MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 657, 6 November 1909, Page 9

MUSIC.

. ! (i3Y,TuEm.E:Cf,Er.) . '- A' Caruso' Concert*' ' .. ~; ' ~ 'Caruso's oiily.::appearance-..in Loudon tins season,, at;the Albert Hall oho afternoon .last niohth.'ivas <tho.occasion 'of,, a- 'remarkable* demonstration, which' proved that, he .is an attraction no less powerful in tlio concert-room than in.opora.,' From floor to,ceiling the Albert Hall was packed-.-by'an" audience which 'is said, to have represented .£2000: in hard cash; and it is further stated-that nearly 4000 people had to be refused, admission - , as the house was full.-This fact;(the "Daily , Telegraph" observes) places Caruso inHhe same category with. Patti and one or two others of prodigious drawing powers; Encore numbers ;weremore plentiful than printed numbers, as is customary on theses occasions, and, as: often'. before, Tosti • supplied several of ■; them. By a Somewhat curious arrangement, the pianoforte only was used to accompany the singer, Mr. Bcccham's orchestra being temporarily onlookers. But in their turn they accomplished much under; Mr. Bcecham's direction; and further variety was provided by the singing of Miss Pender-Cudtip and -Mr. .A. Lccomtc. ■ An .immense., laurel' wreath decked with ribbons, presumably, in the Italian.colours, and bearing the initials "E.C." in musical notation, had como all-the way-from Scotland to greet Caruso..;'" , ■■-i '.■.',. -:y. .___ ■. - .- ■*■'-;,: .'-., "Dear Little Denmark." . :.' '"Dear Little Denmark" is the title of Paul . Rubens's latest musical comedy,: in which he evidently,follows up tho -national" idea '■ of "Miss' Hook of: Holland" : by restricting .the characters and colouring to ,one Of the new musical play, produced in-London on September 1, the "Standard" says:—"Mr. Rubens disarms criticism to' a great,extent •by calling his new production 'Dear ■ Little • Denmark, at the Prince of Wales' Theatre,''A Danish- Musical' Incident!' in ; u Chah« i .tor,. Jingles, and Tunes, by Paul 1 a.' •, Accepting this definition, thp piece can best be-analysed,in detail. There, is no. plot'.worth., speaking' of; ithis' is frankly^.intimated in ad-' ."varice'.'; Such ! 'as'ithere js : °turris;oh : .the" love affairs of Christiho,: the "daughter of tho Burgo-/ master of Falstefnore,for Conrad,-the bell founder,,whose suit is,frowned onl by the. Duke Ernst,-whose- candidate'is Hans Hansen, the official clock-winder of, the placcThis alfords the two regulation scenes—one - in. the village and one in the.palace; it ensures'tho.lov« in-. . terestj.such as it is, and'it supplies ample opr i pbrtunity for the comic element. • .'lncident'.'— i the piece is,a collection of them,, strung toi gcther in a' loose',fashion,, which,! makes one regret the lack of cohesion, the absence of any | sustained.interest, and'tho extreme' thinness of . overlying charm. ,-.,':.• '.'■' ■ '.? '■ 05 course; Mr, .'Rubens cannot' be but bright; . but his music 'sometimes, lacks 'the, spon-, taneous freshness which characterised so. much' ,• of his workin 'Miss' Hook.of Holland.'.. There 'are). one need hardly- say, -many .tuneful excerpts—a pretty duo,'' Ding Dong,' for Mr'.' Bertram Wallis and Miss Isabel Jay, who.also has a charming morsel' entitled 'The Land ' of , 'Love/ while, there is-much haunting clevor- , ness in Miss Gracie, Leigh's,servant songs, 'I've. ■■ come down from the North' and 'Rending, ; 'Riting, and 'Rithinetic,' but neither is likely. '. to attain quite the same measure ofpopularity • as her two famous efforts in 'Miss Hook.' Pos- : sibly the concerted numbers are the best—tho i one entitled 'We're fine in form