MUSIC

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2914, 28 October 1916, Page 13

MUSIC

(By "Treble-Clef.")

Musical Feast'in Store.

■The Gonzales Grand Opera Company s to commence a tour of New Zealand ■t Auckland on. Boxing Night; and ™i be m Wellington at the end of la-nuary. 'fliis is news 0 f most .„„_ ommon interest for many reasons. ' ( lio chief of theso is that.in the visit '1 this company, which has an Italian wrsonneJ, we are to hear a repertoire >t grand opera, the like of which has iJnoaoly never before been heard in jiew Zealand, or, at least, not since the lays of Martin Simonsen, the Mon-ague-Turner, and other' managements iveu more remote, and then, the operas hey produced were performed with a ■horus totally inadequate, and what tolay would be most-disillusionising setjngs. . There were' usually two or ;hree good priuoipals, but the rank and lie were mediocre or worse. ' The 'ounger generation have probably only een one grand opera company, I refer o tho company headed by Bel Sorel, ilana Pampari, and Amy Castles, fhich played "Madam Butterfly," "La Jolieme," and "Carmen" here about ight years ago. Since then grand pcra has not known us. Now wo are o have the pleasure of hearing a com'any of Italian artists, who have been uccessful in pleasing audiences in Sydney and Melbourne for many weeks iast, and whoso work, the critics state s_ of a uniformly high standard! The .'onderful ropertbiro of the company ndicates that, at least, the artists are xpenenccd. There arc, indeed,'few * the popular Italian repertoire that las not already been performed by hem.in Melbourne, and only a day or wo ago Donizetti's "La Favourita" vas dug up after a long internment, o tho delight of elderly opera-lovers. J\'e are, 'Mr. Walter Fuller informs me, io liear nyio' operas in Wellington. ITioscto bo performed'will include, he bolives, "II Trovatore," "Aida,"'"La. rraviata," "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Cavallcria llusticana," "I Paglia'cci," ||Madame Butterfly, 1 ? "La Bohcme,"' "ajarhor of Seville," and perhaps "Tho Hugcnots." What a musical feast I Wnat an education in lyric music to ■ tlioso who have for years had to gain their little drop of comfort through the moans of pianoforte soli or the efforts of- some of our little orchestras! The public should be profoundly grateful to the Fuller Company for its cnterpriso in biTngfng iNew Zealand into tho seppo of ftio company's tour, as it is no slight, risk to incur the expense of touring such a complete company so far afield.

Old Enough to be Now. "La Favorita" reached Sydney opera' lovers on Thursday last in tho guiso oi an unheard Italian classic. Assured]} it has not, been staged here since 188( (says the "Sydney Morning Herald") and F. C. Brewer's record of' earliei musical events does not mention it although the first productions of mosl of the other famous repertoire pieces are named in turn. Donizetti composec it in 1840 for the Royal Academy ol Music, Paris, wherel it was first stagec on December 2of that year. Fclis Clement's now raro French publication; "Dictionnaire Lyrique," states thai "Favorita" was composed ili three acts for the Theatre do la Renaissance undei the title of "The Angel of Nisida." That house'put its shutters up, and Donizetti's new work was thereupon transferred to tho Opera (previously referred to as "!'Academic Royale dc Musiquo"), and a fourth act was addec 1 by Scribe to the libretto by A. Royer and Gustavo Waez. Tho'joint'authors took their subject from Baculard-Dar-naud's tragedy, "The' Count of Commiuges." The plot is elaborate, aHd full of detail, occupying a page and a half of the vocal and piano scoro of tho Royal Edition of Operas. airs popular in British concert-rooms will ho heard in thoir proper place on the stage, namely, in the third act, "0 Mio Fernando," which we always hear from mezzos-and contraltos, but is marked by tho score for Leonora (soprano), and tho tenor ioraauce "Spirito Gentil."

"Israel in Egypt." "Israel in Egypt," the i oratorio which tho Royal Choral Union is 10 sing on Tuesday evening next, was composed by Haudol in tho yeais 173839, when Handel was 53 years of age. Tho present second part was composed first under the title or "Moses" Song." Tho title "Israel in Egypt" appears in the announcements of the first performance, which was on April 4, 17?0: On April 11 it was performed again "with alterations and additions." Elsewhere it was announced that' "tho oratorio will bo shortened and mixed witb songs." It was a third time on April 1, ■ 17(10, with tho Funeral' Anthem as tho first part, under the name' of "The Lamentation of tho Israelites for tho Death of Joseph." It will bo judged from tlio foregoing that tho oratorio, although conceded to bo a great work, did- not becoino immediately popular, as was tho case uith "Saul," which it has outlived in popularity. Grovo says: " 'Israel,' which contains some of the most colossal choruses that Handel ever wrote," was so ill-received that at the second performance it was thought necessary to lighten the work' by the. introduction of some operatic songs between the choruses. After tho third perfcrmanro it (tho oratoriu) was withdrawn." It is not generally known that Handel was a notorious plagiarist, but, like Shakespearo with other people's plays and stories, Haudel had the gift of dressing thoni in a new magnificence. Tho numbers "He Spako the Word," tho Hailstone Chorus, "But as for His People," "And Believed tho Lord," are all adaptations From Stradolla's "Serenata," wWhst other composers cribbed from are Erba,, Urio, and Kerl.