COMPETITIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1606, 25 November 1912, Page 6

COMPETITIONS.

• SATURDAY'S EVENTS, ' S-HE CHAPPELL QRAND CONTEST. ' " OTKNEB: MISS STONEHAM, " DUNEDIN, . I ' Saturday was the ninth day of the 1912 .Now Zealand competitions, , and" the end of 1 • tlifl second. I week' of the festival. It was an interesting day on the whole, though somewhat' marred by the unexpected ill-, itarations in the programmed time of some of tho classes. One lady , who had been j employing her time profitably in the Free ! Public Library waiting for tho girls' dra- : matic recital, whiph was down in the lx:ok for 3 p.m., arrivod at that hour to -. 'find the class-almost over. "It's ; just the v way you Wellington people have 1' she remarked, -with; considerable ■ aspes j , to a knot of people awaiting admission at the • Concert Chamber door at; ten minutes to threo;'- -And there was some little excuse for it. ■. ■ During the day tho second section of the /'champion.pianoforts class" entrantscamo forward..'. "The Chambered Nautilus" ■ i(Wendell Holmes), which was to have been-'-recited by the little girls-at 4 p.m., . was taken before luncheon, as was also ' j( 'the violin'solo'* (the judge being a bowler .as-well as a critic of.strings)'; In the ' afternoon Mr. Montague listened to the efforts/of a quintet of fair contestants in , eoino verse of Swinburne, and in the large ! hall, Mr.. Wolf heard aspiring baritones ping 'Blumenthal's."Across the Far Blue J . aills, : Marie." --~ - - , ! .■ THE RESULTS. : :' i - The following are the results of various •' <sontests. ; >. Violin Solo.i .IFiolin Solo—: Test piece, "Ballade" Mor- \ ceaus fantastiques, by A. Bazzini, Op. • 4&.k; Published by B. Schott. First i prize, £ssecond, £2; third, certifi-. cats. /''■ .'! . - , Entrants—Miss Maud Eemington,Levin;, 4liss M. 'ifXaughlin;'Wellington. , ~ ' Eesult—l, Miss Maud Eemington .• (149 lwarks);.2, MissM;MlLaughlin (79 marks). Mt.'-li.J Cohen (the judge) said that the piece selected, as 'a test was a most diffi-' . cult one—<ine, indeed, that would take a :-. ; really fino musician to play; Probably, ; , even Bazzini "would have all his work .' cut out to : give;a' ;fine 'rendering of it., t , 'It'.'was really pluckyfof the contestants to itake it up 1 at .all,'-for if waS'a, more difficult piece ; than. it at first seemed. All. things'-,considered, Miss, Eemington'had given a'Tery good performance. : With : . respect ,to )ier> solitary competitor, Miss I M'LaugMih, ; hcr' .technique wais not suffi-' . ciently "finished" to play the test piece iVith great credit. " At the same time its . Btudy had no doubt been of great benefit to her. Her' performance he lvcnld describe as spasmodic, • her playing'was ! uneven, jerky, but it tended to show that \ . 6he had some knowledge of effects. Girls' Recitation. ! fjßecitation.(girls 'piece, f A ■ "The Chambered : Nautilus" (Wendell .•••< Holmes").;, First prize, silver medal; second, bronze medal; third, certifi- , cate. ■ • Entrants—Miss I H. Jeffery, Wellington;' !Uis3 11. Lewis, Wellington;. Miss G. Dickel, Palmerston'-North; Miss I. Mitchell, Palmerston North ; Miss S. Cairns," Masterton; Miss A; B-P: Bennett, Wellingr . ton; Miss.-V.- Johnson, I Wellington 1 ; >Miss : Z. H. Chapman, Lower. HuttV Miss M. J. 1 'McLaren, Wellington; Miss Cecile Haines, .Wellington;'' Miss M. Eowlands, Palmer- . 6ton North; Miss. E.. M. ,'Aitcheson,' Wellington ;. Miss' E. ' Eobertson, Palmerston ! . North; Miss M! Bishop, Levin. ... Eecalls—Misses H. IJeffery, Z. Chapman, ■ Cecile Haines, E. M,.Aitcheson, and E. i Robertson. ■:•.' .. In commenting on the above class, Mr. Montague expressed the, opinion that in • future contests the ~ smaller children should in every class be .separated from • the adultsi ! .Vj' 1.',.. , Miss Cecile Haines - (139 marks); 2, Miss Hazel Jeffery (138 marks); S, Miss Zita'Chapman (186 marks)). Commended—Miss E.M. Aitcheson (134), and E. Eobertson. - ■ • v ' Dramatic-Recital, ■ ! Draniatia, Eecital . (ladies)— Test piece, ■'ch'orus s from-'"Atlanta,. in- Calydon" (Swinburne), j First-prize, £1; second, ■ 10s.; third,.certificate.'