extraordinary vigour and coherence to the glittering and sometimes bizarre writings of Abbe Liszt. She rises to the abnormal difficulties of a work like the composer's transcription of Paganini’s “Campanella” with a readiness that holds even the experienced listener spellbound. Two modern composers were represented on .the programme of Saturday. The Polilini Fantasie was a gorgeous piece of colouring, built upon free tonal combinations and capable of a vast amount of interpretation. Carreno treated it with the full range of her powers. The result was little short of magnificent. The American composer MacDowell, who had to go to Europe to win recognition, provided two very fine items in a dainty Barcarolle and “Hexentanz.” There is no space to enter upon an analysis of the technique, which seems to lie'so little conscious of the complexity of the work. Besides,, to speak of the pianist in terms of trills, phrasing, and runs is to miss the greater half of her work—the virility of the mind that inspires such masterly.conceptions of the works of genius. The Monday night's concert saw the reappearance of Benno Sctierek with Carreno in the evergreen “Concertstucck”

(Weber). For .the lovers of the preU aguerian school of writers in Germany, with their florid- and superficial brilliance, it was no. doubt a .very interesting item. The finest thing of. the evening was the G Minor Ballade—a big work of exquisite beauty and pathos, familiar, to every student of Chqpin. ,z ’ • The pianist will give-a matinee recital at the Choral Hall this afternoon (Wednesday) at 3.30 o’clock when, amongst other things, “The Moonlight Sonata” Beethoven) will be played. The concluding concerts are to take place on Thursday and Friday next. The Auckland Microbe. With such an artist of world-wide fame in their midst it is very sad, if not tragic, that the two first concerts of the season should have been so sparsely attended.. The occasions on which a great pianist visits this end of the earth are rare enough, goodness knows: When Carreno appears at Queen’s Hall or the “Bechstein” in London, the trouble is to get in to hear her. She draws tremendous houses, particularly if it happens to be a night with the London Symphony Orchestra under Richter, and the pianist is set down for the only concerto Tschaikowsky ever penned. It seems therefore something of a travesty and certainly a poor reflection of public appreciation that Carreno should be allowed to play to empty benches in “the most musical city in the Dominion.” • A noticeable aspect was the absence of the professional musicians and the comparatively few pupils who attended. It does not promise well for the future when the one great chance of realising amongst many things the heights to which the art of modern pianoforte playing has at-

tained. The management offer special concessions to students, and it is a little disheartening to find how indifferently they have been made use of. If there is one there are hundreds of pianoforte students in Auckland. Apparently through neglect, or something worse, about one student in every hundred has realised that last week on both- nights she appeared a great pianist electrified a handful of people with the vigour and brilliance of her genius. On Monday night, it must lie added, the numbers of the audience went up with a bang and a full house greeted the artist. The microbe had stirred, and to the general delight the audience rose with spontaneous enthusiasm to greet and applaud the finest of living women pianists. “ Chains -Middle-class Foibles to the Life. The latest production at Mr. Frohniann’s Repertory Theatre, .London, is a vivid presentation of lower middle-class life in England entitled “Chains.” It is said to be a genuine, clever little drama on a (subject which the author. Miss Elizabeth Baker, thoroughly understands. Drama is usually too snobbish. In the far-off days of romance

-only knights and nobles counted; tn tho present era of ■ genteel«cigarette-comedy no one is deemed worthy of theatrical representation unless he -owns motorcars and moves in circles . which are ducal or connected, in some way with dukes. There are no court cards In Miss Baker’s hands. She has just set about describing the lives of humble city clerks in England—not the clerks who arb'at the top of their profession, but clerks in wholesale warehouses and so forth. She has taken down the front walls of those little villas which stretch in an endless queue through the less expensive suburbs, and has shown us how drama touches even the monotonous lives of people who think that keeping one servant and being able to send their washing out is an ideal of luxury. The Flay. The story is thus:—Wilson's wife, Lily, thinks Tennant Is mad when she hears that he has -no definite prospect in view, but is relying entirely on hie savings until something turns up. Still Tennant is a bachelor, and has no chains to bind him to the detested desk. That is the view Wilson himself takes, but as the Saturday evening wears on he hears from a fellow clerk in his own office that there are to be no “rises,” but, on the contrary, a docking of salaries. The restlessness and discontent with his own lot which Tennant's announcement has aroused spring into being, and he asks himself why he should spend the rest of his life in drudgery. He cannot grow peas in the wretched soil of his little backyard, but how glorious it would be to start a fruit farm near

