British Talent

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 60, 2 June 1927, Page 14

British Talent

Not Wanted at Home Fat Fees For Foreigners Though not much given to flagwaving, we are at heart a patriotic nation, and we have also earned the reputation of being a practical race. How is it that, at the sound of music, both these qualities are given a holiday?

“Our patriotism,” states Mr. Edwin Evans, the well-known English musical critic, “ends at the door of the concert hall and opera house, where foreigners get the applause and fat fees denied to the home product. All our best musicians are being forced to emigrate in search of a living. NOT WANTED “Whichever branch of music is concerned,” says Mr. Evans, “the story is the same. Albert Sammons is a violinist of the foremost rank. He differs from Kreisler much as a lyric poet differs from an epic. One does not compare a lyric with an epic, but each with its kind, and in the songlike quality of his expression, Sammons need fear comparison with none. “Yet, not very long ago, he gave a series of recitals which failed to fill the Wigmore Hall. There are many foreign violinists whose playing lacks the charm of his, but who car always count upon a lucrative appearance in London. “The Kreisler of the viola is an Englishman, Lionel Tertis. Wherever he appears lie is hailed as the greates viola player living, and perhaps the greatest who ever lived. His tour in America, on which he played a double concerto with Kreisler, was a revelation. Never had any musician a more enthusiastic press. On his return from these triumphs he announced a recital, also at the Wigmore Hall. It was attended by fewer than 50 people. SNUBBING THE STARS “Though it retains its name, the London String Quartet is practically lost to us. In America it is so much in demand that every year the problem of dovetailing its appearance becomes more complicated. “Look at opera! There are British Stars in the operatic firmament, but few of them appear at Covent Garden in the season. This year, Joseph Hislop, one of the first three tenors in the world to-day, has not been asked to sing even in those operas which he has made peculiarly his own, and in which he stands unequalled. He has never played to anything but a full house at ‘The Garden’; this year he is not vvanted. Why is it? “Joseph Hislop may win laurels vvherever he goes; Luella Paikin may be acclaimed in the home of Italian opera by the most difficult and the most rigidly patriotic audiences in the world, but in London there is no place for either of them. “Eugene Goossens, who gave us in 1922 the most enterprising and arresting symphony concerts we have had since the war, is almost definitely lost to us. America has a use for him. We have none. OFF TO AMERICA “Sir Thomas Beecham, who recently performed the miracle of stripping the barnacles from the traditional rendering of “The Messiah,” and revealed

the music to us in such brilliance that a prominent critic wrote of it as of a ‘first performance,’ is also off to America, and announces his intention of settling there.

“There were many who commented upon the ‘unpatriotic’ tone of his recent utterance. It - would have been better if they had reflected upon the lack, not only of patriotism, but of intelligent musical appreciation among audiences in this country.”

As a result of the recent carnival conducted by the Te Awamutu Band, a credit balance of £352 19s lOd is now at the disposal of the band. At the annual meeting held recently officers for the ensuing year were elected as follow;—Patron, the mayor, Mr. G. L. Armstrong; president, Mr. A. E. Patterson; vice-presidents, Messrs. S. Clark, S. G. Downes, and A. G. Warburton; secretary and treasurer, Mr. N. E. Lee; conductor, Mr. A. E. McMahon; sergeant, Mr. T. Narby; corporal, Mr. E. M. Hayward; drummajor, Mr. L. S. Armstrong; custodian, Mr. W. Mensforth. A donation of a gold medal from Mr. Clark to be awarded to the best player in the learners’ class was .vccepted with thanks.

Considerable activity in musical matters is at present apparent in Whangarei. The latest movement in the Northern centre is the formation of a Municipal Choir, which was decided upon at a well-attended and very enthusiastic . meeting held there recently. Officers for the opening season were elected as follow: —Patron, the Mayor; president, Mr. F. Cutforth; vice-presidents, Mrs. Woolley and Mr. D. Meikle; secretary, Mr. F. C. Baines; treasurer, Mr. W. Waring; librarian and registrar, Mr. A. T. Smith; committee, Misses Broughton-Carr and Isherwood, Mesdames Eyres and Poolman, and Messrs. F. Horne, P. J. Tobin and A. Marsden-Woods. Mr. Dobson was appointed conductor, Mrs. Isherwood pianist, and Mrs C. F. Collins deputy. Writing to a member of the newly-formed choir, Mr. Maughan Barnett, Auckland City Organist, and conductor of the Auckland Municip >.l Choir, expressed his best wishes for the success of the choir, and stated his willingness to loan copies of music to enable the local choir to make an early commencement with rehearsals.

The executives of the Devonport and Takapuna Orphans’ Clubs were the guests of honour at Saturday’s gathering of the Auckland Orphans’ Club. Included in the visitors were the Rev. J. Calder, city missioner; the Rev. W. G. Monckton, president of the Takapuna Club; and Mr. H. S. W. King, president of the Devonport Club. Under the baton of Mr. G. F. Carter the orchestra contributed selections from “II Trovatore” (Verdi) and “The Gondoliers” (Sullivan). Items were also contributed as follows: —Songs, Messrs. Claude Allan, W. Meredith, R. Dormer and H. Valentine; humorous musical sketches by Mr. C. H. TurnerPelliut; vocal items by the New Zealand Four (Messrs. R. Dormer, Eric Manall, A. Taylor and A. Ashbury); character songs by Mr. A. W. McCombie; xylophone solos by Mr. W. Hicks; and a Charles Dickens dramatic sketch by Mr. T. Vivian. Messrs. Cyril Towsey and T. Sparrow officiated as accompanists.

The 8.8. C. Wireless Symphony Orchestra is quite one of the best of the smaller combinations playing in the recording room to-day, and every record they have produced without exception, been of very high quality. Mr. Percy Pitt, the conductor, is probably unsurpassed in his ability to give authoritative readings of operatic music, and through Columbia his orchestra has specialised in this class, which is hardly second to dance music in its universal popularity. Although the majority of the contributions selected are familiar, their particularly artistic interpretation in his hands gives them a delightful freshness and new appeal. Recently the 8.8. C. Orchestra has played Balfe’s “Bohemian Girl” overture, Glazounov’s Concert Waltz in A, Puccini’s lesser known and fascinating “Witch’s Dance,” from Le Villi, and, not least, their “Carmen” Selections from Bizet’s world-famed opera is an exceptionally fine example of : splendid technique and perfect recording.