GRAND OPERA SEASON

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 471, 28 September 1928, Page 14

GRAND OPERA SEASON

TWO NEW OPERAS NEXT WEEK After the revival this evening of the old favourite, “II Trovatorewith its striking Anvil Chorus and its immortal “Miserere” and “Home to Our Mountains,” followed by to-morrow’s matinee of “The Barber of Seville” (king of comedy operas), and the evening performance of the fascinating “Carmen,” the fourth and final week of the Fuller-Gonsalez Company will make musical history by its production of “Lohengrin” and “La Favorita.” The great Wagnerian opera will get its first presentation by the present company in New Zealand on Monday evening, and it will also be the first presentation in Auckland for 21 years. As a musical education of the first order it is unsurpassed. Solo, choral and orchestral parts are at the peak of musical achievement, and the strength of the company in those sections is now so well known and established that there is hardly need for comment on them.

The story of “Lohengrin” is like a beautiful fairy tale, and Wagner wrote for it some of his most inspired music. The beautiful grail music, with its heavenly harmonies in the prelude to the opera; Elsa’s Dream; the bridal chorus and march; the dazzling and tempestuous prelude to the third act—an orchestral tour de force which is calculated to sweep any audience of£ its feet; and Lohengrin’s narration, are only some of the gems of the score.

No lover of the beautiful in music, no member of any musical association or body, should miss the rich and rare treat which this opera and its" interpretation by the Fuller-Gonsalez Company will ; provide.

“La Favorita” is a Donizetti opera, and abounds with all the arias and ensembles for which the composer of “Lucia” is famous. The divine air, “Spirito Gentil,” so well known to gramophone owners, will get a rare interpretation from the lyric voice of the tenor, Rota. In Sydney and Melbourne he received an ovation for his singing of this angelic air. The opening scene in this opera is one of much beauty. Deep rose velvet curtains enclose a carved stone archway opening on a cloistered garden, all dull blue-green shadows, and a rose trellis climbs up the fretwork of the archways. The next scene Is in a garden glade, where dancers in ballet frocks of softest pink and blue tulle pirouette witii garlands of roses. Then come the passion and wrath of the palace, followed by the peace of the monastery cloisters. The last scene is in soft blue-green, the light from the chapel door falling over the procession of white-robed monks, and of others whose dark habits are marked with scarlet crosses. In such surroundings is the sad story of the love of the young novice, Fernando, for the beautiful Leonora, worked out to its tragical conclusion. “THAT CERTAIN THING” AT EMPIRE “That Certain Thing” is the title of the picture to be shown at the Empire Theatre this evening, with Viola Dana and Ralph Graves in the leading roles. The story tells of a young couple, Andy and Molly, who separate when the boy is disinterested by his father. Tom Mix in “The Daredevil's Reward" is the second feature.