PIANO AND VIOLIN RECITAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 965, 4 November 1910, Page 9

PIANO AND VIOLIN RECITAL.

Being among the foremost exponents of the piano and violin whom Wellington niiiy claim as'their own, Messrs. Horaco Hunt and Herbert Bloy. must always command a. respectful hearing by music students'and music .lovers, .both are happy in. the possession of talent of high qua'hty. The recital they gave last-evening' ra the Concert-Chamber, was-well attended; add gave pleasure to all present, and with such composers, as Mendelssohn, Do Beriot, Bax _ Bruch, Debussy, tirieg, and Die Bull figuring on the programme could not be otherwise, than■ interesting. Mr. Herbert Bloy, has done 'consistently good work, and proved .himself a sound technician, with , good tonal and executive qualities. At times there is a shimmer of brilliance inVhis work, which is never uninteresting. In good form last .evening, he played 'Hauser's' "Ungarische Rhapsodie" . with delicacy and cominendable spirit and linish, aud revived pleasant memories of other days. in resuscitating Do Beriot's melodious Seventh Concerto, which time deals lightly with. He was encored for a sound performance, and produced his favourite "Serenade," that of Drdla. To the delight of the musical, he played the "Homanze" of Max Brueh, most honoured of. composers for the violin. It is. a beautiful work redundant iii colour, and a great technical test. Mr. Bloy is to be commended for quite an admirable- performance. The same player also gave pleasure in Ole Bull's "Melodie," a delightful little air alive with tho Norwegian spirit, developed to perfection in later years by Edward Grieg. The Allegro of IMocco, with which Mr. Bloy conclndod the programme, was tho least interesting number submitted, and in.it tho player, quite excusably, showed signs of tiring. : Mr. Horace Hunt played Mendelssohn's "Variations Serieuses" with care' and precision, exhibiting a facile execution and Srm, crisp touch, without quite getting the Mendelssohriian atmosphere: He was, however, quite delightfully in sympathy" with a bracketed trio of M'Dowell's "Woodland Sketches," which exhibits the celebrated American composer in various moods. . These were, "In ■ Autumn," "To a Wafer Lily," and "Will o' the Wisp." All three are clear-cut, cameo impressions, of great, beauty and originality. "To a AVater Lily" is as idyllically pure and chaste,as the flower itself, and lost nothing in Mr. Hnnt's hands. The pianist repeated tho, "Fabel" and "In der Naclit" numbers from Schumann's "Pantasiestucke," and revelled in a noisy passage through Debussy's "Mouvements," from the first set of "Images." Grieg is always welcome, and his "March of the Dwarfs" is as tunefully fantastic as.its namo entitles it to be. Interest was added to tho programme by tho first appearance in public of Miss Gertrude Hunt, sister of the gifted pianist. Miss Hunt has. a lyrio soprano voice of good promise; At present it is affected unfavourably with a slight vibrato, partly "nerves" and partly natural to her emotional temperament. Her upper register has been nicely, developed, but lust evening (and again this niight bo attributable to nervousness) the singer lost quality and time in middle register. Her songs were too ambitious for a beginner, nnd they were all in FrenchWhy? They were Halm's "D'Une Prison," the "Chanson du Papillion," from Cninpra's opera "Fetes Venitiennes." As an encore Miss Hunt sang Isidore do Sara's "Rondel do I'Adieu." "By the Simplicity of Venus' Doves" was not well chosen, and in Mallinson's "A Birthday" a divergence from strict time was noticeable. Miss' Hunt, who will improve rapidly with platform experience, was at her best in a sweet little "Lullaby," written by her brother, which she- sang ,as t an encore. . Mr. Hunt played tho accompaniments sympathetically.