MR. ERNEST DRAKE
RETURN OF A POPULAR TENOR. During his sojourn in the Old Country recently heartening reports were received of the progress of Mr. Ernest Drake, tho New Zealand tenor, who had made several appeai’ances in Wellington in concert, oratorio, and platform opera. It was therefore with no little curiosity that many visited the Town Hall last evening to welcome the wanderer back. It can be confidently stated that Mr. Drake has benefited greatly by the training and experience gained in the hub of the Empire. His tone, which always held a certain sympathetic appeal, has been strengthened throughout his range, particularly in those notes above the stave, and his production has a security and finish delightful to hear. There was, hoxvever, still a faint fringe of huskiness detectable in the middle and lower register, w-hich one might hazard as being constitutional, and not altogether a defect in many of the numbers that called for sympathetic treatment. Best of nil, he has acquired interpretive graces of rare value, w-hich, xvith delicate-tpned and well-controlled pianissimo, added much that was admirable to several of his numbers. He sang "Thy Tiny Hand is Frozen.” from tlxe first act of “La Boheme” (Puccini), with tender solicitude and a nice idea of climax, the high’ notes towards the end ringing clear and free to the back wall of the hall. When recalled he gave a spirited, finelycoloured rendition of "The Minstrel Boy,” and the insistent applause induced a .charming exposition of “La Donna Mobile,” from Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” His enhanced capacity in the interpretation of ballads found expression in the sweet song "Linden Lea’’ (Vaughan Williams), which was bracketed with a new setting of the Shakespearean song, “Sigh No More, Ladies,” by Aikin, and “All in a Lilywhite Gown,” a ballad of delicate fancy, by Easthope Martin. The encores were “Macushla” (in which a pretty mezza voce effect was used), and “My Fairest Chilli" (Alfred Hill). There was sincerity and sweetness, too, in Mr. Drake’s treatment of Goring Thomas’s "O Vision Entrancing,” and the fine Puccini aria, “E Luce van le Stelle,” (from "La Tosca”), which produced a double encore—Blumenthal’s “Good Night” and a taking Irish ballad entitled “Mary O’Neil.” Mr. Drake is capably supported. Miss Clarice Wood (piano) and Miss Dorothy Baker (violin) essayed the Grieg “Sonata” (Opus. 8), and whilst not exhausting its intellectual depths, gave an interesting performance. Miss Baker played with lively facility Kreisler’s "Tambourin Chinois," Schubert’s "Prayer” (for G string), Roeves’s "Londonderry Air,” and Zsolt’s “Dragon Flies,” which latter etching Miss Daisy Kennedy played so remarkably well. “The Bee" (Schubert) was the encore. Miss Clarice Wood’s solo oontributon was the Schu-bert-Tansig "Marche Militates,” which called for greater- dynamic force than the player exerted, and a more complete sustaining of the tempo in the middle passage. As an encore Miss Wood played Barrett's "Coronach,” a Highland lament that conveys very completely the feeling characteristic of the interment of a chieftain and 'the mourning of the attendant clan. Miss Molly Dixon, the soprano soloist, has a good voice, but eschews the thoughtful and reflective in her work. She sang “Sweet, My Love” (Garioch), "Sing, Joyous Bird” (Phillips), “Break o’ Day" (Sandex-son), "ViL lanelle” (Dell’aqua), and “Cornin’ Thro’ the Rye." Miss Wood made an efficient accompanist.
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Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 255, 22 July 1921, Page 8
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543MR. ERNEST DRAKE Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 255, 22 July 1921, Page 8
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