MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1984, 14 February 1914, Page 9

MUSIC.

[Br Sylvius.] Our Urgent Need. 1';:/.) Dutault says that the audiences in Australia and New Zealand'are just us appreciative as thov arc in New Vork, Chicago, or ■ London. Good music,, good singing, makes ■ a universal appeal, and speaking a tout appreciation, he says that - 'it is not so much a question of technique as it is thai which makes an appeal to the heart wi a .people that commands success. Hut to diiicrentiate as to the class of music favoured hero and "in New York is quite another matter. One lias to give, the younger countries a ehanee to Ileal* and learn, but at tho rate at which art is developing in Australasia, the pcopl® will riot bo far behind tho older couiitries in musical taste. Ho finds hero and in Australia liuiidrods of ambitious students, willing to work hard and make sacrifices "to getthere"—more so than iu the towns o£ similnr size in Anvcrica, but what 1-.6 would like to sec is mote interest taken in art by thxi wealthy people. "Your .philanthropists who affect a love of, music sh.-.uld make an effort- to import somo,. really, good teachers from Europe, guaranteeing them at least as much as they'would make in their ofrn countries. That is what is-wanted: You hare somo fine conservatoires, which turn out splendid instrumentalists— conservatoires like.that at Bcndigo, for exaiiiple, .which docs wonderful work for the size of tho tpwn, hut'good teachers of localism nro not plentiful. And'why not? You pay them os. or Ss.. a lesson. . wJjy.-iit No#- York T paid:my master, .Mr-Victor' Morell, formerly k leading' operatic baritone, .as. nroeii as £2 a lesson for two years. I did not bc-gri}dgeJt-rn0,.1 was gfad to pay it, for I felt I was-getting more' tiian ' mv moOey's worth. But in America, as here, there are many poor teachers— bad teachers. In some countries teachers hare to pass an examination, but in America—and- I" find herd—anyone can put out a shingle announcing themselves as teachers of singing, and by .clover advertising, and. a littto superficial knowledge, get pupils, and, as often as 'not, . ruin, whatever . chanoes they have of perfecting. themselves in tho art they may havo a facility for." New York Quera Season. ' Quite recently I had occasion to refer to tho opera "La Gioconda" (Poncliieifi) as one but seldom heard nowadays,' Lnit on taking up the Now York 'fifes I lind that-owing to tho illness of Miss (icraldine Forrar, who was to havo appeared in "ilmion," tho old Italian, opera was selected for tho initial performance in the- present Now Yorkopera season of the Metropolitan Opera House. Caruso, Aniato, and Enieny Bestiun were the stars of tho cast. Toscanini conducted.

Later ia aaiiio week the famous conductor roused enthusiasm •by the manner in which ho conducted Verdi's "Un Ballo in Jl.asolvera'' ("The Masked Ball"), which had! been banished from the Metropolitan programmes for nine seasons. . The same star artists adorned the hill. .Vremstnd was heard onco more as Elsa in "Lohengrin," and TJlrus was ihe knight of tln> swan. ''Boris GoiulunofF,". tho great .Russian opera, was produced once wore with marked success ; Mnrtinelli, the tenor, was heard in "La Boherne" and "Jladaiuo Butterfly." and-Italo Cristalli, a new Italian tenor, appeared in "Lucia." His voice is described by o!;s critic, as uneven and "white" (i.e., without musical colour). Hcotti was heard in "Butterfly" and "Marion". in company with Ueraklino Fcrrar. "'The/Magic Flute" and "Parsifal" were also • performed during the season. , .Wagnsrian Rse;Uli: _ : -'Jt is with considerablepleasure that I' learnv that Mr. Bernard Page, the City Organist, bio p.ivc a purely Wagnerian recital.. ..Jlr,. Page is a cultured musicuni—which- is a. broader toon.'than classing him merely as an organist— l -vtiicl that. lie lifts_ a. thorough knowledge of . the: Wagnerian, -operas • his intimate friends already know, so that one may anticipate a real musical treat oil February 28. It may not please "the man in tho street," or thoso councillors who blent for "A.nnio Laurie," but it will give everyone who may wish to' gain a closer acquaintance with the greatest music of tho ago an opportunity to do so in the pleasantest manner. Tho programme arranged by Mr. Page is right awa>* from the ordinary one, and, as the City Organist is doing most of his own transcriptions direct' from the scores, it may be assumed that we will hear-Wagner played as. Mr, Page would interpret it were ho conducting an" orchestra. It would be impossible to omit tho wondrous overture to "Tannhauser," and it follows naturally that Wolfram's song, "0, Star of. "Eve," should be-inoluded, but it is with particular happiness that 1 note tho inclusion of tho overture to "Die- Meistcrsmgers," and Walther's "Prize Song" from the same popular work—ihs lightest opera of the Wagnerian album, ft is very in? toresting to know that tho two principal themes, which throb through tho score of' this work aro founded on strains that'wore actually composed for. the -okl Meisterningers of Nuremberg by ■ Hans Sach. Sach was actually a living personage as well as a character in the opera. It was only at-Christmas'that Br, Perry played .a number of 'carols written by Sach at the Westminster Cathedral, Loudon..

Additional interest will be.manifested in the excerpts from "Parsifal," which had its op-aratic premiere iii London ii few days ago. This work was produced in concert form under the baton of the late Mr. August Manns in London some years a'p.u, awl has been frequently, performed .in America, the first, uerformancfi having been given in Philadelphia with Madame Kirliy Lmm as Kundry. From that opera-Mr. Pago is to'play the. prelude to Act I, aijd the beautiful Pood Friday music from Act 111. Then wo are 'lo liave the prelude to "Tristan and Isolde," in which work Wagner's art is stretched to its. limits, an idyll from "Spigfried" (of "The Ring"), and "Traunic," a charming song written' in honour of Madame WeSendonck, who wrote the words. Such a recital should attract a very large audi'en'ce. ' < A Veteran Retires. Mr. Henry Bracy, the' veteran stage director, for-so long connected with tho firm of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., is about to retire from theatrical life. Mr. Henry Bracy, who. has' been eighteen years in the employ of the Williamson firm, was originally s. tenor singer of good standing in. thc> Old Country, and was the original Prince I-lilarimi in Gilbert and Sullivan opera "Princess Ida," produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, as far back as January o, 1884. Ho came out to Australia under engagement to J. C._ 'Williamson, and was for some time principal tenor with the Iloyal Comic Opera Company. i!o. was. among other roles, the original Marco in "The Gondoliers" in Australia, and will be remembered as having scored 1 heavily in tho solo "I'ako a Pair of Sparkling Eyes." At a .recent meeting of. the directors of the firm, it was decided' to pension off tho aged actor, who. since his retirement" from the stage, lias served as a producer, and who of late years has not been so active as ho was. Mr. Bracy leaves shortly on a' trip to America and England, but will return trt Australia to ei«J his days in the country ho loves so well. Mrs. Bracy. (Miss Clara Thompson) is still upon tho stage in America, and one of her sons is a successful performer in light opera in that country. i