PAUL DUFAULT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1984, 14 February 1914, Page 6

PAUL DUFAULT.

*■ THIRD CONCERT RECITAL Audiences continue to grow at the Opera House, where Mr. Paul* Dufault is making a great impression; Two years ago (Mr. Dufault camo to New Zealand as the tenor of the Eleahora dp Cisneros We were all asked to wait and listen for the great contralto, who had made a name in grand opera in America and Australia. She came, but failed to impress us as a star of first magnitude. Witliout auy ostentation, however, without [ any managerial boom, Mr. Dufault as- [ sumed tho premier position, .and held i easily. Madame Liilian Nordica . camo last year to indicate to us what , a great artist she must have been year 3 , ago, and again Mr. Paul Dufault as a member of her companv, slipped his silvern hair into the laurel wreath, and stood forth as tho finest artist of the combination. Now ho returns in his , rightful place, at the head of a nicelybalanced concert company, bearing tho honours with the dignified humility native to the man. There is the sheen of 6atip in his wonderfully sympathetic voice, 60 evenly ( and easily produced throughout the registers, and, such is his versatility that lie •is equally as ■ effective in the tenderest and most delicate of love ballads as in numbers that demand .dramatic fire and his-; trionic resource. ' He triumphed last evening in the glorious aria, "Celeste Aida," sung by the victorious Kadames in Verdi's opera, "Aida," investing_ tho number with' a spirit of .' exaltation' and conscious pride. The rattle of applause which followed brought the picturesque singer again to the footlights to sing, with bewitching refinement and -grace; Sinding's charming song, "Sylveline." Still more was wanted by the audience, and Mr. Dufault bowed to the inevitable by singing Harriet Ware's delightful "Boat Song.' .In his second bracket the tenor introduced a triolet ■of lovely songs—Huhn's "How Many Years Ago," "Obstination" (Fontenialles), and Hawley's radiant song, "Spring's Awakening."' Torrential'applause produced to tho delight' of many tho Margaret Cooper song, "Heaps o' Ljckin's," which tho singer. invested with a new meaning. - Miss Cooper sang the song daintily as a purely comic effusion. Mr. ( Dufault insinuated into his reading a touch of philosophic pathos altogether pleasing. Hungry for more, tho audience now became clamant with hands and feet,- and-that French jewel of song, "Au Pays" (Holmes) once more, created ecstasies of delight. The third encore was Tours's "Mother o' Mine," sung -with a wealth of fervent expression. Mr. Dufault's final bracket onibraced tho .richly-emotional "Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorree" (Spross), Cliamuiade's "Au Pays Bleu/' and "La Vivandiero" (Godard), each interpreted with an artistry but • rarely compassed in these parts. Miss Pauline Bindley, whose voice has been trained in a ,good school, was in excellent voice. ■ Sho sang with ■ admirer} 0 cx P ress 'on tho captivating aria 'One Fine Day" from l'ucciiii's "Madame Butterfly," and, encored," sang with delicious elan that beautiful old English song, "The Lass' with' tho Delicate T, H( ; r , later s . on e s wer °;< Ronald's Jne Preliide," Liza Lehmann's "Tlie ,H e 'i V<-in ,wliich s l le exhibited a delightful trill), "Poor Wandering One" (from "The Pirates of Penzance") and as an encore, Lehmann's "The Owl." Dufault Miss Bindlev sang tho Gounod duet "Breezes of ' the & ht T? nd " Tri P. Tr'P" (Marzials). in i , nos k played the finale of Mendelssohn's "E Minor Concerto," makes -considerable demands on ,tho technic: of any; vipliiiist. His opening was rather nervous and his style showod restraint, and roughness crent in hero .and there. Ho, was, however, more at home in the vivaco movement, which he fingered with admirable cjarity. Ho was distinctly flat in; (tho Cliopm Nocturne" (in E flat), -but made amends m the intricate scherzo, the "Witches' Dance" (Bazzihi). Mr. Toy also gave an interesting, reading of Hanser's- "Hungarian Rhapsody," though'hardly suggesting to the fullest measure its fiery Slavonic spirit. Mr. Harold Whittle accompanied like an artist. TO-NIGHT'S PROGRAMME. - The last concert of the Dufault season will take place at the Opera House tonight. llr. Dufault will sing an aria , 01 ? Joseph in Egypt" and a number of delightful ballads, including "Au Pays, ' the great march song which has achieved such tremendous popularity. His other numbers will include "Meiisaride in the Wood," . and by request ''How's My Boy?" will be repeated. Mr.. Dufault will also sing Gounod's Breezes of Night," with Miss Bindley. ™ Bindley's principal item will be the \\ altz Song" from "Romeo and Juliet.' She will also sing" a group of English ballads. Mr. Toy's violin numbers will includo . an arrangement.' of gipsy airs by Sarasate.