MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1937, 20 December 1913, Page 9

MUSIC.

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Wellington Pianist's Sucbbss.

Recent London papers to. hand tell of the success of Mr. Arthur Alexander, a Wellington pianist, wlio was a pupil hero of Mr. Maughan Burnett- (now of Auckland) and an erstwhile student of Wellington College. Mr. Arthur Alexander has evidently adopted his Cliristion names for professional purposes, his real name being Mr. A. A. Isaacs. He ia a nephew of Mr. P.. Isaacs, merchant, of Wellington. Of his playing the London "Times" of October 22, says: — "The programme which Mr. Arthur Alexander offered at the Aeolian Hall last night showed him to be a musician of wido sympathies, arid his performance on the whole justified the wide range of the programme. It began with Bach's Fantasia in C minor, and among its more familiar things were Schumann's 'Papillons,' Chopin's 'Barcarolle, ' and some pieces by Dc-bussy. In addition to these there were two exceedingly interesting excursions into Russian music, S, 'fancier's fine _ prelude and fugue, op. 28, and Scriabin's Fifth Piano Sonata, op. 53, together with somo smaller things by the latter composer. To play these tilings at all requires advanced technique; to play them in such- way that they sound -gonuiiiclv musical requires a high degree of intelligence. Mr. Alexander has both. He has unbounded energy, which in the simpler music, Bach and Schumann for example, is !)pt to become rather restless. His reli-mco upon tho force of tho arm rather than noon the strength of tho lingers limited fiis variety of colour to somo extent. But ho produced very beautiful effects of tone in Tunc-iev's prelude and worked tho fugue to a powerful climax.

"111 Scriabin's Sonata he was particularly careful to make clear the contrasts between the several rhvthmie eo ideas, the free development of which in :i t » single movement is the chief point of iic design. It has now been played sev- «•- oral times in London, and it grows in j) interest with repeated hearing. It is p. nmcli more characteristic of its composer than is the symphony heard at Queen's st Hall on Saturday and. much less con-' v. nectwl with th« form which it is sup\s posed to renresent. Afterwards Sir. w Alexander played Busoni's hold imrail- phrase of -Jhicii's 'Chaconne' with a al boldness equal to that of the arranger." •y : ' { New Zealandars in Lcndoni "Our New Zealand soprano, Miss ,j, Itosina Buckmau," writes >lr. Z. Wood, j, from London, "is making good headway [( j in Loii-don, ;(jid her name is continually ,j- before tho public. 1 heard her with tho jj- Hallo Orchestra (of Jtiiiiehester) a few a nights ago, and sho sang most admir-. ably, ami received a splendid hearing 1 from a large audience.''' Mr. Zanie Wood hinnx-lf; is oil tho music-hall stage. He stales' in a letter '■ dated November 3 that after a six weeks' d motoring tour through England and '.v Scotland, ho is hustling after engagc- ■'• incuts. He iiad already made a few imc- (! cessftil appoiu'fliK.'es, and was the following week to appear in a big entertain- }' ment to be given iii Hie Queen's Hall. i1 NOt2S« Many in Wellington will regret to icani of tho death, at MolneUa'of Mrs. ,f Leo Manny, belter known here as Miss 0 May Newman. The- deceased lady was a .. whola-heartod devolco of all that is best 0 iii music, -and was a very artistic soprano singer and pianist, Slie was parlicularj| !y ilevoted to the fiorman school of u niusie. and embudied in Iter studies the exposition of German lieder, of which she was no mean exponent. In her beautiful home iii MoUieka she had n very fine music-rcoin, well stocked with the best of music, which siiowed evidence of . coutiuuous use.