A MAN OF THE WORLD.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19165, 23 November 1927, Page 13

A MAN OF THE WORLD.

JOSEPH HISLOP, TENOR.

OTHER ARTISTS DISCUSSED

Mr Joseph Hisiop, ihe i«"-.mis Jiriush tenor, who opened his I :in,tc-hurd, s uason last night, one is ;iL once impressed with the fact that lie i* Hngii,!,. and what is nioretniit lie is a man of the world us well us u great artist. Mr Hisiop, j„ fact, can converse on a variety of subjects besides music. It is obvious that he has during lus career been a close observer of file and conditions in countries ne has visited.

Madame 1« ranees Alda, who visited the Dominion a few months ago, he knows well, having sung [ n "JJoheine" with her two years ago in Buenos Avre-s. and lie does not agree with her in her criticism of the musical taste of the Antipodes. "You have been visited within recent years by some of the greatest artists in the world," he said, to a representative of The Puess.yesterday on his arrival from Wellington, '-and at the moment I can remember in this connexion such names as Kreisler, Heifctz. Paderewski, Backhflu.s, Levitsky, Zimbalist. Chaliapm, Alda. each of whom is in the first flight; so that you are certainly kept in touch with the best artists a five today. All these people havo strong claims to distinction; otherwise they would not be in the high position they occupy, and for this reason they are all worth hearing, although, of course, I am not suggesting that they all have the same appeal to audiences. Heifetz, for instance, plays Mendelssohn'.? concerto quite differently from any one else I have ever heard. He is a j.;arvpllous technician of the violin, but the more matured Kreisler is a poet of the instrument.

"The same diiference is apparent in all branches of musical art. Some artists have greater personality than others, in addition to their gifts Caruso, I consider, had the greatest voice of nil the men 1 ever heard, and Titta Ruffo, whom I knew well, is the possessor of iv magnificent voice. I heard them both on one occasion, on which I was in Paris, and I also heard Chaliapin, who, I consider, has the greatest personality in tho musical world to-day. While Caruso and Ruffo both made a great impression on their audiences, on tho occasion I am referring to, it was Chaliapiu who carried them off their feet, his singing in 'Boris' being really magnificent and rousing those who heard him to enthusiasm." Mr Hisiop said that ho would advise all young students of music to take every opportunity of hearing such artists as those he had mentioned, for there were nono better in the world He would admit that while the local teachers of music in Australia and tho Dominion were naturally not so good as those of tho big centres of the world, and that in consequence, it was advisable for aspiring students to study abroad, there was no need to leave New Zealand if one wished to hear tho great artists. The public were often inclined to think, ho said, that because these people were advertised as being the best in the universe in the particular branch of the art with which they were associated they were not so—that . they . were only boosted so, in fact, to make their tours a success —but this was totally wrong, as all of them ware still able to command large fees in Europe and America. Asked what his own position was, Mr Hisiop said that he was visiting Australia and New Zealand for two reasons, tho first being that he desired to see" these'two'countries, and the second that he was being well paid for it. He added that his present visit would involve the loss of 12 in time spent in travelling.