MUSIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 108, 28 July 1927, Page 12

MUSIC

(By

F.1.R.)

Mr. H. Xevill-Smlth. Sydney, for- , merly o'. Timaru, has been appointed j judge of the musical section of the competitions to be held in Brisbane in j * * * The following cast has been selected for t.ie forthcoming production of “La Mascotre” by the Auckland Operatic Society:—Pippo, Mr. Ernest Snell; Bettina (L;< Mascotte), Miss Eva Koberr.-on, Tuttellini, Mr. C. O'Malley. The Dannevirke Operatic Society has been resuscitated, with Mr. J. L. Harris as conductor, but so far no announcement as to the forthcoming production has been made. A new society was also formed at Lower Hutt. Its first production which was recently staged was a three-act comedy, “The New Boy.” * The following principals have been engaged for the Royal Wellington Choral I’nion's programme of Mascagni’s opera, “Cavalleria Rusticana," on July 30: —Miss Teresa McEnroe, soprano, as Santazza; Mr. Hubert Carter, tenor, Turriddu; Mr. Len Barnes, baritone, Alfio; Mrs. Winifred Andrew, Lucia; and Mrs. Porter. Lola. A movement iri London to establish a musicians’ clubhouse was discussed at. dinner in London on May 18 at which Sir Henry Wood presided. He said that such an institution in the heart of London would do much in furthering the cause of British music, which had received less attention than the other arts. The existing musicians’ club, which has a membership of about 1.000. lias no permanent home. A site in Hanover Square is under consideration. and tentative plans provide for a house with concert hall, conference rooms and the usual features of a purely social organisation. It has been decided that the memorial to Claude Debussy, the great French composer, about which there has been much published discussion in the last few months, will be placed in the forest of St. Germain, on the outskirts of Paris, near the village where he was born in 1862. The monument, ind Jan Martel, in collaboration with Burkhalter, the architect, is surmounted by columns 30ft high, placed on a pedestal 20 yards in length. Between these will be two statues, each 10ft high, the whole being reflected in a pool of water against a background of foilage. The memorial and its setting are designed to suggest the elusive beauty of the composer’s

A message recently received from America announces the death of Mr. Francis Grierson, musician, author and friend of Richard Wagner, Victor Hugo, Gustave Flaubert and the elder Dumas. lie was found dead seated before his piano, his hands resting on the keys. For some years he had been in poor circumstances, but the fact only became known after his death, when it was found that he had to pawn the watch given him by King Edward so as to pay his rent. * * • It is good news to hear that Toti dal Monte, Lina Scavizzi, Apollo Granforte and Gateano Azzolini are the nucleus of a new Williamson Opera Company, which is expected to commence a season in Australia in September. To the ordinary repertoire of the old Verdian operas and Puccinian melodramas will be added this time two or three Wagnerian operas, “Andrea Chenier,” and possibly Strauss’s “Rosenkavalier,” which has never yet been given dn Australia. Dal Monte, as before, will exorcise her soprano in all the coloratura pieces; Signorina Scavizzi will reproduce the virgin shudders of Tosca, while Granforte’s Scarpia leers in the foreground; and presumably Azzolini will be the comic bass. ♦ * ♦ Tile Australian and New Zealand tour of Joseph Hislop, the famous British-born tenor, who is coming under the auspices of Messrs. J. and N. Tait, will commence in September, the opening concerts being given in Sydney, after which all the important centres of the Commonwealth and the Dominion will be visited. Hislop differs considerably from what may be called the popular conception of an operatic and concert singer in that in appearance lie looks like an ascetic, rfnd one marvels that with such a slight frame the voice is so robust and beautiful. Almost for the first time in musical history a British-born tenor has won international fame. Only a great singer and a finished artist could have achieved the success Hislop has attained in all parts of the world. As a concert singer he is ideal, and it will indeed be a pleasure to hear songs in the mother tongue—a welcome change from the artists of foreign origin who have been singing to the public only in their own hnguages. Hislop will not neglect to sing the grand operatic arias as well, and his programmes will be found to be as varied as they are interesting.

