ILMA DE MURSKA.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 601, 23 May 1876, Page 3

ILMA DE MURSKA.

Now that lima de Murska has positively been anounced to appear before a Christchurch audience it is to be anticipated that the public have a great treat in store. Not having had the gratification of listening to the “ Hungarian Nightingale/’ we can only refer to the high appreciation the music which this talented artiste produces has metwith. We extract the following from the Otago Daily Times of May 4 th; —“So far as Dunedin is concerned, this lady and her excellent company cannot complain of the patronage hitherto extended to them. It speaks well for the musical taste of the city that these refined and elegant entertainments are attandecl night after night by such large and enthusiastic andiences. Perhaps the De Murska fever has not reached the advanced stage here that it did in Sydney and Melbourne, but nevertheless it is being shown in a quiet way that we can appreciate, and are quite prepared to support, high class talent, when an opportunity is afforded us of doing so. Moreover, so far as onr experience enables us to judge, we have observed that entertainments of a high character —it matters little what special line they represent—arc invariably well supported. It is also well known, by those who take an interest in such matters, that several companies which have visited this city, and claimed a higher rank than they were justly entitled to, have obtained a measure of success far exceeding their merits. We admit that the present company is an exceptionally good one ; indeed, taken as a whole, such a quintette of musicians have never visited New Zealand before, a,nd probably years may elapse before their like travel this way again. It is, therefore, not surprising that, on the evenings announced for these concerts, the ticket boxes are besieged by applicants, eager to purchase the necessary pass. In the Mad Scene from “ Lucia di Lammermoor,” Lucia belongs to that class of operatic heroines which Mdlle de Murska has made almost exclusively her own, and in the representation'of which she has never been excelled. In the long scene involving the culmination of Lucia’s despair, her fluent vocalisation and finished style are most successfully exhibited. We think it scarcely possible that this most difficult scena could be given in a more artistic style, and the audience testified their thorough appreciation of her grand effort by loud and prolonged applause., We are glad to observe that the audience showed their good taste by not insisting on an encore after such an arduous perlonnance. ” The Times also speaks very highly of the musical talents of Signors Susini, Rosnati, and Giammona, whilst Mr Hill is mentioned as being as careful and attentive as ever as an accompanyist.