VOICES OF THE SOUTH.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 813, 10 May 1910, Page 4

VOICES OF THE SOUTH.

THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE; ■ WITH personalities; 1 (By "Sylvius.") Spmeono , has, said . that where , the. grapes will purple. i)i tho open there the,. : Foice will mellow,' which may bo taken' to moan that a. genial climate . .which' - sviil bring out the, full, sweetness of, the, ■ grapi -has. a softening influence on..the .singing-voice. It is/difficult .to.; say., definitely whether there is! anything at. ; the. back of.: thjs.. climatplogical theory; -as good ■ voices .have-.been found.-in every . corner of .the, garth,' tut,; broadly; speaking, there is a softness : in warm- ;■ country, voices, even, as those. of- cold ■ coimtrics tend ,to harshness and, angularity, a difference -sharply, reflcpted in i-languages; Charged with a mission.-to. ' search -for' soft,-, rich, • velvety voices,' ; one would not turn to suoh-. places -as • [ tones 'in * Siberia', '-.Sweden, • Iceland, ..or ' the storm-swept steppes of' Russia.. It ( would be folly to do so with the-subtly,-, /sweet round Latin.voices calling from i the. shores of:tha Mediterranean. .'ltaly,' f the: - south of France,- Spain—hut be- . fore-all.. Italy, where the silken words • melting into .one another make a song • that'is all music; and - attune all-voices ? to a sweet mellifluence that has given: the: land-'a name among nations. !'' . : I am, not an Italian scholar, but the language of'tho fishermen at - Warohou j- .Bay is .music of a kind to' mo, and I I listen, caught by its .cadence, as, to-a-song weirsuhg. For-that'reason alone' • I am-. sorry that "Madame Butterfly" ; and-"La •Soheme", are to be' suhg' in ■: English .in Wellington-by the--Grand- : Opera Company. Much sooner would I , bear with misunderstandings than lisi ten to Puccini's inspired music £iven; ah 1 edge by Italians Struggling With -newly- ' acquired English. \ 'Our Own Crand. Opera. But the time'is. not far remote-when ' Australia will be able to prodtace. grand opera, with its own voices, One can' : see . dimly'tlip writing on the wall ,in : the. constitutipn of. the .Grand Opera ; Company to he,here, next 'week-. Not. ; only ; „ is' Amy Castles'; voice ,te be : the-voice among tbe/prima/donnas four, ' but-the reports oilier acting,-as; "Clio : Cho- San'' are encouraging (if, reports ido.not flatterj. as I .am led to. believe /theyVdo'on .occasions). . -.- ; h That the Behdigo girl . could /make a first appearance in.Puccini's difficult ■ allilemanding /opera;,- and . succeed; in I ever, so slighfc-.a degree is, astonishing. "Cho. Cho San" is not a,, hackneyed; . part, -such /as .Maritaiia, or the Bohemian Girl, with the tradition of' do- ; cades.behind it -to guide .the trembling ;. debutantei '-.-It,' is a modern,:..-highly-dramatic, unconventional role. .that makes a/full appeal to all the emotions, and, . there /-must '• be- at least. : a reasonable, suggestion-. of the bizarre ; of the .Japanese, so Miss .-Castles must; > be-igiven;, high'praise for her reported . achievement. . ..' : ■ ■ ■/•' Included, in: the. cast: is Miss Hosma ' Buplnnan,' whose role is'not-an-unim-portant one, and whose work has been -. iavpurahly commented: upon.'..- .-I . have ' atoays^,recognised ■in Miss ,Buckman/a dramatic: sopranqi dfric'ompellirig force: Her experience under Signor' Hazon ,ih L- grand opera: should jvgo" v . far, .towards s smoothing ; away,i ifc.re- ■ pose)' and histrionic.- polish:.' her; ineS-; i periehce,.- may ■' have!i obtruded; -Mir;' ' ■Christehurch',/is'''also in- . eluded jin -the cast;' and is-:.saidto',;be i thai/possessor' 1 of /which herfifeesiwith,.discretion.'; ; -■/.•

