MUSIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 422, 2 August 1928, Page 14

MUSIC

By F.I.R.

Arturo Toscanini conducted “La Traviata’’ in the final performance of the season at the Milan La Scala. GERMAN OPERA Covent Garden had three weeks of German opera in its spring season this year. “Rheingold” was the London opening. Bruno Walter conducted, and the operas were uncut. Audiences appeared among the fruit and vegetable stalls at 4.30 o’clock in the afternoon. Evening dress, strict in the London style, was the vogue. The gayly gowned and neatly shod stepped gingerly over the piles of spinach and among the wheels of clattering trucks. The first interim came at 6 o clock. After dinner at home or in the foreign restaurants of Soho, the music lovers assembled again at 7.45 o'clock and remained engaged until 9.15. Another intermission of a half-hour permitted refreshments. The performance ended about 11 o’clock.

Madame Evelyn Scotney, the Australian prima donna, has just signed up with the Tait management for a concert tour of Australia early in 1929. She will sail from London late in October, and prior to her tour she will spend Christmas with her parents in Melbourne. When Madame Scotney first arriv ' in London she joined with the International Celebrity organisation and has toured Great: Britain with such as Kreisler, Galli Curci and Backhaus. She has also sung with the British National Opera Company. She will take to Australia for her forthcoming tour a specially selected repertoire of the newest French and Russian music and “some exciting frocks from Paris.’’

In presenting grand opera at prices within the reach of the most meagrelyfilled purse, Sir Benjamin and Mr. John Fuller are doing New Zealand a real service. All are keenly interested in grand opera. Sor« of the more fortunate people have been able to see several of these great presentations previously brought out, but the high charges of admission have made it impossible for the majority to see even one production. With the FullerGonsalez Italian grand opera season, the highest price will be almost on a par with the lowest price previously charged for this class of entertainment and thus everyone will be given an opportunity of seeing, not one, but many and perhaps even all, of the productions staged in their respective towns. The season commences at St. James Theatre, Auckland, on Monday, August 20.

More than £200,000 worth of rare old violins have changed hands in the last year, according to a recent statement of J. C. Freeman, connoisseur. “After two decades in which the general public has manifested each year an increasing interest in rare old Italian instruments,” he said, “there has been a very marked broadening of the hobby of rare violin collecting. “Although the trade in the last two or three years has held its own as far as the number of violins purchased by professional players is concerned, there has been a very marked increase in the interest of persons of means who look upon such instruments as works of art which they are as anxious to become acquainted with as they are to view the paintings of the old masters. It is plainly to be seen that the available number of violins, violas and cellos by Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Amati, Guadagnini and others of the first rank, always very limited, will in a short time be thoroughly inadequate to satisfy the demands of the collectors.”

In an interview given in Sydney recently, Mr. J. Nevin Tait, director of the Williamson-Meiba Grand Opera enterprise, stated that on account of the expense a New Zealand tour was out of the question. Latest advice received from Messrs. J. C. Williamson, Ltd., however, advise that there is yet a strong possibility of the company visiting New Zealand. The compositions of Claude Debussy were comparatively few, and it has come as a surprise to most English musicians that he left a work to be discovered and performed P o s t h u mously. This is “L’Ode a la France,” which received its first performance during the recent commemoration of the tenth anniverDebussy sary of the composer's death. It was written, it is said, during the memorable defence of Verdun. * * * For those who missed the delightful song recital given by Miss Beatrice Elliott, the gifted dramatic soprano, at the concert chamber last month, it will be good news to hear that she contemplates a second recital at the end of August. Miss Elliott sings with remarkable freedom, and the most difficult phrasing and passages are rendered with no apparent effort. Expert in the art of foreign languages, she also gives the true delivery of the various numbers she essays.