Palmerston North

New Zealand Tablet, 18 May 1911, Page 897

Palmerston North

(From our own correspondent.) May 7. .A To-day being the first Sunday there was'Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament after the 11 o’clock Mass. The -f Rev. Father Costello preached to a crowded congregation in the evening on the Patronage of St. Joseph, after which £; followed the usual procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Mr. W. G. Tabor, who has been absent from Palmerston North for some time, has accepted an important position with Messrs. Buick and Young, and I am pleased to say that his vocal services will be again given to St. Patrick’s which, under the conductorship of Rev. ' Father Kehoe, with Madame. Parry as organist, is attaining a state of great efficiency. The first round of the inter-society euchre tournament was won by the H.A.C.B. Society, who beat their opponents by 45 to 27. The sixth annual concert of the pupils of St. Mary’s V Convent, held before a crowded audience in the Opera S' House on Wednesday, May 3, will be remem- A' bered as having eclipsed the best of its predecessars by a substantial margin. There were present A his Grace the Archbishop of Wellington, and Rev. Fathers ’ A Costello, Kehoe, and Dore. The entertainment gave evideuce of the very high standard of tuition given by the Sisters, while the addition of a trio of talented youngvocalists from the Wellington Convent was an admirable innovation, and lifted the concert to a higher level than had before been reached. Appearing first in a Shakespearian trio with her fellow-pupils, the Misses Segrief, Miss McEnroe gave the audience some indication of her V powers, but they were hardly prepared for the ;revelation that followed in the rendering of the intricate vocal solo, Carnivale de Venezia,’ wherein the young singer had full opportunity of displaying her talent. As an encore, Miss -A McEnroe gave the evergreen Irish air, ‘Believe me, if all" ■ those endearing young charms,’ in quite a delightful manner. Miss Agnes Segrief, another of the Wellingtonians, gave an intelligent and satisfying rendering of Gounod’s' ‘ Serenade,’ to which was given the added charm of a violin obligato by Miss Louise Croucher. The number was one of the evening’s gems, and in response to a recall Miss Segrief made a marked impression by her exceptional rendering of another of Ireland’s beautiful airs, ‘ The harp that once.’ Together, the Misses McEnroe and Segrief secured the only double encore of the evening, their beautiful rendering of Blumenthal’s ‘Venetian boat song.’ Of the other vocalists, Mrs. Broad again proved her popularity with Palmerston audiences by being heartily en- ■ cored for a charming rendering of Cox’s ‘ The lonely road,’ A the recall item being Mallinson’s ‘ Four by the clock,’ very . - tastefully rendered. Miss Vera Cooper was also encored for the way in which she negotiated the extremely difficult problems set in the Meyerbeer scena, ‘Roberto, oh tu che ~A adoro. Part singing is always a welcome . feature of the convent concerts, and the three items given by the pupils were all evidence, of careful training. Among the instrumental numbers, Miss Louise Croucher’s violin solo, of A course, took pride of place. It goes without saying that a recall was demanded. Miss Minna Ward, who, was till - a quite recently a frequent performer at local concerts, made - a welcome reappearance in a pianoforte solo. her number A being a charmingly rendered Study in D flat ’by Liszt, "S for which the audience demanded an encore. The remainder of the programme was devoted to pianoforte items by the advanced pupils of the convent. The overture was a duet (two pianos) by the Misses Rainbow, Carey, Hill, and ; A Richter which was excellently given. There was a finely -w rendered duo, Chopin’s ‘ Rondo in C,’ by two well known A pianists Misses Vera r Graham and Violet Kendall.- and the --'jTannhanser ’ overture on three pianos bv the Misses M. -A ; Ward N. Greene, and Gudgeon. All three items revealed ’AA careful training and intelligent interpretation, and com- A pleted one of the finest concerts given here for some time. Mention must bo made of the unusual excellence of Miss ■'A Wards accompaniments, which were remarkable for an M artistic restraint not . often found in such work ~ -AS