MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 280, 7 August 1909, Page 9

MUSIC.

•. ' (Br Thedle. Clef.)

''Elijaii'' and' MantEelssoSin. ■;:'■ "•.■..-- '.> ■ On Tuesday; next'. tho-iennobling music of Mendelssohn's ''Elijah''- wiirbe Ticard. once more .in.•'Wellington, under the.baton of the 'Veteran Mr. >Roberta Parker, a ..gentleman, has, probably■ waved- the baton, through more oratorios than any other conductor..:-iii: •Australasia...: The'oratorio . and: subsequent, concert - is' being • given by ! tho. Wellington Musical Union,'in lionour centenary of Felix Mendelsschn-Bartholdy, 'who ; was born in 1809, and died at tho early ago of .38. Having' done so :muoh in his, brief life, Jffe wonders in 'what manlier 'ho would • have enriched the musical classics; had'-lid; lived'.to twioe that age.' : Mendelssohn was the. son of a Hamburg morohant, and 'a■grandson^of Moses Mendelssohn, the . German Jewish, philosopher, friend and .pupil '.0f.., Les'sing. He was a\ remarkably:forward lad music, and had composed ' aud produced 'an opera .when 1 but eighteen years of ago. Ho' visited London'when'twenty years of age,and, after, a course of travel, returned to .Germany, and became ■ musical director rat Dusseldorf, which city he loft for Leipsio in 1837.' In ;18'11 he ..became/ kapellmeister to .the King of Prussia, and was much,in England from time.to ■ time. .'"■' '

At Tuesday's concert'the. solo parts will bo'taken by Miss Phoebo Parsons (soprano),Mrs. E. B.Buckeridge (contralto),' and Mr. John Prouse •.(baritone). The miscellaneous concert to-take .'place.at : the Town Hall on' Thursday next-.promises .to bo particu'arly interesting/. -.-.■'.' : : ..,;:;.•',' ' .. ' Calve. ':,'■■.-■,'.. ,•;.■,'•'■:.'■■_ '.:'.'/,' ' .Concert engagements for 1910 have been 'announced more .slowly this year than' usual, but at; last Messrs. J.; and N. Tait have ;broken the ice; by signing a- contract' with Mine. Calve to open iii Sydney about next: Easter. 'The, coming of this star soprano to Australia will be a great event. The Australian firm made "their first' venture in; London with her last month, "concert direction J. and-N":: Tait" figuring as the'headline 'for her reappearance, after, an'absence' 'of three ive.ars, at'.Quedri's- Hall. MivNovin , Tait writes from London that-it was owing to the electrical effect made by tho operatic star upon tlio crowded audience,;and- her strange personal • fascination, that'ho; -re-newed-his endeavours .to persuade her to tour' Australia, which she had up ;; to that time refused to do; owing to her drea'd; of tho sea voyage. The press notices of this concert of June 16 freely acknowledge her; as one of thefew great singers of the day."Thero is only one. Calve,' ■ remajrks- the "Westminster Gazottej" "and; the opportunities of hearing her in London are few, • indeed, now that she has ceased to appear at Covent Garden." In addition to the us'ual references to the overwhelming .enthusiasm! of tlio afternoon,' the "Telegraph" "remarks:, ','Her art'remains, as ever, most beautiful,'• and tho voice, too; retains its singular purity and sympathy of timbre;" and',tho' "Morning Post" explains "the secret of 'her hold upon tho public" in tho. words:: "In;addition to a voice of unequalled i beauty, she has a personality, and the power of infusing it into all that she docs." Mr. Kerinerlcy Rumford and other artists,. assisted. In spite of the description of the. voice first quoted, which would be equally applicable to that of Madame Melba, Emma Calvo's voice is full and rich . She,is, in fact, an emotional dramatic: soprano, and that, the organ has not changed is shown by thousoof the word "luscious" in another account of it. Mine. Calve-was born in Madrid, studied in Paris jindcr Mmo. Marchesi and Pugct, and made her world-renowned successes in tho 'mozzo-sopraaio.ro.kVof Carmen. ISl> Europe she is rogardod, by reason of ■ her tragic acting, as the finost Carmen of the present-generation,. and sho, has also made a deep impression at Covent Garden by tho southern passion with which she imbues the soprano character of Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticaiia." At the' Paris ■ Opera .in 1599 tho Spanish soprano sang Ophelia in "Hamlet,"'and repeated it later in London,: but tho music proved too high for her, and. she ultimately gavo up. the attempt. 1,