.' i •./ Entrants—Miss F. :'Dix, Wellington;: Mi®!l. Hargreaves,'Wellington; Miss E. ! Wellinßton'j'Miss.'Cr.'D. '■ Shepherd,' Wellington; .-'Miss Marie Fix, .Wellington. V" ■; ' Eesult—l, Miss Marie. Fix (141 marks); 2, Miss F. Dix (125 marks); 3, Miss Hari greaves; (121 marks). ' i Mr. Montague, in . announcing the de- . oision,'said that 'it' was evident that in i very cases .the piece was beyond . tHe'pbwef of the performers. He wouldin t this class.only,recall the winner,', Miss' Marie. Fix,'.who; was easily ahead of all. the others,"winning.with 141 marks; 'Miss , Dix.came second with 125, marks, and Miss Hargreaves third with 121 marks. ... i Baritone 5010... . " i /'Paritone Solo—Test Piece, "Across the Far Blue Hills," Marie": (Bluraenthal). _First. prize, second, .£l} third, ( < .'.certificate. ' , . , v.' Entrants—Mr- L; Jones.; Wellington;' ; Slr^'"A: |; M'Donald;' Christchurch'; Mr. : . F. :Mr. .C. 1., SpilJlane, Wangahui; Mr.'W. 11. Church,'Welj]ingtbn'; :Mr. w .F.-Cray, Wellington; Mr.,A. |G.v.Hny, Wellington; Mr. :Wi. J. Spratt, ; jChristchurch; Mr. D. C. Henderson, Wellington. ; ( Eecalls—Messrs. C. I. Spillane, G. Hay, ■/ and W. J. Soratt. I Eesult—l, Mr. A. G. Hay, 141 marks; '. Y2, Mr. W. J; Spratt, ,123; -3, Mr. C. I. j 122. v--IHumorous Duet. 1 ®umorous Duet (any voices), own selecI, ' tion. Entrants—Mis'? I/. Foster and Mr. Spillane ("Keys v'of Heaven"), Wanganui ; r, 'Mts. Peter- .Lewis and Mrs. I. Symes ' ' ("The Frog"):'Wanganiiii. | Eesult—l, Mesdnriies Symes and Lewis; ■ 8, Mass Foster and Mr;- Spillane. 'No | . inarks were announced; Champion Piano Solo. .• ... I flChampion Piano Solo (previous winners ■ barred)— Test Piece, : "Grand Polo-l naise" in/ ; A Flat (Chopin); "Noc--1 turns" in.'D Flat .(Theodor -Dohler). I'irst prize, j8125~ Grand' ' Chanpell 1 ' -Piano, presented by.F. J. i.td., >. o Wellington^-Sec6ha,' i£lo'(or'trophy to' ; , . that value]; third, certificate. Second section. Entrants—Miss M. Mitchell, Auckland; ' -firs. jr. Jone.s, Otaki; Mr. ! W. Shepard, 3ore; Miss Nprina Naisiiiith, Timaru; fllr. C. H. Worsley, Auckland; Miss J. !• 3reen, Palmerston North; Miss H. Cuth- • bertson, Marlljorough; Jliss.l). B. White, 'Auckland; Miss L. F. Parsons, Wbllington; 'Miss G.V M. Stoneham, Dunedin; ; * Miss ,Q. F. Foster, Dunedin; "Miss,'--Ml j M'Bean, Lyall'-Bay; Miss P. Hanify, Welj. lington. i Eecalls—Misses Hanify, Mitchell, Stone- ; lam,.and Foster. - ' • Eesult:—l, Miss G. M. Stoneham (280 I marks); 2, Miss ir. Mitchell (27,5 marks);, i- , ■3, Miss Q. F. % Foster (272 marks) ;;4,'Miss' •. r. P. Hanify<(262 marks). . ' Whistling Solo. • Whistling Solo—Own selection. Entrant —Mr. Eowland' F. Digby" ("11 Bacio"), Seatoun. Mr. Digby, the only entrant, was slightly flat throughout, and though ho received full-handed applause, his, whistling, full and round ini'tone, lacked finish. i THE EVENING CONCERT. ■ The Town Hall was quite filled in'tho evening, the :'chief attraction -being the final in tho '-champion pianoforte" contest, which had bosn heard in sections on Friday and during tho afternoon. Conj Bid-ering tho character of the test, the ' p'aying was 'of a , high standard, iiiid the readings were marksd by g hi»h standard of intelligenca. •. Few. will oavil at Mr. Wolf's decision in ■ awarding tho first prizo to Miss Stoneham (of Dunedin), who gave a very interesting performance of tho Polonaise, - and. .[i wholly delightful one of the "Nocturne. ' ' Indeed, her playing of tho Dohler piece, cool glamourous, and romantic m treal- ; ment, was at least eight marks ahead of ; anv other competitor.. 'Miss M. Mitehcll (of Auckland) also . played delightfully. One fancies tliat .she. must have,,lost ground at the opening of thu Tolonaise, Iho treatment of which was inclined to 1,, a little hard and mechanical. From the E major change her playing ™ im/wi-K without loss of animation.. Mibs

