MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1848, 6 September 1913, Page 9

MUSIC.

TBy Treble CLsr.l A New Prima Donna. Alice Prowse, tho new soprano with tho Quinlan Opera Company, who made a striking success as Antonia'in "Tales of Hoffmann," at her first appearance at Melbourno Her Majesty's,' prepared herself for a musical career by studying tho violin until the age of sixteen. Then Dr. -Hans Richter, the famous Wagnerian conductor a>t Covent Garden, heard her sing, purely by accident, and ] commented upon the fact that slio had taken up the violin instead of tho voice, . and under his. advice sho commenced her training as a singer under Georges Graziani, in Berlin, and, later, Madame Nikisch. It was appropriate, under these circumstances, that she should make her debut at Covent Garden 1 Opera under Dr. Richter. where sho ' maelo a striking success. This was five years ago, sinco when she has appeared at that famous Opera House, in addi- | tioii to talring part in various promin- [ out musical festivals in London and tho , provinces. Miss Prowse is a daughter of General A. A. des Voeux,. brother of ! the present, baronet. j Nordica Coming. : Writing of Madame Nordics, the . great operatic soprano, shortly to .bo heard in Wellington, tho London "Teles graph" of June la, 1912, said: 1 — "All tho glory of a great, night at • tho opera seemed-to surround Mme. s Nordica yesterday afterlioon at tho i Queen's Hall. A largo and fashionablo audience, anel bouquets, bouquets, and ■ mort bouquets—a veritable avalanche ■ of them.' Truly, tho prima donna is i not forgotten in this short-memoried i metropolis. Her singing yesterday ap- > peared to havo lost little uf 'is old t .esprit, and the applause was most rai- , phatic, resulting in an encore in tho ' middle of an arduous programme. It, ' was practically a Waguor concert, 1 :Jlmo. Nordica being assisted .by tho 1 New Symphony Orchestra under, tho • conductorship of Mr. Leopold Stokmv- " ski. Isolde's Erzahluug, from ' TrisJ tan uud Isolde" —a lengthy narrative, } which, as everyone knows, runs a pretty extensive gamut of emotions, and is ' ralways a. trying ordeal: for any singer ■ of "temperament —was sung most nobly and well. "Brunnhildo's Imolation" (tho closing scene in "Gottordammornng") was also iu tho afternoon's pro--3 gramme, relief from, tlioso heavy items 0 being mado by a group of more or less - florid little songs,- the accompaniments 3 being played by Mr. Romayno Simmons. ■ Theso were sung charmingly by tho lamous prima donna." > 'Much Taljt, Little Said. Music is more definite than words, '• and to seek' to explain its meaning in ' words is really to obscuro it-. There is- " so much, talk about music, and yet so -little is really said. For-my part I be- " lieve that words elo not suffice for such ' a purpose, and if I found that they did > suffice, -then I certainly would compose 11 no more music. Peoplo often complain that music is so ambiguous that what they aro to think about it always seems so doubtful, whereas everyone understands worels. With mo it is exactly 2 tho reverse, not merely with regard to ? entire sentences, • but also to individual words. These, too, seem to bfc so amif biguous, so vague, so unintelligible, ■f when compared with genuine music, il which fills tho soul with a thousand things better than words. What. any o music I lovo expresses to me is not ;- thought too indefinite to put into words, but, on tho contrary, too definite —Menis delssohn. n ■ Crieg and the Baton. t- An amusing—but to Grieg annoying - —incident in a Paris concert hall is reio lateel in a letter dated. Decembdr' 14. 1889. It woulel perhaps not havo occur--3," red could Grieg havo foreseen that it is y possible to conduct an orchestra jieri- l'ectly well without a baton, as Wassily n Safonoff lias shown. "Tho effect of the ie concert was peculiar and grand in every t- way," lie wroto to Beyer. "I was kind■o ly received, but when tho time camo 10 for conducting tho orchestra no baton 0 was to bo found—servants aro idiots y everywhere; so, after waiting a mo'c nient I left the conductor's platform. a Finally tho bruto brought a stick about as long as myself, but. fortunately as thin as a reeel. 1 did what you too would havo done—with furious mien, and in spito of vigorous protests on tho part of the servant, I broke off a piece, 5' threw tho resi into a corner, and then returned to the platform and' rapped 11 attention for the- "Autumn" overture. 5 a This episode you will not find meiition- "> eel ill any criticisms, so you can havo T it as a piece of privato information." — From "Griei and His Music." ie Notes. i-_ Tho successor to "The Chocolate ie Soldier," Oscar Straus's tuneful opera, ill is "My Little Friend." This new work t- has been produced in New York, but >r the critics do not appear to think that Straus has added to his laurels. ,y "Das Fwistenkind" is tho title of tho latest opera by Franz Lobar, the coinis poser of "Tho Merry Widow."' u Tho Norwegian comi>osor, Sinel-ing, !S whoso "Fruhliiigsrauchen" for piauo- » forte is so deservedly popular, has in 1 his fifty-seventh year composed his first .V opera, "Tho Holy Mountian,"'The work I is of. Wagnerian proportions, and will ba presontcd in Germany next year. Ci Hitherto the composer has found ex- -- prossion for his highest musical inspiration in tho symphonic form. II The celebration of Saint-Sae.ns's 7oth anniversary of the beginning of his " musical career has taken placo .in Lonj don. Tho veteran composer visited the I British capital by special invitation, II and a new oratorio of his is to be proeiuceel at tho musical festival lielel in the cathedral at Gloucester, England. A concert was<g;ivoti at the Queen's llall in his honour, at which ho performed a concerto of Mozart's. ®" » Paelerewski's tour through. Poland, 11 according to Madatno Paderewski, occa,s smnod t-lio wildest enthusiasm among cs his compatriots. "Ho was received riot like a king, but as a saored emblem !o of tho nation. A curious sidelight is thrown on the event by tho action of ;0 the Russian police, who -raised no objection to the presentation of floral !)• tributes, but insisted that the ribbons n attached to tho flowers must be taken r- off whonaver tliev wero the national n ,r.olmLra nf Poland. (