MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 758, 5 March 1910, Page 9

MUSIC.

(By Treble Clef.) Andrew Black. Andrew Black ranks among the best baritones that have ever.been heard in New Zealand. I cannot recall olf-hand any one baritone vocalist whom I would like;to listen to more than Andrew Black, lhore is no nonsense about Andrew Black —he. strong, vibrant, close-fibred voice, set well forward, with a ring like a firebell in impassioned music, and an appealing dramatic thrill,' even when crooning quaint littlo songs of'tha Highlands. His is a ; voice that magnetises— the kind that, one only hears once in. a decadc 01; so in ' Wellington- That is why I am insisting that all musical,'and those who fain, would /be called,so., should hear him 011. Monday evening at tho Opera House. Then 110 will sing a wide variety of songs—"The March of the Cameron Men," "I Hear You Calling Me" (Marshall), . "Vittoria, Vittoria" (Carrissimi), "To Aiithea" (Hatton)," "Noil Piu 'Andrai" (Mozart), and "Turn Yo to Me." Mr. Blacks admirers will be sorry if lie does not sing , the prologue of "I Pagliaeci" whilst in Wellington. The company supporting Mr. Black is a sound one. It includes Anton Tschaikov, a young Polish violinist, who is said to plav with good feeling and a correct understanding; Miss Ibey Cross, a young contralto of promise; and Miss Lillian Delahey, a capable pianist. .It is a long time since we had so good a concert company to' entertain . us. . About "La Traviata." • , .Aerdi's "La Traviata," which has in recent years taken a fresh hold on life, had 110 easy path to conquest (writes \V. J. Henderson,.in a London contemporary). .It,. W,s,,,inade.,kno,wn..,to 'thei.j musical world at tho Peiiice" .Tlieatrei'in Venice 011 March G, 1853, and the performance came to an end amid boisterous laughter. Donatclli.ijthe Yioletta,-.was fat, and tho Venetians were deeply moved by her complaints of the inroads "of . .consumption upon liev system. Threo years later , tho opera was heard in London, New York, St.' ;Pe'tersburg, and .Paris. '; In London, of course, the British public in one of those periodical fits.of morality which aroused the sarcasm of Maeaulay hastened. to hear tho opera after it had .been pronounced unfit for. the consideration- of respectable' persons. The Lord. Chamberlain': had barred the theatre doors against our.. friend '"Camille," and when it was iniule. known■ that an opera on tliis topic was to bo brought forward, press and public* burst into pealing reverberations of denunciation. Mr. Lnmley, the then manager of Her Majesty's Opera House, speedily wrote a letter to "The Times" defending, the opora. He was his own press agent. There was also much talk about the prima, donna,. Marietta Piccolomini, who h'ad sprung into notoriety as a breaker of contracts. Also she n-as a wandering child of a ■ noble house; Piccolomini's past and the story of the opera,set things going, and Lumley, in"'his famous memoirs, refcords with glee how peoplo fought to make their ■ way into his theatre. ,

■ Piccoloniini proved to bo a dashing and bold little operatic body with littlo chic and much cheek, less voice and almost, no art. . The next Reason Bosio . arrived in London,'and the British public discovered that elegance of delivery, taste, and repose could bo employed in Verdi's opera much' to its advantage. Bosio ' was perhaps the first singer to treat the role with the finesse which it really requires. ■

Just why it has been regarded as a coloratura part would be difficult to tell. The vocal tests of the role are "Ah, fors o lui," "Semper libera," "Dito alia giovine," .the finale of the second act, and in the final scene, "Addio del passate," and "Parigi, o earn." Of these, only "Semper libera" demands "any special brilliancy in colorature, while ail the others call for a perfect cantilena and tho ability to express pathos of a rather gentle and sentimental order.

Christine Nilsson selected "Tioletta" for her Parisian debut. Lilli Lehmann has cherished the role throughout her career. Lillian Nordica' began with it and never let go of; it, even after she had entered" the ranks of Wagner singers. Dr. Frederic Cowen; It *is pleasant news that Dr. Frederic Cowen will contribute a new choral work to' the Cardiff Festival this year. For inspiration the poem ' poser has turned to Robert Buchanan's poem, "The Book of Orm," and his work, which (says the Loudon "Daily Telegraph") is designed for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra, and which Dr. Cowen himself regards as the most serious lie has over undertaken, v.-ill-be entitled "The Veil." It was at Cardiff, during the festival of 1901, that this composer's last important work— "John Gilpin"—saw the light. Dr. Cowen, it may he recalled,.began composing at a very early age, and was only 24when his first opera, "Pauline." was produced 'at the Lyceum. Three other operas,

"Thorgrim," "Sigua," anil "Harold" (tho last two staged at Covent Garden in 1891 and .1895 respectively), stand to his credit. Of . his oratorios one of the earliest and most successful was "Tho Deluge"—produced by Mr. Kuho at the Brighton .Festival in' 1878—while of symphonies Dr. Cowcn has written no fewer than six. including 'the beautiful '"Scandinavian;" which dates from: 1880. The composer celebrated 1 . his ,58th' birthday last month, having been born bit January: 29, 1852. When Not to Sing. "When I was. fourteen I stopped singing" nltogetlier (writes Madame Blancho Marchesi, the groat soprano, in "M.A.P.") That was my mother's rule, never, to. let licr girl pupils sing between the end of childhood and the dawn of womanhood. Would' that more teachers of singing would observe my .mother's rule, for many promising carccrs are ruined by disregard of it. Masculine singers, as a rule,' escapo this danger, for the man's voice breaks, and he cannot sing until the.new voicc comes, but, not always, for 1 cinomber Gounod had a. hoarse voice, the rosulfc, lie told me, of having been X remember Gounod had a. hoarse voice, t.lio result ho told n\c, of having been forced to sing after liis voice had broken Eowevcr, tho point is that from fourteen to. wcntcon I 51115 not at all, '