THE EVENING CONCERT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1602, 20 November 1912, Page 4

THE EVENING CONCERT.

As usual the evening concert was interesting', particularly to three iwho'bad heard the different classes during tho day. Little Hazel Jeffery, the clever-child reciter, who lias given pleasuro in every section she has appeared ill, recited Tennyson's "The Brook" with lively animation and expression. Threp other little girls also meandered through the poem with varying success. Of the. "recalls",in to 'contralto section, Miss Lulu. Foster, the first to appear last evening, w ; as not nearly so good as she was in . the afternoon. Slie was at. fault right at the opening, and was out of tune'for half the number. The test piece in this class was the recitative "Arinida Dispietata" and aria "Laseia Ch'io Pianga;" from , Handel's, opera "Rinaldo," a which was nicely sung by Miss Blanche', Clark, of Bulls. The class disclosed a now and very charming AVellington singer in- Jliss E. M. Young, of Ivelbume, who gave by far the mosrfetling reading of the . number. She was, too, the only performer who sang the aria in English., One of the most interesting ■ features of v the programme was- tlie Shakespearean recital (the first scene between Anne and Gloucester in "Richard III"), a capital performance of which was giveii by Miss Betty Purdom and Mr. J. C. Bell. The latter's performance in particular was an.extremely effective performance, better even than ho gave in the afternoon. Jlr. Harry Phipps sang an unfamiliar setting of "Load, Kindly Light" (confposed by the late Jlr. Piighe-Evans when thirteen years of age); Mr. Harry Gill sang "If with all your Hearts"; Mr. A. G. Thompson, of Nelson, .contributed "In Memoriam" (Tennyson's lines), and Mr. Vincent ..Lewis selected "It is Enough" (from "Elijah")—very carefully and feelingly sung. The hum--orous recitals Messrs. Delahunty, Zante AA 7 ood, J. K. Hornblow, and Cyril Girdlestone, were hugely enjoyed. Mr. Delahunty,' who contributed • a bit of original verse descriptive of a humorous dream he had had about the competitions, deserves commendation. He was awarded a snecial prize of .£1 Is. for his effort. The. entertainment concluded with an open scene,' cleverly acted by Jliss Purdom, Mrs. Dowling, and Mr. J. C. Bell. . . .The Official Critiques, In . delivering judgment ,-in the piano solo contest, Mr. AVolf, who placed Mrs. Hanify first, and Miss AA'liite (of Auckland) second, remarked, that there were only five points between them. Jliss White's performance bordered oil tho excellent. Slio had the atmosphere of the pieco, and was the only one who had played the r.vthm for the right hand correctly on th'o two opening pages. Had Miss AVhite played without music (for which ho allowed six marks), slio would have won. Jliss Hanify's technique was admirable. Miss Shepherd had played better in the. morning—she was too hurried and ill at case in the evening. Sneaking of tho contraltos, jri l . AA'olf said that Miss Foster lacked rolour—she sang (lie same right through. Tip-pointed out that a "shako" was, marked, as ah ornament to a soug, and if it co.uld not be done, should be left 'out." That evening she was out of tune, and had accented the wrong svllable in -some of the. Italian words. If a singer knew tlifi meaning of tho words, that, could hardly- be done. Miss Young (of Wellington) had sung very well "indeed. She sang-the-aria in English, which was very wise, but forced some of-her notes: Referring to the sarred solo class.'the judgo remarked that Mr. Lewis's performance'of "It is Enough" had surprised him: Though he did uol like the tone nf his', voice, his interpretation was simply splendid. Jlr.. Phipps had sung with a great (leal of judgment. Ho was developing his head.uoles. and in a year or (wo his voice would be'very different. He got. tlioni very naturally, and in singing everything should be naturally done, to be artistic. Jlr. Gill forced bis notes, and produced a hard ' tone. Jlr. Thompson had sung very well, but failed to riso to the climax in the lasb verso of Ills song

—"In Mcmoriam."—"l Hope to Meet My Pilot Face to Face." The Elocution Contests. Jlr. Montague (judge of elocution) said ho had listened to several charinin'' peri'onnonces in. tho children class ("Tho Brook"). In tho Shakespearean dialogue, there was one thing ho would like to say, and that was that in dialogues in which two or more people were concerned one performer might; suffer from the defects of Iho other, ami, that day's experience had been no' exception to tho rule. It was only fair to say that tho lady who was best in tho dialogue . had not appeared on the programme, because her partner was not quite so good as tho others. He was disappointed owing to one of the" couples not having put up as good a performance as in the afternoon. . The first prize was awarded to Jliss Purdoni and Mr. Bell, and ho bracketed for. second place Miss Blanchard and Jlr. Rankin and Jliss Churchill and Mr. Kenny. (Applause.) Concerning i Protest. During the evening Jlr. Jas. Dykes (secretary) announced that tho difficulty regarding the protest against Jlr. Howso had been overcome. The protest had not been made by a competitor, but an outsider. As Jlr. Howsc's marks had been the highest in the class (No. 43) during I'lie day. a special prize, equal in valuo to' tho first, would be awarded him. (Applause.) . ' Jlr. Dykes also announced that arrangements could not he made for tho lmrbour excursion on Thursday. TO-DAY'S PROGRAMJIE. Concert Chamber.—!) a.m., prepared reading, "A Sea Boat" (liuskin); 11.15 a.m., humorous recital (ladies), own selection; 2 p.m., dialogue, dramatic or pathetic; 3.30 p.m., impromptu debate (open to amateurs). A splendid programme has been arranged for this evening.. In addition to the winners in the day's competitions (which includes a dialogue, humorous recital, and an impromptu debate), thero will also be the champion choir contest j for tho valuable Begg Champion Shield, at present hold' by. tho Grafton Road (Auckland) Choir. Their rivals this evening will be the Feilding AVesley Choir, which has a splendid reputation. as' one of tho finest church ohoirs in the Dominion. Tho choirs are to sing throe numbers each—(a) "Great is the Depth" (from Mendelssohn's "St. Paul"); (b) tho hymn, "Lead, Kindly Liglit"; and the operatic chorus, "Hail." Bright Abodol" from AVagner's opera, "Tanlnhauser."