MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2558, 4 September 1915, Page 3

MUSIC.

e ■ ■ —» 1 - £ riisr ■ Tbeblb CLir.V y Professional Orchestra. *. ; Unusually interesting is tlio proj gramme to bo submitted by tlio "WolII lington Professional Orchestra to-mor-' (l row evening. It will include tlio ovcr- ., tui'O to Weber's almost forgotten but j exceedingly beautiful opera "Oberon," j. tho ballet suite from Goldmark's grand n opera "The Queen of Slioba," • one of y Ins most' noted works, -and a novelty as far as Wellington audiences are concorned. The suite includes tlio Danco of tlio Bayaderes, the Bee Dance of the Almas, tho Veil Danco, and a fine;processional march. Still another sitrpnse will bo Tschaikowsky's concerto for pianoforte'and'orchestra, with. Mrs. Herbert Bloy as the sploist, and last, but by no meaiis least, Liszt's "Hun[L garian Hhapsody" (No. 2). With such a progrnmmo standing .room should he at a premium. a Composor's Troubles. ■ 11 n W i" come . as .] lo "'s to many to learn that the publication of a symphony is r by no.means as expensive as the.publir cation of a book of corresponding size; - "fat, in .fact, tho cost is less than half. I There need bo no dubiety in accepting g tho statement, • since it is made by ono i of England's foremost musicians, Sir ~ Charles Villie-rs Stanford, lyho has posl s'bly seen as many of his own works in print as any composer of the day. j Stanford made'tho statement at a meet-' I ing, held in London recently,; to discuss , tlio best way of securing tho publicaj tion of irnisie by British composers. . Ho pointed out that publication should 3 prccedo performance; "A work could 3 not become; known'unless-it was con- . stantly: heard;' repetition was. every-. . thing; but, in order that thero might be j 1 repetition everywhere, tho work must ■ be obtainable in print." He instanced j the magnificent results Which came from j the efforts of Belaiev, a generous patron . of. music'in Eussia, who published 1 at his expense, the works'of his gifted musical countrymen. No English Belaiev appears to have come'forward' . at the London meeting; but, in- view of , Stanford's statement,, symphonic writ- ; ers will probably .'now feel less shy of . approaching publishers. ■ Truly enough, i the latter, may exclaim that a symphony . does not sell like-a book, yet, even with . this to. contend against, the 'composer ! /is, after all,' not'so'badly-'off :as lie'has . been prone to belieye, for, 'if the pubi- listers refuse to buy'his music, the cost ; of publication on his own account-can scarcely he considered prohibitive. , Opera at Last. 1 -v-V 5 V : So. niggardly, are we supplied with • opera by responsible managements that tlio amateur effort is positively: welcome, i although ono does not and should not oxpect a professional ' standard. We in Wellington iare. fortunate in having a . very good Amateur Operatic Society,' and judged on the , showing' ; made i'n "Tho Geisha" and "Paul Jones'" there aro ample grounds for anticipating a pleasurable performance of "Les Cloclies 'de. Cornevilloj" which will be heard for' ■ the first time for fifteen years at the Opera House; on September 25. The cast-is 'wholly amateur, and no,, per-, former lias,' previously been entrusted with Responsible roles in opera, though many are well-known. amateur singers and entertainers. For example, we all - know -Mr. Frank Charlton ,as tho, most tunolul, baritone in Wellington, : and -. getting .'a'line.'from-his' performance (in concovt style) of Alfio in "Cavalleriaßustica'na," lie should mako an ideal Marquis. Mr. D. A. Kenny is a first-class comique at the. piano, and his dash into opera as tho pqmpoiis Baillio should not be : a; misfire. ■ -Mr.-H. : -D'unn wiU be Grehicheux (tenor), Mr. H. G. Shakes will get the chanco of ,a lifo time as Gaspard, and, both Miss Annie Sullivan (Gcrmaine) and Miss Isabel Wilford (Serpolette) are debutantes of some promise. Mr. Shaw: will be. Gobo. ine season of seven nights will-bo in ■ aid.of the Fund for Wounded Soldiers, and Sailors, and whilst the. opera will be ..well mounted,; assistance is being : given all. round to cut down expenses.. Mr. Tom Pollard will stage: manage the opera. ■: A New Prima Donna. Ethel Cadman, who will make her reappearance in .'Melbourne' on Saturday night, September 11, ill "Ma Mie Rosette,' at Her Majesty's,'has a wholeBomo regard for interviewers 'from the newspapers. . .'This is based not so much ;on the advertising-Value, pf ..the. "writer upsy but because of ft, little experiencb Miss Cadmaii had when sho first went W New .York .to ■ play Sombra in "The Arcadians." :.-.An unfavourable ■ voyage followed on'liar arrival ill' New York ,by something of a collapse, so .when tho uowspaper representatives arrived to interview Miss Cadman, and find;out the colour, of her eyes .and ■ . her favourite breakfast food, with' other iuiportant information, Miss Cadman'sent'word that sho was unable ,to ; seo ; ' them;" and went to'bed; The newspaperr writers' however, were not : to be baulked of then- prey.. Next day the papers- de-' voted considerable space to tlio. new English actress, and printed liic most remarkablo accounts of the lady and her career. . One of them came out with an article describing Miss Cadman's experiences as a 'sleep-walker, and detailed now one night she arose from her bed, dressed .herself; as Sombra,, and went rortn into the cold streets, singing on i-n she was conducted home, .still sleeping, by a kindly and discreet policeman.: This .was the heading of the .article: "Somna'mbulating Actress as Arcadian. Dressed in . Thin Air and One Flowing Garment/ 1 Ethel .Cadman' walked the Cold Dawn Singing on Her ??■" S ' l Artist's Stirring; Story." Miss Cadman will; bo the second iloBette within three months: ■' Tho last was Miss Gladys Moncricff. Ysaye's Troubles.. 1 M; Caniille Saint-Saens called on Mr. v' ' J°h'iston before leaving New lcrk. for- France ' to: obtain the latest news respecting 1 snye, the great -Belgian violinist, .who has been deep iri trouble''since ; the. devastations . of his country by ' the Hun hordes.' Tile reported death of the violinist's son, Gabriel, was incorrect;: While all three soils were m the Belgian Army, each holding a commission up to July l,;they were perfectly well.' They had, throuVli the' influence of the. King and Queen of Belgium, been permitted to leave Belgium lor two weeks to visit their father fhul mother and the family in London. Mr Johnston informed;' Saint-Saens that Ysaye had lost everything', and that ho had recently made a short concert'tour of Spain. He was, however, too groat a man to leave the other side while liis country was at war and his sons wor'o at the front, to accept the alluring monetary propositions that -had ■ been ; made to Turn for a tour of the United States. Furthermore he ivould not permit the unfortunate position of his country to bo used as an: advertising medium V to secure business if lie 'did go to America. Ysaye was not only a great , violinist, but a great man from ' overy .point of view. ''My daughter is having her voice trained," said Mr. Cumrox. -/ ''Is she a soprano or a contralto ?" "I dunno. 'I suppose she'll decide to bo. whichever costs,tho most."