N.S.W. ORCHESTRA

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 103, 26 January 1920, Page 6

N.S.W. ORCHESTRA

TWO MORE CONCERTS

ENTHUSIASM AT THE TOWN HALL

With (he rain pelting down steadily 0 throughout Saturday depression would j, Inive lieeu excusable but for tlie fact that c llii! New South Wales Slate Orchestra, j under Mr. Henry Vcrbrugghen, gave two j. concerts. Many hundreds of people n agreed that the most effective way of ~ Given tin;: the execrable weather was to j step into the Town Hall, which the or- £ ohestra ha* made a veritable hall of en- s ohanlnicnt during the past few days, and ( there cnioy the. sunshine and laughter, the drama and rom'unco as writ by the ~ masters. ] Tho matinee on Saturday afternoon r drew an audience which packed the great j hall from the organ console to the back ( wall. The programnio was drawn on . fairly popular lines, and it appealed ■ enormously to everyone. present. It there were the elements of scepticism extant a week ago in AVelliriglon as to the , lfah standard to which this orchestra ■ had attained, such have been swept away . completely by the luminous performances that have lieen Riven. The programme of the matinee concert opened with the lovely overture to Ambroiso Thomas's opera "Miguou, witli its simple and dainty melodies sweetly redolent of lavender and old. lace, In this overture solo work is initially predominant. Opening with a beautilul unaccompanied clarinet solo, there follows a iewelled shower of arpeggios from tlio harp, wliich then gives way to the. solo French horn, and so a fine mozaie. i> nieccd and fitted until it glows entrancinglv. The minuet was delicately played, and the whole spirit of the opera was charminsflT embodied in Mr Verbruphen s artistic reading, t «umber which made a big appeal was the "Hungarian lantasia" of Liszt, with Mr. IJrank llutehen, at the piano. This beautiful and sparkling work opens gravely «»<•. explainingly, sombre almost to the point of the grotesque, but with the introduction of the piano the gloomy pal sowly in ■ ts awav until joy sports blithely .m tho gladsome lightof spring, with the rippling piano part indulging in flirting mteichanges with the orchestra-a nymp 1 sporting in the sun-dappled woods with the god Pan. The nobility and phantasy of Liszt came out .n that starting passage, heralded by a. blazing ian are of trumpets (which were capitally placed). Air. Hutchens and the orchestia were given an ovation. Mr. H'ltchcns responded with a new "Nocturne ot Mr. Alfred Hill's—a cool, quiet, Vfrcshing little number, nicely enframed and very qnictlv and tenderly played. Mr. Hutchens plays with rare musicianship, aim tue maze ot rippling runs at Uie top of the keyboard were fingered with ease, and clarity. It is some years since tin- "Casse Noisette" ("the Nutcracker suite of Tschaikovsky's bus been heard in Wellington. The suite (which cmbodies the story of a children s party and the fun the toys have when the children so to lied) shows the liveliness of invention and humorous colour sense the great Kussian composer possessed. The suite, which includes the overture, "The Dance of the Sugar-Plum 1: airy (with dainty work for the celeste), the fiery Trcpak (Russian dance), the Uii ; nese Dance," the "Toy Pipes Dance, and the "Valsc des Flours" was traditionally t»«VI and impeccably played. In the "Melodrama" from Gmrauds litlle-known unera, "Piccolino,' a quiet (lowing measure in a sedately romantic mood, Mr. W. J. Coad was violin soloist. He plavs with a fine intellectual flair, and his full round tones have the riant measure of sympathy. The orchestra also plavcd, with spirit and verve, tho festal "Coronation March" from Meyerbeer's opera, "La Prophet," a number charged with pomp and pride of kings and kaisers of another age, which has strenuous passages for the brass sectiof and the battery of timpani. No number on the programme was better received than Grcig's Peer Gynt" suite, known to all concert-lovers. 'i,ns suite embodies in musical form four scenes from the experiences of Peer Gynt ' (comprised in Ibsen's play of that mime), ' viz., "Morning," "The Death of Ase, "Anitrn's Dance," "In the Hall of the Mountain Kings," each as distinct in . character as tho poles. The suite was

