MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1776, 14 June 1913, Page 33

MUSIC.

TBt Teedle Ciej.l

Xylophonists Extraordinary. Tho Four Avolos, a quartet of xylophonists that has been famous for the past quarter of a century in America and Enrope, will make its first appearance in Wellington at the Theatre lioyal on Monday evening next. The Avolos have been hoadliners in all parts of the world, and their playing of difficult pieces never fails to make them popular. The two brothers frequently appeared before the late King Edward at his principal club in.London, sometimes as often as twice a week. The Avolos are exceedingly unassuming in manner, allowing performance rather than pretension to speak for them. They have played in almost, '.'very country in the world, as a matter of fact, they have only to appear in the Oriental East now, and they will havo the pleasure of saying that they have literally played round the world.

His Was Irish. An amusing incident which recently occurred at San Francisco testifies to the popularity of John M'Cormack, the Irish tenor, who commences o. tour of Australia in September next. Madame Schumann Heink, the German contralto, was giving a recital in the Californian capital, and M'Cormack was invited to honour the occasion with his presence. When he arrived, however, ho found that the box that had been specially reserved for him had been invaded by another party, whereon he complained to the management, end stood in one of the aisles of the hall while the usher was trying to straighten out the trouble. At this juncture an officious Irish policeman touched tho tenor on the arm, and, in a firm voice, ordered him to move'away. As Madame Schumann Heink was singing at the time, M'Cormack declined to go, intimating that he did not wish to disturb tho lady. The policeman was about to punish this defiance of authority with more forcible measures when an usher quietlv informed him that the gentleman was M'Cormack. Tho completest change of expression then camo on the policeman's 1 face, and he wanted to eject the people in the box just to show his enthusiastic admiration for his compatriot.

A New Australian Singer. Miss Vera Leslie, daughtor of the,late Mr. J. C. Leslie, of Corowa, New South Wales, made her public debut as a singer at Dresden in a song-recital given early in April. Tho leading German papers were highly complime'ntary to the young singer, who was a pupil of Mrs. Albert Mallinson, first in Melbourne and aiterwards in Germany. The "Lokal-Anzci-ger" speaks of he* delicately fine soprano voice as being- clear as a bell and most flexible. "Her almost child-like grace of manner enabled tho singer to .interpret Schubert's 'Im Grunen,' Brahms s ' Mamacht,' Schumann's IJoselein/ and soup of this description quite splendidly. Jhe "Dresden Journal" remarks that Vera Leslie has, artistically, much resemblance to Helga Petri, but in tho splendid eo ; ouratura of Masse's 'Air du Itossignol Vera Leslie stands considerably higher than this well-known artist." Miss Leslie, who is yet very young,, will shortly appear in London. David Bispham. Writing of David Bispham's first concert of his Australian tour tho "Sydney Daily Telegraph" said:— . "Mr. Bispham's versatility is Remarkable. Ho makes you roar with laughter at one moment; at the next ho is grasping your heartstrings. His humour is nuito infectious. Tho jocund spirit of Mendelssohn's 'I'm a Roamer,' tho voluble deliverance of the dancing-master in Mendelssohn's one-act 'Son and Stranger, _ delighted the house; the song was given with great fluency, and with an admirable appreciation of character. When 1 was Page to the Duke,' Falstaff'B song in the second act of Verdi's opera, was another feature in its unctuous humour, with the report to the falsetto at the end, as the old knight reassured Mistress lord that in those davs ho was slim enough to slip through the eye of a needle. Mr. Bispham, with a great air of refusing to have anything to do with foreign languages, s'lvly started this song in Italian, sang a sta'nza, and then stopped abruptly. There was silence. 'Ah,' he exclaimed, his faco beaming, as ho held his finger aloft with the manner of ono who had floored a friend in argument, 'you didn t kicw it.' Tho audience relished the joke hugely. In this way, the pleasant-man-nered, grey-haired gentleman got through, without fatigue, a task which would have beaten any singer imperfectly trained. This is where tho art of production comes in. The first group, in addition to the 'Scipio' aria, contained Purcell s graceful ballad, 'I Attempt from Love's Sickness to Ply,' and tho tender 'When Two That Love are Parted/ 'It's the custom amongst singers at this stage,' he wont on, pleasantly, at the end of this group, to go off at this stage and sit in the cold. The real object in going off is to be called on again.' So instead of vanishing he went on with the encoro piece, 'The Pretty, Pretty Creature,' suug with delightful sincerity. Introducing the eong, he explained that the composer was Stephen Storace, who had found it necessary to adopt an Italian name, and later, therefore, appeared as Signor Stephani Storachi."