MUSIC NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1154, 23 May 1912, Page 18

MUSIC NOTES.

(By

G. String.)

It is gratifying to notice that Madame Kirkby Lunn is one of the prominent figures in the grand opera season which has just commenced in London. The distinguished contralto, who commences an Australian ' and New, Zealand tour in August, under the direction of Messrs J. and. N. Tait, has been engaged to sing the part of Delilah in the revival of SaintSaens famous opera, and it is probable that she will once more be heard in “Aida.” The Wellington Municipal Orchestra gave another of its delightful concerts in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening, the 14th inst. The attendance was easily the largest that has so far this season listened to this clever combination, and in a short speech Mr Maughan Barnett, the conductor, said he had an unpleasant duty at the last concert to express himself rather strongly regarding the support accorded to those concerts. He thought it was only due to those present and also the people of Wellington to say that the attendance that evening was entirely satisfactory, and in conclusion he expressed his own personal pleasure at the way the public had rolled up that evening. It is to be hoped that the remainder of the concerts will be liberally patronised. The successful production a few weeks ago at Liverpool by the MoodyManners Opera Company of Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah” as an opera opens up a tremendous field of possibility. What was possible in the case of “Elijah” is now probable in the case of at least twenty other oratorios. In an interview, Mr Charles Manners said the primary reason why ne decided to produce “Elijah” as an opera was because there was more beautiful music in it than in any one of half-a-score reputedly popular operas that he named, and because it “ seemed a sin,” in view of the wave of public regard for oratorios, that so much exquisite music was in a fair way to be “not only out of sight but out of mind.” It is stated that there was no mistake about the beauty of the “Elijah” music throughout the performance. It seemed to bloom afresh in its operatic setting, the result being a complete triumph. It was interesting, one critic states, to watch the effect upon the audience of those well-known concert airs, “If With All Your Hearts” and “O, Rest in . the Lord.” Mr Harry Lauder opened a season at the London Tivoli on March 11, when he presented three new songs. They are entitled, “Roamin’ in the Q-loam-in’,” “The Bachelors,” and “Same As

His Feyther Did Before Him.” In “The Bachelors” Lauder assumes the character of a young Scot, who visits London and lives in a flat where his brother-bachelor Scots are wont to foregather and indulge in? conviviality. The chorus opens in characteristic Lauder style: “It’s fine when ye love a wee lass.e, It’s fine when yer lassie loves you.” This indicates the trend of the bachelors' reflections under all. circumstances. . They even sing it around the recumbent form of Macpherson after he has fallen out of bed under the influence of too much conviviality. In “The Same As His Feyther Did Before Him,” the Scotch star once more shows his facility for hitting upon a type which, while thoroughly human, is unconventional and original in conception. He appears as a Scot who had deferred marrying until well on in the forties. The song relates to his son, who, he explains, will be aged ten .n less than two years. He is at present eight years and three months or a quarter past eight. Mr Lauder will start on his round-the-world tour in December, 1913, during which Australia and New Zealand will be visited. CHRISTCHURCH. (From Our Own Correspondent.) A new continuous moving picture theatre, the Globe, has been opened in High Street by the West-Hayward firin, and, with good films and popular prices, seems already to be well established. The theatre is prettily decorated. Jansen draws larger audiences each night to the Theatre Royal, and mana- . ger Frank Taioot’s face is wreathed in smiles. At time of writing Jansen has yet to give the public a chance to win £5 by discovering him in the street, and the big advertising scheme is being looked forward to with interest by the public. The season closes on Wednesday. We are now in the throes of the annual competitions, which are filling the King’s Theatre each evening. The Brennan Fuller Vaudeville Co. flourishes at the Opera House under Rud Petersen’s genial management. The Siddons, hand-balancers, have been a very good turn. Mr Frank Hutchens, pianist, and Miss Rita Lyons will give a recital here shortly. Dr. having resigned from the conductorship of the Christchurch Musical Union, Mr W. S. King, of this city, a tried musician and one of wide experience, has, I understand, been appointed conductor. Mr Fred. Quintrell, of. the “Everywoman” Company, writes that he is delighted with the work of the young drummer, J. Crawford, who joined the company here.

. “The Cingalee,” to be staged at Melbourne, Her Majesty’s on the 25th, May by the J.C. Williamson New Comic Opera Company, will be revived for two weeks only, and will bring the season to a close. The company returns to Sydney, opening a one week’s revival of “The Girl in the Train,” then “Nightbirds’ will be staged for the first time in Australia. This play is the successor to “The Chocolate Soldier” at the Lyric Theatre, London, and is approaching the record put up by that phenomenally successful comic opera.

“MR PLASTER OF PARIS.”

To disclose the plot of “Mr Plaster of Paris,’ which opens on Saturday night at His iMajesty’s Theatre, would be to detract considerably from what promises to be a most entertaining evening. The play centres round the marriage of an extremely amusing old physician with a fascinating lady who has divorced her first husband, John Plaster of Paris, a delightful rogue and trickster, who in his varied career* has “done everything and. everybody.” The second and third acts of the play are described as “one long, loud laugh,” showing, as they do, the dodges to 1 which the ingenious (Mr Plaster resorts in order to extract money from his former wife. The unfortunate doctor’s suspicions are played upon so cleverly that, in the third act, he is in a state bordering on lunacy. The dialogue scintillates with humour, tne surrounding funny situations in which the poor doctor is placed crowd so closely on each, other as to leave one weak with laughter, while the gay musical numbers lend an added note of altogether infectious hilarity to the performance. With the knowledge of the, abilities of the individual members of Messrs Wykeham and Nable’s company,, the beautiful new scenery, and dresses, theatre-goers should be assured of a wholly joyous evening on Saturday next.

One day last week there was something of a commotion in Little, Bourke street, Melbourne, which includes the Chinese quarter, and on which fronts the stage door of the Theatre Royal. There issued from the stage door a gorgeous-looking Chinese, magnificently clad in the full dress of a mandarin, with Order of the Peacock’s Feather prominently displayed. The neighbouring Celestials . rushed from their doorways and chattered excitedly, and a wave of interest thrilled the whole of the thoroughfare. The Mandarin, with great dignity, entered a taxi-cab, and was driven away, but it was some time before the excited Chinese resumed their normal placitude. It was only Mr Gordon Harker, however, who was on his way to a photographic studio to have his picture taken. Mr Harker appears in ’Kismet” as a Chinaman in the great bazaar scene, and his make-up is considered to be one of the most remarkable ever seen on the stage. In London, Mr Harker was personally complimented by the head of the Chinese Legation on his remarkable representation. Mr Harker is a son of Mr Joseph Harker, the famous scenic artist, who painted the “Kismet scenery. I have a song to sing O! Sing me your song O! It tells of a citizen moping-mum, Whose throat was sore and whose head was numb, Who sipped a sup from a common cup Of medicine pure (Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure); And who felt quite well, I am glad to tell, And who went to his toil in the morning.