Sydney! The idea simmers in his head. Tennant, the cause of it all, is discouraging. Morton Leslie, a" neighbour who liaa worked his way up to head ’clerkship, and is temperamentally wedded to a quiet life, in which the losing of tlio 8.15 in the morning is an event, is brutally sarcastic. There is only one sympathiser, Wilson’s sister-in-law, Maggie Massey. She, possibly has read Ibsen’s “Master Builder,” for she worships Tennant as a hero and tries to stimulate Wilson t» action. She herself is in a state of nervous rebellion against her Jot as a shop-girl, and has grown so disgusted with it that she has allowed herself to become engaged to a widotyer, who, in the language of her father, has a soft job in an office. The drama has begun. The monotony of life in dreary suburbia has been upset by being brought into contact with a bigger, stronger, and more energetic . life. The dramatic circuit is completed. Going to Australia. Wilson announces to his wife that he metfns to go with Tennant to Australia. At first she cannot understand that her husband means what he says. People don't do such things in her circle. The

idea of giving up a aafe job for a problematical living in the Antipodes! Most little wives in a middle-class suburb would agree with*Lily Wilson, and most of-the:s would'place the matter-on the personal-.-plane- ns soon as-they'did understand. "You -want to to leave me; you ■are tired of nu»,’J 'and a flood of tears arfei her only' answer to her husband's Hew ambition. Villain.” • “

Henceforth he becomes a villain in the eyes of his wife’s family. In a splendid scene at old Massey’s house at Chiswick, on the ensuing Sunday afternoon, we see the result of Wilson’s temerity in attempting to break his chains. Old Massey is a plumber by trade, for what was good enough for his father is good enough for him. Mrs. Massey is a comfortable old lady long accustomed to the ideal of getting a safe living. She loves to hear hymn tunes on Sunday afternoon. With the fierceness of a mother who feels her daughter’s happiness is being wrecked she turns on poor Wilson. Old Massey delivers self-suftieient orations; his son Percy, a young clerk who is always falling in love and means to marry immediately his “screw” will permit, jeers at his brother-inlaw, who had previously his brother-in-law, who had previously advised him not to get married too soon. Maggie's fiance, Walter Foster, tries to pour oil on the troubled' domestic waters, and only Maggie herself stands up f.r Wilson. Driven in a corner, and with his nerves exacerbated, he faces the family and tells them what he thinks of their life. His little wife cries again, and tries the tearful; doleful style of managing her- husband. The Triumph of Tribal Respectability. The denouement is natural, but it makes us feel that, after all, men with anything in them break from the thraldom of clerkdom. The Charlie Wilsons of the world don’t marry young, and they don’t accept the drudgery of clerking as inevitable. Miss Baker has not quite prepared us for Wilson’s revolt. It is not shown that at any time previous to Tennant’s bombshell he had desired to break from his monotonous life. Possibly his revolt is only meant to be a flash art the pan, but then the scents are rather too serious, and Wilson too persistent. Would his fetters be riveted for ever by his wife announcing that she is about to be a mother? :Her sister Maggie thinks this is in the nature of a trump card, but it is not clear if she is misjudging Lily or not. At any rate, Wilson rather suddenly changes his mind and his tweed suit, in which he had meant to follow Tennant to the ship, and in frock coat and silk hat catches his usual train for the city. “Chains” is a fresh, clever, and genuine little drama. It has no moral, but it has what some people think is much better —sympathy and pity. I<etbal Chamber Wanted. They are at it again, and, unfortunately, the lethal chamber for the removal of public nuisances in a thoroughly respectable and constitutional manner, has not been erected yet. In Wanganui last week, says a telegram, James S. Stirton broke the world’s record) for endurance at piano-playing, when he completed 62) hours’ continuous playing with both hands. Mr Payne, of the Thompson-Payne Pictures, in connection with wnich the pianist has been appearing, presented Stirton with a gold medal. The previous record was 621 hours. Stirton will go down to posterity for a certainty. Nobody ever deserved so well at the hands of a picture show, and it is not unlikely that a future generation will realise the overoverwhelming suitability of depositing the medal in the Chamber of Horrors. It is up to the Nelson man, who held the record, to do 70 hours solid banging with both hands and feet as well, just for the sake of novelty. Proposed New Opera House in London. Mr. Thomas Beecham, who is giving a season of opera comique at His Majesty's Theatre, and through whose enterprise "Elektra” and other operas were given at Covent Garden last February and March, is determined to establish a permanent opera house in London, and, if necessary, to spend 1500,000 in doing it. “The two seasons of opera, one complete, the other now in progress, that I organised this year, and the season of three months that I shall begin at Covent Garden next October,” said Mr. Beecham re-