; iTlja- Incomparable Melba.7 // ;. But'b'f T flie;' Voice's" ofHhe./soutn'/ .thd "incdmparablo''Melba; hos shoWii ;a. ivon-* v. deri'ng Wpfld. long 'since • that Australia, i : has its'song-birds .with, throats .'of' gold. . Melba'wais. the peerless, example, who has / spufned the.'worthy on; to achievement / —aiiii the 'uh'Wor'thy' to ;■ Whenever;'a . or/village /disco'vers : tharfc it .-lias a/Voice,-- and qrgariftpSjCdit.i cert's ind sdcjals/fo 'Bend'.it/Hpihdj.tho : coih'pelling' force .behiiid', it, /'obscured ; slightly ; by tb? y?ailj/has been'.Melba's;. blazing success. : It. is. therefore., fitting'. . that'*;'Mrs;' ; . Armsfirdhg '• at'. last. ;' coiiceive".'the : . idea. 'of 'giving. Australia a .. taste'" of : .lier. -.quality in. ..the: sphere, in. ; which .she., coruscates at / her . fancy's / dictation,//In her ; scheme there" should ■ beprovision' for aspiring '-'Australia^ ■ talent, as is evidently and-properly tho : case in Mr.! Williamson's Grand Opera Company, ~ ... ; / . ,/For\its population and extrenie youth ; this part of:'the : .world, is ,doing 'very. well in the" higher musical piano, of : : grand opera, but has to havo a ■ sharp memory or "the, girls we inew" become foreign artists with higli-sound- ' ing,'euphonius .liames., . Australia has /'at least two other sopranos, who-are : doing more rthaai;'passing, well -in- grand opora, One is Madame. Alda—tho : Francie Adler of old, and a member of tho talented but . unfortunate / Simoiisen family. She appeared ro•:.cently.at the; Metropolitan Opera House in/Nevr./York.'in Puccini roles, in 'company - with ' such, distinguished;- artists aßi.iSlfczak and'Scotti. '

The Glory Trail. ' Lalla Miranda'is another-'Victorian' . who lias risen to' "leads" at Coverit • . Garden,-New,. York, and Paris; and only ■ ' a .few- months; ago we; learned of .little Nora-Long thrilling the blase ;crowd at, Nice under tho.nom de -guerre of ;Mdlle.' 1 D'Argiel'.-. Ada, Crossley was another sijiger who went far-;.- other; Castles' girls are scrambling up the slippery,lad-. : der at Home, and, JVlary. Conly, still another Victorian, is announced as re- ' turning to tour the colony. I cannot ■ cotqhide tlio list, of singers who. have, succeeded among tho world's best with-, oiit "mentioning ( one who' in my humble : opinion. is' destined to go far. I refer | to Miss "Winnie Nixon, .'who. has .been I . singing' in . Wellington quite recently, j She has all tlio'qualifications naturally, ; of a gifted singer 'of liedcr—temperamcnt, repose, and a natural production -' arid control that, is perfectly, astonish-. ing in the untutored. Her pianissimo, ... is'a thing of beauty, and such is her control that she can finish lo tho final letter on the tiniest whisper; Further, she looks the note she is singing—some i can look it,-but tho note -is faulty.' : . Sucli is not the-case with Miss Nixon. ,With these names to conjure'. 1 with, "Australia and....New .Zealand are not - going to be much > further behind the musical van than their.remoteness from : tho world's centres and the experience that .'teaches by. example, allow. There' is.material in the raw in plenty, and a , season or so of grand opera will scatter ; needs that will one day grow to such proportions. . .that.. Australia .will bo known as the Italy of the South, and its singers will think twice before assuming names of which-one is not always sure of tho pronunciation.' 6no great factor is our great love of music and its beSt exponents. Last year we had Melba and Crossley; now we are to hear the Grand Opera Company; Calve, Dolores, and later Molba at the. head of her own company, perhaps'!