THE DON COSSACKS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 190, 28 August 1937, Page 6

THE DON COSSACKS

% " ■■ j m Hastings Pays Tribute, To Russian Singers MEMORABLE PROGRAMME As it filed on to the stage in 'a uniform of navy blue tunics, troasers with a red stripe, Russian boots and peaked caps, the Don Cossack Choir was given a tremendous ovation when it opened its programme in the Hastings Municipal Theatre last evening. The same thunderous applause followcd every one of the items on a two and a-half hour programme, but while the entertainers were singing there .was a rapt silence which is seldom accorded any performers. The theatre was completely filled. The" boxes helped to take the ' overflow but the accommodation they provided did little to ease.the position. Numbers were eompelled to stand at the back of the hall, and several sat on the steps * in the aisles of the dress circle. Under the control of the - magnetie Nicholas Kostrukoff^ the choir gave ' a wonderful p'erformance. The only accompaniment to the singing . was pro-. vided by the human voice. In one item' an imitation was given of the Russian aceordeon; at other times the voices resembled the chords of a great orgqh, swelling out in a crescendo . of volume and dying-away slowly. Nofr only were* the voices admixably blended but there was a wide range of .tone from .• the deepest base to shrill notes# a remarlrable range in a choir of male voices. A varied .programme was given of Russian religious music, - f olk * songs, military, comie and romantic songs, but no matter what the mood of the sohg there was the same precision, the ' saine blending and harmony, and ab$ve all' the masterly modulation. The popular "Yolga Boatman" was a geneTal, favourite, but , the "Maori song of ' farewell, "Haera Ra," sung in the Russian" style, was a delightful recognition by the choir of the music of the Maoris. In the "Volga Boatman '"the .effect. of the voices was enhanced by the lighting, which beeame brighter as the song . .slowly swelled . in . volume,. and faded again with the dying-away of the melody. All the songs were sung in Russian. Snch music could not'be trans- , lated into English without stripping it.. Qf all its beauty, As it was_ one. listened to the music, to the notes and; to the powerful voices, without . the > desire to make. out what the words were. In the . Caucasian Cossack dance asoloist, richly clad, handled 11 weighty knives with astounding dexterity. Theso ; he tlirew from his mouth, where he. balanced them in numbers a.t a timo, on' to the conductor's stand, which theypenetrated forcibly, to remain there," quivering, as the curtain fell. Four or five cncores after this item left tho audieuce still unsatisfied. - "God Save the King," sung with unusual beauty in- Russian, formed the conclusion ' of a night's entertainment which will long be remembered.