and' Feature,' : by the Duke's, Guards, and -The Duke's Great • Danes,' by Mr. Bertram Wallis and the chorus, i both going '-with excellent swing. And there i is, too, much noteworthy, refinement and har- ■ mony in the-first finale. Indeed,'there are so i' many good isolated efforts that the piece is . assured,popularity, hardly on so pro- •; nounced a-soale as its immediate predecessor. : Mr. Rubens is faithful'to the specialised turn i; —now the Clockraaker's Glee, 'Once. a mouse !, ran upa Clock,': a chorus ■ with clocks in .view, - : ,'An old maid all my Life,' a song by Miss: Jay ! which . permits the introduction of some .halfi score of lightly-robed, mannequins; and a sepi tette, 'Seven little Gcnees,' which provides for t' the appearance of seven little.ballet dancers., t All these, please, and, as there is an excellent ■ chorus and the duke's gigantic bodyguard ..can I'-.both sing and act, there is much-promising I .material .extant, although it is difficult-to place • one's finger on any. outstanding characteristic. : of-.the,production,'or 1 -'to,'soy that'it marks a > progress in Mr.'; Rubens's work.".; : ~■ , ' . ,' Tax for Art. , "" The Grand Opera in Paris receives a ■ Gov- • eminent subvention of 831,000 • francs, and tho ' Opera Comique one of 300,000 francs? This •. means that one-fourth the price of every seat • at the first-named house ' and one-tenth of the » price of every seat at the other' is paid by ■ persons who do hot benefit by. it. and perhaps f never-go.to tjie theatre at all. Some Parisians ' have been thinking this, over. -They 1 want a municipal-,, opera house in .which, each ' one pays for what ho'gets. The millions who *■ pay taxes ought, moreover, they say, to have : better seats for their money. "Opera houses 5 - and theatres should be built like the Wagner' [ Theatre at Bayreutb, in which the occupant of; • every' seat cannot only hear themusic but. see j 'everything' going on,"oh the stage." The high 'price of seats at- the.Opera- is due; largely 1 to the enormous sums spent on scenery. • The : cost of staging an opera has in some cases been as high as 400,000 'francs. ' . : [ ,;Gold-Spinning Vofces.. . .There is a lot of grumbling in New York ' about' the amount; of money wasted in tho i -payment' of foreign singers. The rule is r usually... to; make n>contract for 40 pcrformi ances, two a week for 20, weeks. If.tho manager , .'mentis unable to make use of an artist on any t -night specified, the management has: to pay, . and if an extra performance is given, extra pay , is demanded. Caruso gets .£4OO •' a nignt;i .Madame 'iEamos, JB300; Madame Sembrich, . .£300; Bonci, .£200; MissTarrar,'Madamo Desr , tihn, and Madame Fremstad, ,£IGO each; t Madame Homer, ,£80; and Scotti, £10, Madames Eames, Miss Farrar, and Madame Destinn play the same roles. • The consequence is that Madamo Eames, who3o contract is for 20 per- , formancos, has appeared only eight times this [ season. .Caruso has contracted for-50 performances, and'has appoared 16 times. It is estimated that in' this way. no less than '.£12,000 ' has been thrown away. And that is tho cause of tho grumbling. ■■•;•, ,-, ' Ah extremely attractive programme has been ' arranged for tho concert recital to he given 5 - by Mr. Horace Hunt in the Concert, Chamber 5 (Town Hall) on^.Tucstlay,, November 10. As 5 this will bo Mr. Hunt's first pianoforte re--1 cital in Wellington, considerable .interest: will '. doubtless bo .occasioned. The artists" assisting will be; Mrs. D.C. Bates, elocutionist, Mr. t j'clin Carter—a .vocalist, who has not yet been- - hoard here publicly—and Mr, Stuart" Macjcau i (noloncsllist) jvho■'■« already a great faTourite.r