CONCERT AFTERTHOUGHTS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 85, 7 October 1931, Page 8

CONCERT AFTERTHOUGHTS

(To the Editor.) Sir, —As one who was "a chiel amang ye, takiu' notes," at the Philharmonic Orchestral concert last Saturday night, perhaps you will allow me some space for a few comments. That the hall was not full cannot have caused the least surprise. The primary reason for the decidedly sparse attendance was the tact o£ there being a strong simultaneous counter-attrac-tion in the adjacent hall, coupled with the not unnatural irritation felt by many music lovers, lv the light of definite information 1 have received, it would seem that these tactics —in the shape of apparently deliberate clashing o£ musical functions— have reached the stage of intentional obstruction, of which tliis season lias not seen the last, as tiyo more important concerts are, I believe, scheduled to take place on 25th November. This kind of rivalry is of no use to anybody; indeed, it must spell ruin for" someone in ■ the long run. Taking the average attendance at high-class concerts over a period of years, the conclusion is palpable that the genuinely .cultured proportion of the musical community cannot be rated higher than 3 or 4 percent, of Wellington's total population. (This is not a disparaging figure; I doubt whether any large European centre could improve much upon it). Consequently, any attempt, by whatsover means, to disrupt this limited fellowship, to introduce discord, acrimony, schism, and general dissension amongst a fraternity peculiarly susceptible to temperamental reaction must, sooner or later, hamper that artistic progress ■so ' eminently desirable—besides recoiling upon the heads of the instigators. And in regard to the booking of concurrent dates —whether accidental or by design—surely,' Sir, the Town Hall authorities cannot be absolved from blame. Let us hope that the publicity given to this unfortunate laxity will suffice to provent any such contretemps in the future. As regards the actual Philharmonic concert, I would like to record my unhesitating opinion, notwithstanding astonishingly lukewarm Press.reports, that the outstanding item was the Paderewski Piano Concerto, played by Mr. .Gordon Bryan. In my opinion, no such consummate pianoforte playing has been heard in this city since Madame Carreno was here, two decades ago. I will go even further, and declare that Mr. Bryan's performance lost nothing in comparison with the rendering of the concerto by its illustrious composer, whom it was my privilege to hear in his work on its initial production in London. It must be admitted that the orchestral accompaniment waa too strenuous 'in places; but such an occasional blemish did little to mar the performance as a whole, and from where I was sitting—i.e., right at the back of the hall, where every knowing critic sits, or ought to sit, the defect in question was scarcely noticeable in the magnificence of the entire effect. And here, Sir, I must respectfully request permission to dissent from that portion of your report of this concert which reads: "Mr. Bryan at times fought hard and valiantly to be heard, not only as part of the whole, but in those passages. . . . for the soloist." The only inference to be drawn from this is that in the solo parts of the concerto the pianist's playing was' strident and over-emphasised; whereas, just the opposite was the case. Perfect beauty of tone and expression, combined with an effortless mastery of technical resources were the predominant features in this unforgettable achievement. England has good reason to feel proud of producing an artist of such calibre as Mr. Gordon Bryan. The performance of the concerto heard on Saturday night, if similarly given in any big European city, would undoubtedly have provoked a furore from audiences quick to recognise outstanding genius; and I am afraid it will be a long time before we hear anything as brilliant. It was not the fault of the conductor and oi'chestra that the remainder of the programme suffered by comparison.—I am, etc., L. D. AUSTIN. Inquiries made by "The Post" show that the booking of the Town Hall for last Saturday night was in the hands of the secretary ot the Philharmonic Society, and had nothing to do with Mr. John Bishop, the conductor. The secretary, with his council's instructions, .was forced to lix on that date as it was the only one on which the large Town Hall was free and on which, at the same time, Mr. Gordon Bryan, the pianist, was1 available. Hence that date had to be chosen if the concert was to be given at all, and it ■would have been chosen, although reluctantly, even had the secretary and council of the Philharmonic Society known that the date was the one chosen by the Apollo Singers; as a matter of fact, at the time of booking, they did not know that. When asked if he had any comment to make on the clashing of dates, Mr. John Bishop said that it was most unfortunate. "The arranging of dates," he remarked, "is very difficult, especially towards the end of the season. We were governed by the fact that onr date had to be chosen to suit Mr. Gordon Bryan, and last Saturday was the only day that could be arranged. Wellington is not so large' or so musically inclined that any one in their senses would deliberately fix one concert for a date on which another was already arranged. Only an idiot would do that, unless there wore circumstances which made it imperative, as there were in this case. The whole thing was unfortunate, but wider the ruling circumstances could not be helped."