cently, “are part of my preliminary M-heme to encourage and foster opera- v going m London. Opera is not popular in, London. It is supported because it is- a social function,'and without that help would be-ae unprofitable ae-eoneert- <• giving.' I want'to make people realise that if they go to hear opera they-will get something first-class,' something th.it will satisfy them, something that is worth the enormous expense' attached to its 'presentation. -The -short season I promoted at' Covent Garden last winter gave me a personal experience of what it coots to present grand opera. I found that on the average it cost about £6OO per performance. At His Majesty’s we have an orchestra of sixtyfive instrumentalists, a chorus of sixty, and numerous first-class principals. The only way to conduct a -season of opeija is to do it well, but I do not anticipate being able to keep my losses on this summer season much under £lO,OOO, and they might easily run to double that amount. Rent alone for my three seasons this year will amount to £16,000 or £17,000, and with new scenery and costumes to be provided for about ten operas at His Majesty’s Theatre there is no chance of the surplus over nightly expenses being anything like enough to pay for the mountings. So that opera given without a subsidy can eost a manager a great deal of money. All the same, I think our public can be encouraged to support it, just as the public on the Continent is. To that end I want, and am prepared, to build an opera house in London. 1 am only waiting until I can find a site in a good position at a fair valuation. This is not merely a commercial scheme. The making of money is not the object. To do everything in the best possible manner for the encouragement of opera, to attract the great public to hear the works of the greatest masters, will be its purpose, and if that can be done we are prepared to carry it on even if there should be some pecuniary losses attached to the working of it.” A new opera house on national lines has long been discussed in London. Covent Garden itself is not only behind the modern opera houses in the larger European capitals, but it is virtually a private monopoly in the hands of the privileged class of London society. It is said to pay dividends ranging from 25 to 40 per eent. to the people who participate in its profits. Its charges to the public are very heavy compared with the rates in Germany at Berlin, Dresden, and Munich. A new opera house, therefore, would be a great blessing, and probably assist to develop the national taste in Britain. Insuring Against Marriage. Mr. Jack Barrymore, an actor, who came out to Australia some years ago, has been subjected to so many advances by amorous maidens, that his managers have been forced to take heroic measures to preserve his celibacy. The “New York Dramatie Mirror” says that Messrs. Cohan and Harris are applying to Lloyd’s for a £lO,OOO insurance against the possibility of Ml*. Barrymore getting married. Believing that a “star” married is a “star” marred, they have entrusted an emissary with the necessary authority to try to insure Mr. Barrymore's single blessedness. Mr. Barrymore, who is appearing in “The Fortune Hunter” in America, is said to be the “ideal matinee idol.” For the purpose of obtaining the insurance, Mr. Barrymore ha.'? made affidavits declaring he is not at present engaged, and that he is not contemplating matrimony, but he has said also that a mere insurance policy won't prevent him from marrying if he meets the Right Girl and she says Yes.

“If I meet her, and she will have me,” he said in an interview, “not fifty thousand dollars nor fifty million will deter me from leading her to the altar. I come from a marrying family, and I think that if Lloyd’s write this policy they will take a bad risk. Personally, I think that an artist is injured in his work by marriage, but 4 consider a home and children the greatest things in the world, and superior to the finest art whatever. Marriage is a duty, but art to the artist is a more or less selfish pleasure.” Five Desperate Affairs. The reason for the bold step of insuring Mr. Barrymore in this way is given by Mr. Sam. H. Harris, who, in discussing the matter with Mr. Barrymore, is reported to have said: “If you marry and settle down, Jack, it will dis-

