JOSEPH HISLOP

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 195, 7 November 1927, Page 15

JOSEPH HISLOP

SUCCESSFUL SECOND CONCERT Mr. Hislop’s concert on Saturdaynight attracted another large and enthusiastic- audience. The nasal disadvantages of the first concert were happily absent. His work was always full of interest, and of personal charm. Few singers, it must be repeated, are less dependent on their purely vocal resources. His first numbers were greatly marred by an atrocious combination of fireworks near the hall. Since people must observe this queerest of national festivals, let them seek some unpopulated place, and there destroy themselves if need be, but not the nerves of those many others who have no wish to remember Guido Fawkes —unless with sympathy. ... In such circumstances, one can only describe as heroic Mr. Hislop’s reading of the Cesar Franck “Panis Angelicus” (“O Lord Most Holy”). This appealing but rather undistinguished music—so much less than the greatest Franck—was sung with all its right effect of simplicity and sincerity. It had wellplayed violin and organ obbligatos by Miss Ina Bosworth and Mr. Maughan Barnett. Only less fine was the singing of “A Swan,” Grieg's flawlessly beautiful setting of the Ibsen poem. There is a pleasant anecdote of an occasion when Fru Grieg had sung this with her husband’s accompaniment. To the couple came Ibsen, afterwards, and clasped their hands fervently, whispering the one word: “Understood!”—tbits Norse equivalent. Mr. Hislop, as well seemed perfectly entuned to the spirit of the song; and he showed no effort in making the Norwegian lines sound musical. We were promised another delightful Grieg, “A Bream’ ; but the copy of this had been mislaid, and it was replaced in a fashion by “Elucevan le stelle,” from Tosca. Every tenor has sung Puccini, but nearly all our other visitors have neglected Grieg, whose best songs are counted among the best since Schubert. Mr. Hislop was also heard in “The Sea,” of Borodin (which has a vividly-suggestive accompaniment, but an ingrateful voice-part), and “An Island Sheiling Song,” the lovely Hebridean tune arranged by Mrs. KennedyFraser. Pleasant and artistic but not important songs were Cyril Scott’s “And So I Made a Villanelle,” to the poem of Ernest Dowson, and Alec Rowley’s “The Toll-gate House.” to the mildly ghostly lines of John Drinkwater. As additional numbers # were repeated three great successes of the first concert —Cimara's “Fiocca la neve,” Armstrong Gibb’s (and Walter de la Mare’s) “Five Eyes,” and the folksong, “Lord Randal-” Mr. Hislop was slily and racily humorous in the Burns song, “My Love, She’s but a Lassie Yet,” and his fellow-nationals were further enchanted with “Mary of Argyle,” and a very poor song, by Mac Somebody, about the bagpipes. But not ever;/ popular singer keeps his repertoire at such a high level. Mr. Alberto Sciarretti gave interesting performances of some iitcleknown modern Italian works. Martucci’s “Tema con Variazioni” is pla.nly the work of a very skilful and scholarly composer, not without a clear, dry poetry of his own. It is more worthy than the which Mr. Sc;arretti played on Thursday. “LTle des Morts,” by Franco da Venezia, is somewhat unremarkable; but the “Memento Mori (Fox-trot Tragico)” of Castelnuovo-Tedesco, has curiously arresting passages, though its cleverness seems of the type (not uncommon) that grows very tiresome. . . . The A fiat Polonaise of Chopin was also played effectively. Mr. Sciarretti’s work as accompanist was marked by sympathy and understanding.