FIFTY YEARS OF CONCERTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2929, 15 November 1916, Page 3

FIFTY YEARS OF CONCERTS

MR PERCY HARRISON'S RECOLLECTIONS PATTI AND TETRAZZINI (From the -London "Observer.") Surrouudcd by flowers from tho garden ho loves, Mr. Percy Harrison sat in his office in Birmingham, and gave, in .in>interview with a representative, of the "Observer," his recollections of famous artists who have played and sung at concerts in all parts of tho country wider his direction during the past fifty years. Ho is now a little, past seventy, one of _ tho cheeriest and most alert and kindly men in England. He is retiring from concert directorship in order that ho may find time to spend tho evening of his years in comfort in his- homo and garden, and to enjoy tho numerous friendships he has formed. . Of tho famous singers ho has introduced to the public, he spoko first of Mine. Patti, who for tho' last thirty years of'hor .public car Cor sang for no one else in this country. "She is, personally speaking;" ho said, "tho most charming of all tho great musical names, and certainly stands first. In spito of her growing years she retains still her early vivacity, and makes a most charming hostess at her castlo in Wales, .Craig-y-nos. A very slight alteration would make the name of this castlo extremely happy.- It moans, as it stands, 'Rock of; the Night,'.tho name of the mountain it faces. If it wore Craig-.vr-eos it would 1 mean 'Bock of tho Nightingale,' wlu'ch would bo very pretty and applicable.^ "Up to tho present iimo Mmo. Tetrazzini has occupied the. same position as Mmo. Patti in my direction, for with tho exception that the. Covont Garden syndicato engaged hoi- for I London, sho has never sung for anyone but me.- Whilst other artists woro absorbed in their musical gifts there was this difference'in, Mine. Tctrazzini, that when sho came to England' first sho took an immensp interest in tho country. She was enchanted with tho scones of beauty through which wo travcllcdi her .constant exclamation in her halting English being, 'Oh! beauty, beauty.'.' ghe .had n'Q.vor thought that England was half so pretty.^' ,Ohristiiie Nilsson,.'Albani, and Molba' also canio under tho direction of Mr. Harrison. Mine. Molba, besides being a .great singer, has improssed him most, he said, "a woman of tho world, with great intellectual .gifts." Mme. Albani wont to him very early in her career. .He also practically brought-out Mme. Clara- Butt, who met .her husband, Mr. Kenuerlcy.Rumford, for the. first time on ono of tho "Harrison" tours. "Sho is too well known," Mr. Harrison said, "to.need any description. . She . possesses the most glorious voice, of the century. Signer Foli,; who used to sing .on the samo tours, with her, had just the samo glorious voice .as a bass as sho has as, .a contralto. Thoy .wore ; two fine commanding figures,- and pooplo used to turn round in tho street to look, at them. '

The Greatest of All. _ "Tho greatest'artist of in.v recollection," Mr. Harrison continued, "was Mr. Sims Reeves. I had' a personal friendship with him, and was a frequent'guest at his house'at* Upper Norwood. ■ .' .'■■•• "At the present day we stilflmve living 0110 whose artistic gifts havo been honoured, Sir Charles Snntloy. If honours had beengivcn.to 'artists in Sims 'Reeves's- day_ ho/Would] .certainly' havo had one too. Ho was of the same ago as Santley, and was originally; a baritone. The two were very closely associated. Of baritones, Sir Charles was in his day, both as ah oratorio and a ballad singer, as great'an'artist as ,I''Sims Reeves was a tenor."

A portrait that appeared to be that of a French nobleman' recalled another name that was well known towards tho end of the last century. . It was that of Joseph' Maas. But .those who remember this singer best will recollect ha was always distinguished Wy a great black moustache, A few months before ho caught a fatal chill fishing in the ponds jn his own grounds lie went into opera in,the part of tho French nobleman of the portrait, and tho splendid moustache had reluctantly to come off. Mr. Harrison spoko of his "pure English tenor voice, with its utter absence of shouting, or tho French vibrato." Of artists of another typo and a different school, Mr. Harrison recalled l M. Paderewski, "a very fino and charming .personality. He has played for me for many years, and with him at his home at Morges, oil Lake Geneva, I spent the most delightful week's holiday in my life. At homo he enjoyed' himself thoroughly, and gave himself up to relaxation, and. pleasure,. except in his practico hours, which seemed to vary eaeli .day.

"Very .different was his temperament on tour. Then ho baceame wholly absorbed in his music, and at his recitals in public we had most carefully to watch for and guard against anything that would distract his attention, for an obtrusive light or a thoughtless noise would bring him down from the world of spirit iuto which ho seemed to ascend, and it would be difficult for him again to enter it." Another subtle and psychological influence was mentioned in- tho case of Nikißch, "my ideal of a great conductor, - who embodies the life and soul and entire being of tho forces under his control. Musicians have sometimes told me that after rehearsal with, an ordinary couductor they fell tired, but after a rehearsal with Nikisch they aro absolutely limp. Every ounce of virtue and energy has been extracted from them by the magic of his ality; some spark of tho. vital force seems actually to havo been withdrawn from the inner- self.".

Changes in Half a Century. I think the goncral standard of music at tho present day is much higher than it was fifty years ago. At one time, if not now, tho provinces were .ahead of the metropolis in musical culture. But in my younger days, to give you an cxamplo of the change that has taken place all over the country, tho leading personality of the pianoforte world was Arabella Goddard. Whilst undoubtedly telle stood out from her contemporizes, she would boar no comparison with any well-educated schoolgirl, cif tho 'present day. "On tho other hand,'in vocal art I do not consider there are any artists at the present day equal to Titions and Trcbelli, both of whom sang for me. Mine. Titions was a soprano, aud her singing in oratorio can only be described as a noble work of God, and-the ■same may bo said of Mmo Trebnlli in opera. It is a curious thing that the majority, of great artists have had a humble beginning, but Mmo. Trohelli by birth and position was far ahead in social status of "the public singers of her day.

"Tho miscellaneous concerts fifty years ago wore very similar to those of to-day. The groat chango has been tho endeavour to cultivate a tasto for orchestral concerts, but the result so far has been only a fluidified success. As a matter of musical prestige I have eivcji orchestral concerts in Birmingham for fifty years, but with very considerable pecuniary loss to myself.

' "At the same time, public taste for music is undoubtedly on a higher level than it was, and I think the nrocess of evolution to a nobler atmosphere is still coing on. Our temperament as, a nation is, perhaps, against our taking a vory high place in tho artistic world,

but certainly our sympathies are for a very much higher class of music than they wero forty or fifty years ago. "This change is largely due to the establishment, of the large number of musical academics and colleges in all Darts of the country, and it is particularly noticeable in tho drawing-room, you will hear many a young English girl fresh from one or other of these colleges give.pui'o and artistic expression to the songs of tho best composers of tho day, English as well as foreign, whereas forty or fiftv years ago a simple ditty was practically tho extent of their powers. So the- outlook altogether is cheerful." •