count your drawing power with women 50 per cent. - I figure that you elear us a hundred thousand dollars a year, so 1 asked for a premium based on the Ibss we would suffer in the event of your getting spliced.’ H you married, you would centre all your fascinations on one woman, whereas now you aim to please all. Why, you have had five desperate affairs of the heart this season, and the result is that you are a romantic idol! While single every eligible girl feels that she has a chance, as, indeed, she has. Married, you are ticketed ‘sold.’ ” All this makes excellent copy for the journalistic specialist in marketable news, andl no doubt it is true when you calmly consider nowadays what society and the law makers will allow you to do in order to make money. If you do not think poverty is a crime for which nobody will forgive you, read Bernard Shaw’s “Major Barbara”—mot forgetting the preface. Hammerstein Retires. “And whispering ‘I will ne'er consent,’ consented.” These words are certainly applicable to Mr Oscar Hammerstein, with some reservation as regards “whispering,” which is not much in his line. At the elose of the opera season ui New York a few weeks ago, he was proclaiming from the housetops his determination to carry on the operatic war, and had so far given earnest of his intentions to start for Europe with the view of picking up—not exactly “bargains”—but promising investments in the persons of good singers for his company. Then, like a bolt from the blue, came the telegraphic information that Mr. Hammerstein had “caved in,” and that the Metropolitan Opera directors would henceforth have things according to their own sweet will. Confirmation of the news is now forthcoming in the American papers recently to hand. It appears that Mr. Hammerstein has been persuaded to retire from Grand) Opera by the sum of £400,000, paid by Mr E. T. Stotesbury, a millionaire, who ha.s now joined the directorate of the Metropolitan Company. How much of this very considerable sum will be expended in meeting Mr Kammerstein's financial obligations is not disclosed. The arrangement gives the Metropolitan absolute control over the operatic situation in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, and is directed! at the exorbitant salaries paid to singers, of which Mr Hammerstein complains bitterly. The operatic trust is now omnipotent. In the absence of competition it is expected that the demands of operatic “stars” will be cut down very materially, but we shall see! The “stars” have tasted American blood, and they will not appreciate the now regime. Supposing that the “stars” form a union and boycott the States, what will the New Yorkers do then? “ The Girl From Rector’s.” There is only one test to apply to farcical comedy to prove its title to the claim—Does it cause laughter? If hearty, boisterous laughter of the spontaneous order, bursts round one like fizzbombs on America’s fourth of July, then it is a sure farcical comedy; if, on the contrary, the laughter splutters feebly at indefinite intervals, the opposite conclusion may with safety be jumped at. In the ease of “The Girl from Rector’s,” no question of this kind arises. Potter’s broadly farcical play is said to be funny enough to cure a cold, intrinsically “smart” in the “Franco-American” sense of the word. To one fond of the laughter generated by side-split comedy, it is well to go on an hilarious riot with “The Girl from Rector’s.” In it Mr Hugh J. Ward is at his best as a comedian, and that is conceding much. The company will be exactly the same as that which recently played at the Princess’ Theatre, Melbourne, and includes the ever-charm-ing aetress, Miss Grace Palotta, Miss Celia Ghiloni, and Miss Maud Chetwynd. In addition to these performers are several artists new to us, also a number of old favourites. The Auckland season will be inaugurated at His Majesty's Theatre on Monday next. Stray Notes. The manager of a provincial theatre had booked “Camille.” When the company had arrived, the loading lady, who was also the wife of the manager of the show, proved to be a healthy blonde of some fourteen or fifteen stone. The manager got worried. He called) the lady’s husband off to one side and expostulated. “Do you mean to say that lady can play she’s dying of consumption?” he asked. “Well,” said the husband), “in the com-

mon version of ‘Camille’ she does die of consumption, but our show is the revised version. In our (M-rformanee Armand Tits -» e r mver -the ’cad with a table leg, and ‘she divs natural.” -According; to published statistics of operaa in Germany during the year endopera. He has, however, written to an the frivolous side of the art is the most popular, seeing that "The Dollar Princess’? (now running in Sydney to big houses under the Williamson management) had 2444 representations, nearly four times as many as D'Albert’s “Tiefland,” which was played 647 times. The next populiir were "Carmen” (452), “Lohengrin’ (409), and “Madame Butterfly (341). “Elektra" was performed 105 times (eight months only), and "Salome” 85 times. As Strauss is making a very good thing out of his niueie, it is curious that he should express annoyance at a statement that he is receiving heavy fees for his new comic opera. He has, however, written to an American paper, to deny this. Mme. Tetrazzini, ou her return to London from America, was interviewed on behalf of the “Standard.” In the course of her remarks, she spoke of the large number of letters that she received in the land of the Stars and Stripes. "Most of these were from girls who wanted to adopt the stage or the concert platform, and who were very anxious to sing before me, so that I might tell them whether they were fitted for the profession. These aspirants dogged my footsteps in whichever town I appeared. They were not content with writing. They telephoned and called personally, until, in desperation, I was obliged to stick a piece of paper under the telephone bell so that it wouldn't ring! One woman's letter interested

