Music & Drama.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume II, Issue 76, 7 January 1892, Page 1

Music & Drama.

Spectatum admissi nsum teneatis amici ?

THE KOVALSKI CONCERT COMPANY.

Returning from the Thames the Company gave three farewell concerts at popular prices in the Opera House to large audiences on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings. Monday’s programme was an especially attractive one, and M. Ko valski, if possible, surpassed all previous performances by a faultless rendering of the famous “ Moonlight Sonata.” From the first movement — during which one might have almost heard the proverbial pin drop, so delicate was the rippling music, like the first faint rays of the rising moon, and so still was the audience —to the last —it was Beethoven, not Kowalski, I heard ; and high praise though it may seem, I have never listened to a truer conception ora better rendering from any one of the great pianists it has been my good fortune to hear in Beethoven’s romantic masterpiece. The rhythmic swing and syncopated passages in the second movement were given with a perfection of accent and accuracy of interpretation never met with among those soul-less persons who rely upon mere technique to cover a multitude of sins. To show the versatility of undoubtedly the most artistic pianist we have yet heard in Auckland, one has only to recall the wonderful contrast displayed in that splendid paraphase of “ Trovatore,” composed and played by Kowalski, and in the quaintly attractive scherzo of Chopin, in which the runs in the imitation passages were given with a crisp and clear rippling rush and elastic springiness of touch delightful to the ear. Herr Raimund, by special request, played Ernst’s elegie, in which his soul manifestly revels. As an encore he gave “ Hungarian Frances,” a dashing morceaux full of elegant and difficult double stopping, which was a triumph of neatness and accuracy of intonation. With M- Kowalski he played Greig’s sonata op. 8, and the pair won prolonged plaudits for the splendid ensemble maintained throughout. Miss Bertha Rossow sang Verdi’s spirited Brindisi “ Libiamo,” with great dash and facility of execution, her trill being

especially effective. Later on she was even more successful with Cowan’s “ It was a dream. But her best effort was Broga’s evergreen “ Serenata,” which the audience would have again, Herr Pechotsch playing the violin obligato with exquisite taste. Madam VanderveerGreene gave Millaid’s “ When the tide comes in,” with a truly artistic taste and finish, ihe mezzo-voce passages and the swelling imitation of the flowing tide were especially impressive. As an encore she sang “ Thine eyes,„ a lovely lied by Lassen. Her “ Three Fishers also won an enthusiastic encore, in compliance with which the last verse was repeated. Rubinstein’s delicious duet, “ Wonderous night song,” by the two ladies, again charmed the audience, who insisted upon a bis. Besides playing all the accompaniments, Miss Bertha Griffiths joined M. Kowalski in an infectious Tarentelle by Gottschalle a quartre mains. The Tarentula hit the audience, and the effects were visible in all parts of the house. I now bid farewell to this talented corps of artistes, and wish them good luck wherever they go.

MR. H. M. STANLEY.

Or the three admirable lectures delivered by Mr. Stanley, the first two, although of absorbing interest, dealt with matters more familiar to those who read than the relief of Emin Pasha, which was the subject of the third. Volleys of abuse have been hurled at Mr. Stanley, and clouds of dusty verbiage have hitherto obscured the truth. By ‘ a round unvarnished tale ” the lecturer on Saturday evening not only convinced his audience, but left them with a strong feeling of indignation against the slanderers, who, not content with belittling achievements which rank with those of the greatest generals of the past, must needs impute motives and coin libellous epithets as disgraceful as they are undeserved. Although Mr, Stanley quoted the great philosopher Marcus Aurelius to show how signal an honour it is to be abused for good deeds, still it was plain that although sava indignatio may have been subdued, a sense of injustice still remains in his heart. It could not be, nor would we wish it otherwise. The very warmth and earnestness of so splendid and eloquent a defence must spring from a heart concious of right and smarting under a sense of injury- Mr. Stanley has all the qualities of a good lecturer and some of the gifts which make a great orator. The splendid descriptive passages are relieved by an occasional bit of humour which smacks strongly of Mark Twain. At the very outset of the lecture under notice, the anecdote of Ungaliema and the gong fetish, the warrior’s terror and his clinging to the explorer’s coat-tails, made a great impression. Then came a clear exposition of Emin trapped between Wadelai andLodo on the Upper Nile, and of the three possible routes by which a relief force might reach him. The choice of the Congo route became compulsory since political obstacles barred the other two. The start, and a graphic description of a day’s march, gave a realistic picture of that thirty days’ journey without a halt. Terrible hardships and dangers from cannibals and pigmies; the toilsome and almost hopeless struggle through the vast track of devasted country leading to a land of plenty, where the men gained on an average 131bs weight in as many days ; the arrival at the lake and Emin’s humbug; the return for the steel boat, and the second perilous journey to the depots to bring up the reserve forces ; Emin’s evasive answers ; Stanley’s three offers; Emin’s final acceptance of employment under the British Government at a big price. All those points and features were clearly and graphically put before an audience who listened as it were spell-bound to every word. Again the capture and measurement of specimens of the pigmy races of whom old Herodotus and even Homer wrote in byegone ages, and the location of the hitherto fabulous Mountains of the Moon proved of absorbing interest. Emin’s sudden volte face, after spending six weeks in a German hospital, from deep gratitude to Stanley to a denial that the latter had done him any service at all, received an emphatic corroboration by an extract from a letter just received by Mr. Stanley, in which the writer (Lieut. Stairs) reports that Um in Pasha, having refused to obey the recall signal alleged to have been hoisted by his German employers., is now trespassing upon

British territory in Central Africa. Mr. Stanley has clearly proved himself not only a dauntless hero but a much maligned man. Orpheus.