THE HOSKINS-CHARBONNET ENTERTAINMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 891, 22 February 1879, Page 2

THE HOSKINS-CHARBONNET ENTERTAINMENT.

AVc cannot, we regret to say, for the .sake of the public as well as for that of the management, stato that the Volunteer Hall was rendered lively and gay by a numerous audience last night. AYe had almost forgotten that it would be quite impossible for anything to partake of the latter quality iu such a building as the Volunteer Hall. But it matters little in the case of Mdlle. Charbonuefc and Mr. Hoskins. Thej' are of themselves super-excellent, and their performances are so absorbing that one only thinks of the building between the pieces, and leaves, when ;t is all over, with a conviction that they are too good to be appreciably affected by even a barn. While observing the greater stars we are not inclined to allow ourselves to be dazzled by their brilliance to such an extent as to lose sight of the lesser ones. Miss Tilly Andrews as Mrs. Chillington in the "Morning Call" was surprisingly good; and in "Ovid's Art of Love" we think she was even more excellent. One would think, were the opposite not known to be the case, that Miss Andrews had studied her parts and played with Mr. Hoskins for- years. Speaking for ourselves we felt not the least disappointment at Miss Andrews being substituted for Miss Colville. Her appearance and behaviour are quite ladylike, without the slightest trace of that vulgarity which is sometimes so much effected by some modern leaders of female gentility. Had the programme consisted of nothing else than the two pieces which Miss Andrews and Mr. Hoskins played, we would have been quite satisfied. But Mdlle.. Charbonnet is one of the most charming of pianistes. We shall never again think that the piano is inqapable of expression. Under the hands of Mdlle. Charbonnet it is the reverse of this. The gentle cooing of the dove and the roaring of thunder are called forth from the instrument at her pleasure. Of course we admired the selections from Chopin and Weber; but

they were show}-, and in the plenitude of remarkable musical effects one was apt for a moment to lose sight of the performer in admiration of the composer. AVliat we admired was the selection from Mendelssohn's "Leider ohue AA'orte," which was played as an encore. The performer played it as though she was toying with something with which she had been familiar from her earliest youth, and as the delicate effects, as varied as they were beautiful, were developed with the exquisite taste,of a great artiste, the performer seemed to realise the meaning of the great author. For expression, so far as we know, Mdlle. Charbonnet has had no superiors, and few, if any, equals in this Colony. Mr. Marshall, whose bass voice has been so greatlj- admired, was laboring under the disadvantages of a cold and an accompaniment hurriedly undertaken. To-night's entertainment is being tendered by the company for the benefit of Mr. Hoskins, who will never again favor New Zealand with a visit. He is going to London, where, although by no means a young man, his extraordinary talent will enable him to at once ocenpy a leading position in his line. This, therefore, will.be the only opportunity that the public will have of witnessing his finished acting.