■M. It was written so modestly. Rhe bad a daughter with a natural gift for aingiug. She realised that it was impossible in her straitened circumstances Jto send the girl to Europe to be properly itrained. Perhaps if 1 would hear the .young lady, and would give her one or ijro hints, it might make all the difference to her future career. I had no' Itime for correspondence, but I wrote asking one or two questions. How old (was the girl? How Jong had she been singing? The answer came by return. This young lady who was ambitious to i?tart in opera was seven years of age! There was no hour of the day or night that some aspirant did not call. One lady made her appearance at a quarter after midnight, and called me from bed Ito ■answer the telephone. Ido not speak {English too well—l answered her in Italian.” A hundred years ago this appeared In the London Observer of the day. •‘The personal effects of the late celebrated musical composer, Haydn, are to be publicly sold at Vienna on the 20th inst. Among them is a parrot (which he has taught to sing a variety of airs.” One would very much like to Know what were the airs which the partot belonging to “Papa” Haydn whistled. The fascination wrought by Hungarian gipsies with their violins is largely responsible for the very handsome fortune left by Louis Munczy. This gipsy music appeals especially to ladies of a melancholy or dreamy temperament. The Empress Elizabeth would listen to JVltmezy by the hour; other ladies tore their jewels off their necks and threw them at his feet. Members of the highest circles of the Austrian nobility have been known not to throw their jewels <bnly, but their hearts as well at the feet of some obscure gipsy violinist, and give up all the comfort and luxury- of the ancestral chateau in order to follow their hypnotiser about the world and .pass their life in mean lodgings. It is surely highly probable that Orpheus himself was a Hungarian gipsy. There is something in the Slavonic nature which makes the violin utter its whole heart. No doubt, as M. Kubelik has said, it is their “more passionate temperament.” and by virtue of this they still rule the world both as executants and conductors. Even Leipzig owns their sway-. Professor Seveik. the famous violin {teacher, says:—*“lt always seems to me most important that a child should begin hearing music young. In Bohemia you will find that it surrounds even the baby' in its cradle. There is singing going on all round him almost from (the moment he opens his eyes on the world. When he is three or four years Old he should begin to learn his notes; {but the very first thing he should be taught is singing. After that he can take to the piano, and next should come jhe violin. 1 think that one of the chief reasons Bohemians are so musical is that they hear so much church music. Generation after generation listens to those wonderful anthems and chants till they lieeoiwe part of the man's life. Our land, too, is very rich in folksongs.” Signor Alessandro Bonci. the famous tenor (who succeeded Caruso at Covent Garden three years ago, when Melba and ■he had a difference of opinion) has decided to turn his energies into the concert world for the present and tour America. This decision wins reached as jthe result of many requests for his appearance in the different cities, and, viewed from his own standpoint, Bonci regards the matter as follows:—-“I am not tired of opera, and feel that I am now in the full height of my operatic career, but I think that any- singer who Js also a musician longs for the wider field of concert for a change, mid as for myself, I can only say that it would Ibo impossible for me to combine the two. Since it must be either opera or concert, for this season, at least l , it shall be concert.” It is definitely assured that Sousa and his band will visit Australia and New Zea la Hit next year and give a series of concerts under the direction of Mr Benno fek’hen«k. The advocates for a repertory theatre •nd tlu* literary drama will doubtless welcome with open arms Mr Kenyon Musgrove, who is coming out under engagement to J. U. WilliutnaaHi to play the part of the Jinnee in "The liras* Bottle." He has had considerable experience in the class of play that only nimliert of stage societies and kindred Association can bring out, acting in them for the pure love of their art.