“AIDA”

FULL CAST SELECTED FDR VERDI’S FAMOUS WORK I J TO BE GIVEN NEXT MONTH The full cast for the Auckland Choral Society’s production of Verdi’s great opera, “Aida,” to be given on the 11th and 13th of next month, will be as follows: —Aida, Miss Etta Field; Amneris, Madame Winnie Fraser (Oamaru); high priestess, Miss Laura Walker; Radames, Mr. Birrell O’Malley; Amonasro, Mr. Barry Coney; Ramphis, Mr. J. de Montalk; King of Egypt, Mr. Frank Sutherland; a messenger, Mr. Robert Peter.

There is a great amount of concerted work for the principals and chorus in “Aida,” and the committee has had to

keep this in view when selecting the cast, consequently, with one exception, local artists have been chosen, who have the advantage of being on the spot for the extra rehearsals necessary for harmonious co-ordination of the various parts.

The exception referred to is Madame Minnie Fraser, of Oamaru, who has studied the opera on the Continent, and whose beautiful, full, round mezzosoprano voice was the outstanding feature of the “Golden Legend” concert last year.

This magnificent work is considered to be one of the most difficult of all operas to sing, but, double rehearsals 'or both orchestra and singers are being held, and a performance that will be a credit to Auckland is assured.

The Royal Wellington Choral Union will give this work in November, and has paid Mr. Golin Muston, the Auckland Choral Society’s conductor, the compliment of asking him to come down and conduct the opera for them.

Famous Singers to Tour the World

THE FLORENTINE CHOIR AN ARTISTIC COMBINATION Ont of the most celebrated choirs in Europe, the Florentine choir of Italy, is shortly to visit America on the commencement of a world tour. The choir, which is under the direction of Signor Sandro Benelli, includes first and second sopranos, first and second contralto’s, first and second tenors, and first and second basses. In addition to its musical director the choir will also carry an assistant musical director, organist, accompanist and tympanist. Special effects will be provided by accompaniments of chimes, tympani and tarn tarn, and scenic and lighting effects specially designed by the celebrated Florentine artist, Galiele Chini, will also be aimed at. A stage director will accompany the choir to supervise these features. What the Sistine Choir represents in the purely religious field, the Florentine Choir represents in the broader musical arena. The greater part of its song literature belongs to what the cognescenti understand to be “a capelia” singing—that is to say, singing without accompaniment. Folk songs, old classics, modern forms of song and also the oldest form of church music will be included in the choir’s repertoire. The third annual competitive musical festival of Brighton, England, opened recently with more than 1,000 entries and 4,000 individual competitors. The latter included 332 pianists. 274 solo vocalists. 10 organists, 170 elocutionists, 51 folk-dancing teams, 27 brass and military bands and 65 singing classes and choirs. Harvey Grace, one of the judges, spoke of the value of festivals to competitors, who were given an opportunity for a public appearance which would be dearly bought in a London concert hall, “with a bundle of non-committal press cuttings for sole reward.”

“Force of Destiny” Seen in New Form

VERDI’S OPERA REVISED TOO MUCH BLOODSHED I Banished for a number of years I through the libretto being not very acceptable, Verdi’s “La Forza Del Destino” has been reintroduced into the repertoire of the Berliner Staatsoper and also the Cologne Opera. This has been largely brought about by the increasing poplarity with the public of Verdi’s works. The form in which the work returns to Berlin shows an entire revision of the text by Franz Werfel, whose dramas and whose works on Verdi are known to German and English readers. Some parts of the text have been omitted entirely.

The opera was first produced in St. Petersburg on November 10, 1862. When Verdi accepted Piave’s gory libretto for the story, he must have been gifted with second sight. It would indeed be very suitable for the Petrograd of to-daj r . In the “Force of Destiny” bloodshed freely predominates, the audiences being taken hand in hand with death and hatred through the gloom of a sanguinary plot. The hero starts the slaughter by killing the heroine’s father, whose dying curse falling on the heroine. The hero, apparently imbued with a desire to exterminate the lady’s relations before the marriage takes place, next kills the heroine’s brother, who, before he dies, kills the heroine.

The hero then brings the matter to a finale by throwing himself over a cliff, the opera then coming to a close for want of further characters to carry it on.