Mitchell'a playing of the "Nocturne" was vory 'beautiful. In the' many soft irridiscent runs which are the chief characteristic of the piece, sho maintained a nice balance of tone without loss of feel-

ing. . . A quintet of clever children recited Wendell Holmes's pretty poem "The Chambered Nautilus' with marked intelligence, and so even were the performances that few in the vast audience could separate tliem as far as the merit of the porformances were concerned. Mr. A. G. Hay song "Across the Far !Blub Hills, Marie," with nice feeling, and won easily. Although Mr. Spillane flattended a trifle here and there, ho was artistic, and gave a more sympathetic reaot ing of the song than Mr. Spratt (w'ho I headed him in the marks). Miss Foster and Mr. Spillano sang as a humorous duet "The Keys of Heaven, and_ tlio voices of Mesdamos Symes and Lewis blended well together in their items, lhc Frog." The latter took first prize in this"poorly-patronised class.. Marie Fix recited "Atlanta in Calynon (til© / chorus). THE OFFICIAL CRITIQUES. OF ELOCUTION. Mr. J. F. Montague, tho judge of elocution, commenced his remarks with an explanation. In shaking the previous evening about the children's recitation, he liad remarked that it was not right that every 'word should be accompanied with" a gesture, and it had been suggested to'him that ho was perhaps doing an injustice to one little boy and his teacher. He did not intend that that should be so, and he .wished it to be understood that he had spoken generally. He had only one class to announce that evening. He had said that afternoon that he was rather sorry that in such classes tho age of competitors was not better defined by the executive. When he had set tho piece, ho .made it for under IG, but as it happoned there were very few competitors of 16, 15, or even 14 years, who entered—the ages, for ■which the piece had been selected—and it ("The Chambered Nautilus") was too difficult for the performers who appeared before him. He should say that a" class might be made for girls between 13 and, 16 years or 12 and 16. (Applause.) These little girls were clever, and gave interesting performances. .In the .afternoon lie had made some remarks in which he had thrown out hints, and. was sorry ,to see that thev had taken no advantage, of them. The same mistakes'(as to accent) -had been made that night as during the day; The children's performances-had been a great' delight to him, and were a great feature of the competitions. He had another interesting thing to say—ho had cither changcd his ideas, or. the performers had made him change them. He referred to tho little girl who was leading on the remarkable work she had done that night. He had thoueht during the day. that she had met her' Waterloo. He asked - those who were defeated—for lie . was going to give tho prize to little Miss Cecile Haines—to especially notice that lie was not by any means led. astray by the age of the child, but to fairly and honestly say that they were beaten. It liad been a remarkable'performance for one so youncr. He awarded the prizes as follow:—First, Miss Cecile Haines (139 m,arks); second, Miss Hazel Jeffrey (138 marks); third, Miss Zita Chapman (136 marks), and commended Miss Aitcheson (134 inarks), and Miss Eobertson (130 marks). - .' A Coveted Pianoforte. . There- was a buzz of suppressed excitement as Mr. Sidney Wolf came forward to announce the results of the music classes, chief among which was the Champion Piano Solo (for the Chappell grand). As a preliminary he announced that Messrs. 'A. G. Hay, W. J. Spratt, and C.,1. Spillane had, come in that order in the baritone solo', and that Mesdames Lewis and Symes, had won the humorous duet. Before giving'his decision in the champion piano solo, Mr. Wolf referred to the test piece—the ■ Grand Polonaise. Chopin's | music, he said, was so .misunderstood by the amateurs and the general public, because first, they 'did not understand the Poles as- a l 'nation," nor' did they''understand Chopin as a man. Chopin's wa.a delicate nature, but not', a feeble one. His'mazurkas were looked upon as sad, because they -were in the.minor key.'