MURIEL BRUNSKILL

Evening Star, Issue 22147, 30 September 1935, Page 6

MURIEL BRUNSKILL

DISTINGUISHED ENGLISH CONTRALTO SUPERB INTERPRETATIVE ARTISTRY If a good contralto is a rarity then Muriel Brunskill can only be regarded as unique in her clay. She sang to a lamentably small audience in the Concert Chamber on Saturday evening, but swept it into enthusiastic fervour with a performance of matchelss beauty and charm. It was not her very singular voice, which is equally remarkable for its range, immensity, and richness, that made the lasting impression. It was what is nothing short of a magnificent gift of characterisation,' an attribute that creates in the mind of the listener a vital and living scene—and surely there can be no higher expression m music than that. Miss Brunskill comes to the Dominion as the exceptional British contralto of the day, and one must hasten to add that she is the only logical successor to Clara Butt. What is more important, she comes at the height of her powers. So often have we had to be content with celebrities who, if they are quite aware that they are suffering an inescapable artistic decline, are still determined, to put it bluntly, to “ cash ” in on their reputations. It is perhaps more likely a quite natural vanity that carries them on, but, at all events, Dominion audiences suffer thereby. It is a keen pleasure to attest that there could be no suggestion of any such subterfuge in Miss Brunsldll’s appearance here. That she is at the peak of her artistic career is transparently clear. It is certainly difficult to imagine her showing a greater fullness of voice or more sensitive interpretative expression than she did on Saturday evening. Every song on her very arresting programme was, in itself and by itself, a vibrant study, finely drawn in its detail, and gripping in its significance. Here is a specific case in point. That fine old ballad, “ Caller Herrin’,’ has come to be known, by virtue of the long abuse, to which it has been subjected, as a drab and rather depressing affair. On Saturday evening one found oneself tremendously interested in it as an intimate personal appeal. Incidentally, this was the only song in which Miss Brunskill employed the slightest gesture. She has a commanding presence and a style to which superficial expression would be alien. The secret of her interpretative success is very simple—to analyse, that is. It lies in the fact that she sinks the whole of her individuality into the mood or her song. One sees, not a flash of characterisation, but the sustained line of a vivid scene. Miss Bruuskill opened with an operatic bracket — ‘ Stella del marinnr,’ Laura’s prayer from the second net of Ponchielh’s ‘La Gioconda,’ and the little-known ‘Non niu di flori ’ from Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.’ The invocation was most expressively developed to a climax of great beauty. The Mozart is a gruelling test both in its tempo and intricacy, out it was perfectly phrased ami easily sung. For a recall here, Miss Brunskill presented an exquisite study of Arthur Somerville’s Shepherd’s Cradle Song.’ The next group was ushered in with two of the finest of all the Vaughan Williams works—- ‘ Silent Noon ’ and ‘ The Water Mill. The suggestion of a noonday haze that has eluded so many singers was beautifully conveyed here. The water mill scene was brilliantly described in a most apt association of words and music. Three hymns from the ‘ Rig Veda’ of Gustav Holst followed. Each was a mastenpcce, the electrifying call to the Maruts (storm clouds) bringing a most interesting group to a close, 'me recall was Granville Bantock s ‘ Feast of the Lanterns.’ Miss Brunskill then turned with happy facility to the licder of Schubert. Her ‘ Death and tile Maiden ’ was genuinely moving in its intensity. The ‘ Hymn to the Almighty ’ had an exaltation that w r as irresistible. As encores, two of Carmen’s full-blooded airs were given, the gypsy song and the card song. me music was Carmen personified. The last group presented six ballads by Armstrong Gibbs— ‘ Silver,’ ‘ Five Eyes ’ (so brilliantly sung by Joseph Mislop), ‘Oh, Nightingale Upon My 'free, ‘ Love’s Prisoner,’ ‘ Sailing Homeward,’ and ‘ February.’ They were cameos one will remember. Insistently recalled. Miss Brunskill sang, ‘ Oh. Dear. What Can the Matter Be/ (with a most piquant accompaniment), ‘ Caller Herrin.’ and a delicious version of ‘ Leezic Lindsay.’ Associated with Miss Brunskill was Mr Carl Bartling, as accompanist and solo pianist. His accompaniments wore superb, and his solos, had remarkable precision and authority. Mr Bartling first played the Tausig arrangement of the Scarlatti ‘ Pastorale and Capnccio.’ This he fingered delicately and deftly, but his most charming liquidity of tone was produced in the Chaminade < L’Ondine.’ The Rachmaninoff < Humoresque ’ provided the most striking exemplification of his absolute mastery of the keyboard. _ Curiously enough Mr Bartling’s Chopin (the L minor waltz! was rather uninteresting. WEDNESDAY’S PROGRAMME. Another fine programme will be given on Wednesday, and this recital will he definitely the last chance that Dunedin music lovers will Have to,hear Madame Brunskill in one of her own concerts. The big dramatic numbers will be ‘ Mad Bess’ (Purcell) and ‘ The Song :f the Genie ’ (Granville Bantock). _ There will be three Delius songs— ‘ Spring, the Sweet Spring,’ ‘ In the Garden of the ‘Seraglio.’ and ‘To Daffodils.’ Then there will be Arnold Bax’s ‘ Across the Door,’ Rutland Bonghton’s ‘ Immanence,’ and John Ireland’s ‘ The Adoration.’ Hugo Wolf will be represented by ‘ Znr Rub,’ ‘ Tiber Nacht,’ and ‘ Der Freund ’ and there will also be five of Richard Strauss’s loveliest songs. The box plan and 3s tickets are at Begg’s.