' exquisitely played, and the rush ami g/o- ---' tesq.uo clamour and clash of the amazing '. accelerando of the final movement wis ' played with such an irresistible swirl ' tliat its repetition was demanded and given. . , Madamo Goossens-Viccroy sang acceptably the aria- commonly known as "B'iizabsth's Greeting" from Wagners • "Tannhauser," and the "Jewel Song from "Faust" (Gounod), the orchestra accompanying tastefully on each occa- " ""'"THE EVENING CONCERT. .'. Bad weather did not prevent another large audience attending the. evening ' concert. It was worth wliib. :f it was ' only to hear the Tschnikovsky number, " simply called "Theme and Variations I (from Suite No. 3in G). As far as the ' writer is aware this work has never hoen attempted in New Zealand, and perhaps ! there are good excuses for that, lor its ' difficulties are as great and complex as ; Ihe grandeur of its structure is amazing. ' From a simple .vet strong foundation : plan Tschnikovsky in thi.s work rears a ' veritable Tai Mahal, that dazzles and " enchants. 'The simple theme is ' first given out by the violins in unison, " picked up bv the clarinets (and given a ' pizzicato accompaniment by the strings); ' developed bv the woad winds in n .nn7.i-.ie , of uncommon loveliness; again it is rp- , turned to the clarinets which. voice it to a masterful march accompaniment by ' the whole of the strings, then the vood- ' winds, strings, and horns play with it as ' a fugue; it comes insinuatingly from ' the oboe and clarinet in duet form, is " picked up on a high note by tremulously „ agitated ftrinss, which caressingly pass . it on to the Cor Anglais (a solo of un- ' coin moil ioveliness). Then Ihe jealous Bdings reclaim control, and a fine ea- ' dc-nza ensues (well played by Mr. \Y.,.T. '. foad). and the theme appears to liiivo ' been foigotteu until it comes out gro- " lesquelv in bagpipe guise against the ' drone of the bassoons. A startling blast from the trumpets tignnlises a general awakening. It is the prelude to a glori- " otis riot of inspiring n usic, a majestic ! clamour, with amazing pauses, the clan ' and regal spirit of which carried all ' before it. It was Tschnikovsky a.t Ins best An ovation followed. Other than

' this siiiK-rb work the programme was on popular lin?s, and the overture "William Tell" (Rossini) is always vastly welcome. It was played with line inipressstnent and clear-cut Authority. A iino " feature was the solo work of Messrs ' James Messeas ('cello), A. Arlom (llnte), ' and .T. W. Brinkman (cor Anglais). A . notnblo number, which produced a real '. shout of appreciation, was Mr. Verbrug- .' ghen's arrangement as a fantasia of Brit- " ish sca-somrs. With this band in action, :i such lino old songs as "Hearts of Oak,!' . "The Saucv Aretliusn." "Tom Bowling. ' "The Anchor's Weighed" (wonderfully 0 scorcdl. the Sailor's Hornpipe, "Death • of Nelson." and "Rule, Britannia," took '. on a new and splendid significance, which . roused the audience out of itself. _ Tlio '. conductor was c'aceral. In the Vieux- . tenuis "Concerto No. 1 in K" some en- '. uerb orchestral work was heard. Mr. ,' Florent lloogstoel, the violin soloist, has q a rather light tone for such work, and . there were several occasions when he did .' not come through. Though on the thin side, his tone was sweet and true, and ,1 lie was nuite equal to the responsibility . of the iVieuxtemps intricacies. To those ' that know Alfred Hill's cantata "Hinc \ moa." it was extraordinarily interesting j to hear the "Ka-ha" or Maori Warrior ; Chorus played by the orchestra. It pro- '. vides strenuous work in syncopated time .' for the trombones, which blare out tho . haka theme in a blood-rousing fashion The "chorus" was so stimulating that it had to 1» repeated. Tho overture i- "/iUinna" (Herold) concluded tho pro,r gramme, but the real finnle was "God \ Have the King," which is always worth ". listening to as played by the orchestra, d The vocal soloist of the evening was M. j, Albert Cioossens, a lusty baritone (who t does not always sing in the middle of the ~ nolo), who contributed Hysoor's aria from e Paladihle's opera "Patrio," and an aria from "Itigoletto" iVerdi). jt Another concert will bo given this evenI) ing, the, full programme of which appears elsewhere in this issue.