. But ,the Polish peasant loved dances in a minor key, and they loved that'somewhat monotonous tone which with them indi-. cated so well the loving and .generous, nature of their being. Chopin, tlie Pole, knew how to sound that note so'dear to their hearts.' 1 Field, who was the' inventor of the nocturne, idealised by Chopin, styled him "a man with the talent of a sick chamber," but no one who has heard his greater work's, the ballades and the 'polonaises, and especially the one they had heard that evening (opui 53), \ could say that these were the outpourings of a' feeble mind. With respect to this polonaise, which exhibited a most majestic and'finished style, and depicted the chivalrous, and martial side of the Polish nation, there was a. When Chopin seated himself before the pianoforte for the purpose of playing it for the first time, the room sesmed to be filled with the warriors, whom he had conjured up in his music, and ho fled in terror from' the products of his own imagination. That tradition furnished a key to his character. The body, too weak, too enervated, could not support the production of the mind, which remained healthy and strong. Klecynski,' the greatest authority on Cho'pin, said that this polonaise exhibited a most finished and majestic style. What struck one most, was the great .plan, the .exalted idea, the powerful and .perfect inspiration. Tho maestoso illustrated tho warriors in their rattling armour,' the ponderous rhythm in the bass perfectly reflecting their dignity. These basses strengthened the impression wfth each bar, and the quick tempo which the majority of players, even the most celebrated ones, gives to this work was entirelyHnappropriate.' 'In the.middle part where it changes to E major one may see the approach of a calvacade, maybe after a triumph, the left hand illustrating the galloping of horses. , The right hand, which should regulate the pace, has n beautiful theme, which should stand out as .if- played by wind instruments. And then there is a iurtlier development which suddenly stops, and gives place to . a strange and almost charminjj passage, whose connection with the main idea was not easily perceptible, and which presented no little difficulty to the performer. Tho "Nocturne" did not call for much' notice. _ It was a' very nice a little "sugary"—but it formed a good contrast to the "Polonaise."' , . Tho. first, prize he . had awarded to Miss Stohehain,' who scored-141 marks in the Polonaise and 139 in the Nocturne, and the second to Miss Mitchell, who scorcd 140 in the Polonaise and 135 in the Nocturne". Miss Foster was third, with 135 marks for the Polonaise, and 137 for tile Nocturne, and Miss Hanify fourth, with 126 inarks for' the Polonaise ami 136 for tho Nocturne. This placed the competitors on'the aggregate as follows :—

'i-'V■: : '. Maries. Miss G. ,M. Stoneham, Dunedin 280 Miss M. Mitchell, Auckland 275 Miss Q. F. Foster, Dunedin 272 Miss P. P. Hanify, Wellington ; 262 ■ Mr. Wolf did not criticise the players, except in ono instance—Miss Hanify. Of this performer he remarked that up to that evening she had received the highest points of any. She was a fine player, but that evening there did not seem to be the intelligence at the back of it, and she had spoilt' her chances by. bad pedalling.. TO-DAY'S PROGRAMME. The following is the order 'of to-day's programme:— Town Hall—2 p.m., vocal sight-reading test (over 21); 2.30 p.m., piano duet; 2.40 p.m., tenor solo,. "On Wings of Song;" duet (lady and gentlemen), "Snowdrops." Concert Chamber—2 p.m., Shakespearean recital, Prospero's Speech from "The Tsmpest," and the "Sevan Ages" speech from "As You Like It." Th« evening entertainment, will be brightened by the impromptu speech competition, for which there.are twenty entries.