MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 490, 24 April 1909, Page 9

MUSIC.

V-'■'.«. (By Treble Clef,) ; Kielba. Melba is to sing at tho Town. Hal] on Tuesday and Thursday evenings 'of next week.—Verb. sap. How to Sing. To tho many young ladies who aspire to become singers, whether',in view of a concert career or merely to charm the homo circle-, tho writer would offer advice, which may bo taken for a''limited period onlygo and hear Florence Youngl>Miss Young, who is tho Sonia of "Tho Merry Widow," is gifted with a crystalline but robust soprano, which she uses in tho freest manner, without tho. slightest indication that strain is necessary to produce any effect wanted— whether it be a high. note .which can be heard clear and bright above combined chorus and orchestra; a full tone in the middle register, or a note of pathos below tho lower C All aro^.alikb-"to i this delightful - songstress; Her untrammelled 'breathing, deep and full, is something to admire; it helps rather than hinders her phrasing, and is the best example that a'young, vocalist could have. Too many students of singing bottle up their voices at great, inconvenience to thomselves, under tho impression that, in , the subduing of tho voice, they are producing effects that would be lost in "letting tho voice- go"; they labour under, tho misapprehension that ."treatment", must be subservient'to the voice. Nothing could bo wider of the' truth.' Tho two must go together. A bottled-up voice does not give' a true piano or p.p. effect; it is a spurious imitation in which enunciation and articulation suitor.' And it is here that Miss Young takes tho right line. Her softest notes are as clear as her ringing top G, and each word is clearly articulated, no matter how reduced the body of the tono is. Many young lady singers would liavo an aching throat long before they could get through tho music of "The Merry Widow," but Miss Young can sing the part twice a day without experiencing vocal fatigue. Though sho had a year with Marchesi (in Paris) I am inclined to think -that Miss Young's 'vocalism is part of her natural self, but in any caso her methods aro sound, and she is a splendid model for our future local singers, and, in some'cases, our present ones. ■ .

New Zealanders in Melbourne. '" Mr. Philip Newboy and Miss Itosina Buckmau, two Now Zealand singers, appearod in connection with a biojjraph show in tho Melbourne Town Hall on AprilMO. Thus the "Age":—Singers like Mr. Newbury—and there aro not too many of them—are rather wasted at entertainments such as that held in- the' Town Hall on Saturday night, when nearly half the evening was devoted to biograph shows. The-attempt to- combine tho incompatibles was in the nature of a failurebut luckily, though they iiad to sing' to empty benches Mr. Nowbury and Miss Rosina Buckmann, who was tho other vocalist of the evening, did not suffer from the echoes which are usually the .desDair of vocalists at the Town Hall under such conditions. The screen upon which tho pictures were projected acted most effectually in mitigating this particular form of nuisance, and both tenor and soprano were heard—by the few who thought it worth while to turn up—to the very best advantage. Mr. Nowbury in especial was in excellent trim, his singing of Mattel's "Bianci" and or Flotow's "M'Appari" being exemplars of how 1 to .use a fine ringing tenor voice to genuinely artistic purpose. His delivery of "The Message" (Blumenthal) raised a perfect furore, which could only be quelled by the lowering of the' lights for the next series of pictures. It is at least questionable whether tho majority of those present would hot have preferred more music and less biograph. Miss Buckmann showed a beautiful soprano voice, of icsonant quality, in Allitson's "Song of Thanksgiving" and tlio "Jewel Song" from "Faust," both bein" given with nice feeling and cultured teel° niquc. The singers joined forces in the duet from tho garden scene of "Faust" and tho familiar "itfisercro" duet from "11 Trovatore." ' ■, • ■talian Opera in Italy. Charles Tait. of tho Tait ißros., writing from Italy: —Italian opera audiences utter their candid criticism aloud.' Tho other nighv at tho Politeana Nationalo in Florenco one of tho items of a great benefit performance for tho Fund Messina was an act of Rigoletto* The baritone, who played the Jester, was a wonderful actor, but ho sang,flat, and nearly everybody told him so. When he sang more flat, everybody told him so; and lie bowed his head to the "storm. An act of "Un Ballo" was a great treat. ' Thoso carpers who say that the Italian opera of fifty years ago is old foolishness, aro too Wagnoiian entirely. Tho same only story with new singers (of good class) is always interesting. But tlio chorus I 0, yo gods! the chorus is shockingly clothed. The principals are arrayed in all the glory of the original Medici; but the poor old chorus loiks as though it had bought its clothes at so much a bundle. Evidently the chorws is supplemented by a local choir. It was grotesquely humorous to see the local Sigiiora and Signorina Brownsi, Jonesi, Smithctti, etc., doiiig a carabol in stage costurno, but with Ihoif orainaxy, everyday hat on their