GRAND OPERA

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 455, 10 September 1928, Page 8

GRAND OPERA

GRAND OPERA seasons in the great cities of the Old World are social events of the first mag'nitnde; to some as opportunities for a full display of dazzling jewels, to others, the musiclovers, as the perfect exposition of operatic music in its correct setting'. New Zealand is so far removed from the hub of music that it is only on rare occasions that entrepreneurs will risk sending' us expensive companies. Thus the works of many of the greatest composers are known only through gramophone and orchestral selections. That there is a public for this form of art in both Australia and New Zealand is now established, and across the Tasman wonderfully successful seasons have been the rule. It is now proposed to embark on an annual grand opera season, to include the' Dominion, and such a project deserves cordial commendation. From an educational and cultural point of view a company of this kind is of inestimable value to a community. In the present season the younger generation will hear, possibly for the fii’st time, works of Verdi, 'Bellini, Donizetti, Bizet, Rossini and Gounod. If the success of the tour warrants the establishment of a permanent company, we may yet find in the repertoire the works of Wagner, Mozart, Puccini, Leoncavallo, Saint-Saens, Rimsky Korsakoff, Charpentier, Gluck, and other brilliant composers in this field. New Zealand has already proved that it appreciates the compliment of being included in so fine a scheme.